Planning Ahead

As many of you know, I am a BIG planner. Today I received an e-mail from a friend saying that a child in her playgroup had swallowed some medicine even though the bottle had a child proof cap. She continued to explain how the mom had 1 hour to rush around town looking for some activated charcoal before serious harm was done to the child. Can you believe that most pharmacies don't carry it?? So, this afternoon that was my mission . . . to find some and have it on hand just in case Savannah was to get into something dangerous.

After going to three different pharmacies this afternoon, I too discovered that no one stocks this very important stuff. One pharmacy did have ipecec but according to poison control this is only to be used if a child swallows a mushroom. The new recommended treatment is activated charcoal, which is not sold at most pharmacies. So, I called poison control and they are willing to mail me some FOR FREE!!! So, if you have a small child at home, I highly recommend calling poison control and keeping this activated charcoal on hand!

Fun Sunday

Today has been a day full of excitement. We started the morning with promotion Sunday at church, which means that Savannah moved up to a big girl Sunday school class. Then, we had a fun filled afternoon around the house with some family play time. Savannah's almost taking a few steps. After standing up today, she moved her feet a little. PROGRESS. Her latest trick is being able to get on and off her Pooh car that Pawpaw and Deborah gave her for her birthday. She can only move backwards once she's on it, but she's mastered the getting on and off part! I went to a baby shower this afternoon and now, things are silent. Ahhhh . . . I can only hear the whisper of the computer running. Dave is at his fantasy football draft, Savannah is in bed, and I'm in my PJs waiting for Big Brother to come on. Here are some pictures from our day.

Going for a pony ride on mommy's tummy

Savannah helping herself to some puffs before lunch

Carmel Open House

We attended our church's open house this morning and it was quite an event. The parking lots were full of blow up rides, a petting zoo, a train ride for parents and kids, a climbing wall, and of course lots of food! It was so amazing to see how richly God has blessed our church, both with new members and financially. The new children's space is incredible and is double the size of the original church. I took several pictures of Savannah and her friends, but of course I get home to discover that my camera didn't have a memory stick in it. So, sorry that there are no pictures today. I hate that you can't see how funny Savannah looked climbing up the new grand staircase with people everywhere . . . but as Elizabeth pointed out, this building is for the children so I let her climb away. Good thing we keep memories in our hearts, not our hands.

Room Time

Well, taking the advice of my precious and wonderful mommy friend Anna, I'm trying to start giving Savannah room time each day. (That's what allows me to type this!) So far it seems to be going pretty well, never mind the fact that I sneak out of her room as she's terrorizing the closet, again. Oh how I long for long hours of uninterrupted mommy time. It's so close I can almost taste it!

For those of you who haven't already heard about my excitement, Savannah is starting WEE (weekday early education) School in September at our church. It is an incredible program where hundreds of people literally camp outside the night before registration to get their kids in the program. Thankfully we don't have to do that as church members are given first priority, but I would if I had to! We went to orientation today and it's going to be even better than I thought!! Her teacher is a very close friend of the family . . . there's nothing more I could ask for than someone like Mrs. Jenny to love on Savannah every Friday! Mommy time is almost here. YIPPEE!!

Happy Days

I have so enjoyed the past few days with Savannah. Her new schedule is wonderful and each day I have witnessed her make more and more progress towards taking those first steps. She can now go from sitting to standing without using anything for support and stand for a long period of time. She's also just started walking behind her red car from grammy and grandpa. Amazing how fast things change!

One quick prayer request . . . she's still having spit up from time to time. It doesn't seem to bother her, but it smells NASTY and looks like cottage cheese. Yuck! Please pray that it's nothing to worry about and quickly goes away.

Family Reunion

Yesterday we made the annual trip to Burlington to attend our family reunion. It's always fun catching up with relatives that we haven't seen in a long time, but yesterday was a zoo. My brother Denny and I have the youngest kids there so we're always making a scene with them. Savannah was her normal self with throwing food, unpacking the diaper bag, and trying to get into everything that she shouldn't. Afterwards, we had some time for the cousins to play at Great Grandmaw's house. I didn't get any really good pictures of the three cousins, but here are some of Savannah with her grandparents.

Back to Normal

Things are definitely back to normal around here. Ah, how I had missed the 7pm - 7am sleep cycle. We're adjusting to a different nap schedule, but yesterday it was perfect. Savannah even lasted for a 27 minute run this morning in the stroller. Yes, now we can enjoy the day . . .

Here is a picture from this morning. If you ask Savannah to feel the lion, she'll put the book up to her face and rub the soft fur on her chubby cheeks! :)

Huge Improvement!!

I think we're finally almost well here in the Bachmann house. Savannah did have a few long crying spells last night, but we were determined not to get her up. She made it through the night and woke up WITHOUT a fever. Praise the Lord!!! It's been a pretty normal day with trying to get back in the routine of things and I'm excited to report that we even had time to run an errand across town. It's been a rough week, but today after hearing her belly laugh again, I'm reminded of how rewarding being a mom can be!

