A Dog is a Girl's Best Friend

Leg room was getting cramped.


So we needed to upgrade. A girl needs to stretch out.

This photo needs a name. I was thinking the Birth of Wiener, a play on the Birth of Venus by Botticelli. Ideas?

Now the dogs can babysit all the time.

You Know You're a Mom When

You pick a booger out of your baby's nose and wipe it on your own shirt. And I'm already digging around up there when I see a bat in the cave. I don't even think it's gross. Who am I? Someone get me a martini, a Kate Spade bag, and cash for a cab ride home.

Two Months Old

Hadley turned two months old on Sunday. She smiles, has started to coo, follows us with her eyes, looks at us with recognition, watches my mouth when I speak to her and has started asking for the keys to the car. Which one of these things does not belong? Here she is, bundled up in various shades of pastel, looking like an easter basket, ready to go for a walk around the block in her stroller. She's just now starting to fit into 0-3 month clothes. As seen, this fleece jacket may be a little big, but will be perfect in spring.

Today she had her two month check-up which comes with the first round of shots. Two in each thigh and one orally. She's very healthy weighing in at 9lbs. 10 oz. and 22.5" long. I would also like to say that Little Miss "I had a big head in utero" is now in the 20 percentile for head size which means that out of 100 babies her age, 80 have a bigger head than hers.

I had no idea how emotional I would get when she was hysterical getting the shots. It's not like she sees needles and knows that she hates them. Her pain is my pain. Luckily the nurse was fast and I got her calmed down easily with a few rounds of Do-Re-Mi, her favorite song. Next to Like a Virgin of course.

I'm twittering.

Check me out. DG introduced it to me last summer but I was against it at the time, thinking it was a passing fad. However, I have caved and am trying it out now as it has not just gone the way of cassette tapes. Technically, it is just a real time diary of what I am doing, up to the minute. If you had been online the night I gave birth, DG was giving updates to his twitter from our hospital room.

So just in case you wanted to know exactly when Hadley gets her diaper changed or what I ate for breakfast, I'm here for you. This is a great tool for stalkers too. It shows the mundane yet intimate details of day to day life, like we were cuddled up having a romantic candle light dinner, just you and me.

NEW: I've also opened comments on the blog up to everyone, not just blogger user.

Lullaby and Goodnight

DG and I each have our different techniques to get Hadley to go to sleep. During December, we sang Christmas carols to her. White Christmas and Let it Snow were the two main ones that DG sang to her in utero. When my mother was here, she pulled out the church hymns, singing to her in a soothing alto. Usually, two hymns was all it took. Beginning in January, when I banned Christmas songs from the house until next Thanksgiving, we struggled to find songs that we knew all the words.

On one particularly tough evening at 3am, I found myself singing an old College Favorite, Sir Mix A Lot's "Baby's Got Back". Within 10 minutes, I was able to say "Baby's Got Sleep". When she starts screaming in the car, DG and I break into "Hard Day's Night" by the Beatles. On other occasions I've pulled out a few hits from Wham! and show tunes from Oklahoma. Just yesterday, I sang half of Abbey Road to her. Why these songs? Who knows?!?!

So I wasn't suprised when one night I found DG singing to her in a soft whisper, Madonna's "Like a Virgin". It's his signature song that he now uses to get her to sleep. Well that and "Lucky Star". Sometimes we duet. Well I'm just the back up singer really.

Babies and Dogs go together like salt and pepper

Lest you think that we've taken the dogs out to a farm so that they can live and run free barking until the end of their days, here is a picture to let you know that they are just fine and dandy. Though it has been a long road to haul. During week 1, I was convinced that Tica thought Hadley was a squeaker toy that she couldn't wait to get her hands on. Now Tica just wants to get her hands on dirty diapers to shred. *gross* I'm sure we will have plenty of grody diaper chew toy stories on another day.

Gibson doesn't want much to do with Hadley, except lick her. And we all know that as cute as he is, we do not accept kisses from Mr. Gibson. No way, no how.

Fireworks

It was 10:15pm last night, Hadley had just woken up from a nap, eaten, and was wide awake while we wanted to go to bed. She was laughing and smiling so DG got out and took some video. Of course the minute he started taping, she stopped smiling and it looked like she started straining a bit. And no, we are not making these noises ourselves.

10,000 Steps a Day

In the "Why am I not losing any weight while I am breast feeding?" category, I've started to wear a pedometer around the house.

I asked for it for Christmas to see how sedentary I really am. Well I've been wearing it for 3 hours now and I've only gone 627 steps. This included the jumping jacks and running up and down the stairs that I did to get it started.

This means I'm going to have to go out for a walk today. But it's cooold out there. Can't I just run in place in front of the tv or something?

