Loving every minute.

Ella knows somehow when she’s pushing me to the edge though and usually saves herself at the last minute by saying something really sweet.

Today in the car she said. “Thank you for buying me lunch Mommy.” Then added “Are you happy now?”

In other news, our laundry hall closet is being turned into an awesome mudroom with lockers and baskets that makes my little organization loving heart putter. I can’t help but show a sneak preview. Tomorrow it will be painted and the hooks and final touches will be added.

I’m not going to go into full detail because I’m actually writing a review for Greater Fort Wayne Family magazine. But I will say it’s hard not to like GroVia cloth diapers. Besides being more eco-friendly, they’re cute. And fairly easy. And so soft I can’t wait to put more on my little’s baby’s tushy. And what attracted me in the first place was that they make a hybrid – a disposable insert that goes inside the cloth shell. Check them out here.

Also, a friend tipped me off to this site: babysteals.com. Everyday they feature one baby-related item at a really good price. If you subscribe, you’ll get a daily e-mail alert about it. I was really happy to see today’s item is the GroBaby diaper set. (GroVia is the new name for the GroBaby line. There have been small improvements made to the line under the name GroVia, but you can save a lot of money buying the older GroBaby line right now).

Anyway, I’ll be writing more in the future I’m sure, but I’m excited for the new approach and feeling good about it.

• Went back to work Thursday after 8 weeks off. But I’m only working 2 days a week and some hours from home. It was really good to be back. Even though it is super busy and kinda frantic it still seems like a lighter task that raising two human beings. But it is so tiring!!! I love seeing my coworkers. We’ve had lots of laughs already.
• I’ve actually arrived early at work each day. I am so concentrated on leaving the house on time and getting all three of us ready, that I’m earlier than I ever was – and I’m just getting up at 7:30. That is not bad at all.
• Ella developed a rash and bumps after dinner Thursday night. And as the night progressed more patches appeared. Steve ran her to Redimed while I stayed with the baby. The doctor said it was a hives reaction, from something internal. They were gone the next day. We’ve been trying to figure out what she would have eaten out of the ordinary that day, but can’t come up with much.
• We got Ella in to the preschool we LOVED. And we got the Monday, Wednesday schedule that works great with my work schedule. We are so happy. This place had such good philosophies and was structured but super fun and Ella really wanted to join in the activities when we toured the place. Steve arrived nearly an hour early for the open house and was fifth in line. I had no idea preschool was so cutthroat. Luckily I was able to take off early from work to pick up the girls.
• I’m so glad Steve hasn’t had to travel for his job since the baby has come. We definitely are both needed these days! He does have one coming up though …
• Eva’s sleep is still a mixed bag. Sometimes good – with a feeding around 1 or 2 a.m and a feeding around 5:30, but sometimes she’ll be up for an hour or two in between. I’m trying not to wish this time away … but man, it’s so much more fun when I’m rested.
• OK, speaking of rest, good night!

Eva really knows my voice now and smiles for me a lot. Love it.

Guess I need to hide my makeup from this one. I was impressed that she knew what each thing was for. Her aim is just a little off.

A. Baby is in good position. Head down. This is great news. I hope to not have to have a c-section. I read that 30% of births are now c-sections so I always have that worry, and if the baby were breech, I’d have to. But hopefully, she’ll stay there.

B. I’m 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced. You may or may not know what this means. If you do, you probably have kids. If you don’t, I’ll spare you the gory details. But it all means that my body is getting ready. Crazy.

C. Baby’s heartbeat was 130. Slower than normal. The nurse practicioner thought she was asleep.

Anyway, now my appointments are every week, so this is when it really starts to get exciting. And I’m ready in some ways, but really not in others! At home, the nursery is fully prepared with clean clothes, diapers and supplies and my Christmas shopping is basically done. Although I have some wrapping left to do But at work … I have a lot of training and prep work to do. Next week. I better get on it!

