Negotiations (Newborn style)

Who's running things around here is one of those proverbial questions that has a rotating answer. Lately the little mini, has been flexing a negotiating muscle I didn't even know she had.

Me: Okay little one, it's 4am and after this feeding and changing, you're getting back in your cradle. (We try not to put her in the "big people" bed until KJ's leaving for work, normally the 6 or 7am feeding)
Little Mini: What if when you lay me down to sleep I stir for about 10 mins and then pee all over my bed... then can I get in the big people bed?

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Me: Alrighty little one, the right b**b is as good as the left so let's be sure to eat off of both so that Momma's not all lopsided.
Little Mini: How about I only eat off the left and just rest my chin on the right and make the "Ewww, that's gross, what are you trying to do" face at you. Pump or be lopsided lady.

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Me: I will change the poopie diaper and get the stink off of you if you promise that after that we're coming back to bed for our morning nap.
Little Mini: Deal.



Geez Louise this kiddo has a will like no other! hehehe, but I won out in the end, so let me let you all go so that I can catch her on this nap, just in case she tries to wake up with more demands. ;)

Oh and a few have inquired: There's no blog up and running for her yet. Key words "up and running". I'm tweaking a few things and you know I'm slow as molasses in the winter time.

Happy Wednesday (it is Wednesday right??)!

Trial and Error

I always said from the beginning that the little mini would be our trial and error baby. Oh the curse of being the first. ;-) SO I thought I'd post of a few of the trial and errors we've incurred so far, and not just with her, some are these are general dos and don'ts that I'm running into daily.

1) Walking a fussy baby around at night is considering "spoiling them". Yep. As newbies you try anything to keep the fussing to a minimum and the only reason we nipped this habit in the bud quickly is because walking around at 2am off and on for an hour and a half was kicking my bootie. Lesson learned.

2) As she's gotten bigger, she eats more (hindsight makes me say, duh). The fussiness we thought was just her fighting sleep was really her saying, "Look peps, you're starving me!" sidebar: I've heard that it's really hard to overfeed a breastfeed baby.

3) The sudden tolerance I had to cheese was only a pregnancy thing. I tested it out when I made a breakfast casserole loaded with cheese (cheddar, mozzarella, and pepper jack), and not even 20 min later my stomach had that old familiar rumble. Cheese is a don't.

4) We can't be everywhere for everything. This was a tough lesson for me but a valuable one. This past weekend we had house guests Friday and Saturday, had plans to go to a family event on Sunday, and I was trying to fly to NC for my uncle's funeral Sun night. We love having guests (really we do says the woman who's been house bound for 4 weeks now), but when you have guests, you're up at night with a new baby (trying to keep her from waking everyone) and you're up in the day trying to entertain. It can be exhausting. We overslept on Sun missing the family event, and plane tickets were outrageous which nipped my hair-brain thoughts of jetting home for the funeral. Everyone keeps giving us the out of "oh you've got a new baby" and FINALLY I'm okay with taking it.

5) Sleeping when she sleeps really is the best advice. Why was I so hard-headed to follow? Alas this post will be short as the little mini is 30 min ahead of me in the sleep game.

6) Put mail in the mailbox the night before if it MUST go out the next day. I believe postal pep in my area run between 4am and 11am. really.

7) Return missed calls as soon as possible. I'm trying. I've realized that sometimes without realizing it, you need to hear someone's voice, and they need to hear yours too. Casing point, I've talked to my grandmother twice within the past couple of weeks.

8) Leona Lewis and Mariah Carey are definite dos! I believe both cds are going to be "don't skip a single song" good. If you've got one or the other, let me know what you think. I saw Leona on Ellen and Mariah on Oprah, ahh, the joys of daytime tv.

9) My husband is really the best daddy ever, which in turn beefs him up in the husband dept too. It's a vicious cycle. ;-) Marrying him was definitely a do (one that I'd do over and over and over even on the days when he drives me bonkers).

10) Without fail, as soon as you change just a pee-pee diaper, the new diaper will be full of poop in less than a min. And I'm still thinking of/working on going to cloth after we use up all of our freebie diapers. Cloth diapers for the sake of budget... a do?

Today is Colleen's b-day! Let me know how the big 28 is treating you girlie and if all is well I'll take the plunge with you soon. ;-)

Also on this weeks agenda:

We're going to use this stroller to get some fresh air in the little mini.
We're going to get her used to the carseat by touring around our little city and just "discovering" stuff.
We're going to design her birth announcements using photos from my little attempt at a photoshoot on yesterday (Big Lots has some of the best accessories).
We're going to go to Lowe's to get a bookself to house her ever growing book collection (Thank you so much Dionne for the fantastic books you sent!)
We're going to go by and meet her daycare provider (and I've instructed her over and over that if she does not like this lady then she is to let me know and will nix the whole "momma's gotta work" thing) ;-)

I'll keep you all posted. Okay peps I've got some sleeping to do!
Happy Tuesday!

