Date night

Last night Josh and I had our 1st date night since Brynn was born. Both sets of grandparents live close by and have offered to come and babysit so that Josh and I can go to dinner, but up until this point I hadnt felt ready to leave her. Last night my mom came up and watched her so that Josh and I could go out, our anniversary is the 3rd, so we figured we would just go to dinner to celebrate. We were only gone for a little over an hour but it was nice to get out for a little bit, but I did miss her like crazy while I was gone and of course had to call once to make sure everything was going okay. Everyone keeps saying that when you have kids that you still have to make time and do stuff with your spouse, just the two of you, but it is so hard. Josh works all day and wants to spend time with her in the evenings when he is home, I cant blame him because I get to see her all day and know that I will want to do the same thing when I go back to work.

College football season starts tomorrow! Josh loves this time of year, as you all know all too well. Purdue doesnt play this weekend so I have one more weekend of freedom before the madness begins. We are taking Brynn next weekend to her 1st tailgate, we will see how she does and then decide from there how many more she and I will go back to. Luckily there will be lots of family there next weekend to help out, I am just hoping it doesnt rain or isnt too hot for her.

Great Grandmas

Brynn went for her 1st visit to Great Grandma Canups house today, we call her Grannie. Josh had a dentist appointment in Sullivan this morning so we all rode down together and Brynn and I visited while Josh got his teeth cleaned. It was a nice visit, not long enough, but hopefully we can make it back down there again before I go back to work.

While we were in Sullivan we picked up the Canup Cruiser to get it ready for another tailgating season. Josh said it drove like a dream. We don't know how it does considering what Josh and Jason(Josh's twin brother) paid for the bus 3 years ago, but somehow it continues to putt along, making it to all of Purdue's home games. Even though I complain alot about the bus, I do enjoy it and the memories it has given us over these past 3 years are priceless(Josh would be so proud of me for saying this).

Brynn has been a good sleeper ever since we have brought her home from the hospital, usually just getting up once around 3 am and then again around 630 am to start her day. Well I think she is in a growth spurt because she has been wanting to eat more often the way it is and last night she was up at midnight, 3, and when she was up at 3 didn't go back down until almost 5 and then up again at 630. It makes me sympathize with those mothers who kids are 15 months and 8 months old and still not sleeping thru the night(I wont mention any names), I am hoping this is just a short stage and she will soon go back to her old habits, or even better sleep thru the night.

This weekend we are going to a cookout at our friend Bruisers house. It will be the 1st time Brynn meets alot of our Purdue buddies. We are the 1st out of this group of friends to have a baby so it will interesting to see how it goes.

New Baby

I had mentioned earlier that Brynn had been suffering with some colic, well a few friends had suggested giving her gripe water. I had never heard of this before, I know I am a pharmacist, but they never talked about it in school nor had I heard a doctor recommend it before. We got some and started it on Wednesday and Brynn is like a new baby. She still has some fussy moments, but she is 6 weeks old, what do I expect. However, no more three hour long fits where you cant console her because she is in pain.

We went to Baileys soccer game on Friday night. She looked so cute. I don't know how much she was into the soccer game but she did like when we yelled her name and cheered for her. At one point she was running up and down the field holding the other girls hand on the team, I told her there is no hand holding in soccer.

Then we went to Loogootee for the weekend to visit with Nana and Papaw Smith. Josh was working so it is always nice to go and have an extra set of hands for the weekend. They just cant get enough of her. It is so sweet to see them interact with her. She really is starting to be so much more alert and talking alot. She is starting to smile at us, alot of times it is when she is pooping but we will take what we can get at this point.

A Big Day

Brynn had a big day today. She got to go visit her cousins, Bailey and Brady. My sister-in-law, Jana, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2006 and since then underwent chemo and had a double mastectomy, is doing a Breast Cancer 3 day walk in Cleveland, OH this weekend. Grandma Canup is keeping Bailey and Brady over the weekend while Jana is out of town, so Brynn and I rode to Clayton with her to pick them up today. Bailey and Brady are both so cute with Brynn, especially Bailey. I cant wait until Brynn is a little bit older to see them play together. Brady doesn't quite know what to think of Brynn.. sometimes I think he likes her, other times I think he is jealous. I was nervous about her being in the car for so long because we had the drive there and back and went to lunch while we were there, but she was so good. I honestly think she likes being on the move, I think maybe some times why she throws fits is because she is bored when it is just me and her at home. Not that I can blame her, I am probably not that good of company.

