Dress Up

One of two things are going to happen when Aliyah reaches the age where she wants to make her own wardrobe decisions:

1. She’s going to embrace my more is more approach and join me in my big jewelry-giant floppy hat-glamorous shades-fluffy skirt madness

2. She’s going to be a total tomboy with zero interest in getting all dolled up

So in the meantime, I’m enjoying fancing her up while I’ve still got a say in the matter!

Now and Then

Even though the colors are a bit faded and the elastic in the sleeves is no longer tight around chubby arms - this dress is special to us lasting through two baby girls 27.5 years apart:

Aliyah with her Grammy

Marcie with her mama

Aliyah with her Grandpa

Marcie with her daddy

World Champion Napping Team

It’s pouring rain outside today so no neighborhood strolls for us. Instead, we’re cooking pancakes and wearing our pajamas all day long.

Six Weeks

Take a good look at this photo. This will be my last strawberry milkshake for awhile. (sigh)

I’ve decided it’s time to get a little more serious about the 12 pounds I still need to lose (plus the 5lbs I would like to take off just for good measure). I lost 20 pounds of my baby weight right after Aliyah was born, but the rest has been hanging on a little longer than I had hoped and I’m really ready to have this waistline again.

As I’ve stated before - I’ve cut myself some slack - afterall, I did just grow a human being. But she’s now 6 weeks old and I’ve got a closet full of clothes that either don’t fit at all or don’t fit like they used to.

I’m giving myself until my birthday (end of September) to lose at least 15 pounds. I’m cutting down on the sweets, unneccesary snacking (a bad habit of mine) and doing an hour of physical activity everyday. Tyler is my designated motivator and has been instructed to make sure I get my butt moving every single day, no matter what excuse I try to use. We’re going to mix things up with some walking, cardio, band work and yoga. My mom is great about eating live healthy foods so I am hoping that will rub off on me a little too!

Stay tuned as I embark on the first diet/work-out regiment I’ve ever been on. (This should be interesting) Pre-baby body here I come!

7 Things No One Ever Told Me About Pregnancy and Motherhood

POST BABY...

1. Even though they are very small, babies can fart as loudly as a full grown man. For some reason I thought that maybe the noise one makes when passing gas would be relative to size. I was grossly misinformed

2. You know how when you’re hugely pregnant and the baby is taking up so much room that all of your organs are squished up in your chest cavity? Well after the baby is born your organs starting moving back down to the regular positioning - AND YOU CAN FEEL THEM shifting back down

3. At your first post-baby checkup you and your OB will probably have wildly varying definitions of the phrase “Everything is back to normal”

4. In the beginning, when your boobs are trying to figure out what the heck is going on, they sometimes can spray milk out like someone stuck a pin in a water balloon. I think it’s their way of protesting their new predicament.

5. There is absolutely no way to gracefully get a car seat in and out of the car - especially if you have it installed in the middle of the backseat.

6. Becoming a mother is like learning to live life with only one arm. I eat with one arm, type with arm, go about most of my daily life with one arm. My other arm belongs completely to Aliyah, as she is always needing to be held, fed, bounced, or entertained.

7. The world is a happier place when you have a baby in toe... (not-to-mention the happiness filled within our own home) People smile at you, open doors for you or some even stop to talk about this new little person or to share stories of their own.

So there you go. a little shared knowledge. There was never a chapter on any of these subjects in my baby books so I wanted to pass it on.

I could only come up with 7 instead of my typical list of 10... do you have a lesson to add to this list?

The Truth About Dogs and Babies

I have been asked how our dogs have adjusted to the baby... this has been a topic of anxiety for me as our youngest (and largest) furbaby, Zeus is NOT kid friendly (he likes to play and chase kiddos but usually gets so excited he has occasionally nipped in mid play).

I had many long heart to heart conversations with him before Aliyah was born - pleading with him to accept her as part of our pack. To help us prepare, Tyler and I read a few articles online - the main take away for us was that it’s important to ensure that our dogs never had a negative connotation to Aliyah. This meant allowing them to explore her nursery, smell her and be close to her when she was brand new, and most importantly - continue to include them as part of all family activities after she arrived. Of course, allowing them to be that close also meant being very diligent about protecting her and teaching the dogs boundaries around her personal space - and we learned that no dog, no matter how trustworthy, should be left alone with an infant.

Nova was never a worry for us. She loves everyone and has never once in her entire life displayed signs of aggression towards people. Our biggest challenge with her has been getting her to recognize that the baby actually exists. She likes to pretend like she isn’t there and that all of the soft blankets and little beds we were making were actually for her and not a new baby. A few times when Aliyah was sleeping next to me, Nova would come up and almost step on the baby (if not for my hand shielding her) in order to get close to me. Every time we scooped Aliyah up off a blanket - Nova would try to get in it. Teaching Nova that she can lay next to, but not IN the baby’s space has been our biggest challenge (and one we’re still working on).

As for Zeus, he’s exceeded my expectations so far. He was incredibly nervous around Ali J for the first two days she was home and would whine and bark in a nervous way whenever the baby would cry. We encouraged him to look at her and sniff her and would always praise him when he did so. Since then, he has shown concern for her several times when she has cried. I probably will never fully trust him based on his past history but I am encouraged by his current temperament around her. I still worry that this arrangement might change when she becomes mobile and “grabby” but we’re going to take it a day at a time.

I love my dogs to my core. Pets can enrich the lives of a child in so many ways. The ONLY thing that would make me give up either of my dogs would be an aggression towards Aliyah. I am just not willing to take that risk. I’ve let the dogs lick the top of Aliyah's head and there are many afternoons where all five of us have been snuggled in our room together. And yes, I’ll even admit to pulling a dog hair out of her mouth once or twice (ewww… there goes my mother of the year award).

Having our child and dogs co-habitate peacefully has not been a perfect science. We are learning as we go… but we continue to teach all three of them how to respect boundaries and we are hopeful that we will remain a happy little pack for many years to come.

** Wondering about the cat? She really loves people and is doing great with the baby continuing to share that love with Aliyah.

Fourth of July

Sunday was your first Fourth of July. Just like the innate need to nurture and protect you, there is a deep desire inside of us to make your holidays magical. Even though you will not remember this day, I will tell you that it was a special one for your father and me. I picked out a pretty dress for you to wear, we visited with family and friends all weekend. You slept through a lot. We took pictures...
We brought you home and propped you up for some more pictures...

Your father and I stood back and admired our sweet little girl in her red, white and blue. You smiled at us over and over and I was hoping that your little upturned mouth meant that just maybe we had succeeded in our mission. A magical Fourth of July - The very first of our many attempts to make your childhood as special as possible.