Last night we went outside to play and I put her winter coat, hat and gloves on. Boy am I glad she likes putting them on. Last year she always fought me on it. But now, she even likes to put her mittens on. That’s going to make mornings easier.

She’s also doing really good with teeth brushing too. I did have to tell her this morning though she couldn’t have a snack though until she brushed – but she opened her mouth right up then. She even lets me get her dressed easily again. One of the good things about kids is that most things are a phase.

Anyway, I received my Land’s End bathing suits. Love the brown one. Very slimming. The red one is really cute too. Not quite as slimming, but I guess they’re not miracle workers. I really need to work out more. I’ve started going more consistently this week. Maybe my swimsuits will give me a little more motivation. And after all the contemplating over purchasing the swimsuits, Antique Mommy just posted a really cute winter coat here. And I need a winter coat! Seriously. I have a nice work coat, but not a casual one. It’s pretty reasonable too … And shouldn’t I be dressed just as nice and warm as Ella? To set a good example?

But once again our name gets called. They prick her finger and try to gather enough blood in a vial for tests. Ella is screaming bloody murder. And it’s taking forever. She tells me Ella receives the loud baby of the day award. Great! She was nice though. And I really feel for her that part of her job is to poke little sweet babies. Finally, the lab tech decides to prick another finger to get more blood. Poor Ella.
Finally we’re done. I know Ella must be starving by now. We now have a prescription for antibiotics (for the ear infections) to drop off and my baby’s a blubbering mess. I rock her in my arms with her blanket and we head out. And we set up our next two appointments — in three weeks and three months. I’m starting to wonder, are measles really that bad?

Before I had a baby, my husband and loved to go out to eat. And at any given time we would have seen many of the movies in the theater. Well, times have changed. Those things have been replaced with diaper changes, feedings, bath time and playtime. I have no idea what movies are out, and it’s been a while since I even had two hours at home to watch a rental. Eating out is becoming less and less common too as Ella becomes more vocal and mobile. But, that’s OK. It’s somehow even better than our previous life … Here’s a typical day (Ella is about 7 months old as I write this)

4:45 a.m.: Ella wakes up crying. She’s easily comforted, but shoot, it’s so early! She yawns a few times, so I put her back in her crib. She goes back to sleep. Wish I could …
5:20 a.m.: I normally wake up around 5:15 and give myself until 5:30 to get ready. I don’t need much time. I shower and set out my clothes and Ella’s clothes the night before. Anything to minimize thinking at 5 in the morning.
5:30: Wake up Ella. She stretches, yawns and smiles. Next she goes in her highchair while I quickly feed the cats and get her breakfast ready — rice cereal with warm water mixed with a little banana baby food . She’s a little grumpy, so I move as fast as possible!
5:45: Nurse Ella and watch the news so I’m a little in the know before my 7:15 meeting.
6:05: Spend a few minutes playing with Ella before getting her dressed, grabbing my lunch (prepared the night before) and a cup of coffee. This morning I also place a pork roast, some potatoes I chopped the night before and some carrots in the crock pot — easy dinner tonight.
6:15: Head out the door — with construction on my route it takes about 40-45 minutes to take Ella to her sitter’s and get to work.
7:00: Arrive at work. Eat an english muffin and some grapes at my desk while I get organized for the day. Normally I would have a 7:15 meeting, but with the extra graphics I have to do for the weekend paper and helping with the daily newspaper I don’t have time. Start attacking to-do list, making sure to accomplish most tasks before 12:30.
11:00: Lunch at desk. Have developed bad habbit of trying to eat and work at the same time. Will need new keyboard soon.
12:30: Go nurse Ella at babysitters.
1:15 Back to work. Have less than three hours before leaving for the day. I can’t stay late like I used to because I need to pick up Ella at a certain time, so I’m constantly going over my to-do list to make sure I’m on track.
4:00: Leave work to pick up Ella. It’s Friday, so I’m anxious to be home for the weekend.
4:45: Arrive home. Take Ella up to see her daddy in his home office. We all visit and play. Then I take a few minutes to get into comfortable clothes and remove contacts.
5:00: Feed Ella dinner — rice cereal with warm water, a vegetable and a fruit.
5:20: Playtime.
5:45: My husband and I have our dinner. I’m so glad I put something in the crockpot this morning. It’s delicious and fairly healthy.
6:00: Nurse Ella.
6:30: Bathtime. Ella’s really starting to enjoy this. She puts her hands out as I pour a cup of water over them. And she giggles when I make her bath frog toy ribbit.
6:45: Put Ella’s warm pajamas on her. She doesn’t like getting dressed lately, so I try to be quick and have a toy to distract her. Next we read some books. She loves her Peekaboo Bedtime book right now. She understands to lift the tabs on each page and smiles when I yell peekaboo everytime.
7:00: I place her in her crib. At first she seems upset, but as soon as I hand down her blankie, she puts her thumb in her mouth, cuddles up with her blankie and looks so content. She’s ready for sleep.
7:30: I’m especially tired on Friday — it’s a hard day at work. So, I lay in bed watching some tv before going to slleep at 9:30. I am excited to get a good night’s sleep. I was blessed with a baby that likes to sleep in until about 7:30 on the weekends! That’sleeping in around here. Like I said … times have changed.

