Austin

We had a great time in Austin visiting the McIvor's. The flights went pretty smoothly, and I think that we were far more anxious than Chloe, who acted as if she flew everyday. On the flight to Austin Chloe woke up just before boarding and she was STARVING. When you travel with a baby they send you all the way to the back of the plane to a seat that has three oxygen masks. So we carried our screaming baby all the way to the back of the plane leaving a trail of disappointment on the faces of our fellow travelers. Once she was settled and had a little something to eat she didn't make a peep for the rest of the flight. Here she is on her first flight.



In Austin we went barbecue hopping and hit five of Texas' popular BBQ joints. We ordered 1/2 pound of brisket, a 1/2 rack of ribs, and sausage at each place. My favorite was Black's BBQ because they had this awesome smoked turkey. Here we are on the tour:






On days that we weren't feasting on ribs and brisket we relaxed by the pool. We tried to go to Easter Vigil to watch Michael make his confirmation, but we made it two minutes into church (no joke!) before Chloe started screaming. I tried to feed her and change her, but a half hour later we had to leave. On Easter Sunday we grilled at the pool despite the weather being a bit overcast and rainy.



I never got a picture of Chloe in her Easter dress since it was on for only a minute and she was screaming the entire time. I didn't get a picture of her with the Easter Bunny, either. I'm disappointed about both, but I did manage a picture of her in this bib. It's cute enough to make up for the missed photo ops.



Michael gave Paul his fourth tattoo that I helped pick out. Very cool!


The best part is that Chloe got to meet her big cousins and we got a lot of cuddle time with Henry.




Oh and Paul discovered this feature on our camera that is now the object of his obsession...





Needless to say, Chloe was a tired girl!!


All in all it was a fun trip!

Chloe - 3 Months

It has been a very big month for Chloe between her first flight, daycare, sleeping in her crib, and, more importantly, sleeping through the night.

When we got back from Austin Paul decided it was time for Chloe to sleep in her crib. To do this he insisted that we use a little tough love. She cried for about 45 minutes before falling asleep the first night we stuck her in there. I was a nervous wreck. The second night she cried on and off for about a half hour and by the third night she was asleep in five minutes. A week later she wasn't fussing at all. The big bonus of putting Chloe in her crib is that she sleeps through the night. The first few nights she slept 8 or 9 hours and Paul and I woke up high fiving. She is sleeping 8 to 10 hours at night and we could not be happier. We feel like real people again. Rested, sane, real people. It is wonderful.

I have yet had the time to stop in at daycare to see Chloe, but from the sound of things I really think that Chloe enjoys being there. When I dropped Chloe off on Wednesday she started smiling and cooing right when she saw Melissa. Then when I picked her up in the afternoon, Melissa said that Chloe had the best day ever. She said she felt like they were comfortable with one another and that Chloe smiled the whole day. Melissa said tha Chloe loves watching the other kids play with instruments and she said that the kids love the new baby! In fact, she said she spends a lot of time telling the kids to "stay away from the baby's face" and to "be gentle."

At three months Chloe weighs about 12 pounds. I know this because I took her to the doctor last week. Chloe ended up catching a cold last weekend and she has a nasty dog cough. The nurse suggested we bring her in just to be sure everything is okay. Turns out she just has a bad cold and the doctor recommended we keep Chloe upright 24/7, which seems to be working fairly well.

Chloe is wearing 3-6 month clothing, although it is a little big on her. She wears size 1 diapers. She seems to be getting so big, but she is still really just a little peanut compared to similar aged babies. I still think she looks like me from the nose down and Paul from the nose up. Except for in this picture where I think she looks exactly like me:



Oh, and the Texas sun gave her hair a bit of an aburn hue. Oli said "Oh no, I don't want her to have red hair!" Before I dyed my hair all of the time I had a bit of red in my hair. My mom has red hair and so does her dad and so it is very possible that Chloe could have aburn hair, as well. It is a red that people pay a lot of money for, but I still hope she ends up with brown or blond hair! She still has blue eyes and dark skin.

