Hadley's First Bagpipers

The day my parents came to town last week, we headed downtown to witness some of the St. Patty's Day reverie. Hadley got to ride the light rail for the first time. She was such a good baby all day.


The only part that made me nervous was getting on and off the train. They don't mess around and only keep the door open for about 5 seconds. I am a nervous ninny.



Once we got downtown, we had missed the parade in the morning, but the drunks in their green gear were out in force. We got to McCormick's in downtown Denver just in time to view the bag pipers come through. Click the video below to watch Hadley's reaction.

CONTEST: What the $@*% is this?

And the weiner is...ah hem, I mean the winner is paintrly1! You are correct in saying that it is a picture of the inside of Gibson's ear. In case you forgot what the red haired little guy in the house looks like because I've inundated the blog with baby photos, here he is for reference.

I'm so excited about these comments for a few reasons: 1) 8 comments and only 3 from my family, woo hoo! 2) Marc Acito commenting on my blog is like being touched by celebrity! You may recall I've mentioned him before in the earliest of blog posts. 3) Thanks to the comment about alien vulva, I am reminded of another great blog post I've been wanting to do: what people google to find my blog...coming soon.

Thanks for playing along.


The first person who can tell me what this is a picture of will receive a $10 Starbucks card mailed to their house. The comments are open.

RULES:
One entry per person.
Entries must come through comments on the blog only.
My family ie. the guy that took the picture, his wife, and the man who sleeps in my bed at night are not eligible.
The winning answer will be the closest to what this actually is.

I will reveal the winner this evening.

Another Contest

Get ready, because this Wednesday, we here at Allbeehive are having a little contest. This year, the prize is not a knitted item, but instead, the winner will get a Starbucks gift card for $10. Go crazy, get a pastry AND a drink.

My dad took a picture of something last week, and you will have to guess what it is. This time however, winners will have to come through comments only. Stay tuned!

Practicing Push Ups

Happy Friday. Here's one of the 1,000's of pictures my dad took this past week. I do believe it's my new favorite. It makes me miss her, like I haven't seen her in forever.

Hadley Loves Her Grandpa

The previous evening, before bath time, I brought naked baby downstairs to parade her in front of her grandparents. When my Dad asked to hold her, I warned him that in her naked state she could possibly pee. Sure enough, as my Dad was playing with her and holding her over his head, she started to let him have it. Luckily, he didn't take it to the face, having learned from me when I was 4 months old above his head and peed on him. However, he promptly pushed her towards me, holding her over the rug. Being the practical mom, I covered her tush with my hand which started the sprinkler effect and pushed her back over my father. I mean seriously, I didn't want to get it on the rug or couch. Grandpas are good for that.

Things Grandparents Do

Hadley loves it when Nana reads her stories. She stares intently at all of the pictures.


Nana and Hadley have great conversations.


But when Nana puts this bow on Hadley that she got her for Christmas, Hadley is unsure of how 1983 she looks. The bow was promptly removed when DG came home. "It's burning my eyes, my eyes." It burning MY minds eye.


Here is a much better use of the bow. Now Gibson and Tica look like Chippendales Dancers.


Lap dance anyone?

I Love Me Some Nana and Grandpa

A week ago, when a friend came over, Hadley got the giggles and laughed her head off for several minutes. It's like her funny bone took over and shook her whole body in fits of belly giggles. It is probably the cutest thing I have EVER seen.

For the whole week following, I did everything except stand on my head and sing showtunes to get her to laugh like that again. I blew raspberries on her belly, tickled her feet, danced around singing songs about butts. Nothing. I was her own personal cartoon character. Nothing. A caricature of myself. Nothing. "Am I not as funny as I think I am?" I asked myself? How could this beeee?

Then her grandparents came to town, and one day while her Nana was holding her, David said the word Bazooka to her, which got the giggle factory going. I then followed it up with every B word I could possible think of. Each word, worked her up more and more into an hysterical giggle fit. Bumble Bee, brassiere, Booby, Brown Bunny, Barbara, Bling, Banana...I tried to fit in a few P and D words too, but they did not elicit the same response. I'm hoping to get this on video some day because when you watch it, you won't be able to say you've had a bad day.

