First trip to the aquarium...

While Hubby's mom and dad were in town, we decided to take E on a trip to the Aquarium of the Pacific. She loved it. Well.... she slept through the first half, but loved everything once she was awake. We put her in the bjorn and she saw fish and sharks. But her favorite was the otters. Unfortunately, we couldn't get a good shot, but she and I went up against the glass while the otters were playing. They kept swimming by, kissing the glass and rolling around. She watched them and got so excited. She started kicking and "Ooh, Ooh"ing everytime one swam by.

I don't know how winter is where you are....

But it's 80 degrees and sunny out in SoCal.

We had lunch in Santa Monica, and took E to the beach for the first time today. To be completely honest, there wasn't a whole lot of reaction from the little one, but we had fun.

My boobs gave up.

Is that TMI? My milk production has been going down ever since the 4 month mark, when E started hitting me after three or four minutes when she ran out of milk. Soon after, she wouldn't even take the breast- just the bottle. Slowly, I went from 3 pumping sessions a day, to two, to one.... yesterday, I pumped for 15 minutes and got just an ounce.

I tried really hard, and almost made it to my goal of 6 months. I like to think that I've given her what she needs. Still, I can't help but feel like a bit of a failure. She got sick after my production went down, and has had a cold since. I hope this doesn't mean I'm a bad mommy. I want E to have the best start possible, and I know Mommymilk is the best thing. I'm ramping up the Fenugreek, and continuing to pump, hoping it'll come back, at least a little.

Hey, on the positive side.... maybe I'll lose the last of the weight now.

It's like they've been in our bedroom...

I couldn't have said it better myself....

Giggle Kisses....

Nothing makes this kid laugh like kisses. Blowing kisses makes her squeal. If you sneak up behind her and smooch her neck (and give her zerberts), she goes berzerk.

Funny Hubby

Emma just projectile puked (a regular occurence). As hubby was searching for a burp cloth, and mopping up her and her puddle.... under his breath, he muttered, "She's like one of those spitting dinosaurs from Jurassic Park. I fell off the sofa laughing. Maybe it's not that funny, but I think it is.... What do you think?

Hubby thinks this is stupid.

And maybe it is. However, I stare at the same four walls most days, and this cracks me up. I cannot watch it without getting the giggles.

Hungry.... Week 3

In other news, I lost another 2.3 lbs. last week. Bringing my total to almost 5. We'll see about this week. I finally gave into a craving and Hubby and I had Chinese food this weekend. I'm already sick of pseudo-food, but I'm getting into good habits. Every day now, I crave a bunch of veggies with my lunch. My goal is to be 10 lbs down by E's baptism in a month. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Yes, folks. She's mine.

I had three great moments with E today. All of them let me know that there was no mix up. This perfect little critter is mine.

1) We were in the kitchen, and I was cleaning, and singing along to my iPod. This isn't strange for us. E generally coos along when I sing. But today, the song La Vie Boheme from Rent came on. I started singing along and E started dancing and laughing. She was kicking her feet like crazy and just giggling away at me. She likes SHOWTUNES! Yahoo.... I don't care if some people might consider the lyrics a little questionable for such a little pup. I'm thrilled.

2) This afternoon, I picked her up after a diaper change. And she just wrapped her arms around my neck and shoulder and sqeezed. Now, this kid is generally a push back from anyone holding her/only snuggles when sleepy kid. It gave me my baby-tears of the day (I've cried happy tears over something every day since she was born...), and I had to message hubby right away saying, "She hugged me!!!)

3) Just now, she was chillin' on her blanket. She really enjoys tummy-time right now, and prefers to be rolling around on the floor whenever we let her. She also loves TV. We know that and most of the time we fight it. This moment, however, was just too good. Here she is. Chillin. Watching Oprah. Happy as a clam.

Camera Shy.

My daughter has the most beautiful smile I've ever seen, and has just the sweetest laugh. It's a sound that just makes my heart soar. It's nearly impossible to share these moments with the world, though, because she's incredibly camera shy. This is Emma laughing her little booty off a me being a goofball.

This is Emma once she realized that daddy had that noisy machine pointed at her.

