Monday, December 31, 2007
'Sup
I'm home safe, just tired and fighting a head cold along with Huz. I'm also gearing up for the inevitable return to work on Thursday. It makes me sad. It makes me cry. I don't know how to schedule Claire so that I can get some decent amount of sleep and then nurse her right before I leave for work. Tell me how to do this, working moms. |Thursday, December 27, 2007
Let It Snow
Hey kids, long time no blog. Sorry, I've been busy running around showing off my kid to every person I know in this state. We're scheduled to leave Colorado today and, of course, it majorly snowing. We'll have to wait and see if our late ass flight (leaves at 8:30p.m. and arrives in Nashvegas at midnight) gets cancelled or not. Either way, please put in a prayer or vibe for safe travels for us. Thanks.The trip home has been really good, but I'd be lying if I told you I'm not worn out from all the running around. Little Claire has been a real sport with all the parties and loud get-togethers we've dragged her too - it's definitely been a change from her first few quiet weeks at home with Mom and Dad. It's amazing to me how much she's grown just on this trip - she's smiling a ton now; when we left Nashville only the celing fan would get a smile here and there. Now she smiles at me and Huz all the time; Grandma and Grandpas are getting smiles, even Aunts are getting some. She's such a doll and I've really been struggling with the fact that I have to return to work full-time in a week from today. I can't help but roll my eyes at all you Canadian bloggers who mourn returning to work after a year. Come on! 9 weeks feels like murder. And I always scoffed at stay-at-home-moms, not that I have a desire to be one, but I'd love to ease my way back into the work force, say working 30 hours a week, instead of just roaring back in at 40 and leaving my sweet little baby while I do it. I'm really hoping (and praying) that my boss lets me work from home on Wednesdays, that way I only have to be apart from her two days in a row, instead of FIVE.
Anyway, back to happier things.
Here some highlights of our trip to Colorado:
1. Our date to Rioja restuarant to celebrate our 13th anniversary.
2. Our date to see Atonement. It was a really good movie that still has me thinking about how small things can sometimes make a big impact on our lives - and sometimes for the worse.
3. Our date to see Juno yesterday. Such a good movie, written by a former stripper, no less. It has great, witty dialogue and keeps things real. Go see it.
4. All of the time my Mom, Dad, step-Dad, sisters, and in-laws got to spend with Claire. It's amazing how much happier people are when there's a baby in the room. I've been told several times by family members that I'm glowing, but I think we all are because Claire brings the best out of all of us. She's just that special.
5. Some funny slips of tongue and conversations.
a. We were visiting with a highschool girlfriend of mine and her husband one night and as I was nursing Claire (under the Hooter Hider, natch), my friend smiles at me and says, "You're such a good Mommy!" I smiled and said, "No, I just pop a cap in her when she cries." The laughter ensued as I got red in the face - I meant to say put a cork in her when she cries. Oops. I guess I'm the one who's a gansta, not Claire!
b. At the movies, I asked Huz to get me a snack as soon as we sat down (I know, I know, it's a cliche that chicks do this and I'm guilty. I know I have legs and can get my own damn snack, but it's a date so he should do it!).
Huz: What do you want?
Me: Not chosen water.
Huz: Okaaay, so what do you want?
Me: Not Chosen Water!
Huz: What.Do.You.Want?
Me: NOT CHOSEN WATER! God!
Huz: What the hell is not chosen water?
Me: I have no idea! I've been saying nachos and water!!!
Us: hahahahahhaha
Hope you all had a great holiday. I've got to feed my hungry baby now.
[Update: we've decided to postpone our trip home until tomorrow night. The snow has been falling all day and the flight before ours was about 3-4 hours delayed. As we're supposed to get in at midnight, a 3-4 hour delay sounds like hell. So, hopefully, the midnight arrival tomorrow night will really be at midnight and no later.] |
Monday, December 17, 2007
Introductions
Internet(s), this is Claire the Polar Bear; isn't she cute?
Claire Bear, this is your Grandma. You met her when you were only three days old, remember?
She and Grandpa, who I don't have a picture of yet (!), babysat you last night so Daddy and I could go out and celebrate our wedding anniversary. It was hard to leave you, but I knew you were in good hands. You were so good for them that you slept most of the time (and were up for us every three hours last night. Ugh. Thanks!). We went to a wonderful restuarant and I actually had TWO drinks, instead of just a quarter pour of wine. It was awesome. Here's a picture of the menu. I had the fig tart for an appetizer and your Daddy had the truffle gnocchi - both of which were delicious! For my entree I had the seared yellowfin and Daddy had the pheasant (he likes innocent birds). In a word? Fantastic.
