Thriving is Elegant

9 Months In - 9 Months Out

2012-01-09T15:25:00.000-05:00

I've been meaning to post about this for over a month now, and just about gave up hope until I was looking through some of my Facebook pictures. I realized that even though I didn't take an "officall" In and Out pic, I had plenty of pictures I could use. So, here we go.

9 Months (ish) In

9 Months (ish) Out

2011 in Pictures

2012-01-06T17:53:00.000-05:00

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Cheers to 2012 everyone!

Out of Control Merry-Go-Round

2011-12-13T12:49:00.001-05:00

Is it just me, or do other people sometimes feel like they are on an out of control, demented merry-go-round? I feel like if someone would just let me off for a few minutes I could catch my breath and jump back on. Unfortunately, I don't see that happening for at least a few more weeks.

Thankfully, the amazing women over at Rants from Mommyland put it so poetically when they coined the phrase "The Halloween to Holidays Death Spiral". Unfortunately, I'm right smack dab in the middle of it right now which accounts for my tragic lack of blogging. It's all been crazy. The cooking and planning and decorating and shopping and wrapping and trying to get these stupid holiday cards designed and in the mail. Whew! On top of that we have three friends with birthdays the first of December and with Jay in school I've pretty much been in charge of everything.

But even with as much stress as I have going on, there is one thing I'm not stressing about this year and that's other adults' drama. Past years have been spent trying to please everyone... trying to get my brothers to be nice to each other for just.one.farking.afternoon... trying to make sure both our families were included and everyone felt their needs were met. Well, this year there is only one person I'm worrying about and her name is Turtle. If people have reasonable requests then we will do everything we can to accomodate but don't want to come? That's fine. Want to make the whole thing about you? Sorry. This year (and for quite a few years to come) this holiday is about Turtle and everyone else can save the drama for yo mama!

It's amazing how freeing the feeling is. I might have to extend this Beta Test to other times of the year! I'll be back as soon as I can figure out how to get off this mother-father merry-go-round for a minute!

Daddy's So Funny

2011-11-10T10:00:00.000-05:00

When did life get so complicated that we lost the joy in drumming on a trash bag?

Turtle Loves Wrapping Paper

2011-11-09T10:00:00.000-05:00

She destroyed half the roll but I didn't have the heart to take it away from her.

Bringing Home Baby: A 3 Month Nice to Have List

2011-11-08T10:51:00.002-05:00

Bumbo

We used this thing SO, SO much! It was our high chair before Turtle was strong enough to sit up on her own. As you can see we used it when we went out to eat, to watch the squirrels on Grandma's back porch, and to try to help Mama play Catan. You are technically not supposed to use it on a raised surface (like a restaurant table), but we felt comfortable doing it since we were both sitting right there. We never walked away from her and the moment she started trying to stand up out of it, we discontinued it's use. We got ours at a consignment store and I highly recommend this route. This is a baby gear item that is only used for a few short months so you can find ones in good used condition. They are also easy to clean. However, if I had it to do over again, I would get the Prince Lionheart BebePod instead of the Bumbo. The BebePod comes with a strap that will secure it to a chair making it even safer to use as a presitting high chair.

Fisher Price Space Saver High Chair

We didn't start Turtle on solids until 6 months, but we've been using this high chair since she was just a few weeks old. Seeing that we have a dog that isn't child friendly, I wasn't able to just sit her on a blanket on the floor when I cleaned the kitchen or made dinner. This was a life saver! I could strap her in here, puts some toys on her tray and talk to her while I cleaned the kitchen, etc. We would have had a hard time finding the floor space for a full size high chair so this one that straps onto an existing dining room chair was just perfect for us. I've heard people complain that it didn't fit on their chairs and was wobbly, but we've never had any problems with ours. We LOVE it!

Playmat

Around 3 months, Turtle became very interested in stuff, and a playmat was exactly what we needed. It kept her occupied while I took a shower or did other chores (up stairs and away from the puppy). Playmats come in all shapes and sizes... and price tags. From what I can see they are pretty much all the same so we went with a small, inexpensive one.

Carrier/sling

It was about this time that Turtle decided she didn't like being carried in my stretchy wrap. She has always been a very curious child and being snuggled into my chest was just too boring for her. She wanted to look around. I hadn't been prepared for this and didn't really know what kind of carrier to use at this stage. I tried a woven wrap but found it to be complicated, cumbersome, and hard to tie alone. Finally I settled on a pouch sling and requested a nice one for my birthday. It's super easy to use, quick to get to her if she gets fussy, and allows her to see out when she's either on my hip or my back. In the event that she does go to sleep, it's easy for me to adjust her just a tad and have her snuggled into my chest to sleep. I put her in a hip carry before she was sitting up completely on her own. I just wrapped my arm around her and supported her. But you should not do a back carry (in a pouch sling) until the baby can completely sit up on their own.

Bibs, bibs, and bibs

At this point, Turtle was the spit up queen! So, bibs were my best friend. I found myself overlooking cute outfits in favor of cute bibs. My favorite one of course was the "T is for Turtle" one, but as far as their usefulness, I like the Green Sprout ones best.

Next Up: 6 Months!

Distraction

2011-11-07T13:04:00.000-05:00

We had a super busy weekend! So, I wasn't able to put together a real blog post for today. Instead I'm going to distract you with cuteness while I hope to put together a real post for tomorrow.

Poor girl will never be a professional ballet dancer because she definitely inherited her mama's behind. Sorry, Turtle!

Officially Too Old

2011-11-04T14:40:00.000-04:00

Recently, I have discovered that I am officially too old for a few things.

1) Booty dancing. (Although I don't think anyone should really be doing that! But at my age it just looks like a train wreck.)

2) Staying up past midnight. (Which now makes me feel like I have a hang over even if I haven't had a drop of alcohol.)

And after yesterday...

3) Skinny Jeans (Well, actually any fashion item that has the word "skinny" in the title.)

I mean dude! I look like a wanna be hipster/emo boy. Actually... I look like my awesomely cool oldest little brother, except without the cool factor.

See, what happened was, I ran into Old Navy to get Turtle a fleece outfit to keep her warm this weekend. As I walked in I saw a table full of skinny jeans. Having seen tons of adorable outfits consisting of skinny jeans on Pinterest and given my style-envy/best friend's ability to include them in her wardrobe, I thought, "What the heck! I'll try on a pair!"

I laughed so hard in the dressing room that I thought they were going to send someone to check on me. Then I snapped this picture and set it to my best friend and brother. Both of whom got a huge laugh out of it! Granted my best friend said if I changed the shirt and shoes I could probably pull it off. But I'm afraid I'd have to have a whole new wardrobe and that would negate the 30% off coupon I have for Old Navy.

So, I have a feeling I'm just too old for skinny jeans. Have you come to terms with being too old for something lately?

Weekend Warriors: Amazing Maize Maze

2011-11-03T12:50:00.001-04:00

As a family, we are weekend warriors. We work hard during the week and play hard on the weekends. This weekend we went to the Amazing Maize Maze. I've never done a corn maze, but our friend L loves them! So we all agreed to go. It was actually a blast and I can't wait to try it again next year. Especially now that I kind of know what to expect.

The maze was out at Rual Hills and after the maze we decided that the historic homesteads would be a great place to get some pictures.

Daddy tried out the Boba carrier too and really liked it. Mama really liked we can now share the carrying responsibilities. Plus, is there anything more awesome than a man with a baby in a carrier?

There was a blacksmith there showing off his skills.

And a little kitchen garden out by the homestead.

The front porch made a great place for some pics.

The wind made it a little cold but other than that it was a perfect day!

So, what are the Weekend Warriors up to this next weekend? Well, hopefully a car meet on Saturday morning followed by a trip to the Renaissance Faire. The Ren Faire is something we do every year, and this year I'm so excited to include the Turtle. I think she'll love all the colors and music and activities. We'll see though. I'll make sure and update you all next week!

Pinterest Challenge

2011-11-02T09:40:00.001-04:00

So, last Wednesday, I told you about the Pinterest Challenge that Sherry over at Young House Love had extended. Well it's one week later and I'm happy to announce that I pretty much accomplished my missions!

Mission #1: Turkey Shirt

I bought a pack of white Gerber Onesies and washed them Friday night. I grabbed all the scrap fabric I had left over from decorating Turtle's nursery (which had already been washed), some fusible interfacing and the shapes Lindsey from The Cottage Home had so graciously included in her template and headed over to our friends' house to get started.

We cut some squares of fabric and fused them to one side of the interfacing.

Then we traced the shapes on the paper side of the interfacing and cut out all the shapes. Then we pealed back the interfacing and ironed them down onto the shirt. Easy peasy!

Then I took just a little bit of embroidery floss and free handed some legs, eyes, and a beak. And there you go folks! A perfectly festive first Thanksgiving shirt for my baby girl.

And here she is, not so happily, modeling it for you all.

Mission #2: Paci Clips

This one was a little more tricky given my rusty sewing skills, and through this process I discovered that my sewing machine apparently needs a tune up! Since it was bought when I was in middle school and stored in eleventy billion closets since then, I guess it's not surprising.

So, first things first. I cut out 10 1/2" x 4" strips of fabric. And since I don't have a nice cutting ruler or rotary cutter, I used my trusty paper cutter to cut a template from cardstock. That made it easy to ensure that I was getting nice square strips.

Then I pressed under a 1/4" hem on the short ends.

At about this point, Turtle, my trusty side kick fell asleep! Light weight!

Then I pressed them all in half.

Then pressed the long raw edges into the middle.

Then I simply pressed them in half again.

Now... this is where it got tricky. My sewing machine is not wanting to advance the material at the beginning and ends... basically when there is only a little bit of material. So, I found myself pulling the material through to get it started all while trying not to sew my finger... oh and while a post-nap, energetic little one was trying to pull up on my peddle leg. Yeah, it was a bit of a challenge which is why the nice picture tutorial kinda takes a hike here. But basically...

You sew down each of the long sides. I attempted to line the material up with the inside of the pressure foot, but as you can see my stitches are not nearly as straight as the one in the awesome tutorial.

Then you slip one end through the suspender clip, fold it back over and sew it down. My machine really was not a fan of this part. (Mental note: find local sewing machine repair place.)

Then you cut a 5 1/5" piece of coordinating ribbon, keeping in mind that the ribbon will need to loop through the paci and back over the suspender clip so you don't want it to be too thick. Fold the ribbon over and tuck it into the open end.

Then simply sew that end closed, catching the ribbon.

And TADA! You're done!

It can now get covered in drool! Sometimes I swear my daughter prefers chewing on the clip to the paci.

So! How did everyone else's projects come out? I can't wait to see! You can head over to Young House Love's post to see all the projects linked up from the challenge.

P.S. If you want to check out all the projects done by the hosts of the Pinterest Challenge you can check them out here, here, and here.

She Won't Eat Puffs, But She'll Eat Poop: The Scary Tale of a Halloween Night

2011-11-01T10:19:00.002-04:00

I was going to post about our weekend adventures today, but this story is soooo much better. Halloween evening started off pretty hectic. I'd put off buying candy and had to stop on the way home from work. I picked up Turtle at my mom's and we headed straight to the house. The setting sun was my enemy and I was going to beat him! Thankfully, we got home, got Turtle dressed, got the candy in a bowl, and got settled on our blanket on the front lawn to take some pictures and greet trick or treaters.

Turtle was only marginally happy with being dressed up. And really wasn't a fan of her cinnamon bun head gear. But she wormed up to the idea after a while.

And she really doesn't understand the concept of the ubiquitous "facebook picture" yet.

"Mama. What are you doing?"

But she definitely got on board with the whole candy thing.

Although she wanted to drool on every piece before we gave them out. She said she was just making sure they weren't poison.

But soon it got too cold to hang outside, so we had to move the party inside. That's when things got interesting. I put the puppy in his crate and put a blanket down on the floor since I needed to vacuum but hadn't had time (and Turtle is deathly afraid of the vacuum cleaner so doing it during the week is out.) I sat on the couch to find something to watch on hulu. Turtle crawled off the blanket and under the swing. I could see her but thought she was just intently watching the puppy which wouldn't be out of the ordinary. Well, when she didn't move for a few minutes I thought I'd crawl down there and stare at the puppy with her. When I got down there, I realized it look like she was sucking on something. So, I stuck my finger in her mouth and to my HORROR found puppy poop!!!!! OMG!!! Where she found it I have no idea.

I had absolutely NO idea what to do or how serious the situation was. So, I of course first googled it so see if any of my reputable sites had anything about it not being a big deal. Truthfully I was hoping to not have to call anyone and admit what had happened. When all I could find were message board posts, I finally got on the phone and called the pediatrician's after hours number. While I'm on hold my cell phone battery starts dying and I have to plug in upstairs. At this point I've turned off our front porch light but upon hearing kids ringing our door bell and banging on the door, I realize that I've left the side porch light on since we leave that one on all the time. So, I unplug long enough to turn that light off while Turtle screams since I've left her in her crib alone and obviously I'm leaving her forEVER!

I tell the on call service that I have an 8 month old daughter who has eaten what I believe to be puppy poop and I have NO idea what to do! After giggling and telling me that I've made her night (thanks!) she says she'll have a nurse call me back. Shortly there after she calls me back and says that the nurse recommended connecting me to Poison Control (Duh! Why didn't I think of that!). So, I tell the Poison Control operator what has happened and she asks me a bunch of questions, "Is the baby healthy? Is this your dog? Inside or outside dog? Is the dog healthy?" Eventually, she tells me that as gross as it is, this is fairly common and as long as the dog is healthy and the baby is healthy Turtle should be just fine. Just keep an eye on her and let the pediatrician know if she starts having problems.

Whew!

I think I breathed for the first time in like an HOUR! Needless to say, we battoned down the hatches at went straight to bed. Mama was tired from all that! Sorry trick or treaters! So, there ends my first call to Poison Control. I'm pretty sure it won't be our last. But with this face, how could I be mad at her for long? Hope your Halloween was less eventful than ours!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T12:58:00.002-04:00

Happy Halloween everyone! Up until the last few years I've always hated this holiday. My dad was the neighborhood pain in the ass, calling parents and truancy officers on errant kids. So, getting our house egged or firecrackers thrown into our carport was my experience of the holiday.

Additionally as a strict Christian family we never were allowed to participate in trick or treating. Some years we did attend Fall Festivals or Hallelujah Parties at our churches. One uncharacteristicly fun memory is of riding to the church with our neighbors. That year I dressed up as Queen Esther in my Childhood BFF's mother's belly dancing skirt and it was the closest to "sexy" I'd ever gotten. Later that week though, I about sucked the skirt up into the vacuum cleaning before returning it to her. I couldn't have been 10. It's strange what your brain chooses to hold onto. Why can't it hold onto where I kicked off my shoes last night!

This memory was overshadowed though by the year my mom dressed me and my brother up as Kenneth and Gloria Copeland. If you don't know who that is, don't worry about it. But trust me; it was by far the scariest costume I've ever worn!

Anyway, I've never been one to enjoy being scared. I am an anxious person by nature. I don't need help! I love rollercoaster but never the first time. Marginally scary movies give me nightmares. And I anxiously await the passing of Halloween so that my decorating and party planning blogs will move onto something other than candles dripping blood and food that looks like body parts.

So, all around, Halloween is just not my thing. That is, until I started studying the ancient Celtic calendar. For the ancient Celts, Halloween (or Hallowmas) was the new year celebration. For this one night the veil between our world and the next was thin, allowing your loved ones who had passed on to return and commune with the living. That's why we carve pumpkins. It allows the familiar spirits to find their way home while scaring off any spirits that would do you harm.

This really spoke to my spirit and changed my entire outlook on Halloween. As Turtle grows up I think I will present Halloween as a day to talk about and remember those of our family who have gone before us. Maybe even a day to visit family graves and decorate them for the holidays. But for this year, I think I'll go through my pictures and take some time to "talk" to Turtle about my great-grandmother Bonnie (my name sake) and how she was always watching out her kitchen window when we would pull into the drive way. Then there's my mom's mom with whom Turtle shares a middle name. She would stand out on the front porch and watch us pack up our car. We would have to drive past her house to turn around and she would still be standing on the front porch waving at us as we went back past. Something about these two simple gestures always made me feel loved and wanted. I miss them both, and I'm sad that my Turtle never got to know them. But maybe through our Halloween celebrations she will come to feel like she did.

Before we go, here's a little traditional Halloween treat... my little geeklette in her Princess Leia costume. And yes, I'm taking full advantage of her being too little to voice her own opinion! This may be my only opportunity! I'm hoping to get some better pics tonight. If I do, I'll make sure and share them with you later in the week.

What special traditions make Halloween special for you?

A Guest Post

2011-10-28T09:06:00.000-04:00

Today we have a very special guest blogger. JJ is one of my oldest, dearest friends. I like to say (borrowing from Grey's Anatomy) that our husbands are the loves of our life, but JJ and I are soul mates.

She's my confidant, my sounding board, my partner in crime, my comic relief, and my style envy. I don't think I could get through the day without talking to her. We got married just weeks apart from each other and a year and a half later found out that we were pregnant just 2 weeks apart from each others. She is a beautiful person and a wonderful mother and I am honored to have her guest blog for me.

The idea for a guest blog came up a few months ago. JJ always saw herself as a career mama, and I always saw myself as a stay-at-home-mama. Strangely enough, we have found ourselves in the reverse situation. Thankfully, we have each other to remind us that the grass isn't greener on the other side. You can check out her blog here.

So, today, I proudly present to you JJ's Pros and Cons of the Stay-at-Home Life

Pros

- I get to spend all day with my daughter. She is my little shadow. She goes everywhere I go. She drools; I drool. Ok, we aren’t quite that close.

- I set our routine. No one else is stating when Caitlyn eats, sleeps or poops. I decide when she eats and sleeps. She is in charge of the pooping schedule.

- Because I’m home all day, I don’t have to spend all evening getting housework done. It gets done during the day or throughout the week allowing for things like walks, going to the park and the occasional playdate.

- Mid-day/week shopping! I hate crowds. Being able to shop during the week when there are hardly any crowds is awesome.

- I can go three days without a shower and no one cares. Seriously, my husband doesn’t even notice my greasy hair anymore.

- I don’t have to get up before the butt crack of dawn to get ready and get Caitlyn to daycare. My husband’s 5am alarm does however, wake me up. Have fun at PT, sucker!

- I get to wear whatever I want everyday. PJ’s all day – sure. Jeans and the tee that I slept in, why not? Cocktail dress with sneakers, not quite, but I technically could if I wanted to.

Cons

- I have NO “me” time. I haven’t spent more than 3 straight hours away from my daughter. Don’t get me wrong, I love that little drool monster, but “Ma Mama” needs a break every once in a while. And dear husband, going to the grocery store by myself does not count as a break.
- Umm who wants to be able to go three days without a shower and not have anyone notice? Gross!

- Naptime is not “Mommy time.” Nope that’s laundry, dishes, and clean the house time. Actually, I haven’t taken a nap since the baby was born. Thank god for coffee!

- My adult interaction includes the checkout people at Target and saying “hi” to the neighbor. Oh and random conversations with the dog. What in people years, she’s 21 so it counts. When my husband is actually home, we do get to talk in the evenings so that helps.

Being a SAHM has been quite an adjustment for this former career woman, but I love every minute I get to spend with my daughter.

***********************

Thanks JJ for giving us a glimps into the your world! You can follow her over on her blog Wife of the Party. P.S. If you want to check out my long winded Ode to the Working Mama Life, you can find that here.

Hey Baby

2011-10-27T09:21:00.000-04:00

"Hey, Baby! Whatcha doin' back there?"

"Not much, Mama. Just bein' cute. It's hard work!"

"Yes it is, Baby! Especially at 6:45am!"

Pinterest Challenge

2011-10-26T12:55:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite bloggers (Sherry over at Young House Love) has extended a Pinterest Challenge to encourage herself and all of us to stop pinning and start doing! And this time I'm participating! As you all know, I'm a total Pinterest addict and horribly guilty of pinning tons of beautiful, inspiring things and then never getting around to doing them. So, I decided this challenge was right up my alley! Posting about it will give me even more incentive to get off my butt! (Is that enough "!"s for everyone? No. One more!)

There are a few pins I've had my eye on for a while. First, something I've had my eye on for MONTHS! We are in desperate need of these at our house but I also want to make some for my girlfriend's baby shower. (So, Angela, if you're reading this... look away!)

