Running to exhaustion

I wanted to post this picture because I thought it was so funny. I got my hair cut and colored on June 11th, right before our Utah trip. The appointment went a little long and I got home right around Gabby's bedtime. When I came in the house she was crashed out on the couch. I just started laughing. Little kids can sleep anywhere if they are tired enough! Ha ha! I picked her up and took her to her bed. She slept the whole night. She must have run herself into the ground to be that tired. As memory serves, I believe she did not take a nap that day either, so that would add to the exhaustion. She's a cute kid.

Sasha's New Milestone

Sasha and I were having some tummy time today and she rolled over from her tummy to her back! Yeah! Proud Mommy here has to share it with the world. :) Sometimes I feel like I am not paying enough attention to her or helping her along in her development, so to see something as cool as this makes me feel a little better. Glad to know that kids can still grow and develop like they should without my 100% attention to their every detail. I still feel like I am only raising Gabby some days, as she is now so verbal and demanding of my attention. Sasha will be there soon enough, I'm sure.

A 4th of July Ventura Weekend

We went to Ventura for the weekend while my mom was in town. Here are a few pics of our outings:

Gabby and Nana in front of some pretty flowers at the old mission in Ventura. There was a mass in progress at the time so we didn't go in. Gabby and her silly poses. Already working the camera!

The mission again, with the three pretty ladies! :O)

We walked out on the Ventura Pier. It was built in 1872 and used to be a wharf, where goods were shipped to and from Ventura. Now people just fish from it and walk out for the view. Again, Gabby exercising her right at goofy poses.

Happy Family!

At the end of the pier we saw a guy catch a little shark. It was cool to see for a minute, but I couldn't stand there and watch too long. They were debating about whether or not they should keep it or throw it back.

When we were walking back we saw the guy gutting it at the fish washing station. At least it wasn't for nothing. Being there made me realize that I really don't have the stomach for fishing.

My mom took this picture of Sasha in the car. Precious little one! She is such a good traveler. We have been blessed with two really good babies who are great to travel with! Good thing. They wouldn't make it in this family otherwise! :)

The Post-Vacation Let-Down

We've all experienced it. You go on an exciting vacation. Something new and different. Exciting new experiences awaiting you and you have a great time. Sometimes you make new friends. Sometimes you see old friends. Whatever the situation you are always excited to go. And then you have to come home. Home seems so boring after you have been away and you inevitably feel a huge disappointment once there. I'm pretty sure that my 2-year-old was experiencing that post-vacay let-down today, as she was driving me CRAZY!!! All day long demanding my attention, crying, being the drama queen that she is (thanks Aunt Cami for that inherited trait!).

Gabby had her first time-out today. I gave Sasha a bath this morning and when I was getting her dressed and putting on the lotion Gabby informed me that she would like some lotion too. I asked her if it was for her or for Sasha, as she likes to smear it all over her sister and I was not in the mood to deal with that today. But she said that she wanted it for herself. So I gave her a little dab on her right hand. Normally I give her a small dab on each hand, but this time I didn't. Well, she immediately began to complain. I told her to use what I had given her and I would give her some more in a minute, as I was temporarily occupied smearing lotion all over her sister. The words had barely left my lips when Gabby's tears sprang to life. I asked her to stop crying and told her I would give her some more (crying has become her tatic for asking for things, I am trying to not give in to this as I am sure it will just encourage more crying). Please stop crying. More crying. Crying turned into screaming. Screaming turned into screaming and crying. "I want it! It's mines! I want lotions!" Talking to her was not working. By this time we were in the living room so I took her to the kitchen, put her on a kitchen chair and set a timer for 2 minutes. Told her to stay on the chair until the buzzer rang. She immediately got off and went to the living room, still crying. I carried her back to the kitchen chair and started the timer over. Don't get off the chair! She got off again, with only about 30 seconds left. Back on the chair. One more minute on the timer. Less crying. Now she's watching the timer, watching me, trying to put her feet on the floor, see how much she can get away with. The timer rings. No more crying. Now the talk.

