i live in a christmas village

check it out!

 

jealous?

and in case you were wondering about it, read this and this. 

ps- i totally miss that apartment.

back from thanksgiving

hopefully soon i will get my act together.  despite my good intentions to be very productive today, i am even more lazy than my usual self and although i've been awake for almost nine hours, all i've managed is laying in bed and stuffing my face with fudge and english toffee.

while i was home for thanksgiving, my only brother walter asked me what i do with myself all day now that i stay home instead of going to work.  well, i answered him as honestly as i could.  and the real answer was.... a whole lot of nothing.  most all of my day is spent laying in bed, wasting my time online and stuffing my face with sugar.  so in the name of trying to be a better person here are a few things i hope to accomplish before the day is up.

shower, dishes, eat real food, unpack, go on a walk, catch up on love journal, write a short entry in my personal journal, and make notes to write a real entry in baby's journal tomorrow.

i'll be lucky if i get even three of these things done.  but try to have faith and wish me luck anyways!

ps- our trip was great. 

i forgot to mention

i probably won't be blogging too much this week.  we are all just having a blast in atlanta.  the flight was super easy and baby didn't cry a single bit and we celebrated my birthday and we ate milkyway ice cream and my neice still loves me to death because i have a baby, and tomorrow honey and baby and i are going to go to touristy atlanta sites and hopefully take lots of cheesy pictures. 

so, have a fabulous week! 

i sure do love you all.

my head hurts

honey set up our christmas village on saturday.  i am absolutely loving it.

i've had a headache all day today and i really don't feel like writing anything.  but it reminds me of what my dad said one time that every day he tries to do at least one thing that he doesn't want to do.  i think it's good for you.

i made bacon egg and cheese biscuits for dinner tonight and they were superb.  honey told me thanks but that he would like to eat his bacon, cheese eggs, and biscuits separately.  he spared my feelings but honestly it just reiterates why i don't cook for him.

tomorrow is my birthday.  i'm turning 25.  if i was on the east coast it would already be my birthday.  maybe i'm actually already 25 since i was born on the east coast.  y'know what?  doesn't even matter.

i started a load of laundry this afternoon only to open up the cabinet and find that the laundry detergent i bought is actually fabric softener.  it was labeled in 4 point font i swear.  so thank goodness for my amazing mother.  when she came in town before, she brought a few of those laundry detergent sheets.  well, they've been sitting in my cabinet ever since and today they are the reason i have a load of clean whites.  ask me if ever in my life i have used fabric softener.  i have not.  never.  not even once.  i don't believe in fabric softener and i don't believe in dryer sheets.  i will need to return this to walmart and buy some detergent.  i have zero use for 105 loads worth of fabric softener.  it smells weird anyways.

did i mention my head hurts?  i've had a headache all day and i'm so sick of it.  and i can't get full no matter how much i stuff my face.  the mango i bought didn't taste good.  and i finished an entire bag of candy corn by myself and was sad when i threw out the bag and realized i have no more candy corn or mellowcreme pumpkins.  it's a very sad day.

i have such anxiety about our trip tomorrow.  i'm not afraid of planes and i'm insanely excited for this trip, but for some reason i always get anxious before trips.  and apparently traveling with a baby heightens that for me.  great.

i hate packing.  like i really really despise it.  when i went to georgia last month, i was nervous i would forget stuff... especially nervous because i was flying with my kid for the first time... alone.  so i started packing a day or two in advance instead of the usual 15 minutes.  well, let me give you a list of the things i forgot.  phone charger, G's... tops and bottoms, extra bra, nursing pads, a slip, a jacket, and a few other things i can't even remember right now.  i also only packed two pairs of shoes... neither appropriate for walking around a farm... which is where we spent the entire weekend.  the trip was 72 hours and i did a lot of laundry.  and borrowing.

my head hurts and i'm hungry.  i'm in the mood for some painkillers and someone else's cooking.  

my kid cries so much more these days.  every day i can count on her crying for at least 10 or 15 minutes.  she cried twice... one minute each time... during the first four weeks of her life.  i'm not gonna do the math but that's a steep increase.  