We are a binki family. I know they are controversial but we love them. However, there is nothing less fun than retrieving a dropped binki for the eleventy billion time in Target. Plus Target floors... eww! So, binki clips rule in our house. We have a couple and I refuse to buy anymore given how easy they look to make. When it comes to details, I like the "universal" binki clips because we have binkies with handles and without and it's nice to not have to worry about which clip goes with which binkis. So, a few weeks ago I ran across an awesome tutorial (via Pinterest) about making the universal binkies. I'm hoping to make at least one for me and one for my friend. Possibly more than that. We'll see.

Then for a holiday themed project. I've been looking to make something for Turtle to wear for Thanksgiving. We don't really dress up around our house so a fancy dress just wasn't going to work. Then I ran across this tutorial, of course, on Pinterest.

So, hopefully, with a plain white onesie or t-shirt, some scrap fabric and some fusible interfacing, I'll have a cute little outfit for Turtle.

So, there you go. That's the plan for this weekend. I'll be sharing the finished projects next Wednesday so check back. Same bat time, same bat channel.

A Time Honored Tradition

2011-10-24T15:13:00.001-04:00

I think children's music is specially designed to grate on the nerves of adults. I'm not sure what the evolutionary explination is for this, but none the less, it's true. But if I have to be annoyed by it, I might as well have fun with it. I think making up new verses for time honored songs is my right as a mommy. So, for my contributions, I present to you two of my favorites.

Sung to the tune of Someone's in the Kitchen with Dinah
(usually sung while I'm dragging her exersaucer into the kitchen so she can hang with me while I cook or clean)

Someone's in the kitchen with mommy.
Someone's in the kitchen I know-ow-ow-ow.
Someone's in the kitchen with mommy.
Drooling on her old banjo.

The Wheels on the Bus

The thugs on the bus go, "yo, yo, yo",
"yo, yo, yo", "yo, yo, yo"
The thugs on the bus go, "yo, yo, yo"
All through the town.

How do you keep yourself sane when children's music threatens your sanity? Am I the only one that makes up new verses for age old songs? (Please tell me I'm not!)

A Day in the Life of a Working Momma Turtle

2011-10-19T09:00:00.000-04:00

Our weekday schedule is crazy. So, I decided that I would bring you guys along with us for a day. I can pretty much guarantee it's not going to pretty all the time, but neither is life. So, follow along and feel free to share a day in your life.

5:30am Jay's alarm goes off and he jumps in the shower (this is assuming that Turtle hasn't decided to wake up before this). Turtle and I snuggle.

5:45am He fixes Turtle a bottle and feeds her while I desperately try to wake up (read: check my email and facebook on my phone).

6:00am I get in the shower while Jay plays with Turtle in the bed. (Oh who am I kidding it's at least 6:15 before I even get out of bed). Oh how I love a casual work environment!

6:30am Jay leaves for work. I finish getting Turtle ready and do a few things around the house...

... like starting a load of laundry.

Then I load us up. We require a lot of bags around here. That's my purse, lunch bag, and crochet bag (to work on at lunch) and Turtle's diaper bag.

7:00am Turtle and I leave for Grandma's house. But first a stop at McDonalds for an Iced Coffee.

7:15am I drop Turtle off at Grandma's house and start my 45 minute commute to work. My sanity is brought to you by The Bob and Sheri Show.

8:00 am Work Starts (technically my clock is 3 minutes fast so I was right on time). Thankfully the traffic wasn't too bad. I grab a power bar or oatmeal for breakfast once at the office.

12:00pm Lunch Break. Yesterday that meant a run to Michaels. Today it means some time to catch up on Hulu and some crocheting.

5:00pm Fly out of work and fight rush hour traffic to get my Turtle. My sanity on the commute home is brought to you by NPR's All Things Considered. Jay leaves work and heads straight to school.

5:45pm Pick up Turtle from Grandma's house and hang out for a little while. Since our fridge is still thawing out, I grab a quick bowl of cereal at before heading home.

6:30pm Arrive at the house and try desperately to get a few things done. Tonight's goal: clean off the table. Lily hangs out on my back while I clean.

6:15pm Turtle gets hungry and begins demanding a bottle.

7:30pm Bottle done, diaper changed, jammies on. And it's play time in the bed while mommy plays on the computer or crochets. And yes, no matter what I do she won't stay asleep.

8:30pm Mommy and baby are both ready for bed. (Yes I know my 8 month old and I have the same bedtime but it's the only way I can manage our schedule).

11:30pm Daddy arrives home from school and kisses us goodnight. Sometimes I wake up pleading with him to tell me it's not 5:30am. :-)

And then we do it all over again! It's hectic, it's crazy and it's exhausting, but I wouldn't trade my little family for the world. What's your day like?

Things I've Never, Ever Done...

2011-10-18T10:00:00.000-04:00

I've never, ever...

1) Told my almost 8 month old daughter to put her "big girl diaper on and deal with it."

2) Let her chew on a wedding invitation only to notice a corner missing and said corner stuck to the roof of her mouth.

3) Bangged her head on the door seal (while carrying her on my hip) because I misjudged the clearance.

4) Given her an old tv changer because she refused the toy one I bought her with a look that said, "Um mom. I KNOW this is a toy!" And I swear she rolled her eyes at me.

5) Used said discarded toy tv changer to shoot at my friends, illiciting the following phrase from my husband, "Um, that is not a phaser."

6) Ordered a Princess Leia costume for her first Halloween (and no it's NOT the gold bikini).

7) Turned on the TinkerBell movie so that I could get just one more moment of sleep on a Saturday morning.

8) Made her wear multiple articles of clothing with bear ears attached to them.

8) Bought her multiple pairs of brightly colored striped tights.

9) Contemplated matching mother-daughter outfits.

I expect my Mother of the Year Award to arrive any day now!

Watering Your Grass

2011-10-12T10:00:00.000-04:00

There's not much I find more useless than the so called "Mommy Wars". Working Moms vs. Stay-at-Home-Moms, Formula Feeders vs. Breastfeeders, Babywearers vs. Stroller Pushers, "Natural Childbirth" vs. Medicated Birth... because when you boil it down it just turns out to be a I'm-better-than-you or who's-life-is-harder pissing contest. I've found (in my few short months as a mom) that being a mommy is hard. For everyone. Period. End of story!

Sure I'm a single working mom 4 days a week, but my girlfriend is a single working mom every day of the week... with an autistic kindergartner and a dazzling handful of a preschooler. My best friend is a Stay-at-Home Army wife and mom who's husband has been overseas for more than 2 years of their 3 1/2 year marriage including the first 5 months of their daughter's life. I think I'm going to pull my hair out when Turtle cries for more than a half an hour or so at bedtime. My good friend's baby has cried multiple hours of every single day of her 5 month long life. Gotta love colic!

So, who gets the My Life Sucks More Than Yours Award? The Military Mom, the Special Needs Mom, The Colic Mom...? No one does actually, because I've realized that we each have our own special challenges and things we have to over come. Everything is relative and in each person's life, in each person's shoes, life is hard and it takes strength and courage to overcome. So, instead of warring with each other for life-sucks bragging rights, lets pull together.

Got a chore list that might be helpful to other moms? Share it! Got a meal planning strategy that works for your family? Share it! Found a magical way to keep the puppy from using the bathroom IN YOUR LIVING ROOM and forcing you to take time out of your precious evening cleaning it up? Share it! (No really! I need that information!) Just make sure you share it in a this-is-what-worked-for-us-and-MIGHT-work-for-you way.

This doesn't mean we don't share about our struggles. Sharing our situations can give us perspective. For instance, when I'm talking about how much I'd love for my husband to go on deployment, my best friend reminds me of all the sadness and loneliness that comes along with it. When my friend envies my ability to pee by herself or have some adult conversation, I remind her of the overwhelming guilt I carry if I even contemplate taking time for myself since I get so few hours per week with my daughter. Amazingly instead of feeling sorry for ourselves we walk away thankful for what we do have and understanding that we are not the only ones dealing with unique challenges.

We are all fighters. We are all strong. We all have our mountains to climb. All of our situations are different and give us different challenges to face. No situation is perfect. And no the grass is not greener on the other side. In fact...

via Jennie Schow on Pinterest. Original Source.

What are you doing to water your grass? What are you doing to help your friends water their grass?

Homemade Frozen Dinners

2011-10-11T10:01:00.001-04:00

I have a love hate relationship with frozen dinners. They always look so appealing in the freezer section of the grocery store, they smell so good when they are cooking in the microwave, and then they taste like, well, hammered doggy doo. I mean really. What kind of meat do they use in them? There should really be an episode of CSI to solve that mystery!
But they are quick and easy, so I buy them anyway. But I dread eating them and end up going out to eat half the time. So, I decided this weekend that I'd take advantage of Jay being home and try to make our own frozen dinners. I've done some bulk cooking before and L.O.V.E.D it! Cook once. Clean up once. Eat for a week (or more)!

I chose three of my favorite meals: pasta with meat sauce, chili, and vegi soup... all recipes that used similar ingredients, were fairly easy to assemble and froze well. The fact that all the recipes called for ground beef was AWESOME! I got out both my large skillets and put 2lbs in each. Within a few minutes I had all the meat browned for all three dishes.

I added cooked noodles and jarred tomato sauce to one lb of ground beef; frozen vegis, a diced potato, a large can of diced tomatoes, and a jar of Heinz chili sauce to another lb; and another large can of diced tomatoes, a can of black beans, and the spice packet of the most awesome chili mix in the world to the remaining 2 lbs. The whole prepping process couldn't have taken much more than a half an hour.

I left everything to simmer while I snuggled with Turtle and Jay.

The dishes needed to simmer for various times so as I felt things were done I turned them off and let them cool. Once they were cool, I divided them into individual portions in freezer bags and layered them flat, which couldn't have taken more than a half an hour, either.

We ate vegi soup for dinner, so I'm a little short on that recipe. If I had frozen all of it, I would have ended up with 5 portions of vegi soup, 5 portions of chili, and 3 portions of pasta and meat sauce. I probably could have had more servings, but I erred on the side of larger portions. There's nothing worse than being at the office and not being full from your lunch.

So, there you have it. Half an hour of prep time, a couple hours of simmer time, and a half hour of portioning and a week's worth of frozen dinners (for both Jay and I). I sat down and added up what I spent (because I'm just a geek like that) and it averaged out to about $2.70 a lunch. The frozen dinners I get are at least $3.00 and that's for food that I don't even really like. $2.70 for food I enjoy and look forward to eating sound like quite a steal!

Will I be able to do it every weekend. I don't know, but I'm excited with how quick and easy it was. And I'm happy with how we are thriving under our challenging situation!

Sniff, Sniff

2011-10-07T11:47:00.000-04:00

After picking up Turtle at my mom's house last night, we headed to the drug store for a few essentials. One of those was body wash. Beyond anything else, how a body wash smells is the most important thing to me. I like light, crisp and usually citrus smells. This particular evening, I was also looking for cheap. After finding one that fulfilled most of my criteria, I offered it to Turtle who was in my PeanutShell sling (dude! What would I do without that thing?!?!). At first she of course tried to eat it because that's just how she rolls. So I pulled it away, put it up between our noses and tried to show her (in an overly exaggerated way... remember we're still smack in the middle of my local Walgreens) how to sniff the body wash. I really didn't expect much but after a few times she starts doing this panting breathing thing that she's been doing for a couple weeks now. She then looked up at me with these big doe eyes that said, "Did I do it right, Mama?" I swear I just about died of cuteness right there in the middle of Walgreens. I could tell she was trying her hardest to mimic me but just couldn't quite figure it out. She was thoroughly proud of herself though.

We did it a few more times and then I snuggled her even closer to me and gave her a kiss. I'm really not sure what I did before this amazing little bundle of awesome came into my life. Happy Friday everyone!

A Little Comparison

2011-10-06T10:00:00.001-04:00

Oh my! She was such a little squishy! I can hardly remember this phase! Maybe it's because I hadn't slept in a month!

Oh yes! By three months we had rolls!

I think we are beginning to see the start of Turtle the Little Girl instead of Turtle the Baby.

Although this is really a more accurate six month portrait! I'm afraid by nine months we may be crawling. God helps us all!!

I started out taking these pics every single week. Then I went back to work, and it sucked the get-up-early-on-a-Saturday-morning-so-you-can-get-the-best-light right out of me! So I started doing every month and then it has become every quarter. But I'm at least glad I have what I do. When you see her every day like I do it's hard to see the subtle changes. It's amazing to look at these pictures. I highly, highly, highly recommend taking regular pictures of your babies. They grow so fast in that first year. But I do recommend thinking about how, where, and when you'd like to take them before the baby get here. Those first few sleep deprived foggy weeks are not the time to be figuring that out.

Thriving... just maybe not as elegantly

2011-10-05T21:14:00.000-04:00

In case you didn't know, I named this blog after my all time favorite quote (and that's quite a distinction to have because I'm kind of a quote junkie).

Surviving is important; thriving is elegant. ~ Maya Angelou

From the first moment I read that quote (on a Hallmark card of all things), I knew it would be the theme of my life from then on out. One day I will have it tattooed on my body but for right now I'm still trying to find the perfect spot. When I went to name my blog, I knew it could be none other than Thriving is Elegant. Someone once asked me what that meant to me and after some thought I responded that it was about rising above. Instead of cursing the rain, it's about learning to dance in it. (Side note: My mom told me the other day about how she was always having to drag my Childhood BFF and I in from the rain when we were little girls. Apparently putting on our rain boot and grabbing our umbrellas was one of our favorite pastimes.)

Don't get me wrong! I'm no Pollyanna by any means, but I do find inspiration in people who have been able to rise above their circumstances. Because of my Type II Bi-Polar disorder, sometimes rising above is more challenging than others, but I'm sure it's that way for everyone.

Life has been rather challenging lately. I always expected to be a stay at home mother (not because I thought it was my "duty" but because it was what I wanted to do). So, when Turtle was born and that wasn't possible it was difficult for me to bear. Thankfully it wasn't as difficult as I feared.

But then I had a pretty rough bought of depression which got so bad I was all but forced to see my psychiatrist. Because he has moved offices and is not set up with my insurance just yet I had to pay out of pocket which caused some major financial stress, on top of the crazy financial situation we were already dealing with. To alleviate that stress my husband decided to go back to school. I know that sounds counter intuitive but because of his military service he's eligible for the Post 9/11 GI bill which pays housing allowance. He was able to find a school with a schedule that has allowed him to continue to work full time. But that means he's going to school at night.

So on top of being a working mom, I had to learn to be a single working mom two nights a week. Thankfully that wasn't as difficult as I feared. My mom helped out some on the nights I was alone. Our friends offered to come over and keep me company any time I needed it. And I found out that I kind of like having some time to myself and some time to just snuggle my Turtle. (I bet you didn't realize Turtles were so snuggly!) We were just starting to figure out what worked for us those two nights a week and a new session started.

Now Daddy's gone four nights a week. We see him for about a half an hour in the morning and then we are asleep when he comes home. I found myself becoming very anxious over the weekend. I didn't realize that it was tied to my apprehension of this new schedule and it kind of came spewing out all over everything Sunday night. I had forgotten one of the cardinal rules of preparing for deployment is to watch out for sadness and anxiety masked as anger. It's easier to be angry at your deploying service member than it is to say how much you are going to miss them. (Editor's Note: Please do not think that I'm comparing my measly 4 nights a week alone to 12 and 18 month deployments!) But just like all the other challenges this past year, this has one turned out to be one we can handle.

I've realized that organization is going to be the key to thriving in this new challenge (that will probably last the next couple years of our lives). I only have an hour or so after I get home that Turtle is content to play by herself (and because we get up so early she and I have about the same bedtime). So, I have to be very proactive about what needs to be done. Jay brings a load of laundry down in the mornings (since I have a baby in my arms when I come down). Before I leave for the morning I throw it in the washer. When I come home I switch them over and fold the ones in the dryer that we started the day before. I load or unload the dish washer depending on what day it is, and I do one other chore type thing like pick up clutter, wipe down a bathroom or sweep and mop the floor. (Vacuuming has to be done on the weekend because Turtle is DEATHLY afraid of the vacuum cleaner. I mean she will scream like she's being tortured and try to climb out of the sling if she's on me when she hears it!)

By staying focused and knowing what I have to do, I can accomplish what I need in that hour and then be free to spend the rest of the evening cuddling with my Turtle which she pretty much insists on (and I totally understand since she sees me so little during the day). Is it easy? No. Do others have it harder? Absolutely! Am I trying to learn to thrive in the midst of the chaos? As elegantly as possible! And this time it's not only for my sake, but for Turtle's too.

The Perscription for a Rough Morning...

2011-09-30T11:20:00.000-04:00

... more ~~cowbell~~ Turtle videos!

It's been a rough morning. There's a store about a little girl killed by her mother going around Facebook. One of those "put this up on your status for an hour if you're against (fill in the blank cause)". I'm ok with the story but along with it is a gruesome picture of a little tiny, innocent girl about Turtle's age all beat up. I've seen these sorts of things before but never as a mother. It hit me so hard and not just the injustice of the abuse but the re-victimization of this poor little girl who now has the worst day of her short life being paraded around the Internet so that people can look socially aware in front of their friends!

Don't get me wrong. I understand the use of shocking images to get people's attention. Victims pictures are a staple of domestic violence awareness ad campaigns, you know what the difference is? Those are adults who have given their consent and chosen to have their images used. Where did this little girl's picture come from? Who gave consent and how can people parade her broken face in front of others. As a former domestic violence volunteer who took those hospital pictures I know how those are supposed to be kept under lock and key. They are never intended for public consumption. I know people have good intentions but the little girl looks a little bit like Turtle and my heart brakes for her. If I thought the image would make any change I would understand but these arbitrary Facebook status campaigns really do absolutely nothing for victims which is why I never participate. If you want to do something to forward a cause: donate money, volunteer with an organization making a difference or even just speak up in a group when someone makes a domestic violence "joke". Don't hide behind your computer and think you are really making a difference.

Sorry to rant, but there have been a few of these going around lately. The worst part is often these are used as propaganda to promote a certain agenda and the exploitation is just more than I can handle today!

So... now that I have that out of my system. Here's is your daily dose of awesome! Turtle has a new nickname: Tiger Lily. I think after watching the following video you'll understand why. I know it's on it's side but I've been trying to get this on video for weeks and by the time I'd restarted the camera she had stopped. So, let's all throw caution to the wind, tilt our heads to the side and look crazy! Enjoy!

I swear we are going to rent her out to death metal bands! She needs to start earning her keep somehow! Happy Friday everyone!

Happy 1/2 Birthday, Turtle!

2011-09-23T16:06:00.000-04:00

For Turtle's 6 Month birthday, I decided we'd go out to a local park and take some pics. Unfortunately, I always seem to miss her super happy just-woken-up time and by the time I've gotten us dressed and out to take pics she in her grumpy-need-a-bottle-and-nap time, but we still got some good pics.

She really loved the swings, but yeah, she totally tried to eat them. ICK!! Note to self, bring disinfecting wipes next time!

She also loved the rocky horse, but I think more than anything she just wanted to eat him too. She teething, can you tell???

Forever Daddy's daredevil!

She was nice enough to stand and get some pictures with her Mama, too.

I love this look! It's says, "Who?? Me???" I fear we are in trouble as she gets older!

And this is her "I am woman hear me roar" face!

You can tell she's getting tired here. She does that with her mouth all the time and I always think it makes her look like a little bird. A chubby little bird, but you know. :-)

Then Mama fixed her catywompas flower and took a few on the blanket. And we ended up with one of my favorites so far...

The arm rolls! The chubby cheeks!! LOVE!! Happy belated 1/2 birthday, Turtle!

A Day at the Races

2011-09-22T11:19:00.000-04:00

A few weekends ago we took Turtle to her first every car race (and no it wasn't a Nascar race!). See, was raised in a car racing enthusiast family. My parents went to some of the major road races on the east coast before I was born. Road Atlanta was one of their favorites, as well as Watkins Glen in NY. They attended the 24 Hours of Daytona on more than one occasion. I even got to go one year and stay in the in-field in my grandparent's RV. It was super fun but I think I found the whole using the bathroom in the RV to be more interesting then the race itself. After all my brothers were born my parents took me and my oldest younger brother to Road Atlanta for a 24 hour race and I remember having a blast!

