Feet and tongue

 Korbyn has a new obsession...her feet.  She can't keep her hands off of them!  And now she's starting to put them in her mouth.  The first three pictures are some that her teacher sent me, she told me that this is what Korbyn is doing the majority of the day, playing with her feet and sticking her tongue out!  And it's so funny because if I go back and look at all her pictures taken recently, she has her tongue out in almost all of them, even when she's smiling.  I thought it was really funny when you look at the picture where she's holding her legs, that even though they're stretched out completely straight she still has several rolls on each one!!!

I was talking about how chubby Korbyn is, which is the topic almost all of the time with anybody, and how it's so strange that she is that big because she doesn't eat THAT much.  Sometimes she won't even finish her bottle and she'll be fine, it's not like she's wanting to eat around the clock, but I was saying how genetics must play a really big part in it because Colton and I were both really big babies and it would just be weird if we had a teeny tiny baby :)

 She's also starting to learn that she can bounce up and down in her exersaucer!  For the longest time she would just sit there and play with the toys.  But now she can bounce and spin around (the green seat that she's in spins) to get to all of the toys.  This is by far mommy's favorite toy!

So hard

Korbyn started running a fever Wednesday evening, I took her into the dr. on Thursday because I was told that whatever she had before (all the cough and gunk) was ok, as long as she doesn't run a fever and if she does to bring her back in and with the long weekend coming up I wasn't going to chance it.  I saw the dr. that I love at the College Station clinic and she checked her from head to toe and said there isn't anything on the outside that is making her run a fever, I thought it might be her ears but she said they looked good.  She asked if she was eating/pooping/peeing ok and was she cranky and I told her that she wasn't, she was as happy as can be.  She actually was running 101.6 when we got to the dr. and that was with Tylenol, but you would have never known it!  So she said she's thinking that she may have roseola since she really doesn't have any other symptoms other than the fever.  She said that she would be ok to run a fever until Saturday afternoon and then she should get a skin rash and if that happens then she's ok.  But she said that if it continues after that to bring her back in because her next guess would be a bladder infection!  She said that they could test for it now, but since she's not cranky and she's still acting completely normal why put her through that (because they would have to catheterize her), which sounded like a plan to me.

That evening around 7ish I check her temperature rectally and it read 103.9, I was in disbelief so I checked it again and it was 104.5!  I felt her body and she didn't even feel the least bit warm and she was laughing and acting completely normal, it was the weirdest thing.  I immediately stripped her and gave her some more medicine and it eventually came down but that night I put her in bed with me, Colton voluntarily slept on the couch (he's too much of a hard sleeper), because it made me so nervous that she could start running that in the middle of the night and I wouldn't even know it because obviously she's not going to cry and let me know.  I don't want to call it a mistake, but it was, a HUGE mistake.  The next night I put her back in her crib and she was waking up every 30 minutes wanting to be held back to sleep.  And I know she was fine and not running fever or hungry, because I would check both every time.  She wanted back in our bed!  And I know this for a fact because it got to the point where I was delirious and I gave up and put her in bed with us and she slept just fine until morning!  And I'm sure it's not just "she wanted in our bed" it was probably that mixed with just wanting to be held and next to her mommy and daddy because she still felt cruddy from whatever she had.

