Shopping cures everything...

http://www.photographybyrachel.com/ to check out Rachel's work....

I came home this evening to find lovely photos in my Email Inbox from Greta's personal photographer (okay, she does take other people's pictures), but since Greta pretty much sees me behind the camera an hour each day, nice to have someone who really knows what they are doing snapping photos / and better yet, editing them...So thank you to Rachel Peters yet again for the lovely visit and photo shoot with our little diva (and diva she was - smiling was not on the agenda, but when you are so cute, you don't have to show a gummy grin!). So a few of my favorite shots for my "followers" are above...but let's put aside the fact that Greta is pretty cute - she has also been fairly annoying. Now, for those grasping their hearts and thinking, how can I say a baby be annoying...well, they can, and I don't mind admitting it. I have been annoyed, I have raised my voice this week in frustration, I have opened a bottle of vodka (okay, that is not true, but if I didn't have liver disease I would have - and I mean, I really, really wanted to!) Greta has been fussy, and I know babies are fussy at times, but Greta really hasn't been, but off and on now since mid September she has had these periods where she will scream, cry, fuss, whimper and we can't figure it out. I started to think she may be bored, under stimulated / over stimulated at times, we can figure out the hunger and the diaper requirements, but when all seems okay - what do I do - Go to the Internet - FUSSY BABY in Google will lead someone like me to sites that say Diabetes, serious abdominal infections, colic...you name it, I can find the worse pages out there on the Internet and convince myself there is something really wrong. So much so this week we headed to the clinic. Now, I have been to the clinic many times, the last two times they almost killed me with drugs that caused an allergic reaction so it took a lot out of me to go in this direction, but this unusual behaviour was worrying me too much and our family Dr was away. Well, we arrive and I go to register her name and didn't want to bring her in with me - there are sick people in there, I can't be around sick people, and I don't want Greta in there either, so I kindly ask the receptionist at the clinic if she thought it would be a half an hour as I would just stay in the truck for a bit - she laughed, the kind of laugh that was saying - who do you think you are and not a hope lady - she then said, it's more likely 2 hours...TWO hours, to sit with a baby who I think is sick, but don't want her exposed to really sick people. So what do we do, take the baby to the grocery store! She likes it there, I have quickly realized the inevitable has happened - she is calmed by shopping. I think she likes the lights, the colors, the people in the aisle's who look at her but can't tough her because I always have a net over the car seat and I know she likes the sound of my card going ching ching / whoosh through the machines. I actually had her to the grocery store a few times this week and most times, she falls asleep or just looks around. It's when we stop rolling in the cart and buying (when we are in line to pay) that she may make a few sounds. By the time we finished at the store, we head back to the clinic, this is an hour later - and they still have a long way to go, she was #35 on the list, they were at 17...we didn't stay.

Thankfully I did manage to get her in to our Dr today, really lucked out, and guess what, she doesn't have any major diseases like the Internet said, she is just a normal baby who cries - not an exceptional baby who just never makes a sound (although that is a nice thing too!) All it took was a little drive up the street and a little shopping, and presto - instant cure. It always makes me feel better too. The Dr was kind enough to still treat me with respect and not laugh and say, you silly first time mother, she really listened and did say it does sometimes show a warning sign for a baby to all of a sudden become fussy - but in this case, nothing to worry about. We did get her 4 month assessment out of the way, yes 4 months old already! She is now weighing in at 12lbs 2oz, finally weighing what Scarlet does, and she is growing in length, 23.5 inches. She is still on the low end of the charts, but that is okay becausecshe is still able to wear all her little clothes, so a nice bonus. So many said not to buy little clothes as she will grow out of it so quick - well, 4 months of wearing 0-3 months - I'm pretty pleased! I did get a bit of a lecture - I was going to try Greta on cereal, I mean my baby book indicates I had cereal at 3 weeks, and I know the new "rules" say 5 or 6 months, but really...this changes yearly. But the Dr did say hold off until she was 5 months....and then I was asked - does she following things well, and focus well - and what do I admit - YES, she loves TV. Not the thing to say to a Dr I guess...She said books and music would be better. OF course they would, I know that too, but in 4 months, I have not once had to sacrifice having a shower, getting my make up on and having my hair done (fine the hair is in a ponytail, but still, it's done for me)...and WHY can I accomplish all of this - because of Baby Einstein DVDs and Little Bear on the cartoon station! I totally agree, kids watch way too much TV, and nothing drives me more insane then a young kid playing on a video game non stop or sitting in front of a TV all day long instead of playing outside....but I want a shower and the TV is my assistant for an hour a day...and Greta focuses so well....

This post was going to take another direction, but I must admit, I can barely see the screen, it's now 2:45am, I have been suffering with insomnia (some due to my medication) but it's caught up with me and I can barely move my fingers and I can't write anymore...so I'll just have to leave you with our Dr visit story for tonight and the lovely photos from Rachel. I really do think shopping cures everything, may not cure debt, but I have felt pretty good this week, got a lot of shopping done via the Internet, have I said lately how much I love Ebay! I am pretty sure the Fed Ex truck should be arriving every few days for the next month after the work out I did via Ebay and Paypal. And if Greta can feel better and be calmed by a little outing to the store - I guess who am I to go against it.

Enjoy your Friday everyone, so hard to believe another week has come to an end, wishing you all a great weekend and I promise to post again soon..