You also got to meet your Grandpa (my Dad), didn't you? He was so excited to meet you and couldn't stop saying how cute you are!
Then you met your Auntie Quill who is a clown, huh? Her real name is Jaquilline, but she changed it. She said when you grow up you can call her Auntie Q, but pronouce it Auntique. Pretty silly, huh?
You also got to meet your Daddy's parents, Nana and Grandad, as they like to be called. They already have some grand daughters, but you are no less special to them. I think they were surprised at how short you are (like mother, like daughter!).
Then you met my other sister, your Aunt Katie and her boyfriend Steven. They loved you and picked you right up.
You met your great grandma yesterday, but Mommy forgot her camera. Don't worry, we'll be seeing her again on Christmas Day.
Phew! So many people to visit and we've only been here 4 days! But it's important because every one wants to meet you, hold you, kiss you, and tell you how cute you are. And you know what? They're right. You are cute - pretty much the cutest baby EVER! Love you, Claire Bear!
|
Friday, December 14, 2007
Snow
So we're here and it's snowing. It means we're kinda stuck here in the house today and don't get to see anyone, which sucks, but we want Claire Bear to be safe. The flight went well - she fussed a bit when Huz had to go change her in the plane bathroom, but we survived. The plane wasn't filled to capacity and the flight crew was cool and kept the seat next to us open.It's nice to be home, as it always feels like Christmas here with family, snowy mountains, and houses filled with Christmas lights, trees, and goodies. I'm trying to be good on the goodies, though, as I still need to drop 10 pounds. I took Claire on a mile-long walk yesterday with her Grandpa and the doggie, Jake. It was a brisk, sunny day and I had her all bundled up in that polka-dot outfit I showed you earlier and covered head to toe in a sling on my chest. She was snoozing the whole time and I got a work out. Yay me! I'd do it again today, but it's only in the 20s and snowing like mad. Maybe tomorrow.
*Speaking of changing her, we've noticed a lot of differences between cloth diapers and disposable now that we're using the latter for the trip. For one, her butt is SO small now! The clothes we packed her all seem huge because she doesn't have this huge, bulbous butt that the cloth diapers give her. I kind of miss it, actually, because she feels so small and vulnerable now. Plus, I can't say "baby got back" to her anymore. Now I call her Tiny Heiny. Second, disposables make the smell of her BMs SO much more noticeable. Seriously. At home with cloth we don't smell her at all and just change her with every feed; now we smell her as soon as she does it (even pee!) and find ourselves changing her more often. I guess that's not a bad thing, but I prefer the baby smelling like roses! |
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Baby's First Flight
Well, folks. Today's the day. Our friend is picking us up for the airport in a half an hour and we're off for our (hopefully) great adventure with Claire. She seems excited:
We're all packed and it seems like a TON of stuff, even though we tried to be conservative. Good thing we're forgoing gifts this year - I can't imagine stuffing more things into bags. I'll be sure to share the cute pictures of our baby in all of her wintery outfits, like this one:
You'll die when you see the one I tried on her last night. I was in shorts and a t-shirt because it was in the mid-70s yesterday and I bundled her up in a polar bear outfit to see if it fit for the cold Colorado weather. Hilarious.
I was off on my weight guesstimate, by the way. My tiny baby girl is already ELEVEN pounds! The pediatrician said she's "got plenty of goodness" on her - meaning cute baby fat! Oh, the rolls of skin. I'm smitten.
Here's the promised kitchen tiling pictures.
Bye bye ucky ol' linoleum.
Bye bye ol' icky stove.
Hello baseboard.
Hello hot do-it-yourselfer.
Hello awesome new tile and stove!
Happy holidays, everyone! I'll write you from Colorado. |
Monday, December 10, 2007
She Cried and So Did We
Oh my God. Listening to your baby scream in pain upon getting THREE shots in her legs is agonizing and awful. I never want to do that again. Huz and I both cried during it; it was that sad. Poor baby Claire is doing well tonight, no fever as of yet (Dr. didn't think she would from this first round, but we'll keep a close eye on her), and is being given the royal treatment (read: being held and given the boob whenever she wants - of course, this isn't out of the ordinary).Anyway, I just laid her down for a sleep and I'm going to eat a quick anniversary dinner with Huz.
