A Quick Note from the Yosts!

This past week, between rainstorms, we have had the chance to take out our new stroller and enjoy the nice weather. Doesn't Lydia look comfy! She also looks adorable in her little sun bonnet, don't you think?

We have also spent lots of time just hanging out in the house doing load after load of laundry. Lydia loves to be read to and played with on the floor. It is so fun to see her become more and more responsive and smiley when we talk to her. She is also discovering her hands. They are frequently in prayer position :) Her favorite bouncy chair has now gone to Amy's house for the month while mommy goes back to work. We won't be able to calm her with the bubbles and fish, but hopefully the swing will do the trick in those desperate moments.

On a sadder note my Grandpa Elmer and Aunt Deann are in need of prayers. Grandpa has been in the hospital for the last week with congestive heart failure and they are not really sure how to help him. At this point he has a blood clot and his blood pressure goes from high to low and back again. My Aunt Deann is struggling to recover from gal bladder surgery and with two young boys at home I can't imagine being in the hospital.

Also please keep me in your prayers next week as I start back to work. I know that it will be good for me, but I am really struggling with the idea of being away from Lydia. It has been a blessing being at home with her for as long as I have been, but either way it won't be easy.

What a Week!

Is spring finally here? That’s the question on my mind these days as we are looking forward to the arrival of a new stroller. We are excited to get outside more and get some walks in before I return to work on April 28th. I can’t believe that in just two weeks I will be back in the classroom. It will be rewarding to finish out the school year with my class, but it will be such a change not being with Lydia all day. I just keep telling myself that it will be better to get a month under my belt then waiting till Sept. to go back after being at home for more then six months.

Since updating the blog a lot has happen with our family; Lydia didn’t have a bowel movement for 8 days, she turned 2 months and got her first immunizations, and we took our first overnight trip to Carissa’s in the Cities.

Gas and poop aren’t words that Charlie and I talked about often before having Lydia, but now they are a constant topic of conversation. When I last updated the blog, Lydia was experiencing a lot of painful gas which we were trying to decrease by changing my diet. The things that definitely upset her tummy are onions, marinara sauce, and garlic. I am trying to keep them out of my diet, but that is easier said then done when you love Italian food and honestly almost everything has garlic or onion flavoring. Either way that is what I am working on to help eliminate some of her discomfort. We also had an interesting week with poop on the brain. Lydia didn’t go for 8 days!! Prior to this point she would fill her diaper at least every other day. This was a concern for me, but on Wednesday at her 2 month appointment the doctor wasn’t alarmed and said that it is very common with breastfeed babies. Well like any first time mom, the doctor’s opinion wasn’t good enough. We tried apple juice, pear juice, and rectal stimulation, but none of those things helped. Finally on Friday a friend suggested karo syrup with water. I mixed some up in a bottle, she drank it down, and with in 5 mins. she had a massive explosion. YEAH!! I don’t know if it was the syrup mix or just her time, but either way we were all very relieved.

So on to Lydia’s 2 month check-up. She is now weighing in at 10lbs. 10oz. and 22 inches. Upon checking her over the doctor said she is healthy, but does have a heart murmur which is common in children and typically goes away. After getting a clean bill of health a very kind nurse came into the room to administer her 3 immunizations. He cleaned off the injection sites, held onto both legs and before anyone of us could prepare, the first needle was in. As soon as Lydia felt the needle her face became red and she opened her mouth but nothing came out. After getting the other 2 shots in the opposite thigh she was finally screaming so loud that another nurse said she could hear her in another room. The following were mine and Charlie’s reactions after the experience; Charlie said “I didn’t even see it coming; the needle was in before I knew it.” Jessica said “I have never heard her cry like that.” and in a weak attempt to console her “look at your cool band-aids.” I am now thinking the band-aid conversation will be more appropriate in the future, but at the time it was also an attempt to console myself as well. You just feel so bad when you hear that cry, but I just have to remind myself that it is for her benefit.