Me: "How do we ask for things? Crying is not a good way to ask for things. How do you ask for lotion?"

Gabby: "Please!"

Me: "Good. Give me a hug. I love you. Please don't cry when you want something."

Well, that was the jist of it anyway. Then we went on, as if the incident had never happened. But then she only took a 40 minute nap (at least she took one. I shouldn't complain). We had to go to Bakersfield this afternoon. The whole way there I hear this:

"Mommy I hungry. Mommy I want my movie. Mommy look at me! Mommy watch this! Mommy, look Jasmine!"

UGGH!!! Just watch your movie and leave me alone for a minute! She finally settles down. We go to the bank. We are meeting with bank personelle (is that how you spell it? well you know what I mean). She sits on Daddy's lap. She sits on my lap. She plays with the pin keypad. She plays with everything on the desk. She is crawling all over me, all over Daddy. She finds a new fast-food straw in the diaper bag. Paper everywhere. She is on the floor, under the chair, behind the cubicle shouting "Mommy, look at me! Mommy I see you! Daddy I see you!"

Finally it's time to leave. Yeah. We're hungry. Go to a restaurant. "Mommy I want pizza (pronounced pizta)." This retaurant doesn't have pizza (that wasn't annoying, just so cute so I thought I'd throw it in there). We order our food, Gabby is coloring on the kid's menu. Thank goodness for crayons. A moment's rest. Then Gabby starts to stand up and look over the partition at all the other patrons. One family in particular has captured her attention and she seems to not be able to sit down for anything. We have to tell her to sit down. Repeatedly.

Nana calls just as our salads are coming. During the course of our conversation I am reminded of something that I was annoyed with the day before. After I hang up I start complaining about it to Jay when Sasha wakes up and demands her dinner. So I am trying to eat and feed her at the same time in a skinny booth with not much room between me and the table. Gabby is eating off of our salads and having some bread. Still standing up to stare at the neighboring family. However, now she has added the crawling under the table routine. Over to my side, back over to her side, back under to sit by my legs and peer across the aisle, back to her side to eat her dinner. Spilling her dinner all over the seat because she is being silly with her utinsels. Crawling on Daddy. Announcing that she is done when we have just started eating. Back under the table again. Now she has switched sides and is sitting next to me eating her dinner. Wiping her hands on my clothes (or trying to). Back under the table to go look at Sasha. Back under to sit next to me. "I'm done!" Taking her shoes off. Back under the table. UGGHH!! Can we leave?!?! Sasha is crying now because she didn't get enough to eat. I'm going to the car.

Finally we are able to leave that horrible restaurant experience. We get on the road, our 45 minute drive home. Five minutes into it I hear from the back seat "Mommy, I hungry." Too bad!! You should have eaten more than 5 bites of your dinner. Thirty seconds later "Mommy I hungry." I just ignore her. Twenty seconds later "Daddy I hungry." Wow, this is going to be a long car ride. But then she gets distracted by her movie and suddenly we are home. I am anxious to get her in bed as she is really driving me crazy.

It doesn't stop. All up to bedtime she is jumping on both of us or demanding our attention. I am sure that this is just her way of dealing with a deplorable lack of attention after almost a solid month of people paying attention to her all the time. (Three week vacation in Utah with relatives and then Nana came and stayed at our house for about 5 days). Maybe all toddlers are like this, but mine has not been up until now. Today I needed Sasha to be a toddler too so I could have a moment's peace.

Excited for our vacation

Well, it's been a while. I have a dentist office post ruminating somewhere, but still has yet to post. I suppose I should finish before our trip to Utah. We are going to Utah on Thursday, June 12, and I am staying with the girls until July 1st, when we will fly back to CA with my mom. We are blessing Sasha next Sunday, Father's Day, in my parent's ward (start's at 11 a.m. if you want to come!). It will be great to see all the family. I'm actually really excited about it, looking forward to hanging out with family for a while. It will be fun to meet my new nephew Gunnar too.

