Ferg Friday: Sisters

Yes, that would be Lila sleeping on my lap and Ferg sleeping on Lila.
Aw.

Don't interrupt me.

I truly think that interrupting someone whilst they speak is ridiculously rude.

Now, don't get me wrong. If you interrupt because you're excited or relating to the person you're talking to - it's totally ok.

Example:

ME: "I tell you what, I love Lionel..."

YOU: "Richie? I love Lionel Richie, too!"

Totally ok.

Next, if someone is explaining something to you that you do not already know about - don't interrupt with questions and statements until I'm finished talking.

Kindly give me the same respect that I give you. Thanks much.
That's all.

While I'm not a nature lover...

I appreciated this quote immensely today.

“Nature does not hurry,

yet everything is accomplished.”
―Lao Tzu

Breastfeeding.Alternate Title: (My how these blog posts have changed...)

Yep - I realize that blog title is a sure-fire way to get men to not frequent my blog. Just lost my brother... I'm sure.

So anywho - my life at this point revolves around Lila since I'm essentially her only form of nourishment. (Which is oddly insane, if you ask me.)

I'm nursing her. Every 3 hours. (Yep. It's a commitment. I've never even done anything for myself every three hours, let alone for a wee-tiny-baby.)

Before I got pregnant I says* to myself, "I want to breastfeed. However, I'm not going to go into it saying, 'I'm going to breastfeed for a year." Instead, I went in to it thinking: "Ok, I'm going to give this a shot for a month... if it goes ok, I'll do two months... then maybe three."

Re-evaluation combined with no expectations have been good for me. In all honesty, no expectations provided the perfect blank canvas for me. I've loved nursing Lila. It's been a precious experience.

That said - I find it so enthralling how controversial nursing can be.

Should you or shouldn't you?
How long or how little?
Breastmilk Vs. Formula.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: the worst enemy of women is other women.

Do I care if you don't breastfeed your child? NO.
Do I care if you do breastfeed your child? NO.
Do I think you should breastfeed your child until s/he is 8? NO.

I told someone today that I was nursing Lila (because it came up that she was hungry... I don't go around just announcing, "HEY! I'm BREAST FEEDING MY KID!") - and the woman looked at me, wrinkled her nose all negative-like and said, "Oh..."

Huh?

Enough of the judgment.

If I decide to breastfeed La-La-La-Lila until she's a year old - that's perfectly acceptable.
If I decide to switch to formula next week, that's completely ok, too.

I was only breastfed for a short while and if you ask me - I'm darn near perfection. :)
Seriously, though...

To each, her own. And, don't judge until you're there.

If someone would have told me that I would soon be breastfeeding in public with only a hooter hider, um.. well... hiding my hoots - I would have accused them of smokin' the crack.

But ah, it's proven true. Baby's gotta eat.

Bottom line: do what's right for you. You worry about your hoots and I'll worry about mine.

(You can quote me on that.)

--

*intentional misuse of the English Language.

(Note: I highly suggest having a hooter hider if you plan on nursing. Super convenient. About $35 at Target. Or, google it.)

I needs me some books.

Ok - now's your chance: please recommend some good books.

I shall be making a stop on amazon real quick-like.

Note: Kindly avoid recommending Harry Potter or any of the Twilight books. As it turns out I'm allergic to sorcery, vampires and books that have a ridiculous amount of what I deem to be senseless mass appeal.

Humpf.

I feel that waffles always sound good in theory, but when I actually eat them -- I'm terribly disappointed.

I can't put my finger on what exactly is leaving me so disenchanted.

All I know is that they're the most disappointing breakfast food out there.

She's a star!

Meet my cousin's baby, Linden. :)

Isn't she a doll?
She's also famous.

She appears on this website, as a model no less.

All impressed, say "I"!

Can they really be too white?

So has anyone tried Go Smile teeth whitening system?

Tell me. (More info here.)

I want this. No really. I WANT this.

Ok, so the other night I became enthralled with yet another infomercial.

This one was a TIME Life CD special. Now, I'm already an owner of the Time Life Masterworks Piano classics (shush... it's amazing)... so I'm a believer in what TIME Life offers.

I need, "The Ultimate Rock Ballads Collection."

Journey. Styx. Bon Jovi. Poison. Whitesnake. Pat Benatar. Patti Smith. Elton John. Holy wow.


It's not a matter of wanting it. I need it like I need air.

I KNEW EVERY SONG ON THE COMMERCIAL except one.

It is amazing.