Last night our friends Dan and Sarah brought us dinner over. They have a beautiful one year girl named Olivia. It was nice to have friends over and just relax. Since Brynn has been born Josh has cut back his hours, he is only working 40 now instead of 50 or 60. We have had alot more time together and has been nice to be home together in the evenings when he does work.. I think when I go back to work I am going to miss him just as much as I miss Brynn. We will sort of be working opposite shifts to limit the amount of time she is at a babysitter so we wont have much time home together as a family during the week but will have to make up for it on the weekends. It is amazing how before I never realized how little time we did have together because I never knew any different but having a baby really puts things into perspective and made me realize you work to live, not live to work(sound familiar Kristine).

Tomorrow we are going to watch Bailey(our 4 yr old niece) play soccer. I am excited to see how she does. She is quite the talker so I am wondering if she will actually play or just be talking up and down the field the whole time, she gets it honest though(right Grandma Canup?) Then we are heading home to Loogootee for the weekend to visit with Nana and Papaw Smith, Josh has to work so I figured I would go home and she can see her uncles and aunt too.

Doctors appt

So today I had my postpartum follow up appointment at the doctors office. The doctor that delivered Brynn wasnt the doctor that I saw all through the pregnancy but was on call the day that I delivered so that is who I saw today. We were there for over an hour and a half waiting on him to see us because he got called out for delivery right before our appointment. I was nervous how Brynn would do but she was a good girl. Everyone in the office loved her, but couldnt get over how big she was. I kept reminding them all that they had a part in letting me go that long and letting her get that big. Once he was finally able to see us everything went fine and he released me to go back to work. I was sort of hoping that he would tell me I needed to take at least a year off to fully recover but no such luck.

After the appointment I went to see the lactation consultant again. I dont understand how something that is supposed to be so good for the baby can be so hard to accomplish. She is sort of puzzled too as to why we are having so much trouble, but seems to think that because I had to give her so many bottles when she wasnt gaining weight that now she doesnt want to work for it anymore so just eats enough to satisfy her for a little at a time. She told me for future reference not to necessarily do that right away even if the doctor suggests it(dont tell my doctor that), but I felt like I was doing the right thing at the time because she wasnt gaining weight. Who knows but it has been a struggle from the start and I think Josh and I are about ready to throw in the towel and switch to formula, just because every day I get upset about it and Brynn seems upset because she isnt satisfied and I need to make sure she is a more content baby when I start taking her to the babysitters. I applaud all of you moms who are able to do it and especially those of you who did it for the long haul.. at least I can honestly say I tried my hardest. It does make me sad though to think about giving it up just because it is such a bonding experience, but hopefully now at least I will be able to enjoy the rest of my time off with her. My 1st day back to work is September 18th, a month from today. I cant even think about it without tearing up.

Why Not!

Hello everyone! After reading a few friends' blogs, I figured why not start one myself, so here it goes!

Most of you know that I am married to Josh , from Merom. We met at Purdue University, I am embarrassed to say that I was his TA for Anatomy lab during pharmacy school. Although we didnt break any rules then by dating, our paths soon crossed once again at the Neon Cactus at Purdue and we have been inseparable ever since. We were married on September 3rd, 2005. We reside in Terre Haute and this past December we moved into our new house that took 13 months to build, not because it is a castle but because that is how long it took our contractor to get his act together.

Last November we found out that we were pregnant with our 1st child and that we were due on July 7th. We found out in February that we were having a girl and immediately started buying pink clothes. As the end of June approached we kept waking up every day thinking this was the day that she would arrive, but once July 7th came and went we were beginning to wonder if she was ever going to make her appearance. Finally on July 14th my water broke at about 3 am and at 801pm that night Brynn Madison made her arrival weighing in at 9 lbs 7 ounces and 22 1/2 inches long. Josh wasnt totally convinced she was his kid with that size but then soon realized she looks just like him. She truly is a blessing and we thank God every day that we had a healthy, beautiful baby girl. We are now just trying to work thru some colic and acid reflux issues but other than that are doing well.