Food!

Jillian is all about the rice cereal! She tried it for the first time last Saturday. She moved it around in her mouth and most of it came back out. Last night we offered some for the third time and she loved it! I mixed up one tablespoon of the cereal with 4 T water and she ate all of it. She kept her eye on the spoon and followed it with her mouth, leaning as far forward as she possibly could in her bubble chair. She had her hands a-flapping as well. It was fun to watch her be so excited about it. We took pictures and video but I need to get them onto a drive so I can upload them. Meanwhile, I'll post other recent photos. Jillian is doing very well, being her happy self most of the time. She has started going to sleep quickly for us again which is a relief.

Garrett used the chainsaw on Saturday to cut up trees that Neighbor Frank brought us in the fall. It took him a few hours and 2 blades on the saw. Garrett dropped off the blades for sharpening so he can finish the last two trees. Between the trees from Frank and the wood from the tree we had taken down last summer, we should have enough for burning this coming winter. Garrett has been working on his Stryker project that has a deadline of the March 31. Things are on track and hopefully continues. The project consists of a rig he designed and had made by the local machining company that simulates breaking the spindle within the wheel well and collecting the data. I'm sure there is a lot more to it than that and he can catch you up the next time you chat with him. He's almost done collecting the data and will work on analyzing and writing the final report.

I've been busy working on numerous projects at work. The 4 day weeks are working out very well. The 10 hour days are long and the evenings short but having Friday off is great! Tomorrow I plan to make the rounds to the grocery store and Target to find deals on food and household items. I have been looking for sales and collecting coupons to add to the sale items to get awesome prices. Starting today, Payless has the pasta we buy on sale for 0.49. I found coupons that are $1 off of 2 boxes. So, that means free pasta (and I'll make a few pennies also)!! I plan to "buy" 10-20 boxes depending on the stock. I want to leave some boxes for other people, even though I'd like to clean out the pasta shelf! I know we will eat it (whole wheat) and it is shelf stable for a good while. Anyway, I'm excited about finding great deals and hope to continue getting better at it.

This was a quick update and I hope to get those other photos/videos of Jillian eating posted soon. I hope everyone is doing well and gearing up for Spring!

Beginning

After the sawing

I saved the best for last....

Fridays Off!

This week I started working 10 hour days, Monday through Thursday. The days have been long but I'm looking forward to Fridays. I also spoke with my KCA (dog playgroup) boss (Layla) and this coming Saturday is my last day. I took Jillian in to meet Layla last week and talked to her about taking some time off and possibly returning if I can ever start working part time. She was very nice and understanding and said she would gladly welcome me back if/when the time comes. It is tearing at my heart to be away from Jillian so much. Hopefully the scheduling actions I've taken will help.

After getting her shots last Thursday Jillian ran a fever that night. It was up to 101.6 before I decided to give her a dose of Tylenol. She was really fussy and obviously uncomfortable. At 102 we call the doctor. Within 20 minutes her fever was done and she was comfortable enough to fall asleep. Friday morning she was fine, no fever. Then the daycare called at 11am saying it was back up to 101.5. The rule is if a fever reaches 102, the child must leave so I went over and gave her another dose of Tylenol. Again, it helped. Friday night she began running a fever again around 5:30. She was very fussy but the fever was only to 99.6 so I didn't give her any medicine. She fell asleep for the night and was fine on Saturday. She has been very fussy ever since Saturday. I went to visit her over my lunch today and the caregivers said she had not been fussy. She's also been very upset when we put her in her crib. Before this, we would lay her down and she'd fall asleep within 10-15 minutes. Perhaps she's starting to figure out that fussing/crying gets attention. I'm not sure how to handle this but I suppose we'll get it figured out just in time for her to start changing more.

We've been cycling through a number of children's CDs that Mary and David gave us on our car rides into town and home. She seems to really like Raffi. She stops pouting when I turn it on and likes it even more when I sing along. Therefore, I have memorized almost every song on the CD. My coworkers have had a chance to hear my awesome talent of singing children's songs. They really stick in your head!! The songs are so cheerful and upbeat that I can't help but get energized when they pop in my head!

