The past few weeks we have taken a few pictures as we have been out and I thought I would post.
For those of you who haven't been to our house, we don't live in the City of Jenks. We live outside of town a mile or two. We live less than 1/4 mile away from the Perrymany Ranch . The Perryman Family owned 250,000 acres of land prior to Oklahoma officially becoming a state in 1907. Our house is on a small sliver of that land. The Perryman Ranch is all that remains of the land that is officially owned by the Perryman family (approximately 20 acres). The land is still roamed by Longhorn Steers and 1 White Buffalo. We think the white buffalo is really cool looking since they are so rare and considered sacred by Native Americans. (Info on white buffalo if you want to read) The steers and buffalo roam the entire property so we don't get to see them all of the time. The ranch backs up to another subdivision and when we take Nacho (the dog) for a walk we can sometimes see the animals up close.
Here is a couple pics of the buffalo...
Another cool little factoid on the Perryman ranch is that they have active oil wells on the property. One of those pumps is actually 150-200 feet from our house. Jen did a little research a year and a half ago on the pumps since she works for an oil and gas company. She found out that the leases for the wells (when they first drilled) were in 1916. There are currently 3 pumps still active on the lease. As of a year and a half ago they pumps were still producing 10 barrels a day!! So, we are sitting on a gold mine. Unfortunately, we don't have any mineral rights for the oil so that we could benefit from the ridiculous prices of oil! When people visit, they think its weird that we have an oil pump so close to our house. There is actually a house between us and the pump (no one is officially living in the house though-wonder why?!?!) We have gotten used to the noise that the pump makes (its really not that noisy) and we occasionally smell the crude when we walk by the pump. We did have a little bit of excitement last summer because a hose busted and crude was spraying on the ground.
This weekend when we were out and about we saw something strange in the sky and weren't sure what it was. As we got closer, we figured out what it was. It was a helicopter that was placing air-conditioning units on top of the Creek Nation Casino that is being built. It was a big spectacle because there were cars pulled off on the side of the road around the casino. We decided to stop and be a part of the madness and take a few pictures. We couldn't figure out why they were using the helicopter instead of a crane, but we figured out once we saw where the supplies (air-conditioners) were being staged compared to where the building being constructed is.
Sorry for crappy picture. My parents have a skylight in their living room, so it makes taking pics a little difficult!
Grammy and Grampy hadn't given Miss Madison her stuff they got her in Barbados. It was some cute clothing. I think some of it is going to be waaay too big, but she can grow into it. Here she is in her "I love Barbados" hat.
Again, sorry for the crappy pic!
We came home and did some things around the house, and then it was time for Miss Madison's bedtime. I swear that it was just Friday night!! The weekends sure do go by fast!
The upcoming week is going to be an eventful one. I have to take a long lunch tomorrow to come home and watch Madison while Jeff goes to an ASSE meeting. Then Wednesday night my mom is coming up to stay for a few days since Jeff is leaving on Thursday to go Indianapolis. He's in a wedding up there. He will be back on Sunday. My mom is planning on staying until Sunday unless something happens. So, I don't know how much posting we will get done next week. I'll try though!!
As you can see, she's really long!! She's actually over 100% and off the charts for her age!! WOW! Dr. Sood said that she was going to be 2 inches taller than me, which I'm 5'5", and she'll be very lean. We shall see about all that, because they said the exact same thing about me, and I'm not tall or lean!! He told us to start solids when she's about 5 months, sooner if she's really interested in food. I don't think she's that interested yet. She's just now starting to watch us eat. Also, she screamed any time that Jeff or I wasn't holding her. He said that that is the "stranger anxiety." Apparently, that used to not start until a lot later, but they are seeing it around this time. Also, he asked if she was rolling yet. She still hasn't done that, but is trying, and he said that the rolling over is delayed now since they are supposed to sleep on their backs. We asked him about her eye, and he thinks that it is just allergies. He said that once the season gets going and things start to settle more and she becomes more adjusted then it will probably be fine. However, if it gets worse, then we have a prescription for drops. Overall, she's a very healthy baby!