Things have been busy, but good. I finally got my house cleaned up, for the most part, which was becoming a huge source of stress for me. My sister-in-law Jamie and her family came to stay with us for a couple of days this weekend, so that was great motivation for me to get my dishes done and my bathroom cleaned (well, at least the bathroom that they used). We loved having them here. Gabby especially loved hanging out with her cousins, what fun! Too bad we don't live in Utah...Gabby and Sammy would be best friends, I'm sure.

Here are some recent pics of my 2 beauties. Sasha is now 2 months old, growing so fast.

Visit to the Twilight Zone....

Actually, it was the dentist, but it was the most bizarre dental appointment that it almost felt like a Twilight Zone or X-Files episode. An experience that is definately blog-worthy.

Finding a new dentist can be a scary experience. You are giving your mouth over to complete strangers to poke and prod as they please, only to tell you that you have tarter or, heaven forbid, a cavity! As long as I don't hear the words 'root canal', I should be able to survive. This time around, however, I left the office wondering if I would find myself being beamed up to another realm in the middle of the night or receiving secret coded messages through my fillings in the coming weeks.

I arrived at the dentist office a little before 3:30 p.m. and filled out all the new patient paperwork that was required. I then waited for an hour before they called me into the back. To pass the time I read the most brain-frying magazine in existance. It's called Lucky (I think) and it is all about famous people and what they do and speculation about why they do it. DUMB! I will admit that I don't mind perusing an issue of People every now and then, but this was just a serious waste of time. However, it was either read that or watch the 1976 version of King Kong that was on the waiting room T.V. Take your pick.

They finally called me back around 4:30 p.m. I went into the X-Ray room and the assistant took pictures of my teeth. Nothing too weird so far. I was then lead to a cubicle with a dental chair in it and asked to sit down. The assistant told me she would get my X-rays and be right back. I sat there for about 10 minutes, texting Jay all the while to make sure Sasha was okay, since she was crying when I left her with him. (She was fine, btw). The room was unusually sterile. I was thinking, 'Where am I? This is unlike any dentist office I have ever seen.' It looked more like a wherehouse that had been sectioned off into tiny "offices". The only thing on the wall was a framed print-out of the California codes and proceedures on what I should do if I recieve unacceptable treatment. Good to know. How about a picture of a flower or a pretty landscape? Something to put my anxious mind at ease. What if the dentist finds something undesireable? I'd like to have something nice to look at while my mouth is being torn apart.

Suddently a man comes into the cubicle and asks me a few questions. He is young, possibly in college, and I assume that he is another dental assistent or a hygenist. He is asking me about my fillings and the reason why I am there. Then he leaves. He comes back with X-ray girl and my X-rays. He starts talking to me about how my fillings need to be replaced and that the X-ray shows that my teeth look good overall. During this conversation I figure out that he is not a dental hygenist, he is the dentist. How about an introduction? "Hi, my name is Dr. No Manners. How are you today? This is my assistant, Miss No Name." Duh! Did it ever occur to them that I cannot read their minds? Well, obviously not.

After the brief and confusing consultation with the dentist I was informed that my tarter would be removed and my teeth would be cleaned. Every dentist I have ever gone to has had the dental hygenist clean the teeth and scrap the tarter. So this was what I was expecting. I was not expecting a visit from alien teeth surgeons. Yikes! The dentist left and then returned with the assistant. They both had surgical face masks on and rubber gloves. The doctor reclined my chair and turned on the annoying light meant for your mouth but is almost always pointed toward your eyes (as it was in this case). I begin to wonder what's going on and why the dentist is still in the room. Then I hear a hig-pitched drill-like sound. There is some kind of metal gizmo moving toward my mouth. Here is my thought process at this point:

'OUCH! What are they doing? Teeth cleaning doesn't feel like this. Aren't they going to scrape my tarter first? What kind of machine is this? I didn't think that the cleaning machine vibrated so much.'

