NYE in Big D

Clip - LailaLu

Pony tail holders - FlashyFish

Cute owl clips - FlashyFish

Clips - jennymccarney

Headband - louandlee

I wanted to get this one but figured Clay might Freak. Love it though.

Once again, I'm not posting the "I'm so far behind...Phase III" blog today. I had some great finds this morning so I thought I would share.

Well, you know how I told you we're going through a funny hair phase with Lo. Lately, it's been hard to keep it under control and her bangs out of her face. I found all these fabulous clips for a stellar deal on Etsy (www.etsy.com). I love them all and can't wait for them to get here. I wanted so many more but held back. Eeeek...it was hard!!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful NYE in Big D or where ever you may be (That rhymed pretty good...I may be a poet and didn't know it). We're celebrating with friends tonight. As a matter of fact, by the time this blog posts, we're probably in full on NYE action. Luckily, everyone is bringing their kids, babies, etc so we're able to bring in the New Year with Lola. Woohoo!!!

See you next year !!!

The Sentra lives on....

I had plans to post the "I'm so far behind...Phase III" blog today but some other things happened that I thought called for a it's own blog. So, although it gives me anxiety to wait as I hate the fact that I'm not caught up on the blog, we'll have to wait just one more day.

Man oh man...What a day!!! It was already scheduled to be pretty hectic but it got even more hectic than originally expected. Let me back up a bit....

When we moved back from NYC, we bought a Volkswagen Passat that we love. We lived downtown for about a year and I could walk to work so we only needed one car. Then when we moved to our house, we tried to live with only one car but that didn't go so well....lasted about a week. Lets face it...Dallas isn't cut out for walking, public transportation, etc. Well, after purchasing a new house, we didn't want another car payment so my dad lent us his old company car a Nissan Sentra.

The Sentra....oh, what do I say about this car. It's pretty pitiful (as noted in the glorified pic above....yep, she's a beauty!). However, it's been reliable and gets us from point A to B. We don't need a second car that often so we just keep driving it. We thought we would only "borrow" the car for a month or two and now here we are two years later and I'm still zipping around in the Sentra. The funny thing is that I've grown to be attached to the little car....I'm not sure why.

About two weeks ago, I was zipping around running errands in the Sentra and something happened.. I wasn't sure what exactly but I knew it wouldn't go anymore. We initially thought it was the transmission which would cost more to repair than the car is worth. Basically, any repair would cost more than the car is worth. So, when the car was towed off we thought we would never see it again. It was actually a sad day!

Clay and I talked about buying a new car OR Clay thought we could live with one car and he would either get a bike and/or a Vespa and tool around town. Yea, I'm not so sure how well that would work but I patronized him. After many conversations, we decided we aren't ready to take on another car payment so we would have the Sentra repaired. While the car was in the shop, we asked them if they could give us a complimentary paint job (preferably black) and tint the windows as dark as possible so people can't see straight in when we're driving it. They wouldn't do it. Dang it!!!

Anyway, the Sentra was ready to be picked up this morning. I woke up, went on a run, then we were off to pick up the Sentra (I did miss her while she was gone!). We picked her up and I was heading home to get some work done (even though I'm suppose to be on vacation...never works out that way). Before I get home, I got a call from Clay. One of the tires blew out on the Passat while he was heading up the toll road (thank goodness he was ok...right!?!?!). Keep in mind, we just replaced the two front tires two weeks ago. Well, this was one of the back tires....they obviously needed to be replaced too. Problem was our car was still FILLED to the rim with Christmas stuff and he couldn't get to the spare tire. I headed over to meet him and we got the tire changed. I have to say I was very impressed with Clay's tire changing techniques. He's not a real "rough tough " kind of guy and I've never really seen him do much that requires a lot of manual labor. I loved the fact that "my man" changed that tire no problemo!

So, over the past two weeks we've had to replace 4 tires on the Passat and replace both axles on the Sentra. I guess when it hits it all hits at one time. And, our long hectic day became even more crazy! It was 12:00 p.m. before we got anything started. Oh I guess you win some and you lose some but fortunately life still goes on and we always seem to survive.

I'm so far behind...Part II

Ok. I didn't want to overwhelm everyone in one big swooping blog so I decided to break it up (how nice of me). So to continue from the last "I'm so far behind" blog, here we go...