What Did you Say?

You are interrupting my reading of Fuzzy Bee why?

To tell me that I have bears on my feet?

Oooh, Nana and Grandpa are coming again? Yippee!

A Non-Baby Post?!?!

A few months ago, DG transferred all of my music from the laptop to my computer so that I could finally have access to all of it. Now I can scroll through my 2,620 songs and listen to the same 25 every day.

But this post isn't about how I love having easy access to my iTunes, it's about the precious $13 I spent the other night at the iTunes store. If you remember how much I loved "bringing sexy back", then you won't be suprised by my new purchase "What Goes Around Comes Around" by Justin Timberlake. I don't love him so much I want to marry him or anything, but this tune that I heard in my 5 minute drive to the grocery store last night is yummy. I also bought two tunes from Rihanna, but I'm too embarrassed to talk about those.

And finally, my big purchase was the soundtrack from the film Once. I saw this movie in the theaters with my friend Molly when I was pregnant. We both loved it, but it wasn't until I saw Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova perform and win the Academy Award for the song "Falling Slowly" that I had to have it. Glen is lead singer for a band called The Frames from Ireland. Years ago, I saw the Frames open up for Damien Rice in Boulder. Usually I'm very ho hum about opening acts, wanting them to finish fast to see the main show. However he had me at the first note. Every word he sings is so backed by an inner passion that it's a marvel to watch. So that's my big plug for the day, all things Glen Hansard.

Big Girl

Last Friday night, Hadley slept for the first time in her room. She was ready, I was not. *sniff*

Having her sleep more than 2 feet away from me, started a new round of my recurring nightmare where I'm convinced that she is suffocating in our heavy down comforter. I had this nightmare several times a night for the first month and a half she was home. Then the dream tapered off to only one night a week. Friday night I was up three times, turning the light on, looking for her in the bed sheets. DG rarely wakes up, but when he does, he usually laughs and tells me that she is ok and that she is sleeping in her bassinet. No matter how hard and long I stare at her, I'm still convinced she needs to be saved from the sheets. Apparently she wasn't the only one in the sheets the other night, as DG swore I was looking for Simon le Bon as well.

How to Design a Baby's Room

I would like to preface this post by saying that I did not just magically come up with these ideas of my own. It was my friend Cynthia's expertise, knowledge and ability to strategically pack as many dishes in the dishwasher as possible that helped advise me on the lay out of the baby's room.

LAY OUT
Step One:
In colder climates, make sure the crib is not positioned on an outside wall. This will help alleviate drafts from windows and cold uninsulated walls.


Step Two:
Place the diaper changer in an area with lots of natural light. During the day, light is important to see if you accurately cleaned all the poop out of crevices. As seen here, the natural light comes through the window during the day. Because we are both right handed, the baby's head is on the left side of the changer and her feet on the right side. At night, the light on the nearby dresser is in a crucial position to shine in the direction of the bum.



Step Three:
Have all supplies near the diaper changer available within hands reach. Use bins or if needed, put a shelf on the wall above you. As seen in this picture, the wipe warmer is on a shelf on the right side. The diapers are stored in a bin on the first shelf on the right side and God's gift to parents, the Diaper Champ is on the right side for easy diaper disposal.



Step Four:
If you are right handed, place the laundry basket on the left side of the diaper changer. I love this particular laundry basket as it has a mesh insert to put all the soiled pieces in. This helps twofold so that the lovely pink shell doesn't get messy and it is easy to just grab the bag and carry it down to the laundry machine.

Step Five:
If you have a diaper changer, make sure to utilize all of the storage space for the baby's toiletries. In the 6 bins, I have diapers, felt pads, extra changing pads, rattles, bath items, hats, toys, and thermometers etc.

