More Christmas before the trip!

We spent lunch over at Gigi and Bubba's where we had festivities with my Papaw, Uncle Jason, Aunt Maggie and cousin Nuria (Carleigh's 3 year old Aunt) in from Guadalajara, and Seth, Courtney, Aubrey, Grandpa and Uncle John.

Gigi and Carleigh wore matching outfits - how cute!!!

And Carleigh and Aubrey loved rocking on the Radio Flyer horses!

Of course opening presents was a hit!  And Maddie and Tyson even enjoyed eating the turkey carcass (also an Everett family tradition).

Then we did our own presents with Carleigh from Dusty and me at our house in the afternoon.  Her Mimi and Papaw came over to give her their gifts as well!  What a loved little girl!!!  Carleigh had no idea what was going on, but was in awe of all the commotion!

Christmas Eve night we went over to Dusty's Aunt Phylis' house (a tradition) and had more food, fun and family time.  We always do a white elephant gift exchange that involves a whole lot of Jack Daniels :).  This year didn't disappoint.

Carleigh was about done with the smiles and dress changes.  She was a sport, though.  She went to bed early (perhaps in preparation for ... not Santa just yet ... but Playa)???

I put most of her presents on the dining table because I didn't have time to put them away before we left and we took the picture below (you can't even see all the clothes).

 

Where are we going to put it all?

Sippy cup trickery

The start on the new milk didn't go so well.  Carleigh cannot stand the amino-acid based formula and the first day, she only drank a little over 12 ounces!  Needless to say, this led to a miserable baby, a terrible night on all of us, and a frantic me!  She's actually developed a bottle aversion since starting the Elecare and completely refuses the bottle (no matter what we put in it).  We've tried pediatric apple juice, grape flavored water, her old formula (Alimentum) ... to no avail.

After sleuthing on the internet, I tried mixing applesauce (Carleigh's favorite food ... though she's only tried 3), with the Elecare in a sippy cup and what do you know ... she drank it (or most of it anyways)!  About 3 ounces into it, she was like, "Wait a minute!  This doesn't taste right! But it sure is different and fun!"  Or that was our interpretation of her expressions, anyways.  She loves holding the handles of the cup and we noticed that thus far, it is her favorite teething toy!

Upon talking to Dr. Elizondo's nurse today, she suggested that we either try mixing the Alimentum and the Elecare during our trip or going back to the Alimentum until we can get another stool sample done in early January.  Consumption is the most important thing right now. 

Pediatric GI appointment

Today was Carleigh's Pediatric GI appointment and we met with Dr. Elizondo. Oh my goodness, I cannot say enough good things about this doctor!!!  He was so amazing!  He gave us 45 minutes and actually walked in the room with a box of Kleenex before even meeting me (in anticipation of a possible meltdown).  What an expert!  :)

In a nutshell (I won't get into the nitty-gritty), what I thought might be aggravated reflux problems, turns out to be (according to him) a more severe allergy to cow's milk/soy than originally thought.  He thinks that keeping her reflux controlled with the Prevacid and changing her formula to prescription Elecare will make drastic changes not only in her daytime eating behavior (the push/pull relationship with the bottle will stop or at least get better) but it will also help with her night time problems.  His hope is that she will begin to eat more (especially during the day), therefore be fuller, nap better, thus sleep better at night.  All of this combined with a more consistent schedule, which I will be able to do now that I am staying at home full-time.

I am hoping this is the answer.  Seeing the tears on her cheeks after she eats is just heartbreaking.  She just looks at you like, "do something!"  Dustin and I have been at a loss for what to do at these times and the guilt has been weighing on us.  On a positive note, she had gained weight since 2 weeks ago.  Our baby girl is up to 14 pounds, 12 ounces, still at 26 inches long.  She is so happy when her belly isn't digesting.  We hope soon, the painful episodes will be over (at least due to the allergy/reflux issues).  Teething is coming around the corner,  but that will seem like a breeze.

We follow up with Dr. Elizondo in 5 weeks!  Next time I won't need a Kleenex.

Carleigh and her cousins celebrate Christmas

Yesterday, Courtney and Seth hosted a Christmas get-together for Carleigh and her cousins so that we could exchange gifts and enjoy a Christmas meal. 

Larson, Aubrey and Carleigh are all still very young but hopefully the tradition will continue. Larson is mobile, so Kim and Patrick had their hands full chasing him around! As the oldest, Aubrey was very hands-on and nurturing with Carleigh and not only is she a wonderful cousin, but she's going to make a great big sister to her identical twin sisters, Stella and Caroline, arriving in the next month!

Capturing a photo with a 5 month old, a 2.5 year old and a 1 year old is not the easiest ... but here are a few takes (my camera caught the sun in one).

We enjoyed appetizers, Seth cooked shish kabobs, and had dessert.  The icing on the cake was that our Papaw was there to share in the festivities! 

Christmas with the Newmans'

Saturday we went to Andrea and Ronnie's to enjoy a fun afternoon of Christmas celebration with Dustin's mom's side of the family.  We had a gift exchange and Carleigh got so many fun gifts!!!  She really took to tearing off the paper! (She tried to eat it, but was still excited to tear it, nonetheless).  It was great to share in the season with the Aunts, Uncles, cousins as well as the immediate family.

Later, we enjoyed the Cowboys game there.  The Little's came over to watch it with us and do the kids' gift exchange.  The boys were crazy and watched it in the outside kitchen pavilion (they covered the open sides with a tarp) and had heaters inside while the girls stayed inside with the babies. 

Carter and Carleigh hung out together for awhile awake before they showed their true colors. Just kidding :)

Lovin' the grandparents!

Whenever Carleigh sees her Bubba and Gigi or Mimi and Papaw, she gets the biggest grin on her face!  She is so excited to see them and relishes in the attention they give her!  We find it so odd that she already is better behaved when she sleeps over at their houses than at our house!

They are loving the fun of grandparenting and being able to spoil with abandon!

Dinnertime fun!

What a helper Carleigh was last night with dinner!

Daddy caught us dancing (I have turned into the biggest dork when it comes to making Carleigh smile)!

Hey!  We're caught!

Daddy's girl!