Unfortunately, I haven't been in years. But my middle brother has gotten involved in photographing what are basically amateur races. These are leagues of drivers who come together in an association and rent out major race tracks and spend the weekend racing against each other. What do you win? Bragging rights. And the joy of doing something you love.

So, a few weekends ago there was an event out at the Charlotte Motor Speedway and we met my brother out there. I suspected that Turtle would enjoy it since she loves to watch the cars drive by on my mom's road, but I was surprised at how much she seemed to enjoy it. It was a toasty weekend so I ended up spending most of the time in the garage of my brother's friend but we could still see the course and I was able to keep Turtle out of the sun while the boys enjoyed taking pictures.

Oh my gosh! The pudgy arms! I die!

As you can see she wore her hot pink hearing protection that we got her for the 4th of July. I knew those would come in handy. She never seemed to have a problem with the noise. In fact she didn't even flinch when a loud car cranked up just a few stalls down from us in the garage. So, I figure the hearing protection works.

Truthfully, it was kind of a sad day. Racing is something that my dad thoroughly enjoys and something I've done with him for years. It was hard not to text him a picture of Turtle and it was sad knowing he was missing out on such a cool experience. But cest la vie.

I did giggle a little when I found myself taking special time to point out the lady driver to Turtle, like she understood. I'm sure this won't be Turtle's last race!

90% Awesome, 10% Disaster-ific

2011-09-13T08:41:00.000-04:00

About a month ago, my cousin on my dad's side got married. I absolutely wanted to be there, and since that was Jay's mom's birthday, Turtle and I packed up and made the trek to North Georgia on our own. The weekend was 90% awesome and only about 10% disaster-ific. It was awesome to see family I hadn't seen in years and I loved introducing Turtle to everyone, but I'll think twice before I travel such a long distance just me and the baby.

If having a baby has taught me one thing is that's control is an illusion. I use to be a type-A control freak. I loved day planners and calendar apps, and I always have at least one list I'm working on in google docs at all times. Turtle on the other hand looks at my planning (everything from my birth "plan" to our weekend travel plan) and does her evil laugh, "Bwahahahaha!" I specifically planned to leave at the time that Turtle takes a nap every. single. morning. I figured my plan was fool proof. She usually sleeps from about 7:15am till 10 or 11am. There was the possibility that she would sleep the entire 4 hour drive to North Georgia. I can hear Turtle now, "Bwahahahaha!" Fool proof and baby proof are two very different things! We made it to Gaffney (about 2 hours away) before she decided she'd had enough.

So, I pulled off and found somewhere to change her and feed her. Then I got some Dunkin Donuts' iced coffee and we got back on the road. We only made it another hour before she decided she'd again had enough. At this point we were in BFE South Carolina but thankfully I found a grocery store where I could pull off and get her out of her carseat. I held her for a few minutes and took a pic of her new sunglasses.

Then we got back on the road. She made it another hour before she started complaining again but thankfully at that point we were very close to my aunt's house.

Saying my family was glad to see us would be a gross understatement. Because I have a tumultuous relationship with my dad, I also have had a strange relationship with his side of the family. I haven't seen him in a year and a half and haven't talk to him since finding out I was pregnancy. But I decided that I didn't care and that these were my people and I wanted a relationship with them. I also want Turtle to grow up knowing what it's like to have an extended family. So, I decided to go to the wedding not knowing what type of reception we would find. Thankfully, everyone was overjoyed to see us.

Turtle had everyone under her spell as soon as we got there. Although she was a little overwhelmed and wasn't real big on people holding her right away. So, when I found out that the photographer was not planning on being there while the bride got ready, I popped her in my sling and grabbed my camera. At first I put her on my hip but she kept trying to grab for the camera (another photographer in the making, maybe?) so I hopped her around onto my back and she hung out there while I took pics of my beautiful cousin as she put on her make up and got dressed.

I'm no professional and really could have used my brother's new lens that does wonders in low light, but I was really glad I was able to get her a few pics that she otherwise wouldn't have had. I just wish I'd taken some pictures of her shoes since she wore her Chacos (which is so "her"). C'est la vie. This is why I don't ever want to be a full time wedding photographer, too much pressure to get once in a lifetime pics with no chance of a re-do.

Once the bride was all zipped up and ready to go, we headed out to the wedding site. They got married at Black Rock Mountain State park and it was one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen for a wedding. I got some pictures before the ceremony.

That's my Aunt Sandy (mother of the bride) and my Aunt Jan

My Aunt Jan and her daughter, my cousin Katy

Katy, Jan, and my Grandmother Patsy

Patsy and Turtle who gave the coursages a big thumbs up!

My aunt Sandy and her son, my cousin Ben

Sandy, Ben, and Patsy

Unfortunately, Turtle needed to eat right as the ceremony was starting so I didn't get any pics. Thankfully there was a covered picnic area near where they were having the ceremony so I was able to keep Turtle out of the sun while I fed her. We did have to walk away though at the end because after her bottle she wanted to talk. Hehe.

Soon after the ceremony was over we moved to the reception area which was beautifully decorated. The Bride, my aunt and everyone else had designed and executed a stunning, rusticly elegant wedding, and trust me, I'm the harshest of critiques when it comes to weddings!

With a full belly and becoming more familiar with her extended family, Turtle went into full on entertainer mode.

Turtle also gave the vintage napkins decorating the tables a big thumbs up!

And she showed everyone her favorite Tigger. I don't know what we'd do without him!

After the bride and groom left, my grandmother (Turtle's great-grandmother) entertained her while I helped break down the reception space and load everything up into the cars. Then we headed over to my aunts house and sat around talking for a while. It was so nice to talk to family. It was like being home again. My life with my dad has been such a challenge. It was nice to talk with people (besides my mom and brothers) who understand what that challenge is like. It was very validating and I can't wait to do it again!

From their we headed across the mountain to my cousin's house. The only problem was I wasn't paying attention to the clock and Turtle got hungry about half way through the drive. There really wasn't anywhere to stop and I had also run out of water (mommy fail!) so we had to push through the 30-45 minute drive to Bryson City.

Once we got there and got Turtle a bottle, everything settled down. It was so nice to visit with my cousin and introduce her to Turtle. It was also awesome to spend some time with her 10 month old baby boy and see were our little one is headed. He's walking and everything! God help us all!!

The next morning, I headed to Asheville to spend a little more time with my grandparents and then have lunch with my brother. After a soggy, but wonderful lunch, Turtle and I headed out of town.

Everything was going great until we hit the half way mark (about an hour or so from home). But this time there was no were to stop. I'd forgotten what an empty stretch Highway 321 is between Hickory and Lincolnton. I finally found somewhere to stop and pulled Turtle out of her seat. Her eyes and nose were red from crying and it broke my heart. Once she was settled down I strapped her back in the car, but we weren't even on the highway again before she started up again. I decided at that point that it was just better to push through so I texted Jay who was at our friends' house and told him I was heading there. By the time we arrived we were both in tears!

But as soon as she was out of the car and in Daddy's arms all was well again... with Turtle at least. Mommy needed a glass of wine! So, on the whole it was an absolutely wonderful weekend! But yeah... next time Daddy's coming along!

And She's Back in the Game!

2011-09-12T12:34:00.000-04:00

I don't know about you guys, but we had a very productive weekend around our house. I think it's probably a good sign that my meds are starting to kick in and even me out which I am very thankful for. They are evening me out on the low end of things, but my doctor is keeping an eye on that and it's still much better than the crushing depression I was experiencing a few weeks ago. But before I get into this weekend, I need to introduce you to your next addiction.

You might have noticed a new button on the right side of the blog. Pinterest is the most amazing thing evah! And I'm so not exaggerating! It's basically a virtual bulletin board that you can "pin" things to that you are "interested" in. Hence Pinterest. See how they did that? I love these people! Have you ever been surfing the web (not on work hours!!) and stumbled across the perfect gift for someone and thought, "This is perfect, but I'm never going to remember this in x months for their birthday/christmas/going away party/baptism/monday." Well, no longer my friend! Now when you find something you can "pin" it to one of your boards. And then when a special occasion (or a Friday) comes around you have multiple gift ideas to choose from.

Want to redecorate but not good at envisioning how things would look together? Pin them to your board and see all the elements in one place! Want to plan a wedding or shower for someone? Pin ideas you find all over the web to a board and see what looks good together. Want to find your "style"? Pin looks you like and then look back over them. The common elements are probably your style.

But it's not only a great place to save links, you can also scroll through the thousands of pins other people have put on their boards. It's like the mother ship of awesome! Recipes, fashion, crafting, decorating ideas, DIY tutorials, awesome quotes... the list is endless.

Ok, so I figure you've got the point now, but in case you haven't, I'm just going to come right out and say it... Get thee to Pinterest! If you need an invitation leave your email in the comments or email it to me (email in my profile).

The only problem is, it's easy to scroll through (again, NOT at work) and pin hundreds of ideas and never get around to doing any of them. So, this weekend, my friend Laura and I decided we were going to change that. We chose three recipes and I chose a crafting project I could do at her house, we enlisted the boys to help wrangle the girls, and we got down to work!

By 7pm on Saturday we had...

2 loafs of Cream Cheese Pumpkin Bread found here on Pinterest

4 loafs of Pumpkin Pound Cake found here on Pinterest (supposed to be a bunt cake but we made into loafs)

18 Humming Bird Cupcakes found here on Pinterest

And 1 Tutu!

And I don't have a single picture to show for it! Bad blogger!!! Oh well. I'll get some pics of the tutu soon I'm sure. It was really a trial run since I want to make something similar for Turtle's Halloween costume. I did learn that tulle makes my OCD kick in and it drives me nuts when it's not all going in the right direction!

The tag team baking was awesome! Lauren and I made a great team and the kitchen was even clean by the time we were done. Turtle got cranky when we were first starting and refused to go to sleep with Daddy, so I borrowed Lauren's Ergo and put her on my back. After getting use to the novelty of being back there, she fell right asleep and Jay was able to take her. We are even thinking of doing a tag team freezer meal weekend sometimes soon.

Additionally, this weekend I got some work done in our spare room which has been where every random thing we've ever owned is thrown in. I'm planning to move my craft room upstairs into the spare room for two reasons. 1) I want to make my craft room a play room and 2) leaving my crafting stuff in there creates nothing short of a baby death trap! So, I'm really looking forward to creating my craft space/guest room as well as the play area.

Whew! I'm excited just typing everything we got done this weekend! What did you guys do? Hopefully there will be lots of photos to follow. And I'm going to be catching up on all the stuff that's gone down over the last few weeks!

Not Dead

2011-08-30T13:21:00.000-04:00

I'm not dead. I promise. I am, though, still really struggling with my bi-polar. I live in a constant state of being overwhelmed. I have a hard enough time keeping up at work, dealing with dinner during the week, the house work, and taking care of Turtle. Anything beyond that just makes me want to go back to sleep. Thankfully, I'm aware of my mental state and I'm trying to give myself permission to pull back. It's ok that the house is a wreck, it's ok that the blog doesn't get updated, it's ok that I watch movies in bed while Turtle plays beside me from about 7pm on during the week because that's about all I can wrap my head around. I know this will pass. I know I will eventually feel better. For now we just have to baton down the hatches and weather the storm.

Thankfully, I was able to get into see my psychiatrist last week. It was wonderful to see him again. I haven't seen him since going back to work. He immediately noticed my increased anxiety level (apparently I don't hide it as well as I think). He was so encouraging though. He complimented me on being aware of my mental state enough to recognize I was swinging. He said that was a huge step ahead of the game. Of course that doesn't make it any less miserable.

He agreed that we should go back to the mood stabilizing drugs I was on when I got pregnant, and I started those yesterday. I'm a little apprehensive of the next few weeks. The last time I started these drugs the first few weeks were rocky, to say the least. I felt like I was going to crawl out of my own skin to be exact. My doctor reminded me though that this time we know it'll work. This time we have hope and knowledge. Plus I feel really comfortable with the staff at his new office so I'll be more likely to call if I need help. (Sometimes I wonder if people are aware that the patients they work with have MENTAL ISSUES! Duh!)

So, hopefully, that tiny bright speck is light at the end of a very long tunnel.

And hopefully, I'll be back sooner rather than later, but until then, I leave you with the biggest brightest spot to ever come into my life.

Oh Fairy Godmother!

2011-08-12T11:28:00.001-04:00

I'm putting together a registry list for my girlfriend entitled: Turtle Production's Sanity Saving Registry List and it's got me thinking about some of the stuff I'd love to have. Most of it I'd never buy for myself, but if a fairy godmother dropped any of these on my door, I'd be more than happy to take them. So, sit back, relax, and enjoy some Friday daydreaming eye candy.

The Petunia Pickle Bottom Cross Town Clutch in Frolocking In Fez

It's basically a diaper bag that's just big enough to hold some diapers, wipes, changing pad, and your lipstick. It's the diaper bag equivalent of the evening bag. After lugging around my big (but awesome!) diaper bag for 6 months, I'm fantasizing about having something smaller. Especially since I'm often times carrying Turtle too. But alas, at $89 (gulp!)... Oh Fairy Godmother!

The Petunia Pickle Bottom Edition Ergo in Peaceful Portofino

Yes, I've developed quite a crush on most things Petunia Pickle Bottom. I'm late to the game since I wasn't a fan of their boxy backpack style diaper bag everyone else seemed to drool over, but have now fallen in love with their style and prints. This one might be mine one of these days. I've had my eye on an Ergo since before Turtle was born, but at over $100, we just haven't had the money yet. This one is just a bit more than the original. Maybe one day. Although if I get this one, I'm pretty much eliminating any chance that Jay will use it.

A Maya Wrap Ring Sling in Olive or Chocolate

After this weekend, I think a Maya Wrap ring sling may be exactly the carrier I need right now. Turtle does NOT like to be snuggled into my chest unless she is very sleepy and even then she fights it. This makes it super easy to do a hip carry or even a back hip carry. It's fast, it's simple, I've heard it's comfortable, we shall see. At $68ish, maybe sometime soon.

Baby Jogger City Mini in Green

In all of my stroller research, this is the coolest stroller I've ever seen. It closes with only one hand by pulling on a handle in the seat. I've wanted it from the first time I saw it, but at $240 it was always a little too rich for our blood. Having spent over $100 on a used stroller that doesn't roll very well, I really wish I would have just saved up for this one. Ah, maybe one day!

Chico Liteway in Fuego

In the slightly more attainable category is the Chicco Liteway. It's an awesome umbrella stroller that is super light weight, folds up easily, has a small "foot print", and an almost flat recline. After dealing with our less than perfect stroller, I'm fantasizing about something smaller and easier to maneuver.

You Are My Sunshine Sign

Oh the beauty! Oh the deliciously vintage-y beauty! And with all the yellow walls in our house I'd have a hard time deciding where to put it. There are so many possibilities.

Julia Style Vera Bradley Bag in Sittin' in a Tree

And since I'm trying to remind myself that I'm something other than a mom, here's one just for me! This new shape from Vera Bradley has had me swooning from the first moment I saw it. I love the vintage boxy styling and since they've discontinued my favorite print it's on sale on their website. Oh Jay...!

What are you lusting over? Anything fun? Happy Friday everyone!

Before and After

2011-08-11T09:44:00.000-04:00

I'm working on a post about my family trip last weekend, but it's not quite finished yet. I found these pictures though and thought they were super fun.

This is me taking some maternity pics of my cousin last October. I was 19/20 weeks pregnant with Turtle.

And this was last weekend. When I found out that my cousin's photographer wasn't coming to the house to take any getting ready pictures, I grabbed my camera, popped Turtle on my back (so she couldn't get to my camera which she really wanted to play with) and we went to work.

As much as my life has changed since Turtle was born, I'm so thankful that I'm still able to do the things I truly love. And one of the things I loved most about my upbringing was how my parents folded us into their favorite activities (concerts, festivals, hiking, etc.). I loved feeling like a part of their lives instead of the end of it, and I want Turtle to feel like that too.

And as a quick update, I'm feeling a little better, today. Hopefully, the tide of chemicals in my brain has shifted. Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, and encouragement.

Almost Wordless Wednesdays

2011-08-10T08:40:00.000-04:00

Momma's little geeklette asleep in her Star Wars onesie. She's sticking her tongue out to let me know what she thinks of me taking pictures of her while she's asleep.

Down Swing

2011-08-09T09:35:00.000-04:00

I've always tried to be very honest on this blog. I feel that glossing over struggles and pretending everything is perfect only does others a disservice. So, today we take a break from all the adorable pictures and baby lists to be brutally honest.

I'm not doing well.

There I said it. I think the happy pregnancy hormones have finally worn off because I realized the other day that I've been swinging for a month or two. One of the biggest challenges of having Type II Bipolar Disorder is that it's really hard to tell when you swing from one extreme to another. It's like living in a world with no rulers. You have no "normal" to compare back to. The ruler I've found recently though is my housekeeping. For a while there I was getting up every morning about a half an hour before I needed to leave and unloading the dishwasher, picking up the living room, etc. while Turtle hung out in her high chair and played. For the last week or so I haven't been able to get out of the bed before I absolutely have to. Yes, Turtle's erratic sleep patterns contribute to this, but it's more than that. It's not a feeling of being sleepy, it's a feeling of being overwhelmed... too overwhelmed to face the dishes or the table that needs cleaning off or the finances that are a big fat mess right now, or the doctor bills that are going unpaid, or the ....

I know that guilt and shame are the enemies of all mommy's (in all situations), but at my house these evil twins seem to have taken up residence lately. I feel like having to work has made me a failure as a mother, the distraction of missing Turtle all day has made me a failure as an employee, wanting to spend any extra time in the evenings and weekends with her has made me a failure as a wife, housekeeper, and pet owner. Our yard is in complete disarray making me a failure as a homeowner and neighbor. I'm only able to keep in minimal contact with my friends making me a failure as a friend. Last week was National Breastfeeding week where in a bunch of my awesome mommy bloggers posted about their struggles and ultimate triumphs in breastfeeding remind me of my failure to breastfeed my daughter and give her the best. I read an article on NPR the other day about birthing and the comments were filled with "natural" birth advocates railing against interventions which reminding me of my dual failures: first being my judgement of mothers birth choices and failure to have compassion for others before I had Turtle and second my failure to achieve my goal of giving Turtle a non-medicated birth. Failure seems to be at every turn.

The logical part of my brain knows this is my illness, but that doesn't make it any easier. The feeling of wanting nothing more than to crawl back in bed and shut it all out is just as strong.

I must keep reminding myself of the Bi-Polar's motto: This too shall pass.

this too shall pass...

this too shall pass..

Random Thoughts on a Wednesday

2011-08-03T09:56:00.000-04:00

It's been a crazy couple of weeks at our house and the blog shows it. Jay started school (thank goodness for the GI bill!) and is gone Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:30-10:30. Basically we don't see him on those days because we are both asleep when he gets home. I've been eating dinner at my mom's house when I pick up Turtle so that I can guarentee I get something to eat. She tends to tollerate playing in her high chair just long enough for me to fix something to eat but not actual eat it. So, to keep me from having a Dr. Pepper for dinner (hey it counts!) mom is helping out. So far (all 2 days) it's been great. I enjoy having a little time to myself and usually end up cleaning and organizing instead of watching TV which is what I usually do. This week I'll be getting ready to go out of town on Friday but more about that later.

Random thought no. 1: Dr. Pepper should totally be classified as its own food group!

We moved Turtle's crib into our bedroom. Yes, I've become one of "those" mothers. She was just getting too big for her co-sleeper bassinet and was moving around too much. I was afraid she was going to get her face wedged in on the side that doesn't have any ventilation, but I'm just not ready for her to move away from me yet. So Jay being the awesome dad/husband he is, brought the crib into our room. This involved turning it every which way possible before finally deciding to take the door to her nursery off it's hinges. She is starting to sleep in her crib for longer stretches. ::knocks on wood!:: We don't have nearly as many of those 3:30am have-to-get-in-mama's-bed incidents anymore. If she does wake up, it's usually closer to 5 and Jay gets up at 5:30 anyway so it's not a big deal.

Random thought no. 2: Thank freaking goodness we bought the cheep, light crib from IKEA! I think Jay would have killed me if he'd had to dissasemble and reassemble a traditional sized crib!

