Family

Posted on July 31, 2009 by Candy

These two… I just cannot get enough of them. They totally turn my world upside down. And when they’re together? My heart just melts into a gigantic puddle at my feet and I sometimes have to work extra hard to catch my breath. Love is an understatement.

And this beautiful little girl that you see right here? She makes this mama the happiest and most proud mama ever on a daily basis. I love her like you can’t believe (unless you are a mama, then I’m sure you know what I’m talking about) and I don’t even know how I got along before she was in my life.

And this innocent looking pooch? She follows us around the house all day and likes to sneak Z kisses in when I turn my head. She sleeps in front of the crib when Z naps and loves to be near us at all times.

This guy? I think he might be slightly depressed. He is a little more lazy than he used to be pre-baby but I think he is sad that he is no longer the baby of the family. He sleeps all day and doesn’t come out of the room until 4 or 5 PM. He likes to sniff Z but really could care less about her. He smells bad but somehow we love him.

That’s my family. And I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Now, we are done paying bills and Z is in bed, so I am going to go crack open a cold one (Bud Light Lime = YECK! Don’t EVER buy this crap! I much prefer a Corona with a REAL lime in it.) and watch Margaret Cho’s new stand up special. She makes me laugh and that is exactly what I need!

Target and it’s hypnotizing ways

Posted on July 30, 2009 by Candy

My dog. The gigantic one. Will not stop whining at the back door. And I am thisclose to punching him in the throat. But that is neither here nor there…

Ok, I promise I’m not going to actually punch my dog. I mean, how do you punch an animal anyway? That seems a little weird. The whole concept. If it wasn’t gross, I’d totally bite him. Cause I think if you bite a dog, they would totally understand your anger towards them. If you punch a dog, I don’t think they have any way of knowing that you really mean business because in their little doggy world, they don’t have fist fights or boxing matches. Ok this is WAY too much discussion on doggy punching.

I don’t have much to talk about, if you can’t already tell. Today I took Z to the doctor to have a quick weight check because she has been fussy the last few days and I thought maybe it was time to up her dose of acid reflux medicine. Well, she is now 13 lbs even and just turned 15 weeks old on Tuesday. My little peanut is growing and although it is really exciting, it isn’t sitting well with me. My heart aches for that tiny little newborn again.

So the doctor said no to upping her medication and actually suggested we start her on Enfamil AR or some other special kind of formula. Gene & I decided we aren’t going to rush into changing her formulas right now. She has been on this formula since she was about 8 weeks old and has been doing fantastic on it. I’m thinking she just had a bad few days. Maybe a little stomach bug? She was AWESOME today! We were at Target for a good 4 hours and she did magnificent there and has been doing wonderful ever since she’s been home. We had lunch with my mom and my sister (they both work there) and did a little shopping. I only went to get Level 2 nipples for her bottles and ended up spending $60. How? you ask. Let me tell you thy way of spending the quan.

So I was sitting in the changing room area and talking to my sister and feeding Z when I get a phone call from a number that I don’t recognize. I answer it “This is Candace” because that is what I do when I don’t know the number because I am a huge dork and like to tell people MY REAL NAME WITHOUT KNOWING WHO IT IS FIRST. Oh my gosh I just realized how stupid that is. I’ve got to change my ways!! Anyway back to the story… It’s my mom! She is calling from the Guest Services (where she works) desk to tell me that she forgot to tell me that there was a huge clearance going on in toys. She said people form the flea market were buying baskets full of toys from there.

So like any good mother would do, I yanked the bottle out of Z’s mouth and hurried as fast as I could over to the toy department. She was fussing a little and again, like Mother of The Year, I shoved a paci in her mouth and told her if she wanted toys she needed to be good. Because, you know, a 15 week old infant knows EXACTLY what it means to be good, let alone GET TOYS!

