Four Months Old!

Know what happened the day Collins turned four months old? He got his SECOND tooth! Two of them on the bottom now! Growing, growing, growing.

We went for his doctor's appointment yesterday afternoon. He weighed 16 lbs. 10 oz. and was 24 3/4 inches long. He's in the 75 percentile for weight and 50th for length and head circumference.

Collins did excellent getting his shots. Didn't cry at all for the first one and very little for the second. He was a little fussy last night, but the nurse said that was totally normal. I, however, didn't do so great getting MY shots.

I've had a sinus infection for a while now and finally decided I needed to go to the doctor. Jake went with me to the faculty/staff clinic before we ate lunch and picked up Collins from day care for his appointment. Though I don't enjoy shots, I'm not particularly afraid of them. Not the shot itself anyway. My fear is the surprise...you know it's coming, but not sure when. So I arched my back and about ran out of the room after the nurse put the alcohol on my hip. I ended up having to twist and crane my neck to be able to watch her give me the two shots. Is that weird or what? That was my biggest problem with the epidural too...the surprise. ::shutters::

That was a long side story. My point was that most parents tell their children how they would take the shots for them if they could. I told Collins that his mommy actually did that ;)

In other news, Collins is now kicking and splashing in the tub and can sit up with assistance. I hold his hands when he's getting up from the changing table and let him do the work of sitting up. It's cute! The nurse said we can start giving him rice cereal twice a day with a spoon. She says if you put it in the bottle you'll end up overfeeding the baby. I just don't see us having time to spoon feed in the mornings until he gets the hang of a spoon, but we'll see. He's also doing better at day care. He eats all of his bottle most feedings and has started taking longer naps.

My attempt to start couponing is not going too bad. Today I got a $10 Physician's Formula blush for $.99 at CVS. It was fun. Then Jake and I went to Winn Dixie and I used about 20 different coupons which saved a total of around $45. I'm getting there!

Tomorrow marks a year since we found out we were pregnant with Collins! That means this time last year I was sad that we hadn't gotten pregnant yet and was scared to death that it may never happen. The Lord's timing was perfect (as always) even though I was impatient. Not a day goes by that I don't feel incredibly blessed to have had a healthy pregnancy, delivery, and baby boy. I am beyond thankful!

Meeting Walker

Last Friday, January 15th, my friend Rebekah brought her son, Walker, over to meet Collins. Walker was born exactly one month after Collins...same day as John Rivers. We've been meaning to get together for a while now, but things tend to be put off when you have little ones, I'm finding :) Walker is a doll! I hope he and Collins will be good buddies!

(Yes, it was still Christmas at the Goodins up until last weekend.)

Grammy Sugar

Some Recent Pics

Big Week for a Little Man

Lots of new things have been happening with the little bird. (Explanation: We call him bird sometimes. I do not intend for this to become a public nickname, but have to blog about it since we use it so much. It's because he sounds like a bird when he fusses...lets out little squeaks...and because when we first brought him home we loved watching him open his mouth and turn his head like a little bird waiting for a worm! So sweet. We also call him "Baby-dactyl" because he sounds like a teradactyl when he fusses loud. Ha.)

Last weekend Grammy and Papa came to visit and Grammy said she could feel a tooth. Then at day care on Monday one of the workers said she could see it! It's on the bottom and is pretty and white :) We've wondered if he was teething since he drools so much now and has been eating his fist so much.

Collins also started grabbing at his feet last weekend! I guess before long he'll start putting them in his mouth...better watch that tooth!

He can move (a little) in his walker! It's so funny. He can't reach the ground with no shoes on, but stick that pair of John Deere boots on the boy and he can scoot! Actually, he can pretty much only go in reverse right now, but still. Big milestone ;)

Collins (and Jake, and I) has been sick this week. It started over the weekend...croupy sounding cough and nasal congestion. He never ran fever (thank goodness), but of course we still called the on call doctor, plus I emailed and talked to our CRNP. I'm so thankful she even gave us her cell number! I do not plan to call her, but it's comforting to know I can reach her in an emergency. Anyway, we're not doing anything to treat it except using a nasal aspirator (bought an electric one the other day...much better), humidifier, and Baby Vick's rub. Collins isn't sleeping well since he can't breathe and needs to cough. I think we've gotten up with him about 3-4 times a night all week. Poor thing. I hate that he feels bad.

To top off his first cold, he will get his four month shots tomorrow :( Not looking forward to it. I can't believe he will turn four months tomorrow. It is unreal how fast it's going. I try so hard to pay attention to every detail. I even hold him about 15 minutes too long when I rock him to sleep just so I can stare at him. He is so precious! And I'm not biased one bit!

Day care is going some better. Nothing is wrong, but I'm still looking at other options. Just in case. I was referred to a retired individual by my pastor at the end of last week. Long story short, I love this lady (fell in love over the phone), she's less expensive, and only keeps 5 or so other kids, but not full time. Well, another couple who is due in April met with her last Friday...as in one business day before I talked to her...and she's letting them decide whether they want to use her or not. They will only be part-time and she prefers full-time, but will stick to her word and let them choose. We'll know by next Friday at the latest what the decision will be. I know God's will will be carried out, no matter what. Jake and I would love to have this lady keep Collins, but we want His will even more. We've learned that He knows what we really want and need.

