The stockings were hung ...

So, even though we don't have a tree we still decorated, and it turns out we didn't have room for a tree anyway. Thanks to my mom who made the stockings and gave us the angel candle holders, and Starbucks where I got most of the other decorations for free we have a lovely little wonderland.

Christmas Tree

After 2 years of living in Wisconsin we leave to go get a Christmas tree. Luther doned in his leather coat and jeans and me in my jeans and puffy winter coat. It's 10 degrees outside and were dressed as if we are in Washington. Keep in mind that when it's 10 degrees here if there is any wind it's negative degree weather. After driving over an hour trying to find the tree farm when it should have taken a half hour (awsome directions mapquest.) We stand by the fire to get warm after walking from the parking lot to the building a total on maybe 30 seconds; a family clearly from Wisconsin wizes past us in there snow suits ready for there horse drawn carrage and tree selection. Needless to say it was so cold and we were so under dressed we watch the carriage ride from afar and left after only about 15 min. So we still don't have a tree, but were hoping next year we'll have more success. Looking back it would have been difficult to cut a tree given all the snow on them, though it was beautiful and it looked like a Christmas card.

Lessons

I have found even more advantages to the crying it out technique. Now that Selah goes right to bed if she cries for an exstended period of time I know there is somethings wrong. For example, a few days ago Selah cried honestly for at least 85% of the day and I kept trying to put her down for her nap and she kept waking up screaming. Come to find out she had an impacted bowel, one phone call later to her daddy MD and after a very fustrating day we fixed her right up with a baby enima. Instead of guessing if there was something wrong we knew there was something wrong and we're able to help her quickly instead of second guessing ourselves wondering "is this normal". Unfortunately for Selah when I try to change her diaper, she keeps her legs straight with a look that saids exit only please. I'm starting to see that being a good parent means doing a lot of the hard stuff that SUCKS! and makes her cry, but has to be done. A baby enima not fun, flushing her sinuses not fun, sometimes we both cry but it's what's best for Selah.

After months of secultion, depression, ellation, and being overwelmed, I'm starting to hit my stide and as I did with all my jobs before I'm making my new job of being a mom the most fun I can.
I've started to make my own baby food! Apples, grated raw not cooked, pears grated not cooked, sweet potatoes boiled and puraed, carrots boiled and puraed, bananas really ripe and smashed not cooked. I did a cost annalays and for all organic homemade baby food it's a quarter of what I'd pay for it in the store. Plus, it's easy! I made just put the mashed food into 2 ice cube trays and freeze. I shouldn't have to make any more for a couple weeks and it cost about 4 dollars. I'm excited!

My newest quest is making my own laudry soap, dishwasher soap, dish soap, body soap and muti purpose cleaner. Some will work out some wont but I think it's fun to try new things and save a buck while I'm at it. My only concern right now is the fragrance that comes with these homemade things. Even though many of them are naturally occuring ingredience they still have a smell and I'm not sure if they will get alone with our skin. We are all have very sensitive skin. I'm excited and hopful with my recipes in hand!

Another triumph, I was able to lose all the baby weight 45 pounds in total and I'm very happy to fit into my warm winter clothes for the already single diget tempuratres. The Farmer Alminac predicts tons of snow in December up to 134 inches and from December 1st to date we have had over a foot of snow. It is literally a winter wonder land.

Here puppy

These are some great photos of Selah in her dog hat they have matching slippers. I got these last Christmas at Gymbore when I went shopping with my mom, before we knew if Selah was a girl or a boy. They are super cute!

Selah's 4 month pics

At Selah's 4 month appointment she was 13.4lbs, and 24"long. She's in the 25%tile for her age in both hieght and wieght. So she is growing well and just a little peanut of a girl so cute! Luther and I took these photos in front of a tree outside out complex. Luther held her up while I took the photos so if she looks likes she's in a funny position that's why! :) Enjoy!

