We're headed to SC! Merry Christmas and Happy New Years to Everyone!

Anonymous

This morning when I finished feeding Peyton, I put her in the swing in the living room and noticed a card on the floor. Someone had slid it under the door at some point. So I open it up, totally expecting a card and maybe a picture of someone (I love getting the cards and finding pictures in them). Anyway, boy was I surprised! Someone anonymously sent us a card with money. There is not a more humbling moment than when you know you've been blessed by God and you did absolutely nothing to deserve it. Granted we're not the richest people in the world, but we're also not the poorest. So why should we be blessed with such a generous gift? My conclusion....there is no reason in the world, God is just good to us even though we've done nothing to earn it. SO, I wanted to write this post this morning to give all the praise and glory to God! He continues to bless His children in spite of ourselves. He's been so good to us this Christmas season!

Being a Zombie

And I thought I knew what sleep deprevation was in college! Suddenly, the new norm changes. See, before I was pregnant, 9 hours of sleep a night was the norm. If I got less than around nine hours, I felt tired. Then when I got pregnant and started getting up and going to the bathroom in the middle of the night, I thought that if I only went once or twice, I was doing good. Any more than that, and I was really tired. Now at this point, I was still getting eight or nine hours a night, but with a few interruptions here and there. HOWEVER, now if I get three uninterrupted hours of sleep at a time, I just want to praise the Lord. Last night, I slept for fours hours, with an hour "break" in between. FOUR HOURS!! And suddenly, the new norm is set...if I get six total hours or seven a night (even though it's still broken), I feel so good the next morning. Our little angel isn't into sleeping much at night. She doesn't think it's cool. She is slowly leading her mommy and daddy to a complete state of zombiehood.

I am so excited about Christmas and the fact that I get a break and get to go home and visit family and friends. Please pray for us that we would have a safe trip to SC, and that our little bundle of joy would be a good little girl. We had another colic episode this morning. And we thought we were past that!

And here's a fudge recipe I thought I would share. This is the best fudge ever. I make it every year at Christmas. You can also find it on the back of a jar of marshmallow creme.



3 cups sugar
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter or margarine
1 small can (5 oz.) evaporated milk (about 2/3 cup) (Do not use sweetened condensed milk.)
1-1/2 pkg. (12 squares) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate, chopped or 1 pkg. (12 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 jar (7 oz.) JET-PUFFED Marshmallow Creme
1 cup chopped PLANTERS Walnuts
1 tsp. vanilla

LINE 9-inch square pan with foil or 9 x 13 pan, with ends of foil extending over sides of pan; set aside. Place sugar, butter and evaporated milk in large heavy saucepan. Bring to full rolling boil on medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil 4 min. or until candy thermometer reaches 234°F, stirring constantly to prevent scorching. Remove from heat.
ADD chocolate and marshmallow creme; stir until completely melted. Add walnuts and vanilla; mix well.
POUR immediately into prepared pan; spread to form even layer in pan. Let stand at room temperature 4 hours or until completely cooled; cut into 1-inch squares. Store in tightly covered container at room temperature.

She's praising the Lord in her sleep

Back to Work

Going back to work when your baby is two months old is so hard! As I've stated before I like my job, but leaving little Peyton at home makes me want to cry. Actually, I have several times
:( Arnold is taking care of her this week, which I'm happy about, but little babies still need their mamas! One nice thing is that my work threw me a little book shower for Peyton on Monday, my first day back. Instead of people bringing the normal baby shower fare, they brought children's books so that Peyton could start building her "library" just like her daddy. She got some really great books. Arnold brought her to William Carey for the shower, but she only lasted about thirty minutes then got upset.
The other nice thing is that I get off for the Christmas holidays next Wednesday and don't have to be back until January 7!!!

So, I have plenty of pictures of her in my office as I sit and type this (sshhh! don't tell work!) and drink my hot chocolate (my alternative to coffee and lots of caffeine...though I desperately could use A LOT of caffeine at this point). And the past nine weeks went by so quick that it seems as if they never happened. And that's life isn't it?

Two Months

Two months. Hard to believe it, but Peyton has been with us for two months. Joy will be going back to work on Monday and I will stay at home with Peyton for about a week. We went on our first big outing yesterday. We spent most of the day at the mall wandering around. They have a great train ride set up for the kids and Santa is around for some pics with the kids. I really want some pics of Peyton with Santa for her first Christmas, but it is chaos at the mall. I can't tell you how many times people almost walked right into her in the stroller.

I told Joy that I planned to take Peyton to the movies next week. I think I may try and take her to see that movie about the princess who ends up in New York. The weather has been so great here that we will probably go to the park and play some ball or something. I have a whole list of great stuff we are going to do next week. It is going to be so great to be able to spend so much time with my daughter.

