Where's the time going???!!

I'm such a slacker. I just read my last post about how it was already November and here we are in December. Rather than lament about how quickly time is going by with my little boy, I thought I'd share what he's been doing these days. So, here are some of Bubbie's latest tricks!
*Repeats lots of what you say - time to watch the language!

*Says "Thank you" and "Bless you" - hoping on please getting thrown in there soon.
*Eats with a utensil most of the time
*Knows when he dirties a diaper, but has zero interest in actually using a potty
*Can go to daycare and not cry when he gets dropped off - I don't know how I feel about this.... :)
and much much more!

Since I've been so busy with working out of the house and in the house, I'm sure I won't be back until January...so Happy Holidays!

Wait....It's Already November??

October was a super busy month with home visits, parent conferences, ear infections, really just a lot. So I'm kind of glad that we're into November. This year should be interesting with a very mobile, toddler-y Bubbie. He's into everything these days. He's running, talking, dragging me around, and generally just being a lot of fun.

As for Halloween, Bubbie was a monkey and B and I were zookeepers. We had a little family party carving pumpkins. It took Bubbie a little while to warm up to all of the people in his house mainly because he was asleep when they all showed up. He wouldn't let me put him down - appropriatley hanging onto me like a monkey. He finally came around once my parents came over and loved playing outside for the majority of the day. I think he'd live outside if we let him.

We didn't take him trick-or-treating. I have issue with people bringing little kids who obviously can't eat candy to go. We had people at our house with little babies, like in the infant carrier car seats, out trick-or-treating for their kids. Yeah, just say it's for you. He did enjoy coming to check out the kids who did come to our door. We kept him up pretty late in the hopes that he'd adjust to the time change better (he didn't). One thing I was pretty bummed about was how few kids we did get this year. There were maybe 40, 50 tops. That's not a lot for our neighborhood. We did get a lot more compliments on our decorations than we have in the last few years, so that we cool. And we have a ridiculous amount of candy left, which is not so cool for my waistline...

Anyway, here are some photos of Bubbie as a monkey and his pumpkin picking adventures.

She Lives!

I'm surviving this whole full time job and mom thing. It's exhausting. My day consists of getting up at 5:30 and getting myself ready. B gets up around the same time. We get Bubbie up around 6 - if he's not awake yet. He's usually up by 5:45 which is a little tricky. Then it's breakfast, get him dressed, and everyone out the door by 6:30. Bubbie gets dropped off and stays at daycare until 3 when my mom picks him up. I'm at work by 7:30, teach all day, then am back on the road for my 45 minute drive home at 4. I get home by 5, play with Bubbie, feed him at 6, then he's in bed by 7:30. It's seriously non-stop moving until after Bubbie goes to bed.

Things have gotten better at daycare, aside from Bubbie get his finger smushed in a door. They have those door guards, but one broke and Bubbie found where it was supposed to be. Good times. He's doing really well though. I already have art projects and he's just turning into this little boy. He gives the best hugs ever and is just a happy kid.

I still wish I could stay home and miss my little man all day long. It's been kind of good interacting with other adults, but I'd still rather stay home...

Holy Cow

Have I been busy!! Bubbie has adjusted really well to daycare and is doing a whole lot better. I'm getting my classroom together and adjusting to my new schedule too. We start school Monday!!

Day 5

Bubbie had a fantastic day at daycare on Friday. He ate, napped, and just overall had a great day. He decided to wake up ridiculously early though and ended up taking an impromptu nap in the book nook on the pillows there for about 10 minutes. His teachers took a picture for me which is cool. Bubbie also got to see hula dancers that came to the center. He was pretty tired and ended up just leaning up against his teacher quietly watching the show.

Daycare went great and we had dinner at the parentals - egg plant parmesean. It was sooo good. Bubbie even had some. All was well until 12:30 am when B and I were woken up be Bubbie howling crying. So in I go and discover Bubbie standing crying in his crib, which is not like him when he wakes up in the middle of the night. Then I smell that unmistakable smell of vomit. Yay. Bubbie threw up for the first time last night and it was disgusting. Just keep in mind dinner and you'll get an idea. So, I called B and while I cleaned up Bubbie, he had to change the crib sheet. What a PITA!