I was talking to my mom and my aunt about it at Easter and my aunt said just put her in bed with you, all my kids slept with us.  Then my mom said just put her in her crib and let her cry, she'll get back to her routine.   And I honestly wouldn't have a problem with her sleeping in our bed, but it just doesn't work for us.  Colton sleeps too hard and really would not even know it if he rolled on top of her and I sleep too light so any little movement that is made I'm wide awake which means I get NO sleep.  So last night I tried the "cry it out" method for the first time.  And yes, this is the first time I've used it because she was always such a great sleeper before.  I made sure to read up on it before I just stuck her in her crib and let her scream.  I usually give her cereal, bath, bottle, bed.  Well I read to give her her bottle at the beginning of her routine instead of letting her falling asleep with it, because that becomes a comfort for her (which she usually did) and to try to put her in her crib awake so she'll learn to put herself to sleep.  So I gave her her cereal, bottle, bath and then bed.  She screamed of course when I put her in her crib because this was NOT how we did things and she knew it!  But not long after she finally just laid her head down and went to sleep.  I would come into her room every couple of minutes and give her some light pats on her back and shush her and then I would step out again.  She went to sleep around 8:30 and then cried around 10:30 and I just went in and lightly patted her back and she went back to sleep.  Then around 2 she was screaming her head off.  I knew this was a different scream and she wasn't going to let up.  So I changed her diaper and gave her some water (I know I already broke the rules of the method!) and tried to lay her back down but now she was even more pissed off than before.  So I caved and gave her a bottle, then she went right back to sleep.  Restless night but a HUGE improvement from the night before.

I never thought my heart stings could be tugged on so hard!  It really takes a lot to stand by your baby's crib and listen to them scream and not pick them up, I just kept telling myself a little tough love never hurt anyone and the way I look at it, I'm doing her a favor in the long run by teaching her to put herself to sleep and not having to rely on anyone to rock or pat her to sleep.  I was at home with her yesterday and I did the same things with naps.  She would scream but the times that she cried would eventually get shorter and shorter.  So we'll keep working on it, and hopefully we'll find a great sleep pattern...for mommy and Korbyn :)

First bump

 Korbyn got her first bump on her head the other day :(  I know in the picture it doesn't look like much, but it was pretty big and bruised.  I literally set her in her bouncy seat for two seconds and this is what happens!  I set her in it and didn't strap her in because I've never had to before.  It was in the living room and I stepped out our front door to grab something off the porch (which is two feet away) and by the time I turned around she is leaned over the side trying to grab her toy that she dropped.  I think when I cam back in I startled her so she looked up at me and when she did that she did a flip off the side (which was only like 6 inches off the ground) and her head landed on the toy that she was trying to pick up.  I didn't scream or yell when it happened because I wanted to see if she was going to cry.  Well she immediately started screaming like I have never heard her scream before!  It was like a banshee scream, it was so high pitched and tears were rolling down her face.  This went on for a couple of minutes and I was like "geesh, your fine kid" then the bump started to show.  I immediately felt so bad and felt like an awful mother!  First for letting her fall out, and then for not seeing the bump right away and thinking that she was just being a cry baby :(

 Thankfully a few minutes later she was back to her old self, cracking up at everything.  A lot of people asked me if that was a bump on her head, and I would shamefully answer yes!  But, I know these things are going to start happening a LOT more, especially now that she's going to be trying to get around on her own now!

Finding a Dr.

So I decided to use Korbyn's allergies, cold, whatever...to find a new dr.  I just decided that an hour there and back to her dr. was ridiculous and on top of all the other feelings I've been having towards them, it was time for a change.

Unfortunately with our insurance you have to use their dr.s, so I went on their website and searched for the nearest pediatrician.  The closest office started in Brenham (30 minutes) then went into Elgin (30 minutes) and on into Austin and College Station (both an hour).  So I made an appointment with the dr. in Elgin on Tuesday.  The 30 minute drive was so much better than the hour and I really like the dr.  She said that she could have allergies or she could have the start of an upper respiratory infection or she just has a lingering cold.  She listened to her chest and paused on her right lung for a LONG time.  She said it sounds like she might have a little rattle, but if she isn't considerably better in the next 2-3 days to bring her back and she wants to listen again.  Then she looked at her ears and said they both look pink, but not infections yet so she prescribed her some antibiotics to stop it.  But I was not thrilled with the office or the environment.  I know this sounds petty, but there were no toys, nothing colorful or inviting and it looked like a business office, not a pediatrician's.  And when they weighed her it was in this teeny tiny corner of the room RIGHT next to the waiting room so the entire room heard me explain to the nurse everything that's been going on.  When I was explaining it to Colton he was like "so....you don't like them because they didn't have any toys?"  I know it's hard to explain but I didn't get a good vibe going in there at all.