Accessories:

Dresser: When DG moved in, he had this dresser that I begged him to toss. He put his foot down, and we stored it for 3 years in the garage. Thank goodness! This is great to hold all of the onsies, pajamas, socks, shoes, and outfits that we received as hand-me-downs. It has helped me to separate out all of the sizes; newborn, 0-3 mos., 3-6 mos. and 6-9 mos. etc.

Rocker: A rocker is a luxury to have, but I do not feel that it is a necessity. And what I mean by this is don't spend $700 on a rocker. We got this one on sale at Sears for $90. Score!

Rug: We were lucky enough to get a green hand-me-down children's rug from Cynthia. It definitely adds to the coziness of the room. But there are also colorful inexpensive options from Flor.

Color: My favorite color is apple green. See wedding photos. I wanted to incorporate color (green and pink) into the room through art, objects, and bedding instead of painting the walls. It started with the Tryptich Craft Project, then I bought the bee pictures at TJ Maxx, the green lamp shade was on sale for $10 at Pottery Barn Kids, and my Aunt Susan made a gorgeous framed cross stitch with Hadley's name and birth date on it (above the book case). Finally, the whipped cream and cherry on top are the curtains that my Mom, the seamstress put together from fabric and ribbons I found.

The whole room, including the crib, diaper changer, art, and curtains were done for under $500. Apparently I've watched too many DIY shows.

My Birth Story - Part VI

And now for the final installment you've all been waiting for. What will you do with your time once Hadley has been born? Well you could come over and change a few diapers.

7:30am - The Doctor watched the monitor and told me that we were ready to push. I looked at everyone incredulous because I did not feel ready to push. I also felt under prepared. Libby held back my left leg and DG held back my right leg. I was instructed to keep both hands under my thighs, take a deep breath, press my chin to my chest and push 3 times for each contraction. I think at this point we started joking about the movie "Knocked Up".

7:33am - My favorite Decemberists song, The Island started. It is 12 minutes long and brought us through the entire birth.

Here I am ready to push. This picture was taken at 7:34.



7:35am - I'm not sure where the time went. Each time I pushed I got cheers of encouragement. It was like being at a sporting event with a giddy crowd and spirit building cheerleaders.

7:38am - I asked if anyone had a mirror because I suddenly wanted to see the carnage south of the border. There was no mirror, however the doctor told me to reach down and feel the top of her fuzzy head. I will never forget that moment. As I felt around, I also realized that it was probably best that we did not have a mirror.

7:42am - I think we went through 5 contractions total before Hadley came out. It felt like I only pushed a couple of times. In the beginning, the Doctor was telling me when to push, however after a few contractions, my body took over and I told him, “Here it goes, I’m pushing now.” Hadley came out eyes wide open, blinking. The NICU nurses grabbed her immediately and it felt like forever before I heard her cry for the first time.



As I watched her get cleaned on a table next to me, the doctor started pushing on my stomach to get the placenta out. He told me that I had torn a little, but it wasn't too bad and I only needed two stitches. He also said that my rear was quite swollen. I didn't care, I just wanted to hold my baby. I have no recollection of getting the stitches.

7:45am - All phones started ringing off the hook. It's as if everyone was awake, on their way to work and wanting to know if we had a baby.

7:50am - The doctor brought a big bloody bucket over and showed me my placenta and umbilical cord. It reminded me of that time at Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts that the lucky crowd got to watch a cow give birth followed by the cow eating her after birth. Barf. I did not have the same desire.



7:51am At last, she's mine, FOREVER.



I just noticed in the picture above that you can see my bra strap and cup hanging out around my arm. This is a true life story.

Karaoke

I bet you are wondering why I've called you all here.

Seriously, I have something really funny to tell you.

Last night mom and dad found Karaoke on Demand. We danced around laughing and singing. Mom was doing her classic Michael Jackson dance and singing Beat It, while Dad used me as his air guitar. I believe there was also some 3 Doors Down and Christopher Cross. It was great fun. It was such a good time that I did not want to go to bed until the wee hours of the morning. Next time, I want to sing "Sweet Child of Mine" by Guns N Roses.