Jerry Richard

Our little boy has arrived! Meet Jerry Richard, aka JR. He is named after the three most influential men in his life (excluding Daddy, who Bee is named after). His first name comes from my father-in-law, and his middle name comes from both my father and my husband's best friend. Here are pictures of our first three days together, in no particular order.

On the quilt Nana made for him.

He loves sleeping on the Boppy pillow. So far he is a very good eater and sleeper.

Bee seems so big now, compared to little JR!

Ready to go home!

Kissies from his sissies.
They are completely in love with him.

I think this is my fav pic so far.

Or maybe this one...

Daddy and his little man.

Daddy recorded my first moments with my son. I didn't even know he knew how to use the video function~so I had no idea I was being recorded!

Random Tips

Lately I have been doing a lot of research for ideas for toddler activities on the Internet. It occurred to me that without the help, ideas, and support of other parents I would have no idea what I'm doing. With that in mind, I have decided to share some ideas that have helped me in the last two years, since my Gracie was born. Some are things I've discovered on my own, but most of them have come from friends, family, and even parenting magazines. Thanks to everyone that has provided advice, or just a listening ear as I have began my adventures into parenthood.

Infants:
~Chamomile tablets are priceless. In addition to being holistic, they simply make baby (or toddler) calm down. Because they aren't medicine, they can be combined with Tylenol and Oragel to make complete teething relief. I also used it with my baby just to calm her at times prior to teething. The best ones I've found are Hyland's Teething Tablets, which can be found at Walgreens, Babies 'R' Us, and Wal-Mart.
~White noise. It will make a baby sleep like nothing else that I've found!
~When baby is learning to crawl and walk, and starts to climb on things teach him/her "feet first." Whenever Gracie was getting off of anything we'd remind her "feet first," and she really understood it and still responds by adjusting her position so she'll land on her feet.
~When baby is really little, and the whole family is adjusting to a newly developing routine let the housework go! Sleep when baby sleeps. Who cares if all the dishes are done if you can't see straight because you haven't slept for 48 hours?! Anyone that visits will understand!

Toddlers:
~For a great healthy-ish frozen treat, freeze the yogurt that comes in a tube. Simply run some warm water on it prior to opening it to loosen it from the plastic. My daughter loves them!
~Two ways to contain the mess of a new painter: either use the bathtub by stripping him/her to their diaper and letting them go crazy, or use a cookie sheet with a rim and tape the paper into the cookie sheet.
~Toys don't have to be fancy or expensive to be educational and hold a toddler's interest. In addition to the links I have on the right, which have many homemade toy/activity ideas, think small. I got a bag of pompoms from a local store, and Gracie and I have endless games with that one small bag! We sort by color or size, find colors, name colors, practice counting and putting them in the bag and taking them out. All for less than two dollars!
~Teach your kid the word "HELP." Gracie learned this a while ago, and whenever she threw a tantrum I'd simply say "Gracie, do you need HELP?" She's caught on to the word and although she still shows her frustration, the tantrums have gotten smaller. I think we avoid a lot of tantrums too, because she knows if she just says HELP, momma or daddy will try to help her. Of course, there are times she goes straight to help without trying by herself, which is an important part of learning. We try to address those moments as they come, encouraging her to keep trying as we slowly come to her aid.
~When tantrums DO happen, we tell her "Use your words." We've explained to her that momma and daddy don't understand if she doesn't use words. Then we wait for the tears to stop and words to start. She gets immediate reactions as soon as she starts using her words, so she knows that it's a better choice.
~Don't be afraid to get down and messy with your toddler! Messes are temporary, the things your child will learn from you and the memories that will come from a childhood shared with his/her parents will be with him/her forever.

First Real Smile

Brianna is Two Weeks Old!

I can't believe it's already been two weeks since Brianna joined our family! In many ways it feels like it's been minutes, but also like she's always been a part of our lives. She's starting to sleep better-she only woke me up twice last night. We went to her two week check up today, and got nothing but great news. When we were discharged from the hospital she weighed in at 8lbs, 4oz, and at her "weight check" last week, she was at 8lbs, 6oz. I was given the goal of getting back to her birth weight (8lbs, 11oz.) by today's appointment. We waffled that goal, and she is at 8lbs 15oz! She doesn't eat a lot at each nursing session, but nurses often. She has only grown a quarter of an inch, but her height, weight, and head are all at the 75th percentile. The doctor even got her to show him her strong neck by putting her on a little bit of tummy time. He said she's doing great, and he has absolutely no concerns about her. I think the biggest change I've noticed this week is that her eyelashes are coming in long and thick, just like Daddy's and Gracie's.

Brianna's Birth Story

Sunday morning I woke up and went to the bathroom. Upon wiping, I discovered a lot of. . .slime. It was a very significant amount, much more than a mucus plug so I got a bit concerned. I called the hospital, and because I was already dilated to 5cm, they told me to come in right away to determine if my water was broken or not. After checking in and getting examined, they said it was not anmiotic fluid, but they couldn't figure out what it was. They were not happy with the thought of sending me home at 5cm, but also didn't think I was in labor yet.