1. For a while, Lola has been talking away. She started saying "mama" around Labor Day. Of course, back then she didn't really know what she was saying....anyone could have been "mama"....even the postman. Now, she finally realizes that I'm "mama"!!! Woohoo! A couple weeks ago she started saying "dada" too. Both very special moments. Lola also says a real sharp "hi". She'll even take a phone or remote control or any object, put it to her ear and say "hi". Or, anytime she hears a door open, you'll hear her say "hi". She also says "uh oh" all the time now. She'll purposely push something off a table just so she can say "uh oh". We get few other cute little mumbles too but last night topped it all. We were playing with a little puzzle that had farm animals on it. For the rooster, we said "cocka-doodle-do" and she tried to say it...I'm not kidding. The cutest thing you have EVER heard. She's tried it several more times too. It's all almost more than I can take. I can't imagine what we'll feel when she actually starts talking.
2. About three weeks ago Lola started waving good-bye. Lola has a little friend at school named Victoria (preface: V just turned 1). Every time Victoria accomplishes something (i.e. pulling up, crawling, clapping, waving) Lola will start doing the same thing within a week. We of course think we have a little genius on our hands but I'm sure this is pretty common. So, V started waving good-bye a month ago or so and low and behold about a week later, Miss Lo started doing it. I have to say the wave is just as cute as the clapping.
3. Another big thing!!! About a month ago, Lola learned to stand on her own. Woohoo!!! More than once, I looked over and she was free standing...not holding to a thing! Then, she wouldn't just fall, she would actually then let herself down. It's pretty impressive!!! And again....soooo cute!!! Now, she has attempted to take a step but hasn't quite accomplished it yet. However, I think it could come within the next couple weeks or less. Oh, that will be a whole new phase. I'll of course be thrilled when Lo reaches this milestone but not sure that I'm looking forward to the "chase". It's already hard enough with her crawling (especially now that she has the quick take-off). I can only imagine what it will be like when she is tearing off on her feet...Whew...scares me to think about it.
4. Lola's hair is growing so fast these days. We're going through that "out of shape/straggly" phase right now. However, Lo's hair is now long enough to wear a pony tail (as shown in pic above). Go Lo!!! That's quite a milestone....right?!?!? I can't even do that. I got my hair chopped off about month ago. I needed a drastic change so I went for it! I've really loved and embraced it until I watched the Victoria Secret Fashion Show a couple weeks back and realized that all those women with really hot beautiful bodies (some of them even post-baby...still don't understand this) had long beautiful hair. Now, I want my hair back so I can be a "sex-pot" like them. Anyway, since taking this pic, I've given Lo her first trim. We saved the precious curls.

Alright...so we're really making some headway with the countdown now. I have to say, it's been a little exhausting. Plus, I just know I'm missing some stuff . We only have "I'm so far behind...Part III" left and then we'll be all caught up. After that, I'll have to make sure to stay up to date with all the fun going on in our house. Miss Lola is something else...she really brightens my life everyday.

Thanks to everyone who sent me emails, text messages, phone calls, etc telling me you missed the blog when I was on my hiatus. Sometimes I think I'm writing this only for myself to read but it's good to know I have some loyal readers out there. I'll try not to let you down again.

It was a very Merry Christmas!!!

We made it through Lola's first Christmas!!! I must say...it wasn't easy....the holidays are never easy...right?!?!?!?

Even pre-baby, holidays were always a little stressful in our family. Why? Well, just trying to squeeze in everything in 1 day mainly. We usually try to squeeze in Christmas with my family, Christmas at my grandmothers and Christmas with Clay's family...literally all in 1 day! Basically, in the car most of the day with two dogs I might add.

This year was no different of course. What we didn't realize was that if you take the scenario above and throw a baby in there too things get much more difficult. Add in a baby with a cold/cough/ear infection and it gets even more difficult. Basically, it would have taken an act of God to make it all work. But, we tried anyway....End result...didn't happen exactly as planned. Now, keep in mind, I'm a planner so it's really hard on me when things don't go "as planned".

The anxiety I felt working up to the Holiday this year like others was pretty intense. I kept thinking..."How in the world are we going to make this work?!?!". Regardless, we thought we would give it a "go". In the end, despite the fact that things didn't go "exactly" as planned, Lola's first Christmas was wonderful!!!

We were actually able to spend Christmas morning with our little family (Amy, Clay, Lola, Lady Bird and Bella). Lo opened some gifts from Santa Clause. Of course, she really has no conception of Christmas right now so it was pretty uneventful but still real cute. I really loved our little family Christmas time and look forward to starting many wonderful traditions.

Then, we all jumped in the car and we went to spend lunch and the afternoon over at my Grandmother, Memaw's, house (Lo's great grandmother - Lo's middle name, Ruth, was named after Memaw) . I love going to Memaw's for many reasons...1) It always reminds me of when I was a child, spending time with family. We've been going to Memaw's for Christmas since I can remember and we'll continue this tradition with Lo. 2) The food is always fabulous at Memaw's and I eat more than my belly is capable of taking in. 3) The trading gift game always provides massive entertainment! The woman in the fam tend to be very loud. I wish I could record the laughter so you can really understand what I'm talking about. 4) I have to say out of all of this my fav reason is that Memaw always makes me feel so good. She says things like "You're so pretty...you look like a model". Yes, my friends...she thinks I look like a "model"...seriously. So, with that, who wouldn't feel like a million bucks after spending some time at Memaw's house.

After Memaw's, we went to pick up the dogs at our house and then headed to Midlothian to spend the rest of the evening with my family. More gifts of course. Lola's big gift was a black baby baby grand piano. It is adorable! Of course, after she banged on it for about 20 minutes, I realized the black baby baby grand piano may have been a mistake. Could shock the parental's nerves pretty quick. After opening gifts, we spent the rest of the evening watching old family Christmas videos and played some scrabble with the fam...Adam won!

The next morning we woke up, loaded the family up and we were off to Baird to visit Clay's parents. Once we arrived...more gifts of course. I have to say this gift thing in really insane...I'm telling ya...this child lacks nothing (tangible (gifts) or intangible (love)) Anyway, we spent the rest of the weekend eating and relaxing. Now I feel FAT, FAT, FAT...I mean SERIOUSLY...how much can one woman possibly eat?!?!?!? I feel like that girl on Willy Wonka that ate all the candy and ended up blowing up like a balloon and floating away. I'm not kidding...I really feel like that now! I have to start running tomorrow...no more excuses. Luckily, I've already placed to call into Angie, my running partner, to make sure that happens.

So, to make a long story short, everything didn't work out exactly as planned but Lola still had a wonderful first Christmas and received lots of gifts and love from everyone around.

Run the Rock

Me & Angie - This was my running partner for the past 6 months.