i need new clothes.  i'm wearing the same clothes i've worn since i was a teenager.  maybe if i was more stylish people would want to be my friend?  people around here are too trendy.  it's intimidating.

i'm getting my hair cut on monday.  or tuesday.  it's so long i think i might die.  i want to pull it out but then again i have baby girl for that.  fifty million times a day.  with her sweaty slobbery perma-grip.  

i'm doing such a terrible job at keeping up with baby's milestones.  baby recently found her feet.  we're not in the feet in mouth stage but we are in the feet in hands and hands in mouth stage.  she doesn't suck on her fingers really, she just licks them and chews on them and lets them hang out with her tongue.  all. the. time.  monday afternoon baby started occasionally sucking on her bottom lip.  she does it when she's going to sleep mostly but sometimes before she eats.  i really hope she's not teething.  google didn't have much to say on the subject but what it did say kind of related to teething.  and i did not like that.

i painted my toes yesterday and i've already had to touch them up three times.  what is it about my attention span that doesn't let me remember my polish is still wet?  don't answer that.  is toenail polish spelled the same way as polish people from poland?  i've never noticed that before.  

oh yeah, biggest milestone from this week.  baby started playing with the toys on her jumper instead of just jumping.  she mostly just grabs them but she is really intent on it.  huge developmental breakthrough.  do i sound like i took a few too many child psych classes?  oh, and she started watching me eat.  but i will NOT be starting her on solids before she turns six months.  i am NOT looking forward to anything other than nursing.  i am in love with nursing my baby.  IN. LOVE.

i think i sleep better when i write these posts.  i can empty my head out and not have such crazy dreams.  i totally thought the crazy dreams would go away when i was no longer pregnant.  but sadly, like my pregnancy new found love of sweets, the dreams have stuck.  favorite bizarre dream of this week.  baby went from babbling how she does now to speaking full sentences.  full sentences that involve reason and logic.  yesterday i was talking to baby and when i asked her a question, i actually waited for her to answer.  i seriously feel like she understands everything i'm saying.  but maybe i just need to get out more.

baby's number one sign that she's done eating is that she looks me in the eye and talks my head off.  and the longer i ignore her and try to force feed her, the louder she gets.  it's tons of fun.  i wonder if she thinks i understand everything she's saying too.  i wish i did.

wednesday was my last day of watching henry.  his mom quit her job.  sad day for baby and me but maybe we'll coordinate some play dates or swap babysitting.  baby needs some peers.

okay.  i need to go to bed.  my kid has been waking up during the six o'clock hour lately.  i'm not a fan.

ps- it just turned midnight.  happy birthday to me!  i'm 25!

i love this picture. i think with baby vision this is probably what she sees when she looks out the window. kinda gives me a headache though.  liza, doesn't she have nice ear parts?

totally content

y'know how all the nice moms have cool swings and jumpers set up in their bathroom so their kid can really live life to the fullest while waiting for their mom to straighten her hair and put on makeup?

i'm not one of those moms.  this is what my kid does while she waits for me to get ready.  and let me tell you, she loves it.

looks fun huh?

ps- i made her stay awake for FIVE hours straight tonight while i went to the relief society activity and shopping at safeway.  yup.  5:45 to 10:45 pm and she was FANTASTIC.  if nothing else, i can sure claim my kid to be tolerant of my selfish parenting.  i love it.

4 month appointment

remember baby's 2 month appointment?  well, don't worry, this one went better.  i still think there's a little something off about the doctor's hair, voice, and face but whatever, i'm trying to get over that.

everything started off same as before.  white shirts and bow-ties in the parking deck, super friendly nurse alvin, y'know...  i'd been having anxiety about this appointment for a week, not wanting the doctor to reprimand me for having a super skinny baby.  well, i was really relieved when alvin weighed baby girl and the scales showed that she'd at least broken 12 lbs.  but, still nervous because it's not hard to see that she's really skinny... regardless of how much she weighs.  and alvin gave me her percentiles and she was STILL dropping.  great.

so the doctor came in with five- count them- FIVE charts to show me how my baby stacked up to all the other babies out there.  here are pictures of the charts... because i'm a visual learner.  and because i don't feel like typing all that out.