My choices:

8 CDs (+1 extra CD!) for only $119.96. See here.

OR I can get the SUPER SET collection:

17 CDs (+1 extra CD!) for only $219.92. See here. (I know, that's a little pricey.)

Bottom line? This is a fantastic gift idea for me. I'm just putting it out there...

Lila Lowdown: Cinco Semanas! (5 weeks!)

'Twas an eventful week. (Insofar that a week with a newborn is wild and crazy.)

Q. How is Lila?
A. Um, super. She's perking up! Lila's awake more during the day and her eyes are tracking and she's becoming a bit more familiar with Craig and I.

And, I do believe we got some intentional smiles this week. And I'll tell you - they're so cute.

And, La-La-La-Lila loves baths. (Sorry for the semi-blurry photo.)


Q. How did the Dr.'s appointment go?
A. Really well! Lila has gained TWO lbs in her first month of life. (Awesome). She also has a very common umbilical hernia. (It should go away by the time she's 1.) Our pediatrician also told us that, "because Lila is white...we need to keep her out of the sun during prime hours."

I loved that: "..because Lila is white." Hee hee.

Here's her pediatrician appointment outfit. Please note the bow:


And, here's Lila with her Daddy at the appointment:


And here she is asleep afterward because the appointment clearly took a lot out of her:


Q. How am I?
A. Doing well, doing well. I'll be honest, taking Lila anywhere by myself is a bit daunting at first. What if I'm driving and she start SCREAMING and throws up on herself or something and then proceeds to nearly suffocate? (See my stream of worries?) What if I'm at the store and she has an accident and is so loud? What do I do with my cart full of stuff? Ahhh!

See?

There's worries.

However, we got out this week by ourselves. We went to Cabo's version of Target: WalMart. (Hey - we don't have much in the way of air-conditioned shopping here. Don't judge.) Lila did very well. She started screaming just as we were leaving (perfect timing!) and promptly quieted down after we started driving.

Job.well.done.

This is the outfit Lila wore for our big day out. 'Twas her first day of wearing shoes.


Q. How's the heat rash on the little one?
A. Better! Still, we're keeping our Mexican Jumping Bean indoors and in the a/c. It's just tooooo hot.

Additional random thoughts:

• We're sleeping more. Which is good.
  
• I need a tan.
• C. and I went on a *date* this past week sans our daughter. :) It was great and much needed. And, our Lila talk was quite limited. It was old times. Nice.
  

Ok - and next I'm sharing my favorite baby products.

This week, the "Summer Infant video monitor."

Oh, I adore this thing. C. wanted a video monitor and I thought at first, "Really? Is this necessary?" I'd like to say: YES. (At least it is for us.) I love the peace of mind I get from SEEING little Lila's belly rise and fall when she breathes. The monitor is in color during the day and it has night stealthy night-vision.

It's available at Amazon, Target & Babies R Us. It's on sale from about $200 down to about $150 right now.

--

Ok, recommended product number dos: a lava lamp. Yep. A lava lamp.



Originally my sister told me that I was going to want a lava lamp because she claimed it gave off the perfect amount of light for the baby's room in the middle of the night.

Uh - she was right.

It's the PERFECT amount of warm glow and Lila loves staring at it. It puts her to sleep. LOVE it.

Ok, here are the photos of the week.

Yawning. Um, cute.

Look! Her eyes are open. (They're still dark, slate blue-ish.)
Please note the cute bow. Again.

Lila loves her Daddy.

And occasionally finds her thumb.

So I've got this new trick. When I try to put Lila to sleep, I put a burp cloth over her eyes (like a BIRD) and she falls asleep almost immediately.
I find this ironic, given what I feel about birds...

This cracked me up. Lila was napping in her crib.
Smiling.

A close up.
Happy sleeping.

And later, this pose cracked me up.

Next, here is Lila sleeping in her Moses Basket from her Tia.

And of course, a close-up.

I feel these socks are cute.

We love the faces Lila makes when she's sitting up.

And finally, here's Lila after her Daddy combed her hair a la Trump-style.
I love a 5-week-old with a comb-over.
Clearly she does, too.

Have a great week everyone!

kb

Our Nattie.

Once upon a time there was a dog named Nattie.
She was our bulldog and we loved her.
She really was a sweetie pie.
She was born on on this day in 1997 and happened to leave us last July 31st.
She was the love of our lives.
She was ours for 11 years.
And we adored her.
--
Ah, they're more than pets.
They're family members.