After he was cleaned up and had a few sips of water, Bubbie seemed ready to go back to bed. I laid him down and took the sheets and the blanket his great grandma made him downstairs to get the throwup off of them with some paper towels. While I was down there, Bubbie started crying again. B went in and got him into the bathroom just in time for Bubbie to throw up again. I think he may have had too much water. Fun. So, we had to take off his clothes, again, and clean him up. We just kept him in a diaper after that. Luckily, that was it for the vomitting and he went back to sleep after a little while until 6:30.

The sheets have been cleaned and now the washer is getting a cleaning too. Good times. He's currently asleep (it's 9:30 am here) after a bath that involved him crying the whole time. I think the getting sick business was the cherry on top of such a fan-freaking-tastic week. I'm hoping next week is better. Oh, and this morning, I woke up to find I had gotten my visit from Aunt Flo. Fun!

Smart Cars

On a lighter, non-daycare note....I noticed something today while driving to my classroom while Bubbie was at daycare. Smart cars. Have you seen them? They are these tiny, I mean TINY cars that are apparently quite affordable and have great gas mileage. But when I say tiny, they are small. They basically have two seats and that's it. No, not a tiny back seat - no back seat. Well, I saw one driving down the road today and realized something.....Smart cars look a lot like the Little Tikes Cozy Coupe toys cars. You be the judge:


Am I right or am I right?

We Have Progress!!

Yay!! While Bubbie did cry when I left today, he did great at daycare today. I think the hunger strike is over. He ate his snack of yogurt and his fancy shmancy italian beef sandwich too. I just didn't realize that they don't do bibs in his class anymore and he had beef sandwich marks all over his shirt. Guess I'll be testing stainfighters a lot sooner than I thought.

As for the true test - nap time.... Bubbie has napped twice a day for months and months. His class only does 1 nap a day. He of course decides to wake up at 5:30am (wtf?!) so making it to 12:30 seemed like asking a lot. Well, when we came to pick him up after naptime, the teachers told me that he was the first kid to go down (on cots no less!) and slept great. The only thing was that it was for 45 minutes, not his usual 1.5-2 hours.

They also used our cloth diapers today. I had gone over how to use them and gave them a little tip sheet on what to do with them. We use flushable liners to help with clean up of dirty diapers. So, I made sure to let them know to leave them in the diaper when they put them on Bubbie. I also told them to just put the whole diaper, contents and all, in the wetbag and I'd deal with it when I got home. However, the teachers felt weird about putting a poopy diaper in the bag (they thought it was kind of gross) so they took it upon themselves to empty the poopy diaper in the toliet! They have this little toliet thats really low to the floor for early potty trainers that they just dumped it into. I was stoked! Not only did they use them correctly, they made my clean up job easier! Yay for intelligent people.

Tomorrow we are dropping him off at his correct time and picking him up after nap. I'm crossing my fingers that he takes a longer nap (man he was a grump this afternoon). I'm just happy that he had a good day.

Hunger Strike

Bubbie has now decided to not eat anything at daycare. He ate before we left at 6:45 and refused to eat anything until I brought him home at 12:15. Ridiculous!! He can control whether or not he eats. The teachers said it's pretty common. I'm hoping it doesn't last too long and Bubbie will start eating at "school." Argh.

The Daycare Saga

Okay, we're on day 3 of leaving Bubbie at daycare. Here's how's it's gone:

Day 1 - My mom wanted to come with because she'll be picking Bubbie up pretty often. We get there at around 8 and stayed for about 30 minutes. Bubbie played and was pretty good while we were there. They went outside to play in the courtyard and my mom and I decided it was a good time to go. So I said goodbye, gave him a kiss, and told him I loved him. As my mom and I left, Bubbie followed us to the double doors, which have glass centers, and watched us walk down the hall away from him. I couldn't look back. My mom said he watched for a little then went off to play. I left him there for about 1.5 hours and when I went to pick him up, he was eating snack at their tiny tables. I came up to him and said hi. He looked at me for a minute and started bawling. It was like, "Momma?! WTF?! Why did you leave me here?!?!" It was horrible.

Day 2 - Bubbie had an AWFUL night after day 1. He was really constipated and woke up at least 5 times. Boo. This led to a pretty crappy day at daycare. I dropped him off closer to 7:45 and he was cool. He got down, walked around, even smiled at one of the teachers. I was able to leave with no problem. When I came to pick him up, one of the teachers was holding him. They told me he didn't want to eat anything and was on and off crying the whole 3 hours he was there.

