One Month Old

Where the heck did the time go? My sweet baby girl is one month old!
Here are a few pics from this week.

Haircut time!

Which hairstyle is better? I don't know if I should go shorter again or keep it long. My hair is already layered if that makes a difference. I don't think it does.

Here's one style I've had before and liked...
#1



Or something like this.... this is Lauren from The Hills btw...
#2

Journey in pictures

Since I'm back on my WW, I thought I'd share some of my fat pics with you so you can see just how far I've come and where I need to get back to. Because I'm so proud of what I've accomplished, I'm not really embarrassed to post these and I can adamantly say, I never want to be back at that weight ever again.

2003- November (with Logan)


2005 (with Ian)-before starting WW


I started WW in January 2006...

2006- December- lost over 60lbs


2007- June over 70lbs lost


I don't have many 2008 pics of myself. I was pregnant of course up until a month ago(tomorrow!). I'm sure we'll get some more soon enough. Problem is, I'm always behind the camera!

Skin Deep

I was turned onto this site for cosmetic safety tonight. Wow, I had no idea about the chemicals in some of the stuff I've been using on the family. The longer I'm a mom, the more health conscious I seem to become. Go check it out- I was researching sunscreens so that's what this link is for, but there's more to the site!

Lost your camera or memory card??

Check out this site! If you find a camera or card, you post a few pics from it and hope someone contacts you about it. Go thru some of the pics- maybe you didn't lost the card but know someone on there! FOUNDYOURCAMERA

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Since you read my blog everyday and I didn't get to speak to you yesterday, I'm posting it for the world to see. ;)

Happy Birthday!!! (a day late)

Thank Heavens

I have a very forgiving hubby. He got the windows tinted in his Civic yesterday which means for a period of 3-4 days you aren't supposed to roll them down. He wanted me to run to Starbucks tonight and of course I would take his car since it gets the better gas mileage. We had JUST had a conversation about the windows about when we could roll them down not 10min before and I still managed to forget and roll them down when I got to SB. OMG. I didn't even think about it until I was pulling out and rolling it back up! I got home and confessed and told him if anything went wrong, I'd pay for it. Of course he looked at me like I was crazy- where was I gonna get money(not a quote). I told him I'd sell my Coach purses or something. He laughed at me and said it's "our money" and hugged me and told me it was okay. I was ready to cry thinking I'd ruined his car already! So thank goodness I have a forgiving hubby. I told him to blame it on sleep deprivation. LOL

Starbucks

I think I've discovered a new fave drink since my old fave(Chai Creme LIGHT frap) has been discontinued from nearly all the stores except the Super Target across town. I had a friend pick me up a Caramel Light Frap this morning. I'm not usually a coffee person but this was really good! It was sweet enough that I didn't mind the coffee at all. Yum! I wonder how much milk, if any, is in it. Could I count it as a milk for my WW? There's not enough to count as a dairy after doing some research. Booo. I know with the Lattes you can. So thank you Amy for bringing me that yummo drink!!

Btw, I went to the MyStarbucksIdea website and commented that need to bring it back. If you head over there, search for my thread or any thread about Creme Light and VOTE! Enough votes and they may bring them back!

ETA: Did you know if you bring your own cup/mug in, you get a whopping $0.10 discount?

ETA2- Go thru some of the comments and vote! There are a lot of good ideas!

My doggie

Has a degenerative hip disease apparently. :( She's no young pup although she likes to act like she is and she's been having a lot of problems getting up and walking. I think it's partly because her nails are long so she slips on the tile but she's also having difficulty when she's outside. Dh took her to the vet on Saturday. He said had it been something treatable like arthritis, she'd appear to be in pain and she isn't. He gave us a RX for Prednisone (steroid) so cross your fingers it will help. Her poor sister was beside herself while she was gone. She even left the confines of the kitchen (which she knows she isn't supposed to) to go look for her and whined to go outside to do the same. They are busom buddies. I don't want to imagine having to let her go....

First Skating Party!

Logan went to his first skating party today for a school friend. I heard he had a lot of fun although skating is no longer his forte. Dh had the pro shop tighten the wheels on his skates but Logan was still all over the place. In his defense, he hasn't been skating since he was 2! He just is not coordinated- just like his daddy!

Seeing the pics and smelling the "skateland" smell on dh just brought back so many memories and made me want to go!! And yes, there is a skateland smell. To me, if you smell a dollar bill, that's what it smells like- money. Not money in the I-make-a-ton-of-it way, but just the scent of it. You just need to experience it to know what I mean I guess.

