Bailey's Hernia

So I noticed about a year ago (spring 2014) a protrusion in her right groin one night as she was getting ready for bed.  It was sporadic; I didn't see it every night.  In October 2014, when we were visiting Tennessee, she was dancing naked before bath and sticking her right hip out and I noticed the bulge look bigger.  I had Cristin look at it (she is/was an ER Nurse Practioner) and she thought it was a hernia.  We saw the pediatrician the end of November.  The surgeon January 7, and that takes us to today, February 5, 2015....SURGERY DAY!

Since we saw the surgeon the beginning of January, Bailey would often say her hernia hurt.  She made numerous trips to the Nurse's office.  One day she was there 3 times.  And she visited again a couple days later...when there was a substitute.....hmmm.  So we had her surgery scheduled in mid-March, just before spring break, but with the increase in pain, we moved it up.  She knew it was 2 weeks away.  Then 1 week away.  Then 5, 4, 3 etc. She was counting down the days and letting her teacher, and anyone that would listen, know it.  Even at the park, to one of Sydney's classmates, her brother, and a couple of random kids: "I'm having surgery tomorrow....Did anybody hear me?!"

The night before she had a second dinner at about 9:30pm since she couldn't eat after midnight.  In the last couple days leading up to the surgery, she would say, "I'm just so nervous!"  And the morning of, "I'm really really nervous!"  She slept well the night before.  She was up at 5am looking for Daisy, her new Schnauzer puppy that Nana had given her the night before.  She had fallen off her bed and was on the floor.  It took her a while to fall back asleep and my changing Sydney's sheets due to a potty accident (we forgot to change into pull-ups at bedtime!) didn't help.  She woke up at 8am and crawled in bed with me to cuddle.  She wasn't mentioning how hungry she was so I didn't mention breakfast.  Sydney got up and joined us.  After I showered, Bailey had a bath since she wouldn't be able to for a day or two after surgery.  She hung out and watched Strawberry Shortcake on Netflix while Sydney and I ate.  She sipped some 7-Up.  She really didn't complain too much about not being able to eat.  Grandma came over about 10, as she was going to hang out with Sydney all day.  Bailey and I left the house at 10:40am to be there at 11am to check-in.

We pulled up to St. Luke's and dropped the car with the valet.  We walked in and got a tag to get checked-in.  Bailey and I had just started coloring in her new My Little Pony book when she had to use the bathroom.  We went quickly so we wouldn't miss them calling our name.  We came back and continued coloring.  Bailey said, "Mom, I really like it when you color with me."  A couple of minutes later they found us and took us to a private workspace to check us in.  Bailey and I got wristbands with her name on it.  Hers had padding, mine didn't.  She had us go downstairs to the Surgery Waiting room and check in.  We sat down and a few minutes later a male MA took us back.  He weighed her (18kg) and measured her height.  We went into the pre-op waiting room where she put on a blue spaceship and rocket gown.  She hopped up on the bed and put the heated blanket on her.  She loved that.  The guy came back in and took her blood pressure, temperature, and put on a pulse oximeter on her finger.  Meanwhile, PBS was on in a TV in the corner and she got hooked on that.  Shortly after, Kristen, the Life Care Specialist came in and told Bailey what the plan was.  She brought in a mask that she got to decorate with stickers of her choosing.  She also got to choose a flavored chapstick to be rubbed onto the inside of the mask to make the "sleepy air" smell good.  Bailey knew this was happening because we had watched the video on-line about 7 times on the St. Luke's Children's Hospital website.  The next person to come in was Geri, a nurse.  She was great and explained everything to Bailey and the time-line to me and TJ.  It looked like they were just a few minutes behind.  Suddenly, there was a nurse at the sliding glass door that was making faces at Bailey.  She got a huge smile on her face and she recognized who it was.  It was Deida, Laine's Mom.  She is an OR nurse there and wanted to come and check on Bailey.  That was so sweet of her.  Then the Anesthesiologist came in, Dr. Richins, and she was a 30-something doctor with young kids of her own.  She was really nice and easy to listen to.  She talked about a caudal block for Bailey.  She spoke in easy terms to Bailey about what was going to happen with the mask and the "sleepy air" and when she would see Mom and Dad again.  She told Bailey some people think the sleepy air smells like fingernail polish.  She asked Bailey to try really hard to figure out what color of fingernail polish it was, and she would ask her after the surgery.  Finally, Dr. Reynolds came in at 1pm to sign some papers and ask if there were any questions.  She drew a mark on Bailey's right side so they would make sure it was the correct side to operate on.  A few minutes later, we said "see you soon, B!" and they wheeled her out of the room.  I was holding back tears - and Bailey never saw.  She was so brave and strong.  Duncan, the nurse anesthetist, as well as Deida and another nurse whisked her away and she did wonderfully.  The procedure would take 60-90 minutes.  Dr. Reynolds would fix the right side, then look with the scope on her left side to see if a hernia had started there (10-15% of the time there is).  If so, she would fix that as well.  TJ and I were walked to the waiting room.