Day 3 - Today was the hardest day yet. We got there at 7:30 (I'm trying to go earlier and earlier for when I go back to work). He was already whining when we pulled into the parking lot. Great. So, we get into his classroom and I'm filling out a little form about when he woke up, ate, etc. and he is like a monkey on my hip. I tried to put him down to play while I filled it out, but no. Then it was time for me to go. I started to hand him over to a teacher and he started clinging. I had to force him over there as he kept lunging for me. Then he gave me the "saddest face in the world" and started crying. I gave him a kiss, told him I loved him, and basically ran out of the room. I stole a quick look back through the glass on the door and he was howling reaching at the door for me. I quickly walked to my car, sat in the driver's seat, and commenced the crying.

Do you hear that sound??? It's the sound of my heart breaking. This sucks.

Pity Party, Table for One

I brought Bubbie to daycare for the first time today just to kind of introduce him (and me) to his teachers. We stayed for 2 hours and he had fun. It was kind of funny watching him interact with the other kids, but so hard to kind of let him do his thing. I tried not to hover and just let him wander and explore.

I pretty much knew he was going to go since February, but now that the time has come, I'm so sad - heartbroken even. In fact, the day I found out I got a job, I was really excited. But that night, I sobbed in bed knowing that Bubbie would be going off to daycare. I hate that I'm not going to be with him all day, giving him kisses, snuggling with him, and watching him figure out fun things like pointing.

When we first walked in, I was struggling immediately knowing that in a week, he'd be there full time - from 6:30-4:30 every day. I had to suck back tears a bunch. The fact that the time has come is killing me. Next week, I'll be dropping him off for a few hours every day. By the end of the week, he'll be going almost all day. The following week, he'll be a daycare toddler. :(

I'm dreading the look he'll give me when I leave. I can't handle it. I'm tearing up right now thinking about it. I HATE THIS!

Halle-freaking-luyah

I got a job!! I got a job!! I got a job!! I interviewed at this really awesome charter school last week and got the call last night that I got the job. I'm so excited, but sooooooo sad that I won't be home with Bubbie every day. The hardest part is that he's going to start going to get used to the daycare starting the first week of August and going full time the second week. That leaves me with only 1 week left of being home full time. :( I'm so happy to be able to pay our mortgage and help B bring in some $$, but leaving Bubbie all day breaks my heart.

It's hoooootttt

That is all.

Where can I find a....

Bubbienese dictionary? Now that he's got walking down, Bubbie is all about trying to talk. Today he's been saying something that sounds like a mixture of "boy," "bear," and "book." B and I cannot figure out what the heck he's saying. I *think* it might be book. So, if you come across a Bubbienese dictionary, please let me know. :)

On a lighter note...

My last few posts have been pretty Debbie Downer. Sorry about that. :) Anywho, Bubbie has been cracking me up with funny faces and generally being a super fun kid. He's a walking machine and loves being chased right now. Good times!! Yay for toddlers.

I hate this

I was just offered an interview for a teaching position that I feel so obligated to take. The hours suck for me because of where it's located. I would basically be gone from 6-6. I would only get to see Bubbie in the morning and for an hour and a half before he goes to bed. I don't know if I could do that everyday.

But....I feel like I have to do the interview. We are basically not going to be able to pay our mortgage as of August and B hates, HATES his job. If I were to get a full time position, we'd be able to pay for the house and B would have more options in looking for a new job.

I hate this. And I hate money.

Yup, we're screwed

So, I didn't get any of the positions I interviewed for. We're screwed.

Trying not to cry

Yeah, got another rejection today. So all I have left is one position that I interviewed for last week. I don't know what we're going to do if I don't get that job. :(

Once again, I am a slacker

So I haven't posted anything for about a month, but I blame it on stress. I'm having to go back to work teaching and am really not looking forward to it.

I only took leave from my old district because I was guaranteed a job when I came back off of leave. Well, as the end of the school year came rolling a around, I started applying for jobs up where I live. I've gotten interviews and I'm still waiting to hear if I got hired up here. My old district offered me a job that's 40 minutes from my house and just a sucky position.

They kept bugging me about taking it and after a week or two of asking for more time (to wait to hear about my interviews) I had to make a decision. So, B and I talked and decided that I was going to resign my guaranteed job and just wait and see if I got one of the positions nearer to my home.