We think she'll eventually get the hang of it. I mean, the camera is out, most of the time. This is perhaps the most documented child of all time. Oh well. We keep trying.

I'm so proud!

I can't believe Em is closing in on 6 months old! We still read almost every day. Here's a pic of the pup reading with me at less than a month old.....


And here's one of her this week.....


E may be bigger and balder, but she loves her story time. She's already developed a love of Dr. Seuss (I do voices for Yertle the Turtle), and like her daddy, gets very frustrated with the perfectly practical tales of Beatrix Potter. Even when she's stitting in her bouncy chair, she's constantly staring at the books in the bookshelves. We made a reader! YAY!

Pet Peeves

I got a couple of magazines at the grocery store today. Now, my entire home is littered with those stupid subscription offers that fall out. Why, exactly, can't they be attached. If I want to subscribe, I'll seek out the card and pull it out. Or I'll go on line and do it that way. I hate those things.

Holy Bumbo....

Tonight was the first night Lil' E really sat up by herself in her Bumbo. She seemed to really like it. Then, just as we were in wonderment at her ability to hold herself up, she grabbed her pacifier and stuck it in her mouth. We almost fell over.

She also has a new habit of cracking up when I blow kisses at her. Tonight, all three of us were in hysterics because the tenor of the laugh reached a kind of shrill, screechy level. She's laughing in the pic here.

And just because we couldn't help ourselves......tootsies ........enhance!

I've been hungry for about a week...

So, after a full week of eating Jenny Craig pseudo-food, I'm down 2.5 lbs. I was hoping for progress, but considering all the stress we were under last week, that's not surprising. Now, I'm just hoping to keep up the pace.

It would be better if I could get to the gym more than a couple times a week, but the little Miss doesn't like to nap. I'm going to keep trying to time our errands so she starts napping in the car, and I can take her up to the gym in the main building and get 15 or 20 min on the elliptical before she starts to make noise. She can do whatever she wants, though, as long as she keeps smiling at me like this.

That's right. I called Jenny....

Now that we're out of the hospital, I can get back to a project that I started the day E got sick. . . and postponed because that sort of worry can only be ausuaged with lots and LOTS of brownies.

Following in the footsteps of Kirstie Alley, Valerie Bertenelli and Queen Latifah, I have started the Jenny Craig program. It's just for 6 weeks and mostly because I need to do something that requires little thought or preparation. I'm hoping to drop about 10 lbs., get back into some clothes, get into better habits, and most importantly, stop having to tuck my tummy into my pants every morning.

Let me state for the record that I do not believe this to be the best way to lose weight. It is just a jumpstart and fits my requirement of 0 thinking.

So far, it's been okay. The Beef Chow Mein is a good lunch if you suppliment with extra veggies, but I am starving for my snack in 1/2 an hour. More on this later.

My worst days as a Mommy yet...

The lapse in my bogging is due to a Mommy Nightmare. This little fam has just returned from a 3 day stay in the hospital.

On Tuesday morning, E felt warm. Hubby and I dismissed it due to the fleece sleepsack she had warn on a warm night, and her general morning snugglebug routine. So, went about our business of the day, running errands and such. When we got home, she was fiery to the touch, and the temperature reading I got was 102.2. Lucky for us, the pediatrician's office hadn't yet closed for the day (it was after 4pm) and they told us to come right in. The temperature they got was even hotter- 104.5!

After a short emotional breakdown, we went home, packed a bag, and checked into the hospital. Because our doctor was on that call, he was with us and was the one to do her spinal tap. Do you know how scary it is when someone says the words "spinal tap" in reference to your 4-month old. She also had bloodwork, a urine test, and got started on an IV of concentrated antibiotics. Check out the pathetic little sock that she had to have to keep her from getting at her IV! 24 hours later, it was looking like her temperature had stablized enough to not be frightening, and the spinal and blood tests came back negative. The urine test, however, showed a nasty infection. Happily, it was sensitive to the antibiotic she was on, so we were looking at a speedy-ish recovery. Her fever hung on another day so we ended up staying til Friday morning, which gave us the comfort of knowing she'd had 3 more doses of the strong antibiotics, and that her temp had been under 100 degrees for over 24 hours. She may have spent her first Valentine's in the hospital, sleeping in what I thought looked like a cage at a vet's office, but she was still our sweet, darling little angel.