Turtle and I are going on our first mother/daughter adventure on Friday. My cousin on my dad's side is getting married and we are going. Yay! It's in the mountains of North Georgia so we will be leaving early on Friday morning. I'm trying to time our departure for around her morning nap so that she sleeps as long as possible. We'll plan to stop for an early lunch/late breakfast when we get close so that I can feed Turtle and get her in her wedding clothes. That night we are staying with my cousin on my mom's side in the mountains of North Carolina. It'll be the first time any of my extended family has met Turtle and I'm really excited. A little intimidated though since it's the first time I've traveled with her for the night. But when I started making a list I realized it's just the stuff I normally put in her diaper bag so that helped my anxiety a little.

Random thought no 3: What are the chances that a baby who consistently takes a nap at 7:15 every morning will suddenly decide she doesn't want to nap when we get on the road?

I think I may have finally figured out the magic evening formula for getting Turtle to sleep. She often times falls asleep while drinking her last bottle, but when I take her upstairs to change her diaper/put on her pj's she wakes up. Well, last night I thought, "Duh! How about you change her before you feed her!" Worked like a charm. She fell asleep in my arms on the couch. After the show I was watching ended, I took her upstairs and laid her in her crib where she slept until about 4:30am. Win!!

Random thought no. 4: Why on the first night that Turtle hasn't insisted on falling asleep in my bed could I not fall asleep to save my life. I thought I was going to have to get her out to cuddle with so that *I* could sleep!

Went to our local consignment store yesterday looking for a sling like my friend has. They didn't have any slings, but while I was there I decided to look for a new dress for Turtle to wear to the wedding. I had been trying to decide what to put her in. Two of her dresses are white with colored embroidery and didn't know if the no-white-to-a-wedding applies to babies or not. She only has two other dresses. One is dark navy and adorable but I was afriad it would be too hot. The other just isn't that cute. Well, amazingly I lucked out on a Janie and Jack (upscale children's clothing store only sold at the hoity-toity mall) sundress for $6.50! FTW!

Random thought no. 5: Who worries about a baby being judged for wearing white to a wedding? Only me!

Since you made it through all that randomness. Here is your reward... some random baby cuteness!

Hi everybody!

I love to watch Jon Stewart's The Daily Show! (No really she does! I think it's the intro she likes.)

Sitting in the big girl high chair!

Hangin' with Uncle Dan!

Almost Wordless Wednesdays - BFF's

2011-07-27T09:00:00.000-04:00

And we keep trying to tell Turtle that her bib isn't as effective if she keeps wearing it like a cape.

Bringing Home Baby: A Nice to Have Newborn List

2011-07-26T09:29:00.000-04:00

Now that you have a handle on the things you "need" to bring home a new baby, what about those things that make a new parent's life easier? Here are some of my favorite products when Turtle was a newborn.

1) A Swing or Bouncy Seat

Finding a safe place where you can put the baby down while you use the bathroom/brush your teeth/fix something to eat is essential. We bought a swing similar to the one above used and loved it. Granted it didn't help to sooth Turtle if she was upset but it was a safe place to put her if I needed to fix a bottle or something. Most people can put the baby on a blanket on the floor but we have a puppy we don't trust around her so the floor was off limits for us. If space is an issue then they make small travel swings that I've heard lots of good things about. Boucey seats are another wonderful thing. But like so many things you never know what you baby will like. Some babies love a swing and hate a bouncer. Some love the bouncer and hate the swing. Some love both or hate both. If you can borrow one until you figure out what your baby likes then go for it! If not, then check out consignment stores and craigslist.com.

2) A stretchy wrap like a Moby (there are lots of brands)

I debated on whether to put this in the Essentials list or the Nice to Have List because it really can make your life easier, especially depending on what kind of carseat you get. Since we choose to forgo the infant type carrier carseat we needed a way to carry Turtle when we were out. This was awesome and I used it all.the.time! It looks intimidating to wrap but once you get the hang of it, it's super easy. I would wrap it before I left the house and then just wear it while I drove. During Turtle's colicky phase, she practically lived in this thing. If all else failed I could head to the mall, pop her in this thing and walk around while she slept. We also used it when we went out to eat. It allowed her to sleep on me and for me to still have my hands free. I'm not sure what I would have done without it! There are lots of positives to "babywearing" and although I'm not an activist about it, I do feel that wearing you baby can help them transition to the outside world. And no you're not going to spoil them. It's impossible to spoil a baby in the first few months of life.

3) Bottle Drying Rack

Although not essential, if you are doing any significant bottle feeding (either pumped breastmilk or formula), a drying rack can help so much! I was just using a hand towel for the first few weeks, but wow! That drying rack made it so much easier. We have a small, super cheep one but it works. I'd like to have a more expensive one but since I only have experience with ours I can't say if it's worth the extra money or not.

4) A Good Bottle Brush

In the same vein as the drying rack, you'd be amazed at how exciting a good bottle brush can be! We have the Dr Brown's bottle brush and love it but there are lots of different ones. What I love the most about it (and something I'd recommend in any brush) is the suction cup holder thingy. I love knowing that it's not sitting on the counter and can dry completely between cleanings.

5) Sleepy Sheep

This thing is like baby crack to some babies and saved our sanity on more than one occasion. Basically it's a stuffed lamb with a white noise pack in its back. It plays things like a mother's heartbeat, the ocean, the rain, whales, etc. White noise can be very comforting to a newborn because they are used to hearing the sound of the mother's heartbeat, blood rushing through veins, etc.

6) Happiest Baby on the Block DVD

This is another one of those things that I debated which list it should go on. We actually didn't get it, but man I wish we had! Basically he teaches parents how to make the outside world feel as much like the womb as possible to help sooth their babies and help them transition. The only thing I don't like is that he present the techniques (which are all AWESOME!) in a way that makes them sound like a sure fire formula for a calm baby and our experience has been that sometimes babies just cry for no apparent reason. So, don't think of these techniques as a miracle formula but more as a tool box of techniques you can pull from when your little one is upset.

7) A Diaper Bag

You can absolutely use any bag you have on hand, that's why this isn't on the Essentials list. Throw a puppy pad in your old college back pack and you are ready to go. But I have absolutely loved the diaper bag I have. It is a Vera Bradley and was a huge splurge that I got as a birthday gift and what I love the most about it is the plastic lining on the inside which helps me not fear leaks and all the pockets, including two on the side just perfect for a bottle and a thing of water.

Although there are wonderful manly options for dads out there now, Jay decided to use one of his own bag . For Christmas I got him the Diaper Dude Changing Station which folds out to a changing pad and holds diapers and wipes.

He can slip this down in any bag he already owns and it suddenly becomes a diaper bag, a discrete diaper bag that is. ;-) The main thing you want to think about when purchasing a diaper bag is the weight of the actual bag. Some of the messenger styles bags are really cool looking but they weigh a lot by themselves. Add diapers, wipes, bottles, milk, water, a change of clothes, etc, etc, and you have a bag too heavy to carry for any length of time.

8) Baby Wash Clothes and Towels

I know the baby stores don't want you to know this, but it is in fact NOT illegal to use full size adult wash clothes and towls for babies. Hehe. But I will say that I love, love, love baby wash clothes. We have just a cheap pack of Gerber washclothes from Walmart and love them. They are small and thin which I think makes washing a wiggly baby easier. The hooded baby towels are soo cute and we have one we love but most of the ones out there are thin and cheap (and yet expensive). So, don't feel like you need to stock up. People will most likely buy you some anyway because they are just too stinking cute to pass up.

9) Baby Bath Tub

Until the cord stump falls off you'll want to give the baby sponge baths and all you really need to do that is a fluffy towel folded up beside the sink. I'm a little "eh" about the whole baby bath tub thing because we have never really liked ours. Turtle has always been a wiggle worm and and we've spent most of our time with one person holding her up while the other soaps her up and then sprays her down. I've heard good things about these foam mats that sit in the bathtub and might have gone that direction if I had it to do over again. Right now we have a dish pan in our kitchen sink that we use as a bathtub. It's not big enough for her to slip around too much and seems to be working pretty well.

10) Microwaveable Serilizing Packs

These things are awesome!! You stick your pump parts, paci's, toys, etc in the bag with 2 oz of water and pop it in the microwave for 30ish seconds and ta-da! All sanitized! Love, love love!

11) Breast Pump

This is a difficult topic for me because we had to abandon breastfeeding at 2 1/2 weeks due to low supply and my mental state. I was so thankful to have a pump that a friend had sent me though. It was a lifesaver a few times and gave me another option when I was having problems. They are SUPER expensive though so I'm hesitent to say you should have one on hand. It depends a lot of how you feel about breastfeeding and such. Know that it might be covered by a Flex Spending Account so that can help cover the cost. You can also rent them from the hospital until you decide if breastfeeding is going to work for you. This is one of those items you don't want to buy off Craigslist though. The manufacturers will tell you not to use a used one at all, but I was comfortable using one from a close friends. It's up to you really.

I think those are my major Nice to Have Items for the newborn stage. What were your favorites? I'll probably update as people remind me of things.

Like Mother, Like Daughter... or not.

2011-07-22T09:06:00.000-04:00

I really like listening to audiobooks. I've had an account at audible.com for a while and just recently started downloading books about parenting because I realized there was no way I was going to have the time to read them any time soon. But I have a 30-45 minutes commute each way every day. That gives me plenty of time to listen and absorb as much information as possible.

Right now I'm listening to one of the best books I've ever read/heard. It's called, The Curse of the Good Girl: Raising Authentic Girls with Courage and Confidence by Rachel Simmons.

I suspected it was going to be good, but it has completely blown me away! The basic premise is that so many of the things our society admires about "good girls" (such as passivity, putting other before herself at all costs, doesn't rock the boat, doesn't speak her mind) these things do not serve her well as she grows up. In fact they often cripple her as she moves into the workforce and adult interpersonal relationships.

As I listened to her describe the "good girl" I realized that I come from a long line of "good girls". We play the martyr then sulk because no one acknowledged, we get mad at those closest to us because they couldn't read our minds and anticipate our needs, needs we don't voice because we feel they aren't as important as others, and the list goes on and on! As she talked about the difficulties these traits present in adulthood I knew what she was going to say before she said it because I live it every.single.day! At that moment, I came to a difficult conclusion.

I do not want Turtle to grow up to be like me.

I hope she never stands in a crowd and feels overcome with anxiety because she truly believes she doesn't deserve to take up space in this world and because she can't make herself small enough to get out of every one's way. I hope she never shakes with anger because she feels she can't speak up when she feels disrespected. I hope she never shies away from a challenge because she's terrified of failure. I hope she never shies away from conflict because her self worth somehow rides on her need to be perfect. I hope she never stays in a dysfunctional and unhealthy relationship because she's allowed that person to make her feel inferior. While we're at it, I hope she never gets into a dysfunctional and unhealthy relationship because she doesn't feel that she deserves anything better!

The thing I love the most about this book, though, is that the author presents the information in a freeing and empowering way. (Which is much better than the last book I tried to listen to which was just alarmist, depressing, and infuriating!) She makes you feel like it doesn't have to be like this and gives you tools to use to help your daughter become a "real girl" instead of a "good girl". I am actively working on retraining the "good girl"/"good mom" in myself and releasing the "real girl". Hopefully that'll make it easier for Turtle to become the real, true, authentic girl she is meant to be. Because I know that no matter what I say, if I act as if I don't deserve to take up space in this world or that my needs aren't as important as others... that is what she will ultimately learn.

It's not going to be easy, but between Grandma, Mama, and Turtle, I think we can figure it out.

Wordless Wednesdays

2011-07-20T08:37:00.002-04:00

In the Mean Time

2011-07-19T09:58:00.001-04:00

I've been working on some pretty intense blogs about baby gear and what is really necessary to bring home a baby lately and there is lots more to come. But in the mean time, I wanted to share this awesome pic my brother got this weekend. He got a new lens for his camera and needed a willing model. Turtle is always willing and she even had on one of my favorite outfits. I call it her Punk Princess outfit. I also love that you can see a couple of my tattoos.

I'm sure I'll post a bunch more from this shoot but this should hold you over. Look at those chubby cheeks! I die! If you want to see more of my brother's awesome photography check out his Flickr account. If you kids are looking over your shoulder beware though, his primary love is car photography and sometimes with cars come scantily clad girls. Just a heads up. Have a great day!

Bringing Home Baby: A Budget Newborn Survival List

2011-07-17T14:45:00.001-04:00

Just like planning for a wedding, planning for a baby is all about priorities. There isn't enough money in the world to purchase all the products the baby industry tells you you "need". I'd like to tell you that I understood this from the beginning and approached our registry and baby gear purchases sanely and methodically. That would only be true though if we lived in opposite world. I'm embarrassed to admit that about 15 minutes after peeing on a stick I was researching nursery decor (and that's only a slight exaggeration). Within weeks I was drowning in contradictory product reviews, must have registry lists, and enough opinions to make my head spin. I think it was mostly my way of channeling my anxiety over being a first time mom and having absolutely.no.idea what I was doing.

Eventually I realized (with the help of my husband) that one way of prioritizing everything was to focus on what we would need to bring the baby home first. This helped a lot, which is why I'm choosing this topic to start the baby gear discussion. Before we get into the nitty-gritty of baby gear, there are two major things that you need to understand.

One: Remember that stores will be open after the baby comes!

As our lactation consultant laughingly said, "It's like new parents think Target is closing for good after their baby comes." I realized that I was acting as if I believed that. You do not need to have everything under the sun by the time the baby is born.

and...

Two: Remember that regardless of how much research you do, you will not know exactly what you need until that little baby gets here!

And this applies to every aspect of parenting. So, even though I'm going to give you my take on the Newborn Must-Have list, know that you can only figure it out as you go along. As one of my besties told me a few days into this bliss called motherhood, "Welcome to parenting by the seat of your pants."

Truthfully, and don't tell Babies R Us that I told you this, but there is actually very little that you NEED to bring the baby home. Here's my bare bones budget list.

1) Carseat

This is a non-negotiable item and one I feel should be prioritized very close to the top if not at the top of the list. We spent more on our carseat then we did on any other item. I'm going to do a whole post on new vs. used items but this is not an item you want to get used if at all possible. Granted any carseat is better than none, carseats should be destroy after an accident and also have expiration dates on them. Therefore, unless you are getting one from an extremely trusted friend, a new carseat is recommended. Also, keep in mind that all seats (from the $35 basic Cosco brand convertable to the $300+ Britax) have to meet the same basic safety standards. Therefore every carseat sold new in a store is safe for you child to ride in. Most of the variation comes in ease of use features and comfort features and the safest carseat is the one that fits your car the best and that you will use consistently and correctly.

Now there are two major kinds for babies. The infant carrier style and the convertible style. An infant carrier has a handle and a base. The infant can be loaded in and out of the carrier in the house and then snapped into the base which stays installed in the car. Infant carrier style seats are only rear facing and have a lower weight limit. With a convertible, the carseat stays installed in the car and the baby is loaded in and out in the car. Convertible carseats can be used rear facing or forward facing and therefore have a higher weight limit. No matter what anyone tells you, both types are equally safe! Ultimately, you will need a convertible at some point in your child's life so that's a given. The question then becomes do you want to invest in an infant carrier.

We chose not to. Turtle came home from the hospital in a Britax Boulevard 70 CS and it will probably be the only carseat she ever needs. Would I do this again? Yes and no. If I had it to do over again, I'd still invest the money we did into the Britax, but I would have purchased a basic, inexpensive infant carrier for the first few weeks. She was so floppy when she was first born that it was difficult to get her buckled into the Britax and the hassle it entailed kept me from going out and doing things when I was on maternity leave.

2) Somewhere for the Baby to Sleep.

This could be a bassinet, a pack and play, or a crib. At 4 1/2 months, Turtle is still in her co-sleeper bassinet. I've loved this thing and am so glad we bought it (purchased used by the way). The third side folds down so you can attach it to your bed or it can stand on its own and serve as a free standing bassinet. I've had it both attached and unattached. I recommend having the baby in your room whether you put the crib in your room, use a basinette or pack and play. Getting up in the middle of the night is so much easier when the baby is right there at your bedside. However, you certainly can put the baby in a crib in his/her room from the very beginning. It's up to you.

Along with whatever you choose for baby to sleep in, you will need a couple of sheets (at least two but I think three is better: one for the basinette/crib/pack and play, one for the dirty clothes and one to have in the linen closet). It's always nice to have one clean at all times for those middle of the night diaper leaks or spit up lakes. Layering is awesome. On Turtle's bed I have it made up like this: waterproof mattress pad, sheet, waterproof mattress pad, sheet. This allows me to strip one layer off in the middle of the night without having to put another one on. Since she hasn't slept in her crib for the night yet, we haven't had a chance to use this system but I do wish I could do this on the co-sleeper. It would make things easier but the special sheets don't allow for multiple layers.

3) A Wearable Blanket

Pretty much everyone agrees that babies should be put to bed on their back without any lose covers or stuffed animals or anything else in their sleeping area. This creates a problem with keeping baby warm. That's where Sleep Sacks come in. Sleep sacks keep baby warm without the worry that they will get tangled up in their blankets, impeding their breathing. We got the one with the swaddle wings and it worked wonders!

4) Something for the Baby to Wear

Footed sleepers are awesome! Newborns sleep so much of the time that these make life really easy. I've heard that the zippered ones are the best since sleep deprivation and snaps don't always go together, but we managed just fine. Now as for sizes. Some babies will be born wearing "newborn" sized clothes. Some will be too big and will go right into "0-3" which is usually larger than "newborn". Note that Carter's clothes are sized a little differently. Their size 3 is actually a 0-3 and their 6 is a 3-6, etc. Now just to make everything more fun, not all newborn sized clothes are the same size. Grr! So there's really no way to know ahead of time. My recommendation is to have a few footed sleepers (maybe a 3-pack or two) in size newborn and 0-3. When the baby gets here you'll know better what sizes to buy and can purchase more. I know some people who bought truck loads of newborn clothes that their children never wore and then others who had to go out and buy newborn sizes because all their baby was too small for the 0-3. There's really no way to know.

5) Something to Put on Their Butt

We like the Pampers Swaddlers and Pampers Wipes which were used in our hospital but everyone swears by something else. This is another one of those things that you won't be able to know until after the baby comes. Some babies react better to certain brands and some fit better than others. So, bottom line... don't stock up before the baby and any boxes you buy, keep the receipts (one friend would tape it to the side of the box) so that you can exchange them if necessary. I recommend one box of newborn size and one box of size 1. That is of course if you are doing disposable diapers.

If you chose to use cloth diapers that's a whole other ballgame. Since we decided to only use disposables I don't know much about cloth, but there is lot so good information out there!

6) Somewhere to Change Their Butt

You can get a dedicated changing table, put a changing pad on top of a dresser, or simply pick up some puppy pads. I don't recommend a changing table since it's such a unique piece of furniture and is hard to use after the diaper stage. Putting a changing pad on top of a dresser is an option a lot of people are going with, or you can simply use the floor/your bed/the couch/etc. Whatever you choose to do, I recommend getting a pack of puppy training pads (available at Wal-Mart, Target, grocery stores, etc.). These make anything a changing pad and they work. Turtle peed without her diaper on when I was changing her on my bed. The puppy pad absorbed everything and my bed was no worse for the wear. Even if you get a changing pad, this will protect the cover so that you don't have to wash it as often.

7) At Least One Bottle

Whether you decide to breastfeed or formula feed have at least one bottle on hand when you bring the baby home because you never know how things are going to go. We had a hard time breastfeed and my poor husband had to run out to the drugstore to get one out of desperation. However, just like so many other things, you won't know what bottle type your baby likes until he or she is here so don't stock up on one type, or at least keep the receipts and don't wash them all. We use the Dr. Browns and love them even though they have a few extra pieces. Don't get overwhelmed by the bottle section at the baby stores. They are all equally acceptable and it really just depends on what your baby likes. I know people who swear by all the brands.

8) Pack of Gerber Tri-Fold Cloth Diapers (as burp clothes)

These are the best burp clothes out there, in my opinion. They are larger than the pretty ones, thicker and cheaper. Love, love, love them. You can use them as for all kinds of things. Trust me, just get a pack. You'll be glad you did.

9) Nursing Tanks

If you choose to breastfeed I highly recommend having a couple of these on hand. They make frequent breastfeeding sessions quick and easy and throw a cardigan or sweater over top and you're ready to accept guests. The ones I have are from Target and I love them but there are lots out there.