I scheduled another appointment for the next day with the Brenham clinic.  I can remember going to this place when I was little!  And strangely enough, it almost felt comfortable when I walked in, which is something I've never felt in a dr.'s office.  The office staff was super nice and she even walked me back to the pediatric waiting room and explained things to me how they do things there, also have never had that.  While I was waiting, a mom who has a daughter in Korbyn's class and who is also a nurse there, came out and talked to me and gave me the beef on all the dr.s there.  I had unfortunately scheduled her appointment with what sounded like my least favorite dr.!  She described him as kind of dry and WILL NOT give any medicine unless it's absolutely necessary, which the whole medicine thing I didn't really see as a negative.  I kind of feel the same way.  I mean I don't want to be shoving medicine down her throat that she doesn't need it, but I do want her not to be miserable or in pain at any time.  So I was anxious to see how this dr. was going to be because the environment and office/nurse staff already scored high with me!

Total jerk.  He came in very pompous and unfriendly which was an immediate turn off.  He didn't even introduce himself (or knock!) he just came in and sat down and started asking me questions.  He didn't smile or laugh the entire time he was in there!  How he's a pediatrician I have no idea.  I'm not doubting his dr. abilities, but I think you need to be a LITTLE friendly when you are dealing with kids.  Even when he was looking in her ears he got frustrated because he had to go get one of those ear wax scrapers (that just sounds gross) to remove some wax so he could see better and I tried to make light of it when he got back in the room and I said "man, I even cleaned your ears last night girlie!"  Which I honestly did!  But he said that babies can't really get allergies or a sinus infection because their sinuses aren't fully developed yet, which makes sense, but I still know she has allergies ;)  Then I told him that she's been on children's claritin since Sunday and today (Wednesday) was a night and day difference for her.  She hasn't been coughing, her nose has stopped running so much, she hasn't been sneezing and her eyes haven't been watery.  He was VERY surprised when I told him this.  He said "Oh!  Really?  Well I guess just keep giving it to her if you want"  Well I will!!!

When we were leaving I scheduled her 6 month well check, which I cannot believe is already in three weeks, with another dr. in the practice (which sounded like my favorite when the mom was describing them to me).  So we'll see how this one goes!  There's only one more dr. in that practice and then it's off to Austin if it doesn't work out :(  I don't really obsess over anything when it comes to Korbyn, but this is something that I will admit to being neurotic about!  I'm not going to just trust her health with anybody.  Jennifer and I were talking about how we should have listened to those parenting book's advice when they say to schedule a "meet and greet" with pediatricians to find the best fit for you and your kids, because I never would have thought that finding a dr. would be so difficult!

Another busy weekend

Last week and weekend was so busy!  I don't know if it was just because Colton was out of town or what but I was exhausted!

Colton left Thursday evening to go to Lake Fork for a fishing tournament and was back on Sunday, which left me and Korbyn to attend all the social functions :)  Thursday at the day school we had spring portraits, then I headed to Austin (I worked a half day) to get a baby shower gift for Randal and Letisha's (Colton's cousin) baby shower.  Friday I cleaned house all day then Saturday Loranne, Korbyn and I headed to Katy for Mark and Jana's annual crawfish boil.  Doug and Colton were both not able to go so us girls went together.  We had a really good time and am so glad we went.  I love seeing their girls as often as we can, even though it never seems like enough!  Avery and Addy seem to really enjoy seeing Korbyn too.  It was so cute because they both wanted to hold her, so we put her on their lap and she is almost as big as they are!!!  They wanted to push her around the house in a baby stroller and at one time Avery walked in front of Korbyn while she was sitting in the stroller and kind of scrunched her face and looked at me and said "she has really fat legs"  I laughed so hard!