We are SO happy to be home. This was the most heart-wrenching thing I've experienced in a long time, but E is definitely on the mend. She'll be on oral antibiotics for another 10 days, and after a clear follow up with the Doc next week, she'll have a couple of procedures to check her bladder and kidneys for any defects that could have caused this. More likely, though, it's just a fluke and we'll never have a scary week like this again.

Just so y'all know.....

The whole "solid foods" thing..... it's not going well.......

A sad goodbye....

On February 4th, my darling Grandma Ruby passed away. She had been in a great deal of pain for a long time, hadn't been truly "herself" in a couple of years, and by the end, didn't even know the people who loved her. I'm so glad she's not suffering anymore, but already desperately miss her. I'm so glad she got to meet lil' E, and could not have been a more adoring great grandma. I will miss her baking (she taught me everything I know!), and her crazy holiday decorating. The makers of fiber optic Christmas decor are likely to have a very bad year.....

Luckily in the age of digital pictures, E will grow up knowing who she was, and through her collection of great recipes, I hope to make it like she's still around. I love you, Grandma, and I'll miss you terribly.

Holy Cr*p! No, Literally.....

I was just talked down from the Doctor calling ledge. Emma could not have gotten more than a mouthful of cereal last night, and yet, I just experienced my first solid-food poop. It is NOT GOOD, people. It's a whole new beast.... consistency, color, smell..... SIZE. To quote Robin Williams, it was a combination of toxic waste and velcro. The non-parents out there will think this is gross, but hey. This is my life. And today, it frightens me.

Aaaaaah, the vapors.

I'm currently suffering from my first cold since before getting preggo. It's awful, because I'm still Emma's main source of food, which means that I can't take any medicine. I've been pounding fluids, eating lots of chicken soupand doing what I can.... which means I'm now very familiar with the entire family of vapo-rub products. I refrained from actually using the rub- since E spends a lot of time leaning against my chest. I have the vapor-plug, which along with vapor scented Breathe-Right strips, has really helped me at night. I use the vapor tabs in the shower. Most importantly, I have discovered Tissues that have both lotion and vapor scent. They have been my savior. If I can't have heavy medication, this is the next best thing, and I'm already feeling better.

Superbowl XLII

I don't really care about the Superbow. But I do have to say, "WAY TO GO!" to Eli Manning. Way to step out of your big brother's shadow. Perhaps if Tom Brady had spent a little less time knocking up models, he'd be celebrating his Superbowl win.

P.S. Eli, now you can move on to better endorsement deals. Let's stop the stupid Oreo commercials, shall we?

Attempt #1- Solids

We'd wait for another couple of months, but she's waking up hungry in the middle of the night again, and the doc said that probably means she's ready. The first attempt was using formula at night, to make her nighttime meal a little more long-lasting. And it worked. We got about two weeks of 7-8 hour nights. Now we're doing 5 at best again. It could also be teething. Every time I look at her these days she's soaked her shirt with drool and is chewing on both hands. Anyone have suggestions on how to help her if she won't chew on teething toys?

But I digress... tonights experiment was 1 Tbsp. Rice Cereal mixed with 1.5 oz warm Mommy Milk. It did not go well.

It started with her chewing her hands.
She was in a good mood.

So we gave it a try.
She didn't know what to think.

She gave me the, "But why can't I just have a boob?" Look.

Her mood started to sour.

She was a mess, so we gave up.

It finished with her chewing her hands.

A Mommy Stinks Moment.....

So, E ran out of formula yesterday. We went over to Babies R Us and picked some up as well as our usual supplies. The shelf looked a little picked over, but not too badly. I grabbed the big purple container, and went.

It took til today for me to realize (after a 3 am wake up, and generally fussiness, gas and wierd poops) that what I have here is not the purple canister of the Enfamil Gentlease, but a purple container of Enfamil Lacto-Free.... ALSO PURPLE. In the same Font. The same size. Right next to the right stuff (I'm assuming). Poor upset tummied babe.