Well after a stressful week we decided to take a relaxing trip up to see Carissa and celebrate her White Coat Ceremony (the symbolic start to rotations and her last year in vet school). Now when I think relaxing it probably doesn’t involve bringing every baby contraption known to man and a bazillion diapers, but in all honesty it was enjoyable and I think we did pretty good for our first night away from home. We started out by going to Paint Your Plate to decorate a plate with Lydia’s footprints and name. She did really well as we worked and I think she even enjoyed having her foot painted. When done there, we picked up Carissa and Ike to go out for dinner. As we got to the restaurant it was feeding time for Lydia so we gave her a bottle which she chugged down and proceeded to tell everyone in the restaurant that she was hungry for more. I decided to attempt nursing her in the bathroom which would have gone fine except for it was the noisiest bathroom ever and Lydia wasn’t too interested. Thanks to Carissa and Ike for taking turns standing and bouncing her, we all got our food eaten. Next time maybe we should plan on take-out. J Saturday night she slept great and only woke up for one feeding which was a relief because Carissa’s two roommates were home and we didn’t want to wake the whole apartment complex. Sunday morning was a frenzy of getting ready for the White Coat Ceremony and preparing food for dinner after the ceremony. We survived and made it to the auditorium on time and with a content baby. Lydia did really well during the ceremony as each Class of 2009 vet student received their white coat. We enjoyed meeting Carissa’s classmates and then had a great dinner back at her place before heading home. Lydia was so worn out from the weekend that she slept all the way home.

To begin our week, today Lydia and I took lunch out to the farm for Charlie. The vet had to come out and do a surgery on one of the cows so Lydia got to see the barn and cows for the first time as the vet performed a DA. I am sure that if Lydia is anything like her God sister, Paige, she will spend lots more time in the barn with the cows and her daddy. Hopefully this week won’t be quite as stressful and that we get the stroller put together so we can enjoy the warm weather. Also, please note that I am including photos this time since last time I got some complaints. I have no problem including photos because I think she is the cutest thing in the world and obviously some others agree.

Catching Some ZZZzzz

This week as the weather gets warmer and it truly feels like spring is on it's way, Lydia has gone to sleep three consecutive evenings in the crib that we have next to our bed. It has been wonderful to actually get her to sleep somewhere other than on my chest and not always be worrying about rolling over on her. The first night of her sleeping in the crib, I woke up and couldn't find her because she was in the crib instead of my arms. It was a scary moment for a second :)

We have noticed that Lydia is more and more alert. We talk and make sounds while she watches intently or even responds with her own sounds. On Friday my doctor was attending to a delivery so we had to wait awhile for my appointment so Lydia and I sat "talking" to one another. She definitely is smiling socially and not just because of gas. Speaking of gas, we think that Lydia's increased fussiness is due to gas pains. We have been trying gas relief drops, but the haven't been working. I have done some reading about how babies that are breastfeed can have stomach sensitivity to certain foods it's mom is eating. The book suggests eliminating chocolate, spices (garlic, cinnamon, paprika), citrus stuff, green veggies (especially onions), and dairy products from your diet for three days and then to reintroduce things separately to see what makes their tummy upset. I am only on day two and can't believe how many things have garlic and onion in them, but the biggest lose is chocolate. A girl has got to have her chocolate :) I'll let you know next week if we figure out what is causing the gas problems, hopefully not dairy. Can you imagine a dairy farmer's wife that doesn't support the industry?

On Saturday night Charlie and I had our first night out without Lydia. We attending the Luck-of-the-Irish fundraiser for John Ireland. My cousin Ashley babysat and did a great job. Lydia peed on the changing table while Ashley was changing her and then to Ashley's surprise Lydia smiled up at her. I told Ashley not to be offended because she does it all the time. Charlie and I really enjoyed the evening out and only called twice to check on her.

I always sit down at the computer thinking that I have nothing to write about and then I end up with a whole page about the week. Well, hopefully you enjoy reading about our families adventures.