-arnold

Charlie Brown

Of course I had to put a picture of the baby on here!


We decorated a gingerbread house last night. Yummy!

Last night as I was flipping through the channels, I landed on Charlie Brown Christmas Story. I decided to watch it since it had really been years since I had seen a Charlie Brown tv special. One of my favorite parts is to see the characters dancing in preparation for the Christmas play. They dance the same way I do. :) Anyway, Charlie Brown brings his Christmas tree back to the school where they are practicing for the play and presents it to everyone. Of course they all make fun of him for picking out a goofy, pitiful tree. Charlie Brown becomes frustrated as all the kids are laughing at him, exclaiming, "What is the meaning of Christmas?! Can anybody tell me?!" Linus then appears and begans reciting the story of Jesus' birth from the gospels. For Linus understands that the true meaning of Christmas is not in all the commercialism but in the celebration of the birth of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. "This is what Christmas is all about," says Linus.

This Christmas has been very busy for me as I take care of a new little baby. My time is extremely limited because little babies demand quite a bit of attention. It's in my nature to want to go, go, go, and do, do, do, especially at Christmas. But I was reminded again last night, through a little cartoon character, what Christmas is really all about. So with the little time I have this year, it's my goal to remember the real reason we celebrate Christmas. "and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger..." Luke 2:7

Random Bits

Go LSU! We're happy LSU is in the national championship game! (Of course deep down I'm really still a Tigers fan...that is the Clemson Tigers).

For those of you who may be wondering and whom I haven't talked to in a few weeks.....we are, at this point, planning to come to South Carolina for Christmas sometime around the 21st. This normally 10 hour trip is probably going to take us 13 or so. And I'm not even sure how we're going to pack everything in our Honda. But I really want to come, and I know there are a lot of family members who want to see Peyton.

Friday was Peyton's shots. She did pretty good all things considered. I mean, she only bit the doctor once. Just kidding. She weighed 10 lbs. 7 oz. and is 22 inches long. She's growing like a weed!

Doctor Week

happy baby!


This week has been the week of the doctor. Tomorrow will be my 3rd trip to the doctor this week! Twice for me, once for Peyton's shots. Yesterday I had to have a test done at a clinic for my throat. So I get to the clinic on time only to find out that I was at the wrong place. I was supposed to go to the main hospital to have it done. Arnold and Peyton had dropped me off, and had already left, so I was stuck there. I tried calling Arnold for twenty minutes, but his cell phone was off. Finally I got a hold of him, and he had already made it back home (why is it that when you need to get in touch with someone, they always have their cell phone off at just the wrong time!). So he gets back in the car to come pick me up. By this point I'm dying! I had not had anything to eat or drink in like 18 hours, and this was only delaying the test. I finally make it to the hospital and have my test done two hours later. (I found out that I have a small hernia in my esophagus. I don't think it's a big deal, just something I acquired while pregnant.) In the meantime, Peyton is having to drink from a bottle for the second time in her little life. She's not to fond of the bottle. She gulps it down in two seconds flat, and then cries. Now when I feed her, she usually falls asleep. (heaven!!!) Not sure what's gonna happen when she starts daycare.

First Road Trip

our little turkey-6 weeks old




We had a really nice Thanksgiving. We headed to Monroe, LA to see Arnold's parents. It was Peyton's first road trip. I must say that she did really good. She slept the whole time in the car, and even when we were in Monroe, she was a good girl. But I tell you, packing for a trip with a baby is a whole new experience. It's like you have to take half the house with you. The car was loaded down, and we were only there for four days. It was great though because I got some rest! Arnold's dad and mom were more than happy to hold her A LOT! It was so nice!!!

Last night, we put up our Christmas decorations. Some may say it's kind of early (of course not compared to all the stores who now start putting out their Christmas stuff by HALLOWEEN), but we like to enjoy it all since we always travel for the holidays. And Peyton slept in her swing, so it was the perfect opportunity. Our little six foot Walmart Charlie Brown tree looks pretty good. I hope we get to look at Christmas lights this year as well. I love looking at the tacky gaudy Christmas displays. The tackier, the better for me....you know...the Christmas displays where the people have plastered the lights to the house and have 12 blow-up things in their yard along with a lot of other Christmas junk. It makes it interesting :)

Hope you like the picture of our little Thanksgiving turkey!