I used to skate every weekend and while I wasn't the best, I was still very good or in my mind I thought I was. LOL I loved "jam" skating. I would not however, ever, wear those brown generic skates. Before I got my own "speed" skates, I'd pay the extra and rent theirs. I wanted to work there when I was old enough too. I got a job at KFC instead though since it was in walking distance. I loved All Night Skates and hated when the lights came up and our skating time was over. Oh the memories....

So here are a few pics of Logan from today!

His fave past time- video games!

It's that time!

I rejoined Weight Watchers just now. I have to. I'm not losing the weight like I used to do. I'm nearly four weeks postpartum and breastfeeding is going well so I'm restarting my journey. I have a good 40lbs to my goal and 28lbs to my pre-pregnancy weight. I hate trying to put on clothes to go anywhere right now as nothing is fitting. I'm back in size 14 pants and not all of those fit right. I know my body is still getting back to normal though so I'm trying to be patient. I don't want to go out and buy new stuff either but I may have to. All I have to wear right now is jeans (too hot for summer) and maternity clothes. Yuck. I want out of those! So here it goes....lucky for me, I get extra nursing points which = extra food! :)

Tag! You are it!

Taken from Julie's blog... a new meme!

If' you're reading this and have a blog, you're tagged. This is a photography meme.
1. Step out your front door and take a picture.
2. Step out your back door and take a picture.
3. Put them on your blog, along with the rules.
4. If there are things in the photos that you particularly like or dislike, you can point them out, or just explain what we are seeing. Maybe changes over the seasons or some junk in your neighbor's yard that drives you nuts.
5. Tag as many or few people as you like - preferably at least one though.
6. Do it again next month if you like.

Looking out the front door (which I had to shut behind me so the dogs would shut up- they thought someone was there) Don't you love my patchy grass/weeds??



To the right- that bougainvillea(pink) is the one I thought died out this winter. No such luck. Dh really wants to get rid of it! We really need to prune. There's also an orange tree there that we hate.



To the left- all our vehicles and 2 of the toy vehicles dh brought home (ugh) plus the entertainment center we don't want to toss but don't know what to do with (he and my dad made it), the ladder and garbage can. I hate all of it but have nowhere to put it!



Looking out our sliding glass door- my big oak trees that need to be trimmed. Anyone want to help? And our playset that desperately needs to be cleaned and waterproofed. It also needs yet another new canopy although you can't see it thru the darn trees! Oh wait, you can- it's that green sheet that's hanging down! And yes, we have very little grass- it's a lot of weeds!


To the left- gas grill that hasn't been used since last summer, toys and more junk I can't seem to get dh to toss. I just told him we're breeding mosquitoes back there because there are some 5gal buckets full of water!



To the right- our yard, our dog peeing (sorry!), our shed and our very weedy "garden" way over in the corner to the right (sorry David!). The only thing we can grow is stuff you can't kill or pineapples in our case.



Here are said pineapples- we have 4-5 plants and 2 have flowered and are growing fruit right now. Aren't they cute?

So much to do!

I have so many errands to run this weekend. I technically could have done them with Ian in tow but I'd prefer not to!

Next week is Teacher Appreciation week and Monday is flower day so I need to find a flower(s) for Logan's teachers. I'm hoping fake is okay otherwise it may die before Monday! So off to Joann's I'm going. I think I'm going to try to find some fabric/fur that will make a good set up for pictures for Bella too. We also have an Indulgence Day next week so I bought the teachers some Ghirardelli Toffee chocolate bars. Those suckers are huge and I'm betting super delish! They are also having a school supply day(I've got a bunch of books to give), breakfast day and lunch day along with getting a gift card. Nice!

Logan also has a birthday party to go to on Sunday at the skating rink so I need a gift for that little boy. I think I'm sending dh with him with the camera to catch all the falling. LOL

I was thinking about checking out Chuck's Natural Foods but now I'm thinking no to that. We're trying to cut our budget a bit and trying a new snack food is not the way to do it. I found about these on another blog I check. They got a good review!

Dh is taking our eldest dog to the vet tomorrow morning. She's having hip issues and can barely walk to get out the back door without crashing down. Partly because she slips and slides on the tile and partly because of her hips. We're hoping a simple Cortisone shot will help. After that, I'm guessing he'll be working on Bella's room for the rest of the day. I'm ready for it to be done!!

