Help! I have 5 children!

Today is one of those days where I need more time, more hands, more patience, and a lot less problems! I feel like I need a clone of myself just to keep up. It seems like our sweet little baby can never get enough food in her little tummy, so I am feeding her ALL the time. Breastfeeding definitely limits your mobility, making it more difficult to keep up with the rest of the chaos that goes on while Zaylee's eating. This morning, Zaylee was very fussy and overall unsatisfied. I finished dressing her after her bath and laid her in her crib. I come into the kitchen and notice Honey (our mischievous cat) on the counter (which she KNOWS is off-limits!). I grabbed the water spray bottle and scare her down. Then I notice that her collar is off. Where is her collar? It's in Peyton's mouth. Apparently, our dog either ripped it off Honey, or she figured out how to get it off and generously offered it to Peyton to destroy (which he did, I'm sure to Honey's delight). I go to get the laundry out of the dryer (thankfully, Zaylee is still quiet at this point) and start pulling out clothes. All of a sudden, Bebe (our simple-minded cat) is peeing on her pet bed!!! I pick her up and throw her in the litter box as quick as possible, leave the clothes dryer open, and grab the pet bed and throw it outside (YUCK!!). I come back to finish getting out the clothes, and Honey is inside the dryer laying on my clean laundry! Peyton wants outside, Zaylee starts fussing, and my hair is turning gray. I'm starting to get the feeling that I'm raising 5 children instead of just one. Oh, and who's the fifth child, you ask? My husband, of course! ^_^

Waverly Mansion and the Monday Fiasco

This past weekend, Robbie, Zaylee, and I took a trip to the Waverly Mansion, which is only about 10 minutes away from base on the way to West Point, MS. We've been in Columbus for over a year now, and had never gone to see it - so we decided it would be nice to get out of the house and have our first all-day outing with Zaylee.

The mansion was built in the 1850's by Colonel Young. Though it didn't seem like much when we first drove up to it, the history and treasures within the house were amazing! Colonel Young had a family of 10 children, 7 of which were married in the "chapel room" of the house. There are fire places, beautiful antiques, and gorgeous architecture in every room. And the tour guide, an older lady named Melanie who lives in the house with her 82-year-old father, was magnificent! She led us through on a personal tour and told us so many stories. And after the tour, we were able to walk the gardens that surround the mansion. All in all, it was a great site to see and a great lesson in history.

It was a great day. Zaylee did wonderful in her little sling. She was quiet most of the day and only fussed a little when it was time to eat. After we finished at Waverly, we headed over to the West Point Wal-mart (the first time I've been in a Wal-mart in over a month!) to pick up a few things, and then went out to eat at Harvey's. I would say the day went just about as perfect as it could have. ^_^ Here are some pics!

Now, let's contrast Saturday at Waverly to our outing this Monday...Robbie was off Monday for Columbus Day, so we thought we would visit a pumpkin farm in Starkville to spend some time outside and pick a pumpkin for Halloween. He found the directions online, and we were off...Too bad the directions were TERRIBLE! We got so lost, we drove around for an extra hour, stopping twice to ask people for directions. Zaylee was starting to get hungry and had a dirty diaper, so when we stopped at the gas station in Starkville to ask for directions the second time, I decided to take her inside and change/feed her. Unfortunately, I assumed that Robbie had the keys, so when I took her inside, I locked the car. The keys were in the ignition! We were stranded at the Starkville gas station for another 30 minutes before roadside assistance could come and unlock our car. By this time, it was close to 4:30 pm. Robbie had his cell phone, so he called the farm that had the pumpkins to make sure they would still be open if we decided to go there after we got back in our car. The person at the farm said they're only open on Saturdays and Sundays! They weren't even open the entire day! So, the day ended and we returned home with no pumpkin.

It's been fun taking Zaylee out to new places and learning the best way to keep her happy during outings. Each time we go out, it gets easier to take her along and it's starting to feel more normal (and fun!) to have her as part of the family. There are so many adventures ahead of us!

Yay! More Pictures!

Zaylee with her mommy...
Zaylee with her daddy...
Zaylee with the proud grandparents...
Zaylee awake...
Zaylee asleep...
Getting cleaned up...
Zaylee's first picnic...
Going to church...

Bathtime Bust

Well, it's been almost 3 weeks since Zaylee arrived. Boy, does the time fly!! At the beginning, everyday seems to blend into the next and there never seems to be enough time for everything. But in 3 weeks time, we have fallen more in love with our little girl than we ever thought possible. We've begun to understand her various squeaks, sighs, and screams (and boy, does she have a scream!), and she's starting to understand our various attempts to satisfy them. Feeding her has transitioned from a strange, sometimes painful, struggle to an enjoyable bonding time between mommy and baby. Diaper changes are no longer the end of the world (She HATED being changed at the beginning). Toys are starting to be interesting and fun. And nights are slowly being filled with more time asleep and less time awake. (She slept for 7 hours one night!)
Bathtime, however, is another story. Today marked the momentous occasion of Zaylee's first real bath (or should I say first attempt at a real bath). What I thought would be a wonderful experience complete with lots of cute pictures turned out to be a total disaster. We got everything set up in our little bathroom, got out her new tub (with a cute "froggie" insert), opened her baby bath soap, and unfolded her little bath robe. We got her clothes off and wrapped her up in a towel and brought her to the tub. She was already a little fussy, and when we laid in her tub, she erupted...literally. She wasn't in the tub but two minutes when all her struggles and screams resulted in baby poo squirting out into the bath water. To make matters worse, I was already an emotional mess from seeing her so upset, and Robbie's mom was in the bathroom with us trying to catch the whole thing on video tape! Needless to say, once the poo arrived, bathtime attempt #1 was over. No cute pictures, no freshly bathed baby smell, no happy memories caught on video. Just a frazzled mother in tears and a baby who had to have poo water cleaned off of her. Why didn't anyone ever tell me that the first bath was not as easy as it looks in all the Johnson's commercials?
Moral of the story - don't believe everything you see on TV. Taking care of a baby takes lots of patience and lots of learning from (and laughing at) one's mistakes. "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."