30 Down, 9 To Go

That's right, I gained a whopping 39 pounds during my 41 week pregnancy with Marissa.  I've lost all but 9 pounds so far, so I'm feeling pretty good.  I haven't been working out because I'm afraid that it will mess with my milk supply.  I'm happy that the weight is coming off gradually.  Though it's always nice to have instant results, I think I will have a better chance of keeping off the weight by losing the pounds steadily.  Many people go on binge diets and lose a ton of weight all at once, they look great for a few months then BAM, they are back to packing on the pounds, plus a few!

Well, enough about that.  I'm gearing up for a little holiday celebration at our house this weekend.  I've invited most of my dad's family over for a small get together over finger foods and drinks.  My Aunt Norma used to be the facilitator, her house was always the gathering place during the holidays.  The family hasn't gotten together nearly as often as we should since she has passed away.  Even though our house is small, I figured it doesn't really matter as long as we're all together.  It should be a nice time to catch up and visit with everyone.  I have my work cut out for me though, as you know, I always out do myself and have quite the menu prepared!  This isn't a menu that helps the waist line, if you know what I mean. :)

Marissa has met one MAJOR milestone over the last few days....she's F-I-N-A-L-L-Y taking a B-O-T-T-L-E!  Yes, a BOTTLE!  Ahh, it's about dang time, child.  After 8 long weeks of battling with the bottle, she has either figured it out or figured it's a losing battle and she might as well just drink her milk like a good little girl.  I am so proud of her!  Sometimes it is still a bit of a struggle, and she's VERY particular on how you hold the goods, but a little patience and some really warm milk and she'll guzzle down a bottle before you know it.  I have to say, it's kind of nice to be getting some of my freezer space back!  I was beginning to think that I had a freezer full of milk that my child won't eat.

Speaking of eating, I've decided that I'm going to make baby food for Marissa (when the time comes).  Can you tell I'm getting "crunchy" in my old age?  For those of you that aren't following me, by "crunchy" I mean hippie-ish, au naturale, etc. etc.  Of course, Marissa won't be ready for solid foods for a few more months, let's say around 6 months she should be good to go!  It absolutely amazes me how many people have said "well, I fed my child at _____ months and they turned out fine, why are you waiting?"  Umm...I'm waiting because I want to and I don't have to tell you.  Ah, ah, if it was only that easy.  People want to know why you are making certain decisions for your child, they want to tell you that they don't agree with or support what you're doing and people want to passive aggressively tell others that your parenting styles are all wrong.  Please remember people, I'm very, very stubborn.  If you tell me I can't do something or that I won't stick to something...I will most likely prove you wrong!

So here's the run down on WHY we are waiting to give Marissa solids.  I've put it in bullet format so it's easy to follow. :)

• At 3 months, babies do not have the proper enzymes to break down food.  Therefore, it sits in their little tummy's until something else (like breast milk or formula) comes along and pushes it through.  This makes for a constipated baby, that sounds like fun, doesn't it?
• Babies have something called a tongue thrust reflex.  If you don't believe me, call on Dr. Google.  Have you ever tried to give a baby food and they spit it out?  You are probably thinking oh, it's a new texture, they probably don't like the taste, etc.  Well, if that baby is younger than 6 months, they are probably telling you hey, I don't want this because I can choke on it!  Babies have this NATURAL tongue thrust reflex to PROTECT them from CHOKING.  Meanwhile, people are so eager to shove foods down your child's throat because they think it's fun.  Your baby doesn't know how to move the food to the back of his throat and swallow it.  Just remember that breast milk was designed for a PURPOSE!
• My favorite..."why don't you start rice cereal?" and "rice cereal will help her sleep better."  Hmm...let me think about this for a minute...let me substitute delicious, healthy, immune building breast milk for an empty, useless, crap food!  Sounds like a plan!  Hands down, rice cereal cannot even compete with breast milk.  Hey, maybe it works for you, but I have no intent on giving it to Marissa.  She sleeps great and let's be honest, I didn't sign up to be a mom expecting to get 8 to 10 hours of uninterrupted sleep.  
• With new foods, comes new poos!  That's right, I'm holding off on solids because who really wants to move onto that peanut buttery poop stage early?  Not me!  I'm perfectly content with her Grey Poupon Mustard poops!  :)

Marissa has her whole life to explore and try new foods.  What's the big rush?  I will say, I am just a teeny bit excited to see her try avocado for the first time!  Anyone who knows me, knows that I LOVE my guacamole.  Not that she'll be partaking in the chips that come along with the guac, but it should be fun to see what foods she likes and dislikes.  We will probably start off with things like sweet potatoes, peas, carrots and maybe green beans.  Then we'll likely move on to pears, peaches, bananas, etc, but all in due time.  In the meantime, can people please stop questioning my parenting abilities?  It's almost insulting! 

