4 Month Check-Up

Cayleigh had her 4 month check-up today and she is weighing 11lbs, 8oz now (5th percentile)! We are thrilled to see her actually on the growth chart again! She is 24in long and 16in head circumference (both in the 25th percentile). She is doing well and looks to be turning from a blue-eyed girl to a green-eyed girl....maybe even light brown hair too. Her right eye still has the occasional 'goopy' days, but otherwise fine. She is only spitting up minimal amounts and not all the time. She goes down around 8pm and sleeps until 7am; a good sleeper. Lots of smiles and talking these days and she absolutely adores it when B sings to her.

Needle and Thread

If only it dealt with sewing clothing!

Brooklyn visited the ER this afternoon and received 2 stitches just between her eyes. She was shutting the door to her playroom, swung around and lost her balance, falling right into the corner of our filing cabinet. URGHHH! It was not a pretty sight. There was minimal bleeding and crying, but it was obvious that she was going to need stitches.

They put 2 stitches under her skin and glued the top. They had to wrap her in a sheet, strap and hold her down for it.....and I definitely had to leave! I started crying just watching them prep her. Apparently I cried more than B did, but sadly I could hear her in the waiting room :(

She can't get it wet, scratch at it or have exposure to the sun for at least 5 days. Of course, Mommy will be applying Mederma constantly to make sure the scar will disappear (of all places, why the face for a girl). We are very grateful it was not even a half an inch to either side, being one of her eyes.

Clockin' In

All I can say is ...... :(
Well, on the bright side this morning, I got to jam out to ADULT music! No picky toddler making me hit repeat on her Mickey Mouse cd!
P.S. Dear wind, please stop blowing so incredibly hard. Gas prices on the rise is already not making this return to work financially that beneficial, but with you on top of that....it is really bad. And you just may have destroyed grill #2.

Taking Advantage of 'Any' Time

Sometimes, you just have to take advantage of the window of time that you can, no matter when that may be. Since Brooklyn has arrived, "spare time" is, well a thing of the past! Now with Cayleigh too.....I'm sorry, what did you call that thing again, spare time?!?

Cayleigh ate at 2:00 and will need to eat again around 5:00, B fell asleep around 1:00 and will be up around 3:00...factor in using the restroom, deciding on what baby doll is riding in the car with us, loading and unloading the girls, driving time...we have about a 40 minute window to shop....Ready, GO!

Aaron arrived home from work a little earlier than usual yesterday, so we hurried over to Home Depot to get a few plants and flowers for the garden in the backyard. We got back and ate dinner and played until bedtime. It is now 8:00 on a Friday night and we are outside in the dark, planting! Hehe! Not exactly the intimate dinner and drinks scene it was a few years ago! While we still have more planting to do today, we didn't want to waste that much more time with the girls. Brooklyn loves helping and working with us and we love her helping, but let's face it, she can only be so helpful at this age. It was the perfect 'us' time, anyways! We got to chat and laugh while we used a flashlight to make sure we weren't digging up any sprinkler pipes!! Sometimes, the window of opportunity is there, you just have to tweak with the timing of it all.

Anxiety is Bubbling

Well, the time has come and my commute-less days are now numbered. I have been struggling with anxiety about my return to work. I don't know that I have verbalized all my concerns as effectively as I should have (only to Aaron, of course) and they have begun to bubble over. My emotions have gone haywire! I know what it is like to return from maternity leave completely swamped in things that weren't done my way and have my home life scattered once again due to being at work all day, but this time seems different.

I am just so worried, so scared. I have been away from teaching for a much longer span that my last leave with Brooklyn and the stakes seem higher. I am being thrown into my first week back with Open House on Thursday and I won't have much to say to parents. Everything will seem rather "foreign," I feel like.

Urghhh, it is hard to explain....but getting back into lesson planning, after school tutoring, conferences, even just the daily routine, DRIVING forever; I am simply not looking forward to it. That is sad of me to say. I love teaching, but since I have been gone this whole time, it is looking more like a pain than a calling at this moment in time :(

There is no doubt that I love my students and will feel right back at home in no time, but my perspective is so blurry right now. Now with two beautiful girls at home, life is going to turn chaotic real quick once again.

When All is Quiet....

'Big Girl' Ranch Weekend

Cayleigh came with us on New Year's weekend to the Ranch and this time, it was Brooklyn's turn. We left little sissy with Nana and Papa and took B with us, Gamma and Gampa for a weekend away. Out at the Ranch, we do things the Hillbilly Way!

Brooklyn had a complete blast! She was so excited about going that she just barely missed staying awake the entire trip out there; 10:00pm (about 10 minutes before arriving). She was up bright and early to help fill the feeders, check the game camera, and look for antler rubbings. The game camera revealed some pigs, several good looking bucks, a bobcat and a chupacabra! Oh boy!

Gampa got the big tractor running to till the land in preparation of turkey season, so B had her first ride on it!

Here we come, Mommy.

Then, she headed into Abilene with Gamma to pick up some more deer corn and grab some lunch. Aaron and I cleared some areas for turkey hunting and then I got to drive the tractor!

No nap for our lil' farmer, she wanted to keep on going! She went fishing with Mommy and threw more corn on the trails with Daddy, looked through the binoculars in the coopula...not much action though. She even drove her own size tractor!

We found a cactus shaped like Mickey Mouse!

No weekend at the Ranch is complete without a fire and s'mores!! Yummy!

 
We all crashed pretty early on Saturday night, got up and cleaned and headed back home. It was definitely a long trip in a short time span, but worth the pictures.

 

Daddy and Princess #1