Oh and I'd really like to get to the Disney store. They have an adorable outfit I'd like to buy Bella but I don't want to pay for shipping online. Cross your fingers!

Yo Gabba Gabba and Micheal Jackson?

You really only need to watch a small clip of this, but it made me smile! Who would have thought?

Picture, pictures, pictures!

Bella's favorite spot to sleep...on her Daddy of course!



Here's big brother Ian in a rare smile. He's just too hard to catch on camera!


My wonderful friends Amy and Julie made Bella this beautiful blanket. I admired one they had made for a knitting group friend and LOVE this one even more! I want one for my bed now too! ;)


Of course I had to take some photos of Bella with/on the blanket! Can you believe she's over 3 weeks old already??



And we can't forget a pic of the "No more pictures, pick me up already!!" tantrum.

Wordless Wednesday

This just struck me as funny!

New feature

If I can remember to do it every week.....will be Wordless Wednesday. I've seen quite a few mommy blogs that do it already so I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon. It will always feature a picture of some kind and is supposed to be wordless, but I have seen some with an explanation as to what you are looking at. And since I'm still in the blog contest, I will have to have some words or another post, so don't think I'm out Melodie! ;)

Honesty

Yes, I'm a good honest wife and told dh I had bought not one, but two new carriers yesterday. I first asked him what we had around the house we could sell to make some money. Of course he replied "why?" with a curious look on his face. So I sheepishly told him and he didn't care! I knew he wouldn't but I do feel guilty sometimes spending money.

So this is the other brand carrier I bought (used) from Thebabywearer.com. I got a khaki colored MT and there are 5 interchangable panels that go on it. I'm hoping it will be easy to make my own too as none of the prints I got from the mama were really girly. If not, I can buy extras. Either way, it was a good deal and those who know me know I love a good deal!

Check it out!

I'm now on an official blog roll somewhere! If you want some new blogs to read, there are a bunch there to check out!

3 weeks appt

So this morning wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It helped that I was up at 7am, lunch was made and breakfast was already done for the boys. I was able to shower and get everyone ready with time to spare. Yea me!

I had to take Bella in for another check up and she was still 9lbs (0.2oz). He was thrilled with her growth so I didn't tell him she was that weight last week too. LOL I go back in yet another 2 weeks for her 1 month appt plus I'm finally taking Logan for his 5yr appt with shots (sshh) so I can get him registered for school. So do I tell him he has to have shots (5 of them I think!) or not??

New Mei Tais

Sshhh don't tell dh yet! I am looking to buy 2 new (to me) MT. I finally came across what I was looking for. Hopefully I get them! Now what can I sell to make the money back....

So I bought the first one! Here's a pic of it...


I am loving wearing her right now! Can't wait to get this!

Boring Sunday

Dh and the boys took off to MIL's for a birthday get together for his brothers. It's just Bella and I right now and she's asleep in her swing. I should have taken a nap too but I never got to it. She still has a stuffy nose although it has gotten better. I now have a wonderful cold too though. It's so nice to wake up to feed her in the middle of the night when you have a sore throat and are so very tired. Not. That's a big reason we aren't there today though. I won't subject myself or her to the cigarette smoke in the house (even though they don't smoke while we are there) especially being she's so young and has the cold.

She has an appt tomorrow at the pediatrician's office. I'm really not looking forward to tomorrow morning. I dread having to deal with all 3 kids and getting them out the door by myself. I dread dealing with Ian and Bella by myself already. Better get used to it though! It will be worse when Logan starts Kindergarten this fall and has to be at school an hour earlier than he currently does. My plan of action is to set clothes out tonight and get Logan's lunch made tonight instead of in the morning. Dh will make sure their breakfast is done before he leaves for work too. So all I have to do is nurse her, shower and get myself ready and make sure the boys are ready. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.... LOL

Getting married

Logan has decided he's not marrying his friend Anisya now, but his friend Olivia. I'm sure this will be news to her mom and my friend, Julie. Yes Julie, we're going to be in-laws! LOL Oh don't worry, he said he's not getting married until he is my age so we have a long time to wait. And there will be grandchildren apparently. Logan's having a boy (haha!) and Olivia's having the girl.

Aren't 5 year olds funny?

Blessed & Brag

I just felt the need to write how blessed I am. I have a wonderful family. I have 2 handsome boys and a beautiful baby girl. I have a wonderful husband. We have a roof over our head, clothes on our back, money in the bank and food to eat. There are a lot of people in the world who can't say the same things.

