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3.30.2012

Foodie Friday

Soo I was planning to do a menu Monday post in the same fashion of two of my favorite belles.

Belle On Heels

Virginia Belle

 

They post what they had the previous week vs what they were planning to have. This works great because I planned and posted great menus but we never actually ate everything I planned on the day I planned, etc etc. I'm sure with a baby there is more 'flexibility' in our future.

In an attempt for Josh and I to start eating healthier I'm going to be doing some major meal planning. One of my neighbors also wants to start a meal exchange, which I'm pretty excited about. Im going to try to plan out the whole month of April, should be interesting.

Back to what we ate last week. I decided it was high time to start finishing off our freezer meals, so they are now a bi weekly staple. They aren't the lightest fair, so I'm hoping to finish them off in the near future.

All the recipes can be found on my freezer meal post from a few months ago.

We enjoyed Paula Deans Shrimp and wild rice casserole.

Had a trip back to Tampa's comfort Cuban food with black beans, turkey sausage and yellow rice. Made me feel likes I was at Pipos!


We rounded it out with White Enchiladas, which are all over pinterest. They were yummy, but anything with that much cheese and sour cream would be.

Speaking of pinterest, I have been making quick and easy smoothies with a tip I found probably at 2 am. Take all your ingredients and put in plastic baggies for the whole week, in the morning just grab add some oj and h2o and blend. I've been doing pineapples, peaches, bananas and spinach.

What are some of your favorite smoothie cobos?

 

3.29.2012

Puppy Love

Molly is officially smitten with James.

I knew it would happen eventually, but thought it may involve fallen Cheerios and puffs. Molly loves snacks, epically those not intended for beagles. She also loves blankets...

But with a face like this, how can you not be in love?

 

He's almost two months old, while I'm looking forward to all that's to come, I can't believe how fast time has gone!

 

3.28.2012

Apptastic

Instead of a sparkling "push present" I went the more practical route and asked for a new sofa and the new iPad. Both I use everyday.

I've been blogging more frequently due to the latter gift and my new mommy insomnia. I'm probably the only new mom whose baby sleeps 11 hours a night, and I only get 4-5. I'm working on an earlier bed time for myself.

I'm loving the iPad and agree with my friend Barbie who said they should be issued to every nursing mom at the hospital. At first I struggled with the use of my "I" gadgets around James, but feel I've found a happy medium of using my phone and tablet after he has conked out. And I'm either reading blogs or looking up something for him anyway.

My favorite apps are Blogys, using it now to write this post. I also love Perfect RSS reader to read all my fav blogs. Red Stamp is for iPhones, but I'm obsessed with it, a quick casual TY note, thinking of you etc, I'm obsessed!

Of course Facebook is used often, but I've just been using pinterest's website vs an app...

We actually got his and hers iPads, so Josh has gotten us some neat gadgets, like a drive to load the pictures from our Nikon, lickety split. Now I need to start using the nice camera and finishing reading mamaratzi so I can take some decent shots.

I downloaded iPhoto, but not amazed by it yet...

Josh loves flip book (I told him about it first, but he didn't like it until a coworker showed it to him, of course.

What are other apps I should be trying out?

 

3.23.2012

What did you do last night

After doing yoga with the mothers I volunteer with for junior league, I decided I wasn't quite ready to head home. My sorority alumnae group was having happy hour around the corner, so I went to go find my friends. They had moved on for local nĂºmero UNO to a second stop of the night, because who calls happy hour quits at 8:30 pm? Not my friends-ha.

When I found out they were at Post next to the Hotel Monico, I was super excited because I love that place. Then I realized I was in spandex and a Gators t-shirt. I was one step above where I normally am which is covered in spit up, so I went to said swanky bar in yoga cloths.

Finally having a cocktail with Betsy, a Basil Lemontini at that!

I was checking my calendar to find a time that worked for them to come over and meet James, when I saw an email from the recruitment chair that Betsy an I advise at AU, the chapter was all together and sent me a video saying they missed me, which made me cry, while wearing spandex in a swanky bar.

Gosh I love those girls!

All the while James was at home with daddy, a little miffed we didn't let him stay up to watch the Gators play in the sweet 16. He's ready to try out for the team.

 

 

3.22.2012

All in 6 Weeks Time

We've gone from one ounce bottles to the big mama jammers. Granted two days after purchasing every product our lactation consultant even semi suggested, we realized the one ouncers were more of a confidence builder than all that functional. None the less it was exciting to fill 'er up, my confidence was built.

