Happy All Hallow's Eve!

Stephen here again. If Jesstine doesn't appear to have the right holiday attitude, she comes by it honestly. I, for one, have never cared much for Halloween. Sure, the candy is great (or at least was back in the day when I went looking for it), but it's such a bother with all the costumes and such. You can ask my mom. Even when I was Jesstine's age (OK, maybe I was a little older than that), I HATED being in makeup or costume. Anything with a mask was just no good. Of course, there was also that incident where I took a pair of scissors to a tiny piece of my inflatable costume top, just as an experiment in air pressure. Dad didn't care for my scientific methods. Worst of all was the yearly "parade" through school. To me, it was nothing but a parade of freakish ugliness, and I was forced to take part. Even with no costume, guess who had to walk along the halls and pretend to be having a good time? And please, don't ask me why I'm not wearing a costume. You don't really want to know.


But enough of that. Popeye here... whoops I mean the cute little cat on the right deserves better than me whining. So in the spirit of the season, let me tell you a story of the best Halloween ever. Don't worry, I'm not wasting your time. It has something to do with Jesstine, honest!


A few years ago, I was asked to go help out at a Halloween party being hosted by one of the families at church for the teen group. Halloween party?!? Me??? Anathema! But because the lady organizing it was so nice (and her daughter very attractive) I agreed to go. I didn't have to put on any costume (I was strict on that point). Instead, I would wear dark sweats and hide behind the house with a walkie-talkie and provide the voice of the welcoming scarecrow who could mysteriously converse with the kids (the other end of the walkie-talkie was hidden in the scarecrow). It was a similar setup to what I'd done during the second-best Halloween ever, helping out the soccer team at "Haunted Island" at Watson Park (there's just some kind of visceral thrill associated with spraying folks with a jet of water from a hidden Jason Voorhees statue).


Anyway, after all the kids had gone in, I picked up my gear and went inside for some goodies. Although the organizer's daughter was a no-show, just after stepping into the living room, I happened upon a blond girl wearing what appeared to be a yeti costume. She looked familiar, and I remembered meeting her once before at church. Although more hirsute than normal, there was something about her that just seemed.... right. I thought she was the sister of Ola, one of the teens at church. I decided that I was at a Halloween party, where I normally would not be found, so why not do something else I wouldn't normally do? I went up to her, brushed my hand lightly over her spiky hair, and said (with debonair charm), "Hi. You're Ola's sister, aren't you?"

There's a lot more to the story, including a gentle rebuff ("You'll have to ask my mother"), a fish fry, and a walk-off at the old Members Only warehouse("It's a walk-off....it's a walk-off"). But this is already running long, and the other party to the story probably wishes her input to be heard. To sum it up, a few years later I have this (among other things) to show for that Halloween party encounter:

So happy Halloween to everyone! You never know when it might turn into something great!

SAH

Two months old

Stephen here. Our little girl is two months old! She's starting to laugh and smile a lot more often, as you can see in these pictures. Speaking of pictures, this morning we went to a fancy picture place to have pictures taken for the obstetrician's clinic. They like to hang pictures of their newborns on the wall for a month or two at a time. Therefore, they setup sittings at this place across town. They make nice prints on plastic board, and give a free 8x10 to the clinic who subsequently passes it on to the family. It's a good deal for the photoshop too, as parents inevitably order a couple of extra prints for themselves. Knowing this going in..... we folded like a pup tent in a hurricane and blew a bunch of money on prints. Jesstine is too cute for our own good.

So the official two-month picture is on the left. She's not smiling, but trust me, she usually does. Actually, we're actively raising an attention-deficit child. She LOVES her kick and play with the flashing lights and the music. She's probably going to grow up into a disco fiend. She's only truly happy when the bouncy seat is going full blast. I have nightmares about her sitting down in church or school for 30 seconds and screaming, "BORING! YOU'RE BORING ME!, I'm BORED!!"

I really don't want to buy one of those portable DVD players for the car just so she can watch Sleeping Beauty while we drive across town. I mean, I know I sound like an old curmudgeon saying this, but "in my day, we didn't have no fancy spancy DEE VEE DEE players in the car! We sat there bored, or picked a fight with our sibling until Dad got so upset he threatened to stop the car and then our lives (in that order), and we LIKED it! Yeah! We LOVED it!" So why does Jesstine need a DVD player in the car?

Well, Jesstine needs to go get her shots, so I'd better wrap this up. I'll leave you with a picture of Jesstine doing what she enjoys most (besides pooping, which also always brings a grin).

God bless!

SAH

P.S. Check the comments for the latest on her 2 month appointment.

BIG Girl!

Well, I wasn't joking in the last post when I said that she is growing! The outfit she wore to her tea party was SO big on her when she wore it that day. Now, she is almost too long for it! The pants were so big on her (it was quite cute!). Now they fit perfectly. I am praying that she will still fit in it for our pictures on Thursday. We have a Madonna setting. No not as in the singer! As in a mother and child picture. There is no sitting fee and we get a free 8x10 with no obligation. It is a gift from my OB. If you can't tell, I am looking forward to it. Here is a picture of Jesstine in her new shoes and her tea party outfit. Also I am including a couple of pictures of her showing her support for some of our favorite teams. Is this a conflict of interest do you think?

Oh yeah, and she smiles very well on camera!

Dallas Cowboys or ........

Wichita State? Conflict of interest?

In Him,

Lacie, Stephen and Jesstine

I've Reached A Decision

Okay, so in my last post I went into further detail some of my frustrations with breast feeding. After working for a whole day with Jesstine on nursing alone some things came to light. I stopped and thought and here is what I came up with. I have decided to see how long I can solely pump and feed her pumped milk and formula from now on. The reason why is because I feel like I can be a better mother this way. I found myself resenting her. I didn't WANT her to hurt and cry. But I found myself saying, "It serves you right." I came to this decision after I had struggled all day with her. I went to put her on the changing part of her pack and play. I accidentally caught her foot between my stomach and the edge of the changing place. She started to cry. I found myself saying "What is wrong with you now?" instead of feeling sympathetic and comforting her. I quickly realized this and picked her up to sooth her. By this time she had stopped crying already. I felt awful though. I don't think this is a post-partum (SP?!) thing. It very well could be but I strongly suspect that it is just my frustration. One reason is because I noticed it very quickly. I feel better when I feed her a bottle and I know she is fine with it. There are times that I find she still wants to comfort nurse. I am okay with that. If anything, that could help stimulate my breasts to produce for her. Another, it gives her and me the bonding part that breast feeding is supposed to provide without the frustration that seems to come for both of us. So, I feel confident that this will be fine. I know it is MY decision. I know breast milk is the best, but for many reasons it isn't the best for everyone. I feel that this way I can still provide her with the best as well as providing the best for both of us with less frustration and stress. I have found that just after one day, I have had a better attitude toward meeting her needs.

Despite all of this frustration and such, we are SURE Jesstine is growing; and FAST! Stephen has said he is not ready to let Jesstine move to her crib and her own bed. He says that he would like to wait until she is two months old. I agreed. Tonight he came in after putting her in her cradle in our room. He said, "I don't think we have much of a choice about putting her in her crib in a week or so! She is outgrowing her bassinet! So, regardless of which way I feed her, it is obvious that she is growing. I am at peace with my decision. I finally realized that I have to do what is best for the both of us and this is the way to go!

Thanks for the encouragement. I really do appreciate it! I don't want you to think that I don't take your comments seriously. I just was at a breaking point and saw that I was taking things out on the most innocent person in this situation. I know that isn't right, so I made a decision and so far it is what is best for us both!

In Him,
Lacie, Stephen and Jesstine