After talking to the doctor that had scrapped my membranes on Friday, they gave me a choice; I could stay, they'd break my water and that doctor would come in to deliver Brianna, or I could go home and come back on Monday to have my regular doctor induce me. Since I have only been under my doctor's care since we moved in September, it's not like I have a big connection to him, and I really like the other doctor too so I figured why go home and wait another day?

The nurses decided to break my water. Sounds easy, right? Because of all the slime, they couldn't figure out where the sack was. It took three nurses three tries each and they still weren't sure if it was broken or not. They decided they had probably poked holes in it, and it would gush soon. They were right. Despite the broken water, I was barely feeling my contractions so they put me on Pitocin to make them stronger. At this moment, I was thinking I should ask for an Epidural, but I wasn't in pain yet and didn't want to jump the gun either. I decided to wait-BIG mistake! I wasn't expecting the Pitocin to progress so fast. In less than a half hour my pain scale went from 1 to about 8! It was torture to wait for the Epidural, but well worth the wait.

Brianna was "sunny side up" as the doc called it. I didn't find it all that sunny! Basically, most babies come out head first, facing down. This give the best flexibility in the neck to easily get the baby past the momma's pelvic bone. When a baby is "sunny side up," s/he is facing up instead of down. This makes it significantly harder to push the baby past the pelvic bone, and seriously almost killed me! I pushed about an hour and a half, but the contractions were so far apart that it seemed like a lot of my work was getting wasted between contractions. It felt like it took forever to get her to crown, and even longer to get her out! I thought she was stuck for a while. Just when I thought it was all over, the placenta got stuck. After forty minutes of trying to get it out with the help of occasional pushing, the doc had to "go in after it." The epidural had been turned off, and would have taken too long to put back on, so that was really painful. Then she had to search to make sure that no pieces of the placenta got left inside.

The biggest difference between Bri's labor and Gracie's was my audience. With Gracie, it was just the nurse and Brian with me. The doc had another woman in labor next door, so he ran in as Gracie was coming out. With Bri I told the grandmas and Carrie that they could stay as long as they were comfortable staying. At one point I had two nurses, the doctor, both grandmas, Carrie, and Brian in there! It was my own cheering section.

Big Sister Meets Little Sister

Brianna Leigh

is finally here!

Born at 11:19 p.m. Sunday, October 11th, 2009

8 lbs, 12 oz. 21" long

I Can't Do It

Honestly, how can I be expected to leave her for eight hours a day when she has been practically attached to me for the last seven weeks-not to mention the time she spent with me before she was born. This truly is cruel and unusual punishment. This weekend is going to go by way too fast.

Lactation Group

I had my six week check up this afternoon. The doctor said that everything has healed correctly, and I am good as new, basically. I have already taken off the baby weight, and am working on the excess pre-baby weight. Feelin' pretty good right now, and hope that it continues. However, I did have questions for her about how to get myself to make more milk for Gracie. I am concerned that I won't have enough stored when I have to go back to work (sigh) at the end of the month (there will be lots of tears on the 28th). She didn't have many answers, but advised me to go back to the hospital and talk with the lactation consultant. The LC has a group that meets every Thursday afternoon to check up on their babies and breastfeed together. OK, they told me about this group when Gracie was born, and it was a little weird for me-a bunch of strangers getting together and talking while their boobs are hanging out? No thank you. Despite my reservations, Gracie comes first-no matter what. So I sucked up my pride and modesty and went after my appointment. I am so glad I went! I was weird at first because they had already started when I got there, and I know I can't go much longer (until summer) since it's on a weekday afternoon but I got so many answers! First, I weighed Gracie and was shocked to discover she is nine pounds, five ounces! OMG! Angie (the LC) encouraged me, saying that with that weight gain, and her chubby cheeks, she is clearly getting enough milk. Yea! She also told me about a couple of products I can take to improve my production. I am now taking Fenugreek which not only helps with production, but also with digestion-and Gracie's digestion. I am hoping that it will ease her gas pains. There's also a Mother's Milk tea that I bought, even though I usually don't drink tea it will be worth it if it works. They also told me about Gripe Water which can be given to babies up to six times a day to help with fussiness. I got the milk products at Apple Nutrition, and they gave me a free sample of Gripe Water. I am so encouraged by our progress. There were mommies there with five month old babies that were having trouble getting the baby to latch on. Watching the other ladies showed me that Gracie and I are doing just fine and I had a smile on my face the whole way home.

Milestones

Gracie hates Tummy Time. We have to put her on her side and slowly move her onto her tummy to avoid the screams. However, if we use daddy's tummy instead of the floor, she's OK with it. She has been working really hard with daddy to gain control of her neck muscles, and can actually hold her head up on her own for over a minute already!She has also found her fingers. It's fun to watch her. The other day she was a little fussy, and she'd let out a little whimper and then stick her fingers in her mouth and suck a few times. The process repeated over and over. I keep waiting for her to put her thumb in. I was quite a thumb sucker, so I would not be surprised to see her sucking away. I haven't been able to get a picture of her sucking her fingers, as it happens so quickly, by the time I got the camera she was done.