Me crossing the finish line in massive pain....legs barely functioning at this point.

I did it!!! I ran and completed the White Rock 1/2 marathon!!! It all started by simply wanting to lose some baby weight and now I've not only accomplished a huge goal but I've also discovered/developed a love for running.

The race...How do I describe it. Well, it was pretty much insane! The conditions were HORRIBLE!!! 1) It was bloody hot and humid. I never have done a long run with heat/humidity like it was the day of the race. 2) The first 7 miles were all up hill. I've been training at the lake which is relatively flat so going up hill wasn't something I was used to. This, in turn, caused my arches to hurt so000 bad during the race and it also caused blisters to form. After about mile 6, all I could think about was taking off my shoes and giving my feet some air. 3) Due to the heat, I was chapping which is a pretty miserable feeling. This started at about mile 7 or 8. Thank goodness they were handing out Vaseline along the way otherwise I would have been in trouble.

After about mile 7 it was all down hill (literally) and I thought it would be all uphill from that point on and that "the hard part is over". Wow, was I wrong about that. It only got worse!!! As noted in the blog yesterday....I was in so much pain at about mile 10 on to the finish line that I literally had thoughts of jumping off a bridge to end the pain. Then I thought about Clay, Lola and everyone else and figured that I probably wasn't thinking reasonably. What do you mean?!?!?

Anyway, with all the pains, I still did it. And now that I'm able to look back, I can actually say it was fun and all worth it. I have to admit that when I was crossing the finish line a tear came to my eye. I couldn't believe I had accomplish this goal. This is something that in my mind I had always wanted to do and I had finally done it. I'm not sure I'll run another 1/2 marathon again. The training is very long and it takes a lot of time. Plus, I've discovered through all of this that I love running but not long distances so much. I most likely will keep my runs between 3 and 6 miles in the future.

I do love the marathon atmosphere so I'm already signing up for the Austin marathon in February. As noted above, I'm not sure I have it mentally in me to do the full 13.2 miles but I plan on doing a relay. I'm in the process of "rallying the troops" and trying to get the relay team together now. I'll keep you posted.

My statistics weren't so good during the race. I pretty much did horrible but again...at least I did it. Overall, I think there were about 17,000 participants. Not sure what the split was between the 1/2 marathon and marathon. Here is where I placed: 4495th place overall (I only finished in front of 12% of the males...dang it), 2377th by gender (female of course), 442nd place in division.

The "little man" finally arrived

OMG...I'm so far behind AGAIN. Ok....lots of catching up to do....I still need to give you Phase II & III of Lola's milestones plus I have to update you on the marathon plus our big move to Austin plus Lola's first Christmas holiday but we'll start with the most important "happening" this week...Molly & Ben finally had the baby and Lola now has a cousin!!! Woohoo!!!.

If you read this blog often, you know I LOVE giving full on detail to everything. But, unfortunately, this isn't my place to give "full on" detail. I'm not sure Molly & Ben would appreciate me giving all the details of the birthing process so I'll keep it to the fun stuff which is the end result.

Doss Sheppard Magill (a.k.a. Jerry or Only) was born on Sunday, December 14 at 10:07 a.m. I was actually running the 1/2 marathon when he was born. I was probably on about mile 11 or 12 when he was born and was debating if I should jump off a bridge to make the pain go away but we'll talk about that later. Anyway, Doss was 8 lbs 12 oz and around 21 inches long. Doss pretty much looks just like his father. He is very long and thin. He even has his dad's skinny legs. He's really cute!!! Goodness...you forget how tiny these little guys are when they come out. I look at him and can't believe Lola was this small (actually smaller) at one point. Now she looks like the Jolly Green Giant next to him.

On a very special note, those of you that know us well know Clay & Molly had a brother, Foy, who passed away several years ago. Doss was born on Foy's birthday and he was also the exact same weight as Foy when he was born. Such a special thing for everyone in the Odom family.

I thought we were bad waiting 2 days to name Lola but it took Molly and Ben 4 days to name the baby. When the day came when they absolutely had to decide, there was some coin flipping going on (literally). He actually had the name Hugo Foy Magill for about an hour before they called to change it to Doss Sheppard Magill. What an adorable name to fit an adorable baby! When Doss was in the womb, Molly & Ben couldn't decide on a name (natural...this is a VERY hard thing...right?!?!?) so Steve (gramps) would call the baby "Jerry". Clay and I started calling him "Only"(kind of a long story). Anyway, I told Molly the other day that we're having a very hard time switching gears and calling him Doss. Our natural instinct is to still call him either Jerry or Only....poor little guy.

Molly, Ben and Doss are all doing great! Just trying to get through those first few weeks of getting to know each other and trying to figure out the whole parenting thing. You also forget what it's like having a newborn. Wow...how those memories drift away so quickly. I was trying to dress Doss the other day and I had no clue what to do...so weird! It really is amazing how the motherly and fatherly instincts just kick in and you learn to function without sleep, with massive pains, etc. It's pretty amazing and they sure are worth it all!

I'm taking vacation the next two weeks so my full focus will be on the blog. I'll continue to keep yall updated on baby Doss and everything else going on in our world. Hope to see you tomorrow!!!

I'm so far behind...Part I

I feel like I'm so far behind on this blog thing. Wow...life is like a tornado and twirls by right in front of your eyes. Over the past month or so Lola has started doing so many new things! I feel like I haven't been able to capture it on camera or on the blog. So, I thought I would try to quickly (this is a relative term of course) recap all the fun progress and development she has been giving us lately. Now, please keep in mind it will take more than one blog for me to get caught up so hold tight.

