Thankful for Mood Swings

We all have them.  Let's just admit it.  I have more than my share.  Ask my husband if you don't believe me.  Well...Millie Janalee has them too.  I am thankful for mood swings.  Good moods can swing to bad moods.  But they always swing back eventually.  I'm thankful for that!  Ha!

Last week Millie Janalee, Auntie Kristin, and I traveled south to Jackson for a little visit with my dear friend, Felicia, and to do some Christmas shopping at Mistletoe.  Russ is working on fellowship applications and moonlighting a bit right now, so it was a good break for him too.

This was the first time Pat and Felicia had seen Millie Janalee since the day we brought her home from the hospital.  Felicia gave Millie Janalee her first sink bath, and I'd say she loved her little spa time with "Aunt Fe Fe."

Felicia's boys enjoyed Millie Janalee's company too. They have both grown so much!  I remember laying on my couch with Toby's bitty baby body on my chest.  Now he's THREE?!  And Nate is walking all by himself.  I'm not ready for all this at all.

Enter mood swing.  Kristin and I got very little sleep Wednesday night.  I'm not sure if it was the change of environment (Although, she should be used to that.  Ha!) or the temperature or just the fact that she wanted me to hold her...but Miss Millie Janalee wasn't into the whole sleep thing.  Maybe she was making up for all the full nights of sleep I've been getting.  Let's see...she cried until she gave into her sleepy eyes and fell asleep around 9.  She woke up around 1.  She cried on and off until around 3 am.  At this time, I fed her because there was no sign of calming down.  Except, my sweet girl decided it was playtime! Until 4:30 am.  Ha!  I've never had this happen before, so I did the only thing I knew to do.  We played.  She slept for another two hours, and she was up for the day! 

Enter new mood swing.  Happy baby playing with Toby and Nate...and snuggling with Auntie Kristin.  Until I dressed her for our day.  By the way, I was already having anxiety about taking her with us to Mistletoe, so this mood swing made me even more uneasy.  But, determination is key!  Ha!  We got her to a peaceful napping state, and we loaded her into the car seat.  By the time we parked our car and got the mile long Moby wrap tied around my ever growing body (a post for another day), she had slept a good 45 minutes.

Our precious "Bethany baby" friends

Millie Janalee happily shopped with Auntie Kristin, Clancy, and me.  We ran into a few friends along the way, and I was so glad that mood had swung back to my happy, content little angel.  Angie and her husband were in our Bethany adoption training last August.  They were placed a month and a half later with this sweet baby boy.  It was great to meet Grady and for Angie to meet Millie Janalee.  Of course we swapped adoption stories and caught up on how much life has changed too.

Napping with Auntie Kristin

Millie Janalee let us know when she was hungry or tired, so we took a couple of breaks here and there.  Too bad Millie Janalee slept right through our Skylar Laine sighting.  In case you don't know who Skylar is...she was a finalist on American Idol, and she was one of the ones we saw on the American Idol tour also.  Skylar is from Brandon, MS...home of my cousin, Clancy.  So Clancy had no hesitation of stopping her for a photo opp.

Me, Millie Janalee, Clancy, Skylar Laine, and Kristin

Millie Janalee and Clancy

After a little over 6 hours of shopping, Millie Janalee was worn slap out!  She's such a shopaholic!  I'm having visions of girls shopping trips in our future.  Her daddy better watch out and start saving up!  Ha!

We stopped by Target, and actually did most of our shopping there.  Which is funny since I have a Target just down the road from home.  Millie Janalee had her first public blowout.  I'll spare you the details, but I feel I must apologize to Target. 

Toby, Millie Janalee, and Nate

The next morning, we packed up and loaded the car after Millie Janalee's morning nap.  We were sad to say goodbye to our future boyfriends, but we were excited to meet up with Kelly and her boys.

Kelly, my college roommate, met us at Chik-fil-a before we left town.  She's a true friend to load up her kids and make it to Chik-fil-a all within 5 minutes.  Her boys are all boy, and it was fun to see Kelly with a prissy little girl.  Of course, I guess she didn't look so prissy after spitting up on Kelly twice within the 10 minutes of holding her.  Sorry Kelly.  And sorry Target.  Oh, and I guess I should say sorry to Pat and Felicia too.  All those apologies are for the mess my child left behind.

Griffin and Millie Janalee are about 7 months apart I think, and I can't wait to see them interact when they get a little older.  Clark wasn't feeling it during this visit.  Probably because we were the reason he couldn't immediately go play on the playground.  Once he got the go-ahead from his mom, we never saw him again.  Only the remnants of one shoe and dropped food at our table.  Ha!

Our last stop before hitting the interstate was the nursing home.  Millie Janalee loves visiting her Pops, and I'm pretty sure he enjoys her visits too.  She was revved up and ready to play by the time we took her out of her car seat.  She enjoyed making faces and spitting bubbles for Pops.

"Hey Pops!  Look what I can do!"

"Pops is so funny!"

Millie Janalee and Pops spent some time holding hands, clapping, and kicking.  Use your imagination to decide who was doing what.  Ha!  I'm not sure Pops knows exactly who we are, but he sure does love Millie Janalee.  He said, "Ooooh" when we got her out of the car seat, and "Ooooh" when we put her on her tummy, and "Ooooh" when she started to play with him. 

Millie Janalee took her afternoon bottle while Pops roamed the hallways getting some exercise.  Then, we said our goodbyes and headed towards home.

Enter final mood swing.  My dear sweet girl cried whole-heartedly from Grenada to Hernando.  After that, she did the occasional yelp until I pulled her car seat from the car.  We met all the guys at a restaurant to eat supper when we got into town.  Lee and Paw Paw had made the drive to join us too.  Millie Janalee was happy as could be during supper and fell fast asleep on the way home.  Thankful for that swing of moods!  After a little playtime with Paw Paw, we gave Millie Janalee her bedtime bottle.  At which time she could not hold her head up, and finally finished it with a completely limp body.  That's one sleepy baby after one big road trip!

Thankful for those sweet mood swings!  And even more thankful when they swing right back around!