The little things

Olive and Selah are co-existing better. Selah loves it when Olive licks her hands, she smiles and laughs, she however does not like when Olive is licking her face so it's just baby steps right now. Selah has become even sweeter to Olive because she's eating solids now, they end up all over her face and hands...enter Olive...Our dog has a licking neuroses so any extra food really anywhere in the house she's on it! I can tell they're going to great friends.

It's been fun feeding Selah solids she gags and spits the food out the grimaces are priceless:). She is always good for a laugh. More importantly she sleeps even longer through the night and it gives me a little more freedom since she refuses a bottle. My baby already knows what she wants, now I'm trying to find a way to persuade her that she really does like a bottle:). I think it's safe to say green peas not her favorite, and rice cereal leaves a little to be desired:) We've found the tick she loves apples and pears! Were still working on the veggies:)

It been a while...

Like the title saids, it's been a while since I've blogged. The last couple of months has been full of trials for us, Luther was on service or a month so he was gone a lot between 80 and 100 hours a week. Leaving me with Selah by myself more than what I think is healthy for both of us. Thank goodness that month is over!

Then, Selah was having some episodes where she would scream and scream, her eyes would shake back and forth uncontrollably, she would vomit, and once I gave her dose of IBU she would sleep for a couple of hours. So, after the second episode I took her to the Doctor and of course he had never heard of such a thing. After much debate he gave her an EEG, that's where they monitor her brain by hooking her head up to a lot of electrodes. The EEG was not fun all the marking and measuring and placing of electrodes hurt her little head, plus she's a head sweater so it was hard to keep everything on her head. Obviously she eventually calmed down when I took a chance to take some photos. It turns out her episodes are benign, they still don't know why she was having them but she's hitting all of her milestones, rolling over both ways, she grips things, she discovered her feet and she giggles on and So, we couldn't be happier that everything is just fine!

Once all that was put to rest Luther and I had to make some big decisions about vaccinations which kept me up at night for weeks. We decided not to vaccinate Selah until after she's a year old with only 2 of the vaccinations if at all. Were happy with our decision, we did some research and found this was the best choice for our family given my learning disability and Luther's autoimmune disease.

So then Selah got her first cold from Luther there were only a couple of long nights but it was very sad to see her go through that. I then got the cold from Selah bummer! We are all finally feeling better Selah is just now getting a rash from her virus, but it should be gone in about a week saids Dr. Thompson:)

Finally, I had to lay down the law with Selah. I was having to nurse her to sleep. It would take 2 hours to get her to bed it was awful! So 2 of my friends both named Jen said that Selah had my number and it was time to let her self sooth a little. So, we let Selah cry it out at night we built up from 10min to 30 min at a time before going down to comfort her. I have to tell you I cried with her it was really hard to just stand by and listen to her cry. When I'd go in to comfort her she'd lift up her little arms wanting to be picked up, but it had to be done it took 3 days once we really pushed it. My sister in law said "it's harder on us than it is on them to be a good parent, we can't be lazy." Luther was a great he held my had when I cried because she was crying, but now it's better for all of us. Luther and I have more time together at night, and Selah is getting much better and longer sleep. After almost 5 months I can say things are really coming together:).

Selah Opal is Three Months Old!

New Tricks

Selah, Luther, Olive and I are all learning some new tricks.

Selah's new trick, she's discovered her shadow and thinks it's really cool. Putting her to sleep can be a challenge now because she prefers to watch the shadow puppets she makes with her arms than to close her eyes (I have to admit I get into the shadow puppet action because it makes her smile). She's also learning to reach and grab things, apparently she's young to be doing that so of course we think she's a genius. The trick I like the most is when she imitates me saying who who who like a little Owl. We go back and forth who who up to ten time in a row. Again making her a genius by our account. Finally not so much as a trick, but a favorite, she looooooves her mobile. It has a bunch of goofy characters on it that are bright colors, then behind them are these umbrella looking things that have a swirl of black and white, she freaks when I put her under it.

