Update #2

Well it looks like things are not getting much better. P-nut's bottom is very red again. She had about 6 bowel movements yesterday. I called the doctor's office this morning and they said that it is still a little concerning, but if there is texture to it then it should be ok. They said that if it is watery, then I should bring her in with a sample. It does have texture, but it still bothers me that she is pooping this much. As the day progressed she seemed to be doing better (2 bowel movements). Later this evening I went to give Grace a bath and I noticed that her left nipple was a little red and slightly swollen. Jason thought I was kind of overreacting and maybe it was just from him holding her (Grace does tend to have pretty sensitive skin). Well after her bath I noticed that it was still there. Jason thought that we should just wait and see how it looks tomorrow morning. Well at about 9:00 pm I changed her diaper and it was still looked exactly the same. Maybe I am overreacting, but this is just really starting to make me nervous. I tried to do some research online and I was not able to find anything. I just wish our little P-nut would get better. Thank you for all of your prayers. We really appreciate it! Please continue to pray for P-nut's health. Hopefully we will have great news.
On a side note, I landed a summer/part-time job at Target. I will be working in the Starbucks located in their store. I cannot tell you how excited I am about this. I can walk/ride a bike to work everday. I also love coffee!

Update

Our prayers seemed to be answered. Grace seems to be doing much better now. She was able to drink most of her formula yesterday. She also slept in until 9 am which she hasn't done in a long time. She took two good naps too. She still pooped more than she probably should be, but hopefully that will stop once the new formula gets in her system and the old stuff gets out. Her bum also looks a lot better so hopefully it will continue to heal.

Breast really is best!

I haven't been able to bring myself to post about this because it was pretty heartbreaking. I had to stop breastfeeding at the end of April because Grace decided that she wanted nothing to do with it. I would try to feed her and she was just sit and scream on my lap. She would literally just start arching her back and and pull away from me. It was pretty stressful for both of us. When she first started to do this I thought maybe she was teething or I just wasn't making enough milk. I tried everything I could think of to increase my supply with no progress. I researched it and still nothing helped. Finally after about a week or two of this Jason and I talking about it and decided to stop nursing Grace. I tried to continue pumping, but I was only able to make about 3 ounces a day.
We continued to feed Grace soy formula which we were already supplemented with. She was doing really well at first and then on May 5th she started to get a really bad diaper rash. We went and bought special (expensive! $29.99 for 16 oz.) cream called Triple Paste. It cleared it up for a day and then it came back. We tried taking out some different foods from her diet and nothing helped. We also noticed that her sleeping schedule was a bit off. She's been walking up at about 5:45 am everyday (she usually sleeps until 7). She naps for about 3 hours straight some days and then other days 45 min. Then she started pooping more frequently. We noticed that the rash was always worse after she pooped.
I finally took her to the doctors on Monday and really didn't find out much. They said to increase bananas in her diet and decrease other fruits such as peaches/pears. They also wanted us to give her rice cereal, but our poor baby girl's belly can't really handle it. If this didn't work then they said she most likely has a soy protein allergy (apparently if babies have a milk protein allergy then they most likely have a soy protein allergy).
She seemed to heal well on Monday and Tuesday with this new approach and then Thursday she pooped 8 times. Yes 8 times! Needless to say her poor bum was raw! Well I called the doctor's office back yesterday and they called in a prescription of Nystop powder for her bum and they put Grace on Alimentum formula (hypoallergenic - $25.96 per 16oz can). Well I tried to give Grace this new formula this afternoon and she seems to hate it. She just kept spitting it out.
I have never been the type of person to push my beliefs on others, but now I am going to encourage every person I know to breastfeed at all costs. I can't tell you how many people thought I was crazy for breastfeeding even with the thrush and stuff, but I personally think people who formula feed are crazy. At least we only have 4 more months of this. Please pray that our baby girl gets better and takes this formula and her bum heals.

Lilac Festival

Here are just a few of the pictures from our wonderful morning!

Above is a picture of Grace in the tulip garden. She's so small so you can't really see the tulips behind her.

Mommy and Grace next to the lilacs.

Grace chilling by the white lilacs.

I love the lilac bush above and these tulips. This lilac had a mixture of blue and purple in it. I thought they were beautiful. I lso love the orange and pink tulips above. They were awesome.

I think they are fantastic! Jason did an awesome job!

This morning Jason, Grace and I woke up bright and early so we could venture on down to the Lilac Festival. Some of you might be wondering how I was able to get Jason to go to the festival with us. I'm not really sure how I did it this year, but I was really excited when he decided to go with us. When I was younger I used to dance at the festival every year. I think that's why I love to go there so much.It was absolutely beautiful this morning! The sun was shining and it was about 76 degrees out. One of Jason's coworkers was gracious enough to let us park in her driveway. This allowed us to park for free and enjoy a short walk to the festival.
By the time we arrived at the festival the parade had already started so we decided to walk through the gardens and view the lilacs. Grace seemed like she had a great time listening to the marching bands and looking at the beautiful flowers. We wanted to venture over to see the different craft booths, but we couldn't get across the street. We only stayed for an hour, but Jason took many beautiful pictures. Unfortunately, he didn't get in any of the pictures with us. :( We were going to go back to the lilacs to get a picture of Jason and Grace together, but we ended up forgetting about it until we got home. Thankfully we got home just in time because he started to pour out and it when down into the 60's.

And Grace's First Word is...

DADA! Jason and I both missed it unfortunately. While we were at work today she said "Dada". Grandma Peej (Stacey's mom) thought it was just a fluke, but she kept repeating it throughout the day. I can't believe how big she is getting. I never would have thought she would be talking already.

And here's the video! Jason was able to capture her on camera last night as she was playing in her crib, whispering "Dada" over and over to herself. There are 6 different videos in the "Grace's First Word" Series on YouTube you can check out, but you can hear the "Dada" the best in this one (you'll have to turn up the volume on your computer pretty loud to hear, sorry!).



To check out the rest of the Grace's videos, visit Grace's YouTube Channel! You'll find some videos from Easter, her in the bath, and more - all available in HD!