Goodnight. |
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Nasty Microwavable Breakfast
Guys, do yourself a favor and never buy that frozen "entree" I mentioned in my last post. Seriously. I was changing Claire's diaper yesterday and she really scared me when she spit up a bright yellow fluid. "Huz!" I shouted, "Get in here right away!" I had never seen her spit up anything but white milk so this was frightening, to say the least. We looked it up in baby books and searched online and found it mentioned several places to call the pediatrician if your baby spits up green (bile). This was bright yellow, but we put in a call to our pediatrician anyway. Since it was Saturday, we had to leave a message with the message center who was to page him. Luckily we think we figured out what caused the spit up because we never heard from the Dr. (Grr. I'm not sure who to be mad at, him or the messaging center who may have never paged him. I'll have to bring it up tomorrow in Claire's appointment.) We think we figured it out, though, because that lovely breakfast I had earlier in the day contained some very rubbery scrambled eggs which, after looking at the box, contained a fair amount of annatto. I guess yellow eggs are more real looking? Poor baby drank my milk and was like, "oh I don't think so" on the annatto and promptly spit it out. Guess that answers the question about things getting into the milk.Kitchen tiling report: the tile is laid and the grout is down. Now it will dry overnight, we'll mop it, move the fridge back in, wait for the oven to be delivered, and then move all of our stuff back in. I'll take pictures and show you how awesome it is then. Can't wait! |
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Non-Sleep Activity, Etc.
Since having a baby, one who likes to wake up every 2-3 hours for a boob snack, there has been loads of non-sleep activity. Unfortunately it has been of the literal kind - not sleeping. But the other kind that you know I'm referring to has been reconvened. I was more scared than I needed to be; in fact, it was better for me than for Huz. Payback's a bitch, huh hon? Heh, heh.Phew. Every day I feel more and more like myself.
Claire has her Dr. appointment on Monday. Poor baby has to get shots and it's going to suck big time. I'll try my hardest not to punch out the Dr. when he hurts my baby, but I'm not promising anything. Any bets on how much she weighs now? As you recall, she was born (7 weeks ago today) weighing 7 lbs, 4 oz and was 7 lbs, 12 oz at 2 weeks. She hadn't grown in length at her 2 week appointment (from 19 inches), but I'm sure she has now. I'm guessing 9 lbs and maybe 22 inches, but I really have no idea. Anyone? Anyone?
Tiling is going well, but I'm SICK of having my house so messed up and no kitchen. I was so desperate for a hot breakfast this morning that I went to the grocery and actually bought a microwavable breakfast. In a word: nasty. I totally should have just stuck with cereal and toast. Hey, speaking of toast, I bought myself a new toaster. I sure hope this one lasts a while before all of the lights stop working and the timer shuts down, leaving me with blackened toast every morning like my last one. |
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Blood Sugar, Sleep, and Last Times
My blood sugar levels came back perfectly normal, so yippee, I don't have diabetes. I do have to get a follow-up ultrasound on my thyroid, though, to check on the nodule that was found in August. But I'm not worried about it because my thyroid stimulating hormone came back normal. So, that's a relief.Dudes. I must tell you about the coolest thing. Last night Claire slept from her 8:00p.m. feeding all the way to 3:30a.m. Can you believe it!? That was 7 1/2 hours without needing to suck on my chest! That means I slept for SIX hours straight. Ohmygawdyouguys, do you know how great that felt!? Like, majorly awesome. It was probably a fluke and will never happen again, but here's hoping it becomes the new trend.
