Baby Feet

I loooooooooove baby feet!! I love baby toes! They are so cute and small. I love them to death. Even, stinky baby feet. (Oh yea, sometimes baby feet get a little stinky!)
I decided to share a few pictures of my little man's feet since I love them so much -- and I found a poem to go with it. Enjoy!

Someday I'll jump through puddles,

Take a stroll or run a race.

Someday I'll walk across the street,

Or maybe walk in space,

Someday I'll scale a mountain,

Or I'll join a ballet corps.

Someday I'll walk a tightrope,

Or explore the ocean floor.

Someday these feet will do some things,

That only heaven knows,

But for today they're happy

Just to wiggle all their toes.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving from Mr & Mrs E - and of course, little Baby Boy E on his first Thanksgiving!!!

Too Good To Be True?!

Our little bundle gave us a run for the money last night - he was pretty fussy... We rocked him, walked him, fed him, changed him, played with him, sang to him...

In fact, at one point I realized I had hit the moment of desperation when I was sitting on my bed in the dark, holding him up (in burping position), watching Dancing With The Stars ON MUTE, and listening to the soothing sounds of the ocean from my alarm clock HOPING he would fall asleep.

And...he did!!! Until Daddy decided to start printing out documents and talking and WOKE UP THE BABY!!!! Grrrrrrrrrr.....

Luckily, it didn't take much for him to go back to sleep (one all the stupid printing finished)...

I anticipated a midnight wake up call, it never came...
Around 2:30 a.m. I heard him let out a single cry and a few "grunts"...but then silence
(Hm...now I actually found myself debating whether or not to go back to sleep because "he's definitely going to get up any minute now...")

Its a good thing I went back to sleep -- He slept until 5 a.m.! HOLY CRAP! He actually slept through the night without wanting a feeding or burping! I think from 10pm until 5 am is a pretty gooood stretch of sleeping for our little guy. - Of course he does it when I'm off the next day -- now if only we can continue this pattern for next week when we have work!

So, thinking that this was too good to be true I actually didn't believe that he really slept all through the night, and asked Mr E this morning "Did I miss him cry or something last night?" haha, of course not... he really just slept!

Tears at Work

So although most of last week sucked beyond belief because I was away from my little boy, I had been doing better this week. Or so I thought...

Monday went by so quickly that it was almost time to pack the kids up and go home when I realized I never made my daily "check in" phone call! Wow!! I went a full day without calling about the baby...

Today was the day before our 5 day weekend so I figured it would be an easy day -- hey, after today I get 5 FULL DAYS with my baby boy - and one of those days includes his first Thanksgiving!!

Well, our school held a "Thanksgiving Feast" today - and all seemed to be going well, until... my class was done eating and we just sat there socializing. I looked around, saw other teachers, aides and nurses feeding, hugging and just truly enjoying the children at the school. I suddenly got very choked up, realizing, that I should be enjoying my OWN child, instead of someone else's child.

I had to excuse myself and go cry. A lot.

Now, of course I know that I went into education so that I could be with other children and help them grow and learn, but being away from my baby is still so raw that at that moment I was so upset to be with those kids instead of my kid.

4 down, 1 to go

Days of work that is.
And it sucks.

Day 1 = Horrible. Major tearfest and felt very very sad all day.
Day 2 = Still horrible, no tears just felt very sad.
Day 3 = Pretty much horrible, no tears, very sad and really missed him badly.
Day 4 = Still horrible, some tears came back this morning, sad and missed him badly.

Day 5, what will you bring me? Tears? Anxiety? Sadness?

These are horrible feelings to have all day long at work. I miss my little one so badly that it hurts me to be away from him. I know essentially I'm at work for him so that Mr E and I can provide him a good life -- but it doesn't make the sadness go away any faster.

6 weeks is not long enough

I'm not sure who decided that 6 weeks is an appropriate amount of time to expect a new mother to return to work. I mean, sure, that's a month and a half it should be fine! Right? NO WAY! - There are too many new changes in this part of life that both baby and mommy are going through that do not get resolved by the time the 6 week mark hits. Let's examine this a little more closely:

A 6 week old baby is still VERY needy and needs his mommy.
A 6 week old mommy is still VERY needy and needs her baby.

A 6 week old baby does not typically sleep through the night yet, therefore
A 6 week old mommy does not typically sleep through the night.

A 6 week old baby may not have many worries but
A 6 week old mommy not only worries for herself, but multiply it by 100x and that's the tip of the iceberg of a new mommy's daily worries.

A 6 week old baby's body is changing rapidly - gaining weight, features are developing more distinctly and even forming a personality!
A 6 week old mommy's body is still bouncing back from the 9 months of gaining weight, changing features and even the change in personality from being a cranky pregnant woman to a cranky new mommy!!