I'm soooooo freaking anxious, worried, stressed..... What if I don't get hired? What are we going to do? We need the money to make the mortgage payments, but can't afford to get day care for a full time job on minimum wage. Please cross your fingers that one of the two jobs I interviewed for in the last two weeks offers me something.

Hi! My name is Slacker!

So Bubbie's birthday party was 2 weeks ago and I'm just getting around to putting up pictures. I do have an excuse though. Between his party and today, Bubbie has started full on walking and finally FINALLY cut his two front teeth! Woot!!

Just to give you an idea of how it's been the past few weeks, here is a picture on Bubbie's actual birthday. It was a rough day.








Back to the party...it was a lot of fun. We reserved a covered picnic area at one of the gazillion parks here and basically just had a bbq. We invited mostly family and a few friends. There was a big playground for the older kids to play on and everyone else just kind of hung out and ate. Good times. So, without further ado - here are some pictures from Bubbie's first birthday party. :)

I made this t-shirt, thank you very much. He absolutely loved the pinwheel from my brother and his family. Isn't this picture great? A friend of mine took it. I love it!
















Bubbie wasn't feeling the smash cupcake. He kind of fell apart when everyone sang to him.











Then he kind of got into it, but didn't make nearly as big of a mess as I thought he would.









I do have a pretty funny story about having his party at the park. So one of my nieces is a very friendly little 5 year old. She makes friends very easily and made of friend with one of the girls playing on the playground. I'm going to say this girl was around 8.

So, I'm sitting talking with some of our guests when this random little girl comes up and starts getting a drink out of our cooler. So I say to my niece, "Um, who's this?" "Oh, my friend," she says. I think to myself, alright, we have plenty of drinks. No harm done. Then my niece asks this little girl if she wants a hot dog or burger. Again, I'm like, okay...we have plenty of food, no big deal. So the little girl gets a hot dog, no bun, per request. Whatever. I really didn't have the heart to tell my niece that her new little friend couldn't share with us.

Well, next thing you know the girls are all looking at the cake. So I shoo them away telling them that it's not cake time yet. I'm glad we got a cake at Costco and had the plastic wrap still on it.

So then the little party crasher looks at me and says, "Well, I need my piece now because we're going to be leaving soon." Excuse me?? You NEED your cake NOW??? I don't even know who the heck you are! And YOUR cake, um that's Bubbie's cake and you aren't even a guest at this party!

I told them no and thought that was it. Well my mom took my nieces to use the bathroom and this little girl followed them and proceeded to tell my mom the same thing about needing her cake.

Needless to say, little girl didn't get any cake. I guess her grandma was "watching" her and didn't seem to care that she crashed our party. Klassy. I think that little girl has a future career as a wedding crasher.

Last Mother's Day

I was bringing Bubbie home from the hospital. He was only 4 days old. I don't think anything will ever top that.

Happy Mother's Day mommas!

Happy Birthday My Sweet Boy!!

Bubbie is one today!! How is that even possible? I feel like we just brought him home. I'll post some pictures of his birthday party after we have it tomorrow.

Where did my little baby go??

Thanks Weather

Way to go with cooling down weather, although it doesn't need to be cold. Mid-70's would be perfect for Bubbie's big day. Work on it. You're almost perfect. :)

Holy Hot Weather Batman!

Really weather?? Really??! It was 70 degrees 4 days ago and today we hit 100. What the heck. Does that mean by August when we get our hot weather, the temperature will be surface of the sun hot, because I can't handle that. And you better get your act together, because Bubbie's birthday party at the park is in 3 weeks and this heat is unacceptable. I mean, seriously.

The Green Monster

Yesterday Bubbie and I went to my friend's pool to hang out with her and some other friends. They are all teachers, like myself, and are on Spring Break. Out of the ones there, I'm the only one married. I'm also the only one with a kid out of all of my close friends.

Needless to say, I was a little preoccupied while I was there feeding Bubbie, letting him test out the water, and basically being a mom. The girls all love him and were really happy we came to visit. As we were leaving to go home, the girls, lounging by the pool, started talking about their evening. They were having a slumber party (fun!!) and dinner together.