Smiling Baby

After I eat, I am happy.


I love to play and oh, I think a dog is about to lick me.


My mom tells me these really funny jokes. The dirtier the better. Have you heard the one about the soiled diaper?


Then I fall asleep in a milk induced coma.

Damn You Infomercials

One of my downfalls of being up at all hours in the middle of the night is trying to find something on tv that makes the time go by faster. I have 4 channels that I surf to find movies that are playing, and on a bad night I'll watch boring CNN. As I was scrolling the other night, I came across the dreaded exercise DVD infomercial. I'm sure the channels are inundated with weight loss products right now, but this one I had to have.

When I started working at home and gave up my gym membership, I started doing some workouts from FitTV. My favorite one was from Chalene Johnson called Turbo Jam. It is a great all over body workout. Well lo and behold there are videos, diet outlines, and hand weights behind the brand as well. I've never been an exercise video person before, preferring the action of live classes, but being cooped up this winter and not being able to leave the house much, I've started to make excuses for why I need this product.

As I was telling DG about it the next day, he informed me that he had also seen an infomercial for a bionic air purifier that we needed.

We are suckers. Until I lose these 25 lbs. working out in front of the tv, and then we will be informed consumers.

Six weeks Postpartum

I don't think that I have gone so long without posting since our Honeymoon. I have so many things that I want to blog about, but am having a hard time getting them logged in. I've got too much to say to type with one finger. Here is a quick week in review.

As of Tuesday, Hadley was 8lbs 7 oz. I keep wondering why my upper body is aching. I'm going to start using her to do some bicep curls as I was given the green light to exercise this week after my six week checkup. I would like to try and lose this extra 25lbs I've managed to pack on. I don't even fit into my fat girl clothes that I've saved. *hrumph* I have one pair of jeans that I squeeze myself into these days and am completely distraught when Hadley poops all over them. It was a big step for me to put away the maternity jeans a week ago. I actually have to button and zip now. I guess this is ok as I have more control over my bladder now than I did when I was pregnant. I can actually sneeze without running to the bathroom. It's the small things.

Also, according to the doctor, I have heeled nicely. Though he did joke that he gave me the Honeymoon stitch. DG swears he didn't pay him for this. *ouch*

In other news, I went out a few weeks ago and bought a pump. Mostly I wanted DG to be a part of the feeding experience and to alleviate me of one of the nightly feedings. It's been really helpful. Sometimes I actually get three hours of sleep at a time.

We are working on taking more pictures this week-end as we are getting scolding letters wanting more. Hadley's fan club can be very demanding.

The Trifecta

Last night, at 1:30 a.m. I was not wearing any pants, I had a baby attached to my boob with just a diaper on, and I was trying to stay awake by watching the X Files. Suddenly, I felt moisture running down my belly. After a few seconds of trying to figure out what was happening, I realized baby girl's diaper was full or on wrong or whatever. Quickly, I ran her to the changing table and as my nipple flew out of her mouth I sprayed her in the eye with milk. See, two can play at this game. After scrubbing us both down with wipes, I settled back down on the couch to finish our nightly snack. Suddenly, it felt like a freight train had run over my leg. Yes, someone (not me) has filled their diaper. *crap* literally. I headed back to the diaper changer, got her cleaned up and as we settled down again, projectile spit up came out of nowhere and covered my legs. It's like winning the trifecta of bodily fluids.

Pabst Blue Ribbon Booties?!?!

At the beginning of my pregnancy, I learned that for the past 36 years, my mother had saved some of my baby clothes and blankets, mainly just memorable items that had been hand-made for me by my Nana and Great Aunt. *aw special* When my Dad was telling me about how many times he has had to move all of this stuff and that I better want all of it, I asked what was included. This is when he informed me that there was a pair Pabst Blue Ribbon Baby Booties. Excuse me? Say that again? I believe there was loud guffawing followed by incessant mocking and then a "Hell Yeah I want those. They are an antique".

First I have to question what made Pabst Blue Ribbon think that a baby should wear a beer logo? Second, why my mom would let me wear a beer logo as a child, especially since she doesn't drink beer? And Third, who picked these up in a store and said "this is the perfect accessory for my newborn"? These booties put the K in Klassy.

My mother is a bit horrified at the thought of me mocking her for saving these for so long. She swears to a loss of memory over it. But I think it's just so fun. Because honestly when you think of babies, don't you think of beer? In fact, I could use a couple of beers right now. In her defense, I'm sure they were hand-me-downs that fell into the "save" pile instead of the trash can. Therefore, I as well will be saving them...for my brother's first child. After all, every baby needs a beer logo. Now if I can just find that Absolute Vodka onesie I've been dying to have.