those X's down below the lines at the bottom of the paper?  those are my kid.  the doctor went through all the charts one by one explaining them to me in detail.  she got to the end and gave me that look (same as last time when she told me my kid was too skinny because her percentiles were falling) and she said "y'know... i'm not worried about her at all!  i think she's just a really lean baby and that's just how she'll be."  HALLELUJAH!   and then we became best friends.  i even forgave her, in my head, for not believing me at the last appointment when i said those very words to her.  and she was impressed with how much baby girl eats and said she's developing great and blah blah blah.  so FABULOUS, i don't know why i needed the doctor's approval on my child's scrawniness, but now that i have it i just feel much better about life.

and because i'm sure you're just DYING to know the specifics...

11.15.10 - 4 month appointment

12 lbs 2 ounces  19%

25.5 inches  91%

hc 39.6 cm  15%

so she's 2 lbs, 2 inches, and 2 cm bigger than she was 2 months ago.  is there a name for that?  alliteration with numbers?

and speaking of numbers, my beef is 80/20 and my kid is 91/19.  just thought you should know...

anyways...

with a bmi in the bottom 3%, tyra, i've got america's next top model for you...

or maybe not.

you're never too young to skype

ps- that's the bald spot henry couldn't get enough of.

monopoly puts me in a bad mood

baby turned 4 months old today!  when i'm in a better mood i'll write about her four month appointment.  y'know how all of the cute moms dress their kid up and then put those numbered stickers on them and have a full out photo shoot every month?  well, i don't do that. 

i took one picture of my kid today and this was it.

it was the text i sent to honey explaining why baby and i would not be joining him for the stanford basketball game tonight.  this is what happens when my baby is awake for two straight hours.  NOT a happy camper.  though as soon as i swaddled her and layed her in her crib she was asleep within 60 seconds.  literally.

she needs her beauty sleep.

baby product review - part one

i've been working on this a while.  mostly for me, also for a couple of my favorite friends who are currently pregnant and favorite friends that i know will be pregnant some day.  this is only a list of what i found to be most helpful to me.  that's all.  everyone's experiences are different.


mayo clinic guide to healthy pregnancy
a friend from church let me borrow this book.  i felt like i could trust it more than the regular "what to expect when you're expecting" book or anything i found online.  i wish i'd had it when i was very first pregnant because it has pictures of the exact size of your kid at 4 weeks (looks like a tiny speck) and so on.  it was medical but user friendly too.  and it has stuff in the back that is like newborn 101 information and decision guides for things like carseats, slings, cribs, breastfeeding vs. formula, going back to work, etc.

the girlfriends' guide to pregnancy
this book is funny and honest.  it tells you stuff that you need to know but that other pregnancy books don't bother to tell you (like the mass amount of skin left over after your stomach deflates) and what to expect in the hospital and a bunch of other things i don't remember.  i didn't read it start to finish but i know i read parts of it twice.  i found it on a bookshelf at work and i read it during nap time.  non-medically, this is by far the most helpful pregnancy book i read.

this one post by the OMG mom
this post is gross and graphic and might include profanity but i found it to be 100% by far the most accurate and informative information i have read on the subject of recovering from childbirth.  so that being said, i would only recommend this to you if you are in the category of "already pregnant but not yet delivered first time mom."

jenny mc carthy's belly laughs
remember my thrifty cousin marianne?  she's so wonderful.  she sent me a big box of baby stuff and this book was in it.  after i looked at all of the wonderful contents of the book, i sat down on the sofa and read this book start to finish.  it's quick and funny and yes, very honest.  although maybe it's slightly exaggerated at times but who knows?  everyone's pregnancy experience is different.  not a necessity, but it is good for some laughs.

