Tree Decoration

I've discovered Walgreen's photo department.  I thought the only way to print pictures was to load them onto my flash drive, go to the store, wait for a computer to open up, and come back in an hour to pick them up. That was so inconvenient especially since the first time I did that, I had to wait 20 minutes for a woman to finish with the computer while Savannah didn't want to wait to patiently.  Then I figured out that I could order the pictures online, get them printed in the store and pick them up when I was already out, while also getting the coupon deals.  This new discovery has prompted me to finally hang up pictures and decorations on my wall.  I've been wanting to hang pictures from Savannah's tree for a while and I finally got around to it last week.  I used ribbon and tacked it to the back of the frame, then tied a bow around a nail in the wall.

As I mentioned in the last post we are a beach family.  So Savannah and I went to the beach last Friday and Jake and I took her on Monday. One of the reasons she didn't enjoy it was because Saturday morning we discovered she had a 101 fever, which later reached 103.  The fever finally went back to normal on Monday but then she started getting cold symptoms which she shared with me.  I had to take off of work Tuesday because we were both so sick.  I don't get paid for day's off since I am part time.  She has been on Pedialyte since Monday morning and hasn't been getting any food since Friday with the exception of what you see in the picture below.

Her daddy decided to let her try ribs.  Needless to say she was in Heaven.  Closing her eyes, savoring the moment.  The poor girl getting slobbered all over is Emily, my brother in law's girlfriend.

Curtains

 I finished some things I've been working on this week, but the pictures I took turned out bad so I will have to try again,

These are the curtains I made Savannah for her room, they have been done for a while.  I got the fabric at JoAnn's and there almost wasn't enough. Try to ignore the ugly radiator, They are all over my house and the previous owners decided to paint them silver. I can't tell you how many times I've asked my husband (who works in heating and air) to switch them out for baseboard or cover them.  We are going to have to cover it before winter because they get so hot Savannah will burn her hand if she grabs it.

Close up of the ties that hang the curtain from the rod.

Savannah and I went to the beach for the first time since she was 3 weeks old.  She had a pretty rough time at first. Definitely doesn't like sand on her skin, and she didn't like the ocean either.  I hope this changes because we are a beach family.

This weekend

Our weekend was crazy. We had to work on Saturday, and I got stuck with the slow doctor so I was there until 1:30 and he still had a patient in the back. I had to leave to get ready for Jake's cousin Erica's wedding, which was an hour away and started a 6 pm. Never having gone to an evening wedding before, I had to go find a dress earlier in the week which was very stressful, especially since nobody could come with me. I ended up sending picture messages to my sister and Jake asking for advice. To go off on a little tangent now: I have to tell the world that the handicapped dressing rooms are larger for a reason, they are not for single healthy people who are shopping with friends and family, honestly they are for handicapped people (I was told this in kindergarten and never forgot), so no I should not be saying this but they are also really convenient for women with strollers and children when handicapped people are not using them. Strollers DO NOT FIT in regular dressing rooms and I do not enjoy taking all of my belongings off of the stroller including the baby and having to leave it in the hallway so that I can try on clothes, because some skinny little thing wants to play dress up with her friends.
Savannah ended up taking a nap when I bought her home from my sister in law's house, so that allowed me some extra time to get ready. What do I decide to do? wash the car! I'm a crazy person I know. My hands and feet were filthy, causing my to have to take another shower and of course Jake cannot put on a suit by himself, even though I laid everything out for him, then he rushes me out the door so that I forget the gift and leave the front door wide open. When will he realize that if you rush me it will cause me to forget stuff and we will have to turn around and drive back 2 times.
The wedding was beautiful, but we told my sis in law and bro that we would pick baby girl up around 10. Dinner wasn't even served until 9:30 so we didn't get home until 10:45.
Then we had to wake up at 5:30 the next morning to drive down to Maryland for my nieces dedication. Savannah was so good the whole ride up until my brother(who has a bladder the size of a pea) has to stop after 1 hour to use the bathroom, causing Savannah to wake up. She did not take a nap again until after church and it was very short. The whole ride back, we were stuck in traffic and Savannah was too tired and angry to sleep in her carrier in the car so she cried the whole way home. After finally getting home at 3 pm, I still had to mow the lawn(yes I do it for the exercise, even when I was pregnant) do the laundry, clean the house and make dinner.
No wonder I had to leave work early today because I had a migraine.

What happening at the Holcombe house

Last week Savannah said mama for the first time. It immediatly turned into nana, lala, baba and now  it's back to dada.  She has been having a pretty good week, starting to like toys a lot more and doesn't want to sit, she just straightens her legs so I can't make her sit down. Although, she is holding on to things standing on her own.  When I do get her to sit, she has started to try and figure out how to get out of that position, no success yet but she ended up in the split position a few times. I made homemade oatmeal for her from a recipe I found online. I got it chopped very fine in the baby blender but when I cooked it, it became chunky and she did not like that. Here's the recipe I used.
Baby oatmeal:
1/4 c. Old Fashioned Oats
1 c. water
 Bring water to boil, add oatmeal powder while stirring constantly. Simmer for 10 mins whisking constantly. (That's the part I slacked on)

Update on the homemade dishwasher detergent. I used 1 Tbls. the first time and my dishes were still somewhat stinky, the second time I filled the soap container and the dishes were very clean and not stinky. The recipe said to use LemiShine but it was very expensive so I read that I could use vinegar in the rinse compartment. I think my rinse compartment is broken because I filled it up and none of it is gone. I need to do a little research on my dishwasher.

I gave my sister in law a haircut yesterday, and I was very happy with it at the end. We are going to a wedding this weekend to maybe I can get a picture then.

