Bye Bye July!

I can't believe July is almost over. It's crazy how quickly time is flying by. I really don't remember being pregnant. It seems like a lifetime ago. Moira will be four months old already. She has changed so much since bringing her home in April.
She is starting to get fun! She can roll over both ways, loves to "talk", and seriously wants to sit up. I'm scared because I think she is going to crawl early. She is just so freaking nosy! Pretty soon we're going to start her on cereal and baby food. That should be a hoot! She's sleeping more at night, acting so much more animated, and really developing her own personality. There's so many things that I look forward to doing with her. This is such an exciting time in my life.

Everyone always said that once you have a child, time will go by so quickly, and you know what? They're right!

Trying to get rid of the "baby fat"

Moira is getting chubby. There's no other way of putting it. Her thighs are starting to jiggle. She's getting a double chin, and her cheeks are so squeezable. Seriously, I wouldn't want it any other way.

We have signed up for our first mother daughter bonding event. Every Tuesday and Thursday we go to Mommy & Me exercise class. Really, it's more like mommy does a few squats, sit ups, and lunges while Moira drools and rolls on the mat. Then after I can no longer squat, I pick her up and we do an arm workout. There are no dumbbells here. I use the weight of my daughter. Can I tell you....she's a good size for a deadlift.

It's been fun. We meet other moms & babies, and it gives us a reason to get out of the house. But, as you know me I can't wait until October...why? Water babies starts at 6 months! Hopefully I can a bathing suit that keeps what needs to be sucked in, in by then. You know she'll be doing the butterfly before her first birthday!

More fun with video

Since Mo is now 3 1/2 months she continues to do new things almost daily. Thank God I have a video feature on my digital camera. With it, I've been able to tape some of her new accomplishments. Enjoy!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Oh yeah, I think the sleeping through the night was a fluke. I enjoy watching Food Network at 3:30 am.

One more thing...

She likes to talk too.
Enjoy!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

She Slept Through The Night!

WAHOO!
Yippee!
She slept through the night. 9:15 pm - 6:15 am

Enough said.

2 years ago today...

I was admitted to the hospital with a Pulmonary Embolism. That was the scariest time in my entire life. Those moments in the Emergency Room when the doctors said so non-chalantly, "Yeah, we're going to have to admit you!". I learned a lot though about myself during that stay.

1. If you are ever on the pulmonary floor, you most likely will have a roommate over the age of 65. I found that out the hard way, when my 68 year old roomie came in for some sort of valve replacement.

2. Getting your blood taken once is NOT that big of a deal. Now, getting it taken every four hours...for six days SUCKS! Especially when your veins give out and you look like a bruised mess.

3. I never realized how much I truly enjoy showering, especially washing my hair until I could not do it. Again, for five days I did not get a chance to wash it. Thank God for bandanas.

4. Robert Wood Johnson's Hospital food isn't actually too bad...for hospital food.

5. Bryan is a fantastic husband, and went without sleep and decent food, to ensure that I was okay. I'd like to say that he cuddled in the hospital bed with me, but seriously? You know both of our sizes...would that really work?

6. I was never so happy to be close to my family, and more importantly, never so happy to have a sister who was in medical school. She helped to clarify things for me and generally, next to Bry was a calming force.

7. Being in the hospital with a P.E. made my time recovering from a c-section seem like a cake walk. Again, blood clot...lungs...difficulty breathing...possibly death versus cut and out comes baby. No contest here. That my friends is why I plan to have more children and pray never to have a P.E. again.

Finally and most seriously, 8. LISTEN TO YOURSELF! I knew something was wrong and went back and forth with whether I should go to the doctor or not. I shudder to think of what could have happened had I waited.

Enjoy life!


Oh, yeah, and congrats to Aly & Rob! Only one year until their wedding. They'll make July 17th a better anniversary than mine.

Houdini

It appears my daughter wants to be an escape artist when she grows up. She has broken out of the blanket we use to swaddle her at night so many times and woken herself up, that we decided to do something about it. I purchased a blanket, called a "Swaddle Me" to try to rectify this situation. Basically, it's a baby strait jacket. Mo still has a wicked startle reflex and wakes herself up if she's not swaddled.

Here's how it works. You place the baby in the center pouch. You take the left arm flap and wrap it across the baby's body. The baby's arms are supposed to be held close to his/her body. You then take the right flap and pull it tightly across the baby's body. Then, using the velcro closures, attach the flap to the side. Again, it looks like a baby strait jacket.