I have started couponing. Not crazy (yet) but trying to print coupons off from online sites to help with our grocery costs. I found one yesterday for up to a 4lb bag of IAMS cat food for free after mail-in rebate. That's almost $7.50! I'm hoping that on my Fridays off I can have coupons printed and do grocery shopping with Jillian. Have to start her early on the bargains/sales! Speaking of groceries, I work directly across the road from Walmart, which I truly dislike to venture into, but I do. So, every week or two, I do our shopping over my lunch hour. I take an insulated bag to work with me that has ice packs and put the cold items I buy into the bag so I can leave them in the car rather than hauling them up to my break rooms' fridge. Ugh, not fun. While on maternity leave, I would get up with Garrett on a weekday morning and go to the store at 7am. That is a great time to go and not deal with cranky customers and/or employees.

The photo above is after we tried everything to help Jillian be happy. We put her in the Bob and strolled around the house until she fell asleep, about 45 minutes, but it was a quiet 45 minutes. She slept here for almost an hour.

I need to get back to work. but thought I'd chat here for a while. I hope you're having a great week. We miss you all.

~Chris

Shots=Boo

Hi there everyone. I'd like to start off differently, but I'll jump right to it. Jillian had her second set of shots today and she sure was upset. All I want to do is be at home snuggling with her. She cried and cried during and after the pokes. I held her for a bit in the exam room after the nurse left and she sadly continued to whimper. I have to say she is still so cute when she's upset but I prefer the happy, smiling Jillian. I took her back to the daycare where she was so sleepy and wanted to be held. Instead of taking her home, I reluctantly left her with Sarah (caregiver) who said she'd snuggle with her. Leaving her after shots was right up there with leaving her at daycare for the first time. I'm antsy to leave work and pick up my baby. I'm sure she'll be fine but as most of you know, it's a tough thing to see your little one so upset. The good news is she is up to 13 pounds, 7 ounces and almost 24 inches long, the average for both weight and height. The pediatrician suggested starting rice cereal so I'll have to look into the different brands, prices, etc and find what Jillian likes.

Garrett has been very busy with work as well as myself. He had to move his primary project to Purdue's campus, which involved moving lots of heavy metal and many parts. He has been working so hard and coming home worn out. Seeing his girls always cheers him up. I've been quite busy at work also with odds and ends for a variety of projects. Lots of R&D and validation work has to be completed before production for a study can begin. Our method development group has been too busy so some of their work has come to us. I'd like to get back to production work.

I will be starting a new schedule at work starting next week. After thinking of a solution to spend more time with Jillian, I came up with a plan that has been approved to work 4, 10 hour days, having Fridays off. They will be long days but it means I get an additional full day with my girl. We don't have much time in the evenings with her since we get home around 5-530pm and she goes to sleep around 8pm most of the time. The daycare said this is fine with them and that I could still take her in on Fridays. I won't be doing that since the whole point is to spend that time with her but it would be great if I need to schedule Jillian's and my own doctor's appointments. I can plan two or three on one Friday to get them done and I won't have to miss work. When I proposed this idea to the head of my Bio department, he offered me the opportunity to begin training on mass specs and other equipment to lead me into a promotion. I sure hope it works out. I am also going to speak with my other boss from the Klondike Canine Academy this afternoon to tell her that I would like to stop working there for a while. I continued on with the dog playgroups after maternity leave to see how it went but I feel I need to spend every minute I can with Jillian. Even seeing her everyday, I feel that I'm missing so much.

Jillian continues to sleep through the night. She is becoming so much fun. She has now started "talking" so loudly that it hurts our ears at times! Last night she was sitting in her bubble chair while Garrett and I ate dinner and I thought she was getting fussy but she was just holding onto her little rabbit talking up a storm while occasionally chewing on rabbit. Developmentally, she is doing everything she should be at 4 months (yep, already 4 months). She's such a happy girl most of the time. Below is a video I took last week. She's only reaching half of her vocal capacity.