Then Sunday morning we had our playground dedication and our Easter egg hunt for the day school.  I was nervous because you never know how many people are going to show up for those things.  We invited the day school families and the church.  We served hot dogs for lunch and we bought enough for 50 and just decided we would serve any of the leftovers for lunch the next week.  We ended up having to make a run to the store for 30 more and we didn't have any leftovers!!!  I was so happy that we had a decent turnout and the kids really enjoyed the egg hunt.  Then right after that Korbyn and I went to pick up memaw Loranne and we headed off to the baby shower, which I guess would be in Georgetown?  Somewhere around Austin lol.  There were so many babies there!  At least it seemed like it to me.  We got to see Colton's family, which we unfortunately don't get to see enough of either, and they got to visit with Korbyn who they haven't seen since Megan and Eric's wedding when she was only a month old, so they all enjoyed passing her around.

Cousins Maddy and Megan :)

Colton made it home just a little before we did and he was already dozing off on the couch and I fed Korbyn a bottle and in a matter of minutes we were all sleeping!  I think I woke up around 8 and we were all STILL sleeping!  We were so exhausted.  But, I would rather have a fun, busy weekend than sit at home anytime!

Field day

 Immanuel (a parochial k-8 school in Giddings) hosts a k-4 field day every year and they invite all the surrounding parochial schools.  I've been going for the past five years to watch my nieces and nephews and it's fun because I went to this growing up.  It's only from 12-3 and they do fun stuff like duck-duck goose (the picture above) and sack races (below), softball throws, shoe tosses, wheelbarrow races, and then dashes and relays.  I was off that entire day so I was planning on going from start to end.  My sister-in-law had called me the day before asking me if I was going because my niece kept bugging her to call me and ask if I was going to be there!  That definitely brightened my day :)  I took Korbyn with me and thankfully my mom took off the afternoon to come watch too.  She was great (of course, because we were outside), but it was SO windy and i knew that it was just stirring up more pollen for her!

 Everyone always says my niece Kaylene (on the left) is my twin.  She really does look EXACTLY like me when I was that age!  And it's funny because Korbyn kind of resembles her baby pictures too.

Colton went out of town for a fishing tournament on Thursday and came back Sunday.  So that Friday evening I went over to Jenn's mom's house and Cutter is so curious when it comes to Korbyn.  He always goes through the diaper bag pulling everything out and looking at it, it's hilarious!  He kept wanting to give her her bottle, even though she wasn't needing it, so he kept putting it up to her face and when i looked down at her she had milk all over her cheek from him trying to stick it in her mouth lol!!!  I was sitting down by her while she was on her tummy on a blanket and I had taken her bow off and laid it next to her well when I looked back down this is how Cutter put it on her!  He kept calling it her hat.  I'm glad that they'll get to grow up together, I just can't wait for the day where we can just let them play by themselves and they'll be happy!

Allergies???

About two weeks ago when all this pollen blew in, Korbyn and I both have had bad allergies.  She had the watery eyes, nasty cough (especially when she laid down) and a nose that dripped like a leaky faucet but that was also congested...just like I had!  Last Thursday her teacher called me and said she thinks that I should really get her checked out because her cough is getting pretty bad.  I didn't think I needed to take her but then I thought how bad I would feel if someone told me to get her checked and I didn't and she ended up having something. 