Firstly, I haven't given everyone the recap of the 9 month doc appt (Yes, I know, I'm a month behind). I lost the paper the doc gave us with the actual statistics so here they are based on memory:

• Weight: 21.5 lbs 50th percentile (she dropped down percentile here)


• Height: 29.5 inches 75th - 90th percentile


• Head: ?????? (Don't remember the measurements but I do remember that it is still kickin' it up in the 95th percentile.
  

Now, I'll try to list all some of the other fun things that have happened over the past month or so. I'll also try to keep this to 4 "accomplishments" per blog so it doesn't get too obnoxious and I'll try to go in chronological order but this will be tough....The ol' memory isn't as good as it used to be. Plus, so much has happened this week and it's hard to hold out but I'm going to try. Eeek!!! So, here we go (in order...I think):

1. One of my favorite things Lola has started is clapping. OMG...absolutely adorable!!! I'll have to try to capture this on video b/c words can not explain how cute it is! When Lo was sick, she would still try to do the clap but it was real slow and pitiful. Now she is back to the full blown exciting clap. She specifically LOVES to clap when we sing her favorite songs. Her fav song right now is one Clay made up for her titled "Suki". Maybe on a future blog I'll tell you the full song (it's soooo cute) but for now we'll keep it to a minimum. Again, don't want to get too carried away all at once (this is very hard for me you know).


2. Lola has really taken to dancing lately too. I guess she takes after her mom here (ha,ha). Anyway, anytime she hears music on radio/cd or we sing, she'll start bouncing up and down and doing a little dance. How fun is that?!?!?!?


3. She has also started developing a love for hip hop. I've had to work on this when papa Clay is not around b/c he despises hip hop (What's wrong with him?!?!?). There have been many times in the car when T.I. or Pink or Rihanna or dare I even say Sir Mix-a-Lot will be playing on the radio and Lola is in the back just bouncing and clapping. She definitely knows good music when she hears it.


4. Here's my favorite (for today or actually last week...this is almost old news now)...For a month or so I've been a little concerned that Lola may be a bit of a bully. I know I know...she is only a baby but seriously...all the signs were there (and may still be there but will explain in more detail later). How did I come to this conclusion?!?!?! Well, when I would drop Lo off at school, she had a tendency to immediately start stealing toys, bottles, food, etc from the baby next to her and they would just let her take it. The teacher's never said anything so I didn't either but I was still a little concerned. Fortunately, it seems we may be moving past this phase but the verdict is still out. Lola still takes things but she also gives them back and shares now. It's real cute! One day last week she kept taking my water bottle from me then she would immediately give it back and wanted me to drink it. We did this over and over and she would just giggle and giggle (the things that can entertain a baby). However, this can be a problem when it comes to the dogs. I'll give Lola some food like a banana or cookie and she reaches out to "share" with the dogs. Well, it obviously disappears and is never seen again. Too funny!!! Here's a little video we captured of her trying to give a ball to Bella. I wish we could have started the video earlier but we couldn't get to it quick enough. It's a little dark...I have to work on my filming skills.
   
   

Hope to be back tomorrow with the next 4. YEA!!! This is so much fun!!! Just so you know, I actually feel like I HAVE to catch up on the blog b/c I haven't written one thing in Lo's baby book. So, I try to keep the blog up-to-date and one day when things slow down I plan to go back and update the baby book.

So, stayed tuned as I anticipate there will be a Part II & III next week. I also anticipate some other fun things and big news to come such as results of the 1/2 marathon on Sunday - 13.2 miles (OH MY!!!) and cousin Magill. Molly's mucus plug (gotta love this term) broke so we hope it will be any day now.

It's cold and I'm LOVING it!!!

Seriously, this weather RULES!!! LOVE IT!!! Hopefully my ALL CAPS makes you realize how much I REALLY REALLY REALLY love this weather. Oh....it reminds me of NYC....my fav city in the world!!! The crisp weather is so ideal...perfect for coats and scarves and layers upon layers. I really do wish it would stay like this through Christmas but not likely. Oh well!!! I'll just take advantage of it while it's here.

How cute are Clay and Lo. Clay walks the dogs every morning and takes Lola outside with him to enjoy the fresh air. This morning we had to get her all bundled up. You can't see it in the pic but she also has on some leg-warmers. Too cute!!!

P.S. I got soooo irritated at Clay last night. I literally wanted to explode but held it in (Yea me!!!). At around 9:00 p.m., he began sneezing so loud (over and over and over) that he woke Lola up...Seriously, what's up with the loud sneezing?!?!?! Once she's up, it's always so hard to get her back to sleep so I got mad. We don't have much "adult" time anymore around our house and I cherish it when we can get it. When I see moments like the ones above and cute pics like this, it makes all my irritating feelings go away....YEA!!!

It's pretty bad that I get irritated over my hubby sneezing...right?!?!? I'm usually not that bad I promise. I think I may be PMSing (most likelyTMI but oh well) and I'm a little sensitive lately. ACTUALLY, I can't be PMSing b/c I've been on my period for a week! Yes, ladies (and gents if your reading)....I said a WEEK! OH MY GOODNESS!!! I told Clay I could potentially make the world book of genius records with this whole deal. That would be my luck...my 15 minutes of fame would be due to the thing I hate most in the world. HUH!!!

Cousin Magill is almost here

Cousin Magill is almost here and I'm fairly certain no one could be happier about this than Tia Molly.