TJ left to make a couple of phone calls and sign a chart.  Justin Grimm stopped by to see us.  He was operating with Roman at St. Luke's and knew we were going to be there.  He wanted to be sure that Bailey knew he was going to "peek in" on her from the OR window.  We chatted a few minutes then TJ and left one-by-one to go get some lunch.  It was 1:30.  Surgery started at 1:14pm.

Camping at Warm Lake

Thursday 9-23-12:
After TJ had his upper endoscopy, we left after lunch with Bailey and Kenzie in tow.  Mom and Julie were going to share babysitting duties with Sydney, as camping with a 15 1/2-month-old would not be fun for either party.  We were loaded up with the kayak and the tent trailer behind the truck.  The girls watched Tangled on the way to the cabin.  TJ and Bob left with the trailer to scout out Horsethief Reservoir and then possibly Warm Lake camping, as it was the last weekend before school started.  Due to the proximity of the reservoir for fishing and swimming, they decided to just go straight to Warm Lake.  They found a decent spot that had been reserved, but cancelled that very day.  They parked the trailer and paid for 4 days and came back to the cabin, as TJ had his Cascade Clinic Friday morning.  While the guys were out, the girls stayed around and played.  We went exploring outside and looked out in the back field.  We saw a wreath with flowers on it, a barbed-wire fence, sap oozing out of a tree, an owl statue to keep the woodpeckers away, and a water pump that was enveloped by a wooden "wishing well."  The girls put the flowered wreath on top of the water pump and made a wish: Kenzie's wish: money for a party.  Bailey's wish: flowers!  We walked across the lane down an overgrown grass road and Kenz sliced open her fingers - it was sharp!  We decided to head indoors and the girls played upstairs with toys they brought while I read a book on Hot Springs in the Pacific Northwest.  Bailey and Kenz discovered banana chairs and TJ's holographic pig saucer toy.  We all played Sorry! while listening to a record of the Grease Soundtrack.  We headed back outside to check out the garage and all the toys in there.  The girls sat on a 4-wheeler and were excited about a ride with TJ later that night.  The girls were getting hungry and we tried to stay busy.  TJ and Bob returned home a little after 6 and we had a pork roast with carrots and potatoes from the crockpot.  It was delicious!  After dinner, TJ took the girls on the 4-wheeler to check out the boys' old tree house.  The wood was rotted out, so (thankfully) someone had removed the boards on the tree trunk that made a ladder so nobody could get up there.  They putted over to the creek and threw some rocks in while the sun was setting.  TJ came back to get me and take me to the creek.  We took some cool pictures as the sun was setting.  We then headed back to make a fire for S'mores and the girls crashed by 9:30pm.



