April Flowers and Girl Power

Hard to believe that 16 weeks have gone by since Z was born.  She is still so little to us but I know she has grown up a lot since then.  April is on our doorstep and the Seijezzali family is in full Spring mode.  

Shannon has the green thumb working overtime as she sets up our family garden.  I, in my new role as carpenter and gardeners assistant, have helped Shan out by building her some raised beds and digging lots of holes and moving lots of soil.  I have found a new connection with the Earth I never knew existed.  I'm saving worms while I dig for goodness sakes!  Z continues to amaze us on a daily basis with her talking, moving and awareness.  She is slowly taking on a personality and it is cute to see.  

It's late now and I must get to bed but here are some more pictures of the baby girl!

March Birthday Hike

On Saturday, we took Z on her first real hike.  It was the 6th annual March Birthday Hike.  Just to give you a little background info on that, when I moved here in 2002, I met some great folks who had also moved into the area.  It just so happened that most of them had March birthdays.  So in 2003, we decided to have a "March" in the woods to commemorate our birthdays.  Thus a tradition was born.  It's amazing how different things are now compared to when I first got here.  

This year's hike had some rain in the mix.  It did not deter us though as we hiked through some of the trails at the Carl Sandburg National Park.  Z had a blast!  She was so well behaved the entire time.  We were so proud of her!  But then again, she is always a trooper when we are out of the house doing things.  

Right now, we are winding down and getting ready for another full week.  Gardening is in full swing, Spring Break is on the horizon and abuela is on her way.  

What is really amazing is how Zahra has grown.  She is much more aware of everything around her.  She even has a little sense of humor.  She will laugh and flirt and entertain us.  Things she couldn't do just a few weeks ago are now commonplace.  We are a happy family!

Keep Your Head Up!

Dancing Machine

Cat Scratch Fever

March Madness!

So much to blog about!

Shannon has seemingly conquered the clogging in her breasts.  She went through a few more episodes of that early in the week but she toughed it out and since Thursday, she's been good.  In fact, it was early Thursday morning when she discovered a clog forming and woke up in time to deal with it before it became a problem.  Breast feeding has been a non issue since then.  

The Nap Wars continue.  Z just won't go down for a nap!  What can I say, the girl wants to be awake and take it all in.  There is a book we are both using to help us through these times titles The No Cry Sleep Solution.  It states that a child of our girl's age should be napping for roughly 5-6 hours a day combines with about ten hours at night.  We got the nighttime covered, it's just that she doesn't nap much at all.  This leads to a fussy screaming baby!  Right now she continues to stay awake for long periods of time.  Of course, we need to change our lives to help facilitate this napping.  I think I'm in denial.  I want my life to continue to be free and full of options when right now, I need to get Z in bed for naps just like her momma does.  At any rate, we are probably going to begin a hard core nap schedule that has us at home when she needs to be down.  We have to get Z some rest.

Other than that, the home life has been good.  I've been helping Shannon outside a lot.  I am currently building a retaining wall outside for one of her garden beds.  I am also in the process of clearing out more land for her garden.  Spring is starting to kick in up here so we need to get on the ball.   It is a pretty rewarding experience to toil with the earth.  I can see how it can build character, though I don't know how much more of that a character like mine can handle!  And March Birthday month continues!  So many good friends here in Asheville share a March birthday!  I'll have pictures of our sixth annual March birthday hike next week.

In the meantime, enjoy our baby girl pictures, St. Paddy's Day pix and the March Madness!

More Pix, More Problems

Somehow these pictures didn't make it on the last post

Remember the crazy post from a 

few days ago with the spurt of milk?

Well, this has become another edition of breastfeeding problems.  Shannon is having another bout of what could be mastitis.  We'll keep you posted but it doesn't look good right now.  Z is being a trooper but she has been rough with mom since her feedings are not as plentiful right now.  Let's hope for the best.  

Let's Catch Up With Pictures

Included are pictures of Z holding up her noggin, reading (and then eating) a book, just being adorable.  

Best Birthday Ever!

