December Pictures

Whoo! I'm running behind! Here's the link to December's photo album:

http://picasaweb.google.com/GGamelin/December2008#

It's pretty sparse right now, but stay tuned for more!

I'm growing what!?!?

Teeth! That's right, the Dragon is teething...and has been for the past five days. It has been exhausting to say the least. Through a series of trial and error, we have finally found a few things that can placate Audrey while she's going through this ordeal. She's been sucking on bibs, fingers, teething rings, cold washcloths and even carrots (yes, carrots!) When those don't work, we've been using teething tablets and then baby Tylenol when she's absolutely inconsolable.

I had been trying to do things the hard way for several days, having Audrey chew on things to help with the pain instead of using any kind of medication. My line of thinking was if I gave her something for the pain, she wouldn't get used to the discomfort of teething and then all the future teeth would be just as hard to deal with (make any sense?...didn't think so.) Well, after 6 straight hours of no napping, hardly eating and lots of crying, I'm singing a different tune. It goes a little something like this: just do anything to make the kid happy! That includes the use of OTC Drugs to mask her symptoms and I'm A-Okay with it.

After that morning, I was thanking God I have the world's best husband. All it took was one thinly veiled emailed cry for help and he was on the phone rallying the Schweighardt troops to sponsor a Mom's day out this Saturday including a much needed haircut and massage. It also helps that I'll be making Christmas goodies with a friend of mine the day before, so I can relax and enjoy some homemade cookies. If Audrey has cut a tooth by then, maybe I'll let her have one too!

Happy December!

I can't believe it's December already and you all know what that means: EGGNOG!! ...oh, and Emily's Birthday...and Christmas...and pie. (yes, these are a few of my favorite things.)
We're getting really excited about our trip to Arkansas for Christmas, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up that everything will go as planned. Two years ago at Christmas John and I ended up in a mess when a huge snowstorm hit Denver and our flights were canceled. Our revised trip involved a hectic scene with lots of yelling in a rental car in the pouring rain/sleet, trying to figure out the windshield wipers and almost running over a set of road spikes while figuring out how to get the heck out of Portland. So, basically, if we make it to Springfield and that hasn't happened, it should be a pretty good trip. We're hoping Audrey does just as well traveling half way across the country as she did for our trip to Seattle. (I'm not holding my breath on that one.)

Little A can roll over like a fiend now, but is stranded once she gets onto her belly. Her new favorite game is to roll from her back to her belly, grunt and buzz her lips while holding her head up, start to protest because she doesn't want to be on her belly anymore and then when I roll her onto her back to rest she immediately rolls onto her belly again...wash, rinse, repeat. I'm torn between wanting her to figure out how to roll back to her back so I don't have to keep flipping her around and wanting her to just stay as immobile as possible for as long as possible. I have mental images of Audrey rolling away when I have my back turned for a second and after a few minutes of searching, I'll find her in the kitchen with Caba trying to figure out how to open the refrigerator. (And you think that's an irrational fear)

A few more discoveries The Dragon has been perfecting recently are: how to jump in her jumperoo and buzzing her lips (she's gonna be a brass player!) I can't tell you how many times over the past few days Audrey has been in her crib (supposedly napping) or actually amusing herself in her carseat and out of dead silence I start to hear buzzing. It's hysterical and amazingly messy. If you thought drooling was a problem, wait until you've seen Audrey's projectile spittle. We're now finding there was a use for all 396 bibs we received as gifts.

I caught some video of Audrey in her jumper--it's not anything spectacular, but I figure it'd be neat for people to see the difference between the first video we posted and how much she's advanced since then. Enjoy!

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble!

Audrey's first thanksgiving was quite a success! We've got a full house (17, including Audrey) and I don't think the holiday could've gone any better. Kathryn and Jeff came over from Seattle and the Moore Family is in town from Vancouver. That makes quite a crowd in our huge house and the chaos that ensues is fantastic. Most of the time, people are pretty well spread out, but it reminds me of the holiday scene from While You Were Sleeping when the whole gang is sitting around the dinner table trying to have 12 conversations at once:

All the Great ones were tall!
Alan Ladd wasn´t tall.
Marshal Dillon was six-foot-five.
Well, we all know who Lucy´s type is.

These mashed potatoes are so creamy.

You like brunettes.

l could never make a good pot roast.

You need good beef.

Argentina has great beef. Beef and Nazis.

John Wayne was tall.

Dustin Hoffman was five-six.
Would you want to see Dustin Hoffman save the Alamo?

Our conversations are slightly varied to include sports references and Jeff's witty one-liners, but the format is still the same.

Amid all the hustle and bustle, we managed to pull off a Thanksgiving feast any Gamelin (or Pfaff for that matter!) would be proud of. We also did the Turkey Trot with Audrey this year. Grandma & Grandpa S., Great Gma S. and half the Moore Brood made it out in the cold Thanksgiving morning for the one-mile walk. I like getting my walk in before breakfast as opposed to Grandma G's mandatory one-mile walk AFTER eating turkey...no, thank you!