Mommy stinks.

Daddy's running to Target to get the right stuff.

Ugh.

I deserve to get this face today.... and I have.... a lot.

Snow Angel....

E just returned from her first big trip back East to visit Hubby's fam. She is an excellent traveller. Four flights and not one peep. Then, she braved snowy weather, and a whole bunch of relatives. She's perfect. I know I'm biased, but we really got this baby-making thing right. There's never been a baby so well behaved or beautiful. I mean- check out this smile! The best part of the trip was putting her in her rediculously padded snow suit and taking her outside to make snow angels. Awwwwwwwww.

Four Months

This Saturday, Baby E hit four months old. I can hardly believe it's gone so fast. She amazes me every day. I chose this picture, because it shows off her greatest current strength.... sleeping. For the last week, she's slept 8 hours every night. 8 HOURS! Do you understand how good that feels? She's also realized that her mom is a goofball and gives me a few good laughs a day. We think she's starting to teethe, because the drool is outta control, and she tries to chew on things. Not teethers or toys just yet, but her burp cloths are her fave. Mostly though, she grins and sings to us, and it makes me so happy.

Flying Solo...

So, Hubby is away for three days on a business trip, leaving me to do the parenting thing all by myself. Now, I do this all day every day on my own, but there's something about knowing I'm not going to get a 10 minute break when he gets home.

E is cooperating well. Despite a little fussiness at about 4, it's been a great day. Last night she slept 7 straight hours without needing a pacifier, and slept another hour after I gave it to her. Real sleep is on the way.

I guess the hardest part is just missing my Hubby. It may sound codependant, but I REALLY miss him already, and it's only been about 18 hours since he said goodbye. Right now is about the time he gets home from work, and it's too quiet without him coming through the door and giving E and I kisses. The few hours we get as a family every evening are the best part of my day. Hubby is a wonderful father, and the greatest partner a girl could ask for.

I am truly so lucky to have such a wonderful family.

Two of life's big gifts....

Laughter and sleep. Yesterday was a good day for both. Yesterday, I was playing with E, making her smile, and her grins made me giggle. When I giggled, she giggled back, then I giggled harder, then she giggled harder. It only went on for two or three minutes, and hasn't happened since, but it made my heart soar.

THEN, last night she "slept" for 8 hours straight. She yelped a few times and needed a pacifier, but didn't open her eyes and demand food. Now.... how do I get her to not need the paci? This is something we'll work on this weekend, and while daddy is away next week.

Lack of Entertainment....

I just reread the title of this entry, and it might sound like I'm bored. Not at all. I have more fun with little E than I ever have before. I'm just talking about the fact that we're almost out of new TV, which is a serious bummer. They've dragged it out so I get one more new Grey's Anatomy this week, but it's looking like the awards season is on life support. They've already cancelled the Golden Globes, and the Oscars could be next. For years now, I've had a little shindig on Oscar night and enjoy being the Red Carpet Fashion Police. I was saving that night for Mommy's First Margarita. Darnit! I want Heroes. I want Journeyman. I want Private Practice. I want more than the 6 episodes of Lost that they've taped. And heck, I want my buddy El D to have a job again.

I'm seriously bummin'. Luckily, I have a 13 lb. little imp that grins at me and makes me forget this stuff.

Happy New Year!

So the holidays are over, and they were so much fun. Little E seems to love Christmas already... especially all the ribbons and bows. We did half our Christmas at home, then went up to the fam's homestead for the family gathering. It was fantastic, and we were home early in the evening, when we finished our gifts and things here....and then closed the day with our 3-year California Christmas tradition of eating at McDonalds. We kind of hate to do it, but my family eats at 2 p.m.! New Years was a quiet night at home. I barely made it til midnight, and am convinced I only made it because we were playing Scrabble.

I can't believe that 2008 is already here. Little E is closing in on 4 months old. 2007 was by far the best year of my life. I can't imagine how 2008 will top it, but I'm so looking forward to it.