The main reason James sleeps so well (praise the Lord) is because he can pack it in. That boy, much like the rest of his relatives loves to eat. He gets a bottle before bedtime from Josh and always polishes off at least 6 ounces, so this past weekend we did our final bottle upgrade to the 8 ouncers. I don't think they come larger than that.

Needless to say, this mama is having a hard time keeping up. I take herbal supplements and pump a few times a day after nursing sessions and before bed, but I always wonder how anyone gets far enough ahead that they can freeze any. I'm going to make a batch of lactation cookies as soon as I can buy all the ingredients at the health food store.

The positive side of all this nursing is burning all the calories. 20 calories burned per ounce times 42 ounces to feed my hungry man is 850 calories a day. We don't have a scale (need to get one) so I was curious to see where I weighed in at my 6 week appointment.

I had lost 60 pounds in six weeks. I'm still amazed. I weighed 4 pounds more at the end of my pregnancy than I did at the beginning. All my pre pregnancy cloths are much looser, but still...

I still need to loose a lot more weight to be healthier and I feel totally lumpy, but I'm going to continue my daily walks with James, nursing and I'm adding a water aerobics class in each week as well.

Ironically, I donated 30 boxes of smaller sized clothes while making way for baby. So I'm hoping to keep up with the weight loss and get new fun things to wear, since what's in my closet is all I've got.

 

3.21.2012

Confession

I'm slightly addicted to my son. On Sunday he started full-fledged smiling, its probably the most amazing thing that's ever happened to me. I just can get enough of that sweet little face! So much in fact that on Monday I did not let him out of my arms (unless we count the time spent in the baby Bjorne oh and he did do a few rounds of tummy time). I'm so addicted in fact that I have to look at pictures and videos at night while he is asleep because I miss him. Here are some of my favorites from the past few days.

My favorite picture, wish it wasn't blurry.

Totally hamming it up

Trying to see what trouble he can get in.
He makes everything so much fun.
He's so fun to be with even Molly has come around. He's. Also a kicking machine.
Our favorite time of the day is when daddy gets home from work.
Just smiling at his best friend.
That smile is contagious!

 

 

 

3.20.2012

Coming Home

After a few days in the hospital, we were excited to bring you home. I may have stayed later if I knew what was in store for us that night. But if we hadn't gone through the struggles we wouldn't be able to truly enjoy all the goodness that each day brings.

I looked very hard to find the perfect outfit to take you home in. A blue knit sweater that buttoned up and had a matching hat. Perfect for February in Virginia.
At least we got a shot of you, I don't think we kept you in this for long, nor did I have my whites about me enough to take very good pictures.

 

We were so happy to have you home.

Daddy put you in for your first ride in your swing right away.

We love you, and are so glad to have you home with us everyday!

 

3.19.2012

That's What Friends Are For

I'm lucky enough to have one of my best friends and mommy mentor extraordinar live just down the road. Literally we both live off the same road.

We were lucky enough to have one of our other good friend come up to visit last weekend, I was excited because I was finally in the mommy club and all our kiddos got to hang out. Well, James really just hung on me since he's still getting the hang of holding his head up-ha!

It was fun to be around all the craziness of all our kids, to watch daddies be daddies, and just be 'grown up' with the girls I grew up with.

So excited to have my first mommy friends picture with Jen and Gwen. I'm also excited that our girls beach weekend will now be family beach weekend-yay!

It was an awesome day, but I was toast after a few hours of fun. Cuddling with my little man.

 

 

3.15.2012

Fail...The New Murphy's Law?

Everything that can go wrong will go wrong.  That's a little dramatic, but a good description of my day yesterday.

I've found that whatever free time I get as a new mommy is usually spent folding laundry or loading and unloading the dishwasher.  Don't get me wrong, James is wonderful, so much fun and sleeps incredibly well... that's probably the only reason I'm semi sane right now.

Semi sane is the key word there because I agreed to something no sane mother of a 5 week old would do yesterday and went and spoke in front of a few hundred women at our Junior League Town Hall.  So over the past few days my spare moments were spent embedding video's in powerpoints and doing prep work (aka extra pumping) to be away from my little guy.  Laundry did not get folded and there was very full load in the dishwasher today.

I was really happy with the presentation I put together, and decided to be more detailed in my talking points that I usually am when speaking because - I'm the mother of a 5 week old and forget things and get distracted at the drop of a hat - or the drop of a pacifier in my case.

That's when Murphy's Law set in - or a continuous series of fails.

