16 Weeks

>> Tuesday, September 30, 2008


Well I had an interesting morning. Lily has learned how to "give kisses" this week. In the morning before I leave I ask her to give me bye-bye kisses. When I lean in she opens her mouth real big and I press my face up to her. Everybody together now....AAAWWWWWWW! This morning as part of our ritual I leaned in and.....BARF! Yes she barfed all over me. So close to going into my mouth it was scary. I almost ate my little girls throw up. Fun Stuff!

We had a fun weekend. Lily debuted her NCSU cheerleading uniform at the tailgate. We barely missed the rain. Because it was such a late game we headed back home. Don't want to keep the little one up. I was telling Meg how we used to look forward to the late games for extra tailgate time. Now we only think about how miserable it will be to keep Lily up that late. Oh how things change.

We got to see Meg and Craig on Saturday. Unfortunatly being the old lady I am I was asleep by the time they got there. But we got some QT on Sunday.

Then on Sunday a visit from the Bakers. Our first real family socializing. Hahaha you know the kind where you hang out with the babies and play with them instead of playing drinking games. Lily is more and more interested in toys. Even cutier is her interest in other babies. She watched and watched Aubrey when she came over. I think she is jealous she is not walking around! She was just fasinated by all that Aubrey could do. Lily was really fussy until I put her down on the floor with Aubrey and then she was all smiles. No eye poking this time! But Aubrey was sweet about sharing the toys with Lily. So cute!

And Lily has been doing well on her cereal. We have been trying to give it to her every night around dinner time. She seems to enjoy it.

This weekend is going to be chill...looking forward to some down time.

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Uh....duh

>> Wednesday, September 24, 2008



Random I know...but did he really think we didn't know?

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Rice Cereal

>> Tuesday, September 23, 2008

I called my pediatrician today to ask about starting Lily a little early on solids. The experts say not to start until 4-6 months but my little chunker is always hungry! I figured she is getting about 30-35 ounces a day on average of breastmilk/formula supplementation on high ounce days. She is still going only three hours in between feedings during the day, and sometimes less. So I thought the cereal might satisfy her more, or at least add some bulk. In addition I called my friend Dr. Malden who happens to be a pediatrician. They both approved the cereal a little early. Between the both of them I got...if she is holding her head up well, doubled her birth weight or over 13 pounds, shows interest at my food, and can stop making the tongue thrusting motion then go for it. Well she is good with her head but I was unsure of the tongue issue since she has never been much of a tongue baby. So we gave it a whirl. We unpacked the highchair (Thanks Loomis') and bought the cereal.

She was mighty sleepy today which was crushing my hopes of getting her to eat the cereal around dinner. But after a three hour nap she finally woke up enough to eat some. No funny faces but major cuteness. Here is the video of her eating. I couldn't upload the first bite because the file was too big.

Overall I think it went well. She did really well with her first few bites, no tonguing the food. But she also tried to suck the food off the spoon and by the end was getting mad that I was not getting it to her fast enough. She did start the tongue thrusting when I tried to feed her but did better when Michael tried it. I couldn't get a video of her madness though.

I also was not expecting the sneezing with a mouthful of cereal. Insta splatter all over Mommy. Or the spit up following the feeding to be so different. But the best part? The taste test. Can I prequel by saying I haven't even tasted my breastmilk or formula. I smelled the formula..that was enough for me. I mixed her cereal with formula since I did not want to waste the liquid gold. Then I had Michael try the cereal..SUCKER! But then he proceeded to shove it in my face to try. Nothing prepared me for the nastiness that was to come. How do they eat this crap. And Lily seemed to like it! Yuck. It tasted like wet cardboard. Better her than me. A few messy baby pics

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15 Weeks

>> Monday, September 22, 2008

Lily has grown so much! Everyday is a new adventure. This week she really started grabbing toys and seems content playing with a stuffed animal whereas before you had to shake it to entertain her. Now she can entertain herself! The exersaucer is my best friend. She is pushing buttons, looking at the colors, all sorts of excitement in one toy. Thanks Aunt Jenna and Aunt Brookie. Mommy can fold laundry in the midst of her crazy schedule because of you.