Next thing I know, I felt that twinge. You know, the twinge of jealousy for the lack of responsibility that they have. There they all were, hanging out by the pool, drinking their beer, and chatting about the fun they were going to have as I was packing up my son to take him home and praying that he'd take a nap in the car. I remember those days. It wasn't too long ago.

But then, I glanced at Bubbie's sweet little face and the jealousy evaporated. I mean, how could you not give all of that up for him? He's everything I ever wanted.

What's funny, is that I know they're all jealous of me....

Teeth?? Maybe??

So Bubbie still has 2 teeth. He's almost 11 months old and has just these 2 little chompers. It would be no big deal except for the fact that the little guy seems like he's in so much pain with the next ones coming in. We're not really sure where they're coming in, but I'm hoping they're coming. Tonight while I was getting him dressed after his bath, he had both hands shoved in his mouth to put pressure on his gums. :(

We've tried baby Motrin, but it seems to be so much worse when it wears off in the middle of the night. He wakes up screaming and we can't get him to calm down for easily an hour. Poor little guy.

On a lighter note, Bubbie is turning into such a little boy - chasing cats, playing peek-a-boo behind the couch, and just generally being fun! I can't believe he's going to be 1 soon. It makes me a little sad, but I know that we're going to have so much fun together as he gets older.

Awesome Layout

I just got this awesome layout for free from leeloublogs.blogspot.com. I love it. The blog was recommended HERE from blogger WorkingMomTottums. Thanks Tottums!

I love

Being Bubbie's mom. I love it. Yes, it's tiring, especially when he feels that 5am is a good wake up time. But when I see his smiling face every day, I melt. Now that he's crawling and pulling up, my days are filled with chasing Bubbie down and keeping him from eating the cats' food. It's so amazing seeing how much he has changed and grown over the past 10.5 months.

I had an especially heartwarming moment, for me at least, the other day while I did the dishes. We've turned our dining room into a safe play area for Bubbie the other day and there is only one way he can escape from this room - through the kitchen. So while he played, I cleaned dishes and straightened up the kitchen. As I washed, I heard him crawl in, with his little hands slapping on the tile floor. Next thing I know, he's crawled up behind me and pulled himself up on the backs of my legs and gave them a big hug. That leg hug made my heart sing. I love him.

So.very.tired

I don't know if it's because Bubbie is crawling and pulling up on everything, but the last 4 nights have been hell. He doesn't want me to leave the room. He won't go to sleep on his own. And he needs to have the bathroom fan on for some reason. The other night, he was awake from 2-4am. He hasn't done that for months. Please Bubbie, Mommy and Daddy need their sleep!

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a crawler!

I just realized that I hadn't posted anything about Bubbie's foray into mobility. On the 17th, I was going to a mom's night out with our playgroup when Bubbie decided to not only sit himself up for the first time, but also bust out at really start crawling. He had done a few "steps" here and there, but that night he went from one end of our area rug to the other. Now, he's a crawling machine and is pulling up on everything.

I'm so excited that he's reaching these milestones, but good lord, I'm a nervous wreck. We have tile floors so every small tumble or fall can be pretty rough. The pulling up business is giving me gray hair. He pulls himself up and seems to forget that he's not really able to stand and just lets go. Cue fall straight back. On tile. But I've been right behind him every time that has happened and caught him before he busted his bean.

However, today was a craptastic day. He's definitely getting more teeth and didn't want his bottles. He was constipated from the meatballs he sampled last night. Then top it all of, the pulling up business landed him with a big goose egg and bruise on his forehead. Bubbie has decided that his cube bookshelf is not allowed to have books in it. He was pulling books out while leaning and arm on one of the vertical pieces when his arm gave way and he clocked himself on the corner of the piece. It looked like it really hurt and he was howling! My poor Bubbie. I feel so bad that I didn't have my hand there to block his head or that I just didn't catch him in time. The ironic thing is that Brad and I had just talked about switching out that bookshelf for a rounder one the night before.

When you have a mobile kid, you find sharp corners everywhere. At this rate, I think I'm going to have to go buy some hair dye soon.

Happy Day

I'm pretty proud of myself right now. I just sold 3 pairs of baby shoes to a woman in my playgroup. I've got another pair in the works for another woman. Aaaannnnd another friend of mine wants to buy 2 sets of fabric blocks. Yay me!!

