The latest trend for babies

Since Isabella is long, most of her pants are too big for her around the waist which means I'm constantly pulling them back up. This is the solution! Granted, she only wears pants when we go to parenting group because the room gets chilly - but I think it works well.

I can't take credit for the idea. I got it from a blog that I read - http://www.mattlogelin.com/

Matt is a single dad who grew up in Mpls and now lives in L.A. I first read about him in the Star Trib about a month before Isabella was born. Warning: it's a sad story . Basically, his wife died the day after their first daughter was born. His blog is about his life as a single dad.

One day he posted a picture of his daughter with her pants under her onesie - for the same reason I described above - and how people would actually tell him that he dressed his daughter wrong. WTF? who would tell someone that?? Anyway, I thought it was a good idea and actually think it looks cute!

Pics Galore

Jeremy has been working long hours the past few weeks. He also had to work all day on Sat... but we made up for missed Daddy time on Sunday:


@ The Coon Rapids Dam




Isabella was thrilled





Picnic lunch after our walk





Noses





Walking around with Daddy







After spending a few hours at the Dam, we ran a few errands and spent the rest of the day at home. JT grilled up some awesome chicken kabobs and we ate outside, watching the hornets trying to get into the nest they have IN OUR ROOF! JT discovered it last weekend and tried to close it up but somehow they keep getting in and out. We can hear the 'ping' of them hitting the siding from inside the house.







Backing up to Friday, I met my friend Jessie and her adorable son Ben,
Bella and Ben





at a baby store in Maple Grove to participate in a baby photo shoot contest. They took Isabella's picture for free and will choose a 'winner' from all the 0-3month olds that came in. Isabella is totally going to win (Sorry, Ben!!) - she actually smiled for the camera! This is the best/only glimpse of a smile I'ev been able to catch on camera:




Anyway, they said they'd email us the pictures in a few weeks. Even if Isabella doesn't win (which I'm sure she will and it will skyrocket her career to doing Target ads and Pampers commercials) at least we will hopefully get a few good pictures out of the deal.

This week is my last full week at home w/ Bella. :( I'm going to enjoy every second of it!

Paci Love

Sleeping on grandma + pacifier + face smooshed on her chest = major paci mouth!!

be careful what you wish for...

Yesterday I wrote that I *almost* missed our midnight feeds and so of course Isabella decided to wake up at 3:30am last night. :) It would be Ok except I've started getting up at 6:30am to get myself used to my work wake-up time. I definitely needed a nap today. I definitely might be in trouble at work!

STTN

Isabella has now been sleeping though the night for a week! We'll put her down between 8:30-10:00pm and she'll sleep until at least 6:00am. Most nights it's closer to 8:00 or even 9:00!

Is it crazy that I kind of miss our midnight feedings? They were so quiet and peaceful - the most relaxing feedings of the day. Although, I will be very happy if she keeps this up in two weeks when I have to go back to work.

Sucess!

Since we brought her home, Isabella has been napping in her bouncer, swing, or on someone's chest. She sleeps in her bassinet at night just fine, but during the day she would refuse to lay (lie?) there and fall asleep.

I know that whoever we leave her with for daycare will want her to be able to sleep in a crib, so today is the first day that she's actually gone down for a nap in her bassinet and fell asleep! Woo! I CAN do it!

Other successes the past few days:
She's managed to look like a midget (shoot, is that a P.C. term? Should I say "little person"?)
I've captured and now posted picture that would cause any other woman to stop eating for a week. (but look at that cuuuute belly!!)

I played dress up and forced her out in public all matchy-matchy (I swore I wouldn't treat my baby like a doll...but the clothes are just too darn cute!)

We kept her up way past her bedtime (at a friend's BBQ that went into the night - she slept on people most of the time)

I taught Jeremy to breastfeed discreetly in public (Ok, sorry - this one is a bit disturbing. For those unfamiliar, this is what many moms look like when they nurse in public)

I've mastered the Moby wrap (she may not look comfy, but she was! She took a 2.5 hour nap in it yesterday!)

Sorry again for the formatting/pictures being all random, but I'm sure you can figure it out.

Aunt Michelle - Should I be concerned?

My sister sent this to me - I really hope she didn't find it by googling "how to traumatize infants" or else we may have to really keep an eye on Isabella around her...

20 Baby Products Great For Traumatizing Infants

Where does the time go?

These past few days/weeks have been flying by! I have to go back to work in 2 weeks. :( We now have a few good options for daycare, so I'm not worried about that anymore. I just don't want to become a worker ant again... I like being the queen of my domain.

Anyway - on to the update about Miss Isabella:
She's perfect.

Lazy Day

Today (Saturday) has been a lazy day. So, sorry to anyone I was supposed to contact/said that we 'might' be able to get together. So far the only thing I've wanted to do is lay around at home. Isabella and I slept until 11:00 this morning (after a 7:30am feed). Tomorrow?

Updates include Isabella's Dr visit on Wed for her 2 month check up. All looks good. She is 12 lbs exactly (75 percentile) and 23.75 inches (90th percentile!). She has a minor case of baby eczema, but it could be worse. She got her shots which I was scared to witness, but it wasn't THAT bad.

Last night Jeremy and I went out for dinner and drinks while Nana and company babysat. It was a great night out - even with the tornado threatening to make us hide in Green Mill's beer cooler.

Otherwise, Jeremy is now working in her nursery - we decided that by 3:30 we should start trying to be productive.

Quick Update

4th of July Outfit + Pig Bracelet


Isabella's first 4th of July was a success. We spent Fri and Sat night at the Trafton cabin w/ the whole family + (Great) Uncle Mark and Aunt Tracy. We were only going to stay Fri night, but Isabella was having such a good time and the weather was so nice we decided to stay.


I'll also admit that it was nice for mom to have so many people paying attention to her so I could sneak off into the sun and the water! By the end of the weekend I ended up missing my little girl, even though she was there with me! But, I figure the family should get their cuddle time in since I'm fortunate enough to have her every day.


Center of attention

This week it is my goal to find more daycare options. It just seems that there is no one available - we've only had 2 people to visit since April!! I'm confident something will work out, though. Wish me luck!

It's not all doom and gloom

Since my last two posts weren't the most positive, I wanted to clarify that things are going pretty well otherwise.
Isabella is smiling/cooing/talking more and more everyday. She especially loves talking to Daddy! I swear when he gets home from work that girl rambles on and on. :)

This weekend we will be taking Isabella to Jeremy's parent's cabin in Sauk Centre for one night. It is only an hour and a half drive, so hopefully she'll be OK in the car that long. It'll be interesting to see how she does out of her environment. Hopefully we can do some relaxing!

The past weekend and week flew by. Jeremy went a friend's cabin Sat night, so Isabella and I invaded my parent's house/time for the night. My parents watched her at our house/put her to bed while I got a nice, long relaxing bath. It relives me to know that 'other' people can put her to bed. I know some babies can get fussy and only want mom or dad to do it.

Hope everyone has a fun 4th!

Scratch That...

...no thrush here. Not according to the Doc. She saw no signs of infection...

Now, before you assume I'm a hypochondriac I want to clarify that a lactation consultant advised me to go to the Dr because she thought she saw the start of the infection. Also, a La Leche League leader thought my symptoms definitely were thrush. So I wasn't just making it all up!

I should be happy...but in reality this means my pain and issues are something else. I was kind of hoping we could solve the issue and treat it and be done. Now it is back to square one...