Gwynn Meets World Week Seven

Ready for a run!

Black & Whites

Layne is such a great big sister....Hayden's pretty great too! They are so eager to help out in any way that they can. It's so nice to have them home in the afternoons. I am so blessed to have three amazing children! Layne is telling Gwynn what beautiful soft hair she has in this picture. Gwynn is definitely starting to enjoy the girls company!

Happy bath time. The past two days have been outstanding! Today has been the best. She woke up for her middle of the night feeding at 4am, I fed her again at 6:45 right before we left to take the girls to school. We dropped both girls off at each of their schools and then it was off to the horse park for a run. She was great for that so I decided to go right to the store to grocery shop. She stayed asleep the whole time. Very few tears today and naps were great! No fussing tonight, just smiles and sleep!

This big girl makes her lunch for school every afternoon.....all by herself! Today, the girls even showered by themselves!!

Night night sleeping beauty!

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Growing Girl

Daddy with his baby. He has a special way with her. He's great at calming her down when she gets fussy. Some nights she fusses, some nights she doesn't. We just never know which Wynnie we're going to get!

My running buddy this morning. She did so well. We went to the Horse Park and ran on the back road. She stayed awake until the half way point, then she zonked out :)

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The Perfect Mom

The other day I was talking with a woman and she was asking how Gwynn was doing. I responded that she was a good baby and things were good. Her response shocked me. She said, "Well, she would be a good baby because you are like the perfect mom! You just have it all together." I was so shocked because that it SO FAR from the truth. In fact, just two days earlier I was crying to Jeremy about how inadequate I was feeling about being able to provide the proper nutrition to Gwynn and about how I felt that I couldn't make her happy at times. I even reached out to my Facebook friends for advice. That was a rough day (maybe a growth spurt). She was not eating well, not sleeping well, and crying a whole lot. When those days come, no matter how many times I've been through it, I always look at myself and automatically think that it's my fault and I am not good enough. Jeremy is always there to snap me out of it and reassure me that the other two went through the same thing and I am a good mom. Sure enough the next day Gwynn was back to her normal self. My point in all of this is to share that I am not the perfect mother. I mess up just like anyone else does. I have insecurities just like every other mother out there. I am just trying to make the best decisions and choices each day for the sake of my family. But there are plenty of times that I make the wrong one, but I just have to move on and learn for the next time. 

One of the best pieces of advice I got when we had Hayden was, "just remember that everything is a phase. Nothing will last forever. It's only temporary." I didn't actually accept that and receive comfort from it until Gwynn came a long. Not sleeping at night-phase, Fussy time (which Gwynn doesn't have!!!)-phase, Falling asleep while nursing-phase, taking 3 hours to get to sleep at night-phase, crying in the carseat-phase...... If you look at everything as if it's a phase that has a end point it's much easier to get through and stay sane! 

I try to plan out my every move for each day and it never works out that way "I" had planned, because it's not up to me! I make it through each day by the grace of God. He's the one keeping me sane :) I have been journaling for a LifeGroup that I am doing for a book called No A Fan. In one of my entries I was really struggling with the fact that Gwynn was fussing and didn't seem to be eating well and wasn't sleeping well (the same day I referred to above). Basically, she wasn't following the schedule that the book I had read said she would follow. I couldn't understand why, after all....the book said she would and from what I could remember, using my very awful memory, Hayden and Layne followed the schedule to a T by this point (not true at all!). Then God revealed something very interested and enlightening. We are adults and do we follow God's plan that He has for us to a T? Do we follow the book the way we should? He would love for us to, but we are human and we all struggle with doing exactly what He wants us to. Sometime we want to do what we want to do. Why would I expect a 6 week old baby to be able to follow some words in a book if we as adults can't even do it?!   