Grabbing her toy Video of her playing. It is a little bumpy..we were in the car

I just want to give a shout out to my baby girl. How many Mom's can say that they have been back at work for three weeks and their daughter has only gotten up twice (both on the weekend BTW) in the middle of the night?! My little girl is da bomb! Is that still cool to say? I thank god everyday for gracing me with an angel. Maybe it is true he does not give us more than we can handle.

We had a busy week. A visit from Drunkel Brent, including a dinner that included Uncle Kev our new NCSU student. Speaking of NCSU...GO PACK! Beating ECU..those are my boys!
Then we went home for Michael's High School reunion (see previous post). That meant lots of Grandmommy time. A special treat was she got to hang out with cousin Morgan! At one point they were actually laying side by side and cooing at each other. Of course no one video taped it. We could have been UTube Stars! I bet babies understand baby talk. But who knows it could just be babble to them as well.

Sitting at Grandmommy's house playing. No she isn't possessed! My husband just won't let me buy the expensive camera!
Then on Sunday we had Michael's company picnic. Whew. What a week. Lets hope this one is a little tamer. For Mommy's sake..her saneness depends on it.

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High School Reunion


Michael is old! We had his ten year reunion this weekend. Good News! No ex-girlfriends present. So my cowness will be hidden until at least twenty years. Better news...my dress was adorable. I love the simply vera line at Kohls but never spring for the attire due to price, but this was a special occasion. Bad news...new shoes I bought only lasted about thirty minutes. Sooo cute though. Worth the pain..if the ex girlfriends were present. Since this was not the issue I should have went with the more sensible pair.

Other than it being a rip off it was a good time. Eighty dollars people! And the food was a joke. All they had were four appetizers. Chicken fingers, meatballs, bruschetta, and cake. That is it for eighty dollars. One more time for effect... EIGHTY DOLLARS. No drink tickets, no nothing. Just chicken tenders and an expensive cash bar. Of course we were prepared and had beer in the car which we preceded to pour into our bottles. haha! It was like high school all over again!

Afterwards we went to Brent and Chris' and played flip cup in preparation for Eadsfest. Yes Eadsfest invites went out today. If you don't know you can't afford it....

Here a few pics of the crew.

Jen smashed...funny stuff. Why skinny people should not drink three martinis at dinner
The whole crew
Our friend M and Michael. We just found out she is three months preggers! YAY!
The McCarty's...aka the Gtown traders

Michael and the Clarks
Me and Drunky McGee
WTF! Back off my man!!

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High school Cow

>> Friday, September 19, 2008

Another rough morning but I am taking comfort in the fact I have a half day today so I get to see my girl after lunch!! Michael has his 10 year high school reunion this weekend and we are headed to Gtown for a BBQ and then a reception on Saturday. He is so OLD! haha! It will be good to show off Lily butt, and see everyone. The BBQ is with all of our current friends that went to high school with Michael. The reception will be everyone. Which leads me to my next topic.

I am not looking forward to seeing ex-girlfriends and such looking like a cow from post baby body. I have nothing to wear and oh yeah a HUGE zit came up this week..actually three came up. Will I ever get my body back? Not saying it was a hottie body before but it wasn't quite this lumpy and stretched out. I have this huge gut that will not die. I only have about ten lingering pounds from pre baby, and am still not at my heaviest but it seems to have all settled in my gut! Blah. I wish I didn't have to go to the reception but alas I must be the good wife. Maybe I will just wear a screen printed shirt with Lily's face on it that says "This is where my hot body got deposited"

Michael gave me premission (ha!) to go shopping Saturday morning to buy something to feel better in.

On a bright note...I got a paycheck today!! The first one in six weeks! Yahhhhhoooooo! It is hard commuting a 35 mile drive with gas being $4 a gallon and not getting paid. That cheered me up.

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Rough Morning

>> Thursday, September 18, 2008

Today has been a hard morning. It was hard to leave her today. I am not sure why all of a sudden it hit me again this morning. It may be the medicine my OB prescribed to help boost my milk supply. Reglan has a side effect of depression so I am not sure if it is really me that is upset or some biological thing. I think it was because she was so cute this morning!

I haven't noticed an increase in supply on the medicane so I am not sure if it is working and its been three days. I may still try the herb after I run out of this to see if it works.