Luther's new trick is learning to stay up all night, just to turn around and help me take care of the baby all day which I appreciate. He's been on call a lot the last few weeks and there is no rest for the werry while he's at the hospital. He gets an hour of sleep here and there if he's lucky just to drag himself home where he gets a few hours of sleep, then gets up again to help me with Selah. I really appreciate how great he's been. On Monday he starts In Service for a month, then he's on OB for a month so Selah and I are going to be on our own a lot. Though Luther's the one that suffers the most, he has to leave at 6:00am and wont be home until about 7:00pm for the next 2 months. He also has to be on call 4 of the 8 weekends. So we just have to get through the next 2 months and the rest of his intern year will be a breeze.

Me... well my new trick is getting everything we need on a very tight budget. We've been living on a budget for the last few years, but now with me staying home with Selah and Luther making decent money, but not as much as our loans allowed us to live on we have really reigned it in. I have about 5 envelopes marked, household/MISC, medical, Selah, clothing, food. Anyway, I get $50 in each envelope for the month. So $25 every 2 weeks isn't much, when something is on sale for $6 you really have to think about it because that only leaves you with $19. I'm the one after lots of arguing with God told Luther he should put me on a tighter budget/allowance. I thought it would be horrible. I never realized how great it felt to know exactly how much I had to spend, even if it's only $2. The stress has melted away and though I spend a lot of time at home; I've also learned where the local library is, so I can borrow a book instead of spending $12 on one I can't return. I take walks, and work out everyday whether if it's at home or at the Y. I also have more time to blog and try and stay in contact with our loved ones. The coolest thing is the gifts we've been getting in the mail, things that would be luxuries for us that we would have not purchased. For instance we got home last night from our one night out this month and at our front door was a gift. A friend from Dominica, Nanooka had sent us a very expensive wool and fleece liner for Selah's car seat/stroller it fits inside so you can zip them up and keep them nice and warm. With the winter coming this is going to be so awesome! We also received a gift card to Old Navy so I could get some warm clothes that are 3-6months for Selah. She is such a little baby she is still in her 0-3 month clothes, I never planned that I would need warm 3-6 clothes because Luther and didn't think we'd have such a small baby. So, my new trick has left me lighter and richer than ever.

A special thank you goes out to Nanooka we are so thankful and overwhelmed by your gift it couldn't have come at a better time. We love you and miss you.

Olives new trick is learning to leave the baby alone! Selah is so tempting she always has some spit up or a stinky diaper Olive would love to get her chops on, but Selah hates to be licked so you see the problem, one love to like and the other hates to be liked.

A Minute at the Park

So the title says it all. Being that our budget is tight we try and get out and do things that don't require money. So, we went to the park, it was only for a few minutes because I forgot a binky, but we still got out into the fresh air and had a great 2 minutes:).

The Lion's Roar

This weekend we went to a retreat with Luther's residency program. It was at the Dells about an hour and a half North from us. It was great to get to the check in counter and have them say your paid in full without getting out a credit card:). The retreat was at the Kalahari, it's a huge hotel and with an even bigger indoor water park. Anyway, it was great to get away, Selah did well she played all day and slept all night and long into the morning. I think the blackout curtains helped, so when I got home I stabled a sheet to the window in her room behind all the cute curtains in the hope she'll sleep long into the morning at home.:). One of Luther assignments while he was there was to come up with a skit with his fellow first years. They did a take off of the Wizard of Oz. Luther was the Lion and he did a great job he roared so loud he scared one of the kids watching. The word on the street is that it was the best skit ever. We made his costume the night before with a little material and a hot glue gun. It cost 60 cents to make and we had such a good time coming up with it together. Sometimes when Luther and I do things together I forget were married because were such great friends. I know corny but it's true. The last night we were there we took Selah on the Lazy river and into the wave pool at the water park she loved it!!! Luther held her on his chest face up so she could see all the crazy stuff on the ceiling while I directed the double inter tube. It was fun to have a family moment like that, it helped me to see pass the crying, the floppy head, and complete dependancey and see the light at the end of the tunnel where were a family doing fun things together.