Hitting the Pavement

Friday was my 6 week appointment at my OB/GYN. Everything was just fine so that means....back to running! Yesterday was the day I had been looking forward to for months-I was going to go running again! I went early in the morning so that it wasn't too hot. Jeremy was home so I didn't have to take Gwynn and the jogging stroller (I will experiment with that on Monday). I gathered my shoes and iPod and stretched my muscles. I can't even begin to think about the last time I stretched. I put some great tunes on and I was off! As I jogged through the neighborhood I felt great- lots of energy, no burning lungs, muscles felt great. *Note that the beginning of my run in the neighborhood is down hill.* I thought to myself, "Wow, I'm really in better shape than I thoughts. This is going to be kind of easy to get back into running....awesome!" Then the first hill came. Mind you, I am still on Kings Mountain Drive (my neighborhood!). I got up to Hayden's school and it was bad. My lungs still weren't burning, but my quads were! I had wanted to run 2 miles, but at this rate I was going to be lucky to even run 1!! I immediately thought of my neighbor that I passed on the downhill (when things were great) as I left the neighborhood, "If I head back now and see him again sitting on his rocking chair on his porch he is going to think I am a joke! I need to keep running, I need to keep going!" So, I kept running through Hayden's school parking lot but I knew my legs were not going to make it up the horse park hill or up the 138 hill on the way back. So, I headed back. Oh well. I had such high hopes for that first run, but I just had to accept that fact that I am REALLY out of shape and it's going to take some work to get my endurance back. 

Odds and Ends

Let the party planning begin! Hayden is going to have a Spa party for her 6th birthday. We worked on the invitation yesterday....cute little spa masks. It's going to be great. She's going to invite 5 of her friends and they are going to get manicures, pedicures, apply a face mask, make lip balm, decorate a sleep mask, accessorize their own special flip flops, and have tons of fun relaxing! It's going to be great.

You talkin' to me?!

Gwynn has the funniest faces sometimes, she can look so angry!

She is still in love with her play mat. She's no longer a fan of anything else really....well, other than mommy! She will grow into loving all of the other toys that we have for her.

That cute little smile :)

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Working with Daddy

A few weeks ago I put up the cork board, cereal box filer, and the two frames to help organize all of the stuff that the girls come home with from school each day. The final touch was finished last night when daddy hung up the backpack hooks! The girls were very excited to help out.

Here it is....all finished!

So happy with how it all turned out!

This was the picture of last night around 8:30. Layne has been dealing with "gross burps" and diarrhea for the past few days and Hayden has been battling a cold all week. Thankfully, Gwynn isn't sick she's just a sleepy baby :) Poor girls, I guess that's what happens when you start back up to school again.

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Gwynn Meets World Week Six

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Soil, Sour Cream, Salt, and Spoons!

Checking out the damage that Roxy did to one of the planters. She decided that it needed to have a huge hole in the corner :) Who knew that she was a landscape designer!!

Hayden helping me make dinner last night. It was an easy Pinterest recipe. I have found that with pinterest recipes they are either really great or not good at all!

Daddy has been traveling on and off for the past three weeks. We have managed, but we have missed him. The girls would even cry at night sometimes because they missed him so much. Just broke my heart. We think he's home for good now though!

Another picture of Hayden helping with dinner last night. She was in charge of using the salt grinder to salt the chicken. Instead of twisting the grinder she twisted the entire cap off of the salt! Oops!!

During Skype one night Grandma and Aunt September told the girls that we used to get spanked with a wooden spoon when we were little. The girls new favorite thing is to think of reasons why daddy needs to get a spanking with the wooden spoon! So silly!  

Isn't she just the cutest thing?! She is continuing to do very well with everything. She isn't nursing for as long, but I read that around this age she becomes more efficient at feeding. So, that probably it. I told Jerm that I guess she would be screaming if she was hungry...and she doesn't do that! She definitely loves her mommy. This weekend she hasn't been sleeping too well in her crib during the day-she's been waking up early-, but when I go get her she falls fast asleep in my arms. During the week because of the school drop off and pick up schedule she doesn't nap in her crib much, so that could have something to do with it too. She slept for a 6 1/2 hour stretch last night....AWESOME!