I had a wonderful time at my birthday celebration last night.  I was surrounded by wonderful friends and my beautiful family.  Z had a fun time hanging out late as we ate at my favorite restaurant, The Admiral, and then came home to eat a bevy of delicious sweets baked by my wife and even more friends.  I'll have more pictures and hopefully video soon on the site.  Until then, we are all well and dealing with the rainy weather here in the cool mountains.  

Thar She Blows!

Lots to catch up to here in Seijezzali land.  (By the way, the home camera is broken so no pictures today)

We will start with the ongoing nap wars.  I think we are closing in on peace.  Z has begun to adapt to her new napping schedule.  We have noticed a major improvement as this week has progressed.  Her crying spells have decreased significantly.  Z is easing into her naps a little better and is not staying awake for such long stretches.  We hope to see her continue to nap during the day so she can be a happier little girl.  

Which leads us to this next story.  You'd think less crying would mean happier mom.  Well, the last two nights, Shannon has been dealing with some major breast feeding issues.  Last night she suffered from a painfully swollen right breast.  Every time Z fed from that side, she immediately began crying as if to say she didn't want to eat.  She'd go over to Shan's left side and all was well, except of course that Shan looked like she was storing peanuts in her chest.  We tried to pump with the breast pump and no luck.  Finally, at around 11 P.M. Z was able to successfully drain the right side and all was well.

Then we get to today.  Again, as the day progressed, Shannon's right breast started to get full with no relief from Z.  Z kept crying and only wanted to feed from the left.  Shannon was extremely volatile.  The baby was upset and I was in the middle of this mom versus baby battle.  Shan was worried that she was getting mastitis again.  We were both concerned that Z was not getting enough to eat.  Another trial in parenthood, right?  I finally convinced Shan to go take a shower to help relief some of the pain.  As I walked our hungry, fussy baby throughout the house, I heard Shannon screaming from the bathroom.  I walked into the bathroom and witnessed one of the most incredible feats of the human body right before my eyes.  Shannon's right breast was shooting milk out across the room!  It was as if a fire hydrant had just erupted!  We were both amazed and freaked out at the same time.  Apparently, Shannon noticed a microscopic white dot on her nipple as she was showering.  Not one to shy away from performing surgery on herself, Shannon grabbed some tweezers and tugged on the white dot.  It turned out to be a chunk of something that was acting like a plug which prevented the the milk from flowing.  Of course, as we watched the geyser of milk spill throughout the bathroom, we immediately shoved our daughter's mouth into it.  We're not about to let valuable food go to waste!  Now Shannon is happy again without the pressure pains and Z is quiet once more.  This means Daddy can rest easy.  

Nap Wars

It's been almost a week since I last posted!  Shame on me.  In my defense, things have been busy.  work is really heating up, especially with my scheduled Washington DC trip with my fifth graders.  We had a bake sale yesterday that took up my entire afternoon.  On top of that, Shan has been working part time and that requires more Daddy time with Z than before so she can get things done.  But the most pressing thing has been the recent nap wars between Z and sleep.  

Now at night, once we get Z to bed, she is a dream.  she is often quiet and can sleep for many hours at a time.  The battles are occurring during the day light times.  Z is not getting enough nap time during the day.  This is resulting in lots of screaming and crying during the day.  She apparently gets so exhausted that napping doesn't just come easily.  Instead, she fights it.  The problem is everyone is a loser here.  Z is having some tough spots during the day and mom and dad bear the brunt of the screaming which leads to frustration.  At any rate, we are reading up on our books and trying to figure out a solution to this ordeal.  

In the meantime, enjoy pictures of Gator Love and Lil Z.  

More Snow

Wow, it's snowing cats and dogs out there!  Looks like another missed day of work, which means more time with Z!

We've been cooped up at home this weekend following an all day rain out Saturday and now an all snow out.  We did manage to sneak off to a clothes swap event for Shannon.  I got to hold the baby while she got some cool new clothes.  Now the girls are having a girls night so I'm going to lock myself in a room and play video games.