Friday 9-24-12:
Kenzie woke up at 7:30am missing her mama.  She got in bed with me and cuddled while TJ got up to get ready for Clinic.  The girls cuddled in Grandpa's heated recliner while breakfast was made.  Turkey bacon, scrambled eggs, tomatoes and toast.  It was excellent!  TJ left for Clinic and I packed up our bags.  The girls had a shower and played with the pig magnifier, couch pillows, and the banana chairs.  TJ returned and we ate lunch and headed to Shoreline Campground at Warm Lake.  About a 45-minute drive.  TJ dropped the 3 of us off at the trailer and went to check with the Camp Post to see if we still had our spot.  Whew!  We did!  We set up camp and changed into our swim suits to go find Molly's Tubs Hot Springs, on the road to Stolle Meadows.  About a 15 minute drive.  The pull-out on the side of the road was small, maybe enough room for 3 cars.  The trail was pretty steep and rocky with dry dirt.  TJ took each of us girls down one-by-one.  We didn't see any tubs, however.  The water was HOT!  Too hot for the girls.  TJ braved the South Fork of the Salmon River and moved some logs and rocks to divert some colder water into the man-made rock-lined pools.  Kenzie and Bailey loved picking up the silt and rocks at the bottom and letting it float away through their fingers.  We were there for about an hour.  Just before we left 2 volunteer forest service workers came for a soak.  They had been building the first new trail in over 40 years in the area.  They informed us that the tubs were gone from this location as the forest service kept taking them out after people brought them in.  When we left, we drove further up the road and saw probably 5-6 more hot springs coming out of the huge granite rocks.  We turned around and headed back to camp as the girls were hungry!  They explored a bit while TJ got the campfire going to roast some hot dogs.  We saw a lot of chipmunks running around...although Bailey says, "chickmunk."  The girls loved, loved loved playing in the camper.  They wanted to be in there all the time.  After dinner the girls had a warm rinse-off shower in a bucket.  We made S'Mores again.  Kenzie didn't want a true S'More.  She wanted to eat all the ingredients cold.  Roasting that marshmallow was just too messy for Fancy Nancy to eat!  I stayed at camp and attended the fire while TJ took the girls on a walk through the campground and to the lake.  Before they left, Bailey said, "We're not going over in those mountains because there's 'anmals' out there!  Wolfs and bears and tigers and wolfs..."  Bailey found a "wood lollipop."  They came back and we all watched the stars come out (first was Vega) before retiring to the camper.  Kenzie was so tired though.  She asked if we could go to bed earlier on Saturday night.


Saturday 9-25-12:
Bailey awoke at about 2:45 AM with a bloody nose.  Of course.  Luckily we had a roll of toilet paper in the camper because we had the portable toilet inside.  TJ helped her get it stopped.  When we woke up at about 8 it was so cold we could see our breaths from breathing!  And there was frost outside.  TJ got the food from the truck (stored there due to the bear sighting on Thursday) and started boiling some water on the portable Coleman stove for some oatmeal.

