Career Strong

I'm a little late on posting this but it's better to be late than never. As you can see I had a hard time getting a good shot but I thought all of these were pretty cute. Thank you Aunt Cole (Godmother) for the cute monthly sticker. I can't wait to see how much she's going to grow next to press (the giraffe). We call him Press because it's written on his chest (you press him and he sings the alphabet). His X sounds like S though so Stella may think S Y Z, again why I'm glad she will have other stimulation besides me and my messed up alphabet singing toys. Stella loves the ceiling fan and long walks in the neighborhood in the baby Bjorn.  She also loves the bath and sucking on her fingers. Next month hopefully she'll be smiling and like more than ceiling fans.  Although she's my child so who knows. I also put Stella in one of my outifts. She looked so cute.

Darren had a business trip Tuesday through Thursday so my parents came in town to keep me company.  The thought of being in my house for 3 days and 2 nights without any other adult interaction was quite scary to me. I was thinking a cross between "I am Legend" and "Cast Away". My parents got here on Tuesday evening bringing dinner of course. They loved seeing how much Stella had changed. My Dad loves this little girl. He's amazing with her. I kind of think Stella looks like a monkey in this picture. Sorry Stella, it's true. This is one of my favorite shots, a little blurry but so cute. You can also see Stella's amazing old man comb over look she's currently kickin'. My parents also made me leave the house on Wednesday for a couple of hours to do whatever I wanted to. I ended up at BabiesRUS...shocker. It was kind of fun being out but it felt weird too. While I was out painting the town red my parents went out on the deck and sat in the s...

Today you had a few firsts. You had a real bath in your whale bathtub that Aunt Sissa gave you. You loved it and we were really happy. (I also think you loved it because of the fun wash cloth Aunt Sissa also gave you that we could drape over you to keep you warm) Maybe this means you will like to swim too! You laid there and let us pour water over you and we listened to Michael Jackson while we bathed you. Maybe you love Michael Jackson and not baths....I guess we'll find out later. We took you to Atlanta Bread for lunch after your bath and you slept the whole time (as usual). We will be sad when this time ends but it will be fun when you're awake more too. Later on in the evening we decided to be brave and take you to the grocery store for the first time. We tag teamed it by taking the stroller. Daddy pushed you up and down the aisles while I got groceries. At one point I was on one end of the store while Daddy was on the other just strolling you through the aisles. ...

Before Stella was born my final weight was 195.5.....oh yeah, I was HUGE for me! I am happy to report that I have lost 28.3 lbs to date. Yes, it pretty much fell off on it's own. Now for the last 26.2 lbs....they don't seem to be going anywhere. So, I joined weight watchers last week.  My goal is 141lbs which is what I weighed prepregnancy. Eventually I'd like to weigh less but I'm trying to stay realistic at this point. :-) I workout at least 5 days a week now, during Stella's naps and we go for walks a few times a week around the neighborhood. Stella loves her Baby Bjorn so I just strap her in and we're off for at least a 30 minute walk. I'm giving myself 6 months to lose the weight as that is 1 lb a week. I don't think I'm one of those women that will lose the extra weight easily while breastfeeding. It may not even totally fall off until I finish breast feeding which I'm trying to continue for at least the first 6 months of Stella's l...

Our friends Gina and Alphonse came over to meet you. You were so good and slept their whole visit. Then we went to eat Mexican food.  Again, you slept. You're pretty great at that! We got home and gave you your last sponge bath. You have a tiny piece of your cord left but it's pretty much gone, we just wanted to be cautious.  You cried the whole time while Daddy sang funny songs to you and we laughed together. You make us smile so much everyday. Then you hung out in your vibrating seat and watched your favorite thing, the ceiling fan.

I read this article from Parents Magazine that you have 940 Saturdays with your child from birth to when they start college. I thought it would be fun to actually track those Saturdays with Stella. I'm fully aware that we won't spend every Saturday together. As she gets older she will have plenty of Saturdays with friends, out of town trips, and even plenty of visits to Grammy, Big Dad, Papa Chicho and Nana. But, I still thought it would make me more present as a parent. To know that every weekend counts, especially with Darren and me working full time. I don't go back full-time until June 18th but it's going to come quickly. Because I'm behind on this activity (only by 3 Saturdays) I thought I would take this post to catch up on those Saturdays. Saturday Number 1 You were only 4 days old this day but already a huge part of our lives. We were still getting to know you and experimenting with what you may or may not like so I decided to put you in the Baby Bjorn...

I have had some pretty crazy dreams lately. Two that really stand out. I know what you're thinking, don't you have a 3 week old baby? How are you dreaming? Well I'll tell you both dreams happened when I was only asleep for 30 minutes so apparently if you're tired you can slip into REM sleep pretty quickly. Dream 1 My Mom and I were going to lunch and when we got the restaurant my 4th grade teacher was having lunch with my grandmother (the one I blogged about passing away). Some background, my 4th grade teacher taught with my grandmother for many years before moving schools and teaching me.  I told my 4th grade teacher I didn't think it was healthy for her to having lunch with my grandmother since she was no longer living. She agreed and my grandmother was gone. Then all of the sudden Stella was there. I asked where she should sit and everyone at the table said "of course where Frances was sitting".  I know this sounds crazy but I feel like that was my...

And Stella is amazing! She sleeping like a champ and eating like there's no tomorrow.  I'm fully aware that she's only 2 weeks and this could all change but for now she is very laid back and a fabulous baby.  What I've learned in 2 weeks When it's night time do not wake up the baby because you are worried she is starving. She isn't, she just wants to sleep like you do! Once Darren and I figured this out we all slept better. In fact a few nights ago she slept 6 hours! I thought she was dead! Nope.  She's averaging about 3 to 4.5 hours at night between feedings which is amazing! Pampers are waaaay better than Huggies. I have a pack of Huggies that I got as a gift that we are currently using just to get through them and go back to Pampers. I love Pampers and love their rewards program (Gifts to Grow). When you buy a sound machine for your child get one with an IPod connection. Before Stella was born I had these grandious ideas of playing Bach or Mozart dur...

Who doesn't love a good birth story? I personally love them and now I can share mine. :-)  Stella was due Sunday March 25th but sadly that day came and went.  My midwives have been telling me that I would not make it to my due date because Stella was so low and ready to come out. WRONG!  So, Monday March 26th I called the doctor's office and told them I still hadn't delivered.  They scheduled an appointment for that morning and Darren went with me in the hopes they would induce me right then. WRONG! They hooked me up to a machine to measure contractions and the baby's heart rate.  Apparently I was having pretty strong contractions (which I really didn't notice).  The contractions were erratic so the midwife checked me and sent us home.  She did however schedule an induction for the next morning if I didn't go into labor overnight which she swore I would because of the contractions. WRONG! I did start to get heavier contractions but they were still erra...