The Many Faces of Peyton Lindsey

A Walk to Remember

Today Peyton and I went for our daily walk around campus. I knew things were not going to be good when part of the way through the walk she starts screaming. I push her over to the music building on campus, take her out of the stroller, and hold her for a few minutes. She konks (is this really a word, and is this how you spell it?) out again. We then go visit her daddy at work, leave, and she starts screaming again. By this point, I've already gotten several stares from people and a few sympathetic looks. So I start NASCARing it back to the apartment. I then feed her, and now she's fast asleep in my lap. Arnold says it's colic, but I'm wondering...was my child just incredibly hungry? Either way, it was a walk to remember!

And since it's Thanksgiving week, I thought I would list a few things I'm thankful for...

* my family (immediate and extended)
*the chance to take a shower once a day
*the warm New Orleans weather
*the fact that we haven't had to buy one pack of diapers since she's been born
(she's almost six weeks old)
*God's provisions and sustaining grace
*Judge Judy, the honorable judge Marilyn, Judge Joe Brown, Judge Mathis, Judge
Alex, Judge Cristina, and Judge Maria for entertaining me all day for
nearly six weeks
*Zantac
*going to the grocery store
*Dr. Meacham for bringing Arnold leftover Halloween candy
*and last, but certaintly not least, my husband for being so patient with me!!!

little things to be thankful for

I cannot believe that Thanksgiving is next week! Arnold will be off for almost three days. I am excited that he will off. We hope to go to Monroe, LA to have Thanksgiving with Arnold's family. If Peyton is still having a lot of crying issues though, we may not go. But I hope we do. It's always fun to go visit his family and especially during a holiday.

I have to say that God is good. We have had several good days now with the baby. Tonight she had a little colic episode, but we are thankful to have had a break this week. Anyway, I go back to work on December 10, so I am trying to enjoy every last second I have with her. Thanks for the prayers.

My Friend Nicole

Today I want to tell you about a special friend I have. Her name is Nicole. Now, Nicole doesn't even know I'm writing this because she doesn't even know that I have a blog. But I wanted to write anyway. Nicole is one of those friends that everyone needs. She is incredibly generous, thoughtful, and concerned. Nicole has gotten me groceries when I couldn't go to the store. She has cooked us dinners to eat so that I didn't have to worry with supper. She has offered to watch the baby even though she knows she's a little fussy. She has called me repeatedly to check up on me and the baby. She insisted the first night we came home from the hospital that if the baby was crying, we could call her and she would come over and give us a break. Anytime she goes out, she always calls to check and see if I need her to pick us up something. She's let me borrow some of her baby things. I could go on, but you get the picture. Nicole is one of those friends who you know will be there and be willing to help no matter what time of the night it is. She never makes you feel like you're bothering her. You know you can count on her. Oh, and did I mention she has a 2 year old and a six month old?! I praise God for bringing me a friend like Nicole. She is really an example of what a godly friend should look like. Thanks Nicole!

One other thing Nicole has done is introduced me to the Moby wrap. I plan to go out and buy one of these things today. Peyton instantly fell asleep yesterday when I tried Nicole's on. I have found that if I hold her all day, her crying stops. But it's hard to be chained to the chair all day. That's why I'm so excited about the Moby. I can still be mobile! And see, doesn't the girl in the picture look so happy and rested and her baby is asleep. That's going to be me after today :)




Update on Peyton-We stopped using the Reglan for her stomach but are still using the Zantac. The last two days she's been better, though I honestly think holding her all the time has helped. And if it will stop the screaming, I will do it. Keep praying for her though!

Craft Fair

This is a picture of Peyton in a big people's bed. She looks so small...and cute too!

I've been wanting to write now for a few days, but we've been pretty busy around the Arredondo household...mainly holding a hurting baby and going to doctor appointments. The pediatrician said Peyton has GERD or basically acid reflux. We've started her on two different medications that don't seem to be helping much. We were hoping that if the medications worked it would stop the colic, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Keep the prayer lines hot for us!
On a lighter note, she is coming more alive every day. Her eyes are so bright and will follow you around the room. There's no sneaking around now. She seems to really recognize voices as well. She's mimicked our smiles several times, but maybe it's just gas :) She is a beautiful blessing.

Last night Arnold said he would watch her so I could go to the craft fair on campus. Now this was generous of him because even before I left she was not a happy camper. And she was that way the whole I was gone too :( Arnold was also really tired because he works all day and then comes home and helps me with her until midnight at least. But it was nice to get out and see everyone. The craft fair on campus is for ladies who make purses, jewelry, Christmas decorations, etc. It gives them a chance to display and sell some of their items. Of course I wanted to buy several things, but new baby=no $$$. However, she's totally worth it!!!

Potholes and other ramblings

Just a random picture of Peyton after a bath.