I also want to brag on my dh. He's always helpful but he's been especially so the past 3 weeks. He's done all the grocery shopping, cleaning and taking care of the boys while I recuperated. He holds her when she doesn't want to sleep so I can get a nap in before my BF night shift kicks in. He does a great job of getting her to sleep too! I can't begin to tell you how thankful I am for all he does.

2 in one day?

Yes! Dh moved my PC back to my desk and as he's holding Bella right now, I can actually get on the computer!

I hadn't had a chance to post this yet but......

Ian finally peed and semi-pooped(most went in his diaper) on the potty this week! Yea!! I'm not pushing anything and he's still not ready but at least we're working on it. I don't have time to fully devote to potty training yet but I'll take success where I can get it.

Lego Mania

Thanks to a Christmas gift from Grandpa, dh and my boys have become Lego obsessed. Dh has always loved Legos. When he was young, he used to go to a friend's house to play Legos since his own mom couldn't afford them. Now he has his own (well Logan and Ian's) sets to play with and they spend hours together building vehicles and buildings and robots... During my 2 week "bedrest" period after Bella was born, he took the boys out a few times and each time they'd come home with at least 2 new small sets. They'd pour them all out on the dining room table and build. I'm sure going back to the Lego Store in Downtown Disney is in our future. He's already been perusing Ebay for more sets. For now, all Legos except for Duplos are banned to the dining room table as they are so freakin' tiny.

Anyway, so I came across this blog with pics of some really awesome Lego figures and such. Check them out when you get a chance.

Breast shaped Clouds?

Off the wall topic for today but I thought you'd find it interesting. I came across this blog and found the pictures fascinating. I've always enjoyed looking at storm clouds and some people would say my head is in the clouds at times. I've never seen anything like these before though. I love the UFO looking clouds too!

Pics as promised

Update- She was 9lbs at my midwife appt today. And I am healing nicely. I couldn't get a good pic of her today. She really wasn't into it. Here's what I did get though.

Unhappy....


Settled down...


Daddy with his princess

2 weeks!

I'll try and post some pics later (after I've taken some).

It's only been 2 weeks but I still have a ton of baby weight to lose. ugh. We're talking 25lbs. I usually lose it all within 6 weeks so we'll see. It's just more frustrating this time since I'm itching to get back into my normal clothes. For some reason, I can't even find my bigger size clothes to even try on. So I'm stuck with a few pre-pregnancy tshirts and early pregnancy shorts/pants. My ON capris still fit nicely though and are soooo comfy!! I just wish they didn't stretch out so much after wearing them a few minutes. I'm hoping to start back on WW at about 4 wks postpartum. We'll see....

First cold

I feel so bad for her. Bella appears to have a cold. It's just a stuffy nose but since babies only breathe thru their noses for the first couple of months, it's hard for her. It's too far back for a bulb syringe to work. Dh picked up some Little Noses but I don't like using it since she is so young. I'm going to try to find a saline solution later if I can. I'm running a hot shower right now but my bathroom just doesn't seem to steam up. Poor baby. Oh and I tried breastmilk but it's hard to squeeze into her. LOL Any other suggestions?

3year old attitudes

SUCK. He wants what he wants and he wants it right NOW. Unfortunately for him, it doesn't work that way. He'll learn though.

As Requested

Here are some new pics of Bella, including her new carseat and her pretty new headband (minus the flowers).



Her big brothers just love her!

Sold another!

I only have 2 Coach bags left! The same lady who bought the other three, bought my patchwork purse today. Yea!

We got out of the house today and went by BRU. The only thing I really wanted was headbands and they had NONE. I ended up at Petite Elite and you don't want to know what I paid for them. Good heavens, someone is making a killing. If I could sew, I'd make them. Guess I'll be asking mom to make me some. They look ever so simple. They only cool thing about these particular ones is that they have a little spot so you can add stuff to them- specifically these little barrettes so you can have one headband and interchange the flowers or ribbons on them. I can see where my money is going to go! LOL She's gonna look so cute though!!

Tunnel house

Here's a project for you Scarlett.... someone shared this site yesterday and I thought it was really neat. At first, I thought it was painted this way until I kept scrolling thru the pics. Check it out.