bella band
i totally didn't think i would use this but i borrowed it (along with two giant bins of maternity clothes) from the mom i worked for and i used it all. the. time.  i don't know what colors it comes in but this one was black (i never used her tan colored one).  towards the end of my pregnancy i couldn't find a single shirt that was long enough to cover it so i just worked with it and made it look like an undershirt.  i'm sure at least a few people wondered why i was layering every single maternity top with a black undershirt but it was either that, or wear a sheet.  i was BIG.  this also explains why maternity pants weren't my best friend.  aside from it being impossible to find flattering pants that were long enough, it just seemed like you could always spot that they weren't real jeans.  and mine were stiff and scratchy.  and they wouldn't even stay up until i was really big.  but then by that point all of my shirts were getting short enough that you could see the blue elastic band.  so yeah, the bella band helped the transition from being able to button your pants to not even  being able to budge the zipper.  downside of the bella band?  it depends on you being able to cram your pregnant thighs and hips into your cute pre-pregnancy jeans.

don't turn anything down
(i know this is advice and not a product but it's my blog and i can do what i want).  i can count on one hand the number of maternity items i purchased.  g tops, 2 pairs of maternity jeans (only ever wore one), and actually i think that's it.  i also bought three shirts from walmart to wear but none of them were maternity.  i borrowed clothes from someone in my ward, my generous non-blogging sister (i was really sad to give back her little black dress), and the mom i nannied for.  i also got some free clothes from a relief society clothing swap and the giveaway bin in my old apartment building.  and i made a lot of my non maternity stuff work too.  don't turn anything down because stuff will fit you differently than you think and it might end up looking pretty cute!

babywise
my blogging sister's friend posted one time about how her kid started sleeping through the night at five or six weeks.  when i was looking for good books, i remembered that and made sure to ask her for recommendations.  she said she used babywise and this website.  so i read it and applied it and i won't make you jealous with the details, but i will say that i have gotten more sleep since baby was born than what i've gotten in the past 15 or so years of my life.  i wake my kid up all the time just because i miss her and i want to play with her.  THAT is how much she sleeps.  i realize this could change this very second but i think it was worth the $10 or whatever it cost.  BUT i will say that while i have heard tons of babywise success stories i've also heard from a lot of my friends that say it just didn't work for them and their kids.  it's a very controversial book and it's not very user friendly in my opinion, which is why i relied heavily on the website.  baby girl never fit into the mold so while i use the concepts of babywise, i follow it pretty loosely.  either way, i found it to be extremely helpful for me.

itzbeen timer
i had never heard of this until my wonderful visiting teacher, greta, gave this to me at my baby shower.  you can click the link for a detailed description but basically it's a stop watch times four.  it helps you keep track of how long it's been since you fed, diapered, and put your kid to sleep.  and it helps you keep track of what side you fed from last and it's got a nightlight as well.  i think it costs about $20 but i can honestly say it was worth it's weight in gold.  you think you'd be able to remember that stuff but you can't because it's happening so many times every single day.  and some people will tell you "you don't need a timer, your kid will let you know when its hungry, tired, got a wet/dirty diaper, etc." but my kid didn't do a single one of those things.  she was totally content to sleep, stay awake, sit in poop, and go without food for hours and hours on end.  so while this may not be crucial for everyone, it definitely was for me.  AND i even used it to time my contractions when i was in labor since it was like four stop watches and who really wants to watch the seconds tick by when you're in the middle of a contraction?!?!  not me!

bravado nursing bra
my non-blogging sister lectured me about everything under the moon when i was pregnant.  that's what big sisters do.  they watch out for you and take care of you and try to prep you with all the things you need to know about having a baby.  the very best thing she told me was to not go cheap on a nursing bra.  i think i ignored her the first 85 times she told me this.  she finally sent me a check for $50 (see how great she is?) and told me it had to be spent on ONE good quality nursing bra.  i wasn't allowed to use it to buy three crappy bras.  well, i'm an honest person so that's what i did.  i bought a $50 bra at some expensive palo alto maternity boutique.  it felt fine.  i didn't know what the big deal was.  UNTIL MY MILK CAME IN.  holy cow.  this bra saved my life.  it felt heavenly.  comfortable enough to wear it 24/7 which is what i have done ever since i left the hospital (except when i'm showering silly).  when i was super engorged i literally wanted to cry every time i had to take this bra off (which was only to shower) because it was the even pressure that made my chest not throb with pain.  anyways, i still bought a few other cheap nursing bras because i didn't want to spend a couple hundred dollars on nursing bras.  well, i returned all of the cheap ones except for ONE from target.  not only was it not flattering, it was not comfortable (especially to sleep in) and it didn't have the elastic that made my boobs not hurt, and since there was no real allover elastic, it never ever fit right because your boobs are constantly changing sizes with how much milk is in them.  so, i keep it in a bag in my car with extra shirts in case i'm out and baby spits up on me or my milk leaks out.  i haven't worn that bra since baby was three weeks old, not even once.  which brings me back to how at 3 days postpartum, i gave my mom the box my bravado bra came in and sent her back to that nursing boutique to buy me another one.  wash and wear, wash and wear.  my non-blogging sister loves her medela nursing bras but i don't know of any celebrities sporting those... as for my bravado nursing bras, i'm in good company.  (totally kidding - i did NOT buy this nursing bra because of celebrities).  anyways, i have the body silk seamless and it's great.  you can also get it online for a little cheaper and it's easy to order because it's just small, medium, and large.