A 6 week old baby cries when he's hungry, wet, tired and sometimes for no reason.
A crying baby makes it hard for mommy to eat, use the bathroom and sleep - therefore
A 6 week old mommy cries when she's hungry, wet, tired and sometimes for no reason!


As the evidence above suggests, there is way too much going on in the life, body and mind of a new mommy is so consumed with her new bundle of joy there is no way she is mentally or physically ready to return to work - yet, many of us must. As I did today. It was a very hard day. It's hard to explain what the separation from your new baby is like - it is very sad, but its really not just your typical "oh, I'm sad" feeling, it becomes almost a physical emotion - I could feel the separation from my little one and that's why it hurts so bad.

I'm sure that if I stayed home until 12 weeks, or 30 weeks, or 52 weeks it wouldn't be any easier emotionally but perhaps some of the other stuff would have worked itself out by then.

Poor, Sick Baby.

(this could also be titled "Gross Part 2)

My little baby is sick. Luckily he isn't running a fever but he is still suffering from his first cold.
He is all congested and his teeny tiny little nose is full of boogers (I told you this would be Gross Part 2). I just feel so bad for the little guy - he's so stuffed up that he can't and won't sleep unless he's propped up, being held or basically sitting in his swing. Anytime we lay him down on his back he screams because he can't breathe!

I can not count how many times I've used the little nasal aspirator (aka snot sucker) to clear out his nostrils. Mr. E and I have also used a saline solution (for babies, yes its safe) in addition to the snot sucker. We've been successful in helping him breathe more easily but it doesn't help knowing that he feels so crummy. (And, it doesn't help knowing its probably my fault since I'm sick too.)

On the bright (??) side, we've reached 2 milestones!
1) Baby's First cold
and
2) Baby's First Snot Bubble!!!

(hey, I said milestones, I didn't say traditional ones!)

GROSS

gross

  /groʊs/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [grohs] adjective

Slang. extremely objectionable, offensive, or disgusting:

Synonyms: nasty, unpleasant, repulsive


Well, let me tell you that as a mom (or parent in general) you experience some GROSS things! Things that even days before you officially become a parent would send you running from a room trying to hold down your lunch. Once you cross over into parenthood and hold that baby in your arms the line between "gross" and "acceptable" seems to fade, if not just about diminish.

What do I know about this you ask, Since I've only been a parent for about a month. Well, I already know plenty!

As one of my previous blogs mentioned, I have been peed on countless times, and since that entry the pee-on-mom count has grown in mass proportions.
I thought it would be fun to create a little list of "grossness" :)

Gross things that parents experience on a regular basis....

• Getting peed on

• Getting stinky baby poop on your hands when trying to manage dirty diaper and squirming baby

• Changing a sinky, poopy diaper too quickly - therefore, baby is STILL mid-poop and you are now stuck trying to "catch" the remaining poop in diaper while holding baby's legs!

• Having baby spit-up on your shoulders as a permanent accessory

• SPIT UP IN YOUR MOUTH AND ON YOUR FACE (*oh yes, this is true....)

I find it amazing that all of these things have not once triggered my gag reflex...
but then again, I guess it is true that the line between gross and acceptable, or should I say normal has begun to diminish in the land of parenthood.

Mommy Proofed Formula

We've been using the ready to eat formula that comes in quart sized containers - well, opening the bottles of formula became quite the arduous task. In order to prepare some bottles for the day I would go through the following steps:

1. Unwrap plastic seal around neck of bottle.
2. Unscrew cap.
3. Struggle with foil covering top of bottle.
4. Locate knife (or other sharp object).
5. Stab foil covering.
6. Peel back foil.
7. Pour formula into bottles.

Well, just 2 days ago, (yes, this was after a MONTH of this process) I somehow noticed that on the lid of the formula bottle was a little sharp, pointy looking thing. Upon a closer inspection I also noticed words imprinted on it that read "TO CUT FOIL Invert Cap, Push Down & Turn"...

Ohhhh so, a built in sharp object for me to open the darn formula! I can now eliminate steps 3,4 and 5 and replace them with

Step 3. Use inverted lid to open pesky foil

Whew, its a good thing it only took a full month to figure this out. :)

November 3, 2007

On November 3, 2007 I got married...making today my

1 year anniversary!

I have been so lucky to find someone special to share my life with, and have a family with.
Mr E is a wonderful man and I thought I would "pay tribute" to our anniversary by posting pictures from our wedding in the blog! Enjoy!

<---Getting ready!

What a good looking wedding party!---->

More of our wedding party ---->

<-- Our First Kiss as Husband & Wife!

Mr. & Mrs. E ---->

<-- Looking Good :)

First Dance ------->

<-- Time to cut the cake!

Let's CELEBRATE!!!!! ----------->

Happy Birthday!

My big boy is 1 month old already!

He is now 19 3/4 inches long and 9 lbs 4 oz! He has gained 3 full pounds since he was born! A healthy and growing boy!