I made out with a few goodies but nothing fantastical. Have you seen those magnetic toys that spell works, called Wordworld? They’re normally around $30 each and I got one that spells SHEEP and one that spells PIG for about $3.75 each. I got an awesome looking Cranium game that is normally $35 for $7. I got a bunch of sidewalk chalk and bubbles for really cheap ($1-3 each). These are all things that are WAY too old for Z anytime in the near future, however, I am a GREAT MOTHER and was thinking ahead! And I might only partially be mesmerized and entranced whenever I see those little red Target clearance stickers. It’s almost like hypnotism to me. It’s awful, just awful!

Anyway, my husband came home from work early because he was having a dizzy spell again. He gets these from time to time and all the doctors can really tell him is that it may be vertigo. He has been in bed since he got home. His hands, arms, forehead and face were freezing when he got home! I made Meatloaf, but wanted it to cook faster because I was hungry, so I scooped it into little balls with my cookie dough scoop. I glazed them with a VERY complicated and sophisticated sauce that I like to call Ketchup. I made Mac & Cheese and then I ate this by myself, on a small melamine Snoopy plate that is intended for toddlers. It was glorious.

Dishes are done, laundry is drying, Hubby is still snoozin’, Z is sleeping in her bouncy and I am just enjoying a few minutes of down time.

The Itchy, Uncomfortable, Choking Hazard & some play time

Posted on July 26, 2009 by Candy

Yesterday we went to a birthday party for a friend’s 3 year old and the theme was a Princess party. Luckily, someone had given us an adorable, frilly pink dress in size 3 months when Z was born and we finally had an excuse to wear it! It had been sitting in the closet with the tags on and I thought there was no way she’ll ever get to wear it. So perfect timing, huh? So we squeezed the dress on her… It barely fit over her head and barely got the arms in. The little bloomers that go under it were pretty big on her but the dresses arm holes were almost too small for her. She was just too adorable with this little dress on.

Now, I am not going to lie, It made me feel like The Worst Mother Ever putting her into this dress. Why? Because it was so itchy. It was not soft. It had Tiny Little Choking Hazards (aka small pearl-ish beads) all over it. And apparently these Little Choking Hazards DO come off because there was a little plastic bag with some extra beads attached to the tag on the dress. You know, just in case one falls off the dress and chokes your child, you will be able to REPLACE the Choking Hazard with a new one.

I’m sure I’m over reacting.. I just hate those frilly, itchy dresses and I felt so bad for putting my own child in one. But she WAS stinkin’ cute.. and I guess that’s the important part.

After the party we headed over to a friend of mine’s house and there just happened to be a Baby Einstein Jumperoo there so we decided to just toss Z in there for shits ‘n giggles to see what happened. I totally expected lots of screaming and tears. I was preparing myself for when Gene put her in it.. But to our surprise, she LOVED it!

She stayed in it for a good 20 minutes, if not longer. So, because Z asked me to (in baby language that is.. I’m pretty sure it went something like this: Gooo Gaaahh Geeee Gooo Gooo Gooo Gahh Gahh Gahh Gee Goo Gah), I quickly called Grandma and told her that Z would really like a Jumpertoo to play in. She really did enjoy it and seemed so interested by all of the colors and toys on it. It was fun to see her try something new and you could just tell all of the wheels were turning in her head as she was seeing something new and learning something new.

I could do this parenting thing 10 more times. I love, love, love it. And I love, love, love Z! She is my little peanut and the light of my life.

A milestone and A Fail, how typical!

Posted on July 24, 2009 by Candy

A couple of nights ago I think Z had her first nightmare. It was only about 10:30 PM but she had been down for about a good hour and all of a sudden I heard these really sad sounding wails. I waited to see if she would fall back asleep but they began to sound more and more pitiful. It wasn’t your normal hungry, gassy or upset cry. It was the most sad sounding cry I have ever heard! When I went in there, her top lip was tucked under and she was making the saddest face while crying, as if she was scared for her life. I gave her a paci and rubbed her belly until she fell back asleep. I have no idea how my heart is going to handle it when she first falls and hurts herself. Haha.. Oh boy am I in for it.

