Thumbsucker

I love this baby.

I love that she has found a way to self-soothe. This is how she's been putting herself to sleep lately. She's the sweetest. It's hard to believe that just a few weeks ago I was ready to pull my hair out with frustration. Because she's really good and happy now.

And this picture, because I like gross things. Luckily, Elliot's cornered the market on gross things. This is hummus and pita he's showing.

And as requested, a front view of my house. It's actually attached to another one story house, but we really can't hear them. And hopefully they don't hear us, because we sure make a lot of noise, with the children and singing and all.

New House!

We did it! We moved into our new house! Now this is especially exciting for us after the house that we lived in before. I would take pictures of that house, but I don't think I want to really remember it. Yes, it was bad. But we survived, and here we are, in a house that is brand new and double the size of our previous home. The other thing that is great about it is that we now live on the main base. Previously, we lived on an annex to the base that was a few miles away (it would sometimes take 15 minutes to get to the main base), and didn't really have anything on that side. Now, we live close to Dottie's school, the grocery store, Joe's work, the mall, and all of our friends on base. Ah, it is so exciting!
Ruby on the new carpet, right before rolling over! She's been rolling over stomach to back since 8 weeks, and she's almost got back to stomach down.

Forgive the unmade bed, Mom. You know me. We got a new bedroom set (new to us: Craig's list) this weekend while we had the moving truck. We've never had one and we've been married almost 7 years! It's so exciting to have a place to put my clothes!

Elliot in his bedroom: we separated the bunk beds. Elliot kept on waking Dottie up.

Dottie's room. She's into posing these days.

Dottie's closet. Dottie told her Primary teacher on Sunday that the most exciting thing about our house is the water spout on the fridge. She spends a lot of time there, making a mess. Luckily, I discovered the lock on that.

Another bed shot.

And my sweet baby. She's been so good during all of this. I've been cleaning the old house and unpacking the new, working non-stop. Ruby's either been napping or sitting in her swing while I work. Oh, and I think the thrush may be better? Her tongue still looks white to me, but she's been nursing like a normal baby since last Monday. Let's hope it stays that way.

My handsome husband preparing the Mother's Day feast in our new kitchen. After our grueling day of moving on Saturday, we were settling down for the night, and Joe said to me, "Do you want a big dinner for Mother's Day?" I knew he hadn't bought anything, but we really didn't have any food for the next day. I did the vague wife response: "It's up to you to plan, not me." Which really means, "I hope you do something good." And he did. He got up out of bed and ran to the store to get me a good meal. Now that's love, isn't it? And it was a good meal.

We're still here, just moving. Oh, and thrush, of course, our new family member

Some optional lyrics that Elliot made up to "Arruba, Jamaica:" "Arruba, Jamaica, ooh I wanna take you to the playground." So here we are, at the playground:

These are the only pictures I've had the time or energy to take in the past while. I don't think I've mentioned, but we're moving this weekend! To a brand new house that's twice the size of this one! So I've been busy packing, and fighting thrush.

Yes, my nemesis. So I basically told two doctors this morning exactly how I wanted to be treated. The first doctor, atWilford Hall Pediatrics, was unsympathetic and once again tried to say that my child didn't have thrush. That's when I started crying, and she asked me if I wanted a second opinion, and I said, "Yes." So in came another doctor, and she convinced the other one to treat Ruby, at least, for thrush. They still wouldn't treat me, despite my crying.

So I called an urgent care doctor that I recently saw, and I convinced him to treat me for a week. Ah... yes. I think there might be light at the end of the thrush tunnel.

So the moral of the story? Don't get thrush. And if you do, skip Wilford Hall Pediatrics all together.

But I'm getting a new house! That's what I have to look forward to, right?

It's Getting Better All the Time

Thanks for all of your concern. We are still fighting thrush, sad to say. But I'm feeling positive: we got on what's supposed to be the strongest drug to get rid of it, and Ruby's tongue looks great and I feel almost itch-free.

Ruby also got put on Zantac for reflux. And I'm thinking maybe she did have a little reflux, because she's been sleeping great ever since. So I'm loving my baby.

