Two Highs and a Low

What a busy week! I'll try to sum it up with two high points and a low point from the past week or so.

High: Pumpkin Patching with Maisy

Last Saturday, Rick and I took Maisy to her first apple orchard and pumpkin patch. It was such a beautiful day! Maisy loved every minute of our excursion in spite of a nose that ran like a faucet from sun up to sun down. 

Our camera got a workout. When we first got there, I helped Maisy pose for a picture standing in front of a scarecrow measuring stick reading "how tall this fall." I think it'd be so fun to come back every year to watch her grow (good marketing!). We snapped pictures of Maisy "helping" us pick a giant bag of yummy apples, but my favorite pictures are of Maisy sitting among the pumpkins in the pumpkin patch. Those bright orange pumpkins got her SO excited that she grinned and bounced her arms up and down in that funny Maisy way. We planned on picking two or three, so of course we came home with four pumpkins that are now perched on our front stoop.

Gorgeous fall weather, happy baby, fun family time... definitely a high point!

High: Maisy's Baptism

We were blessed to have so many family and friends come to church and our home yesterday for Maisy's baptism. It had been a debate since before she was born whether or not we would baptize or dedicate her (in the Evangelical Covenant Church, parents can choose). I had been dedicated as a baby and baptized when I was older, but Rick, growing up Catholic, had been baptized as a baby. All complicating factors aside, I probably would have chosen dedication, but it was important to Rick's mom to baptize Maisy. So, after talking it over with our pastor so that I had a better understanding of it, we went the baptism route. 

I must say, it was very special. My brother Dan and sister Sheri are godparents, and the pews around us were filled with Maisy's grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and family friends. Our church is relatively small, so each baby seems to be treasured even beyond the norm, and Maisy is known and recognized throughout the congregation. Maisy gazed right up into our pastor's eyes as he said "the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and give you peace," and I couldn't help but tear up.

After the baptism, family and friends piled into cars and came back to our house for a meal and to just hang out. My mom and I had worked ourselves into exhaustion baking, decorating, and otherwise preparing for the day, but it was worth it. The tables were decorated in fall decor, the food was good, and the kids were great. 

A fun afternoon of celebration with the people we love... another high point!

Low: Maisy's First Ear Infection

Booooooo... Our cheerful little girl became a fussy, needy, sleep-deprived baby last Sunday afternoon (the day after the pumpkin patch), but she had been struggling to sleep through the night since the Tuesday before. Monday morning I took her to our doctor and heard, "Oh yeah, that one's infected! Yep, that too." So that was that. Maisy has been taking amoxicillin - which she thinks is liquid candy - for a full week now. The first few days were ROUGH! No napping, so much crying, LOTS of amoxicillin-induced diarrhea... I couldn't get anything done around the house, yet I knew that I should because I was expecting so many visitors for the baptism. 

By Thursday, her ears and congestion seemed better and Maisy could play happily on her own again. By Friday, she was able to fall asleep without several attempts to rock and then sloooowly place her in her crib without a wakeful wail. On Saturday night, before the baptism, Maisy woke up at 11:00pm and stayed awake until 2 in the morning. 

On Sunday morning, just before we started singing the final song before her baptism, there was a rumble in the jungle. Rick and I looked at each other. "I felt that," he whispered intently. One song to go, but I had to get her diaper changed or risk a blowout in her pretty dress as we stood behind the baptismal font! I swooped her up, snatched the diaper bag, and dashed to the nursery. With a nursery volunteer keeping pace ("they're still singing, still singing, still singing, they're done!"), I whipped off Maisy's dirty diaper, slapped on a new one, skipped the tights, tied bows on her pretty pink shoes, and speed-walked back to the sanctuary with my heart racing. Our pastor stood behind the lectern, and as we walked up the aisle he smiled at us and said, "So glad to see you and Maisy, Jess." We made it!

Maisy was so good during the baptism and in the afternoon while most of our guests were still over. Late afternoon hit, and our fussy, needy, ear-tugging baby returned. We went to the doctor this morning and found out that her ear infection had resurfaced even though she'd been on amoxicillin for a week. Now we're on something totally different. All I can hope is that it won't cause her diarrhea the way the amoxicillin has. She had at least 7 dirty diapers yesterday, has already had at least 5 today, and the diaper rash that has emerged because of it makes her cry so hard every time I change her diaper. :( Poor baby! 

Two ear infections, sleep deprivation, and an amoxicillin-induced diaper rash... that's a low!!!

So there you have it. My two highs and a low. 


Right at this very moment, I can see Maisy is working on dirty diaper number 6 on her freshly bathed, rash-covered bottom. It's a good thing I had two big highs to outweigh this yucky low.