Our wild and crazy Friday night

Sent from BlackBerry® Wireless

it's really this simple.

I'm blessed.
I'm surrounded by a ridiculous amount of quality individuals who regularly check in on me to make sure I'm doing well and not diving full-force into postpartum depression.

A regular comment I hear from each loving and concerned amigo/amiga:

"I cannot believe you just had a baby and you're still blogging."

Friends, countrywomen and cat-lovers (I normally don't include the cat lovers for obvious reasons. Wrestling Kitties - this generalization excludes you. You're not a crazy cat lady. Those crazy cat ladies know who they are.)

Anyway - as I was saying... blogging is my outlet.

It's my journaling.
It's my zoloft.
It's my bowl of ice cream.
It is my glass of wine.
It's my thang.

If you prick me, do I not bleed?
If you take away my computer and internet connection, will I not lose it?

Yes.

So if the posts keep coming - friends all is well.

If they stop for a significant period of time and I have not prefaced the hiatus with some sort of note about travel - start worrying.

:)

Birthday!

As it turns out, today is the birthday of my fellow-blogger AND sister-in-law and friend: Athena's Bees.

N. - I'm so glad you were born. I love you. :)

It makes me smile that I've known you for your last what? Eleven birthdays? Twelve?

HUG.

kb

Judgement.

I'm pretty much over hearing about Jon Gosselin.
For obvious reasons.
--
That's all.

For once E! has a story that matters.

This could be old news, but I don't seem to be on top of the "cool" news these days...

As it turns out there's going to be a Project Runway: All-Star Challenge preceding the first episode of the new season of Project Runway. Set your DVR for August 20th.

YES!

Who's coming back?

• Santino Rice (season two)
• Sweet P (season four)
• Mychael Knight (season three)
• Korto Momolu (season five runner-up)
• Chris March (season four)
• Uli Herzner (season three runner-up)
• Jeffrey Sebelia (season three winner)
• Daniel Vosovic (season two runner-up)

SUH-weet. I'm pumped about this. And Heidi, The Tim Gunn, Nina Garcia and the most tan-fastic designer in Hollywood (Michael Kors) will be judges. YES!

Details here.

This makes me happy. Seriously: this made my day. When your husband's daughter refuses to nap for more than 8 minutes all.day.long because she has gastrointestinal issues - this is JUST the pick-me-up necessary. Note: C's daughter is sleeping now.

It never fails.

EVERY TIME someone sings on TV, I cringe.
Music videos are fine.

But if someone just breaks out in song - I'm always embarrassed for them and have to look away from the TV.

(Unless of course it's Lionel.)

Product Review:More mascara & shampoo

It's no secret that I'm always on the lookout for the next best hooker-lash mascara. Last time I wrote about my favorite cosmetic I gave BOTH thumbs up to Buxom with an honorable mention to my constant fave: Dior's DiorShow.

Well, this time I tried Dior's Iconic.It sucks. (I'm sorry. I know I could have looked for a more acceptable and descriptive verb, but seriously? Blech.) It's about $5 more than Buxom and I hated it.

I bought the "noir" black and a.) it's not black enough and b.) it's not um... "thick" enough. It covers lightly and as we know, I like borderline skanky (hooker) lashes.

I give it a thumbs down. I wouldn't even try it if I were you.

But what would I suggest you try?

Paul Mitchell's "Tea Tree" branded, "Lemon Sage Thickening Shampoo."
While I have no desire to have thicker hair, I do love the smell of this shampoo. It instantly lifts my spirits and doesn't seem to weigh my hair down.

Thumbs up.

Shampoo & conditioner available on Amazon for about $25.

And there you have it.

Lila Lowdown: Lila's 4 weeks - what?! A MONTH old already?!

You guys, Lila's a month old. Oh.My.Gosh. WHERE does the time go? It's been 4 weeks and 1 day since I have given birth.

And, I'll tell you what - I haven't forgotten how badly it hurt.

(When people say you just "forget about the pain the minute you see the baby" - they're lying. I have yet to forget the pain. I'm just sayin'.)

Holy cow.

We're doing it. We're parents.

Q. What's Lila up to this week?
A. Holding her very heavy head up and being awake a bit more during the day. :) She's also out golfing right now. She called and said that she'd be home around 8 p.m. - after she goes out for brewskis with the girls.

(She's very social.)

She's also awake a lot more. I'm not sure how to entertain her, so we've been singing our ABC's and reading Charlie and Lola books, along with some Sandra Boynton books. (LOVE them.)