I did get a severance package that will provide some cushion for a little while. I am back on the trail for finding a job. Not a lot of positions being posted in the safety arena around Tulsa, so I am going to be sending out blind resume/cover letters to companies to see if I can spark any interest. My main job after next Friday will be playing Mr. Mom and looking for a job. We are going to be taking Madison out of daycare as of next Friday. We will save a lot of money by doing that (that is the only good thing about when I was notified by Red Cross because we could give appropriate notice to the daycare and not have to pay for May). I will have to make arrangements with Jen or Grammy to watch Madison while I go on interviews.
Hopefully soon I will have some positive info to share.
Madison is starting to grab things and hold them. She just really started it this weekend. Before, she would kind of bat at things, but that was it. Well, this weekend she really started grabbing at things on her activity mat. At first, I thought it was just a fluke, but then she started trying to grab her cube. She had a lot of fun with it tonight. She LOVES her cube!! She just laughs at it, and she gets so excited when we show it to her. So, tonight her trick was to grab a hold of the handles and try to put it in her mouth. She's not too coordinated yet, so it was more like she was licking the pictures. It was cute. She's also started trying to hold the bottle, which is very annoying when you are trying to just get her to eat. It's like wrestling an alligator!! She wants to hold it her way, and that way might not be with the nipple in her mouth!! Needless to say, it's not a lot of fun. No wonder daycare is having problems with her eating!
This is a new trick of hers. I was a little shocked to find her like this, but I know she can get around on her back. I still think all this restlessness is from her teething. We got some of those teething tablets, and they seem to work really well. She wasn't too sure of them the first few times we gave them to her, but now she seems to know not to spit it out. AND, it seems to calm her down a lot!! They are called Hyland Teething Tablets, and I highly recommend them!
As you can see, the underside of the brim says "COWBOYS" on it, but the top of the brims say "OSU".
I can't decide which way I like the best. Jeff likes it up, but I think I like it down better. Of course, this outfit makes her look like a little boy. I kept wanting to put a bow somewhere on her when we were out!!
Madison's Grandma had sent her this clutch cube for Valentine's Day. At the time, she really wasn't interested in it. However, she really wasn't interested in alot, except for her friend Fanny. Now, she's interested in everything!! She really loves to watch her mobile in her crib and on her swing, and she's more interested in the toys on her activity mat. We are just now started to bat at the dangling toys.
So this morning, I decided to get out the clutch cube and see if she would "play" with it. Well, she thought it was really, really interesting. It has a little mirror on it, and the minute she saw herself, she smiled! It also has a lot of different textures and pictures on it. We explored it all. She was interested in it for a long time. I would say about 15 minutes, which is a long time for her! So, thanks Grandma!!
This photo also shows her other trick...the throwing the pacifier on the floor. I don't know how she's doing that one. I'm really hoping that she's not throwing it up and over the side of the crib. That would be amazing if that's what she's doing.
We think that Miss Madison is teething. She's showing all the signs...drooling, chomping on her hand, cranky, restfulness, and not eating as well. The past few nights she's been really crying a lot. This is a baby that NEVER cries. Even daycare told me that her cries are more like a whine. So, when she would just wail for 5 or 10 minutes, we became a little concerned. I asked a co-worker of mine that has a child that is 18 months what the signs were. She told me everything that Madison is doing. We tried to freeze the corner of a washcloth and give it to her, but she didn't like it at all. She kept pushing it away. She really, really hates anything cold, so I didn't know if she would like it or not. So far, she seems to like my finger the best. We tried that tonight, and she seemed content. My co-worker also told me to go to Wal-Mart and get some teething tablets. She said that everyone she knows uses them, and they seem to work well. So, I guess we will get those. Does anyone else have any suggestions? I just hate to see my happy, smiling baby upset. Any suggestions are welcomed!!
Here's JJ and Abby fighting over who gets to play with the car.
We've had to put this car up at night. Who knew a matchbox car could be so much fun to a bunch of cats!!