Since we've been staying home a lot a lot because Ruby only stays awake for a half hour at a time (I think she's catching up from weeks of bad sleeping), Elliot has gotten a little stir-crazy. That's when I whipped out the crafts. I'm sure many of you mommas have heard of Notimeforflashcards.com. I started using this website last year to keep Dottie busy in the hot San Antonio summer, but haven't really used it since. Now that I'm more adjusted to 3, I thought it was high time Elliot start working on his alphabet. This website has fun crafts for every letter, in addition to songs and books that go along with the activity. It's great. And my favorite thing? The crafts aren't overly elaborate or expensive. You just need construction paper, googly eyes, pipe cleaners and similarly cheap craft supplies. Here's some examples of Elliot's artwork:

Letter D dragon.

And today, we made a letter E decorated with Easter eggs.
I'm proud of my boy! He painted those eggs pretty much by himself.

And the token Ruby pictures. When she was awake for, oh, 15 minutes.
I should mention she still cries to sleep. But she normally settles in 15 minutes or less. It's all in reading the "sleepy" signs I learned from Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child.

For New Moms, Moms-to-Be, and Future Moms

Tuck this advice somewhere in the back of your brain, because if you're planning to have multiple children, you will probably have a fussy baby at some point. Note I say fussy, not colicky. There's a difference. Ruby doesn't have colic, because she can be soothed, and she doesn't cry "3 hours a day, 3x a week, for 3 weeks or more" (that's the definition of colic).
I've finally figured out what's wrong with her, now that she's nearly 10 weeks old. Here it is: 1) thrush and 2) overstimulation.

Thrush. My kids have never had it before, so I didn't know what it looked like. Before we left the hospital, the nurse came in and said, "Her tongue's a little white. It may be thrush, but we think it's just breast milk." I took her word that it was probably breast milk, not really thinking about it again. But then Ruby started pulling off all the time when nursing. I thought she was already entering the distracted nurser phase of life, which comes later when your hyperactive infant wants to look at everything around them. So I asked at the doctor 2 week appt., "Do you think she has thrush?" Same answer: "No, it's just breastmilk." Again, I took her word for it. By the way, being at a military facility, I almost never see the same physician twice. Finally, at 7 weeks, I took her in for a cold. I wasn't even going to ask the doctor, but this doctor, when examining her, said, "Her tongue is coated white. She has thrush!" I couldn't believe that she had gone 7 weeks with thrush, all because two previous doctors had misdiagnosed her!

Once on Nystatin, her behavior improved. She was nursing better, she was happy. This was the week of the Happy Ruby post. We did two cycles of Nystatin. Two days after it was done, Ruby became worse. She only took 20 minute naps, she had to be practically asleep to nurse, and I spent all of my days trying to get her to nurse or sleep. I was going insane.

This past Wednesday, I took her in to the doctor again, because now I was starting to feel itchy from thrush. They treated Ruby with Gentian Violet (remember?), but they wouldn't treat me. I had to set up a separate OB appointment, and they gave me cream Nystatin, which you have to wash off and reapply every time you breastfeed! Yes, a nightmare! I really didn't want to use it, because it says boldly on the box, "do not ingest." What if I poisoned my baby?

So. What's a girl to do? I was literally going insane from the thrush! Oh, I forgot to mention, the one treatment of Gentian Violet that they gave Ruby didn't work. She still has thrush. She was happy the one day she had the treatment, but her tongue was still slightly white. I heard from a few women that the only thing that works is doing Gentian Violet on yourself and your baby for 3-4 days. This means purple baby and purple breasts. But I was desperate. I sent Joe to Walgreen's, he bought the Gentian Violet, and we began treatments last night. I already feel better, and I think Ruby does too. Let's pray this is the end.

So, my point. If you see a white coating on your baby's tongue, that's thrush. Don't listen to your doctor if they say, "It's not thrush, because it's only on the tongue." And don't do Nystatin as a treatment. It ultimately does not work. You must use Gentian Violet. It's cheaper and more effective. Doctors don't really know what to do with thrush; I've heard of lots of women who go for months with thrush before finally getting better. So don't let yourself get to this point; do Gentian Violet right away.