Now that's classy

So being on partial bedrest and nursing non stop has led me to watching a few shows I've never watched or thought about watching before. i just watched a piece of My Big Redneck Wedding. Talk about classy... faux sunflowers bouquets and boutonnieres, green wedding dress with camouflage trimmed veil, camo clothes for the groom and family, jeans and tshirts and you'll never guess the menu- pork rinds, pigs feet, beans and cornbread just to name a few. To each his own I guess.

Bella's Birth Day pics

Well since I haven't really been out of the house or done anything besides nurse, eat and sleep, I don't have much to blog about. So instead, I'll show you just a couple of pics from Bella's birth day. If you are at all squeamish, you may want to skip the first picture which shows the knot in her cord. I just think it's really neat how they can tie their cord up in utero. Here's a fact- true cord knots only occur in approx. 1% of pregnancies. Many times it's because the cord is longer than usual. I can say in my case, the cord was pretty darn long!


And here is a pic of a waterbirth tub. I've seen shows where moms are using baby pools and such, but I'm not sure how they heat the water in those. This has a heater to bring the water up to a comfortable 100 degrees so the baby doesn't get chilled. I added this later to my post on her birth story, but as I was pushing, they had to add hot water to the tub since it happened so fast and the tub hadn't heated up enough yet. It looks like hard plastic but it's actually firm foam like material.

Eventually I'll show you pics of the rest of the night but they are really wonky colored since they were taken without a flash so I'll have to wait to get them fixed up first. Hopefully I'll have some different blog fodder soon!

1 Week Old

Where did 1 week go already? Here are a few pics from today.

Mei Tai Baby

Forgot to update on our first venture out babywearing yesterday. I chose my Mei Tai instead of the ring sling. It was really comfortable and so much better than carrying around a carseat. She was froggied up inside it tummy to tummy and slept the entire time we were at the store. My back did start to ache a bit at the end but I think it's bc I don't have the tummy muscles back yet and my back is still off from carrying all that weight up front. I did try her in the RS, but it just wasn't comfortable. I don't feel like I have her in it right either so when I see you next Julie, you'll have to help me out.

Logan did get his carseat. We chose the Airbooster by Graco. I'll have to get some pics of him in it when he gets home today. He loved his new seat but he was asking where his seatbelt was (meaning his harness). He was locked in tight though so he'll be as safe as possible. It's still a sad, sad day. I'm just glad we have the Husky for the other 95% of the time he'll be in the truck.

Heart Attack

Logan thinks he's such a big boy and so strong. He's always picking up Ian and carrying him around. You know where this is going, right? Last night, I went to get something for Bella in her room and she was crying. I walked back into my room and Logan had picked her up and was holding her. OMG. I think my heart jumped. He meant well and I know that but it's hard to explain to a 5 yr old that he can't just pick up his baby sister. I went to help put her back down and he sorta dropped her into the bassinet. Thankfully she didn't have far to drop and she wasn't hurt. And I don't mean he literally dropped her, he just didn't have her head controlled so she kinda flopped back. I'm glad he's such a caring big brother though. They are both so cute with her. I've got 2 boys that will be great protectors of their sister I think.

Dreaded day

First, we had another good night. Bella has decided that at 10pm, she'd rather be wide awake than asleep so I just hand her off to dh and he somehow gets her to sleep. I took her sometime after midnight and she slept another 2 hours or so before waking up to nurse. Of course, you know there's a catch. I can't sleep! I'm engorged and sore and sleeping on my back in uncomfortable and sleeping on my side is pretty much out of the question. Oh well, it will get better the next few days.

And now the dreaded part....I have to go buy Logan a booster seat today. :( He won't be using it very often but dh will be driving him to and from school this week and will need a seat in his car. We'll use it for Disney trips too since the Civic will get better gas mileage and there's just no way to fit Logan's Husky in the Civic with 2 other seats. I know he'll be fine but I still don't like the idea. He's so much safer harnessed. So that's what we're hoping to do today. At least I'll get out of the house for a bit. My butt is hurting from sitting in bed or on the couch. LOL Although I did get up and do some laundry yesterday. I'm even going to try Bella is her sling while we're shopping. It will keep all the germy people off of her. ;)

And a new pic from last night...

And this morning...

Zzzzz

Bella had a very good night and dh and I actually feel more rested this morning. Yea! I'm probably jinxing it for tonight but I'll take the sleep where I can get it. He took her from 10-1am and then I had her the rest of the night. She even slept in her bassinet and not on me. I'm sure I'll need a nap later but for now, I feel good.