Question...

Chayse has had several times lately where when she wakes up, she is pure screaming/crying at the top of her lungs. It is almost like she has had a bad dream. Normally when she wakes up, she is much happier than this but just as soon as she sees Nathan or I, she will calm right down. Has anyone else had a child that has done this? Do they out grow it? Anyone know what causes it?

On a different note, her fever (Praise God!!) has FINALLY stayed below 100 for a full 24 hours!!!! HOOORRRAAAYYYY!!!!!!! The last few times we have taken it, the fever has been 99.8 or less! And so far today (knock on wood) it has been at her normal temperature of 98.7. She is still chewing on her hands, my hands, her Daddy's hands... no teeth yet but at least we are starting to see that she really is teething. Now if we could just get this screaming thing figured out...

What a Trooper!!

Well, Chayse is still running her fever. We have been to the doctor's office three times in two weeks. ARGH!!! Every inch of her has been checked, rechecked, and then checked again... and still no answers as to what is causing the fever. So, we wait. If the fever is still around next week, we will have some blood work done. For the most part, Chayse is in great spirits. She will go ten hours with no fever and then wham, it's 100.6 again. Needless to say, our schedule is a bit messed up from it all! We are still trying to read stories at bed time but she is a little less cooperative at sitting still when she feels yucky. Tonight, her fever was 100.6 so after her Tylenol, we skipped stories and were just hanging out. Now normally, when she sees a camera, she freezes up... stops talking, stops smiling, stops everything. Tonight though, I was able to get her "talking" with the video camera. She had been talking for about 5 minuets when I started recording it so it doesn't last but maybe two minuets. When this was being recorded, she was in GREAT spirits with her fever.... not even ten minuets later, it was TOTAL MELT DOWN!!!! You will have to pardon my recording... she was standing up so one hand was on her, the camera was in the other hand, and I was trying to keep eye contact with her so she would keep talking!! Anyhow, it is still funny to listen to her babble... don't forget to go to the bottom and pause the music before you hit play!

Bath Time

Chayse took her first bath in the "big" bath tub last night. One of my girl friends, Natalie, gave Chayse her bath tub before she was born and normally we put the green tub on the kitchen counter and give her a bath there. Last night, Chayse had an EXPLOSIVE diaper (I think it is from the Tylenol) and she desperately needed a bath. Since it was an unplanned bath and I had shirts drying on the kitchen counters, she ended up in the little tub in the big tub! She is still running a fever and feeling yucky. We are still praying for her fever to go down and for her to start feeling better. The last reading I got for her fever was 100.5... hopefully it will not go any higher and will break today.

Sick little girl...

Well, we had a first today... we went to the "sick" side at the doctor's office. Chayse has been running a fever the last few days and it has made her very cranky. At first we thought that it was just from her shots last week but as the fever and the crankiness continued, we thought that we had better call the doctor just to make sure nothing else was going on. A co-pay later, she has no ear infection, no runny noise, no bout with tummy issues... instead, they think that she is TEETHING!!!!!! I almost fell out when she told me that! I could not believe that at 10 weeks, she would be teething already but, that does explain the drool we have been seeing lately! I pray pray pray that this does not go on for too long and that my little sweetie is back to herself soon! The last reading I got for her temperature tonight was 100.4 so if you are up late reading this, please pray that it goes down and stays down! We pray Chayse starts to feel better and that Chayse starts getting some very restful sleep... her parents need it as much as she does after these last few days! Hopefully we have seen the last of miss cranky pants for a while and my sweet, happy baby girl will be back soon! Here is what Chayse looks like with a fever... no smiles from this little girl! Mommy and Daddy both hope you feel better soon pumpkin!!

If you are able to listen to this, remember to go down to the bottom of the page and turn down the music before you hit play... for some reason, Chayse becomes very fixated on cameras, both flash or video. It takes her a little bit to get warmed up to the camera but then she starts talking away!

2 Month Check Up

Miss Chayse had her two month check up on Monday and she is doing great! She is up to a whopping 11 pounds and 10 ounces and she has grown 2 inches! This puts Chayse around 60% for weight and around 45% for length. She certainly is growing! Chayse also had to suffer through her shots on Monday which in turn introduced her to Tylenol... thankfully her fever is under 100 again.
On a different note, Chayse made her first trip to John Deere. Nathan needed to order a new tractor for the house so we took a family trip! Now don't get me wrong, this is not a huge farming piece of machinery, this is a small tractor that will work well for an area up to 9 acres. Nathan is very excited about his new toy... it can cut grass, till gardens, work as a snow plow, move stuff in its scoop/bucket... all I can say is boys and their toys!!! Chayse has no idea what the colors green and yellow are all about but without a doubt, her Daddy is going to be introducing her to them very soon!

Happy 4th of July

What a wonderful country we live in to have the freedoms that we do! Today, we celebrated our freedom with a neighborhood block party. While the food was cooking we played in the pool and we played on the blow up water slide... I must say, the water slide was probably every ones favorite part of the day... adults and kids included! Happy fourth!!! God bless the U.S.A.!

2 months young... and the best blessing ever!

Sweet smiles
Bright eyes
Soft baby coos
Dangerous diapers
Warm snuggler
Overwhelming love
Pride and pure joy

Just a few things I think of when I think about Chayse. I still can not believe that my sweet baby girl has been around for 2 whole months already! It is so surreal to think about how much she has changed our lives. Chayse is God's answers to a lot of prayers... not just our prayers, but the prayers of our friends and our families as well. Through this journey we have had days that were so dark and gloomy and days where there was so much joy and happiness. As I have said before, it is so nice to be on this side of the storm looking at this side of the rainbow. Many of you have been with us since the beginning, and although we haven't seen many of you in a long time, we have not forgotten you nor your steadfast friendship. And to those of you who came along somewhere in the middle, what a ride you ended up on... thank you for not getting off!! If anyone would have ever asked me two years ago after we lost Hope Noelle if I could see us here... now... at this point in our lives, I would have laughed. Time changes so many things. Chayse Nicole has been a blessing to us and I am so thankful for the friends we have made that have stuck with us and our families as we made our way to this point in our journey. How blessed we are...