(We didn't have heat in the camper because there was something wrong with the line or regulator.  This was discovered earlier in the week but we couldn't get it fixed in time.  It turned out to be the pressure was set/fell to low so when the gas was on, there wasn't enough pressure to get it to the indoor stove/heater.)  We ate oatmeal or cereal and toast from a frying pan.  It was our fishing day, but it was too cold to get on the lake just yet.  We bundled up for a walk to the North Shore lodge and dock.  We hiked on a trail and played on a huge rock that had a 2 foot crack in it.  Kenzie wanted to go back, so I went with her while Bailey wanted to go a little further.  Not much further!  She and TJ turned around about 5 minutes later.  We all headed back to camp to meet Bob, as he was the fisher-supply man.  When we got back to camp, TJ noticed there was bear poop and pee about 15 yards from our fire pit!  It was not there the previous day!  The girls were a little freaked out.  But then Bob arrived and it was time to prepare to fish.  The girls were interested at first, in getting the poles ready, but then got bored.  They pretended to be witches on a broomstick and "flew" all around camp.  We ate lunch and packed up our fishing/swimming/kayaking gear and headed to the Billy Rice beach.  A great little beach and swimming area - only about a 5 minute drive, but with all our gear we needed the cars there.  We drove up and got the last 2 parking spots.  TJ asked the girls if they wanted to swim or kayak or fish and they wanted to FISH!!!  Grandpa and TJ found a fishing rock next to the swimming area but weren't getting any bites.  The girls were playing right on the shore and probably scaring the fish away!  TJ noticed about 100 yards further down the shore some fisherman were catching fish every few minutes.  They decided to move closer to that fishing hole.  I was paddling around in the kayak and looked on from the lake.  I made a supply run of drinks/snacks and sunscreen, as they were on that rock for most of the afternoon.  Bailey was so excited for Kenzie to hold a fish.  She kept saying all weekend, "Kenzie you're gonna hold that fish!"  To which Kenzie would reply, "Nooooo!"  Bailey was the Bait girl (Power Bait) and Kenz was the Pole Holder girl while TJ got the line ready to cast again.  It was a successful day!  Each girl caught 3 fish and reeled them in.  The first one was a double - both Bob and TJ's pole got bites at the same time!  Then another one separately, then another double.  Kenzie did hold on to that fish she caught and Bailey kept saying over and over, "Kenz, I'm so proud of you for holding your fish.  It's your fist time holding a fish with a head!"  (Last weekend in McCall they fished off Boyd's dock and she held the beheaded fish.)


Finally we were all ready to swim - except Bailey.  She sat on the beach and watched TJ and Kenzie swim to the rope.    Then I got in (Bob was with B) and was slow about getting all the way wet.  TJ swept my feet out from under me and down and under I went!  That made Bailey want to get in!  TJ carried her out into the water and stopped when it was to Bailey's waist, just letting her get accustomed to the water.  What do you know....Bailey tooted on TJ's arm!  Which she said slyly with a smile....TJ's reply: "I just peed on your leg!"  We were all laughing about that one for a while!  Finally Bailey rode on TJ's back and we all made it back out to the rope.  She let go of TJ and was cold and shivering and paddling like a doggy but she was smiling the whole time and giggling.  We all swam back to shore and got dried off.  TJ gutted the 2 fish that we kept and I started loading the car.  We went back to camp and Bob joined us for a hobo dinner (ground turkey, potatoes, baby carrots, and onions) and fish and hot dogs.  While dinner was cooking the girls played in "sandbox" that was the tent pad.  Bailey was showing some crack from behind, which we mentioned to her, and what does she do?  Yep!  She mooned us all!  Needless to say the girls were dirty.  This time we put up our utility room/shower and the water was very very warm--borderline hot--as it was warming up in the black solar bag all day.  The girls went first, then TJ and I each had a shower.  It felt great!  It truly was a hot shower!  We got dressed in our jeans and sweatshirts and made S'Mores again.  After some reassuring that she would be okay in the camper alone, Kenzie was ready for bed and asleep at 9:40pm.  Bailey wanted to stay up and see ALL the stars come out.  Ten o'clock hit and she was done.  She crashed without a fight.

Sunday 9-26-12:
It was much much warmer upon awakening today.  No breaths visible in the air.  The girls slept side-by-side (instead of head-to-feet) and were warmer with hoodies on and a blanket over their sleeping bags.  They were much more comfortable during breakfast.  Nobody was shivering!  After oatmeal/cereal/toast breakfast it was time to pack up camp.  The girls stayed out of the way while TJ and I put things away.  Between packing up the bags and such inside the camper and taking everything down around it, it was a good 2 hours.  We drove to the cabin to pick up some item we left there, ate some lunch, then headed down Highway 55 back to Boise.  TJ jerry-rigged the iPad holder in the middle so that both girls could watch a movie with the headphone splitter.  That will probably be the last time we use that camper, at least until our girls are older.  Three times up and down for each trip. First to get ready, second to camp, third to clean.  It certainly takes a lot of time and work. However, we all had a wonderful time and made many great memories.