The sitter sent me a picture of Marissa in the bumbo seat today!  Such a big girl!

4th Trimester....

...is over!  Marissa turned 3 months old on Tuesday.  I can't believe she is a quarter of a year old already!  I swear I'm going to turn around and blink twice and she'll be one!  Having a baby is the most rewarding experience in the whole world.  I can't believe that some people choose to never have children.  The biggest house, nicest car, most expensive piece of jewelry, most lavish vacation can never replace the feeling of knowing there is someone in this world you would give your life for, and not think twice about it.  Marissa has brought more joy to my heart in the past three months than I could ever have in a life time.  Each day is a new adventure, I love when I go pick her up out of her crib in the morning and she smiles at me, but not before sneezing twice.  I love how she talks to me and looks at me with her big blue eyes.  I love how I am so tuned into her needs that I can take her to work with me for an entire day and she barely makes a peep.  Even though she is just a baby, I know that she loves me.  I can see how she looks at me, how she calms down when I hold her, how her eyes light up when I talk to her.  Today I left work to go feed her at the sitters house (she's still refusing the bottle, but that's for another discussion) and I was talking to her saying how I missed her and all that good stuff.  Even though I knew she had to be starving, she just wanted to look at me and smile and coo.  She just looked into my eyes and it was like the whole world just disappeared.  There wasn't a worry in the world.  It was just me and her, finally I had to stop talking so she could eat and I could go back to work.  I handed her off to the sitter and said my usual "love you baby girl" and I asked her if I could have a smile before I go.  She gave me a big gummy smile and even gave me a little "ahhh" before I left.  She absolutely melts my heart.

 Look how big she looks!

I don't know if you've noticed, but this is the same outfit from her 1 and 2 month pictures.  I think we may need to find a new one for her 4 month photos!

My little monkey is growing up!  Ahh!

The Holidays Are Upon Us!

For Thanksgiving, we headed to Bristol to visit Danny's brother and wife.  We had a nice long weekend just hanging out and eating way too much turkey and ham.  Danny went and played Santa Claus at Best Buy on Black Friday and brought me an early Christmas present...a new laptop!  It has video capability which means I can officially skype with Cierra!  We tried it out on Saturday for the first time and it was nice to "see" her.  Danny stood in the cold rain in the middle of the night for hours to get me a new laptop, isn't he sweet?

We left Robby and Katie's house at 7:00 pm and got home around 12:15 last night.  We made great timing and it was so nice to snuggle into our own bed and sleep in.  Today I caught up on laundry, putting everything away from our trip, went to the grocery store and made home made chicken noodle soup with dumplings.  It was delicious!

An old High School friend, Nick, his girl friend, Teresa and their two (almost three) kids stopped in to hang out and catch up today.  It was really nice seeing them, it's not often that I see people from back home and it was a nice surprise for them to call us up.  Danny had a blast with their two little boys and neither of them wanted to go home when it was time to pack up.  They wore Danny out so much that he fell asleep at the dinner table!  Okay, maybe the few beers him and Nick had together had something to do with it, but I had to laugh.  When Nick got here he told Danny "they will wear you out before you wear them out!"  Couldn't be more true.  They were full of energy but I would be willing to bet they slept on their way home!

It's back to work tomorrow, another week of being away from my baby girl.  We really need to do something about this whole working thing!

Here's a few pictures from Marissa's first Thanksgiving.

 Does that face not have rotten written all over it?

 Such a cutie!

There's a few things I learned over Thanksgiving this year...

1. I'm thankful for our little family of three!  I can't imagine my life without Danny and Marissa and I had no idea I could love two people so much.
2. There's a reason Four Loko's (alcoholic energy drinks) are being banned, lol!  Do the math.
3. People come in and out of your life and some people just aren't worth having there in the first place.  I've quickly found out who my friends are and needless to say, I'm done wasting time on people who don't deserve to have friends like Danny and I.
4. I seriously have a cloth diaper addiction...I bought 8 new diapers over the holiday weekend.  YaY for fluffy mail!
5. A 6 pack now-a-days gets me pretty right.  Yeah, I pumped and dumped.  Don't judge!

Day 1

Today was my first day back to work after being off for 12 weeks!  Yep, Marissa is growing up so fast.  It was an okay day.  I would have much rather preferred spending the day at home, sipping coffee, snuggling my little monkey, doing tummy time and getting chores done, but instead I drove to work on a foggy Monday morning to sit at a desk and attend meetings when all I really wanted to do was see my sweet baby girl.