So Gene gave Z a bath last night, as it is tradition in our house and afterwards he put her in a prefold with a cover. I mentioned that we would just have to change her into an All In One diaper (they hold more & don’t leak as bad.. she usually sleeps in these kind) before she went to bed. Well, to our surprise she finished her bottle and went to bed really early (9:30 PM). Gene put her in bed and we didn’t think anything of it. This morning I went in to get her when I heard her making noise at 9 AM and all I could smell was URINE. I gave her a few ounces of formula and then went to change her diaper and that is when it hit me… We totally forgot to change her into an AIO diaper! Parenting FAIL! I went in and took her jimjams and her diaper off and it was soaked and her jimjams were soaked. Who knows how long this little baby had been laying in a soaked diaper and jimjams? All 11 1/2 hours that she was asleep?!?! Wow.. She really DOES like her sleep if she wont even wake up for that.

I let her bottom air out for a while on the changing table before putting another diaper on her. See, if you aren’t familiar with cloth diapers, prefolds are absorbent but the cloth is touching the baby’s skin, which is why you have to change diapers more frequently with this system. All In Ones are made so that the fabric touching the baby’s skin will wick away the moisture onto the doubler underneath it, keeping the baby feeling dry. Ick. My poor girl had pee touching her skin ALL night long! I put some diaper cream on just to be safe and let her air out and I think she’s fine. Apparently she didn’t care or she would not have slept for 11 1/2 hours straight.

You Complete Me

Posted on July 23, 2009 by Candy

As much as I am going to really miss my tiny little newborn, I am really enjoying this new phase in Z’s life. I will start to feel a little sad knowing she wont ever be that teeny tiny little baby anymore but then she will give me a big, open mouth smile and my heart just melts into a puddle. That is when I realize that this next stage in her life is going to be oh so much fun.

We are starting to have a routine and I like it a lot. Here is how it goes:

In the mornings (usually around 9-10 AM, it varies) I get her from the co-sleeper and as soon as I say Good Morning she will give me a big blurry-eyed grin. I can tell she is sleepy and when I un-velcro the SwaddleMe blanket, she will begin her back-arching and stretching. She even makes little stretching grunts. It’s adorable. I feed her about 4oz and then go change her diaper and change her outfit. I finish the last ounce and then we just talk and play for a little bit. She is usually back asleep within’ an hour or two for a good nap.

She will usually eat again around 11:30 AM and then take another bottle around 2:30 PM. After the 2:30 PM bottle, she goes to sleep and gets up at 4 PM, on the dot, every single day, for a bottle! She eats and then naps on and off while I start dinner. She is usually getting fussy as soon as Gene walks in the door (6 PM) from work so he watches her while I finish dinner. She’ll usually eat after we have eaten. She goes to bed sometime between 9-11 PM and will usually sleep a good 11 hours or so.

In all honesty, I cannot complain about this little munchkin. She is a really good baby and is usually content just laying in her bouncy whenever I need to get something done around the house. Sometimes I’ll lay her in her crib to look at her Winnie the Pooh mobile for a change of scenery. It is so much different have a baby that will actually interact with you. It’s so much fun and I know it is only going to get better.

[sidenote] I’ve noticed that she is really enjoying when she sits in the Bumbo chair or when I sit her up on my tummy when I’m laying down. She likes when we hold her up like she is standing on her feet too. Today she has really been trying to lift herself up, like her head and upper torso whenever she is laying on the bouncy seat.

A little about Parenting Fail

Posted on July 22, 2009 by Candy

Being a parent is sure enough to guarantee you at the top of the FAIL list. It seems like at least once a week I am doing something that makes me say “That was a Parenting Fail!” in my head. Sometimes I say it out loud and Z just smiles at me.

It’s not as if I am doing anything horrible like throwing a plugged in hair dryer into her bath water, dropping her on her head (It’s ok if it’s only done once, right Hollie? ;) or leaving her unattended in a hot vehicle with the windows rolled up. But the little things. The things that are so miniscule that you can’t even believe you’ve done it. And even if they aren’t life threatening or life changing, they are Fails nonetheless.

