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Today is our appointment at Vanderbilt with a pediatric gastroenterologist for Bella's acid reflux. She is doing a lot better on the medicine, but I think they need to adjust the dosage some because her symptoms are coming back. I think it's only because she's gotten a lot bigger since the first diagnosis. She's thriving on the breastfeeding and it's so wonderful to know we can do it. I set a goal of getting to at least six months of exclusively breast feeding, and I am hoping we can meet that goal. She is doing incredible, she left the hospital to come home at 7lbs 5ozs, and last week she was 14lbs 1ozs, which is about double :) Really, I have been blessed with the world's best baby so far. She is rarely fussy, she loves going on walks and being active with me, she's done great on long car trips, and every night, she sleeps from about 11pm to 8am STRAIGHT. We have a beautiful system, and I'm so lucky. I feel much more confident in my parenting now. We each spend time with her on her play mat and her developmental toys, we watch some educational shows together, we snuggle, we read, count, and recite letters. And she's making progress every day. It's amazing to watch her grow and change. It's also a little sad too because it's all going so fast. But we're just so happy; Matt and I are both enjoying every second. We've got a good rhythm together, and I'm managing to be the same wife I was before I had a baby and more. House has been spotless, dinner and lunch made, and I'm working my way back to being in shape. Yesterday I felt so accomplished, all the laundry got done including our sheets, bathrooms cleaned, carpets shampooed, everything dusted and mopped, Boomer got a bath, Bruce got brushed, kitchen cleaned, awesome dinner cooked, went food shopping for lunches for Matt, and I got to the gym and busted out 4 miles and a short strength workout with abs. In the beginning, I thought I'd never back to this point and find a way to balance it all, but now that I have, I feel more confident, strong, and happy. Life is close to perfect for us, and I am grateful for all these blessings we have. We still have hardships, it's so difficult to be so far from my family, especially my sister and the boys (Raymond's THIRD birthday was this week and next month is Nate's first, and we're missing it). But we're not letting the bad interfere with the fact that we're living this life we only thought we'd get to dream about. Life will never be exactly the way we want it to be, we could always use more money, he could always use an easier, more predictable job, but you know what? We're healthy. We're so in love, in fact, more so every day. We have the most beautiful and amazing daughter. And even though they are far, we have a supportive and loving family that is always close in heart. We have SO much to be thankful for and so much to be positive about.
Matt's waiting to hear back about a different job here working for the Warrior Transition Unit. I have my fingers crossed it comes through. It's closer to his old job, because it's like being a platoon sergeant again with people he can relate to (combat injured soldiers). And it's an extra $400 a month, which would be nice. He put the application in last week, so we'll see what comes of it. Anyway, sweet girl is waking up from her nap, and I've got to shower and get her fed and ready for the trip to Nashville. Life is GOOD!
Matt's waiting to hear back about a different job here working for the Warrior Transition Unit. I have my fingers crossed it comes through. It's closer to his old job, because it's like being a platoon sergeant again with people he can relate to (combat injured soldiers). And it's an extra $400 a month, which would be nice. He put the application in last week, so we'll see what comes of it. Anyway, sweet girl is waking up from her nap, and I've got to shower and get her fed and ready for the trip to Nashville. Life is GOOD!