I guess I agreed to speak because I really love the group of families and my committee that I've worked with  in JLW, and I was excited to share our message and what we've accomplished this year with our fellow league members.  A powerpoint was created, I learned how to embed a video in the presentation (not as easy as doing it on the blog), detailed speaking points were written for each slide along with funny antidotes that should bring a chuckle or two to the room while also conveying the message of how we were impacting lives. 
Then, yesterday morning I went to print the note pages of my powerpoint and our printer decided it had a jam that I could not find or unjam, I then emailed presentation to Josh to print- he was at a different office and didn't have his laptop networked to a printer there.  Fail.  I decided to just write out my talking points on note cards while I pumped after our noon nursing session.  Note cards written, now to get dressed.

I had decided what I was going to wear earlier in the week.  We are having unseasonably warm weather in DC, so I wanted something springy and fun.  A pretty pink full skirt and cream sweater, both should have been in my closet with all my dry cleaned clothes that have gone untouched since it got chilly in the fall.  I easily found my skirt, but went through my closet hanger by hanger to find that sweater and it was just not there, I even called the dry cleaner to see if I had just not picked it up way back when.  Fail.  I was able to default to another dress, spruce up my hair and throw on some make-up before Josh got home from work and I set off into the city.  Thanks for the good afternoon nap buddy.

I was planning to arrive a little early so I could get my bearings, plus I was planning to wear heals for the fist time in months so I thought I would need some extra walking time.  I guess I got a little distracted as I was driving over the Potomac thinking of how fun it would be to be sitting on the water front with a cocktail and missed where I wanted to turn and somehow ended up going the opposite direction of where I wanted to be.  Fail.  Six o'clock traffic in Georgetown was not in my plans, but I still made it with a few minutes to spar.

I'm one of the rare people that really doesn't mind public speaking.  I was prepared, my presentation was appropriate and I was excited about my message.  When it's my time to talk, I set my note cards on the podium and started the presentation, it was going fine, but the video doesn't work Fail - no big deal I decide to tell the story in the video of one of the women we help - her words are much more poignant than mine, but I give it a go.

For future reference, when 5 weeks postpartum it is not a good idea to share the story of a woman who finds herself homeless 8 months pregnant and after her c-section isn't able to focus on healing, but where she and her baby will sleep after leaving the hospital. I was doing ok until I made eye contact with someone in the audience who was touched by the story and then I teared up, got flustered and lost focus.  Fail.

Ok deep breath go back to the podium and grab your cards, I set the wireless mouse down on the podium and all my note cards slide to the floor.  Fail.  Ok no big deal, I know what I am talking about, I did it all, this in my story to tell.  I pick up the mouse upside down - it goes to the previous slide not the next (for every slide transition for the rest of my presentation) Fail.  I'm sure I rushed, and spoke fast, forgot to say all my cute antidotes, Fail Fail Fail.  I did remember to say that when you volunteer with my committee you get a make-over, and the member in the picture was in the audience, which we all enjoyed. 

I'm sure the presentation was fine, and no one noticed everything falling apart as I did.  I just knew how good it could have been and am a little disappointed it didn't go as well as it should have.  But I am just going to be grateful that I didn't end up with two wet spots on the front of my dress in front of a few hundred ladies because I had missed my regularly scheduled nursing session.  That would have been a TOTAL FAIL!

3.14.2012

Redneck Woman

Today was my first full day from wake-up to bed time with James.  Josh has rocked the bedtime bath and bottle routine from the get-go.  (Probably the reason our son sleeps 10 hours a night.)

James got a little fussy before it was really time to put him to bed, and I had a few things I wanted to finish downstairs before taking him up.  I decided to strap him into the baby bijorn because I found that washing dishes and loaded the dish washer works much better with two hands.  As I stood in the kitchen I had a line of Gretchen Wilson's song Red Neck Woman run through my head.  You know the one, I'll stand barefooted in my own front yard with a baby on my hip.
Barefoot - Check
Front Yard, Kitchen - Close enough
Baby on my hip - Check

Then I began to think redneck women probably don't have granite counter tops in their double-wides with the Christmas lights on them all year long, probably don't own baby bijorns or have their babies dressed in onsies from Nordstrom's, while their husbands are at fundraising gala's in Washington DC.  But then again I'm a Yuppie Woman doesn't have the same ring to it as Redneck and I prefer my Mississippi roots any day of the week!

On that same ironic note, here's my picture of the day of James.  I took the picture of him right after he rolled over off his tummy time mat to send to grandparents, the second after I snapped it, he spit-up all over the carpet.  Won't be the last time I'm sure.