Audrey has been loving the amount of activity going on around the house this week and she also got to see a Christmas tree for the first time today; Grandma S. put up the family tree early this year since we'll be gone. Lil A was pretty impressed with the lights and I know we'll be spending most of our time in the living room with her until it comes down.

In the true spirit of Thanksgiving, I would like to take the time to acknowledge how blessed John and I feel; we have quite a bit to be thankful for this year. The most obvious, of course, is the blessing of having Audrey as an addition to our family; any mother knows how thankful I am that she's in our lives and anyone who's not a parent would have to become one to understand the unbelievable amount of love we have for her.
I'm also thankful for everyone involved in Audrey's life:
My Amazing Husband: who is a better father than I ever imagined possible.
Audrey's Grandparents: my parents who must love her to bits and pieces from half way across the country and have been amazingly supportive of John and me as parents--and John's parents who we are lucky enough to have helping us every day; I can't imagine how insane we would be without their helping hands.
Every family member, friend, and friend of a friend who has expressed their love and well wishes for us and our new family: I wish I could single you all out and thank you properly--we have been overwhelmed by the amount of love that we have received from everyone involved in this little girl's life. You know who you are--and we are thankful for you too.

As always, I am thankful for my health, the health of my family and friends, and all the other amazing blessings God has bestowed on us, which are too many to count.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, took the opportunity to reflect on the blessings in their own lives and slipped into a turkey-coma to dream about delicious leftovers and pie.

4 Months Today!

Audrey is already four months old! And that means it's only a month until Christmas! Since Thanksgiving is right around the corner and there will be incredible amounts of pie to be eaten, we decided to downplay the desert for Audrey's "Birthday" Celebration today. Instead of cake or pie we're getting turkey shortbread cookies from my favorite bakery in town. (They just look like turkeys--not made with turkey...goo!)

Audrey has been very busy the past few days trying to figure out how to roll from her back to her belly by herself. Most of the time she still needs a little help, but she's really starting to figure it out. I'm excited, but not necessarily in any rush to get this kid to be mobile. I have a hard enough time getting laundry done on a regular basis, much less trying to find time to nail down everything in the house.

In an effort to figure out how to roll over, Audrey has developed a new posture we call: The Banana. This involves contorting one's body until your feet can touch the back of your head. It looks amazingly uncomfortable, but she seems to be enjoying herself; she even started doing it when John was feeding her last night--hilarious.

The Little Dragon is talking more and more; her "I'm happy" sound is "mmmmmmm" instead of cooing now, which is really cool that she's developing her own little language. She gets more and more excited about seeing faces--especially her Papa. We even took her over to a friend's house to meet their kids who are 3 and 18 months. Audrey was very excited to see people closer to her own size. She got a lot of little people hugs and kisses and made more "mmmm" noises that I've ever heard before.

Altogether, this kid is a keeper and I can't really believe she's only been with us for four months. It feels like she's been around forever. (In a good way!)

I'm off to attempt to get some rest...it's a never ending quest. I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving and is safe in their travels!

Pumpkin Chuck '08

We officially started a new tradition this year since we never got around to carving Audrey's pumpkin: The Great Pumpkin Chuck! Half the fun of buying a pumpkin really is getting to chuck it over a fence anyway.

Check out the pics @:

http://picasaweb.google.com/GGamelin/PumpkinChuck08#

Poo Watch: 2008

Just a disclaimer: (for the faint of heart) If you're uncomfortable with the topic of poo...this entry is not for you. If you're a mother--this is sissy stuff.

Never in my life have I been so consumed by poop...and it's not even mine! I'm guessing this isn't going to change for many years to come either. Audrey has never been a big pooper and when she does, it's always cause for celebration. (I REALLY hope she gets to read this when she gets older and is amazingly embarrassed.)

Anyway, we were going on day 5 of no poo and having already tried sugar water and apple juice in her bottles, the pediatrician suggested feeding her some straight apple prune juice and if that didn't work the next step would be a suppository. (eeek!) So we really, really wanted the prune juice to do the trick.

Now, prunes are not my cup of tea, but apparently Audrey doesn't know that there are far superior fruit juices out there and was pleased as punch to drink it. She even sat there licking the nipple of the bottle and smiling after she was full. Yum! Doctor D. said it should take anywhere from 2-6 hours to see results from the juice.

2 hours came and went....6 hours came and went....she slept through the night and still no poo!

It was excruciating! I've never been on pins and needles like that--not for exam results, not even for a pregnancy test! But, I'm not giving up easy--first thing in the morning The Dragon got a little more prune juice (heaven!) and John and I sat around doing leg exercises with Audrey, willing the poo to come with everything from songs and chants to stern lectures on the importance of intestinal fortitude.

Then, right in the middle of a "push-it-out, shove-it-out, waaaayyy out!" chant....she did! One fell swoop was all it took and I've never smelled anything so repulsive in my life. Thank God we were using disposable diapers in preparation for something horrid!

So, this is what my life revolves around now: poop. And I couldn't be happier. Never in a million years would I have thought I would put those two sentences together!