10) Boppy Nursing Pillow

We have used ours every single day since Turtle came home from the hospital. It is so helpful not only for breastfeeding but for general baby cuddling. I don't think we could have survived without ours.

So, there you go, my Top 10 Newborn Survival List. Next I'll do a Newborn Nice to Have List, but this should get you started.

Edited to Add: A good friend of ours, and new father, had a wonderful suggestion after reading this on Facebook. He recommends having a couple houndred dollars in the bank when the baby comes home because as you can see from above, there are so many things that you can't know you need until the baby is here! I would add as well to save those gift cards! If it came down too it, as long as you have the few things on this list, I'd save any giftcards you have and as much money as you can until after the baby is here and you can know what they like and don't like. I know we spent a good amount of money the first few weeks because we realized what bottles she liked and needed a few more, what paci's she liked and need a few more, she was smaller than we'd anticipated and needed more newborn sized clothes, and we realized that even though I'd scoffed at the swaddlers and said, "Oh! I can do that with just a blanket. I don't need no fancy velcro swaddler" our little swaddle Houdini had other ideas.

Bringing Home Baby:

1) Introduction
2) A Pregnancy Must Have List
3) A Budget Newborn Survival List

Almost Wordless Wednesdays

2011-07-13T14:22:00.000-04:00

Sitting on Grandma's back porch watching squirrels while Grandma drinks her coffee. It took everything in me not to leave work and join them.

Bringing Home Baby: A Series

2011-07-12T14:43:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned in a recent post, one of my besties is pregnant and it has really caused me to reflect on what I've learned over the past year and change. So, I've decided to start a series called Bringing Home Baby because writing it all in an email is just not nearly as much fun. I'm considering this post the first in the series.

Pregnancy, childbirth and motherhood is overwhelming.The baby gear industry alone has exploded in the last few years. A friend of mine just had a baby and was amazed (and kind of appalled) by how much more stuff there is now for babies than there was just 6 years ago when her daughter was born. My mom is amazed by the maternity clothing options we have now. She used to wrap a hair band around the button hole in her jeans so she could wear them a little longer. Now there is a whole line of products to do that for you.

As a very decisive person, I was shocked to find myself so adrift when it came to what Turtle needed. My mom says it's a drawback of our information saturated society. Sometimes too much information leads to confusion instead of clarity. I tackled our baby registry with the same fervor as I would a college research project... and about drove myself crazy!

Just like planning a wedding, preparing for a baby is all about priorities. So that's why in the next little bit, you'll see posts about registering, what you need to bring the baby home vs. what can wait, new vs. used, and what I thought would be important vs. what actually became important.

Before we get started though, there is one major thing you must know. The most important thing I've learned since becoming a mother is this simple truth: Every baby is different, every mother is different, and every day is different. So, what worked for me and Turtle may not work for you. Something I deem to be a must-have may be on your useless list and vise versa. For instance, I think wipes warmers are a complete waste of time but our good friends swear by theirs because cold wipes make their daughter pee for sure. So, take everything I say with a grain of salt. This is what worked for me, Jay and Turtle.

And just as a general note. When it comes to baby gear there is a wonderful book called Baby Bargains that I recommend for anyone having a baby. It really helped me, and a lot of people I know, sift through the crap and find the diamonds. It ranks different baby gear, lets you know what companies have had the most recalls, and gives you options in different price ranges. I clung to it like it was a life raft.

I hope you enjoy this series and I promise I'll still post plenty of pictures of Turtle while I'm at it.

Bringing Home Baby:
1) Introduction
2) A Pregnancy Must Have List

We Interupt Your Regularly Scheduled Programing...

2011-07-12T13:10:00.000-04:00

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programing of fart stories and letters to the rubber ducky maker people to introduce you to an awesome new blogger. The Mama Shannon is one of the funniest women I know. Her ability to retain her sense of humor (and amazing style) in the face of some extremely challenging circumstances really gives me something to strive for. Shannon is a single mother of two beautiful children. Her oldest, Olin, now 6 years old was diagnosed with sever autism at the age of 2. Instead of wallowing in self-pity she has risen to the occasion, learning everything she can about autism and becoming her son's biggest advocate and cheerleader. Shannon also has a daughter named Ruby who is 2 going on 22 and her antics are priceless.

So, how did I come to recommend you add this blog to your probably already over crowded Google Reader? Well, Shannon is one of my best friends although we've never actually met in real life.

The short story is: she used to be married to one of Jay's old Navy buddies.

The long story goes like this: Shannon married one of Jay's best friends in the early years of his Navy career. Jay spent many nights hanging out at Shannon's house and she was kind of the designated Mama of all these ragamuffin sailors. Olin is like Jay's adopted "first born" since he spent so much time at their house and helped out a lot after he was born. Shannon even introduced him to the girl he was seeing when we got together (or that I stole him from depending on who you ask). ;-) This combined with the fact that Shannon and her family had moved back to California before I moved to Virginia combined to mean that we never actually met. Over the years though, through Facebook and text messaging. We've gotten to be very good friends and it's a little scary how similar we are. One of us will post about how we like something totally obscure (and usually dorky) and the other will comment on how much we like that too. She's really introduced me to the autism issue and I've gained so much knowledge and understanding through reading her posts and the things she links to. It's because of her humor and perspective that I'm so glad she has decided to enter the world of blogging. Hop on over to her blog My Not-So-Mundane Life and see what you think. You won't be sorry.

Bringing Home Baby: A Pregnancy Must Have List

2011-07-11T12:32:00.002-04:00

I just found out that one of my besties is pregnant with her first. I decided to put together a Survival Kit for her and it's got me thinking about the things I learned through out my pregnancy and what I recommend for others. I decided this would be something fun to post about so that I can reference it when other friends get pregnant.

1st Trimester

Prenatal Vitamins!!!!!!!!

Source

This should be one of the first things you think about after finding out that you're pregnant. Consult your doctor about which ones are the best but anything is better than nothing. My doctor wrote me a prescription but you can get them at many stores. If you think they are making your nausea worse, consider trying a different brand or type or taking it at a different time of day. Some of the girls I know had good luck with Targets gummy prenatals. I set an alarm on my phone and it helped me take them almost every single day I was pregnant. Always consult your doctor though!

Cracker Packs!

Source

I've said for a while that the pregnancy test people should get with the Lance Cracker company and make a combo pack because if the test is positive you should go ahead and put a couple packs in your purse. ;-) The first few weeks the nausea was pretty bad, but I could manage it if I kept something in my stomach. Eating every couple of hours became very important. I also found cereal to be really helpful because I could eat a little or a lot. If we were meeting friends for dinner but wouldn't be eating for a couple of hours, I could eat just a small bowl when I got home from work and it would keep me from getting too nauseous while we were waiting for a table. Also, servers are usually pretty helpful and will bring you some crackers or something if you need it. I had to do that a few times while I was figuring the whole thing out.

Jolly Ranchers or Preggy Pops

Source

Some people find sour things settle a nauseous stomach. I found that they made me want to throw up even more. But a lot of girls I know swear by them!

Gatorade

Source

This was probably my way of incorporating something sour, plus I got dehydrated really easily. This was my go to when I knew I needed to up my fluid intake, plus it's caffeine free. The premeasured powder packs were awesome too!

Ice Water with a Straw

Don't ask me why this seemed to help the nausea and why it was one of my biggest cravings. But since I'm a non-water drinker when not pregnant, I was just thankful!

SLEEP!

Growing a human is E-X-H-A-U-S-T-I-N-G! Get as much sleep as you can and don't apologize for it. If you partner doesn't want to go to bed that early then get used to going to sleep by yourself. I know it's not very romantic but trust me, you'll be glad you did when you can function the next day.

Pregnancy Books

Source

I definitely recommend that you pick up a book about pregnancy, if not 30. Learning about what my body was doing helped me feel more in control. BUT... be careful which you you read. The most popular, What to Expect When You're Expecting should really be retitled What to Freak the Freak Out About While You're Expecting. I found it to be way too anxiety producing. My doctor gave me Your Pregnancy Week by Week and it was much better. In my opinion, pregnancy is kind of like water. If you're going to be on it or in it, you need to understand it and respect it but not fear it. If what you are reading is making you fear pregnancy and childbirth talk to your medical professional or other moms and find an alternative.

2nd Trimester

BeBand (Bella Band or other brands)

Source

This thing is awesome and a life saver! When you start showing it allows you to wear your pre-pregnancy pants (unbuttoned) for a while longer. Plus by the end even your maternity shirts will have a hard time covering your bump and the waist band of your maternity pants. This extends your shirts and helps you feel all covered up.

Body Pillow (Regular and Pregnancy Specific)

Source

I just got a regular body pillow from IKEA, but there are many options. I thought mine was ok but since I didn't have any others I can't really compare. The pregnancy specific ones get really expensive but seeing how important it was towards the end, I can see investing in it. As your belly gets bigger it needs a little bit of support to make sleeping possible. A body pillow supports the belly and also helps with hip pain. Whether you buy a pregnancy specific pillow, a standard body pillow, or use multiple pillows you'll need something by the time you get to the end of the second trimester/third trimester.

A Good Body Lotion

People swear by different things but from the research I've done stretch marks are genetic. Either you are going to get them or you're not regardless of any products you use, so I don't recommend putting too much time and effort into finding that miracle cream. I didn't have any problems, but some of my friends had problems with their bellies itching and burning as they stretched to accommodate the growing human, so a good, basic body lotion really helped.

3rd Trimester

TUMS

Source

During the 3rd Trimester, my biggest complaint was indigestion. I really had to start watching what I ate and cut out as much fried food, anything with tomatoes, vinegar, or too much grease which cut out almost everything I eat. Oops. By the last few weeks I was beginning to wonder if one could live on nothing but TUMS. I recommend buying a few small packages so that you can have containers in different places. I had one in my office drawer, one in my car, one by the couch downstairs, and one by my bed. After you get your smaller containers start buying them in large containers and just refill your small ones or you'll go broke. Note though that you can overdose on TUMS so don't eat them like candy. Plus they'll back you up for realz which most pregnant women don't need any help with. ;-)

Baked Potatoes

Source

The only thing I found that would consistently not give me indigestion was baked potatoes. I guess in the grand scheme of things that was a fairly healthy thing to crave. I think the starch calmed down the acid but that's just my guess. Most people don't know that Wendy's sells various baked potatoes including a broccoli and cheese one. I think I single handedly kept the Wendy's by my office and house in business. I probably had a baked potato 5-7 times a week. Thankfully Jay's Irish so he loves anything made from the potato. Don't know if this will help anyone else, but it certainly helped me.

Classes and Hospital Tour

This is the time for taking as many classes as you can (in my opinion). Check with your hospital to see what they offer but you can also take classes other places. I'm a big fan of classes. I took Breastfeeding, Infant CPR (should have been renamed, 1001 Ways Your Baby Can Die but still good), and the Car Seat class through our hospital and then we took the Hypnobabies Childbirth class. I'm glad I took the class, but I'm not sure I'd recommend it to a first timer. It focuses on eliminating the pain of childbirth through hypnosis to the exclusion of everything else. So, if the hypnosis doesn't work for you during labor, you don't have a lot of techniques to fall back on. Regardless of whether you decide to have an epidural or not, I highly recommend a childbirth class of some kind. Childbirth is difficult and painful no matter how you approach it. Even if you get an epidural you will most likely feel contractions for hours before you can get it so knowing how to cope is essential. Plus it is unlike anything you have ever experiencing and that unknown can be very scary if you don't understand what's going on.

I think that's the best advise I can give. I'm sure I'll have to do another post soon because I'll think of a million other things. It's amazing, it's only been a few months since I was pregnant, but it feels like another lifetime. I can't even imagine a time when Turtle wasn't with us.

Ok, Mamas. What's your go-to pregnancy items?

Bringing Home Baby:

1) Introduction

2) A Pregnancy Must Have List

Fireworks

2011-07-08T14:47:00.001-04:00

In honor of the end of 4th of July week, and because I discovered it this morning... I present Katy Perry's Firework for your Friday enjoyment. I am both pained to admit that I like Katy Perry and embarrassed that I'm so late to the party.

I want to raise Turtle to be a firework. I know that will mean she'll probably bump heads with me first, but that's ok. I want her to know how to speak her mind and express herself. I want her to be someone who stands up for what she believes in even if it's not popular (and even if it's not what I believe in).

'Cause baby you're a firework.
Come on show 'em what you're worth!

Oh! And I want purple hair like her's!

Dear Rubber Ducky Maker People

2011-07-06T13:07:00.001-04:00

Dear Rubber Ducky Maker People,

On a recent trip to my local Target (long live Target), I decided that what my baby daughter desperately needed to make her bath time complete was one of your delightful products. My eye was immediately drawn to one I thought was a female superhero. Upon further inspection, I realized that she was in fact a cheerleader. Ok, not the role model I'd like to have for my baby daughter's bathtime, but no big deal. As I looked for alternative "girl" ducks, I was shocked to find my options limited to the above mentioned cheerleader, a princess, and a mermaid (complete with seashell string bikini top). To my horror, I also discovered that the "boy" ducks were a fire fighter, a police officer, and a cowboy (all fully clothed). Now, I know I have been accused of being one of "those" feminist types, and sometimes a rubber ducky is just a rubber ducky, but I am appalled by your ~~pigeon~~ ducky-holing of young girls into roles based primarily on their looks while encouraging boys to be heroic and productive members of society. I am outraged by your utter lack of postive female role model rubber duckies! I demand that this problem be resolved!

Sincerely,
Concerned Mother

Needless to say, we went with a plain, old fashioned, yellow rubber ducky. Which Turtle seems to have no interest it other than chewing on the packaging it came in. :-/

To Sleep, Or Not to Sleep... (Weeks 18 and 19)

2011-07-05T10:26:00.000-04:00

That seems to be the question around our house! We've gotten a handful of nights were Turtle goes down at 8ish and doesn't even stir until 6ish when we wake her up to eat. And then in between there has been a few nights where she doesn't want to be in her bassinet at all and she tosses and turns in my arms all night alternating between spitting out her paci and whining for me to find it. It's been super fun! (You know there really needs to be a font to indicate sarcasm. Could someone please get on that!)

Thankfully, I think we've gotten the no-sleeping thing figured out. We really need a dual a/c system for our house, but that cost moneys and we don't have moneys right now because we have a baby and it seems like you can only have one or the other. Anyway... in order for the upstairs be cool it would have to be down right frigid downstairs, so we usually just deal with it being a little warm upstairs. Apparently we hadn't realized that it had gotten a little too hot upstairs in the last few days. So, in a fit of desperation, I discussed the possibility of the temperature affecting her sleep with Jay. He agreed and bumped the temp down a little. (I do not touch the thermostat if possible. This comes from years of being yelled at by my dad (and ex-husband) for turning it up or down too much. It's a thing. I should get over it. I don't really care.) Anyway, we also turned the ceiling fan up a notch and ta-da! Like magic she slept through the night! Woohoo! Just like her Mama, she can't sleep if it's too hot. Lesson learned.

This weekend was also monumental because Turtle laughed for the first time ever! Now she's a very happy baby and has been squealing and making happy noises for a long time, but I've been waiting for that rolling laughter for a long time. On Sunday I went to Dunkin Donuts for a quick chocolate fix (read: chocolate overload!) and when I came back Jay said, "Please don't be mad!" Hehe. I wasn't mad. I was so happy, and so happy that he got to experience it. Apparently, the puppy had been scratching on the couch trying to get to one of his toys. Jay snapped at him to stop and Turtle thought it was so funny. Well, needless to say we spent most of the evening snapping in an effort to get her to do it again. The poor puppy is so freaking confused. She only did it one more time and it was, again, when the puppy was getting into something and Jay was snapping at him to stop. It was the best sound ever!!

One of the other things we've been trying lately is eating at the dinner table. We put Turtle in her high chair and let her play with her toys while we eat. It's been so fun to interact as a family of three and gives me a glimpse of what it will be like in the years to come. We don't do it every night. It really depends on whether or not I got to see Jon Stewart's The Daily Show before we sit down for dinner. :-) Priorities? What are those?

We also got Turtle an Exersauser this weekend. She wants to stand up all.the.time! This gets old. So, I figured it was time for a big, obnoxious, over-priced, plastic thing to help her do that. So, we went to the local consignment shops and found one in good condition. She loves it. Well, for about 10 minutes at a time, which I can sympathise with because that's about as long as my attention span is too. Poor girl.

I also started experimenting with putting Turtle in the shopping cart and restaurant high chairs. It was a huge success! She's not quite sitting, but she does pretty well with a little help from us. We do have to teather any toy she's playing with otherwise we end up spending half the time playing the pick up game.

I think that about hits the highlights for the past couple of weeks. I've taken lots of photos though, so get ready for cuteness overload!

We love our Bumbo. I know some people aren't fans because they can be expensive and the babies grow out of them so quickly, but we got ours at a consignment shop for about half price and it's been well worth it. I take it to restaurants so that we don't have to hold her all the time. (Although this weekend we put her in the highchair and it seemed to work pretty well.) My mom also uses it a lot during the day at her house since she doesn't have a high chair yet.

"Red White & Cute" How cute is that onesie?!?! I loved it so much that I had to get a few pictures of it. And I love having Daddy help with the photo shoots. You can see in the first picture that I took by myself that it's like she loses me when I put the camera up in front of my face. In the second one she's looking at Daddy. Oh how I love that!

She's also starting to do this thing called "tripoding". It's when they sit up and balance themselves on their arms. It's a pre-sitting milestone and helps them learn to sit up. She'll be sitting before we know it!

These are a couple I got in the yummy morning light in my craft room. I realized thought that if we ever get the guest room cleaned out, that will probably become my studio because it gets the most light of any room in our entire house.

Have a great week everyone!

Happy 4th Everyone!

2011-07-05T08:39:00.000-04:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July! Even though it didn't go as planned, we did at our house. But I know you are all chomping at the bit to see our Old Navy Flag Shirts 4th of July Family Picture! Well... maybe chomping at the bit is a little bit of an overstatement. Anyway... here it is!

Yes, I'm well aware that you can't really see all our shirts. But when we started taking pictures we realized that besides matching t-shirts we were also sporting some matching pudge and so as the Super Parents we are, we decided to stick Turtle out front and we'd just hide behind her. Baby fat is cute anyway, right? We did discover that getting a 4 month old to look out at an empty yard and a camera on a tripod while her parents sit behind her is a challenge to say the least. I thought we were going to have to call Grandma to come help, but eventually I started sticking my fingers out in front of her and clicking until the last possible second. I think next year we'll try to enlist some help though. :-)

We had big plans to meet friends for fireworks. We'd even bought hot pink ear protection for the babies so they could enjoy the fireworks. But that was not to be had. Right as we were heading out, the weather turned bad. By the time we got to our favorite little town the heavens opened up. We ran into the Bojangles to sit out the ran, hoping it would just blow through. But by the time our friends got there, we could tell that even if the rain did stop, it was going to be too wet to do much of anything. So, we hugged and assured each other that we'd entertain the babies with the bubbles and sparklers next weekend. The upside was we got home at a much more descent hour.

So, how was your 4th of July?

Happy Friday

2011-07-01T16:52:00.000-04:00

I puffy sparkle heart Fridays! In fact they are one of my favorite days of the week. Saturday is my actual favorite day of the week, but Friday doesn't run too far behind. Why you ask? Because every Friday is payday for me. I'm lucky enough to work in an office where we get paid every week and boy do I take advantage of it.

See, I REALLY don't want to be working. I mean, it's not nearly as bad as I thought or feared it would be and I definitely like being able to go to the bathroom by myself whenever I want and staying relatively spit up free all day, but if the oportunity presented itself for me to be a stay-at-home-mom, I'd jump on it in a heartbeat. With the bills we have and the access we have to affordable childcare (i.e. Grandma) it's really not an option for me to stay home right now. Because of this unexpected turn of events (I always assumed I'd be able to stay home after having children), my husband and I have made a deal.

Every Friday, either at lunch or after work, I get to go buy something small for Turtle, most likely something she absolutely dose not need in any way, shape, or form (I mean, how many paci's could a kid possibly need??? Says my husband,)... and I don't have to justify it or feel bad about it. Last week it was new paci's. (But, honey, these have a Turtle on them and she doesn't have one that has a Turtle on it, duh.) This week... I'm not sure. I'm thinking about a new outfit.