Here's some random info about me for your voyeuristic pleasure:
Last time I slept without a bra - sometime in March
Last time I slept 8 consecutive hours - October 18th
Last time I had sex - October 19th
Last time I had nothing to worry about other than myself - October 19th
Last time taking a shower wasn't a hurried thing of great pleasure (and, instead, was taken for granted as a mundane thing I did every morning) - October 19th
Last time I thought the sound of loud burps, farts, or poops was disgusting - October 19th (now they're hilarious because they are so very large and loud compared to the body they come out of)
Last time I consistently typed emails and blog posts with two hands - October 19th |
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Disaster Zone
For those of you who know me, you know that I am a neat, organized person who likes order in the home. Without it, when things start getting too messy or piled up, I go kind of nuts until it's clean and uncluttered again. Despite the fact that we have a baby and all of the paraphernalia that go along with them, the house, which has seemed MUCH smaller that when we moved in almost a year ago, has been in pretty good shape. That is, until yesterday. That's when we moved the refrigerator into the dining room and the nasty old oven got moved into the study. Then the catbox moved into the short hallway across from our bedroom, the cat food and water got moved into the living room. Then the nasty old linoleum in the kitchen got torn up and removed. Oh it will all be worth it in about 5 days or so, when a nice, newly-laid tile floor smiles up at us, but for now it's chaos and it's driving me crazy. I can't walk anywhere without turning and twisting to ensure my body fits through the space.Speaking of body, I went to the endocrinologist today to get a follow-up on the gestational diabetes. This involved me fasting, leaving the house at 7:30a.m. (OMG - after only 5 hours of sleep in 3 segments, I felt like hamburger this morning), drinking that nasty glucose crap, and getting my blood drawn twice. I'll find out the results by tomorrow and, hopefully, we've seen the last of diabetes. As I was getting my vitals taken by the nurse before seeing my Doc, I got to step on the nice digital scale they have (very accurate). I was pleased as punch to see that I only have 5 more pounds to loose before returning to my pre-pregnancy weight. Sweet! That means that I've lost 21 pounds in 6 weeks - all from taking neighborhood walks and breastfeeding. Good weight loss program, eh? The only thing that sucks, though, is the Dr. suggested I loose 10 pounds to put my BMI at a safe level for diabetes risk purposes. Damn! Guess I've got a ways to go yet. As soon as I find a sports bra to contain the beasts on my chest formally known as my breasts (that's probably the 10 pounds I need to loose right there!), I'll start working out again. Until then, I think I'll enjoy the holiday treats that are bound to make their way to my plate.
As we prepare for our Colorado trip, I'm starting a list of things to bring for Claire. Hopefully it won't take up too much space, but it looks staggering on paper. Take a look:
1. her 2 swaddler blankets (for sleeping - bringing 2 because 1 inevitably has spit-up on it)
2. nursing cover (natch)
3. burp cloths (for all of the spit-up she produces)
4. diapers (for all that her bottom system produces)
5. wipes (ditto on above)
6. diaper cream (in case she gets a rash from disposables on the trip)
7. wash cloth (for bath time)
8. hooded towel (ditto on above)
9. baby bath gel (ditto on above)
10. nail file (to keep her claws at bay)
11. hair brush (to keep her frizzy baby hair at bay)
12. lotion (to keep her baby soft, especially in the dry Colorado climate - better not forget mine too!)
13. nose bulb thing (to suck out boogers)
14. baby oil (for cradle cap)
15. slings - Baby Bjorn and Ultimate Baby Wrap (to keep her happy and mobile if we go to a store or something)
16. pacifiers - lots (to keep her calm, especially when not nursing on the plane)
17. breast pump and bottles (I've got to build up my supply for when I return to work, so this is vital. I also want the Grandmas and Grandpas to babysit while Huz and I go out one evening to celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary which is this coming Monday)
18. clothes - warm stuff and holiday dresses (they are small and can be washed a lot, so I'll go easy on this)
19. sleep positioner (so she can sleep in a new setting but still be in a familiar, hugged pose)
20. monitors (so we can hear her when she's downstairs in my mom's house)
Wow, huh!? Anything I'm missing? |
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Clothes Horse
I know it's crazy buying more clothes for Claire, who already has more outfits than I do, but I've got an excuse, I swear. For one, she can only wear a limited amount of her clothes right now as most of them are for 3-6 month-olds. Secondly, when Huz and I were at Babies R Us the other day we walked past the cutest kitty outfits and we just had to have one.
Here she is in a crocheted sweater the nurse gave her before we left the hospital.
As we speak, Huz is at Babies R Us (in route to Home Depot for the kitchen tiles) getting her some pants for the cold Colorado winter that we're heading toward in ten days. I'm so excited to go home again for Christmas this year, especially because we've got a beautiful baby to share with our family. Plus, it sure as hell doesn't feel very Christmasy around here, being 58 degrees and all. I'm obviously a bit nervous about the trip, though, since it will be the ultimate outing with Claire. Any travel advice you guys can give this novice parent? |