New Tricks

Savannah seems to be slightly better today. Thankfully last night was much less eventful than Monday night. She still has a fever so if she's still sick tomorrow I think I have to take her in again. Anyway, on a lighter side I wanted to share a few of Savannah's new "tricks". It's amazing how quickly she's turning into a toddler!!

Yesterday we were in the kitchen and she was tearing through the diaper bag as usual. She came across a spare key to the car and immediately took it, crawled over to the back door, stood up, and started trying to put the key in the lock. I guess she's just watched us enough to learn that keys go in the door! She also learned how to turn on the CD player yesterday, which goes well with her skill of using the remote control to turn on the TV downstairs. One smart cookie!!

"Celebration" Part Two

Well, the afternoon was going pretty well with lots of cards and packages arriving in the mail . . . then Savannah woke up. She felt really hot so I decided to try to take her temperature. Let's just say that it didn't work. As the thermometer quickly read 102.8 I took it out before it gave me a true reading. She was screaming and absolutely nothing I could do would calm her down. I tried everything. Finally, I went next door to Mrs. Marlene's house again and got her opinion. She said that I needed to take her to the doctor. So, you guessed it, trip #24 to the doctor. Just as we were getting ready to leave Dave showed up home early from work. There is no way that I could have handled her on my own yesterday afternoon. Dave was just planning to take the afternoon off to be with me for my birthday and had no idea that his help and support was needed, until he arrived home.

When arriving at the doctor's office her temperature was 102.5 with motrin in her. The doctor said that she had some type of virus, possibly roseola and it would have to run it's course. Well on the way home we were stuck in 5:00 traffic on Providence and Savannah was screaming her head off. Finally she just started spouting all over the place. I did all I could to pull the car off the road so we could get her out and try to calm her down. Everything and everybody was covered and there we stood on Providence Rd with a crying baby. By this time I was balling too. Praise the Lord that Dave was with me.

We got home, bathed her, and tried to put her to bed to which she screamed and got all worked up again. When we got her up she again threw up everywhere all over me and the carpet. I called the nurse because nothing was calming her down. She suggested Benadryl so by this point Savannah had a dose of Tylenol, Motrin, and Benadryl in her. Finally she cried herself to sleep around 11pm and only woke a couple of times during the night. I must have sounded pretty panicked as the doctor's office called this morning to check on us!

Through all of this, I actually had forgotten all about my birthday . . . until Dave pulls out a Baskin Robbins ice cream cake and my gifts. He is amazing. I'm not kidding at all. He's not only my strength and support during times like these, but he goes above and beyond. When I saw the gift of one house cleaning I burst into tears, real tears, sobbing and all. I am just beyond exhausted, mentally and physically and it was the perfect gift. After my sob session was over, I dug right into that cake. Later Dave said he wanted to take a picture of me with the cake (oops, guess I should have waited for that piece of cake). He had bought special candles, lit them, and even sang happy birthday.

In the midst of what seems like a crisis Dave is always there for me. What in the world would I do without my incredible husband? Thank you Lord for providing me with Dave.

Here is Savannah drinking her milk this morning. She is exhausted and has found a way to drink it without having to hold the bottle! Smart buger!!

She's also played LOTS with one of her new books mommy got from her friend Jennifer. Thanks Jen, she loves it!!

The Birthday Celebration

Last night Dave and I had the awesome opportunity to go to dinner ALONE for my birthday. My mentor, Laura, and her husband, Stuart, volunteered over a week ago to come and watch Savannah for us so we could go out to eat. What a treat!! After dinner, we prolonged the evening by just driving around the growing area near our house here in Charlotte.

The celebration ended quickly though as it was a rough night in our house. I was up most of the night with the little one. I'm not sure if she's teething or what, but I ended up "sleeping" on the floor of the nursery so Dave could get some sleep for work. Every two hours she would wake up screaming . . . I thought the problem was a diaper rash that she had when we put her to bed. Maybe, I thought, the wet diaper was irritating the rash so every 2 hours, after she finished screaming, I would calmly get her out of bed, change her diaper, and put her right back to bed. A risky task, but thankfully each time she'd go right back to sleep. As of 5:45 this morning she was up for good though with no diaper rash to be found. Whew. I'm pretty exhausted to say the least.

Anyway, shortly after she woke up for good this morning Dave came upstairs to volunteer to watch her for awhile so I could get a little sleep. Then he surprised me with breakfast in bed. What a treat after the long night I had. It was extra special because he had to get up around 4 this morning to get everything ready and had already made a special trip to the grocery store just to buy the stuff he wanted to make. What an awesome husband. He was bummed that Savannah sort of ruined the morning, but I still felt special as he delivered my breakfast on a tray. Although the baby was screaming downstairs, I thoroughly enjoyed my morning breakfast in bed, alone, in front of the TV (which didn't have Praise Baby playing)!!

Hugs and Kisses

Two of Savannah's newest accomplishments are giving hugs and kisses. I LOVE IT!! There is probably nothing better than getting a kiss from your child, even when you do have to ask for it. She is very selective of who gets hugs and kisses, but if you catch her in a good mood, she'll give them over and over (daddy always gets more than mommy though). It's the cutest thing to watch.