I think at this point in her life I would classify Chloe as being a nosy baby. She likes to be held facing out so that she can see everything all of the time. But be careful, baby girl doesn't like people all up in her face. Sometimes if you try to stick your ugly mug in her face she will just turn away until you leave her alone. When she wants to look at you and talk to you she will do it on her own terms. She can keep herself busy playing in her play yard or looking at her mobile for at least a half hour before she gets bored. And she lets us know when she is bored!

Chloe still eats from my "thingy thing" as Oli calls it. I have to pump at work so that Chloe can have breastmilk for daycare. I have a very funny story to share about pumping at work when I have some time to post. Chloe eats 2.5 to 3 ounces every 2 to 3 hours. I'm still the milk lady! Here are some three month pictures.




And no matter what I do these photos will not rotate, but they are still so cute!

Girls' Night

Last night my Bradley girls, Sally, Monica, and I went out for a grown up evening - one where we intended to talk about grown up things, but inevitably trailed off to conversations about milk letdown, teething, and daycare... things like that. Our two hour dinner date spilled over to a five hour dinner date with wine and dessert because, as it turns out, we didn't die from the extended separation from our precious babies. I laughed so much I cried and I realize that - WOW - I needed that!

I woke up this morning so refreshed and gushed to Paul about the fun we had. And then I got to thinking about something I am always doing to people. For some reason when I introduce new people I always introduce them and then quickly follow up with some tidbit that I think will get the two talking. For Paul I always say "This is my husband, Paul. He played football for Western." And for Sally last night I said "This is my friend, Sally. She is a vegetarian." The reason I said that last night was because I was introducing her to another vegetarian. And since I have only knowingly met two vegetarians in my life I thought this was truly remarkable. Surly the stars aligned last night so that the only two vegetarians in.the.world could find one another! So first let me apologize, Sally. I don't mean to introduce you like "Hi, this is my alien friend. She eats plants, runs a community garden, and uses cloth diapers." I just grew up in a family that each summer went to the fair, picked out a nice juicy cow, butchered that cow, and then ate the shit out of that cow! And I'm devastated even thinking about how a person could go a whole summer without cutting into a nice, bloody steak or without sinking her teeth into a juicy burger.

Far more important than meat, we were missing Sarah last night. Her mother-in-law passed away of a heart attack earlier this week. In her beautiful obituary I learned that she was a super kind, healthy, and loving woman, and her death is both a shock and a tragedy. I have been praying a lot for her family this week and thanking God for my own mother. My heart aches for them. That is the thing about making new friends. You open yourself up to a world of love and laughter, but you also open yourself up to share in their heartache. It is difficult to understand death even when I have such great faith God and His plan, but I pray that Sarah and Nate are able to cling to God for comfort. "The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those who are crushed in spirit." Psalm 34:18

Back to Work

Yesterday was my first day back at work. I dropped Chloe off at daycare at 7:30 am after squeezing her tight for a half hour. I did my best not to cry, but ended up in tears as I walked out the door. I know that she is in loving hands and that I do not have to worry about her safety, but I missed her chubby cheeks all day long. Our daycare lady, Melissa, is so kind and she spent a good ten minutes on the phone with me telling me all about Chloe's day and about how sweet and adorable she is. It is nice to hear how much Melissa cares about her already and I feel a little more at ease. Melissa said that Chloe only fussed a little in the afternoon. She said that she could tell Chloe just wasn't settled in her new environment. After trying to feed her, bounce her, change her, etc. she decided to set her in her car seat and she fell asleep right away. I told her that she loves that darn car seat!

Today I have the day off because we weren't able to line up daycare on Tuesdays. I'm so grateful to be home with her. In the short term, I am able to work 4 hours in the morning while Chloe sleeps and I'm sure I will be able to squeeze in a few more in the afternoon if needed. She goes back to daycare tomorrow and then my mom is coming on Thursday and Friday. My mom is super excited to come watch Chloe and I will be so happy to know that my baby girl is getting Grandma's love. Plus, I'll get to work from home on those days if I want and then I'll be able to sneak in a few cuddles here and there!