Happy Friday everyone! Have a safe and wonderful holiday weekend! We are hoping to take Turtle to see fireworks on Monday so I'll let you know how that goes!

Wordless Wednesdays - Peaceful Sleep

2011-06-29T15:13:00.001-04:00

Mobile Blogging

2011-06-28T14:05:00.001-04:00

I just found that Blogger now has a mobile app for my phone. Oh this is going to be very dangerous because I don't even have to be at the computer, and I don't have to worry about transferring pics from my phone. You all however, will have to worry about my notoriously bad spelling and the darn autocorrect on my phone.

To celebrate (and test out the app) I present a photo I like to call A Girl and Her Grandma (really early in the morning).

Lily Loves Exersaucers!

2011-06-28T08:52:00.000-04:00

Our friends have an exersaucer, but there daughter is too little for it. So, we've been putting Lily in it when we go over to their house. Up until this weekend she was always like, "uh! What is THIS?!?!" And not in a good way. Well, this weekend, I think she's finally ready. Her feet can touch the floor and she's interested in playing with things in front of her. Here is her reaction. And yes, the high pitched giggles in the back ground are me! I think we'll be heading to the consignment stores this weekend to get her one of her very own.

Daddy's First Father's Day

2011-06-22T10:01:00.000-04:00

Father's Day started bright and early in our house. For me at least. Turtle slept in until about 6:30, and I took her into her nursery to feed her and let Jay sleep for a while. After she was done, I decided to go ahead and start setting up for the day instead of going back to bed like I usually do on weekend mornings.

I put Turtle on her playmat in the craftroom and she "talked" and batted at the toys while I cleaned off my out of control craft table and started setting it up. Hallmark was selling this Superman wrapping paper for Father's Day and it had become the inspiration for the entire day.

While we were setting up I snapped some pictures of Lily in her Superman onesie with Daddy's gifts.

Well, 2 of his 3 gifts since I'd given him one before we headed out for Maker Faire. He was packing his man-bag diaper bag and I decided he needed the manly paci holder I had gotten him, so I broke down and gave it to him a day early. I had wrapped two of the gifts in the same gift boxes, though, so there I was feeling of the boxes and shaking them trying to figure out which one had the paci holder in it. He really like it and also liked the book I got him to read to Turtle called Daddy Hugs.

I was planning to make breakfast about 9am since I didn't want to wake him up too early, even if it was to bring him breakfast. But he ended up getting up before then. So, we snuggled on the couch for a while and I asked him if he wanted to open presents first or have breakfast first. He of course chose the presents. I sat Turtle up in her Bumbo so she could watch. (I know she's on a raised surface which she's not supposed to be but we have a puppy we don't trust around her and Daddy was right there.)

The light in our living room is minimal. This is great for Jay since he'd live in a cave if he could. Not so much for Mommy and her photography endeavors. This one is blurry because I was trying to shoot without the flash.

This one is harsh and cold because I finally gave up and turned the flash on. I figured I'd rather have bad quality pictures of this experience then no pictures at all. Jay loved his cards especially once he saw how much Turtle like the one she "got" him. I had also had her "sign" her card. I put a sharpie in her hand and let her make some marks on the card. Of course the first thing she did was put the cap end in her mouth, but oh well. When she goes off to college he'll have that card with her 3 month-old scribbles in it.

After the presents were opened (a daddy picture frame for his office and a wireless mouse in the shape of a Chevy Camero), I started breakfast. I had gotten some awesome thick cut bacon and eggs. I'm not a big fan of either, so I rarely cook them, but that is pretty much what Jay always gets when we go out to eat. He snuggled Turtle and watched TV while I cooked then we all snuggled on the couch for the rest of the morning.

My friend Lauren and I had gotten together to plan part of the day since this was her husband's first Father's Day too. We knew that as much as our guys liked hanging out with us, they also desperately needed some guy time once in a while. So, we had bought them tickets to see the new X-Men movie together. So, about midday, they headed out to that and Lauren came over to our house to start setting up for the cook out. Thankfully, my mom also came over to help wrangle the girls.

I kept with the Superman theme for the table.

The center piece was super easy and used mostly things I already had on hand.

In fact the only thing I bought specifically for the centerpiece was the Superman Dad stickers which were actually gift decorations from Hallmark. To add a little extra pop, I decided to make some napkin rings. I had some blue paper scraps left over from making a friend's invitations (like a YEAR ago) that were exactly the color blue I needed. See, this is why I always save any big scraps of paper I have because you never know when you can use them later. I cut out some of the logos from the wrapping paper and taped them down to the blue paper and then just taped them around a napkin. I think it added just the right amount of pizazz.

Once the guys got back from the movie we lit up the grill. I was planning on doing the cooking but realized that I have no idea how to cook steaks on the grill and decided if we were going to end up with anything but burnt steaks it'd be better to leave that up to Jay.

Mmmmm... While he was grilling, mom was hanging out on the deck with Turtle. I was able to snap a few pictures in the gorgeous overcast lighting.

Look at that button nose!! And my new favorite picture...

We all had such a great time hanging out!

And I think the boys had a great First Father's Day. I sure hope they felt celebrated, loved and appreciated. I know that every day should be Mothers Day/Fathers Day but that is just not practical. So, I think it's absolutely appropriate to have one day of the year were we really go all out to show our partners how much we appreciate everything they do for us!

I hope everyone else's Father's Day was as wonderful as ours!

Wordless Wednesdays - My New Favorite Picture of Turtle

2011-06-22T09:07:00.000-04:00

Happy 4 Month Birthday, Turtle!

2011-06-21T09:56:00.000-04:00

Turtle is 4 months old today, and I can.not believe it! I feel like last time I closed my eyes I was 9 months pregnant. Maybe that's because the last time I got a really good night's sleep was about 6 months ago. Hehe.

Turtle is growing by leaps and bounds and developing at an astonishing rate. Well, astonishing rate to me, I'm sure she's right on schedule and I refuse to be on of those moms who insists that her child is a genius that does everything ahead of schedule. It is just unbelievably amazing to watch how quickly she develops. In 4 short months, she's gone from sleeping 20 something hours of the day, barely able to hold up her head, and unaware her hands were attached to sitting up with very little assistance from us, having lengthy "conversations", and controlling her arms and hands enough to grasp things and put them in her mouth.

I am constantly amazed at the language ability that she has already. She will often times have "conversations" with me where we'll hold eye contact and we take turns... she "talks" and then I talk. It's amazing. Most of her babbling sounds like long "A" sounds and short "a" sounds. And sometimes it even sounds like she's singing. She also "says" hi a lot. I know it's just a random sound but she says it all the time. Maybe it's just random or maybe it's just because I say that to her all the time. Who knows. She's been saying it since about 6 weeks. The first time she did it Jay and I both looked at each other in shock like, "OMG! Did our 6 week old just start talking?!?!" Then we came to our senses. ;-)

Turtle loves to sit up. If you lay her back against your propped up legs or in her swing, she will strain trying to sit up. She is even able to balance there for a while but someone needs to be close by because eventually she gets bored of it, pushes her legs out and launches backwards. Usually while squealing. She likes to sit in her Bumbo for a while sometimes and we've even started taking it to restaurants so she can sit on the booth bench or in an extra chair while we eat. It's really nice since she doesn't like being in my Bekaboo wrap any more (she likes to look around instead of being pressed into my chest) and is still a little too small for a high chair. We took her to Cook Out with us the other day and she sat right beside me on the bench in her Bumbo and the three of us just talked the whole time. It was so lovely and was like seeing a glimpse into our future as a family of three.

Turtle has also started blowing "raspberries". She did it for the first time at mom's house when I was picking her up after work. I was in the middle of a sentence when I realized what she was doing. I stopped right then and started squealing. She wasn't so sure about that. Then I rushed her home so her daddy could hear her since he's been trying to teach her how to do that for a while now. :-)

She's also becoming even more observant, if that's even possible. We put her in the baby seat of a shopping cart at Walmart the other day and let her hang out there while we shopped. She had such a wonderful time! She especially liked the soda and chip isle because of all the bright colors of the packaging. I'm sure she would have loved the cereal isle too but we didn't need anything down there. I absolutely love showing her new things. It's amazing how your perspective changes when you have a tiny new human in your life. Everything becomes an adventure, and everything becomes new and exciting when seen through her tiny eyes.

This weekend was wonderfully exhausting and it will probably take me all week to recover. But you only live once, right? Turtle did wonderfully on the drive to Raleigh (about 2 1/2 hours). It was by far the longest car ride she's taken, and I was so proud of her. For the ride up there we put the girls in one car (me, my mom, and our friend Lauren) with Turtle while the boys drove the other car with baby Zoe. It was so much fun to have some girl time to just chit-chat and it made the drive just fly by. Turtle also did great at the Maker Faire. I put her on my back and she fell asleep. The only thing was it was warm in the facility where the fair was held and she heated me up! My back was soaked when I took her off, but I'm very proud of myself for tackling the back carry which was something I was very intimidated by. I still can't do it by myself but Jay helps me and between the two of us she gets wrapped up pretty quickly.

The Faire itself was pretty cool. There were two booths there with MakerBots (in essence 3d printers) and just seeing those in person was worth the drive up there. There was also a booth that had a laser etcher and it was awesome!! I wanted one of those too. Hopefully, they will have it in a larger venue next year. My brother says this year's venue was about 3-4 times the size of last year and it was still packed out, just like last year. I'm hoping to convince more of my homeschool friends to come with us next year. We realized that you really have to talk to the folks in the booths though because we missed a lot of stuff that my brother told us about because we saw the booth but didn't stop to ask the person what the story was. We will definitely remember that next year.

There was a flea market going on at the fairgrounds too but it was just too hot to have the girls out there for too long. So, we took a picture and split with our friends.

They had family in Raleigh they wanted to see and we had a friend we wanted to have dinner with. We went by the mall and got to see our friend Frankie. It was his first time meeting Turtle and he was very impressed. We stressed that not all babies are like her (easy going, laid back, not usually fussy, etc.) so not to be getting any ideas! ;-)

Then we pointed out wagon back towards home. We were glad to get home at a reasonable hours since Sunday was Father's Day and would be a big day too. I have a lot of photos though, so I'm going to make that a separate post.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Oh How Your Life Can Change

2011-06-20T20:55:00.002-04:00

BFP Anniversary!

2011-06-20T08:51:00.001-04:00

This past weekend was wonderfully exhausting, and I'll be posting about it as soon as I have a chance to get the pictures off the camera. But today is a very special day for me. It's our BFP Anniversary! (BFP is an acronym from thebump.com message boards and stands for Big Fat Positive [pregnancy test].) :-) On this day last year (which happened to be Father's Day) we found out that Turtle would be coming into our lives. It's absolutely amazing to me how much your life can change in just one short year! I'm working on a video to commemorate the anniversary and hope to get it finished this evening after work, but in case I don't, I wanted to post the story of the day we found out we were going to have a baby. The main thing I remember about that evening was being scared out of my mind! I'd been yearning for a baby for years but at the moment I saw that second pink line the only thing I could think was, "What have I done?!?!" Come to find out, what I had done was start the most amazing journey of my life. It's been scary, it's been tough, but it's been the most rewarding thing I've ever experienced. I love my Turtle more than life it's self and can't wait to watch her grow into the women she is destined to be.

I'm sure you want to know the story.

This was a huge surprise. We certainly had not set out to get preggo, but without going into too much graphic detail, I'll just say that we knew we were playing with fire. So, I guess it was a surprise but not a shock.

I knew I was a day or two late, but that didn't concern me too much as it happens from time to time. I would say I "knew", but I've "known" many other times and was wrong. This just seemed a little different. I wasn't sick, but had some other signs and over the weekend was having a very hard time keeping my eyes open! So, on Sunday evening, I took the first home pregnancy test. I knew you were supposed to take them in the morning, but I had bought a two pack and just couldn't wait. Now, I've taken hundreds of these over my lifetime (see comment above about running "late" being rather normal for me) so I figured I'd take one that evening and when it come up negative I'd take the other in the morning just to be sure. I'm so use to them coming up negative, that I almost didn't believe it when I saw that very distinct (not faint at all) second pink line!

Now I hadn't told Jay that I was taking the test, because I knew he'd give me a hard time about getting my hopes up because he's been around for the aftermath of some of the other times I've "known" and was wrong...and devastated. So, I come out of the bathroom upstairs literally yelling his name! When I come down the stairs I realized that he was in the bathroom and tried my hardest to reassure him that I was ok.
When he came out I was sitting at the bottom of the stairs in a state of shock, shaking, and hyperventilating. Yes, you'd think I'd be the calm one, but it was my wonderful, loving, amazing husband who I'd expected to be falling apart. We sat on the couch for a little while, soaking in the experience (and trying to catch my breath and stop shaking!). We decided we should have it confirmed right away and I promised to call the OB/GYN the next morning to make an appointment.

We made a couple of phone calls in which we swore said people to secrecy and then tried to go to sleep, which was impossible.

Oh how your life can change in just one short year!

Going With the Flow

2011-06-17T09:18:00.001-04:00

Man! My Google Reader has been hopping lately! I think it's because I've stumbled upon some really awesome parent blogs that seems to have consistently useful/thoughtful/just plain funny content. Today's topic was sparked by a blog post on Aiming Low a hilarious blog written by multiple contributing writers from all different stages in the parenting journey. I really enjoy that humor that the bloggers bring to the sometimes mundane tasks, including some awesome Daddy Bloggers.

Yesterday, a great post came up titled The Thin Line Between Advice and Assvice for a Pregnant Woman. I knew this was going to be good! Advice from others is a double edged sword to a pregnant woman. On one hand you want to hear everything you can and get everyone's advice before you have a baby (and afterwards). I found myself scouring the Internet for real life product reviews on baby gear and incessantly picking the brains of my veteran mom friends. But by the end of the pregnancy, I swore I was going to throat punch the next random person in Target who told me to "sleep now while you can"! Almost four short months later, what do I find myself saying to random people in Target? "Sleep while you can, honey!" Hehe!

Earlier this week I was texting with a friend the day before her scheduled induction. I asked her how her husband was doing and she said he was pretty nervous about the blood and stuff during the birth. I told her not to worry because if my blood squeamish husband could hack it, then just about anyone could. She said a friend of theirs, whose wife had recently given birth, had told him it was really bad! My reaction was this. "OMG! They aren't supposed to tell each other the truth! They are supposed to lie and say it's really not that bad like us women do. Otherwise no one would do this crap!" She laughed, but as a 5 time mom, she wholeheartedly agreed.

The author of the article I read yesterday put it this way:

"My sister was there with me in the delivery room, twice. She’s seen some of the aforementioned nasty bits and she still decided to procreate. The way I see it, the kid gloves are off. But I still stop myself from sharing when reliving certain parts of my final months of pregnancy and the first few months of motherhood. Maybe it’s instinctual, something passed down for hundreds of years – a survival of the species kind of thing. Protect the mother to a certain extent or she may never have another child."

The author goes on to ask the reader what advice you would give to expectant moms and what would you hold back. For me it has more to do with presentation than anything else. The absolute most valuable piece of knowledge I gained during my pregnancy, delivery, and (short!) motherhood experience has been that every baby is different, every mother is different, and every day is different! So, I try to present any advice I give in a "this is how it happened for us"/"this is what worked for us" kind of way. I like to share my experience so that if someone else has a similar one, they know that they are not alone, but I don't want to say that my way is the only way.

For instance, I didn't have that movie moment when the baby was delivered where I cried, my husband cried, we looked at each other and marveled at what we had created and I fell instantly in love with this little slimy-gooey-wiggly thing. I was still in a descent amount of discomfort (a term us moms use to shield the innocent) when Turtle was placed on my chest. I remember thinking, "Hi. Glad to meet you. Now could you give me just a minute!" It wasn't until they got me stitched up and some pain killer in my system that I felt like I was really in a place to meet my daughter. Thankfully, I knew that this was normal for some people.
So, when I see the inevitable couple staring at the seemingly infinite bottle choices at Babies R Us, scan gun in hand, and bewildered look on their face, I try to offer what I've learned. (Yes, I'm that annoying person who offers unsolicited advice in baby stores.) I tell them what worked for us but then stress that they won't know for sure until their little one is born so not to stress over it too much. Register for a couple bottles of different brands and stop there. It's not necessary (or practical) to be an expert on everything before you've even met you little one.

I guess the best advice I have to give to new parents is this:

Be willing to go with the flow... in your pregnancy, in your birthing experience, and in your parenting. Every pregnancy is different, every birth is different, baby is different, every parent is different, and every day is different.

What was the best and worst advice you got when you were pregnant? What is your best advice to new parents?

Safety in Judgement

2011-06-16T09:31:00.000-04:00

Offbeat Mama has been one of my favorites blogs for a while, as was Offbeat Bride when I was into wedding planning. This morning when I opened my Google Reader, I came across this wonderfully written, enlightening, and freeing post.

A judgemental attitude is something I have struggled with for a while. My dad took judging pro. If judging was an Olympic sport, he'd have won a gold medal. We judged everything from how long it took someone to pull out into traffic, (COME ON! I could have pulled a tractor trailer through that hole!) to people's behavior at family gatherings. (The ride home from family get togethers was always entertaining!) I also grew up steeped in the Christian religion and even though the Bible states in many places that one is not to judge, the doctrine, and community, send very mixed messages. I've never met a group of people (one the whole)more seemingly eager to eat their own! You are taught that you have Ultimate Truth on your side and anyone who does it differently then you (and your church) is wrong with a capital W. It's hard to grow up amerced in this sea of judgement and not have it rub off on you.

If ever there was an open season to judge a topic, it seems that topic would be parenting. I try to look at the positive side of things and assume it stems from an evolutionary need to protect the children of our community, but that doesn't make it any less of a pain in the... well, you know. I also think it gives us a sense of security, of control. The author of this article puts it much more eloquently then I ever could.

"I judged until my insides were pretzelled. I clamoured for safety in my judgements. I judged because I thought it made my world safer and more easy to understand. I judged because then I could know the right answer. I judged because then I could say “If only they ______, their baby would be okay.” I judged as though my judgements would save me, and would save my baby."

As the old saying goes, "We are all perfect parents... until we have kids." This was me for sure! I read birthstories throughout most of my pregnancy, dissecting them for the "wrong" decisions that derailed the women's "natural" childbirth plans. I figured if I found their mistakes, I could prevent them from happening to me. I judged formula feeding mothers for the "mistakes" they made which caused them not to be able to breastfeed. Judging gave me a sense of control over my situation. Those women were lazy or uneducated or did something to screw up their supply (like pumping too early or not drinking enough water). I wasn't going to make any of these mistakes, therefore I was safe.

And then my beautiful Turtle came along. And her birth was anything but what I had planned. And our breastfeeding experience was anything but what I had planned. And the illusion of safety that I had created was revealed to be just that... an illusion. And I began to see other women (and men) in a completely different light. Maybe, like me, they were just trying to do the best they could... the best they knew how. Maybe I needed to extend the grace I so desperately hoped others would extend to me and my situation.

Am I perfect? Absolutely not! Do, I still find myself judging others? Every day! But I'm trying very hard to create an internal dialogue of grace when I find myself judging another's actions. Except for ridiculous driving! I'll still judge you for that! And people like my brother who don't like ice cream! I mean, dude! It's ICE CREAM!

Resting Up... (Week 16)

2011-06-13T09:07:00.000-04:00

No weekly picture this week. Sorry! We were so busy that I didn't even think about it until it was too late. Oh well. She'll forgive me, I hope.

So, this weekend was just as busy as I expected it to be. Friday night we went to dinner with my brother for his birthday. Our friends Dave and Lauren met up with us too, as well as my mom. We all had so much fun! A little too much fun for Turtle, though. Hehe.

She's such a good baby. She'll pretty much sleep anywhere and is pleasant about 90% of the time. The only time she gets cranky is when she's sleepy and that's only until someone snuggles her so she can go to sleep. We are really so very lucky. I know that a compliant child isn't always the most emotionally healthy child, so that's not my goal, but I do hope that she stays pleasant as she learns how to have her own opinions and ideas.

