Count your blessings instead of sheep....: All Over the Map

That flash is bright Pama!

Lily made her first trip home. Cayce and I packed up the truck, enlisted a house/dog sitter, and headed west for two weeks. It was a looooong drive, and a looooong two weeks. We left super early, 6 AM for the first leg of the trip, and drove for nearly 12 hours to Memphis. We stayed in a comfy hotel, slept in, and continued our way to OK the next day. Lily slept most of the day for the first trip, hence our 6 AM departure, but the second day she was awake and pissed. The girl still is not a good car rider, despite efforts to break her in. We stayed in OK for about a week. Lily acclimated to her surroundings super fast. We didn't take her many places, actually she was only in the car for one trip to Tulsa, and we stayed home and let family come to us. She slept awesomely. Averaging 8 and 9 hours straight each night, and napping for a few hours each day. We spent a lot of time on the back porch. Lily enjoyed rolling around (well not rolling per say, more like rolling side to side) on a blanket back there, watching the ceiling fan, and listening to all the barnyard animals and birds. I was sad to leave, but we headed up to MO for Cayce's family visit. Lily slept most of the drive, and only woke up for the last hour of the drive. Lily met lots and lots of family, and traveled all over the NW Missouri map. She slept poorly and napped poorly. Therefore she was cranky and I was cranky. People kept saying "it's normal for babies to cry" like that was supposed to make me feel better, but the truth is, Lily rarely cries. Yes she fusses, but cry, that's not normal for her so it was very frustrating to me. She needed her naps and she wasn't getting them, and I felt like our method of parenting was pushed aside and ignored at times. Kind of like after caring for our baby for four months we don't understand her needs, and others knew better. Lily is a baby who thrives on routine, and her routine was non existent in MO. On top of losing sleep, my milk supply has greatly diminished as well due to all the bottle feedings and dropped nursing routine. It's going to take a while and a lot of fenugreek to rebuild it. I'm also hoping Lily gets back to sleeping better soon. Last night she slept for 5 hours, and woke up to eat at 3:00, but struggled to go back to sleep. She napped pretty well today, and I'm hoping that will help her sleep better tonight.

Lily's finally made the jump to her own room. I'm really surprised at how easily I made the switch. Only a few times did I wake up thinking I heard her on the monitor, and I only spent an hour of so imagining all the things that could go wrong for her in her room, but we all survived it. In the long run making the change now is better than waiting any longer, and she realize she's being ousted. Lily did have a Dr. appointment scheduled for tomorrow, but I pushed it back a week in hopes Lily will get back into her routine first. So I have no idea how long she is or how much she weighs. She looks really long to me, but who knows? Anywho, now for what people really want: pictures.... there's A LOT!

Catching up on some sleep in the truck.

Hanging out in Paw Paw's chair.

With cousin Marty watching the calves enjoy their bottles!

Cayce and Kevin feeding some calves!

Mimi, Lily, and some "Lily Pads!"

Daddy, Lily, and Daddy's bass... Lily's not so sure about that dead fish. (Fish was caught in the pond with all the lilies)

Napping with Mimi.

Four month picture.... not as fancy as the others... my tools were at home. Lily was bathed and ready for bed when I realized I needed the picture. She was not in the mood to smile!