The other day I was rubbing baby lotion on Z’s face because she has some pretty patchy dry skin. And I squirted a dab of lotion onto my finger and started rubbing it on her forehead. And there was way too much. And I think I got some in her eye. She didn’t cry and her eye is ok but I saw it on her eye. And I freaked out a bit. But the thing is, it took me FAILING as a parent to realize that the smart way to lotion up my baby is to rub it into my hands and THEN wipe her face gently with my hands. Duh?

So then I was changing Z’s diaper and she is laying on the changing table (yes I actually use the changing table for 100% of all diaper changes! One of the BEST investments we made!) and she starts to spit up a little bit and in fear of her getting it onto her clothes and changing pad, I grab the nearest thing I can reach and wipe her face. But uh.. hello.. I grabbed the already soaked-in-pee cloth diaper! Oops.. I totally just wiped my baby’s face with a pee soaked cloth diaper. So what is worse, spit up on ITEMS THAT ARE 100% WASHABLE or PEE FACE?!?! Fail. Fail. FAIL FAIL FAIL! And I can’t even blame this particular fail on sleep deprivation because my little princess is letting mommy get a good 8 hours of sleep per night and she is sleeping an average of 11 hours herself.

Those are just two parenting fail examples and I’m sure there are many more to come. Which is why I’m creating a Parenting Fail category on here. And to add to my Fail list, I’d also like to mention how I have been doing an AWFUL job of keeping up with her milestones and writing about her on here. Or in her baby book. It’s awful and makes me feel horrible! With Grandpa’s death we have been really, really busy and I just haven’t had time. I think I only took ONE picture of her in her 13th week of life. Oops.

One last thing.. This week Z is starting to really hold her head up VERY well. I am able to support her waist with my hands and sit her on my lap and she will just look around and hold herself up really well. I am so proud of her! It’s really fun to sit her up like that and watch her look around and laugh and play with me. This parenting thing is funny and confusing and awesome and What The Heck Do We Do Now? all rolled into an adorably poopy package. I’ve told myself and Gene that we can’t have any more babies until this one is paid off, hah, which will be approximately 2 years. I want my children to be about 2-3 years apart in age. And yes I want more than one child. Actually, I am completely enamored with Z and I would get pregnant right this second if it was logical and if I could afford it. But for now we’ll wait and enjoy our little peanut as she grows without any distractions.

Dieting

Posted on July 10, 2009 by Candy

Here we go, back on that bandwagon again. I wanted to start dieting right when I found out I was pregnant last August so because I was with child and all that jazz, I decided to hold off on the dieting aspect. I tried to enjoy my pregnancy as much as I could and I think I gained a good 15-20 lbs throughout the whole thing. Which apparently for an already-overweight woman is a horrible, horrible thing (I hate you former-OBGYN!). So after I had Zoey, a good 2 weeks after, I weighed myself and I had already lost the 20lbs. I haven’t weighed myself since then, 10 weeks later. I went to weigh myself yesterday morning so I could enter my starting weight on Sparkpeople.com and boy was I ever surprised to find out that I had not gained 80 lbs in the last 10 weeks. I was actually sitting right at where I was pre-pregnancy. HOWEVER, I had gained quite a bit of weight after our eatfest in Disney World on our honeymoon last summer.

So, here we are, just barely a year after our honeymoon and only 12 weeks after giving birth and I am diving head first into the diet thing again. Going to log my food intake, water intake and exercise on Sparkpeople.com and see where I can get. I would absolutely love to lose 15-20 pounds by August 28, which is when we are flying out to Cali so Zoey can meet her other Grandparents.

I feel motivated to do this. I can do it! I just need to stick to counting my calorie intake and see where this lands me. Also, I am going to start cooking more often to help cut down our food bills and also up our nutrition.

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Monthly Archives: July 2009