We Have Air!

I walked in from working out this afternoon and was greeted with a cold house. They finally turned on the air conditioning!

The past week or so, Grace has had trouble sleeping because it's been so hot in the house, but now we have a new issue. She is getting so good at rolling from her back to her belly, but still hasn't mastered the reverse roll. So now she keeps waking herself up when she inadvertently rolls over, but gets frustrated when she can't go back to her sleeping position.

If it's not one thing, it's another. Parenthood is never boring, that's for sure. I think I'll always be sleep deprived until she's graduated from college and has started her career.

A Visit to the ER

Don't worry, Grace is fine- she just has a couple nervous first-time parents. When I went to get Grace from her afternoon nap, I noticed she had some mini-hives all around her left eye and a few spots on her forehead. I feared she was having an allergic reaction. Mike immediately called the hospital and they told us to bring her in so they could have a look.

I tried not to worry too much on the way to the hospital. Afterall, she wasn't showing any signs of breathing difficulty, but I know that allergic reactions can sometimes progress pretty quickly, so I was still a little nervous. We were seen immediately once we got to the ER, but by the time she was getting her vitals taken, the rash/mini-hives that caused my panic had disappeared.

When the doctor got the chance to look her over, we looked like silly, first time parents for bringing her in. However, he was kind enough to assure me that should something like that happen again, we need to bring her in anyway since she's still pretty young and allergic reactions shouldn't be taken lightly. We did find out that Grace does have eczema, which I've suspected for the past couple weeks. We were given instructions to only bathe her every other day and make sure we moisturize her skin very well.

I wonder though if this whole episode was Grace's way of getting herself out of the house since Mike and I planned to spend the cloudy Saturday inside working on some house projects. My girl loves to be out and about, even if it's just a quick trip to the ER. Hopefully our next outing will be less nerve-wracking and more fun-filled.

Daddy's Little Office Assistant

I Paid for This?

There are certain things I had always thought I would do once I had a baby- decorate a beautiful nursery, dress my child in adorable clothes, and document milestones as much as possible, using professional photography when necessary.

Unfortunately, because we live in Japan, there is a lack of professional photography- unless we want to try and get them done out in town and pay an arm and a leg for them. So I was super excited when about a month ago, a professional photography company came to visit the base. I immediately signed Grace up to get her three month portraits done.

I was expecting them to be spectacular because my baby is so easy to smile. This is what we ended up with...



She cried during the entire photo shoot and the only non-crying shots the photographer could get was when she would take a breath in between her cries. So much for my perfect portraits. The salesperson didn't even attempt to get us to buy any portrait packages because even he could see they were horrible. We walked away with one picture that came with the photo shoot, and I consoled myself with the fact that we'll be in Virginia Beach when it's time for her six month portraits and I might have better luck in my hometown.

The Sweetest Sound

There is no sweeter sound than that of a child's laughter. It makes it that much better when it's your own baby's laughter. I'm loving this stage of babyhood. I'd be okay with time slowing down a bit so I can enjoy this stage a little longer.

This video is for Lola and Lolo and all my other friends who aren't on Facebook yet...

It's Getting Hot in Here

Although I'm grateful that the Navy provides housing for us while we live in Japan, there are definitely some disadvantages to military housing overseas. A big one right now is the lack of air conditioning. Even though the weather is getting quite warm, the air conditioning doesn't get turned on until June. We're making do by opening the windows, which doesn't really help all that much, and running the ceiling fan constantly. We also have a fan in the bedroom that I was forced to buy in the fall when they turned off the air and I was 6 months pregnant- heat and pregnancy don't mix.

Grace's bedtime routine has been going very smoothly for the past month and a half. Once I put her down for the night, she'll sleep very well and only wake up for a couple night time feedings. She even dropped a feeding a week ago so she was only getting up once during the night to eat. Heaven!

But now that it's getting hot, she's been having a hard time getting to sleep at night. What was once my easy night time routine with her has become quite challenging, thanks to the lack of air conditioning. Grace gets cranky because she's hot and can't get to sleep. As I type, it's already more than 2 hours past her bedtime and I can still hear that she's up. She's already down to sleeping in a onesie. If things don't get better soon, she may be sleeping in just her diaper!

Our New Hang Out Spot

Mike has always complained that my sofas were too small, but I thought they were lovely. They were the first pieces of furniture that I purchased when I bought my house six years ago and I have many fond memories of hanging out with friends on them. However, since Grace's arrival, they DO seem a little small and it was hard to cozy up all together as a family on my old ones.

We've been on the search for a comfortable sofa and finally came upon this one. I was a little unsure about the chocolate brown color since I really wanted something in a cream or off-white, but Mike convinced me that chocolate brown would be much more practical with a small child in the house. And seeing as how Grace nearly christened the new sofa this afternoon with an uncharacteristic amount of spit-up, I would have to agree.