2) Overstimulation. Can you tell from this post that I have been crazy? So in addition to the thrush, Ruby has only been taking 20 minute naps. My other children I could nurse, and they would go to sleep. Well, Ruby hasn't been wanting to nurse because of the thrush, and when she would nurse, as soon as she was done, her little eyes would pop open. She's hyperactive.

I think part of it is me going too many places during the day (mostly the doctor's office, thanks to thrush), and me having multiple children. She just wants to be awake and playing with them, and she wants to be part of the action when we're out and about. But she gets too tired, and then she fusses all of the time.

So on Tuesday, I lost it. I called Joe, crying, because I couldn't even feed myself lunch because I was trying in vain to get my child to sleep. He came home, gave me a salad, and a blessing, and took Ruby. I immediately felt inspired to read this book that I had checked out from the library a few weeks ago that my friend Becca had suggested called Healthy Sleeping Habits, Happy Baby. This book was an answer to my prayers. It may not be an answer to yours, but it gave me what I needed to get my baby into good sleeping habits. The premise is that your baby needs to sleep at least every two hours a day or they get overly tired. And that is so true! So, for me, to get Ruby to sleep was to let her cry. I comfort her every fifteen minutes, but she has already learned how to put herself to sleep. I have never been opposed to "crying it out," and I have done it for my other kids, but I never thought it was appropriate for a child under 3 months of age. But if your kid isn't sleeping and is crying anyway, what other alternative is there?

So my point with this: Get a sleep strategy for your baby at birth. Even if you're not planning on using it right away, have a plan, whether it be from Healthy Sleeping Habits, Happiest Baby on the Block, or Babywise, come up with a plan. I have never read any parenting books before, because I like to go with my instincts, but in Ruby's case, this really helped me.

Okay. I'm done. Hopefully I helped someone. I certainly helped myself. I'm grateful the worst is over, and I can just enjoy my adorable little girl. I do love her so.

This was the original treatment of Gentian Violet, done at the doctor's. Note the slightly purple lips.
Sad face. We get to take her to church tomorrow like this.

This was a rapid mood swing. She gets it from her brother.

Purple tongue! Did I mention this stuff dyes everything? So don't put your child or yourself in anything you care about.
With big sister!

Favorite Conference Talk

I loved this talk by Quentin L. Cook from General Conference, a broadcast my church puts on biannually where church leaders speak to members on a variety of topics to help us spiritually. It made me glad to be a woman and a mother. I am grateful I have the support of my church in this most important role.

Aruba, Jamaica

You may think Aruba is a small island in the Caribbean. But you're wrong: Aruba is my infant daughter. Or so Elliot says. He's been calling her Aruba for quite awhile. I expanded the nickname to "Aruba, Jamaica." Then, I taught Elliot "Kokomo." And this is what we now sing to Ruby to make her happy.

Two anecdotes about my children and Ruby. The other day, Ruby was fussing, I was tired, so I took a time out from her and laid her down on Elliot's bed, under the ceiling fan (she loves to watch ceiling fans). Ruby quieted down, in awe of the ceiling fan, and I told Dottie to watch her while I did the dishes. I came back a few minutes later to check on the girls, and what did I see? Dottie having a family home evening lesson with Ruby. She had a picture of Jesus in the Americas from the Gospel Art Kit, and she was telling Ruby about Jesus. So sweet.
This is Dottie, playing a General Conference game this weekend. She lasted about a half hour. At first, she was really into it. She kept on saying, "Turn it up, Mommy!" Because she wanted to be sure to hear every word so she could win the game. But she gave up.

Elliot during conference: eating a banana on his bed.

In the car this week, Elliot told me, "I can't wait for Ruby to grow up so I can share my toys with her and she can share her toys with me." Another sweet moment from one of my children.

One more: last night, during Priesthood session, I had to put the kids to bed by myself. Overwhelmed with a tired infant, I put Dottie to work. She put a diaper on Elliot (yes, we're having nighttime pottying issues), his jammies on, and even read him stories. By the time she was done, I had Ruby somewhat settled, so I was able to brush their teeth and get them to bed. I'm grateful I have a child old enough to help!