That next day I took her in to be checked.  Her dr. has a med student come in (without her) check them out and give a diagnosis then her dr. will come in after and do the exact same thing.  The med student came in and asked what was going on and I asked him "well I think it's just allergies, can babies her age get them?"  he said absolutely and that we can put her on Claritin if we needed to.  He proceeded to listen to her chest and check her out and he said it sounds like an upper respiratory infection.  Then her dr. came in, the med student was standing in the corner of the room, and asked the same thing and I said well I think it's just allergies and she replied "well babies this age really don't get allergies."  I just said OH! ok.  I didn't want to embarrass him so I didn't ask any more questions.  She said that when she listened to her chest it wasn't congested that what she hears is just in her nose, which I think is bull because you can feel her chest rattle when she breathes (and even a friend who held her yesterday said the exact same thing WITHOUT me even saying anything).  She finished up and said it's just a cold and then apologized that I had to drive all this way for just a cold! 

Sorry, I know when she has a cold, because she has had them and I expect her to get many more being in daycare, but this was so NOT a cold.  So she said if she wasn't better by Monday to call and we'll check her out again.  Well here it is a week from that Monday and I haven't taken her back there and I honestly don't think I will.  First of all it's an hour drive every time she needs to be seen and if I call with a question, they won't give you any advice over the phone, they just tell you they need to see her.  They also take several hours, sometimes going into the next day, to call back and here lately I haven't been feeling very comfortable with her dr.  I've seen three other dr.s in the practice and I have no complaints with them (except that one nutcase!) but it seems like her dr. isn't very thorough and tends to brush a lot of things off which is something I NEVER want in a dr. for Korbyn.  I know I probably sound like one of those neurotic moms whose dr. has to be perfect and meet their standards otherwise I complain but I don't think I should feel unsure every time I walk out of there. 

Yesterday evening I went into Walmart and just decided that I'm going to try some type of antihistamine and see if it helps.  I asked the pharmacist (who has always been so helpful when Colton and I go in there) if babies her age can get allergies and she said absolutely!  Then she showed me some medicines I could give her and how much.  We decided to try the children's Claritin.  I gave it to her last night (it's a once a day) and I know antihistamines have to build up in your body first before you usually notice a difference so I'm very curious to see in the next couple of days if it's working.

Loranne works in the same building as an allergist and she asked him if babies can get allergies and kind of explained to him what Korbyn had and he said it's unlikely, but yes they can get them and it sounds like she has an ongoing sinus infection.  And I've noticed in the past couple of days that her boogers have started turning green, but they are still clear sometimes too.  So I called the pediatric office in Elgin and set up an appointment with a new dr. for tomorrow.  I hope she doesn't have a sinus infection, but I hope they can at least give me an answer!!!

Good sleeper

Korbyn loves being surprised!  She likes to play kind of rough too.  So if you wiggle her a lot, or if you clap right in front of her face she loves it. 

 Helping mommy do laundry.  I put her in her bumbo on top of the washer or dryer and she's pretty content, but sometimes I have to give her the laundry bag to keep her occupied...it's clean!

 She looks SO excited!  Almost like she's about to poop in her pants.

 Her teacher sent me this and said "mommy, this is my mad face."  I sent back, "um, mommy does NOT like that face!"

Colton and I needed a few cold ones last Friday (it had been a very long week) so after work we sat out on the back porch and just talked and we pulled Korbyn's exersaucer out there and she loved it of course.  As long as that girl is outside she's completely happy.  I joked with Colton that if we had a tv on our back porch she would be in heaven!  We stayed out there until it was her bedtime, so Colton fed her her cereal while still outside then I took her in and bathed her and put her to bed, what an easy night!  But really she has not given us any "bad" nights.  She goes to bed and stays asleep and usually I have to wake her up to get her ready for school.  The other night she slept 11 1/2 hours WITHOUT waking one time!  When I woke up that morning I freaked a little bit because I couldn't remember her waking or stirring one single time.  I told Colton and he said "well go check!!!"  She was fine, just sleeping away.  I think it was because I had her humidifier on so high that it looked like I set a fog machine off in her room when I opened it and it was super cold so I think that's why she slept so good.  If only she would do that EVERY night :)