New Family, New Traditions

The holidays have been so much more fun this year with Little E. Now that we're a family, we're working hard to start some traditions that we hope will be with us for many years to come.

As we have for the past few years, we did the Gingerbread Competition, got together with our friends for a National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation themed party, have watched every Christmas movie we could find, and of course have a live tree.... We also made Beef on Weck sandwiches for dinner. In the past, we've done this on our trips to Buffalo, but not when we were in California. We made it happen this year, and it was fantastic.

This year, we added opening a gift on Christmas Eve, and reading both How the Grinch Stole Christmas and The Night Before Chistmas to little E. Tomorrow morning, we'll be having a yummy breakfast, and are including a new dish that E's Auntie Say suggested- French Toast made with Pumpkin Bread and Eggnog. If any others pop up I'll include those as well.

We can't wait for the years when we'll be able to get E into it as well- leaving cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. Christmas is the BEST! Happy Holidays to all!

Meet me under the misltetoe...

Ooooh, I want that.

I found this product on another blog. It's an indoor composter that recycles all of your kitchen waste into fertilizer for your garden. Now, I can't have that here, since we have a single plant that lives on our concrete balcony. But we're going to have a house someday. Someday soon, I hope.

Anyhow, if you want to be a little greener in your own home, click here.

Holiday Sports- Gingerbread Style

Our family has a tradition. Every year my Aunt and Uncle Host a gingerbread house competition. Generally, its them, my cousin, my crazy grandma, and Hubby and I. This year, my Sis joined us, and Little E observed. We all start with the same constructed house, and a bunch of candy. You're also allowed to suppliment with other goodies, as long as they're edible.

Now, I'm sure you're all picturing a warm and fuzzy day with all of us enjoying the holiday spirit. No way. No how. First things first, this competition is usually fueled with wine and beer. I was only allowed to have a single glass, or the Champers would have been flowing. Everyone else still had fun, while I nursed a single glass of Chardonnay over the four-hour competition. There's trash talking (especially at Grandma, who manages to use about 3 lbs of icing each year, makes a giant mess, and always complains that her stuff doesn't work), there can be full contact, if a situation calls for it.... I look forward to this all year. Every year we step up our game. As you can see from this year's entries- we're all pretty good. This year, I made team uniforms for our little fam. Hubby, E and I all wore reindeer headgear.

I have the reputation for being a little overzealous, and planning too far ahead. Maaaaybe it's true. This year, I painted my house with food coloring and water and used thin icing to create the look of brick, added a classic neco wafer roof, and added candy touches throughout. I'm very proud of my creation.

Hubby has, in the past, been the Zen Gingerbread guy. His designs were always simplistic. We're not sure what happened this year. He sat there for about an hour, just looking at his house, and then next thing we knew, it was covered in giant Peeps, and he was squirting icing everywhere. Despite that, it turned out really fun, and now they're both gracing our dining room, waiting to be fawned over at our annual holiday bash.

My little elf....

It didn't take long.

Emma and I are full on into the holiday spirit.

And when you have all day... you end up finding stuff like THIS.

The Holiday Season is upon us....

And we're having so much fun with it. As you can see from the photos here, Emma likes her warm clothes as much as mommy does. She also loves singing Christmas carols. She'll stare and grin when I sing to her, and then starts singing "oooh, oooh" right along with me.

We went to get the tree this weekend, and ended up with a beautiful, tall and skinny, 8 ft. Noble Fir. The decorating is pretty simple. We have big bulb lights that are kind of fun, and different than the "usual." Most of our ornaments are blown glass. I just think they look beautiful, and we have tons of different "themes" to them. This year we added new garland and a tree topper. I think it's gorgeous, and will be just right for adding all the cute ornaments E will someday make for us in school. Right now, she does little more than stare at the tree, but it's good to know we can entertain her so easily.

No one tells you this, but the Holidays are just so much more fun when you have a teeny person in your life. I know E isn't going to remember anything from this Christmas, but the house is decorated, and we're going a little nuts with presents, and we'll bake cookies for Santa. I've never been so joyful, so this is just the right season to be enjoying E's babyhood.