Saturday, our friends Dave and Lauren came over to the house. Dave stayed and helped Jay install our home alarm system and Lauren and I loaded up the girls and headed out to the fabric store for fabric to make woven wraps out of. We were lucky enough to find some that we both liked which made it especially easy! Then we had lunch and came home to hang out with the boys. We've been hanging out at their house the last few weeks and it was nice to be at our house for a change. Although as homes away from homes go, theirs is awesome! Since they have a baby about the same age, they have similar gear so we don't have to load up half our house to hang out at theirs. And I never have to worry about running out of diapers or wipes which is AWESOME! Plus they have La-Z-Boy reclining couches, ftw!

Sunday, I got up excited to try out my new woven wrap. I haven't taken the time to hem it yet, but I'm hoping to get that done little bits at a time this week so that I can use it at Maker Faire this Saturday. After a few failed attempts, I was able to get Turtle on my back in what is technically called a Reinforce Rucksack carry. The problem is, she's not a big fan of hanging out on my back while I wrap her. She likes its once she's secure, but until then she protests and wiggles which is hard when I'm trying to get her tied without being able to see. It's ok, though, Jay helps me wrap her and he's watched the YouTube videos enough to know what it's supposed to look like. I'm hoping to practice more this week so we're at least simi-pros by Saturday. She sure looks cute all wrapped up in it!

Turtle's saying, "Hey Mama! You got Angry Birds on that thing?"

Sunday we went to lunch with my mom and then did a little shopping. We had bought these Old Navy Groupons the other day and were chomping at the bit to spend them. Jay insisted that I buy stuff for me instead of Turtle which was significantly more difficult then I expected, but I eventually found some shorts that will be very helpful this summer. I did buy Turtle one thing. Old Navy comes out with their Flag Shirts every summer. They have the logo, an American flag, and the year on them. Jay and I got matching ones last summer and wore them to the 4th of July fireworks display (because we're just super cool like that!). ;-) I really wanted to do the same this year, but get one for Turtle too. We decided to get different colors so that we wouldn't be too matchy, matchy. Plus the only color they had in all our sizes was red and that's not my best color. So, I got a navy tank top, Jay got a gray t-shirt, and Turtle got a red onesie. I'm hoping to get a family picture before we had off to see fireworks in our matching shirts. In fact I'm hoping this will become a summer family tradition.

Sunday afternoon I started putting together a slide show to celebrate the one year anniversary of our positive pregnancy test. I don't know why this seems like such a big event to me, it's not a big deal to other people, but I just find it amazing how much one's life can change in a year. This time last year, Turtle was growing like a weed but we didn't even know it. Plus I've been wanting to do something with all the weekly bump pictures I took all throughout my pregnancy. I got a huge chunk of it done, and now it's mostly just a matter of tweaking. I've got to pair down some of the weekly pictures so I can fit in more of the nursery coming together and such. I'm really excited about it though and think it's really going to be something cool for Turtle to have. I want her to know how excited we were while we waited for her to get here!

So, that was our weekend. I hope you all had great weekends too! The name of the game around our house this coming week is going to be prepare and rest. I have a few things I want to do in order to get ready for Maker Faire and Father's Day and the rest of the time is going to be spent resting up for the fun and festivities! Have a great week all!

Lots of Fun Stuff to Come

2011-06-10T15:55:00.000-04:00

We have so much fun stuff to come in the next week and change! I was thinking the other day that one of my favorite feelings from my childhood is always feeling included in what my parents did. I never felt like I cramped their style or held them back from living their life. I always got the feeling that their lives were more full with me in it. I remember going to concerts and on hiking trips. We went camping and to festivals. We even got to go to the races a couple of times which was their favorite activity pre-child (although this was expensive and one of the things they had to give up once we came along). I want Turtle to grow up feeling like this. I don't ever want her to feel like she got in the way of my life, instead I want her to feel like I was excited to include her in my life. So, here's what she'll be included in over the next week and change.

Friday: Tonight we are going to dinner for my brother's birthday! Birthdays are a big deal to me. I think it's because I came from a big family and also from having a low self esteem. Birthdays are the only time where I feel validated in asking for exactly what I want and expecting people to be willing to go out of their way to give it to me. So I feel the same way about other people. I'm not a big drinker but if that's what you want to do for your birthday then it's the one night of the year that I will gladly hold your hair back while you throw up. (All the other nights I'll tell you to hold your own hair back because you did this to yourself. ;-) ) So, the birthday person always gets to pick what we do and where we go and it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks or wants! Uncle Lukey wants to go to Red Lobster tonight so that's where we are going. I'm so glad that Turtle gets to celebrate with us this year.

Saturday: Tomorrow our friend Dave is coming over to the house to help Jay with the home security system he's putting in. So, his wife Lauren and I are going to the fabric store and buying some light muslin to make woven wraps for ourselves. Woven wraps are similar to the bekaboo wrap I already have but they aren't stretchy. Because they aren't stretchy you can do back wraps with them which is what I'm really excited about! Turtle is getting more and more interested in the outside world. She loves to look around and takes in everything around her. Because of this, she's not as content to just stay snuggled in my bekaboo against my chest. Some popular carriers like the famous Bjorn have the option of turning the babies around to face outward but I've read some negative things about this option that seem to make sense. First the way the baby dangles by their crotch (like sitting on a bicycle) isn't supposed to be good for them. Second it puts your center of gravity in an odd place and puts a strain on the parents back. Third, if they get overwhelmed they don't have any where to go when they are dangling out there like that. (This should not be interpreted as a judgement of anyone who uses these carriers. This is just what I've read and the reasons why we are going a different route. I do not think using one of these carriers makes anyone a bad parent in any way!)

So, the alternative is to put them on your back in a non-stretchy, woven wrap. This allows them to put their weight on their tush and legs, like sitting in a swing instead of riding a bike, and it allows them to snuggle into your back if they get overwhelmed. I'm really excited to make one and try it out. I've been watching YouTube videos on how to wrap them. It's going to be a challenge at first, but so are a lot of things that are worth wild. I'll be practicing with Jay as my spotter or over the bed until I am very confident but the nice thing is that even toddlers can be carried in a woven wrap so this will be very useful for a long time. Here you can see one of the bloggers I follow The Maiden Metallurgist carrying her new son on her back.

How beautiful is she?!? And how comfortable does her son look! Her posts have really inspired me to try this with Turtle. I'm a little intimidated because I'll have to balance Turtle between my shoulder blades while I wrap her but I feel it's doable once I get the hang of it. I try to keep in mind that women in other countries have been doing this for millinia before the invention of strollers, so it must be doable. I'll keep you all updated!

Sunday: Sunday will be spent resting because next weekend will be a C.R.A.Z.Y!

Next Saturday: Next Saturday we are heading to Raleigh for Maker Faire NC. Woohoo!

The faire is put on by Make: Magazine and it's sister publication Craft: Magazine. Here's the description from the website.

"Makers, Crafters, Inventors, Evil Geniuses, Scientists and Artists will come together for a day of family-friendly fun and inspiration. From home-made cookies to home-made robots, Maker faire NC promises something for everyone in a showcase of the American creative spirit."

I'm so excited! My brother, Luke, went last year and I was supposed to go, but got too busy helping a friend with her wedding. I have been looking forward to this year's event for a while after hearing all the awesome stories my brother told me from last year. This is another reason I want to have the wrap finished so that I can carry Turtle on my back so she can see. Strollers are just such a pain for festivals and such and if I put her in the wrap I have now she can't really see anything.

Next Sunday: Next Sunday is going to be awesome! I so wish it were this Sunday! Next Sunday is Father's Day and it is going to be EPIC! I don't want to give too much away but I hope Jay walks away feeling very loved and appreciated!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Any fun excursions planned?

Here's your moment of cuteness before I go:

Thankful Thursday

2011-06-09T11:13:00.000-04:00

Today I am thankful to have such a wonderful man to celebrate on Father's Day (which is next Sunday for those of you who are unaware!). This will be the first time I've celebrated Father's Day in a very long time. I've always had a difficult relationship with my father, and currently we have a non-existent relationship. I boycotted the holiday for many years when the wounds were just too fresh. But this year I get to celebrate a man who lives up to all the Hallmark cards.

I found his main gift about a month ago and it's been killing me to keep it a secret (which I will continue to do until next Sunday so don't get your hopes up, Jay!). I've been collecting smaller gifts for a couple of weeks and it's so hard not to give any of them to him now. In the next couple of days I'm going to go back to Hallmark and get this awesome Superman wrapping paper they have especially for Father's Day to wrap all his gifts. I already got him a card from me and a card from Turtle. She helped me pick it out by batting at the one we got. I took that as sign of her approval. Then she promptly fell asleep.

This is also our friend Dave's first Father's Day, so his wife and I are planning what we hope will be a wonderful day which will cumulative in a cook out with steaks (which is a real treat in our house!). It's going to be a busy week, but hopefully one Jay will never forget. He's such a wonderful daddy and really deserves this day!

What are you thankful for this Thursday?

Wordless Wednesdays - Copywrite 2011 Stafford Design

2011-06-08T08:16:00.000-04:00

Onesie purchased from Etsy seller SimpleWear. LOVE IT!

T is for Turtle

2011-06-06T11:56:00.000-04:00

I've had a lot of people ask me why we call Lily Turtle. It came about for two reasons.

1) Turtle was born with an amazing amount of neck strength. Moments after she was born, they plopped her up on my stomach even before they cut the cord and the first thing she did was LIFT UP HER HEAD AND LOOK ME IN THE EYES! I remember thinking... I'm not sure you're supposed to be doing that yet! Well, it wasn't a fluke. She kept lifting up her head to look around every chance she got. In the early weeks she would lose control of it and bonk us in the mouth our neck, but now she's pretty much got it all figured out. As you can see from this picture (which I was taking when she rolled over for the first time), that she looks just like a turtle when she lifts her head up like that.

2) When I was very big and pregnant with her, Jay use to tease me and call me Turtle because I would get on my back on the couch and not be able to get up without his help. So, it seems appropriate that she would be my little turtle.

You know those white stick figure families that people put on the back of their cars, I'd love to find a turtle family to put on the back of ours. Jay rolled his eyes when I suggested it, but then said he'd trade me the "I heart My Shiz-Tu" magnet I have on there now for it. :-) We're still trying to figure out what we are going to do when Lily learns that owls eat turtles (since her nursery is done in owls). I told Jay we'd just explain to her that her nursery owls are vegetarians. :-)

Do your kids have special nick names? Where did they originate from?

Fun, fun, and more fun! (Week 15)

2011-06-06T11:24:00.000-04:00

I simply cannot get over how big Turtle is getting!!! Look as those chunky baby thighs! I'm always pointing them out and Jay will say, "Mama, don't make fun of my fat!" I tell her that baby fat is adorable. It's only adult fat that isn't. ;-)

See that big huge smile? She was smiling at her Daddy making faces. I enlisted his help this week for the pictures since she tends to lose her smile when I put the camera in front of my face. It worked like a charm, and I think I'll be enlisting Daddy's help every week.

This was an odd week routine wise. I'm not a big fan of forcing Lily onto a schedule, but we have noticed that she generally has a natural routine that she follows. Well, this week she was all over the place. Sleeping strangely, eating odd amounts and at odd intervals. For instance she went from eating about 7 oz every 5-6 hours last week to 5 oz every 3-4 hours this week. Since, like I said, I'm not a fan of forcing her to follow a schedule we all just tried to follow her lead. Although that meant Mama was really tired a few days when Turtle had wanted to play the Binki Game half the night. (That's the game where Turtle spits out her binki and then fusses until Mama finds it and puts it back in. A few minutes later the whole process is repeated. She learned this game from the puppy who plays the push-the-squeak-toy-under-the-couch-and-watch-Mama-dig-it-out-game.) I have heard that babies will sometimes completely throw off their routines before they accomplish a big milestone like sitting up or crawling. The theory is that their brains and bodies are so occupied with learning the new skill that it throws off their routines. It seems to make sense now that she rolled over for the first time. So, we'll see if she settles back in. She definitely slept better last night then she has in a while. We put her to bed at about 9:30 last night and she didn't start fussing until about 5am. This is progress since usually it's about 3:30 am when she fusses and wants in our bed. This past week she slept the entire night in our bed a couple of times since she just didn't want to completely calm down.

This weekend was so much fun! It really started Friday at lunch when I went to Buy Buy Baby to look for something for Jay's Father's Day gift and ended up buying half their store. I really shouldn't shop on Fridays because that's when I get paid and I feel like I have money. Oops! I picked up a couple of things for Jay and then found a few things for Lily. One was what's called a Wubbanub. It's basically a Soothie (pacifier) sewn to a stuffed animal and sold for 4 times it's worth. But I'd been coveting them online and this was the first time I'd seen them in a store so I had to buy it!

Lily's ehh about the Soothie, Nuk's are her favorite binki's, but she loves the bear! She'll hug it and hold it's arms and it's so freaking cute!

Saturday morning, Jay went to Cars and Coffee with our friend Dave and since Lily hadn't slept well and had me up at 7am, I texted mom to see if she wanted to grab breakfast. She was of course game so I picked her up and we headed to IHOP. It was Lily's first trip and I think every.single.server. came by our table to see her. She's always the hit of the party wherever we go.

We of course had to document the milestone! And don't you love her bib. In case you can't see it says, "T is for turtle". Squeee! It was one of the other things I got her during my epic Buy Buy Baby trip.

Later on Saturday, My Childhood BFF's daughter had her ballet performance and Lily went with us. Well, technically she went with us to the Nutcracker performance in December too, but she says it was pretty dark! ;-)

We got there an hour early to make sure we could get a seat since it's a free performance and ends up being standing room only. I wanted to make sure we got a seat in the back on the isle so that I could slip out if Turtle got cranky. She ate right before the show started so she was very alert at the beginning. I sat her up so she could see and even being that far back she still stared at the stage. About 45 minutes in, she started to get a little wiggly and I could tell she was ready to take a nap. So, I snuck out and put her in the wrap and she slept pretty much the rest of the performance. Here we all are after it was over.

That's me and Lily and April and her daughter (the ballerina!)

And here's all the girls.

That's me and Lily, April and her daughter, Debby (April's mom), my mom, Anna (April's sister) and her two beautiful daughters in front. My mom and dad moved in to my childhood home across the street from Debby when I was just born and April was about 9 months old. We were best friends for years and years and now here we are, 30 something years later, all grown up with daughters of our own! It's amazing how that works. What a pretty group of women!

After I took Mama home, I headed over to our friends' Dave and Lauren's house to meet Jay and we chilled there for a while.

On Sunday we had our weekly photo session and that's when she rolled over which I've already documented in pictures. But I'll leave you with this one last picture. Oh how I love her feet!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Epic Working Mother WIN!!!

2011-06-05T13:18:00.001-04:00

One of my biggest fears as a working mom is missing some of those big firsts. But today I got to witness Lily rolling over (tummy to back) for the first time! And she agreed not to tell me if she has in fact done it at grandma's before now. :-D

I was taking Lily's weekly picture and was taking some of her on her tummy to show everyone why we call her Turtle, when she tucked her hip under and rolled over on her back. I started squealing and clapping. She wasn't sure what I was so excited about. It was such a cool moment!

A few minutes later, I put her back on her tummy to get some more pictures and see if she would roll over again, and yet she did!

Are you watching, Mama?

No, really, Mama? Are you watching?

Hehe! Here I go!

Weeee!

TA DA!!!

This working mom is soaking in the milestone glory! Woohoo!!

Revealing a Dirty Little Secret

2011-06-02T09:06:00.000-04:00

Folks, I'm going to to share a dirty little secret with you. One that the baby stores and design websites don't want you to know....

Are you ready...

Having a perfectly designed/decorated nursery is not the be-all-end-all of parenting. It doesn't make you a good parent any more than not having a magazine worthy nursery makes you a bad parent. There... don't you feel better! I spent so much of my pregnancy stressing over her nursery, bedding sets vs. separates vs. making our own. $600 upholstered rocker vs. $90 Ikea Poang. Wall decals and changing tables and cribs and ahhhh! It about drove me bonkers. As my due date arrived, I realized that we were not going to be able to afford the "dream" nursery I had been designing. And I was devastated. To be totally honest, I felt like a failure as a mother and my baby wasn't even here yet. My daughter didn't have any wall decals, in fact her walls were bare other than one painting a friend had done. Her valence was cattywampas and made by her mom. The changing table was discarded by the previous owner of the house with a fresh coat of spray paint which didn't even take evenly. She had no dresser, no glider, no matching rug, no wall shelves for nick nacks and no nick nacks to put on the non-existent shelves. As silly as it sounds, I remember feeling like I was failing my daughter.

Then my beautiful turtle was born. And she didn't even go in her room for the first couple of weeks! We were so sleep deprived that we spent most of the first week in the bed. We used a puppy pad to change her on our bed or on the ottoman in the living room. Since she was eating around the clock we fixed her bottles in the upstairs bathroom and fed her in the bed or downstairs in the living room. While feeding in the living room we realized that our Ikea chair made for a perfect baby chair so we bought another one for the nursery with money my grandparents sent. A few weeks later I realized that I really missed having a foot stool while I fed her, so I found an awesome storage ottoman at Target for hardly anything (and we had a gift card). As time passed I started spending more and more time in her room with her. The simplicity of it felt comforting. As she became more aware I realized that she liked to stare at the valence when I fed her in her room. So, while at the party store looking for supplies for my friend's baby shower, I found some colorful cheap paper lanterns to hang over her changing table and chair. They became her favorite things in the whole wide world and the joy they bring to her far out way any decorative value.

The nesting instinct is strong, and it's important. Over our evolutionary history those mothers who investing time and energy into creating a safe place for their babies to live were more likely to succeed at getting their genes into the next generation. But like everything else in our consumer driven society, we've taken things to an extreme. Yes having a beautiful nursery is wonderful, and looking at the endless design blogs, shows, and stores is fun, but keep in mind that the most important thing is to provide a clean, safe place for your baby to come home to. Everything else is just gravy. And like every.thing.else. baby related, you won't know what you baby really likes until he or she is here. Looking back, I'm actually glad that we didn't complete our nursery until Lily was here because I feel like I've decorated it around things she likes to look at and seeing the joy on her face when she sees the stuff in her room brings me way more satisfaction than I ever would have gotten from posting our finished nursery online for people to admire.

You know I always have to have a disclaimer anytime I state a strong opinion and this post is no different... This is in no way meant to make anyone feel bad about the way they did things when they were pregnant! If you were lucky enough to have the money (or generous friends and family) to furnish and decorate an award winning nursery then YAY for you! Go forth and have fun!! This is meant more for those of us who don't have the cash (or friends and family with cash), it's meant to put their minds at ease that even if you feel like the nursery is the.most.important.thing.in.the.world and your worth as a mother rides on your ability to create a magazine worthy nursery, know that you are not alone and that things will feel very different after the baby comes. Or at least they did for me.

The two most important things I've learned in the 3 whole months I've been a mother...

1) You never know exactly what you need until the baby gets here regardless of how much research you do.

and

2) It's amazing how drastically your perspective can change (for the good) when that amazing little human comes into this world.

Catch Up (Week 14)

2011-06-01T13:37:00.000-04:00

You know those mornings were you get up late and you spend the rest of the day trying to catch up? Well, all of last week felt like that. Since we only determined that the fridge was fixed on Sunday night we didn't have any food in the house and we were too tired to do any major grocery shopping all week. So, each night was spent going, "What do you want for dinner?" "I don't know. You?" "I don't know. You?" For like an hour! And I didn't even get a weekly picture this week. Can you believe it? We had a three day weekend and everything and I didn't get it done. Oh well. She'll forgive me.

I did get a couple of projects done for her nursery this weekend though. I'd seen this idea around the bloggasphear for a while and had been meaning to try it and the three day weekend sounded like the perfect time.

So, Friday after work, on the start of not only the holiday weekend, but the Coca-Cola 600 race weekend, mom and I braved the possibility of race traffic to go to Ikea. Amazingly the place was all but a ghost town. I think people were 1) avoiding that area like the plague because of the race and 2) just getting to their holiday weekend destination so the traffic wasn't that bad yet.

But before I cut a huge swath of the owl fabric I had to special order, I decided to tackle the owl pillow project I'd been wanting to do since... like... December (I'm embarrassed to admit). It's a fairly easy sewing pattern but since I'm so horribly out of practice I was really worried about my ability to do it. Well, my seam ripper got a major workout but I finally got it to a place where I was ok with it. It's not professional by any stretch of the imagination, but Lily LOVES (and I mean LOVES) this thing and that's really the only thing that matters. It made me smile so very much to see her face light up and her little hand start trying to touch it. So... without further delay, here is my slightly cattywampas owl pillow.