I never thought feeding a baby would be one of the hardest parts of having one. I thought it would be the lack of sleep or the constant attention my baby would command.
Really, the only element about feeding a baby I was worried about was breastfeeding. They teach classes on it. They have books dedicated to it. They warned me it’s not easy.
But my baby and I had no problem. In fact, she got along so well that she decided she wouldn’t drink from a bottle. We tried so many different kinds my cupboard looked like a bottle store. We also tried a few techniques, including me staying away for hours leaving only my husband to feed her. No luck. Only one very mad baby.
Oh well. We got over it. Luckily my babysitter is close to my work and I’m able to feed her a few times a day. Phew. I thought, that problem has worked itself out.
Now we’re on to solids. This will be easy, I thought.
But there are a lot of rules when it comes to feeding a baby solids. Give them cereal first, then oatmeal, then barley. Huh? Are we making beer?
And introduce each item individually for 3-5 days before beginning the next, my doctor says. That way if there’s an allergic reaction you’ll know what from. And do vegetables before fruits. Or they may not take the vegetables after having fruits.
But don’t start at all until your baby’s ready. My doctor said this most likely will be at 4 to 6 months. But according to my unscientific poll of the moms I know, this is the most commonly broken rule.
You see, babies can digest milk, especially breastmilk, very quickly, hence, many late night feedings. Give them a little rice cereal though to fill their tummy, and they’ll sleep like a … well, like a baby.
I found out this secret while talking to a momof a newborn at a Superbowl party last spring. I asked her the question everyone asks a woman who has had a baby in the last six months. “So, are you getting any sleep?” Her response caught me off guard. As if she was telling me she was hiding a body in her trunk, she leaned in and whispered, “I give him a little rice cereal at night.”
Rice cereal? I thought. What the heck is rice cereal? And why is this so top secret?
Well, I would find out later that doctors don’t recommend this for a few reasons, but many moms bend this rule. (Ask your doctor to find out more.)
But I waited until she was about 5 months old, and with a little excitement and a trepidation (after the bottle dilemma) I gave baby her first food — a little rice cereal mixed with breastmilk. She seemed excited. She grabbed for the spoon and quickly put it right in her mouth. But then out it came. She pushed it out of her mouth with her tongue. Bite afte bite, she’d push it out. With the food left in the bowl, on her face and bib, I was not sure she was consuming any of it. Oh boy, this is going to take a while.
Just weeks later though my baby had become a champion eater, wanting more the second she swallows every mouthful. And there’s been no food she’s turned down. Ironically, now I worry she’s eating too much. She’ can’t possibly have a big enough stomach for all that, I think. What if her tummy gets too stuffed?