And Lastly, I am in the process of making my own design for a baby swim cover-up. I am very happy with it so far.

Budget friendly

I had such a busy day today, I feel so productive. I walked my niece Lauren to school today which was about 1/2 mile each way.  She decided that she wanted to run the whole way there, so I got to push the stroller, carry the diaper bag and her backpack, and walk as fast as I could being out of shape and in flip-flops.  I did say I wanted to start getting exercise again.  When I got home Savannah went down for her nap and I cleaned the bathroom and kitchen.

Later, we went to Kohl's to return some rugs I bought that were too small, and wal-mart to get some necessities.  When I got home it was time to work on some projects i've been meaning to get to for a while.

The first project was to make another dry erase board.  Jake and I received our first one from Jake's sister Becca for Christmas.  Instead of putting a picture in a frame, you put a piece of paper in it.  She wrote on the paper inside saying: I love you because.  And Jake and I take turns filling in the blank.  I decided to make my own as a checklist.  So, I made a checklist on the computer, printed it and put it in the frame. That one became our to do list.  Caution, these boards become very addicting.  I made another checklist for our monthly bills, because I kept forgetting which I have and haven't paid and Jake kept getting on my case about it.  I had Lauren make one for her mommy's birthday.  And today I decided to make another one. I bought an 8 x 10 frame from Wal-mart for $3, put in a piece of scrapbook paper, and made this one my weekly to do list (I might be turning it into a weekly menu) I admit I stole this idea from Becca, she has a similar one in her house.

While at Wal-Mart, I got the ingredients to make my own dishwashing detergent.  Do to budget cuts I have been buying the Great Value brand and it has been making my dishes stinky.  I found this recipe on Pinterest here: http://beingcreativetokeepmysanity.blogspot.com/2011/01/dishwasher-detergent.html?m=1. I have a ton of it and it was really cheap. I'm thinking of making my own liquid handsoap and detergent from recipes I found on Pinterest. I'll keep you updated to tell you how well it works.

Since my dad had an emergency eye doctor appointment on Wednesday, I had to watch my other niece Emily.  She was a little bored at my house since I only have baby toys, but she kept herself occupied by dragging the baby tub into the living room and asking me if I could put in the bath toys and Savannah. Such a cute idea!

To grandmothers' house we go

My grandma just moved to NJ from CT this weekend.  I'm so happy that I get to see her more often now.  We went to visit her on Sunday and take her out to dinner, but Savannah refused to take a nap since right after church, leading us to learn something new.  How to get her to take a nap at someone else's house. I laid her on her tummy, rubbed her back, held her close, nothing worked. Finally, I threw a blanket over her whole body, leaving and air hole of course, and she finally slept very soundly for 45 minutes, allowing us to go to a quick dinner and do a little shopping. She got to try french fries and ground beef for the first time thanks to her daddy. She also got to sit in a shopping cart and high chair by herself, that didn't go so well.

We found some really cute stuff when we went shopping at Home Goods. My grandma has a really nice deck at her apartment, but it had some water pooling on it from the rain, so we bought her a really pretty rubber mat for a housewarming gift.  She found a really cool book for Savannah that makes lots of cool sounds and we found a tambourine with owls on it for Savannah, she loves it.

This picture is from the first time Savannah got to visit my grandmother in CT. She had just turned 5 months that day.

parenting a difficult child

Sorry to vent about my baby in the last post. I really do love her.
This frustrating time in our lives is helping me realize the reasons these things are happening.  I can't figure out why Savannah has been so tired lately, but it almost like she is a newborn again. She takes 2-3 hour naps and when she wakes up we get an hour to play and eat and she's ready for bed again. I keep her up as long as possible. She also sleeps about 10-11 hours straight at night and I have the same problem in the morning. I'm pretty sure she was screaming in the mall with my mom and I, because she was so tired and refuses to sleep anywhere but her crib. She has never been the type to sleep in the car seat, or stroller.  If anyone has advice how to remedy this situation I would appreciate it. I know it sounds like I'm lucky and should be happy about this but it's frustrating when I need to go out for a few hours. 
I have a lot of trouble getting her to play by herself and I think it's because she loves her parents and thinks we are fun. Toys just don't compare. When Jake and I are home and comfortable we can be quite goofy and it doesn't take a lot to make her laugh when she is in a good mood.  These toys are repetitive and just not funny.
Everyday has been a fight getting her to eat solid foods. We got over the problems with her not drinking around 4 months but now we have a problem getting much food in her system at all. When we give her a bottle she only takes about 2-4 ounces every 3 hours and solid food I try so hard to figure out what she likes other than bananas but I just get everything spit back in my face (she has mastered the raspberry) and clenched lips. She even learned to cry with her mouth closed during this time so we can't stuff anything in there. I've just realized that we were trying the solids when she wasn't hungry enough or too hungry. I've gotten her to eat chicken and rice mixed with carrots this week.  The bottle is still a problem though. She just wants to play with it, not drink it.
Lastly, this week has been another rough one. My husband brought home this virus called the Novovirus last Sunday, and convinced me it was food poisoning.  My sister in law was unable to watch Savannah on Monday due to her child having an ear infection, so thinking Jake only had food poisoning and he was on the up-swing he watched her.  She started showing symptoms of being sick Wednesday and then I ended up with it Thursday into Friday. The symptoms mimic food poisoning so you can guess what I had going on all night. I'm still not feeling great and can't eat much but we are all starting to get over it.

P.s One of the reasons i'm writing these posts, is because I have done many searches to get advice on some of these problems and I can't ever find anything useful. We are on our second pediatrician and she doesn't have any advice either.