The drill-like machine turned off and the polish and tooth cleaning machine came out. What did they just do? The dentist began cleaning my teeth. Hmmm. They must have been scraping my tarter with that drill. Either that or they have imbedded some kind of homing device into my gums. Maybe I'll be able to get 101.9 The End through my fillings now. Chunga and Mister, here I come!

Oww! Could you slow down with that exuberant cleaning? My teeth aren't that dirty, are they? All I could see during this process was the bright teeth light and 4 gloved hands drilling, sucking, and squirting my teeth. Who are these masked avengers? Have I been beamed up to another dimention? Are Mulder and Scully going to come rescue me? I hope I can go home soon, I think my milk is letting down.

The light is turned off and the dentist removes his mask. "All done. See you in six months." Yeah right. Not unless I want green ooze inserted into my veins next time. Or worse. At least I'll have clean teeth.

Update on Baby

Hi fellow bloggers. Yes, I have been ignoring my blog for the last 6 weeks and feeling horribly guilty about it. It seems next to impossible to get on the computer now that there are two kids in the Baird household. I will figure this out soon, I hope!


So here is the rest of the delivery story:


We went to the hospital on Wednesday, March 19th, got there about 1 p.m. We were taken to a room and I got settled there. The doctor came in and did an ultrasound, and we saw that the baby was in the traverse position. I was suspecting that she had not turned to the correct position and I was right. So the doctor said that he would attempt the version. I was then hooked up to an IV and filled out some paperwork and about a half hour later the doctor returned with the nurse and the proceedure began. I was bracing myself for the worst, as I had heard that version hurts pretty bad. It was quite uncomfortable and it was a bit painful at the end, but it wasn't anything like what I thought it would be and it's nothing next to the labor pains, so....

Anyway, back to the story. So the doctor came in and got out the ultrasound machine again. He looked to see what was going on with the baby and saw that in the 30 minutes it took to get my IV going the baby had moved again and was now in the full breech position. He put a lot of that jelly stuff on my belly, felt for they baby's head and bum, and started pushing. The nurse held the ultrasound wand-thing on my belly so the doctor could see the baby. The doctor was talking to the baby the whole time, "Sasha, we need you to move. Please move around Sasha. Mommy wants you to be a good little girl and put your head down please." Things like this. It helped ease some of the tension, which was good. After about 5 pushes and tugs on the baby, she was finally in position. When the doctor had declared that the version was sucessful, I had to blink several times to keep myself from crying. I was so greatful. The nurses in the room started claping and cheering. They were as excited as I was. Immediately after the doctor was finished the nurse started me on pitocin. The doctor decided to wait a few minutes before breaking my water, as the sack was still quite high up inside and he wanted to see if the contractions would help bring it down a bit. After about 30 more minutes or so he came back in and checked again, decided it was low enough, and broke the water. That was quite painful, I have to admit. Didn't like that so much. Once he was done though I was gushing. The nurse said that she hadn't seen that much fluid come out of one person for some time. I guess I had almost twice the amount of fluid that most women have. The doctor thought that was part of the reason why the baby was moving around so much, she had a lot of fluid to help her get around. That and she was small (well, smaller than Gabby was).


So that was at about 4 p.m. The contractions started to pick up and by 7 p.m. or so I was asking for the epidural. So I got that at 8 p.m., when I was dialated to about a 4, then took a bit of a rest before it was time to start pushing. The doctor came back in a little before 10 p.m., checked me and said it was time to start pushing. The nurse coached me for about 30 minutes, and at 10:36 p.m. Sasha Marie Baird was born. The whole experience was pretty good, went much faster than with Gabby and I was so so grateful that I was able to have a vaginal delivery and that everything went so well. And I only had one small tear. It made my recovery so much easier. I guess once you stretch everything out one time then it is easier the next time around. Being induced took the guess work out of when the baby would come. It was kind of nice, actually. :)


So here is our little one, born March 19th, 6 lbs 9 oz, 19 1/2 inces long