So, with the rest of the fabric free for the taking, I cut a large rectangle and hemmed around all four sides. This time I remembered to hem the sides first so that I didn't close up the pouch the curtain rods go through like I did on her valence. Oops. Jay mounted the whole thing to the wall and Ms. Lily is now the proud owner of a book hanging thingy.

I'm going to get some spice racks from Ikea to put her shorter board books in and mount them to the wall behind the chair, but our Ikea was out of them on Friday. :-/ Eventually, I'll spray paint the hangers white/cream to match the rods instead of the silver they are now. But for now, I'm glad to have a place for the books to go instead of just sitting on the parson's table.

Saturday we spent with our friends Dave and Lauren. Lauren's sister was in town so we went out to eat with them and then hung out at their house. We had so much fun and were there so long we had to go get take out for dinner. :-) Their little one is going through the colicky stage that Lily went through so it was nice to be able to give them an extra set of arms to help sooth the baby so they could catch their breath. I know how hard it is when you spend night upon night trying to calm a cranky baby. We also tried to share as many of the tricks we'd learned for calming Lily, keeping in mind that not only is every baby different, but every day is different. What worked for one baby one night, could very well not work the next night for the same baby. They are doing great as parents though and their little one is getting so big already! I can't believe she's over 1 month old already!

Sunday and Monday were pretty low key other than crafting projects. Every weekend I say I'm going to get my house cleaned up and every weekend I choose to do other things. Oh well, my life's motto has always been "A spotless house is a sign of a life not lived!" So, I keep reminding myself that there needs to be balance.

Sunday we did have lunch with my brother, his roommate, and my mom. Lily was styling in her sunglasses!

This weekend coming up is going to be fun! My childhood BFF's daughter's dance recital is Saturday and mom and I are taking Lily. It'll be her first dance performance and I can't wait! I plan to wear her and find an isle seat in the back that way if she starts fussing we can slip out. Knowing her though, she'll do great! I hope everyone is having a great day!

Wordless Wednesdays... What? Is it supposed to do a trick?

2011-06-01T13:32:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday Babycakes! (Week 13)

2011-05-24T09:52:00.000-04:00

This week, Baby Lily turned 3 months old! We had a photo shoot on Sunday and it's amazing to see how she has changed in just 3 short months! And of course you know I have to do some comparisons...

Here she is at about 3 weeks with her friend, Hoot.

And here she is at 13 weeks/3 Months

I mean, WOW!!! And you see her looking up in that first picture? She's flirting with her boyfriend, Frank the Fan. ;-) All this fancy stuff the baby industry tries to say you NEED or you're a bad mother, and what's Lily's most favorite thing? Ceiling fans. Hehe.

She's getting progressively better and better at holding her head and body up. If you prop her up in your hands, she'll sit up just stick straight. It's amazing how she knows to do that. Anyway, I've been wanting to get her a Bumbo seat for a couple of weeks, but we've been trying to save as much money as possible so we can have just a little bit of savings in case of an emergency. So, this weekend we decided to splurge. I knew that Bumbo's were one of those things that could easily be found at consignment stores since they are used for such a short period of time. They are also very easy to clean/sanitize which is one of my criteria for purchasing used stuff. While we were out running errands on Saturday, Jay reminded me that our local Once Upon a Child consignment store was having a sale. You picked a ducky when you got there and it would have a percentage off that you could use for your purchases, up to 25%. So, Jay, being the awesome ducky picker he is, happened to choose one that was 25% off. Score! They just happened to have one Bumbo in stock and it even had the tray which will be awesome as she gets more hand coordination.

Lily loves it!

And it even matches her nursery. Double score! ;-)

Over the weekend, Jay decided to try defrosting the freezer to see if that would fix the fridge problem before we called a repair guy and paid a bunch of money. We'd seen (through a quick run into the Sears Outlet) that a new fridge would run us in the $600 range. OUCH! So, we figured we'd at least give this a shot first. We packed up everything out of the freezer and took it over to my moms house. Then we unplugged the fridge and left it with the doors open all of Saturday. We had to mop up water throughout the day as the ice froze but it wasn't too bad. Then, when it looked like it was nice and ice free, we plugged it in Sunday morning. By Sunday afternoon we were seeing very promising results! I'm happy to say that by Monday morning we officially had a working fridge!! Woohoo! After 2 weeks of living fridge-less, this is an amazing thing.

And on top of that, Jay and I got the stroller out of the back of the car to inspect. We got this stroller on Craiglist months before having Lily. It's a nice brand and an expensive stroller new. The first time we took it out the wheels seemed to gunk up and then proceeded to be a gigantic pain in the ass for the rest of the time. It was acting like those shopping cards with a bum wheel. :-/ We'd been meaning to look at it for weeks, but hadn't gotten around to it yet. Sunday was the day. Jay oiled the wheels and we did some work. Seems like it's only when the handle bar is in the reverse position (so that the baby is looking at you) that it acts up. If the handle bar is in the regular position then it works like a dream. Is it ideal? Nah. But at least we have a working stroller and the reversible handle bar isn't as big of a deal now that Lily is a little bit older. She's really starting to like looking out and taking in her surroundings so I really think she is going to enjoy being in the stroller, and I'm going to enjoy having an option other than wearing her. As much as I love to wear her she is starting to get heavy and since she's more alert and sleeps less during the day, she doesn't want to be pressed up against me as much as she use to. Basically, she's starting to adjust to this new outside world. Here she is in her pimped out ride, and her new styling sunglasses.

We are all looking forward to going for some walks in the afternoons.

So, that was pretty much our week. Have a great day everyone!

And What a Week it Was (Week 12)

2011-05-16T09:12:00.000-04:00

I know I'm behind on a couple of post, but I promise to go back and catch up. Hopefully, those will be my last marathon weekly blogs since I've started blogging more often during the week. Today is Week 12 of Turtle's life. I simultaneously can't believe it's been 12 weeks and at the same time, I can't seem to remember a time when she wasn't a part of our family. Her 3 month birthday is this Saturday and that just seems unfathomable.

I've started taking her weekly pictures a little differently, and hopefully it'll be easier to get more consistent pictures. I really like this new set up and wish I'd been doing it the whole time. To be fair though, I didn't finish crocheting the blanket I'm using as the back drop until about 4 weeks into my maternity leave. And when I started taking the pictures she was just 2 weeks old and I was very sleep deprived! Hehe. Anyway, I'm really happy with the way this week's picture came out so expect to see more like this.

This past week was crazy! With Jay being out of town and the fridge being on the fritz, we were kind of in survival mode. But at the same time, I got the house picked up and some laundry done. I think it was the feeling of being so out of control that prompted the house cleaning. Since I couldn't control any of the other stressers in my life, I could at least get my house under control.

We are trying to save as much money as possible since we blew through most of our savings while I was on unpaid maternity leave. So, we are eating at home as much as possible. This is usually pretty easy, but when you don't have access to any ingredients that need refrigeration, it becomes challenging. (Note: we'll hopefully be getting the fridge fixed this week but until then...) Additionally, you can't just pop left overs in the fridge and stretch something out over multiple nights. So, I went through the things I know how to make that would do well frozen and which used limited amounts of refrigerated ingredients. I decided on spaghetti with meat sauce, vegetable soup, and chili. So, I bought 3 lbs of meat at the grocery store planning to freeze it and thaw it out each night. But then I realized that I could go ahead and cook some of those things to make it easier during the week.

So, I browned up all three lbs of meat. I used one lb of it in the vegetable soup since that takes a while to simmer (and therefore can be a challenge to make in the evenings after work), and once it had cooled off I froze it in two batches. Then I added pasta sauce to another lb and froze that in two batches as well so all we'll have to do is cook up some fresh pasta and thaw out the sauce. The third lb I froze as it was (browned but not incorporated into anything) and will make chili one night since that's pretty easy to throw together.

So, we have 5 nights of meals ready to go which will make eating in this week much easier! AND... because I don't have a fridge at the moment I spent a lot less money at the store because I had to be more conscientious of what I bought. So, not only are we surviving under the no fridge situation, but we are truly thriving! Even after we get the fridge fixed, I think I'll probably keep making and freezing some stuff on the weekends to make life easier during the week.

Saturday, we spent the day at our friends Lauren and Dave's house. We got to hang out with them, their three week old daughter, Zoe, and Dave's mom who is here from the UK for the week. We had such a great time and we decided that anytime we go over there we just need to plan on being there all day because that's always what happens. We got there for lunch around 12:30 and ended up not leaving until about 11pm. Oops. :-) The really nice thing about going over to their house is they have plenty of baby gear so we don't have to bring a bunch of ours. We can use their play mat to keep Turtle entertained, and they have the same high chair we have so baby girl can sit in their while we all eat. We had so much fun and Zoe is growing so much. As much as I loved Lily at that stage (about 3 weeks old), Jay and I decided that we don't envy Dave and Lauren. Even though I didn't want her to grow up when she was that old, the newborn stage is very challenging and we are loving this infant stage that she's in now. Hopefully we'll continue to feel this way instead of lamenting the speed with which she grows up.

Happy Monday everyone! Have a great week!

Happy Friday!

2011-05-13T13:21:00.000-04:00

I don't know about you guys, but I'm super excited that it's Friday! Jay has been working out of town all week, which I didn't want to mention because it's never a good idea to announce on the internet that you're home alone all week. He comes home tonight, and I'm so excited! The first thing I'm going to do, after hugging and kissing him of course, is take a nice LONG shower! Since I've been flying solo with Turtle the whole week, I've been taking these super quick showers in the morning. She's usually very content in the mornings and perfectly willing to hang out in her crib and look at her mobile for a few minutes, but I'm always worried that she's going to start crying the second I soap up.

Also, when I went to eat my cereal on Monday morning I realized that the milk was warm. Yuck! I was hoping that maybe the door hadn't gotten closed completely, but no such luck. Our fridge seems to be on the fritz, and unfortunately, we were really tight on cash this week so we couldn't just call up a repair guy. So, I've been roughing it without a fridge. You never realize how much you use something until it's gone. Everything cook (and I needed to cook in all week because of the cash situation) needed at least one refrigerated item. But we survived. Spaghetti-O's are awesome. I'd forgotten how much I liked them. Probably because I haven't had them since college. I did make spaghetti one night and froze the extra sauce, so last night I made some noodles and defrosted the sauce. That worked out really well. Unfortunately, Turtle decided she was hungry about a half an hour before I expected her to be, right as my noodles were finishing up. Oh well. I just reheated them when I finished with her bottle.

So, it's been a crazy, busy week and I'm so glad it's over. Since my mom watches Turtle all week, I hate to ask her to baby sit for us too, plus she's headed to the mountains tonight to pick up my brother, so Jay and I are planning on a date-night-in tonight. I'm going to get a frozen pizza and some popcorn and we're going to watch 50 First Dates (one of our all time favorite movies) all snuggled in the bed as a family. I might even pick up some of those movie theater sized candy boxes at the grocery store. I've a firm believer that limited resources can make you more creative if you let it.

I hope everyone has had a great week. And I'll leave you with two pics I took this morning to send to Jay.

This is Turtle in her new turtle onesie we found last week at Wal-Mart.

And this one is of her flashing her gang sign for the camera. You have to teach 'em the important things, yo!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Wordless Wednesdays - Yummy Fingers

2011-05-11T09:00:00.002-04:00

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

2011-05-08T18:24:00.000-04:00

Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's in my life, but especially to all my first time mom friends. Can you girls believe how much our lives have changed in just one short year! I don't know about you guys but I can hardly imagine my life before Lily came into it.

For my first Mother's Day gift, Jay got me this awesome necklace off Etsy. It has a turtle (because that's become Lily's nickname), a purple bead for her birthstone (amethyst) and an "L" for Lily (it's backwards in the picture because I used my front camera on my phone and it reverses everything).

We took our Mother's out to lunch at Red Lobster and had such a great time. People are always wanting to coo over Lily but it was so nice because today people would make a point to wish me a Happy First Mother's Day when they found out she was our first.

We got our mothers photo gifts. We got a brag book for Jmom and filled it with pictures of Lily and since my mom already has a brag book, we got her a collage travel mug and I put a picture of her and Lily in it. They were both really excited about their gifts.

When we got home we had a mini photo shoot in the front yard.

Happy Mother's Day everyone!

An Open Letter on Being a Working Mom

2011-05-06T17:05:00.000-04:00

Warning: Massive run-on sentence coming up. English majors (and homeschooling moms), please divert your eyes and hold your judgement! ;-)

Dear Random Acquaintances,

When we run into each other out and about, and we're catching up, and you ask me if I've had to go back to work full time, and you have a "poor you" tone in your voice, and I tell you yes but that's it's actually been really good... don't give me a judgy look like I must not love my daughter. Just because I haven't descended into a debilitating depression over returning to work doesn't mean I don't love my daughter. Just because I'm making the best of a less-than-ideal situation doesn't make me a bad mother.

That is all.

Sincerely,

b

Fortunately, this has only happened to me a couple of times but it's been difficult to deal with none the less. I guess I'm not acting sufficiently upset over leaving my child for some. But as someone who knows debilitating depression and knows how depression can be a slippery slope... I'm freaking ecstatic that my return to work has been as enjoyable as it has. Would I rather be at home with my Turtle all day? You bet your ass! Do I have a choice? No!

It's similar to the breastfeeding thing. I feel like I need to carry around a sign to pull out with my formula canister that says, "Had low supply! Tried everything! I promise!" Thankfully, no one has said anything about it. And I know you're asking, "Who does that sort of thing?" But you'd be surprised how many girls on my message boards have women asking them if they are breastfeeding and then commenting on their answer. And one posted that she thought women who stopped breastfeeding were just weak and lazy. That went over like a turd in a punch bowl (as my dad use to say). And as mad as it made me, it made me even madder that I'd let someone on the Internet get my panties in a wad.

It's infuriating that some people seem to think that a mother should act appropriately sad to have returned to work or have tried a certain amount to breastfeed before trying formula. If they don't feel you have satisfied these then it's fair to judge you. Actually this applies to lots of topics concerning motherhood. It's like mothers are the people that everyone has a right to critique. I don't know. I'm just ranting now. It's been a long week!

But this year for Mother's Day consider giving all the mothers in your life the gift of grace and understanding. On the whole, we are just doing the best job we can. And we're our own worst critics, we don't need anyone else adding fuel to our already self critical fires.

Happy Friday everyone! Have a great weekend!

Thankful Thursday

2011-05-05T10:30:00.000-04:00

Today I am thankful for the million small pleasures that add up to a life worth living.

The smiles and giggles my daughter gives me when she first wakes up in the morning.
The way her head has that indescribably sweet baby head smell.
The fact that my mom comes over to my house every morning to watch Lily so I don't have to pack her up and take her out anywhere.
The way Lily wants to sleep on me in the evenings when I come home from work.
The way my husband kisses us both goodbye before he leaves in the morning.
The way my friends are always just a text away when I need a quick distraction during the work day.
The lazy weekend we have planned in just 2 short days!
The fact that Lily is growing into her 0-3 sized clothes and can now wear some of the super cute things people have bought for her.

Chick-fil-A Sweet Tea
Rediscovering Gaelic Ale from Highland Brewing Co. in Asheville
Oreo Cookies
Celebrating my first Mother's Day on Sunday

What about you?

Almost Wordless Wednesday

2011-05-04T09:57:00.000-04:00

I couldn't post this pic without a quick explination. The blanket was crocheted by one of my mom's college roomates and she made one for Lily's owl, Hoot, too! How cute is that?!?! Also, this picture was to show off the blankets. I don't actually let her sleep in her crib with loose covers like that. Don't want anyone calling CPS on me! Happy Star Wars Day everyone! May the 4th be with you! Hehe!

Welcoming a New Community Member

2011-05-03T08:54:00.000-04:00

This past Saturday, we had a Welcoming Ceremony at the house for Turtle. I've already posted about how I came to decide on hosting a Welcoming here so I won't go into too much detail on that except to say that it was a non-religious ceremony celebrating the addition of Lily to our family.

Since two of my brothers were coming in from Asheville (just to turn back around and drive back, how awesome are they!) and were running a few minutes late, we decided to start the celebration with food. Since we were running very short on cash, I decided to keep everything simple. I had fabric left over from decorating the nursery that I used on the table and I brought down the paper lanterns I hung in the nursery. Since everything was owl themed already I decided to go with it and made fairly simple owl cupcakes. They were a huge hit and just go to prove my point that if you don't have a lot of money it's always better to go simple and dramatic rather then elaborate and run the risk of it looking cheap.

Once everyone arrived we moved out onto the back deck since it was such a beautiful day and the lighting would be much better out there. Our friend Shannon was gracious enough to "officiate" for us.

And started off by asking us what we had decided to name this newest community member.

I said that her first name was Lillian and it meant purity. Her middle name is Louise as is her mother's (me), her grandmother's and her great-grandmother's. It means mighty warrior and I hope it represents the tenacity that flows through the women in our family. Then we passed off the baby to Grandma so that we could renew our vows to each other.

Lily was still the star of the show though which is why we have this picture of her and none of us renewing our vows. Hehe. Look at those chipmunk cheeks!!!

Then we were asked to profess our commitment to raising Lily to follow her own path. And the Grandmother's were asked to do the same.

Then the larger community was asked to commit to bringing their unique perspectives and beliefs to Lily's life so that she might find her own path. Then everyone was asked to bring up the river rock they had been "warming" with their love and blessings during the ceremony, touch it to Lily's heart, offer a blessing over her and place their rock in a bowl of water. I chose rocks so that I could them display them in her room somehow as a constant reminder of all the people who love her.

Shannon then used the water, blessed by her friends and family, to bless Lily.

Mama tried not to cry during the benediction.

And Uncle Levi tried to stay awake. Hehe.

When the ceremony was over everyone wanted their picture made with the guest of honor. My mom's friend Nancy.

Uncle Aaron

Aunt Shannon

Mommy

Three generations of Louise's: Kathy Louise, Bonnie Louise, and Lillian Louise

My mom's college roommates and my extended aunts. They call themselves the Sunshine Girls and I've been going to Sunshine Girl weekends most of my life. Now there is a new little Sunshinelette.

Uncle Dan and Aunt Shannon

And Nona (Jay's mom) and her friend Barbara

Of course there were plenty of pictures of just the Turtle.

This is her humble face. "Adorable? Who me? Nah!"

This is her suspicious face. "Hummmm... I'm not so sure about these people! Tell me they aren't my family!"

This is her starlet face. "Did someone call me? Am I needed for another photo-op?"

It was such a great time and I am so glad we had this little ceremony. But just like Ms. Lily, we were all beat by the end of the day!

Rocket Fart

2011-05-03T08:33:00.000-04:00

The funniest thing happened last night! Jay had just finished changing Turtle while I was folding some of her laundry. He was holding her and bouncing her around her room while talking to her, when he noted that her belly seemed a little extra fluffy. Now we are always joking about her "Formula Belly" but it seemed even extra puffy last night. Having watched too many medical drama tv shows, I asked if it was hard. He gently pushed on it and remarked that yes, it seemed firmer on one side, but it didn't seem tender. My over-anxious, OCD, watches-too-much-Dr.-House-mind immediately went to an intestinal blockage! Oh no! What were we going to do?!!? Should we call the pediatrician? Should we take her to the hospital? Instead Jay just kept pushing on her belly at which point she let out a gigantic rocket fart! I mean, Turtle is know for her farting abilities and regularly makes her uncles proud, but this one was EPIC! I'm really surprised she didn't go flying out of Jay's arms.

The fact that my knows-just-enough-medical-jargon-from-tv diagnosis of intestinal blockage had actually just been a little gas hit me as so funny that I was bent over double in her nursery laughing. And the fact that she broke into the biggest, toothless smile ever didn't help any. It was one of those moments that I knew I had to document because when she's going off to college, and I'm crying over losing my baby, I'm going to want to remember the night she just about rocket farted herself out of her daddy's arms. That and it'll make great black mail material when she starts dating. "Be home by 10pm or I'll tell him the Rocket Farting story!"

Happy Tuesday everyone! Are you taking time to savor the small joys in your life?