Smiles

Lately Skylar is smiling so much. She looks like she wants to laugh & I know it won't be long! We have had some very cold days lately but when we do get a warm day I like to take her for a walk at the International Friendship Forest by Warnock Lake. It is about 2 miles from our house & beautiful. The Friendship Forest is has a waterful & trees from all 50 states & around the world & is dedicated to Amelia Earhart (who was born here in Atchison, KS) Larry is staying very busy with school but always makes time for us. Every night he watches me read Skylar a book, then he swaddles her & puts her in her swing. Her room has a chair & a couch so we hang out & talk until she falls asleep & then we put her in her crib for the night. It is great family quality time that we are able to enjoy this year since Larry won't be out to sea.

Our Family day

Yesterday the 3 of us went for a drive to Kansas City. I had a gift certificate for a massage that someone had given me after I had Skylar. Although my massage was extremely relaxing I spent most of my hour wondering if Skylar was being good for Larry. After I was done I called Larry to pick me up & it was just as I thought...he said she spent almost the entire time crying. Larry picked me up, we parked & I moved to the backseat to feed her. I looked at the back of the car to find the diaper bag open, wipes everywhere & a dirty diaper laying on the floor. I laughed a little & we loaded up Skylar in her stroller with all of her supplies & decided to take a walk & find a place to eat lunch. As soon as we found a kid friendly, non-smokey place to eat...Skylar started to scream her head off. I told Larry we needed to leave & drive around a bit before we could eat. He said ok but wanted to let me know that he was starving. After we calmed her down we decided we were in the mood for pizza. We found a little place & waited for our pizza & bit into it when I saw Larry's face. Being the New Jersey pizza snob that he is he let out a big "yuck!" He asked our very nice waitress if they made their pizza with velveeta. She said it is their own house blend of swiss, provalone & white cheddar & that we could buy some if we wanted to. Larry asked her to please box up the rest of the pizza for us to take home so he didn't hurt her feelings. I reminded him that Kansas City is known for their ribs & BBQ & not pizza & to stop complaining. After the pizza fiasco we decided to shop for furniture since we need a desk. Every time we tried to look at desks Skylar would scream. I decided to pick her up & hold her & I thought...wow my baby smells...I thought babies were supposed to smell good. I asked Larry to hold her so I could use the rest room. When I came out I noticed a brown strip around her waist. Oh yes...her diaper was leaking & it was bad! We took her screaming smelly little body to the car & after about 50 wipes & a new outfit she was still crying. Larry had a trash bag for the wipes & dirty diaper & he asked me to put the outfit in the bag. I explained to him that the outfit could be washed & we don't need to throw it out. We decided to leave & spent an hours drive home to a screaming baby. Larry asked me why she was crying & when was it going to stop. He also asked me if she does this every day & I said yes & that was why I don't get a lot done sometimes. We went home & took another hour trying to get her to sleep. We decided to have some alone time & watch a movie. I was asleep after about 2 minutes, so we went upstairs to bed. Boy does a baby change your life.

Coping with the stress of a dirty diaper

Balancing baby & homework

After my bath

I know Skylar will be mad at me later when I show these pictures to her friends, but I wanted everyone to see her cute chubby rolls.

Bedtime routine

Even though Larry is super busy with his homework & stays up until at least midnight every night, he always helps me put Skylar to bed. He is so good at it & I am not. We start by giving her a bath & she hates this so she screams her head off! Then Larry blow drys her hair, & she loves this. We take her in her room & I feed her & read her a book. After that Larry swaddles her & puts her in her swing & then into her crib for the night. This almost always works. Last night she was extra fussy so Larry asked me to leave the room & go take a bubble bath. When I got out of the tub I could hear him reading to her...but he was reading her his homework in a very expressive voice. She was out like a light. He put her to bed. We decided not to put a tv in our bedroom so we could spend more time hanging out , talking, reading, etc. Every night it's the same thing...we both fall asleep with a book in our hand. Having an infant is very exhausting but worth it. She's a lot of fun. We are really enjoying seeing her smile (her latest thing) Taz our German Shepherd sleeps part of the night in our room & part of the night in Skylar's room & he always gets up with me when I feed her. During the day he lays by her swing when she is in it. They are so cute together.

Cute as a button