Q. How much does Lila weigh?
A. Well, judging from my very scientific and accurate weighing process, she's 8 lbs. (I weigh myself, then I weigh myself holding The Cupcake. Then I subtract.)

Altogether, she's gained 1.5 lbs.

I think that's success.

Note: Ferg also weighs 8 lbs. Both of my girls weigh 8 lbs. Aw.

Q. Any current fears?
A. Yes. May the record state that I'm terrified of colic. We had a little spell this past week whereby C.'s daughter proceeded to cry for essentially 3 hours straight. A terrible, heart-wrenching, "help-me-I'm-in-pain-someone-do-something-for-me-quick" kind of cry. All I kept thinking was, "Oh no. This is it. This is the beginning of the end."

No.

I'm not melodramatic.

Q. Did I just let her "cry it out"?
A. No. And if one more person tells me to let me then three-week-old (now month-old) sweetie pie cry it out, I'm going to slap them. Also, I'm tired of hearing, "Babies cry... just let them cry." Because you know what? This new mommy cannot HANDLE hearing her baby just cry.

And yes, I will more than likely ALWAYS pick her up when she cries. (Not whimpers, cries. I understand the difference.) And yes, I will continue to do this until she's at least 35.

Q. Any challenges just yet?
A. Yes. The heat. At this point our little Mexican citizen is apparently on strike against her native climate. She's developed what we think (???) is a heat rash on her cute little face, arms and legs. We're combating this by keeping her as cool as possible and keeping her indoors. And putting her in the freezer when she looks warm.

It appears that babies don't like going out in the 89-105 degree heat.

Imagine that. :)

Q. How am I feeling?
A. GREAT. I'm starting to feel more like myself. I went to work this week for a meeting and it was the first day that I actually really did my hair. It felt good.

However, the humidity quickly squashed my good hair day.

Eh, you win some, you lose some.

Q. Did you get the passport done this week?
A. We turned in the application for the passport AND the birth certificate - it's a crap shoot (at best) when we'll actually receive them. Anywhere from 10-days to 8 weeks. (Indeed. You read that correctly.) Can you imagine if your local cable company gave you that kind of window of service? Unacceptable. However, you can expect that from the U.S. government.

Q. What's your favorite thing about motherhood thus far?
A. When Lila's fussy and I pick her up and she immediately calms down. Her whole little body just relaxes. Love that.

Q. What's your least favorite things bout motherhood thus far?
A. Crying. Both mine and Lila's. (Mine seems to be decreasing; hers seems to be increasing.)

--

So I feel the need to continue to tell you about products I've fallen in love with. Here's another one.

The Itzbeen timer.

Gimicky? No. Clever and incredibly useful? YES.

We've LIVED by this timer for the past month. It's about four inches tall and is so easy to use. Basically, it's got four buttons (feeding, diaper changing, sleeping and other.) You press the button after you've fed her and later when you wonder how long it's been, or "itzbeen", since she ate - you just look at the timer.

No thinking. Nothing.

It also has a handy-dandy light that works wonders in the dark.

I honestly LOVE this thing.
It's available everywhere: Amazon, Target, Babies R US. Price: About $25.

Ok, on to the photos.

This is Lila in her bath towel (from Uncle Brad.)
She's sucking on her pacifier and has her arm resting on her pacifier holder.

Mouth open? Check.
At least one hand by her face? Check.
Now she can sleep.

Come on. She's so cute.
Those are perfect lips.

Sorry, another one...
(It's my blog and I think she's precious.)

Look at her teeny fingers.
(I know, I need to cut her fingernails. It ain't easy.)

SOOO happy on her Grandma Jenna's lap.

A close up.

Um, see. Little Lila's not always happy.
(Perhaps it's because her hair looks like that.)

Sitting with Grandma Jenna. Aw.

Ok, Lila has a Dr.'s appointment tomorrow. Will let you know how it goes...

Farewell.
kb

This is why I blog.

I blog because of headlines like this:


And for pictures like this:

Love this caption:

An Oscar Meyer Wienermobile crashed into the home and outdoor deck of Nick Krupp in Racine, Wis. on Friday morning, July 17, 2009. According to a witness, the vehicle was parked in the driveway. The driver lurched the vehicle forward instead of backing out of the driveway, hitting Krupp's deck and cracking the foundation of his house. (AP Photo/Journal Times, Tom McCauley)

Story here.
--

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I've been laughing about this for approximately 15 minutes.

Awesome.