Oh I wish I was at home where milk supply wasn't an issue and I was cuddling with my baby girl.

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14 weeks

>> Tuesday, September 16, 2008


Just a short update this week. Michael is finally back in town after a long week without him. He has been super helpful since he got back and doing lots of Lily duty. I survived without him though. Of course Lily refuses to roll over for him. And has done it for me a few more times but not in his presence. But I have video so we know it happened.

She is still doing great at daycare. We actually saw one of her daycare workers out at my company picnic and she was all about Lily. By the end of the picinic Lily was out!

All three teachers are really sweet. They say she is a great baby...but I am sure they say that to everyone. Funny story though a friend told me I need to start bribing them with little treats so they like Lily the best. I really think this is a good idea and I am going to try and bake something this week.

Car Update: it is not the transmission! But it could have been the only thing worse. We avoided catastrophe so far though. Apparently the last time we got the oil changed the mechanic only put 1.25 quarts of the required 5 in the engine. Uh...that's a problem. Luckily the whole engine did not implode and it only cost $350 vs. $2500 for the transmission. We were good to take it in when we did or it could have been way worse.

We also had some first time visitors this week. Allison, Mike and Becca came by to see Lily. Here are some pics of their visits.


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Look What I Can Do!

>> Thursday, September 11, 2008

Today Lily did something...not for the first time, but this time it was not a fluke! She is a champion roll overer. All of a sudden during tummy time this is what happened. And it happened again and again. It is moments like this that makes being a parent amazing. I finally caught it on tape.

Just for a little fun...here are both my daughters bonding.

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3 Months

>> Wednesday, September 10, 2008


Happy 3 Month Birthday to you...Time flies when your the cutest baby in the whole world (Mommy has no bias). Ah this week last year we were conceiving you little Lily. And by conceive I mean a stork told us you were coming hehe! It is hard to believe that she was just a few little cells last year. And look at her now! ADORABLE!! Give it a few more weeks and it will be my morning sickness anniversary. Of course that is not worth celebrating. The END of morning sickness...that's a whole other story.

Funny but this morning as she was being a cutie I actually thought...I could have ten more little babies just like this. I would do it again right now! Yes the woman that hated being pregnant...if there were a stronger word than hate I would use it...would do it again. My luck? The second one would be a demon. They are always polar opposites. Let's compare Lily to my unborn demon.

1. Lily sleeps through the night (90%)
2. Lily cries only when she needs something
3. Lily smiles and laughs at Mommy's silly faces
4. Lily likes Mommy's singing
5. Lily is very cute and cuddly
6. Lily has been early on most developmental milestones (hoping for early walking and potty training!)

1. Demon child would have schedule of sleep all day up all night, or worse no sleep
2. Demon child would have colic and scream nonstop (even when Daddy has hangovers)
3. Demon child would hit Mommy in the face or worse scream at silly faces
4. Demon child would cry when Mommy sung and hit Mommy in the face (again)
5. Demon child would be one of those ugly babies that everyone says is cute but really...we all know the truth
6. Demon child would pee and poop in his/her pants and be carried until they were 30 and then hit Mommy in the face (again)

mmmmm maybe I should stop while I am ahead.

It has been a CRAZY week so far. Michael left Monday to go to Jersey for business and is back tonight. So for the past few days I have had 100% baby duty plus this is my first full week back. Tuesday was my first time dropping her off. It wasn't as bad as I thought. I didn't cry. One point for Mommy. She didn't cry. One point for Lily. I went in and laid her on a playmat and she just laid there and stared. What is irritating is that if I put her down at home on the playmat and I am not near she is pissed. But she is all good at daycare! WTF! It was hectic in the morning letting the three amigos out alone, taking care of her, taking care of me, traffic, etc. But we survived. This morning was even easier because she was asleep. One point for Lily. I did not cry. One point for Mommy. And the traffic was not nearly as bad. One point for....city of Raleigh? Michael leaves again tomorrow to go to SC for bachelor party until Sunday. So tonight is my night off.