To further the point that I am indeed a Redneck Woman, Molly got in a dog fight today.  I was showing off James to one of our neighbors while enjoying the 76 degree sunshine and Molly and the neighbor's beagle, Chloe, got tangled up in a fight. Molly even has a battle wound on her snout.  Being the great dog mom that I am, I didn't even notice she had a bite mark until a good four hours later.  I'm hoping this means she felt she needed to protect James and actually loves him because she mostly ignores him everyday.  I did get two pictures in the past few days of her in semi close proximity of him.

3.08.2012

One Month Old

James you are One Month Old!

What an amazing, life changing, tiring, thrilling and love filled month. Nothing will ever be the same and we're so happy for that and to have you as our son.



You weigh 9 pounds 12 ounces. Which puts you in the 50th percentile. How are you so skinny when all you do is eat!?!

You are 22 1/2 inches tall, which is the 75th percentile.

Your head measures in at 15, which is the 85th percentile.

You love to eat, sleep and be held. You eat on three hour intervals during the day and sleep for 8 hours at night-thank you for that!



You hate tummy time with a passion, so much in fact that you have already figured out how to roll over, which I thought was a fluke, but you do it everyday, so guess not-ha!

You are enjoying bathtime more each night. I don't know what to do with all your hair, it's crazy! I'm scared if we cut it, it will fall out, so for now you hair will come over your ears and be crazy in the back.

I love watching you grow, seeing your funny facial expressions, hearing you coo and squeal, singing to you, reading to you and holding you in my arms.



You are such a gift and I can't thank God enough for making you my son.

Lots of Love,

Mommy

3.05.2012

Everything I Learned

Everything I learned, I learned from other moms.  Remember all those posters that said everything I needed to know I learned in kindergarten or I learned from my dog?

I'm really grateful these days for what I learned from other moms.  While I was pregnant, I watched my bestie's son while she was in the hospital having her second baby.  I took him to Chic-Fil-a one rainy day to get out his energy on the playground and have lunch, and it was there that I learned what a resource watching other parents could be.  As he spilled his milk that I opened down his shirt, I looked around and saw all the other parents had poked the straw through the foil lining on the top of the milk bottle vs peeling it off.  Ahh, they know a few more things that this non-parent did and by watching them I figured they could help me figure a few things out!




I'm thankful for Erin at the Blue Eyed Bride for writing about Mom's on Call and to my friend Chris for sharing the book On Becoming Baby Wise with me.  My husband and I were able to develop a great schedule/routine that works for us, is flexible and had James sleeping 8 hours a night by the time he was three weeks old.

James' first car.

I'm grateful to my friend Gwen for sharing her baby shopping list with me and my neighbor Anna for sharing her mommy shopping list with me and referring her baby sitter to us. 


Good Morning Yawn


I'm thankful to my mom for reminding me to sing, play, read and tell James stories.

Papa Morgan loving on James

I'm thankful to my Aunt Tish and Cousin Melanie for calling me, giving me great tips, encouragement and the cutest outfits straight from Oxford, Mississippi.







I am beyond thankful to my cousin Ansley who had her son the day before me.  It's been so wonderful to share text messages, emails and phone calls with her during the end of our pregnancies and these past few weeks.  I don't know if I could truly express my gratitude to her for the exchanges we had the first few days of being home with our boys.  I can't wait our guys to meet, it's really been one of the neatest experiences to have our boys so close together and share this time together.





I have to go back to being grateful to my bestie and Mom guru Jen.  We had some grown-up mommy time this weekend and over Mismosa's, I was sharing how I had to constantly Google the words to nursery rhymes and songs because I could only remember the first few lines but not the whole thing.  Then and there she told me, well you just make up the words-you don't have to know them all.  Sure sometimes it's embarrassing when your kids say the wrong words in front of other people, but you don't need to know the words to everything.  Considering her son could tell us the capitols of every state in the country before he was three, and he's pretty much the coolest kiddo I've every known, I'm going with her advice. 





This week has been so much more fun just making up a few dozen songs a day, and not having to google the words to Hickory Dickory Dock...  

Lots of Love,


Sarah

3.01.2012

Three Terrific Weeks

My little buddy has been with us for three weeks now, WOW time flies. I couldn't imagine my life without him.



Everyday I fall more in love with James. His dad's a pretty big fan as well.



This is his blue steel modeling picture-ha!


James has gotten a lot more interactive looking at us. I love his smile and expressions, he is Already so different than when he was born.

Slightly agitated when I woke him up to eat, he quickly started smiling again.


James gets to meet his grandpa today. I'm so excited for my dad to meet him!

Lots of Love,

Sarah