Jamboree

Last Saturday I was asked by a few of the girls that work at the daycare to play in a volleyball tournament for the Smithvill Jamboree.  I wanted to play but Colton was on call and I didn't want to bother mine or his parents about watching Korbyn so I told them that I couldn't.  They told me that I should bring her with me because her teachers were going to be there anyway and they would watch her!  I'm so glad I did because I had a blast!  I haven't played volleyball in so long, but I always really enjoy it.  There were 5 or 6 teams and we got 3rd, which is amazing because half of the people on my team I had never even met before and we never practiced one time, we just got out there and played.  We were the only team that had to play 3 games in a row without any breaks!!!  I was so exhausted!  And it was so humid...almost miserable.  The next day I was so sore all over, even when I would cough it would hurt my entire body, pathetic I know.  But Korbyn was a trooper!  She was awake for maybe and hour and then decided to take about a 2 hour nap.  So she was easy!  It was so funny because we just laid her down in her stroller and her teacher was standing in front of it the entire time guarding her from any stray balls that DID come her way.  It was outside sand courts which made it even more fun, but so hard to move in and I dumped about a pound of sand out of my shoes between every game, I would have just taken them off but once you stepped off the sand you were surrounded by thousands of stickers, so I just kept mine on.  So very exhausting and messy, but we had such a great time!

 This video is almost sad!  I laughed so hard when I saw it, but then had to feel a little sorry for her too.

 So sleepy!

She pooped on her white shorts that she was wearing first thing in the morning and the only extra clothes I had with me were pants, so she just went without them for the rest of the day.  Her eyes always look so swollen!  Everyone tells me, "ya, her eyes look a little swollen today" and I always want to tell them, no they're always like that.  I don't know if that's just how they're going to be or if they look extra swollen because of all the snot that she's been having.  She definitely has a one of a kind look!  Her teacher told me one time that if she had darker skin she would look exotic ha ha!

Babyzilla

 I've come up with my new name for Korbyn, "babyzilla."  Everyone always tells me how fat she is!  But trust me, I'm not a mom who is going to put my kid on a restricted diet when they aren't even a year old because I'm worried that she's too fat, I LOVE her rolls :)  and I'm usually the one poking fun at her about being so chunky.

The other day I was going through her drawers and I have tops and bottoms up to 12 months together and I happened to pick up a pair of blue jean shorts and looked at them and thought "huh...these look like they could fit her now" and I looked at the tag and they were 9 months so I thought well surely not, but then again they really look like what she could wear now.  So I tried them on her and they were already snug!  I had to tug and pull her little butt into those things, but I was bound and determined to at least get one wear out of them!  So after that I started going through all of her clothes and it's like she completely missed an entire size!  She's not even five months and 9 month clothes are too tiny.  I don't know what I'm going to do because I planned for her to be in summer clothes when she's in 6-9 months and now it looks like she'll be in 12 months by summer!  And that means all she has to wear is pants in that size...I'm going to have to go re-shopping, darn ;)  But I guess that's something that you really can't plan on. 

 For instance, the top that she's wearing in this picture is 6-12 months and it fits her perfectly if not a little on the small side (I had to keep pulling it down) and the leggings are 9 months, and they actually fit her like leggings, nice and tight! 

 I think this is only the second picture that I've taken with her!  How sad!  But even looking back at my baby pictures, the mom is always the one behind the camera not in front.

 This is her new swing that we got for her at the house.  We've been in it almost every evening since we got it, she absolutely loves it!  It was so funny because the first couple of times I pushed her kind of faster she would hold her breath and it reminded me of someone going down a roller coaster for the first time, that feeling of losing your stomach, but she still ate it up.

The weekend must have caught up with her.  Sunday afternoon I laid her down at 11:30 a.m. and she didn't get up until 3:30!  She actually did wake up crying at 1:30, I knew it was because she was hungry because she was supposed to eat at 12:30 so I gave her a bottle and she went back to sleep without even opening her eyes one time.  Poor baby, lil' party animal!