Then I rushed home to kiss her chubby cheeks, put away laundry, fix dinner and clean the house.  Before I knew it, it was time to feed Marissa and get her ready for bed.  I got to spend about two and a half hours with her today, that's it!  That's it?  Wait, how does that work?  Someone I barely know gets to spend 9 hours a day with her and I get to spend a measly two and a half?  Talk about life not being fair.  I know they say that the grass is always greener, but there is something seriously wrong with this picture.

It's only day 1 of being back to work and I already feel like I'm going to miss so much...

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my blog!  Today I am celebrating one year of blogging.  I came into the blogger world not really knowing what I would blog about or who, if anyone, would read it.  But it was a way to release my thoughts and has grown over the past year into something that I think I will look back on in a few years and say, "wow, so that's what happened!?"

As a gift to myself, I may try and get my blog printed into a book, perhaps it will become our new coffee table reading material.  :)

Without further ado, make a wish!

Need A Breather!

We've had a very busy weekend in our household. Friday Danny's brother and wife came into town to visit so we stayed up late visiting with them. I fought with Marissa for three hours at the in-laws house before deciding to pack it up and head home. The child just didn't want to sleep there! So we get home, I change her diaper, swaddle her and within 5 minutes of being home she was out like a light. She didn't wake up until 5:30 am. I fed her and changed her and she was back down until 7:30.

On Saturday we had Katie's baby shower. I got up early and Marissa and I played Betty Crocker in the kitchen while Daddy slept in. We made bean dip and clubhouse cups for the shower and drank our morning coffee. She zonked out halfway through the process so I cranked up the music on the TV and danced around singing in my apron. Danny laughed when he woke up and saw the sight.

The shower went well, we had lots of yummy food and Marissa (somewhat) behaved. She didn't nap well so she was a bit cranky but that's to be expected when she's tired.  I think it is hard for her to nap when there is so much going on.  We didn't do any of our regular daily activities so I think she has a hard time sleeping when she doesn't get the right kind of stimulation.  Again, we tried to put her down at Danny's parents house for bed. We figured if we could get her in bed and settled in for the night we could go out for a movie date with Robby & Katie and Erin & Robey. Let's just say Marissa had other plans.  After about an hour of fighting with her I just gave up.  As much as I love spending my days with Marissa, when it's time for bed, it's time for bed!  It's not enjoyable for me to be fighting with her to get her to sleep in a strange place while everyone else is having a good time relaxing/chatting. When Marissa goes to bed, it's me time. I don't get a lot of me time during the day with her so by the end of the day I'm ready for a breather!  Marissa has a pretty defined schedule and when it gets thrown out of whack I'm the one who has to deal with the consequences.  I know that sometimes life gets in the way and schedules don't always work but if I can help it, I try to keep it flowing as smooth as possible.  That way at the end of the day she sleeps well, I can unwind with a glass of wine or a beer and keep my sanity all at the same time. 

Today we went over for breakfast and said goodbye to Robby and Katie.  After breakfast we headed home to R-E-L-A-X!  I felt like I wasn't home all weekend and just wanted to veg out on the couch all day.  Of course, laundry, dishes and cleaning the house were thrown in the mix, along with tummy time and playing with Marissa...but I didn't get out of my pj's all day!  Suhweet!  I've really become a home body lately.  I just like being in the comfort of my home and I have a feeling when I go back to work I'm just going to want to be home in the evenings and weekends to spend time as a family. 

Which reminds me, I go back to work in one week.  Yep, you read it right, one week!  The past 11 weeks have flown by so fast...and to top things off Marissa is still refusing the bottle.  Life as she knows it is about to drastically change and I hope she gives in to the bottle soon.  Otherwise, it's going to make for a long, hard transition for her, the sitter and myself. 

Marissa has been in bed for almost an hour!  After the past two nights of unruly bedtime routines and short fuses, I feel so refreshed.  Like I can breathe again! 

Hi, My Name is Alicia...

...and I'm a picture whore.  Yes, I take photos of Marissa on a daily basis...and I post them on Facebook like it's nobody's business. I'm sure people log on to their Facebook each day thinking "Seriously, Alicia...you need rehab." But I just can't help it, my kid is just too.freaking.cute! :)

So without further ado, here's some photos from today's photo shoot:

 Little Miss Fluffy Butt

 Someone's getting sleepy...

 "But I don't want my picture taken..."

 

And she's OVER it.  Ha, ha...time to step away from the camera. :)

 

She was very happy cooking in the kitchen with me yesterday though!