Gracie Loves Baseball

I cannot get over how good Gracie is at the baseball games. We put her into the baby frontpack and carry her around in it. Our body heat keeps her really warm, and she sleeps through the whole game! Both yesterday and today we went to the game and I fed her just before they started playing, and she didn't wake up again until we got home. We did get these great pictures of her before she passed out.

Everyone Loves A Boppy

New Friends

Gracie had a very fun weekend playing "pass the baby." She met so many new friends and family members! Here are a few pictures of the new people in her life
.

Aunt Julie, Uncle Tony, and Cousin Elara.


Uncle Anthony and Aunt Jenni.


Erin, Richard (not pictured) and Shirley.

There are so many more, but I didn't get pictures of everyone, and there's not enough space for them all anyway. We had a great time showing off Gracie, and we miss you all!

A Successful Journey

Yesterday I decided to take Gracie for a little journey. We packed up everything she may need and ventured into the big world to go to Babies 'R' Us. She cried the whole way there. Once we got there, I took her to the "Mother's Room" and fed her, hoping that would calm her. It didn't. I had to hold her the whole time I shopped. It was fine, except then everyone feels the need to come admire the baby-fun at first, but really prolongs the trip! While I was there, I grabbed the March issue of American Baby, which they give out for free. We wandered for a while, and then headed home- she only cried half the way home.
That evening, as I was feeding Grace, I paged through the magazine, and found an article on calming your baby. One of the things it suggested was to create white noise. I mentioned it to Brian, and he said "no wonder the bathroom fan put her to sleep so fast last night." He had sent me to bed and taken over baby bed time the night before. Hum. . . So later, when she got fussy we tried the usual techniques-baby backpack, bouncy chair, shhhing then we put on the baseball game. It's official, she's already hooked on baseball! She was entranced with the game for a good 45 minutes before the crying resumed. Suddenly I remembered the article. I took her into her room, turned off the lights, and turned on the fan. We started rocking, and she was out like a light in about 2.2 seconds! YES! Victory! I don't know why I didn't think of that on my own-Brian needs a fan to sleep, and she is a daddy's girl. I guess sometimes you just need to see/hear it from someone else before it makes sense. Here's hoping it will keep working.

Lovin'

How many loved ones can you fit on the couch?
Plenty-if they're small enough!

Baseball

As most of you know, Brian and I are huge Brewers fans. Last year we hit about 62 of their games, including three in Minnesota. This year we have scaled down our season ticket package to 20 games, and moved our seats from the outfield to the fourth floor for the baby. The team was in town this weekend to play their final two exhibition games and since we are missing Opening Day for the wedding (and all tickets were $10) we went to the games and brought Gracie. I was a little nervous at first. I haven't really gone anywhere with her yet, and baseball is a pretty big time commitment (not that we couldn't leave early if we needed to). I must say that Miller Park is amazing for new parents. They are SO accommodating! We have a carrier that is similar to a backpack to carry her around in, but needed the stroller for before the game and traveling to and from the car. We weren't sure what we were going to do with it once we were ready to sit down, but then someone told us we could check it at Guest Relations. It was great, and we know the people that work in Guest Relations, so we now have a great excuse to visit them every game. Also, I started out feeding her in a bathroom stall, but after talking to one of our friends at Guest Relations, she told me to go to the first aide station. They block off a section for me to have a private place to feed her. Gracie got to meet Brian Shouse (my fav player, who had a new baby in September)-but she slept through it. He congratulated us, and we got to chat for a little while. It was nice to be back in the ballpark.

Two Weeks

Gracie had her two week well child check up today. She did great! She has grown a whole inch and now measures 22 inches long. Although she was born at 7 lbs, 10 oz, she was down to 7 lbs, 2 oz. when we left the hospital. The pediatrician said the main goal for two week check ups is to have the baby back at their birth weight, so we were very happy when we exceeded the goal and she weighed in at 8 lbs even. All of her newborn screenings came back clear-they check for many diseases, like sickle cell, cystic fibrosis, and a bunch of others. The doctor said we're doing a great job so far-and boy did I need to hear that! Gracie has been a little congested lately, but she said there's nothing I can do to help out her cold. I'll just keep using the suction bulb when it gets really bad. It was great to hear my little girl is healthy and on track.

Grand and Great Grandparents-REVISED!

Grandma and Grandpa Kruse


Great Grandma Grimm


Grandpa and Grandma Youngman

Bathtime!

With Gracie's bellybutton plug gone, we decided it was time for her first bath. We did notice that part of the plug is still there, so we thought a sponge bath would be a bit more suitable for her.

She wasn't a fan of the process at first.

But she warmed up to it a little after a while.