Poor Baby

Well Maire cut her two top teeth today. I feel so bad for her everytime she teeths, there's only so much I can do for her. Other than that she is doing just fine. I am so proud of her, she is getting smarter and smarter every day. Some days she just astonishes me with what abilities she has.
As for me, I'm doing just fine. I'm missing school though, I can't wait to go back and get into the swing of things again. Until then I'm trying to find a job, which is alot harder than I anticipated. I am also just doing the stay at home mom thing, I love it so much.
My sister in law is comming home from California. I can't wait until she gets here. She hasn't seen Maire yet, I can't wait to see her reaction, and Maire's for that matter.
Well I'm going to get back to cleaning my house and wishing for summer to be here now.

I survived

Well I did it, I survived my first week with out Maire. This was the first time she's been away from me longer than a day. I wasn't to worried about my self as I was about her. I was just worried how she'll handle the whole situation. Apparently she did just fine. That made me better to hear that. I did well. I cried the second night she was gone. I can't really explain how I felt. It kinda felt like I didn't even have a kid, then when I seen everything of hers reality kicked back in. It was kinda weird not having to wake up in the middle of the night for a feeding, to not have to change a diaper, or pick up any toys. I have become so accustom to living the mother life that I forgot what it's like to do stuff and have time for my self. This was a positive experience for me. It makes me appreciate my daughter allot more. Like I said earlier I did OK, but I had to keep my self really busy to keep my mind occupied, and off of Maire. It helped me out allot when Nick's mom sent photos. It made me happy to see that Maire was happy and having a fun time with her grandma. I also liked the piece and quiet, but don't get me wrong, I'm not going to be shipping off Maire again anytime soon.

Oh I guess it's that time again.

I guess it's time to get started on the spring cleaning. I'm not really looking forward to it. It's not that I have a ginormous place to clean, it's just that we have allot of clutter. I need to go through everything and give it Goodwill. What I don't like about spring cleaning is that it takes a long time to do it. In the end I feel better when it's done and over with, and I have a clean house. Now that I think about it, it kind of makes me depressed. Thinking about Spring that is. I wish we had a house with a deck, and a grill, so we can grill out every night. I love doing that kind of stuff. I miss it allot. Well I guess I better get started on that Spring cleaning!

It's almost time!

I'm so excited! It's almost time to go camping. A couple more weeks and the weather will be perfect. My boyfriend and I love to go camping, we can't wait to bring Maire with us. This will be her first time out in the wilderness. I can't wait to see how she's going to react to the idea of sleeping in a tent. I hope she likes it and will sleep ok. This is going to be a great opportunity for her to go out and explore brand new things she's never experienced. One thing that I am worried about though is the bugs, especially bees and mosquitoes. I just hope she's not allergic. Oh I'm so excited I can barley wait! Our next year I'm going to see about canoeing, or I might just wait until she's five. We'll see.

A Big Relief

I'm happy I can be content now. I went to the Finacial Aid office to see if I can get finacial aid for the summer, and to my suprise everything has already been taken cared of. That was a big relief to me. I was freaking out on how to come up with $550.00. So now I can go on with my days with out having to worry.

Frusteration

Well lets see where shall I begin? First of all I have to take at least six credit hours for the summer since I took out a loan. Which is no problem at all, it's paying for it that's the problem. I had received the first half of my loan about a month ago, and now it's all gone. I had to pay for car insurance, getting the car fixed, rent, cell phone bill, and food. My next half doesn't come in until June. That's the problem, payment is due May 5Th. I have no idea how to pay for the class. I'm going to see if I can get financial aid, but I need a back up plan if that doesn't go through.
The thing that makes me the frustrated is my fall schedule. I'm going to have classes every day. I don't know how that's going to work out with Nick's work schedule, and not having a set babysitter. I have no clue what we're going to do.

Easter

So Easter was great, except for the fact I left Maire's Easter dress down at my mom's house. I was very frustrated, and I'll admit I cried. I wanted everything to be perfect since it was Maire's first Easter and all. Lucky to say I was saved. Nick's mom had sent us a card and some outfits for Maire for Easter, needless to say she had also put a gift card to Meijer in there. We were already late for dinner as it is, but I couldn't have my baby girl in blue jeans for her first Easter. What kind of mom would I be? So I quickly jetted over to Meijer and got her a dress, there wasn't much of a selection left but I got one! Easter went on. We had a great dinner and a fun time. Oh but wait the luck doesn't last. I went to take her dress back today because my mom is mailing back her other dress, so I figured she doesn't need two. The worker at the customer service desk wasn't going to let me return it because I didn't have the receipt. Which I don't get it I had the tags and they said Meijer right on them. Anyway he finally let me return them, but he need my I.D. Which unfortunately I had left in the car, so I went back all the way to the car to grab it so I could get on with my day. Then as he was refunding me the money he said the dress had went on sale, and that he could only refund me the sale price even though I paid the regular price. I asked why, his answer was that he could only assume that I had paid the sale price, and that if I find the original receipt showing I paid full price, then he could refund me the full amount. I paid over $20.00 for that dress and only got back $10.00. Oh well I guess it shows always save your receipts and to remember where you put them.