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Spirit Night

Tonight I took the ladies to Chick-fil-a for Hayden's school's spirit night. Lots of fun and we even saw her teacher there!

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Bath time!

Layne was trying to teach Gwynn how to snap!

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Gwynn Meets World Week Five

I know she isn't 5 weeks till tomorrow, but I just couldn't wait to post this cuteness!! 

Sleepy Baby

Gwynn played too hard this morning! She has really started to pa attention to all of the little hanging toys on the play mat!

Out like a light!

Here's the amazing mobile that Jan made for the nursery. Isn't it beautiful!!??

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1 Month Check Up

Gwynn had her 1 month check up this morning! It felt so weird going to the doctor with just one child again. She is growing and doing well! I talked with the doctor about Gwynn's gassy problems. She doesn't really complain about gas, but I hear her tummy rumble and she poots a lot! Doctor said that if she's not complaining about it, it's nothing to worry about. She also has a rash on her diaper area. I wasn't sure if it was diaper rash since it wasn't getting any better when I put the butt paste on it. She said that it may be yeast. So, we got a prescription to treat that. Hope that goes away soon. Gwynn doesn't complain about that either though! Ok, so here are her numbers.....Weight-9 pounds 11 ounces (75%), Height-21 3/4 inches (75%), Head Circumference-38 1/2 centimeters (75%). Now, before you get all excited and think that Gwynn is going to be an average or above girl when it comes to those measurements.....that's how Hayden and Layne started out too. Between 6 to 9 months is when the girls decide that they don't want to be above average anymore. Genetics take over and they fall below average! We shall see what Miss Wynnie wants to do :)

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Water Fight!

The other day when it rained the girls decided that they'd go outside to have some fun. They ended up getting soaked because they had a water fight with Aunt September!

They started by filling containers with water from the pool.

Fun fun. They wanted the rain to fill them up, but they quickly realized that it would take WAY too long to do that.

Aunt September came outside with Gwynn's bathtub FULL of water. She told the girls that she was cleaning it out. Once they came close to see what she was doing they got soaked!! And the battle began!

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Some Sister Love

While September was in town she showed me Instagram and I am IN LOVE with it! It's an app for your phone that basically lets you edit your photos to make them look awesome! Here are some that I took and edited with Instagram.

As you can tell, the girls just absolutely adore little Gwynn. They are both such amazing helpers. They love to do things to help me and to help little sister. I can't wait till Gwynn gets a little older. The girls are going to have so much fun with her.

Ok, we have our nickname for Gwynn....Wynnie. Like Winnie from The Wonder Years only spelled a little differently. It's a great name for her :)

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The Growth Update!

Here's an update to Jeremy's cyst. He went to his appointment on Monday and the PA took one look and said, "Yep, that's a cyst and we need to drain it. Take off your shirt and lay on your stomach". She numbed it and got busy getting the junk out. Jeremy said that it was still very painful even though she had numbed it. He said that she squeezed it for about 10 minutes! She then wrote him a prescription for an antibiotic and that was that. It's still very painful and still draining. He has been out of town for the past three days working with John and his dad. He dad has been the one to "tend to the wound".....thankfully. These are two pictures that he sent us last night of Jeremy's growth. I told Jeremy I just don't know if I will be able to squeeze that stuff out. I mean I want to help him, but that it some nasty stuff! Slowly but surely it's healing. His advice to anyone that has a cyst is to GET IT REMOVED before it ruptures!! 

Gwynn Meets World Week Four

Squeaky Clean Sisters!

The girls wanted some Gwynn time after bath time tonight. So cute!

They just adore their baby sister.


We borrowed this bouncy seat from a friend. She really seemed to like it! Thanks Allison!

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