Kid Poses

We had the good camera at our house so I tried to get some good pictures of the girls in their "twiner" outfits.  Very tough to get them both together.  Bailey was posing in front of the fan...hence the windblown hair.

 Sydney hamming it up.

Sydney doing her grunt with parted pursed lips...she was reaching for her water cup on the window ledge.

Bailey found a warm spot in the living room today.  I came out from the kitchen and saw her perfectly situated  on the carpet where the sun was shining through the window.  She was cozy!  Her Mama used to do the same thing when she was a little girl.

Here is Sydney pretending to be on the phone.  Looks like she is talking to some lions on a Fisher Price App!  Hello?

Bailey Quotes

I took a weekend to visit my friend Michelle in Coeur d'Alene.  The night of my return, after Syd walked right past me and went straight to my mom, Bailey said, "I want to cuddle with you....ya...cuz I haven't cuddled with you around cuz you were with Michelle...ya"

In the car Sydney was getting a little antsy.  I asked Bailey to reach her a toy.  She tossed Freddie the Firefly (a favorite toy months ago for Syd) over to her and she said, "Here Syd, it's not a real bug!"

Bailey and I went in to Syd's room as she was waking up.  Bailey was so excited to see her, jumping up and down and saying Hi and Good Morning.  She said, "My favorite part of her body is her chubby chubby neck!!  What's your favorite part, Mom?"

Bailey and the Banana

So. The Kemps were entertaining with a nice dinner party last night so the Kemp girls came to Nana and Papa's house. Syd sweetly went to bed before 8.  Bailey and I took our time after bath reading books and  making sure she went potty one more time. One of the books about gorillas was about banana peels and where they could be found.  After B finally crashed I put a banana on the bed knowing she would find that entertaining.  At 4 a.m. Bailey tried to wake up Papa, but tapping on his shoulder did not awaken him.  I, however, was awakened to a tapping on my face. Bailey was munching on the banana and said "Nana, I wet the bed"!!  After jammy changes and the rest of the banana was consumed, she hopped in bed with us to finish the night. Not sure how she found that banana in the dark!!! She's a pip.


Nana

Our Baby is From....

Syd likes boxes.  (See earlier post.)  Today Sydney got out a shoe box from the closet and she proceeded to sit inside of it.  As you can see, she kind of stretched it out a bit to fit inside.  Bailey grabbed the lid and put it over her head and said, "Here's our present from R.C. Wiley!!!"  I hope we don't have to return her 3 times like we did Bailey's dresser!

Transit of Venus

The historical Transit of Venus occurred today, June 5, 2012, beginning at 4:10pm MST.  It lasted 6 hours.  The next time this will happen will be December 2117.  So, it is very unlikely that anyone alive today will witness this phenomenon again.  We turned on the NASA channel and saw the beginning.  Bailey was showing Sydney where to look.  Love these pictures.  Too bad it was such a cold, rainy day here and we couldn't see it with our own eyes.  The high temperature today was 57!  After yesterday's 93!

Bailey Quotes

Our Bailey is quite a pip! While hanging out with Daddy in the morning as he was getting ready for work, she put on quite an act. All of a sudden she runs out of our room saying "don't go...don't go...don't go...".  She was headed to her room to get her stool.  She brings it into our bathroom to get on the toilet.  As she sits down, she says, "ok peepee, you can go," with a sigh of relief.  Explaining why she can't go to the bathroom in the middle of the night: "so tired....I have lots of yawns."

"If you want to lift a head over your chair, you have to be very strong.  See?" She flexes her biceps for me.

Racing to the mailbox one afternoon: "Look how run I can fast!!!"