For once I am thankful for potholes and bumpy roads. Anyone who reads this blog who has ever lived in New Orleans knows how bad the roads are here. I mean, it's an understatement to say they are bad...they are terrible. However, when your baby is screaming at the top of your lungs, and you strap her in the carseat and take her for a ride, those bumps really help. In fact, I was actively seeking out the bumps this afternoon. I drove down a road that I knew had a lot of potholes and cracks in the road, which, it's not really hard to find a road like that around here. It was totally worth tearing up the alignment in our car for those twenty minutes of peace.

In other unrelated news, I went to the grocery store last night. Now, it had been about a month since I had been to the grocery store. I was shocked at how prices have gone up on everything. There was a note at the deli counter about how Sara Lee meats had gone up because of oil. That's just crazy! But not just meat has gone up. Such much for the old budget. I guess it's going to be Ramen noodles and rice for the Arredondo family for a while.

Also, I'm not sure if I have made this request before on the blog or not, but PLEASE pray for little Peyton. (And pray for her weary parents too). Thank you!

Power in Weakness

We are getting desperate at this point. I just sent Arnold out to Babies R Us to look for Colic Calm Gripe Water. Sounds interesting. I'm kind of wondering what the heck "gripe water" is, but anyway, it's supposed to help with colic. I really really wanted to go to Babies R Us. I know that sounds crazy, but I have not been off the seminary campus in several days now. Arnold did not want to be left alone with her in case she started. Last night was a very trying one. From about 12 am to 3 am, she screamed nonstop. Poor baby. Nothing could be done. Usually mommy is pretty good at calming little Peyton down, or so I thought. Not when the colic strikes! There is no weaker moment, no more powerless feeling than when your newborn is screaming her head off in pain in the middle of the night, and there is nothing you can do about it. Not only are you physically exhausted, but it's emotionally exhausting as well. All day the song "His Strength is Perfect" has been playing over and over in my head. It's an old song...His strength is perfect when our strength is gone....He'll carry us when we can't carry on...raised in His power the weak become strong...His strength is perfect. It reminded me of the verse in 2 Corinthians 12..."Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." v.8-9 May God give us the grace and strength to make it through this difficult time!

Our walk

So me and Peyton went for our little walk around campus today. The weather was beautiful, and she loves riding in her stroller. I love getting out too. In the past week, I've been to Walgreens several times, and that's it! I can't believe that I'm not about to go absolutely crazy in our apartment....actually in just her room. We pretty much stay in her room all day. By the time I get up these days, it's around noon. Then Arnold comes home for lunch, and I jump in the shower. We shovel our food in our mouths because usually she is crying. Then he leaves, and I prepare for our walk...the highlight of our day. Now it takes me a seriously long time just to get out the door with her. But we both enjoy this walk immensely. I get some exercise, and she gets to sleep. If only I could stroll her around at 3 in the morning so that she would fall asleep. I've thought about putting her in the carseat several times and riding around just to get her to stop crying, but I'm too lazy or rather to exhausted. I'm not complaining though. I love being with her and get sad when I think about having to return to work. Today she has hardly slept, so I'm hoping that means tonight she's going to pass out. Lucky us, but I think our child just doesn't need that much sleep. Let's hope the weather continues to stay nice!

Joy

Almost Three Weeks Old

She is not happy with she gets hungry. Since Joy started nursing, I call her "hamburgers with cheese."




All dressed up and ready to go. We took her back for her check up and she weighed 7 pounds and 10 ounces. Most babies lose a little weight after they are born. Peyton weighed 6 pounds and 14 ounces when we took her home. Now you know why I call Joy "hamburgers with cheese."



Here is Joy giving her a sponge bath. It is hard to believe, but Peyton is almost three weeks old now. By my calculation that means we have almost completely figured out this whole parenting thing.

I started back to work last Friday. It has been hard balancing work, school and baby stuff. I am mostly tired, but still very excited to have Peyton... and I have to say that Joy looks fantastic. Keep me in your prayers this week as I submit a proposal for my dissertation. I changed my topic which has put me behind, but I think it is a great subject. The working title is, "A Contextualized Approach to Muslim Evangelism." I will submit it to my profs this week and to the division at the end of next week.