She definitely eats and sleeps more at daycare. She takes two hour naps there. At home....ten minutes at a time. It was a rare occasion she slept long stretches like that. And then yesterday she was ready to go to bed at seven. I woke her up at nine for a small bottle and changing. But Eating! Yesterday she took down 20 ounces at daycare! Am I the only one that thinks this is ridiculous???!!! I am honestly having a hard time keeping us with her milk demands. I was warned this might happen. I did read about an herb you can take to boost your milk supply so I am going to talk to the doc about it next week. I really should get up in the middle of the night and pump...but who wants to do that? If she is sleeping so should I.

But other things are better in daycare. She seems to get a lot of tummy time. Her head skills are money! And I put her in the exersaucer last night without a towel and I swear she is now touching the toys. She can't figure out how to make some of them make noise but she was gripping at some of them. She did great!

As you can tell I am feeling much better this week. I still want to be home and it is still hard to leave her everyday. It isn't easier but it seems to be different now. There will always be really bad days, but I try to focus on what I work for..which is her. I think I might make it. Maybe :)

On a side note Saturday on the way to the tailgate the transmission in the Pathfinder started going out. So Michael will be dealing with that nasty situation tomorrow. All I can see is money floating in a toilet and slowly flushing down, laughing at me the whole way down.

Here are a few shots of her this morning. Being precious as always. She is a morning a person...after she eats. I wonder where she gets that from??

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GO PANTHERS! (I MEAN CHARGERS!)

>> Sunday, September 07, 2008


We had a busy sports weekend! Saturday we took Lily to her first NC State tailgate. It was a very short visit because of the heat but she was the littlest wolfpacker there! Here is a shot when she was a few days old. Craig had already taught her the wolfpack sign!

Then on Sunday we celebrated opening weekend with a panthers cheerleading uniform. Now Mommy goes for the Chargers....I heart Rivers. So I was a little disappointed but Lily got to cheer on Daddy's team. BTW...if a Chargers uniform was in proximity she would be wearing that. But given location she will have to be a Panthers fan for now!


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Daycare Week One

>> Friday, September 05, 2008


Disclaimer: If I get through this post without crying it will be a miracle!

This week was my first week back to work. I took solace in the fact it was a short week. I spent most of Monday crying and preparing her things for daycare the next day. Oh the things you must bring. But even worse the things you must label. Every diaper has to initialed! That is absurd! It took many hours and double checking everything three times before I was satisfied.

I have to say the whole day I had mixed emotions. I honestly thought about just not going to work the next day. But I kept telling myself I couldn't live without myself if I didn't try. So along came Tuesday...insert drum roll please.

My day started at 4:45AM. Yes 4:45 AM. Just for effect lets say it one more time...4:45AM. No one needs to see what 4:44AM looks like. But in case you are one of the lucky that never have to see it I can tell you...it's dark. Very Dark. So quietly I get up and eat breakfast and begin getting ready, showering, makeup, hair, etc. At 5:30AM I go into Lily's room to wake her. Breaking the cardinal rule in my house of never waking a sleeping baby. At this point I am not sure what to do. I haven't had to wake a baby before. I mean the first week of nursing and sleepy baby syndrome sure. But those were limited to acts of torture such as cold water and pinching her foot. I could not resort to this for daily wakings. So I thought. Then I started whispering her name. But she just laid there. Then I got a little louder....Nothing. Mmmmm this may be harder than I thought. Well if she is anything like her daddy this was not going to turn out good. So I just reached in and picked the baby burrito up. Her eyes popped open. For a moment I thought she was about to smile at seeing me until....her face slowly screwed up into this awfulness. Then came the cry. Not happy. Well I understood I felt like crying too. So I unswaddled her, changed and dressed her. All the while she is crying because she has no idea whats going on. Our normal routine involves her waking me up, a diaper change, then nursing and cuddling in bed for a few hours. Uh not this morning! She did not like the change. So after I got her dressed and nursed her I started saying my goodbyes. This was the hard part. Lots of tears. Michael did a good job and offered to be the bad guy and drop her off. We decided it was best if I just stayed home. I don't think I could have done it honestly.