Molly is now 38 weeks and counting. I thought those of you who know her might get a kick out of her belly. It's still growing. I figured you may also get a kick out of her little sleek leotard she has on in the pic. I'm definitely going to borrow this the next time I'm pregnant so you can get a real good look at the full blown prego bod.

I personally think Molly should go ahead and start drinking some beer and castor oil to induce labor but she hasn't seemed interested in doing that yet. When my mom was pregnant with Adam she did this and went into labor....of course he was a 10 lb baby and I believe she was 2 weeks late so I'm sure she was beyond desperate....pretty funny!!!

I'll keep yall posted on the delivery. We can't wait for baby Lola to meet her new cousin. She loves kids and babies so I'm sure she'll have a ball with him too!

The almost perfect day

Yesterday was the "almost" perfect day. I actually love days like that. Why was it only "almost" perfect....well, I'll walk you through the day....

Ok. So I started it in the perfect way which was spending time with the baby girl, getting her ready and then off to school. Although there isn't always a lot of time, I love our mornings. Once I got everyone off to school and work, it was time for a "me" day. Do you ever have those??? Well, they're the best!

The funny thing about my "me" days is I usually keep them to myself...they're my little secret. I'm not sure why these "me" days are so secretive....I guess it's b/c I don't want anything to go wrong and I just want to be with myself and by myself the entire day....no questions asked. I've even found that I won't tell anyone after the fact...not even Clay. It's kind of a weird thing I have with myself....I actually can't believe I just confessed this.

So, I started the "me" day off right with a little Christmas shopping. I LOVE this time of the year and I love giving. So, although money is a little tight right now, I still enjoy finding the perfect gift for everyone (of course, it always seems impossible to find the "perfect" gift...I always hope I'll find it though). I was able to snag some great finds which made the day even better. I got Lo a couple things. She loves music so I added to her collection and I got a few other toys that I think she'll love. Here are some of the fun gifts Santa will be bringing Lo:

Bath toys

Hammer toy
Pull toy

After I got some Christmas shopping done, I did the one thing I LOVE to do BY MYSELF which is go to a movie. Oh...it was sooooo enjoyable!!! It has been so long since I've been to a movie (way before Lola was born). When we lived in NYC, this was my thing. I went to the movie by myself all the time and it was always very therapeutic to me. Well, now I remember why that it was therapeutic. I'm telling you....IT WAS AWESOME!!! I basically feel like a new and improved person now. I'm going to make a point to do this often. Of course, it will have to be on one of the "secret" "me" days to make it real good.

I went to see Four Christmases. Loved it and recommend it to all. It was fun and will put you in a great mood. I'd go see it again...

Now, this all sounds perfect so far right?!?!?! So, where does the "almost" come into play. Well, after the movie, I met my running partner at the lake and we ran 10 miles...OUCH!!! So, this is where the day isn't so perfect...I pretty much dreaded this run all day as 10 miles is a lot (just in case you didn't already know this). HOWEVER, it wasn't so bad and I actually thoroughly enjoyed it. It too was very therapeutic! We had a lot of time to talk (10 miles worth) so I opened up about some things that I usually wouldn't talk about to someone I don't know that well. It was nice to get an unbias opinion on some issues I haven't been so sure about lately and a great way to get stuff off my chest. AND, for some reason, my body didn't ache the last 2 or 3 miles like usually does. I guess I'm finally getting in shape. Just in time....the marathon is a week and a half away. Eeeekkk!!!

To finish off the day, I came home to see baby Lo and my fab hubby. We ate, bathed and then it was her bedtime. I then decided to wind down with a glass of wine and finished the evening off in bed watching a new episode of my favorite show The Hills.

Oh, it was a day I don't want to forget for a while and I can't wait to have another one soon. Of course, it will be a "secret".

A crazy couple of weeks....

It's been a crazy couple weeks. Clay was sick, then Lola was sick, then I was sick, then Clay was sick again. Oh my!!! It all started with a little bout of diarrhea and throw up (I hate these terms but have to use them in order to get the full story across). And, it was Clay that started it all(Sorry Clay). Then Lola got the stomach bug (much better term) which in turn caused her to have a HORRIBLE diaper rash AGAIN. It was all terrible! I hated seeing Lo this sick. Since she had the horrible diaper rash, we would let her go diaper free trying to make her feel better. Of course, that meant we had a lot of cleaning up to do as baby girl's stomach was not quite right. You probably get the picture but just in case you don't there was lots of poop clean up. Poor thing!

The worse part of all the sickness was definitely the diaper rash. I don't wish this on anyone or anything.....not even the worse person in the world. Well, I could maybe think of one or two people that deserve it but those peeps will remain nameless. Lola would just cry and shake when we had to change her diaper. We got to the point where we would just stick her in the bath and hose her off. It was rough!!!

THEN, on top of this, she got another sinus infection that turned real bad. During all of this, we went to the doctor several times. The doctor kept saying that she didn't want to give her an antibiotic prematurely. I completely agree with this as we don't want to shove medicine down Lo's throat if it's not necessary. This is one of the reasons why we chose this doctor. They tend to have the same theory we have on medicine. But, when your baby is sick, it is sooooo hard to hold out.

After a week of the sinus infection, Lola got worse! She was crying all the time, not sleeping, she would wake up to her eyes matted shut and the only thing she wanted to do was snuggle(this was so sweet). It all got worse over the weekend of course. Why is it they always seem to hit rock bottom on the weekend when the doc office is closed??? So, I took her to one of those 24 hr facilities. Very interesting experience to say the least (Yes, while we waited, there was a domestic dispute that involved cops and all). Also, it's very hard to keep a 9 month old baby entertained in the waiting room for 2 hours (especially when you don't want her to touch the floor, chairs, etc....yuck). To make a long story short, after almost 9 days of being sick, she ended up having an ear infection which was causing her major pain, therefore, the cries and no sleep came along with that. So, after everything, we had to put her on an antibiotic.