Wow, It's Wednesday...

Okay, when you have no schedule, there is really no way to measure the time. That's my excuse for being gone for so long. Are you buying it???

So we're good. Here's a few things from my end.

1) The little mini's been here 3 weeks and I think we're getting the hang of this parenting thing.
2) I have stacks and piles of paperwork to sort thru and being cooped up in the house, this should have already been done...
3) I have to help my best friend find her casual but chic Caribbean wedding dress. Again, I don't know where time has gone as I planned on knocking this out my first week of maternity leave.
4) My dear Colleen came to visit on Monday and I'm so thankful that she loves us enough to make that drive. I don't know if I'll ever be able to fully express how her presence help boost my "adult sanity" for the week.
5) How is it that I have 3 baskets of laundry to fold when I seriously rotate between the same comfy tshirts and comfy pants? Where did the rest of the clothes come from (insert husband and daughter here)??
6) I'm packing up maternity clothes THIS WEEK. There, I typed it, so of course it will happen.
7) We're traveling to KJ's parents' on Sunday (they've got a big family event) and I'm a little nervous about parenting outside of the walls of our house. Strange huh?
8) Some good friends of ours are coming to visit Fri and Sat. It's her birthday and I'm trying to figure out a great present to get from one of the 3 stores in our little city. Seriously, I need a Target.
9) I need to make a hair appt something awful. Oh and while I'm at it, my footsies could use some attention too...
10) Having a baby in the spring while living 20 minutes from the beach, leaves very little time to get this bod back to bathing suit ready condition... and I'm talking immodest suits, sisters... hehehe
11) I'm getting a little better at multitasking, but still not good enough to really brag about it.
12) I have a stack of thank you cards to write and the fact that I've waited so long is now becoming ridiculous and embarrassing.
13) Don't even get me started on where I am with birth announcements...
14) I miss the soap opera that is work, but I wish I could go in and work my own hours. I'd go, eat breakfast, get caught up with everyone, design one or two packages, and then come on home. Let's not talk about going back yet, I'm kind of on the fence about it all.
15) When I'm up for the 2:30am feeding, I sit in the living room so not to wake up KJ and I've developed some very odd paranoia about somebody breaking down our front door. I blame the movie No Country for Old Men.
16) Speaking of KJ he has been way beyond excellent as a daddy and a husband. He changes diapers, he burps, he's even pulled a few all-nighters so that I could get a full night's rest. We're adding a whole new element to this love thing. ;-)
17) Disregard the craziness going on with my layout. I did the whole update my template thing and now a few things are all wonky (I got this word from Erin and I loooovvveee it and use it often as it accurately describes quite a few things these days)
18) I'm just rambling away, can you tell I miss you all.

Pray all is well! Lots of lovin from our end!

That's Right... I'm back to post my 10 ;)

...on Thursday.
So I've been a little tied up. ;-) The little mini is doing superb. A little KJ, that's what she is. She sleeps for 4 hour stretches thru just about any noise, nurses quick and hard (like she's scared that I'll put them up and not offer again), and wants to see everything when she's awake and does a cute half smile when she sleeps. We're completely in love.
Now here's my 10.

1) Dealing with customer service from my couch stinks. On my "I hope to never deal with you again list" is Regions Bank (still working out stuff from the car accident... from OCTOBER!!!) and Walmart Vision Center (stop holding my contacts hostage!!).

2) The movie Atonement starts slow, but is kinda good. I wouldn't have given it 4 stars, but it'll definitely tickle your mind.

3) When KJ's in charge of groceries, he comes back with the best snacks. The things that I tend not to buy, like oatmeal cakes, donut sticks, and gingerbread men cookies. Yum.

4) I'm becoming quite a professional phone-tagger. I tend to leave a lot of messages and then miss the return calls. Seriously, don't give up on me folks.

5) I whipped out the ole juicer and created white/purple grape juice, apple/pear juice, and tangerine/orange juice. A gentleman from church brought us a huge fruit basket that even I couldn't finish off. So far, all my creations have been wonderful... I just need to find a defrother so that the juice will appeal more to the masses (and by masses I mean KJ).

6) The movie, No Country for Old Men, is psycho. Whoever the main actor is, he plays the role to a tee. So good that just his face was enough to make me cover my eyes. KJ recommends this movie. Me, I'm going for happier movies from here on out.

7) I'm having to practice multi-tasking. I have a bad tendency of dividing my attention up unevenly, which is why I've nursed my poor child's neck and ear more times than I'd like to admit.

8) I've discovered that there is no limit to the amount of HGTV that I can watch.

9) My most comfy pants have all come from Colleen. The pink pair she gave me when she got married (bride's maid gift) and the black pair she gave me when I got married. That girl has a knack for finding the most comfy soft clothes ever.

10) Who am I kidding, you all are only checking in to get word on the mini. hehehe Nope, her site's not up yet, but it's coming. In the mean time, here are a few recent pics and I'm going to try and load a little video.

Happy Thursday all!