Here are some pictures from Wednesday, 1/19. It was before we left for day care...I just thought his outfit was too cute! "This is how I roll" :)

His little belly IS a roll! And for the record, I did not wear a mini skirt to work. It hikes up when I squat, apparently.


Daddy's shirt got "customized" with spit-up!

Coupon Queen

One of my friends who used to go to church at Five Points, Tara, is the coupon queen (she's a little more modest than to refer to herself as a queen, but I dub her coupon queen).

I've never even talked to her about couponing, but can tell by her blog and Facebook page that she definitely knows what she's doing. She even teaches classes; it's her new side business. So she makes money by teaching how to save money. Brilliant.

I totally admire people who can do this and would love to start couponing myself. It scares me to think about all the attention to detail it will require, but when I hear of Tara and people from her classes who go grocery shopping and GET money back, it makes me willing to put in a little effort!

Here is Tara's blog. She is doing a giveaway where she will take the winner on a shopping trip with her to see how it's done. Being the kinesthetic learner that I am, this would be wonderfully insightful and probably the only way I can actually learn how to coupon. In the spirit of friendly blogging, I encourage others to enter the giveaway as well (even though you'll then be my competition...grrr!) ;)

I'll still give it a go even if I don't win, but will just have to attend a class and then email Tara all the time to ask questions! ha!

Thank you, Tara, for your inspiration as coupon queen! You rule!

i LOVE picnik!

Sweet Stuff

• Baby chill bumps. I've noticed them lately on Collins' legs while changing his diaper. I've never even thought about baby chill bumps before, but they are so cute!

• Collins laughed last Friday (1/7)! I went to visit him at day care during my lunch hour and while I was feeding him he laughed. He hasn't done it the same way since then, but he's very close to doing it a lot. It was the best sound! Mary Loyd has always told me there's no better sound in the world than that of your child laughing because it means they're happy. She's right again!

• Day care and UA were cancelled today because of the "snow." They predicted 4-5 inches and we ended up getting about 1 inch of ice. Oh well...we still got to spend the day at home together (even though Jake still had to work from home as he always does on Mondays). I haven't felt well the last couple of days so I napped during Collins' first two naps. For the last one he just took I put him in the bed with me instead of his crib. I haven't slept with him since way long ago during that time he'd only sleep on me. Tried it this past weekend while Mom and Dad were here, but he spit up so it didn't last long. I guess this nap lasted about 20 or 30 minutes, but it was wonderful! When he woke up I told Jake to come in and we all three just lounged for a while. I can't wait till he comes crawling into bed with us on Saturday mornings to watch cartoons and have breakfast in bed :) Isn't that the American dream?
  

Mama Trauma: Day Care

Guess who started school on Monday! This was the week Jake and I (and the rest of our families) have been dreading since about this time last year when we found out we were expecting. Collins started day care.

I was so very proud of myself Monday morning. I woke up on time, the morning went smoothly, and I didn't cry when I left him. Even got to work early! (I still don't know how that happened.)

I called a couple of times to check on him, but just got voice mail because the director was out that day. No biggie...I was going during lunch anyway to spend that hour with him.

My lunch "hour" ended up being three hours. I could hear Collins crying as soon as I entered the building. Not an ideal greeting, but pretty much expected. Babies do cry, after all.

One of the workers was holding him so I took him from her to try to console him. I couldn't do it either. He was crying hard, eyes closed so he couldn't even recognize me.

After asking a few questions I discovered he was hungry! They said he hadn't wanted to take his bottle. "He kept spitting out the nipple," they said. So instead of having two 6 oz. bottles between the time I left and when I came back, he had only had one 1.5 oz bottle and one 3 oz bottle. That hurt my feelings.

I finished feeding him the other three ounces of the second bottle and he gazed up at me with a look I could only interpret as, "What in the world were you thinking this morning, woman? Why did you leave me?!" Turns out, the ladies were holding him almost flat on his back to feed him, which he is not used to at all. He typically either sits in his nap nanny, bouncer, or more upright in someone's arms. Not lying on his back. I didn't tell them that before, which is my fault. I just assumed they would have given a different position a shot.

I put him down for a short nap, then played with him and changed his diaper and clothes (thought he was hot) when he woke up. I was trying to smile and sing for him in between wiping my own tears! I don't blame the workers at all; I know it's an adjustment for everyone and they have to get to know him just like he has to get to know them. It just hurt his mommy's heart to walk in and see her baby crying because he was hungry and sleepy :(

Since Monday at lunch time, everything has been much, much better. Collins has eaten his normal 6 ounces each time with no problems and he's starting to take a little bit longer naps. He usually has a short fussy spell in the evenings, but for the most part is happy to be home.

Collins went to bed at 8pm last night and woke up about 6 this morning. I'm not complaining...I LOVE that he's sleeping so well. But...I miss him. Getting home at 5:30 or 6pm and saying goodnight by 8 or 8:30pm is not enough time with the little man. I guess that's what weekends are for though!

Overall, we've been very pleased with the day care. The people are super nice and it's incredibly clean and organized. Here's hoping things continue to improve and we make it at least through the first week without any sicknesses!

Ready to go!

Hanging out with Ms. Megan.

Jake and his mom thinks this looks like baby jail. I guess it does. But metal is clean! And he's sleeping, so that's always a good sign.

He's the little lion at school :) Each baby has a different animal above his or her bed. The lion is the cutest. Naturally!!!