Last Night of Skiing

 TJ took Bailey skiing on Wednesday evening, probably the last tracks of the year.  It was a beautiful night to ski.  Just look at this sunset!  Bailey is definitely getting the hang of skiing.  What a difference a year makes.  She still loves to have some snow on her glove so she can eat some while going down the slope.  On this night, Bailey was skiing in "mashed potatoes," as TJ called it.  It had been warm that afternoon to melt some snow, causing it to turn into slush.  One time down the slope, Bailey started yelling and screaming, "Ahhhh, it's a bear!  It's a bear!"  She was pretending that a bear was chasing her down the mountain.  TJ was skiing behind her, getting some looks from the other skiers on the mountain.  It was very amusing.  In the lodge for some dinner, then back out for a couple of more runs before they headed home from Bogus.

Yeouch!

Sydney's fingernails were in badly need of cutting. Looks like she got to Bailey's forehead before we could get them cut!

Time to Get Messy: Pumpkin Carving

We bought a couple of pumpkins today and decided to turn them into jack-o-laterns. Last year, we had pumpkins, but we didn't carve them.  Bailey was so excited to stick her hand in there and get all the seeds out, even though it was messy!  She wanted to make sure to save the pumpkin seeds.  Daddy told her how he saved the seeds, baked them in the oven and then ate them after he carved his pumpkin as a little kid.  Afterwards, we had to go outside on the deck to light them so she could see the pumpkin-turned-jack-o-lantern flicker.  Sydney was long asleep...she'll have to join in next year!

Bailey's Hairdo

TJ combed Bailey's hair straight back after the bath last night. It really brought out the mullet in her. She loved her hair. After coming downstairs and playing a bit, Daddy messed it up and Bailey was a bit upset. She wanted Daddy to come upstairs and fix it...re-comb it. The looks she was giving us with her hair like that were priceless Seeing all of that forehead and her saying "What?!?!" was hilarious. I was laughing so much I was in tears.

"I'm a Queen"

I was tickling Bailey the other day. I stopped for a second to let her catch her breath and she said, "Daddy, don't touch me! I'm a Queen!" I was speechless.

Bailey's Endo

Bailey took a spill today...twice...on the rocking horse at school. She was rocking "too fast" and fell off. Then she got back on, and again was going too fast and went over the handles and bonked her nose on the shelf. Bloody nose, both nostrils. I walked in about 5 minutes after it happened. She had already had her clothes changed and the teachers were giving her jello (powder with a little bit of water). When rubbed on the upper gums, this apparently stops a bloody nose. News to this Mom, but something I will always have on hand in the future. On her way out of the classroom, she wanted to say good-bye to the horsey "real quick." She ran over to him and hugged and kissed him. Good thing, because that is the last she'll she of the horsey for a while. The teachers were taking him out of the toy rotation! Thanks to Melanie, Nikki, and Shauna for acting so fast and taking care of our girl!

72 Hours of Binki Withdrawal

We decided to get rid of the binki, rather abruptly this week. Last week she had a fever and had been sick, so we were a little more lax on letting her have the binki more often than just nap/bedtime. I found this Bronco Binki in the drawer and for some reason, she got really attached to it. She would cry for it, saying "Bronchi Binki!" anytime she wasn't happy. Bailey was addicted.

Bailey had been real good at brushing her teeth at night, but lately, due to the Bronco Binki, she wouldn't even want to brush. TJ took Bronco Binki and the two others out of the crib that night on the First and that was it. She wailed for about 20 minutes that first night. It was torture to listen to her as she tried to fall asleep without the comfort she has only known in her life of 23 months. We quickly told her that Bronco Binki was broken and left it at that. The next morning, she was up at 5:15am. She had probably woken up and after not finding her binki to pop back in her mouth, she freaked.

The second night was tough, but a little better. She only cried for about 15 minutes. And she slept until 6:30. The third night was only 5 minutes before she realized that Bronco Binki was still gone. The next few days, she asked for it only occasionally and each day has gotten better. She now sleeps to her normal average wake-up time of 8am.