I can't wait until Easter, it's one of my fav. holidays. I love to color Easter eggs, and to be with my family. One thing we need to start doing as a family is to start traditions. We don't have any, I would like to have a few at least. We just kinda float around and wait until the last minute to make plans. I think the problem is we have such a big family, it's hard to do things the same every year because we have to fit everybody in. There's just not enough holidays in a year to accommodate everyone. Another factor is pleasing everyone. Nick's parents don't get along, so they can't be in the same room as each other, and the fact that our parents live in different parts of the state makes it hard to travel. It seems like we're the ones that have to go to them, nobody can come to us. I just wish that we all can be together regardless of travel and disliking someone. Oh well I guess it's just gonna take awhile to work out the kinks.

Hurray

I can't believe it Maire is finally crawling! Boy how time flys, in just four short months she'll be a year old. She can even pull her self up on things. I just can't get over the time issue. It seems like it went right past me, one day I was praying to for her to come in this world and now I'm planning her first birthday. Before I know it she'll be walking, talking, then going off to school. Boy I really don't want to think about that right now. It's amazing to see how fast babies / kids grow; especially when they're yours. I'm so excited for this summer to take her down to the beach, she loves the water, and all the attention she gets from other people. That's one of the best things about living in town, you're only a short walk or bike ride away from all the fun things Traverse has to offer. I have a good feeling that Maire is going to be lots of fun, even more than what she is now; not to mention a handful.

Road Trip

Well I'm glad to report her sleeping schedule is getting better. Her nap times are consistent, but her bed time isn't as much but we're working on it. Last night I let her cry to sleep. I think that was the first time I did that. It was just so frustrating, she did not want to go to be. She was just to busy playing and having fun hanging out with mom and dad. So finally I had enough, I put her down and let her cry. I was surprised she only cried for five to seven minutes. I waited an extra five minutes after she was done crying just to make sure she was asleep.
Well either Friday or Saturday Maire and I are making our way to my parents house. My dad has to have surgery. This will be Maire's second trip down there. I'm kind of concerned on how she's going to do on a three hour car ride. I'm sure we're going to make some stops, but her being in that car seat all day is what is getting me.
On her first trip it was a breeze because she was so young she just slept and ate the whole way there. Now that she's seven months old and more attentive I'm kinda scared. She's always busy wanting to do something. At the same time I'm kinda excited because this is only her second time being away from home, so I hope she'll like it and have fun.

Keeping a Schedule

Right now I am trying to Maire to stay on a schedule. More specifically a sleeping schedule. I really don't have her on a feeding schedule because my days aren't consistent with school and trying to find a job. So I just try to feed her lunch and dinner at the same time as much as possible. As far as sleeping goes she did good for a while. She usually went to bed around 10:00pm and wake up at 7:00am with out a feeding during the middle of the night. Now she's not getting to bed after midnight, she gets up in the middle of the night for a feeding, and she doesn't wake up until 10:00am or so. I think the time change might have had something to do with it, because she didn't start doing this until after the change. So that' what we're working on now. I hope it won't take long, because the next step is getting her to do to bed with out a bottle. I can't wait to see how that goes.

Teething

Right now we're going through the teething process. It's a little difficult for me because I had to miss a day of school for it. I guess our main problem is making her feel as comfortable as we can. We have been giving her Tylenol,but I don't want to pumping her full of that stuff. We also give her teething rings but those only help for a short period. Is there a better remedy we could use instead of Tylenol?

The other day we had an accident where she threw up, and was running a slight temp. She fights sleep now, even at nap times. I don't know if it's because she doesn't feel good or if it's her teeth. It takes us about an hour to get her calmed down and asleep. We have no idea what to do when we put her down for bed. We try everything, I think she falls asleep because she gets worn out from fussing all night. I need help. Is there one easy solution to help her pain, fever, and help her fall asleep easier?

Partnership

I have realized over the weekend that I'm basically a single parent. My boyfriend doesn't do anything but work 5hr days, 5 days a week, and hangs out with friends. He's never home, and when he is he doesn't help out around the house. The last time he did dishes or pick up around the house was before I quit my job. He sleeps in everyday, while I have to get up and stay up with the baby. I haven't slept in since Maire was born.



My duties include getting up with Maire in the morning, going to school, come home take care of Maire and pick up the house. While Nick's at work for five hours then off to a friends house, and dozen' get home until one o'clock in the morning or so.



This whole situation is very frustrating for me. I love taking care of and being with my daughter, but it would be nice to have some help once in a while. I can't go have time to myself, because he always is, and I have to stay home. I need help to fix this situation, because I'm not sure what to do. I want to fix it in a positive manner as well. I tried talking to him about it and he says it isn't his problem. Then when I'm stern with him he gets mad. I just want some alone time. I think that's why I love school so much, is because I'm by myself.



This is a big bump in our relationship right now, because it effects our parenting. I want to be the best parent I can, I can't be with out the other half.

Six months ago on August fourth I gave birth to a beautiful little girl named Maire. She weighed 8lbs. and 4oz. and was 22inches long. She gave me a short and painless labor, lasting around five hours. Everybody we knew was at the hospital to greet little Maire into this world. The next day her dad and I got to bring her home. It was a hot sunny day. Everybody was exhausted but yet very happy.
Maire was very happy and eager to learn and explore her new world. As the next six months went by she developed an attitude, where it's her way or the highway. Her dad and I are having a very troubling time to harness this attitude.
Along with the attitude situation we'll also be discussing other topics. For example teething, introducing solid food, crawling, and sleep habits. A couple other things would be how to solve these problems and how to find creative and manageable ways to spend quality time with your children.
I hope you will enjoy our journey through parenthood and gain helpful information.