Just yesterday when we went into the bonus room she saw her Fluff bear, picked him up, and squeezed him as hard as she could. When I said "give Fluff bear kisses" she again hugged him and gave him a big ol' open mouth kiss. Here's the best picture I could get of her hugging her bear. She usually wraps her arms across her chest and just squeezes.

A Different Child

WOW! What a difference a day makes. After I posted my blog entry yesterday and asked several friends to pray for us, Savannah woke up from her afternoon nap a different child. She was laughing, playing, and even drank lots of milk last night. Honestly, it was the first time in almost two weeks that I've seen and heard her laugh out loud, and laugh a lot!! Of course her laughing made me excited enough to do a happy dance, which made her laugh even more. It was awesome. I was afraid to post last night thinking that I would jinx her for today, but so far it's been a great day! I don't know if it was immediately answered prayers or just Savannah hearing the doctor say "No more table food", but either way, it has worked.

She's back to eating table food and drinking lots of milk. Whew. I went to the grocery store early this morning and tried to buy a few new things for her so hopefully that will help to. Now she's screaming because she doesn't want a nap, but that's the least of my worries. She's eating again. YIPPEE!!

Thanks so much for all of your prayers, God is so good!

23 Times

That's the number of doctor visits Savannah has had since she was born . . . know how many times they've prescribed a medication for her?? TWO.

We just got back from yet another doctor visit this morning only to find out that she's perfectly fine. She woke up unusually fussy so I thought it was time we saw the doctor today. Our regular doctor was off, but Dr. Moran was great! Her diagnosis is that Savannah is testing me to my limits trying to see what she can get away with. Although the child has lost a few ounces since our last visit, the doctor didn't seem worried. She said definitely not to switch back to the bottles and to keep offering the table food, not the baby food. Oh boy, here we go. Another battle.

So, I'm in need of prayer . . . please pray that I have the strength to deal with being tested all day long. Please pray that I'm patient, loving, gentle, and a model for Savannah to follow. This is only possible through His strength (and a few ear plugs as the doctor suggested).

New Issues

Well, after about an hour of trying to get this new computer to let me make a blog entry, here we are . . . one hour closer to Savannah waking up from her one and only nap. AAAHH!! This computer is about to send me and Dave over the edge. It's all fancy and stuff, but boy are we creatures of habit?! Things are so different with everything and it's just taking awhile to get our files all transferred to the new system and sorted out. If I get one more pop up screen asking a question I'm going to scream!!!

Anyway, here is my real issue this week. SAVANNAH. Ok, she's always my issue, but seriously, I need your help and advice. After months of bragging about how great of an eater she was it's finally bit me in the rear. Now she is refusing to eat all table food and she even is refusing the milk (except first thing in the morning). I know that people say when she's hungry she'll eat, but she's still eating, just not table food. She only wants baby food. Several times she's tried to eat goldfish, but once she has them chewed she reaches in her mouth and takes the gook out. Not only is it driving me crazy, but I'm really worried. What in the world is going on with her? For months she's eaten YoBaby yogurt and loved it and even that she's refusing now.

Here are my questions: (I would call the doctor and ask, but after about 5 calls last week I'm embarrassed to call again!)

1. Do I just feed her the baby food and keep offering table food hoping she'll eventually eat it?
2. What about the milk? Should I switch her back to bottles to see if she'll drink more?
3. Why is she refusing to chew some things and others she'll chew and then take out?
4. How long is this going to last?????

Please feel free to post your advice and suggestions!

Our Neighbors

I have to tell you that I am beyond blessed to have such wonderful neighbors. I never thought I'd say this, but it's extremely difficult to live in a city with a child and be hours away from your family. God knew what He was doing when He sent us to the house between a doctor one side and a nurse on the other side. Isn't that amazing?? We see the house and fall in love with it because of it's features, space, etc. but God had a bigger and better reason for us to be here! Anyway, I have called both of my neighbors many times to ask questions about Savannah and even showed up on one doorstep at 10pm one night with a baby that was turning blue. They are wonderful!

Just today, for example, I'd reached my breaking point with Savannah. Even after calling the doctor twice yesterday and once today, I just feel like something is wrong with her stomach. Of course there's nothing that they can do for a virus, so here we are, waiting it out. She has not had much of an appetite and screams every time I try to change a diaper, feed her, give her milk, wipe her nose, or heaven forbid I try to feel for incoming teeth. WHEW!! Anyway, I was trying to calm her down so I helped her get into the rocker in the nursery. It wasn't five seconds before she headed for the end table (like she normally does) but this time she took a nose dive right over the edge of the chair. Now I'm sitting there watching this happen and as I reach for her legs it's too late . . . she's head first in the floor after hitting her forehead pretty hard on the table. So, what do I do, call my neighbor Mrs. Marlene. Long story short, after heading over to her house with both of us crying Savannah is now playing there for a little bit. What a relief to know that she's in good hands . . . and a little break for mommy.

Please be praying for Savannah as this virus/teething issue passes and for Dave as he just called me from work saying that he's sick too, not good timing here at month end!