The binki had to go and it had to be done at some point, and some point soon. With moving into our new house in 10 days and already preparing Bailey to switch from the crib to the "big girl bed," the timing ended up being perfect. We didn't want to conquer both of those transitions at the same time.

All in all, it was one long week that we'll look back on and say, "that wasn't so bad!"

Nana and Bailey's Merry-Go-Round Disaster

Nana picked Bailey up from school today. TJ is in Philadelphia for a Foot & Ankle conference and Friday's are my late day. We had decided to go over to Scott's after work and gather for pizza. Nana was there early so she and Bailey went down the street to Borah Park, where they have a wonderful playground. They have a merry-go-rounds similar to the one pictured. No grass around it though, just a nice hearty layer of those bark chips. After checking out a few slides and the swings, Bailey wanted to go on the merry-go-round. She has been on it before and enjoyed standing in the center and holding onto the bars. Nana held Bailey facing her, while she got on and kneeled down, facing the center, and not holding onto to anything. In addition to Nana and B, there were three Mom's pushing it while their kids were riding. The Mom's asked Nana if Bailey was ok and started pushing slowly. Suddenly, and without warning, they sped up very quickly. Within milliseconds and one revolution, Nana tried to grab onto a bar, but it was too late. She instantly knew she and Bailey were going to fly off this thing, and her first thought was of getting Bailey away from the merry-go-round so she wouldn't end up underneath it. As she was in flight, she pushed Bailey out and away from the spinning disc. After the tumble, Nana lay flat on her back and wondered if any bones were broken, as Bailey began to wail. The Mom's who were pushing the merry-go-round were mortified at what had just happened. They apologized, but Nana wondered if they would have just given her the opportunity to get off or hold on if they were going to speed up. Nana and B got up and went over to a park bench to take a breather. Turns out B was ok, since she really can't tell us too much, and Nana feels like she got whiplashed in a car. Her lower back, neck, arms, shoulders, and knees are all sore. She will be medicating with some anti-inflammatories tonight! Thanks Nana for thinking of Bailey first! It certainly was instinct as she had no time to react.

Cutie Pie!

She is getting cuter by the day. I pulled this outfit out of the back of the closet. A little cool for just the seer sucker overall's so I fashioned it with a white onsie with pink hearts. Thanks to Aunt Julie and cousin Mackenzie (and Nana) for all the clothes in Bailey's closet. She is smiling and talking (cooing) a lot and it is so fun to get her to smile at Mom and Dad.

On Tuesday the pediatrician suggested we switch over from a soy-based formula to Alimentum formula. We waited until today because Bailey was going to the babysitters on Wednesday and we know it tastes bad and smells bad, so we didn't want to subject the babysitter to that. We are slowing easing her into it, and hopefully by our plane ride next week, she'll be all smiles and spitting up less! (We can only hope for that!)

Bailey just covered Sooz with spit up!

Just sitting here on the couch with my wife and daughter.  Bailey only ate for about 4 minutes.  Then decided to yak it all up onto Susie.  It was a lot!  

--
TJ Kemp

Hiking in Stamford

Today we went on a great little hike with Bailey. We have gone on many walks before, but this was Bailey's first official hike. We went to Mianus Park in Stamford. It is a nature preserve with a small river flowing through it. It was a nice morning. We put Bailey in her Baby Bjorn and were out for about an hour. She loved it. She looked around a lot and stayed awake almost the whole time. We got some great pictures too. Check them out in our picasa web album.

Jenn Seeley came to town

We had the pleasure of seeing Jenn Seeley. She had a conference in Washington D.C. and took the train up for a short 2 night stay with us before she flew home from NY. Bailey was having a pretty bad weekend though. She was crying with almost every feeding because of her acid reflux. I think that if Jenn was thinking of having any children soon, she may have changed her mind!. A crying baby is the best birth control.

We had a great time with her though. Thanks for visiting us Jenn!