Strike Three?

So, I like to keep my blog void of anything even bordering on personal. For one, I'm always shocked at the random people who I find out read my very infrequent ramblings about cookies and sewing and fear stepping on unsuspecting toes. Also, I fear that I will misspeak or leave out important pieces of information as one often does when communicating solely via computers. I'm not an eloquent writer (or speaker for that matter) and have become victim of this situation before. Not to mention all of the advice that I am "soliciting" simply by opening up to such a large crowd of people. Against my better judgment I'm deciding for tonight to set aside those worries (help us all) and type a bit about the challenge of Eden.

First and foremost a disclaimer in efforts to avoid point #2 from above. Not that any of you doubt this, but let me just say I love this little booger to death and she could be a terror and that wouldn't change. I am also not saying I have an extraordinarily difficult child. We are very lucky in many things. She came into this world well, she is free of any serious or life threatening issues, 80% of the time she only wakes at night to eat and goes right back to sleep, we do have some wakeful, happy times together, and I do not expect her to be that "perfect" baby. Ok, my disclaimer was long enough so I won't feel guilty about the following.

Eden cries a lot. I mean, a lot. She usually does not cry from 11 pm to 6 am unless she's hungry which is an enormous blessing. Other than that she cries about 45 minutes out of every hour and she rarely sleeps during the day.

Strike One- she was much much worse (cried at night too) her first week of life. Enter meds for reflux #1 and she started sleeping at night. YAY! However, she still threw up randomly and fussed while eating.
Strike Two- enter reflux meds #2- she stopped fussing so much while eating and no longer throws up. Has a few more happy periods.

At this point we threw in the towel- said, this is our child, we can deal with it, some babies are just fussy. We have tried two different slings, a swing, a vibrating chair, car rides, different beds, different white noises, different holding positions, etc etc etc.

I had decided this was her personality and am adjusting to it- although I'm a little frayed around the edges. It's difficult when your child cries so much there is no play time and there is nothing more of yourself to give to your spouse and definitely not friends and family. The experience has helped me grow more than any other- I'm getting better at accepting and, more importantly, asking for help from others. I'm easier on myself when nothing other than the absolute necessities of life get done.
I had prepared myself that the next four months (two months are already down) of our lives will be solely dedicated to pacifying this little girl and everything else could wait until later. Interstingly enough, her 6 month mark is my birthday :).

Then came her 2 month check up today. She had been doing her normal screaming fit for 45 minutes when the doctor finally came in. She heard Eden cry and stated something needed to be done for that baby in pain. *Lightbulb* - that was a pain cry! I've been listening to other babies cry for the past few weeks and kept remarking how different it was from Eden's and just assumed it was part of her fussiness. Let me just say that the realization that she is in pain and not just unhappy is not welcome- but- it holds promise because it's something with the potential to be fixed.

Long story short, we are trying a formula based diet for a few days to see if she is affected by her this and upping her meds a bit. Please pray for peace for our little one, a break from her pain, and guidance for us and our doctor as we try to determine what is best for her.

Good news! She is 10lbs 8 oz, 21.5 inches long, (both at the 50th%) - and her head is at the 75th%! No wonder she looks so much like her daddy :).

As promised, I am posting pics of the nursery and sharing a few of our favorite nursery items.
In the below picture you can see beloved item #1- crocheted mobile from Emily. This is hands down the most helpful thing next to another human holding Eden. It is one of the handful (yes, these can be counted using just 5 fingers) of things that make Eden really happy- like smiley, giddy happy. She is particularly in love with the butterfly. Next to the window you can glimpse a couple of nursery rhyme art boards. These were hand me downs from a friend of a friend and are originally from a gallery in New York, New York. They are dated from the 40's and are perfect in her nursery.

The monogram artwork above the bookshelf was a handmade present from Melissa for Christmas and totally made some of the pictures Jill took of Eden (well Eden made the pictures, the artwork helped :) ). It's hard to tell how great it is in this photo, but the lamp was a vintage hand-me-down from Abigail (from the Kinnairds, from their friend....) that I was tickled to receive.

Well, that's the nursery!

Speaking of babies - I can't seem to get off that subject lately - if you need a baby fix go check out the submissions for best newborn photo at The Babble. WARNING- Some of the pictures show newborns first attempts at nursing and some show babies before the nurses had a chance to clean them. Anyway, they're mostly cute, but don't say I didn't warn ya if you see something you wish you hadn't.

We're all growing..

I'm finding ways to hold a sleeping baby and STILL type with two hands--- there is hope for this blog yet :).

My sister Jill (http://jilliankayphotography.blogspot.com/) did a photo shoot with Eden after Christmas. Below are a few of my favorite pictures (it took me longer to narrow down "favorite pictures" than it did to write this blog).


Things at our house are still crazy and rightly so. I plan (we'll see how it goes) to do the next few posts over things that I'm loving right now- from our favorite baby items, nursery decor, gifts I found for Thomas' birthday, clothing, etc, etc. You can catch a bit of a glimpse of one of them in the picture above- a fuzzy giraffe rug thing Tommy and Melissa gave us. This little girl LOVES it's silky soft texture.



I love the way Eden still curls up her legs ...


Her gorgeous eyes...
And how much she looks like her daddy.

Which is easier to see in the following picture:There has been baking, although a baby sitter had to be obtained in order for it to take place. Somehow, I don't think they minded :). Thomas turned 28 yesterday. On that day 28 years ago, his father, was also 28 years old and meeting Thomas for the first time. Kind of cool the way that worked out. For the occasion Thomas got the same cake from last year- with a little bit of an upgrade. Instead of plain vanilla with buttercream frosting I added a layer of raspberry filling- quite simply the EASIEST snazzying up ever.

SNOWFLAKE CAKE- from
Ingredients
For the cake
3 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs, separated while cold, at room temperature
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups buttermilk

For the frosting
1 cup unsalted butter, preferable a high-fat European style, at room temperature
1 pound sifted powdered sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon milk or half-and-half
Pinch of salt

For the filling-
1/2 cup raspberry preserves
10 oz frozen raspberries, thawed and drained

Make the cake
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans. Line the bottom of each pan with waxed or parchment paper. Grease and flour the top side of the paper, and set aside.

2. Into a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt, then lightly whisk and set aside.

3. In a stand mixer set on medium speed, beat the butter until creamy, about 30 seconds. Add the sugar and beat until light and nearly white, about 5 minutes. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, and beat until fully incorporated, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the vanilla until blended. Add the flour mixture, alternating with the buttermilk, in several additions, and beat until smooth and just blended. Scrape the sides and bottom.

4. In another bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks just form. Gently stir one third of the whites into the batter to lighten it. Fold in the remaining egg whites until just incorporated and no large white streaks of egg white remain.

5. Divide the batter between the prepared pans, using a spatula to evenly spread the batter. Gently rotate the pans to settle and level the batter. Bake until the cakes begin to pull away from the sides and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Let the layers cool in their pans. Gently loosen the edges with a thin knife before inverting the layers onto wire racks. Let the cakes cool thoroughly before carefully peeling off the paper. Cool completely before frosting, about 3 hours.

Make the frosting
1. In a stand mixer set on low speed, beat the butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, milk, and salt until the sugar is moist. Slowly increase the speed to medium-high, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary. Beat until light and creamy, about 1 1/2 minutes.

Make the Filling-
Mix both ingredients together.

Assemble the cake-
Place one cake layer on a platter and cit off the top so that it is level. This also will allow the filling to soak into the cake a little. Spread the filling on this layer stopping an inch from the edges. You may not use all the filling. Top with second cake layer and frost.