9 Month Stats

We had Bubbie's 9 month appointment yesterday and here are the stats on my tall, skinny boy:

Length: 29 5/8"
Weight: 19.04oz
Head: 18.25"

Where's my pot o' gold?

We've had a lot of rain over the past fews days and yesterday the weather was just weird. There would be an intense downpour and then sunny skies as the storm moved through. In the midst of it all, B and I saw the most complete rainbow I've ever seen. It was awesome - a full arch where we could see what looked like the beginning and end. The weird thing was that we were going to get family pictures done with my parents and brother with the photographer that did our wedding. We got a rainbow that day too.

The blanket

Here's the blanket I was making when Emma decided to eat my needle. :)

The $1200 Blanket

So, I'm making a ribbon blanket for a friend of mine that I am appliqueing a name on. I do this by using fusible webbing on the applique and then doing a basket stitch around the letters with embroidery floss. There I am sewing away and have just a little (read: 1 cm) heart that I had to finish. As I was getting some stabilizer for the heart, B suddenly said our cat Emma had some pink string. The pink string with a needle on it. I quickly looked and sure enough, there was no needle on the string. We tried to get it from her and she took off upstairs. I was finally able to approach her and pulled the string when it suddenly stopped. There was tension. Emma took a swipe at me and next thing I know the string is on the floor, sans needle. Yup, my cat swallowed a needle.

Emma was our first cat, our first furbaby. So in a panic, I called an emergency vet in our area who told me to bring her in for an xray. Sure enough, the needle was in there, but it was lying horizontally in her throat. The vet told me that they would have to use an endoscope and special tools to pull it out of her throat, which they couldn't do there. They had to check with another emergency vet about 20 minutes away to see if they could do the procedure there. Luckily they could. If they couldn't I would have had to go to another clinic about 1.5 hour away.

So right now, my poor cat Emma is being anesthetized, intubated, and scoped to get a stupid needle out. The blanket I sold for $14 has now cost me $1200. Damn.

Update on prior happy ending post

So, I posted a while ago about a woman in my mom's group who was going to be adopting her cousin's baby who was born early after the mother passed away from appendicitis. She found out today that the baby was going to allowed to go home with them on Monday and she and her husband were ecstatic. That is, until 5 minutes later when the social worker told her that the baby's father suddenly wants to be a dad. Granted, he was no where to be seen during the mother's pregnancy or even there when the baby was delivered and the mother died.

I feel so bad for the woman. She and her family had already taken this baby in their hearts be theirs. I know that the baby's father has rights, but honestly, the baby was born more than a month ago. Where was he then? Why didn't he "man up" when his son needed him most? I feels so terrible for them.

Laugh along with Bubbie!

We finally caught Bubbie really laughing on video. I love him.

Must.stop.reading.blogs

I really need to stop reading blogs. No really. So many blogs are done by moms who have lost a child and I can't stop reading them. Cancer, disease, accidents....they all happen and it scares the crap out of me. I don't know how these families cope with the loss of their child and I cannot imagine the grief. I always felt empathy for people who have lost a child, but now that I am a mother, the empathy is so much deeper.

We had a scare with Bubbie back in September caused by a simple photograph. I take lots of pictures of him and ran across one that had a very strange reflection in his eye. I know this is quite common, especially with digital cameras, but I decided to better be safe than sorry. My mom and I took Bubbie to his pediatrician just to get his eye checked. During the appointment, the doctor used that little eye light thing to take a peek into Bubbie's eyes. After a few minutes, he said that he might see something in there and that we had to take him to a pediatric opthamologist as soon as possible. This was on a Friday and our appointment was made for Monday morning. B was working but met us at the doctor's office after the appointment. Needless to say, we were all a mess. I have only seen my husband really cry once before then - when his sister died. He was so worried about our little boy.

After a very emotional and stressful weekend, we took Bubbie to the pediatric opthamologist. Bubbie was battling a cold and had to have his eyes dilated. He was not a happy camper. The doctor called us in and did the exam. After the longest 5 minutes of my life, he said that Bubbie's eyes were clear, both had astigmatisms and one was near sighted and the other far, but clear. The relief I felt at the moment was so immense that I had to keep myself from bursting into tears.

I only wish that more families could have that feeling of relief instead of the pain that they have felt from losing a child. I always have those families in my thoughts....always.

The apple doesn't fall far...

That's Bubbie on the left and me on the right. Just had to share.