Lola is doing great now!!! Attached above are some pics of baby Lo when she was sick. It was really so sad and pitiful. And, this picture below was what we had to deal with afterwards (i.e brattiness /temper tantrums).

For that week or so that Miss Lo was sick, she was pretty much coddled nonstop. So, when she finally got well, it was back to our old ways....she didn't like that very much. She wanted to be held all the time. We have finally broke her of that and we're trying to get her sleeping through the night again. It seems right when you get them sleeping 12 hours something happens that throws it off. It's all never ending isn't it?!?!?!? We're just glad Lola is back to her old self...

I've since disinfected the house in hopes that this evil bug STAYS AWAY!!!

I also want to thank everyone that helped us during this hard time. Boy it's tough being a working mom and dad with a sick baby. Lola was out of daycare the entire week so family really pulled through to help us when we needed them. Molly and Ben even took some time off of work to help us out one morning so we could still make our meetings. Thanks to everyone!!! It's much appreciated...we'll always be there for you too!!!

Our week in a nutshell

I thought I would give you the "low-down" as to what our evenings entail. I've attached a couple videos I snapped quickly last week to help demonstrate the "fun"!!! Basically they consist of chasing baby Lo around the house all evening long, trying to keep things out of her mouth and trying to keep her from throwing everything off the table, cabinets, couch, etc. Whooo...this is tough work!!!

This video shows Lola trekking through the house full throttle....on some sort of mission. Of course, I'm never sure what the missions are. I guess if I knew what they were, that would make this parenting thing much easier.

Since Fall has come, all of our leaves are falling which I love, however, with that comes a mess. Anytime we open a door in our house, all the leaves blow in. Lola LOVES them!!! She'll put the leaves in her mouth and is also known to hold them there for 30 minutes or so. Seriously!!! Kind of like a squirrel...maybe she has been taking lessons from the squirrels around our house...there are enough of them that's for sure. Anyway, she'll put one in her mouth when we're not watching and then later (who knows how long) we'll discover something in there and a leaf is usually the culprit. It's pretty funny. You'll see in the video that Lola begins hacking something up....that would be a leaf....this one. He, he!!!

Then, we're also trying to teach Lola the terms "no" or "no, no" or "uh uh" but it's been a challenge. We've found it's a fine line as we want her to explore but we also need to teach her what not to do. Oh, the trials and tribulations of being a parent. Anyway, it is clear in this video that she clearly understands what "no" means but still takes it upon herself to push us on the subject (We'll go into more detail about this in another blog...we think we may have a stubborn/hard-headed little girl on our hands...wonder where she gets this from?). This video cuts off before your able to see the final outcome but here it is in a "nutshell"...she ended up pulling the glass down and spilling water everywhere (i.e. not minding her lovely parents). It's all a work in progress....

Crabmommy

I'm so glad I found this blog...I LOVE IT!!! It makes me laugh out loud all the time and we all need a good laugh once in a while.

Crabmommy has two blogs. I get a kick out of both of them but I have to say the personal blog is my favorite as she tends to be a little more controversial and fiesty. She is a genius when it comes to writing! The way she refers to the "mom-flap" as that "extra chunk of flubber round the midsection brought about by having babies" is great. I specifically LOVE the posting from Friday on Crabmommy's personal blog titled "Blogger Bailout Plan?". Of course, her husband is an architect like Clay so we feel their pain.

I try to read both blogs daily or whenever she posts something new. Check them out.

http://crabmommy.blogspot.com/

http://www.cookiemag.com/magazine/blogs/crabmommy

Could I have done more?

Could I have done more? This is a question we probably all ask ourselves often. Well, I find myself asking this question once again. Why? Well, I think my days of breastfeeding are ending earlier than I had anticipated as I think I may be drying up (a.k.a. running out of milk).

How did I come to this conclusion? It's been pretty obvious over the past couple weeks but after pumping today numerous times and only coming up with about 5 oz of milk it started to become more obvious. This is a BIG sign that my days of breastfeeding may be over soon. I've seen it coming and I keep asking myself "Have I done everything I can to keep my milk production strong?" and "Could I have done more?".

I hate it when I doubt myself like this. I do it often. I've found this self doubt I feel kind of makes me me. But, it's a trait I hold that also drives me wacky. To explain this better let me back up 9 months and 3 days ago.....

The day Lola was born: So, I'll try to make this quick and easy and short if possible, however, that probably isn't possible. In a nut shell, I had high blood pressure going into delivery which put me on bed rest one week before Lola was born. This was my idea of HELL....It was HORRIBLE!!! I have a very hard time staying still for a long period of time. I love my cat naps but I also love blowin' and goin'. Regardless, I was placed on bed rest and had a f/u doctor appt 3 days later....my blood pressure was still no better...it was actually worse. Went back on bed rest and had another f/u appt 3 days later again....blood pressure was up even higher. My doctor had no choice...it was time to have the baby (I say baby b/c Lola didn't have a name at this point)...EARLY!!!