-Arnold

The crying baby and the dirty mama

So if I ever thought that taking care of a baby was simple and easy, that idea was dashed against the rocks last night. From about 1-3 am, Peyton screamed and could not be consoled. And from 1-2, I had been asleep in the next room and Arnold had been taking care of her. How I didn't hear her I will never know. I guess I was just that tired. Anyway, by the time I did hear her, she was screaming her head off. She was obviously having some major gas issues. None of the usual tricks helped...not the Mylicon...not the rocking, singing, patting...nothing. I know the neighbors thought we were totally beating the poor baby. But having your baby scream for this long, and I do mean scream, is extremely frustrating. You want to do something so bad, but there's nothing you can do. And it's kind of scary too. I would have given anything if it could have been me in pain instead of her.
And did I mention that I would have never dreamed how much spit up, pee, and poop I would wear on me every day. There's no point in putting on anything nice. Like right now, I have on a pair of pink pajama pants with butterflies on them and a red mission trip t-shirt. My hair is greasy. I have on my glasses, and I'm also wearing white socks with flip flops. Ooh...so attractive.
For those of you reading this, please say a prayer for her and her tummy problems. It is not fun for either party!

I am alive

Arnold has been telling me for a few days now that I need to blog. I have been wanting to, but every spare minute I have has been quite consumed lately! However, I have a few minutes tonight. Arnold is holding Peyton, and she's bright eyed and looking around at everything at the moment. Let's hope it lasts. (Last night was not fun...)
I wanted to start by commenting on my labor and delivery and to tell those of you who are having babies to GET AN EPIDURAL! Of course I was enduced, so I'm sure that made the contractions worse than normal, but the epidural is so wonderful. I wanted to kiss that anestheiologist(not sure if that's spelled correctly). Anyway, everything went pretty good. We had a "You're going to have to have a c-section" scare from the doctor right before she broke my water, but after some fluids and an oxygen mask, her heart rate stopped dipping. My hospital stay was wonderful, as crazy as that sounds. I highly recommend East Jefferson...extremely friendly staff, pretty good food. I was sad to come home because I like being waited on hand and foot. :)
Now since I've been home, it's been interesting. My mom came and stayed for a week. She worked herself to death cleaning and waking up very early in the morning to take a shift with the baby. Boy was that nice. Thank goodness for Arnold though. He's been so wonderful to stay up with her half the night. I get up and feed and then go back to bed for another two hours or so, however long it takes for her tummy to growl again. Then at some point he will go to bed and I will stay up. The pretty nursery has become our everything room. We moved the tv in there, we sleep in there, we eat in there sometimes. And you know, I've never been so sleep deprived in all my life. I'm sure there are plenty of mispelled words in this blog. But I'm loving every second with her. She is so adorable, as you can see from the pictures! She's only 13 days old and I love her so much! I get so worried over the least little thing, and I've never been a worry wart. I guess such is the life of a new parent.
For everyone who has brought food, said a prayer, or offered a helping hand, we say a BIG THANK YOU!
I hope to see some of you soon. If anyone wants to come by, please give me a call. We're not taking her out in public yet, but are happy to have company (unless you're sick).

Joy

Grammy and Me

This is my mom, Paula, an d Peyton this past week. Grammy is gone now, and we are sad :(

Father

She looks so small to me... all those little fingers and little toes. I just want to hug her and squeeze her all the time. I always wanted to be a father and play with my kids and stuff all day long. Not sure that I realized what it meant to be a father until she cried a couple of times. My natural impulse is to just "fix it" whatever it is. But trying to fix it is not as easy because Peyton can't really tell me what is wrong when she cries. You get a really helpless feeling when you can't figure out what is wrong... did she eat already? is her diaper dirty? or is she just tired?

She has her little eyes open a bit more...not much more, but she does try to look around from time to time. I wish she would just look at me and smile and know that I am her father. For now, she doesn't seem too interested in me and looks around at bright lights and such.

Still I wish she would somehow recognize me.

With time, I know that will come. All of the good memories with her are just waiting to be made... learning to ride a bike, color within the lines, and playing with her favorite toys together. I just love all of those little fingers and toes. I can't wait until she realizes how much I love her.

I always wondered why a divine creature like God decided to call Himself by such a common title as Father. If you think about it, He exists in eternity as the center of all worship and adoration. Why chose a title like father? It never really made any sense to me. At least it didn't until Peyton was born. I just want to love her and squeeze her all the time. All sorts of new feelings... some loving and some protective are rising to the top. I am sure as she grows that even more feelings will surface.

Why did God chose a title like Father? What is He trying to tell us? What does this say about His character and nature?

Father. It also describes me now. Its like seeing the world and my God in a whole new way.

-arnold

Proud Grand Parents

My parents, Joe and Esther Arredondo, came down to New Orleans to visit us while we were still in the hospital.

Getting Ready to go Home

I didn't realize how small she was until we got her into the car seat.

Friends

We have had several people stop by and visit Peyton, but I didn't think about taking pictures of everyone until later. I guess everyone needs to come back by again.