miracle blanket
this really is a miracle blanket.  my baby is a little houdini so she busted out of EVERYTHING.  i tried a million different blankets, swaddle me, and several combinations of double swaddling with two blankets and double swaddling with a blanket and a swaddle me.   even with my masterful swaddling, baby normally busted out and i'd have to get up with her sometime around 4am.  and okay, so much for being discreet but i have to tell you.  at nine weeks, my kid was already a really great sleeper, averaging between 6 and 9 hours at a time (at night).  as soon as i started swaddling her in the miracle blanket, she was sleeping 11-13 hours a night.  every. single. night.  and i mean sometimes i would have to wake her up after 13 hours just because i thought that was too long to go without food.  so there you go, the secret is out.  and i would like to add that this is easy enough even for honey to handle.  his swaddles had a much lower success rate than mine so i always had to put baby to bed at night.  great because i loved it, but not great because it meant baby and honey couldn't ever enjoy that goodnight bedtime experience together.  but the miracle blanket makes it so easy that even honey can make a swaddle strong enough for baby.  anyways, i absolutely love this thing.  a lot.

bebe au lait nursing cover
there are a lot of different brands of nursing covers.  i used to think they were all the same until i got a really cute udder covers nursing cover from my mom and then a bebe au lait cover as a gift from kailee's mom who gave me the jumper.  kailee's mom made it a point to tell me that the bebe au lait cover was the best brand.  well, after comparing the two, it is no contest.  on the bebe au lait cover, the fabric is a million times softer (and thicker too) and it has terry cloth pockets in the two bottom corners that you can use for nursing pads or pacifiers.  and the pockets at the bottom and thicker material overall keep it weighted down so when your baby is kicking and squirming, you won't be flashing people left and right.  even if you're not nursing, it makes a great sunshade and wind shield and i've even used it out in public to trick my baby into going to sleep.  it blocks out the light and activity and gives her enough privacy to drift off.  really, it's great.


i know this is kind of a long list and pretty pricey if you add it all up.  i don't think i bought any of it thanks to family, friends, and scavenging skills.  but i know how much everything on here costs and i still think it's very worth it... even if i had to go back and buy it with my very own dollars.

let's stop at second base

as promised, pictures from baby's first date with henry.  i originally just had them next to each other on the floor so i could take pictures of the side by side size comparison since they are ten weeks apart.  well, these two lusty lovebirds had more in mind although it started out pretty innocently with a little gazing and hand holding.

then henry decides hand holding is just not enough and things start heating up a bit.

and by a bit, i mean a lot.

when henry was about an inch away from giving baby a big wet one, i threw down the camera to save her little virgin lips.  i'm not a totally negligent parent although i did quickly reposition them and start snapping again.

even though baby was flashing quite a bit of cleavage in her low cut onesie, henry's attention was unanimously on her bald spot.

he's not whispering sweet nothings, he really just couldn't get a close enough view.

so then he may have tried to grab it and things went downhill real fast.

that crying picture is by far my favorite.  baby got over it pretty fast.  but i had to step in when things started getting messy.  i don't do messy.

solution:

ps- this time next week i'll be in georgia.  and 25.  yikes.