At that point, I was induced. This was on 2/5/08 at 8:00 p.m. I went through the night with contractions (manageable). I went through the following morning with contractions (manageable again). I wasn't dilating and other than mild contractions nothing was happening. Finally at around 2:00 p.m. The doctor gave me a choice which was either 1) Go ahead and deliver the baby now via c-section OR 2) Go home, remain on bed rest and play the waiting game. I was always dead set against a c-section unless it was completely necessary so as hard as it would be, Clay and I decided we would take option #2 and go home and wait. THEN within minutes it happened....my water broke....Woohoo!!! So, there was no going home. This was around 2:30 or 3:00 p.m.

Again, trying to make a long story short...quickly contractions became unbearable. I went from a 1 to a 10 dilation within an hour. The baby was ready to come, they could see her head and all. By 7:00 p.m., I was in "hard-core" labor. I pushed and pushed and pushed and pushed....nothing happened. Keep in mind during all of this, the epidural wasn't really working...rather than taking away the pain, it just made me throw up aggressively...dry-heaving and all. I like to call it throwing up "Texas Tech style" (Mom, don't be alarmed by this comment...that was wellover 10 years ago and I was young & naive...we all have to learn by our own mistakes). At around midnight, Dr Farrow did the suction cup which I hated. Lola still didn't want to come. Finally, 30 hours after I was induced and 12 hours of "official" labor and 5 hours of pushing, I had to have an emergency c-section. It was a long hard fight but around 1:30 a.m. on 2/7/08 Lola Ruth was finally born! HOLA LOLA!!!

The point of this story...after all was said and done, I found myself asking after the delivery "Could I have done more?" to avoid a c-section. Not that it really matters much at this point but I continue to eat myself up over it. This one question has a tendency to drive me insane.

Anytime I do anything, I feel like I give it my all in the process but then if it doesn't end the way I had planned/imagine, I always question myself when it's done. I guess you could call this hard headiness or stubbornness but you could also call it drive....depending on which way you want to spin it....positive or negative take. I'm not sure but it brings me back to where I am today. Here we are 9 months and 3 days after the deliver of Lola and as I have continued to breastfeed through all the struggles and road blocks, I've been proud of myself that I've stuck with it. But now that the day has come where I might have to end early (prior to 12 months), I'm questioning my effort.

For now, I'll continue to give it my all. I'll go until 12 months or until I can't get 1 oz of milk (this would be the hard headiness/drive I referred to earlier). Clay asked yesterday...."Is it worth it?" The answer for me is "YES". I don't want to give up this fight b/c if I do then I'll ask myself that same question and continue to wonder "Could I have done more?"

Our little dragonfly

Lola had her first Halloween and she was a little dragonfly. How cute does she look! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to snap the "perfect" pic that I had imagined b/c Lola was a little tired but she still looked adorable. We sat outside and waited for the trick-or-treaters and then it was time for Lola's bedtime. Nothing too adventurous....maybe next year she'll understand the occasion more and it will be a little more exciting.

So, this week has been crazy. I jumped on a plane Monday to Denver for a meeting and flew back last night. I was so anxious to get home to see Lola. Of course, when I got home, she was already asleep. It seems like her bedtime has gradually gone from 8:30 pm to 8:00 pm to 7:30 pm and now it's basically 7:00 pm. Makes me so sad that she hits the sack so early now.

Anyway, usually I would give anything for Lola to sleep through the night but last night was different. I was hoping she would wake up so I could go spend time with her. Even though I was only gone for one night, I missed her so much. Well, of course when I want her to wake up, she doesn't. But, at 4:30 am she started making some noises so I jumped up quickly and ran into the nursery. She wasn't awake yet but was only moaning in her sleep. I couldn't resist anymore so I picked her up and held her and then brought her to bed with us. Oops!!! That's a parent " no no" but I did it anyway.

I was also able to spend some time with Lo this morning before I realized my flight to Atlanta left at 10:45 am which was a hour earlier than I had thought. It was 8:21 am and I went in panic mode as I hadn't gotten all of Lola's stuff together for school, I hadn't showered, I hadn't pumped, I hadn't unpacked and packed again and I still had to drop Lola off at school...I needed to do all of this and be out the door to the airport within 30 minutes. Yikes!!! So, to make a long story short....I pulled it off and made it on the plane just in time for take off (I even encountered traffic on the way). I'm now in my hotel trying to wind down from a long day. I have a early morning meeting and then I head home.

Oh, I sure can't wait to have a long relaxing weekend with Lola!!!

Poor baby Lo

Oh...poor Lola! She's has had a terrible diaper rash that just didn't want to go away. It first started on her tutu and then traveled down to her bum. We called the doctor and they gave us a prescription to use for 10 days. It worked after a week but then came back even more fierce on her bum when the prescription ran out. So, we called the doctor back (I guess you can see we have gotten our monies worth out of our doctor over the past week or so)....the solution: Lotrimin AF and stop using wipes.

Through my research I found that you actually aren't suppose to use wipes at all when babies wet their diaper. Only use them when they do #2. Is this common knowledge? Was this something I'm suppose to know as a mother? If so, oops b/c I didn't know this fact. I'm also off on a search for chemical free wipes. I'm sure they have some at Whole Foods.

During the whole diaper rash fiasco, we would let Lola cruise around the house diaper free to help give it some air. It was so cute and she thought it was fun. We had to be on the look-out b/c he would tinkle here and there. It wasn't too hard though b/c she would give a little giggle. It was pretty cute.

Attached are some pics of Lo cruising around nude to help her diaper rash. I think she really loved the freedom. How cute is that bum...there is nothing more adorable. Oh to be a baby again...care-free and loving life!!!

I love shoes

How cute are these little scoots?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Little moon like shoes but still very hip and the mocs....seriously...how adorable!