I swaddled her up and was amazed at how quickly she fell alseep. I placed her in the crib and went on my merry way. Fast forward to 3:15 a.m., as usual Moira wakes for her nightly feeding. I walk in to find her left arm completely pulled out of the Swaddle Me, and her fingers in her mouth. She looks up at me, takes her fingers out, and smiles.

Houdini has nothing on a swaddled 3 month old!

Baptism

Moira is officially a member of the Catholic church! She did such a good job, even as the water was being poured over her head. We decided to have her baptized at the same church, St. Agnes, where Bry and I were married. Brother Bob performed the baptism just as he had performed our wedding. It was really neat to be back in the same church again. I especially loved Moira's dressed. I'll have to take a few close-ups, but there's shamrocks throughout the bodice and a large celtic cross in the middle of the skirt. I also love the lace around the edge. Can you guess we got it at the Irish Catholic shop?!? Hopefully Moira's future siblings will be baptized in this gown too.

After the baptism, some of our favorite people joined us for a yummy lunch. Not only was the food good, but Bry bought enough wine for a liquor store! It seemed liked everyone enjoyed themselves. Either that, or they were just happy to have a free meal. Here's a few more pics.

A Bloody Mess! (Or why bathing can end up causing bodily harm to your 3 month old)

I bathe Mo every other day. Usually, she sits in her bouncy seat, mesmorized by the tranquil sounds of the ocean on the bathroom floor, while I hurrily shower. Then it's her turn to splish and splash in the bath. Yes, she is defintely my daughter. She loves to kick and I already know the swim team is in her future in a mere 5 years. Today, I give her her usual bath. She's happy as a clam, kicking and splashing. I wrap her up in one of her numerous hoodie towels and race to her changing table, trying to prevent her from getting too cold. She looks up at me with those big blue eyes as I put on a new, size 2 diaper. I then try to decide whether she'll wear purple or pink, when she starts screaming. I figure it's just her telling me to make a damn decision. I tell her, "mommy can't decide. Pink or Purple. What do you think?" Her crying escalates, and again, I just figure she's cold so I go with the pink outfit. She's screaming now and I hurrily dress her in the pink onesie. Usually, dressing her calms her down, but not today. As I search for a matching bib, (Yes I know I'm vain.) she's still a wreck! I'm trying to figure out WTF is wrong with my kid, when I notice some blood spots on her changing pad. I look down at her foot and there's blood all over! I scoop her up and take her into our bathroom trying to find a teeny tiny band-aid and some hydrogen peroxide. I take some q-tips and clean her foot, attempting to figure out where she hurt herself. I find the cut, on her baby toe. Now, my baby toe is tiny. I know attempting to put a band-aid on my own toe would be tough, but my 3 month old's toe is miniscule. It's teeny almost non-exsistent. What can I put on it to stop it bleeding? The answer, one of those little circular band-aids that's what. Somehow I manage to bend the band-aid in such a way it stays on. I pop the paci in her mouth and begin rocking her. This rocking goes on until she finally calms down. What a morning!

Oh yeah! I forgot the best part. This entire event ensued while I was in my bra and panties. Nice, right? Thank God no one was watching!

I lied...sort of.

I didn't make it to the gym yesterday. It's not that I decided to wallow in my fat one more day, it was actually nothing related to my own lack of motivation. Uncle Joey & Aunt Colleen came to visit Mo, so no gym for me. We had a lovely visit and Mo got some more adorable polo stuff from them. (If you don't know Joey yet, he is a complete and utter label WHORE!) Lucky for us, that means Mo will be clothed in some high end clothing care of her favorite Uncle Joey.

I did make it to the gym today. My stomach was in serious butterflies as we drove there. I realize for those who have children in daycare, dropping your kid off for ONE HOUR at the gym daycare is no big deal, but for me it was. The dialogue in my head was crazy. Should I bring in the stroller? (No, no room for strollers.) Do I have to sign her in? (Yup, and I sign myself in too.) What if they're closed when I get there? I'd look stupid walking in and out. (they close from 2-2:30 everyday to clean.) What if there aren't enough workers? (There were five adults and only about 10 kids.) After signing her in, filling out the paperwork, and reading the rules, I placed into a playgym thingy, and left. What's great about this gym? Besides the awesome classes and the pool where I got back into swimming, that is before I got knocked up. Anyway, they have the little tvs on all the machines. While I can choose between ESPN or Food Network, or the music channels, I can also watch the babysitting room. Yes, I can tune into channel 28 and make sure they're taking good care of my kid. Let me just say the 30 minutes I was on the eliptical machine, I must of tuned into channel 28 at least 20 times.

She survived. I survived. We will go back.