Fun Sock Monkey Shirt Giveaway

If you like sock monkeys, check out this awesome giveaway at http://jackandjake.blogspot.com/2009/01/valentines-day-sock-monkey-t-shirt.html. MamaMade is an Etsy shop with amazing baby goodies. It is run by a mom and she makes great stuff. Check it out!

Baby Survey

I saw a this fun survey over at http://itsababything.wordpress.com/ by JnJ04 on the Bump. It's all about you and your first baby.

My 1st baby

1. Were you married at the time? Yes

2. What were your reactions when you found out: We were trying so I was very excited and in disbelief. I remember coming downstairs with the test and asking B if he saw a line.

3. How old were you? 26

4. How did you find out you were pregnant? I took an EPT test, then a digital one the next day just to confirm it with the word "pregnant."

5. Who did you tell first? B and then my parents and brother (and his family). We gave them baby shoes.

6. Did you want to find out the sex? Yup!

7. Did you deliver early or late? 2 days early

8. Due date: May 10

9. Did you have morning sickness? Only once when I was in Chicago at 6 weeks.

10. What did you crave? Strawberry milk and yogurt. I swore my son was going to end up with red hair.

11. Who irritated you the most? My students. I taught 6th grade and some of those gets just got under my skin.

12. What was your first child’s Sex? Boy

13. How many pounds did you gain throughout the pregnancy? 40 - but I think it was mostly water since I lost 30 during the 4 days after delivering Bubbie.

14. Did you have any complications during your pregnancy? No, but we did end with a c-section after my water broke 12 hours earlier with meconium in it and even after using Pitocin, I stalled at 7cm.

15. Where did you give birth? San Diego

16. How long were you in labor? 12 hours from the time my water broke to the time Bubbie was delivered.

17. Who drove you to the hospital? B and my mom

18. Who watched? Well, while I was in labor, B and my parents were there. My brother came by too. But, since I had a c-section, only B and a bunch of medical staff actual were there when Bubbie was born.

19. Was it natural or c-section? C-section

20. Did you take medicine to ease the pain? Heck yes! I hadn't had any contractions and after my water broke I was having 1 every 3 minutes. It was like being induced. I got an epidural as soon as I could.

21. How much did your child weigh? 8lbs, 9 oz

22. What did you name him/her? N

23. How old is your first born today? 8 months, 2 weeks, 6 days (according to my ticker)

Oops

This is what happens to the lids of Bubbie's bottles when they fall into the bottom of the dishwasher and get stuck on the heating element. Oops. Guess I won't be putting those in there any more.

Sad story with a happy ending

There's a woman in my mommy group that is truly inspiring. Right around Christmas, her cousin passed away from appendicitis. I have never heard of someone dying from that, but it happened. Sadly, she was also 7.5 months pregnant. They were able to save that baby and he is currently at the NICU. The baby has an un-named father and was destined for foster care. This woman, I'll call her Karen, could not see her cousin's child go off to foster care so she and her husband have decided to adopt the baby. There was bunch of legal stuff that happened because she was not first cousins with the girl. But, happily, she is going to get to take the baby home in a few weeks. Her own daughter just turned a year old and "Karen" will be able to nurse the baby. For her to take this baby into her home as her own, even nursing him, is such a noble act and I feel honored to be in a group with her. :)

Great Answer

Mere7706 from the Bump posted this great answer to a the question about why friends with kids don't have time. Enjoy!

Inspired

I feel so lucky today to be witnessing history unfolding before me as President Barack Obama took office. It's amazing that just 40 something years ago African American students could go to school with white students in some states and now we have an African Amercian president. I have high hopes for what he can do for our country.

Bubbie's first post

Bubbie was fascinated with my laptop today, so I gambled and let him bang on the keys. Here's his first post on the blog:

"bf ggg b b vhn 9b8iiiijnn rterdf gb bp[;l . frc hgv ;zC YFGVB"

I think that means, "My teeth hurt and I can't stop the drool from pouring out of my mouth." Well, he probably would have posted a whole lot more, but his typing starting getting crazy aggressive. Ha!

Top o' the Muffin to Ya!