She did really well. She was asleep when he dropped her off at 7AM. She normally sleeps until 9AM after her morning feeding so I expected that. I called at lunch and they said she had been good all morning. So I am slowly counting down the minutes until I can leave work to go get her. FYI only cried three more times that day. So I race out of work and speed the whole way to daycare. On a side note me back at work means I got my convertible back! Yay! I get there I go in...she is screaming! I mean screaming. Of course. I was expecting smiles and leg kicks in happiness. Instead I get screams. Okay is she trying to make me feel bad? At least they were holding her. Because if they weren't...oh no you didn't! She continued to scream the whole way to the car. They swore she had not been like that all day and it was actually time for another feeding. She was better when I got to driving but I broke down hearing her that upset.

That night was probably a sign of times to come. Michael worked late, I made dinner, got ready for daycare the next day, made my lunch, tried to do a load of laundry, nurse. Not to mention trying to spend time with her since she was ripped from me that day. She did go right to bed that night though. I still felt like I didn't get to spend any time with her though.

So the next day...When I pick her up she is sleeping. Hey better than screaming. They said they made sure to make her real happy before Mommy came. When I looked at her daily log she had slept alot that day. A two hour nap, and a few 45min naps. She never slept at home for me! WTF! Well she was still asleep when we got home so I changed her and went to nurse her about 5PM. We were both asleep by 5:15PM. I did not wake up, nor did she, until 9PM when Michael got home. Holy smokes! All I am thinking is how screwed I am since she normally goes down at 9PM. So I get her up changed, played with, bathed, and then take her to the nursery at around 10PM to rock her. She was out by 10:30PM and slept the entire night. Wow. I couldn't believe it. I was fully expecting a 1AM wake up call and a wanting to play smile.

Yesterday she seemed to slip into a routine and other than still seeming really sleepy I think she is getting used to the new schedule. Mommy? Not so much. It was hard leaving her this morning again. A few tears. Today is Friday so Michael gets half days and is picking her up at lunch so I am a little jealous. That was probably where the tears came from.

Lots of people have called and checked on me this week. Thanks so much. Someday most of you will understand. Sorry if I have been a little deep in our conversations this week. Who knew I had deep thoughts? I will say what I have told most of you. Having a baby changes your whole world. It changes who you are and what you want. Everything seems different. I never thought I would be one of those women that wanted to stay home. I went to college this is the 21st century. I should be a CEO or something cool right? I have all these opportunities that women did not have thirty years ago and all these emotions tell me to stay with her. I guess nature is a bitch. Or is it hormones? Heck if I know. All I know is it feels unnatural to have my child ripped from me at this stage. But everyone tells me it gets easier. Stay tuned...I think all those people are full of crap.

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Beach Trip 2008

>> Tuesday, September 02, 2008


We went to Myrtle Beach for our annual Labor Day vacation. Lily was completely off her schedule (just in time for Mommy to go back to work!) but we had a great time. I was pretty much exhausted most of the trip from her middle of the night shenanigans. But she was adorable!

We had just gotten her shots on Thursday so she was pretty sleepy Thursday and Friday but by Friday night she was doing much better. She definitely enjoyed the pool more than the beach and screamed then slept on the beach for the little bit we were out there. Awww my sleepy Eadsy. But we got some cute pics of her with her feet in the water. Plus a few family portraits the next day.



In the pool we had gotten a float on sale at Target that was too cute. She basically just chewed (aka gummed) it the whole time. I thought the sea horse was creepy looking but hey what do I know. It entertained her.

We also took her to the aquarium. I thought she would like the light coming through the tanks, etc. Well she slept through the majority of it but when she woke up it seemed to be an enjoyable experience! We even took her in the tank you stand in the middle of and it looks like your in the water. Michael did say it smelled a bit fishy in the tube...uh duh! its an aquarium. It was a cool tube. I even got a little snapshot of them in it.


We went shopping one day and Michael got to wear the Baby Bjorn for the first time. He said he felt so old and daddy like. It was adorable. Michael did fuss at me for shopping for the baby and told me I needed to be buying stuff for me to wear! How sweet. Here he is in Children's Place you know the store where old people shop holding Lily like a good daddy. The funny part was when he took it off he had belly sweat! It was not cool that day. And she was pooped after the event and the heat.



A little shout out. Our cousin got engaged at our beach trip. Yay! Congrats to them both. I know Renee was happy. My little Jackie O.

It was a good weekend overall. Minus the whole sleep deprivation on my part. I am sure Lily will love it even more next year.

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