And Lola will of course have to have some precious converse.

I have an obsession for shoes for myself so it would only be natural if I also obsess over shoes for Miss Lo. Of course we're not quite ready for shoes yet. Although my mom has been trying to buy Lola shoes since she was in the womb and baby shoes are hard to resist, you actually are not suppose to put shoes on babies until they are walking. Research says that "until your baby is walking around outdoors regularly, most doctors and developmental experts don't recommend shoes for babies....Going barefoot can help strengthen your baby's arches and leg muscles, and feeling the textures of what's underfoot can help with balance".

So, even though I ran into these precious shoes on-line and want to buy oh so much, it looks like we'll have to wait until Lo is ready to walk. I think this milestone is right around the corner...Lo is already able to balance for a sec and move along a couch or wall and move from one object to another while standing. But for now, we'll have to stick to these which I also love:

Let there be sleep

Well, it's been a while...since I've had sleep that is. I'm telling you...it's been INSANE!!! Lola has been sleeping badly for a while but at least she would sleep until 3:30 or 4:00 am. We would even have nights where she would go until 5:00 or 6:00 am. ....what a treat that was. But, over the past couple weeks, we've gone back to "newborn style" sleeping - i.e wake up at 11:00 pm, 1:00 am, 3:00 am, 5:00 am and finally at 7:00 am. And, she's up for 45 minute stints. Of course, I usually give up after the 5:00 am wake up call and go ahead and get up for the day.

Let me back up a bit. I feel Clay and I have done a great job as parents so far and there isn't really much I would go back and change about our parenting style. The one thing I would change is our approach to getting Lola on a schedule (or should I say lack of approach). Initially, we had big plans! I did all the research and decided what approach I wanted to take. That was the "Baby Wise" approach. I have so many friends that swear by it. It's great b/c it helps you get on a schedule but it's also flexible. I like the flexible part. I (I say "I" b/c Clay had no clue we actually had an approach...he just did what I said) stuck with this approach and had Lola sleeping through the night until I went back to work when Lo was 12 weeks. At that point, I stopped doing it. Not intentionally but it just kind of happened. I never made a point to work this in my daily rituals. I guess I thought she had been doing well and would keep doing well. Looking back I realize we should have worked harder at this and now I regret that.

Why is this my biggest regret so far? Well, we continue to have problems getting Lola on a schedule. We're not the only ones having problems either. The teachers at school lay all the babies down for a nap at the same time....unfortunately, Miss Lola doesn't always work with them. She pretty much naps when she wants if she naps at all. We do have a good routine at night...6:30 ish we start eating our solids, 7:00:ish take a bath and play, then we get out of the bath, lotion up and read a book. Then Lola has just about an ounce of milk and she's ready for bed. Too bad it's not for the night.

So, last week I became desperate....desperate times always call for desperate measures....right?!?!? Although I hate Babies-R-Us (BRU), I took it upon myself to go and purchase EVERYTHING that could be a sleep remedy....warmer pajamas, different lotions that supposedly help babies sleep, humidifier, etc. I don't even remember everything I got but it doesn't matter b/c none of it worked. So, as a last ditch effort, I scheduled a doctor appt. Although Lola's 9 month appt is scheduled for next Friday, 11/7, I couldn't hold out any longer. I became more than desperate. The doctor said she has more teeth breaking in and seems to have a sinus infection. She gave us a prescription and said to prop her mattress up with a phone book to help her breath better. I'm praying that this works. I must say...you do tend to get used to having no sleep but by Friday I'm typically a walking zombie.

On a positive note, even with the lack of sleep, Lola is still a happy baby full of energy. She rarely ever fusses and always has a smile on her face. I wish we could say the same about her mother. If anyone has any other advise, PLEASE GIVE!!!

Halloween is Friday. I'm so excited!!! Lola's first Halloween. Woohoo!!! She is going to be a dragonfly. The costume is adorable....can't wait to get her in it and post the pics so everyone can see.

We love music

In our little family, we love music and we want Lola to develop the same love . A couple weeks ago at Right Start I found this precious wood animal band set. I didn't attach a picture but they are adorable. In the set, there was a castanet, animal bells, fish noisemaker, lady bug moracas and a zebra clapper. They are adorable. Lola has already started making music.

The music set was made by a company called Sassafras Enterprises (http://www.sassafrasenterprises.com/). I loved it so much that I went on-line to look at their other toys/products. I loved it all!!! Why? Well, I love that they are old-fashioned wood toys. Sometimes (or all the time for that matter) the simplest toys are the best! Another plus is that you don't have to worry about exposure to BPA and pthatlates that is an ongoing concern with plastic toys. And, the number one reason why I love their toys, is that Lola loves them. Our next purchase will be the xylophone and tambourine. Before you know it, we'll have a full blown band going at our house.

We of course think that Lola is already musically inclined. Everytime she digs in her toy box she always goes straight for her music set and shakes away. Here are some more pics of baby Lola playing with her animal band set. We have a lot of fun with this and I recommend it to all!!!

In addition to the musical instruments, Sassafras has so many other great toys to choose from too. Anything from circus push toys to precious lunch bags to cooking sets for kids. One of my favorites is the bug hotel. I remember as a kid running around my neighborhood at night catching lightning bugs and putting them in my little bug holder. It was one of my favorite things to do! This takes me back to those times where everything was so free and all fun. I can't wait for Lola to be able to do some of the same things that I did as a kid.

Another one of my favorite websites for toys is http://www.stewarttoys.com/. You can find all the fabulous classic toys here at a very reasonable price. Check it out!!!