I'm making Amish Friendship bread tonight after the 10 day process of smushing the bag and waiting. I didn't have 2 large loaf pans, only 1. Soo, I used the large pan and decided to make muffins with the rest of the batter. The recipe I used called for dusting the pan after greasing with a combo of cinnamon and sugar. I figured that if I was going to do muffins, I'd do the same thing. Well, I'm not so sure that was such a good idea. The muffins finished before the bread so I let them cool expecting them to pull away from the sides of the pan like the bread does. Yeah, didn't happen. When I tried to take the muffins out of the tin, the tops popped right off. So now I have a few muffin tops and some mangled muffin bottoms. At least they taste good.

Well that's good news

We found out that B's paycut isn't as bad as we originally thought. I guess, payroll forgot to take out vacation for the days after Christmas and New Years (which were unpaid holidays) so he wasn't paid for about 18 hours. So, it's not going to be $350 less each check. The other bit of good news is that B is back on salary due to some adjustments within the company. I'm so happy about that. I've gotten so used to budgeting with the same amount in each check that I was worried about getting paychecks of different amounts. So, things are looking up. :)

Awesome

We got B's latest paycheck today. Yeah, that pay cut really hurt. It was about $350 less than we are used to. Awesome. Looks like we are now having to deal with a $700 loss from his paychecks each month. I'm a little worried. I had to apply at Walmart today because they are actually hiring. So, hopefully with subbing and a possible part time job, we'll be able to make it until July when I start getting my teacher paycheck again. Let's pray for a good tax return...

At least 4 teeth in there

I checked and we actually have progress with Bubbie's teeth!! I can see 3 tooth buds and being that most of the time teeth come in pairs, I'm assuming there are at least 4 teeth coming in. Holy cow!! I didn't get any teeth until I was 8 months old and I got 4 at once. So, I wouldn't be surprised if there are more coming in on the top. Crazy!

4:13

That is the time Bubbie decided would be good to wake up today. 4 FREAKING 13 AM! Yesterday, he slept until 7am and took 2 phenomenal naps. I'm telling you he's messing with me!!!! I got him to stay in bed until 5, but had to rock him back to sleep. That took 30 minutes. He finally woke up for good at 6. I am so freaking tired. And, still, no teeth.

He's messing with me

Bubbie is still teething. He has 0 teeth and has been having the classic teething signs for going on 3 months here. Good times. That being said, I have high hopes that he'll actually have some teeth by the end of the month. I didn't have any teeth until I was 8 months (which is today!) and I ended up getting 4 at once. As for him messing with me....over the past few days, he's been either super happy baby or hysterical crying baby.

Monday - sobbing crying after taking a whopping 45 minute nap; will not eat his bottle or chew on a wet washcloth which is usually the best thing since sliced bread for him; resorted to Baby Motrin to help with the pain; sleeps for 30 minutes and wakes up again still in a foul mood.
**Side note: why is Baby Motrin berry flavored? I mean, he doesn't eat anything remotely close to its flavor. It smells like cotton candy and he HATES it.

Tuesday - wakes up at 5:30am, good times; grumpy; sort of eating bottles; very clingy; takes two 45 minute naps

Wednesday - wakes up at 5 freaking 30 again! but in a good mood; sleeps for almost 2 hours for his first nap and 2 for his second; fabulous mood all day

WTF Bubbie?? Tuesday threw a wrench in our whole day with the lack of quality naps. I had planned on cleaning during his naps. So, Wednesday I was all set for him to take crappy naps. I put him down thinking that he'll be up any minute. So what do I do? Throw a load of diapers in the wash and fool around on the computer. I kept thinking, "Anytime now he'll wake up." I didn't want to start anything that I couldn't finish during his nap like washing the floors, which badly need it. Instead, I did nothing. He's messing with my head. I know it.

Part of the EcoNest

I am now a member of the EcoNest - Eco Friendly Nesties Etsy Team. That also means that I am part of their blog where I can post. If you are interested in the kinds of cool items created by this team, search team econest on Etsy.

A happy new year with a praying mantis

Happy New Year everyone! I'm hoping that this year is a good one. 2008 was rough for us. Probably the most stressful year of my life. I think the birth of our son was probably the only good thing that happened.

I have high hopes for 2009 with our new President. There are a lot of expectations on him to "save the world" from this horrible global economy.

On a lighter note, during a walk today with my mom and Bubbie, we spotted a praying mantis chilling on the sidewalk. They are supposedly good luck. I take this as a good omen being that it is the first day of 2009.

I hope you all had a Happy New Year!!