Chloe - 2 Months

Chloe weighed in at 10 lbs 11 oz and was 21.25 inches. She was in the 50% percentile for both height and weight and only the 20% percentile for head circumference. The doctor reassured us that small heads can be smart heads, too. The shots went better than I had anticipated. Our nurse was very sweet and she stopped to give Chloe hugs and kisses in between the shots. She had one oral vaccine and three shots. The oral vaccine was sweet and so she gobbled it right up. The shots, on the other hand, she did not much enjoy. She screamed like I have never heard her scream before for all three. In fact, on the third shot I was on the brink of tears when Chloe farted five adult sized farts in a row. Thankfully, the nurse and I started laughing hysterically, but in reality it was sad because it hurt so bad that she pooed herself. Chloe fell asleep immediately after the shots and slept for three hours before she woke up again to eat. She cried for about a half hour and fell asleep once I gave her a little Tylenol. After that she acted as though nothing had ever happened and I couldn't be happier. Chloe is a tough girl, but I shouldn't be surprised; she is a Tithof/Reiber hybrid after all.

Here are a few 2 month photos:





I plan to go back to work starting April 12. As much as I have loved staying home with Chloe, I am ready to get back at it. I know that I will miss her so much, but it is for the best. I'm really turning into a crazy lady around the house. Like, if you leave a gum wrapper on my end table you better watch it buddy! I know that the house is probably going to spontaneously combust from some sort of toxic combination of dirty plates, sour milk, and soiled laundry once I go back to work, but it is a risk I am willing to take.

I keep telling myself that it really won't be so bad. We found this amazing lady who runs a small day care out of her house. When we went to visit her she seemed to fall in love with Chloe. She held Chloe the entire 2.5 hours we were there and didn't seem to want us to leave. She had these three sweet kids and when we left the little girl asked if I could drop Chloe off early some mornings because "she is just so cute and I want to see her all of the time." When we left her house both Paul and I were like "holy crap, could there be a nicer person in the whole world?" On top of that she is super affordable and we'll only need her twice per week. My mom is going to come to watch her on Thursdays and Fridays and hopefully when Taylor is on summer break Grandma Bobby Kay can come watch her once per week. Until then, I'm going to stay home on Tuesdays.

The only real downside to going back to work right now is that Chloe is just starting to get so cool. She is smiling and cooing all of the time now and it melts my heart. I know that once she starts doing all of her "firsts" it is going to kill me to be away from her.

Leaving on a Jetplane!

We have been dying to meet Baby Hank ever since he was born. The other night Paul and I decided to check into flights to Austin to see if we could afford to take a quick vacation before I resign my life away to a most demanding job. Lucky for us we found a direct flight from Detroit to Austin leaving March 31 and returning April 6. While we aren't going to Mexico or Europe or anything, Paul and I haven't been on a vacation in a really long time and we are super excited. We are expecting the worst in terms of Chloe's behavior on the plane, and we are planning to be "those people" with a screaming newborn baby in a sardine can full of nervous people and recycled air. Wish us luck!

Today marks Chloe's two month birthday, and unfortunately, it also marks her two month check up. In about 45 minutes Chloe will be receiving her first immunizations. I anticipate a lot of tears this afternoon, both hers and mine. I have been praying that everything goes well and that she has no adverse reactions to the immunizations. Please pray for us!

Rough Week

It has been a rough week for me. I woke up on Monday morning with a fever, headache, and body aches, not to mention it felt like someone had pounded my boob with a jackhammer for an hour straight. It turns out I have a nasty case of mastitis. I went to the doctor yesterday and was prescribed an antibiotic. After only three doses I am feeling much better and am very thankful for modern medicine. On top of that I have been dealing with Verizon for almost two weeks now convincing them that my phone DOESN'T WORK! I won't get started on the issue since I'll just get all fired up, but I can't make or receive calls and it is very frustrating. And then just last night Paul "won a $1,000 gift card to Walmart" and, hey, that sounds reasonable, I think I shall click on the link in that email and BAM our computer is possessed and is sending emails about electronics and other junk. Here's hoping that the second half of the week works out all of the kinks.

Chloe was over 10 pounds when I weighed her last Wednesday, and so I have been dressing her in her three month clothes. They are pretty big on her, but she was getting tired of wearing the same old things. Can you blame a girl? In other Chloe news, Paul won the battle for the first smile last Sunday morning. I left the room for a second and then of course she gave him a grin from ear to ear (that's what he says) and so it begins. She's a daddy's girl and I'm just the milk lady.

Chloe and Griff wish everyone a Happy St. Patty's Day!