Edited

Just so I can properly attribute the Year End meme:  original courtesy of Linda and last year's posted here.  

Happy End of 2008 and A Big Fat Smooch to 2009!

Wrapping up 2008

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?
Gave birth.  

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Yes, I promised last year that I would be a good parent, and I think I have started that off well.  This year's resolution is a continuation on that theme: always, ALWAYS putting my family first.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
HA!  ME!

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No, thank god.

5. What countries did you visit?
Zero.  Gestating and birthing kept us in town.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
A more positive outlook on life.  Noah has definitely helped with that and I hope to continue well into the rest of my life.

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
February 29, 20o8:  Big ultrasound reveal to tell us we were having a boy.  July 20, 2008:  The birth day of said boy.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Giving birth.   Hands down.  (Do we sense a theme here?)

9. What was your biggest failure?
Not keeping in close touch with far away friends.  I plan to remedy that in 2009.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Episiotomy, anyone?  Damn that hurt.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
I didn't buy it (hello, budget) but my SLR camera that my parents gave us this Christmas.  

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Again, Tim's.  He is an amazing father and he works so hard to make sure Noah and I are cared for and happy.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
No one really.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Diapers, baby toys, baby clothes, baby baby baby.  That should be reason enough to wait until you're old enough and financially secure to have a kid.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
NOAH.  Oh, and Noah.

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?
Beethoven for Babies...on repeat in the car.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder?  So much happier.
b) thinner or fatter? Fatter.  Damn it.
c) richer or poorer? Poorer, see #14.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Cuddled with Noah.  There is never enough cuddling for me.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Worrying about Noah.  I spent far too much time on the internet reading new mom message boards and fuh-reaking out about every little thing.  

20. How did you spend Christmas?

With our families.

21. Did you fall in love in 2008?
Oh hell yes.  

22. What was your favorite TV program?
Gossip Girl.  I am 16.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
No.

24. What was the best book you read?
Sippy Cups Are Not For Chardonnay, Stefanie Wilder-Taylor.  It may not have been literature, but it was damn funny and made me feel less like a moron.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
What is this music you speak of?  Unless it was created for babies, I haven't heard it lately.

26. What did you want and get?
Noah.

27. What did you want and not get?
Sleep.  Same as last year.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?
Hmm, first this music thing and now movies...didn't get to see much this past year.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 27 this year and spent the day baby-free.  

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Not having to worry about money.  

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
Yoga pants...with stretch.

32. What kept you sane?
Tim and his patience.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Barry O.  We have so much to look forward to, he and I.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
Oh I don't know...let me think...SARAH PALIN.  

35. Who did you miss?
All my friends who live far, far away from me.

36. Who was the best new person you met?
Noah.  He rocks.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
Life is so much sweeter when you have someone special to share it with.  Whether that be a wonderful partner, a child, or a supportive family, life doesn't seem so knock-down hard at times.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
Like movie quotes, this is just something I can't do well. I'll leave it to you to add whatever sums up YOUR year.

 

Best. Christmas. EVER.

My parents love Christmas.  My parents love Noah.  So for Christmas, my parents bought Tim and I a Nikon D60 dslr camera.  What I mean is our names were on the gift tag but it is clearly a gift for their benefit since it will allow me to take amazing, awesome, perfect pictures of Noah FOR THEM.  They can't fool me, I've got their number.   Here are a couple of shots taken with the new camera:

The quality of the pictures is phenomenal and oh, let's just say, BREATHTAKING.  Wait.  That's probably just me since I am slightly obsessed with the subject.  I am so so so happy with the camera so consider this a public THANK YOU MOM AND DAD for being damn awesome. 

Photos of Noah crying while opening Christmas presents to come.  We've been busy around these parts.

Merry Christmas to all

And so it begins...

His first taste of Christmas, courtesy of his Aunt Boo.

Yay!  A box!

Mama?  What do I do with this?

Ah yes, I see.  I eat it.  Tasty.

Thank you Boo!  We love it!

Five Months

Dear Noah,

I think you and I both deserve a hearty congratulations for making it five whole months. For some reason, this month's birthday really meant a lot to me. Maybe it's because you are now firmly in "baby" territory and the newborn phase is definitely over. Maybe it's because I felt that by five months I should have my act together. Ha. I SO don't. But you don't know that because you're just a itty, witty, bitty baby who loves to laugh and smile with your whole body. From the tip of your head to the bottom of your toes, you smile with everything you've got.

So much has happened this past month. You began to roll over, your first tooth arrived and you're THISCLOSE to sitting unsupported. You've tried rice cereal many times and are still a bit ambivalent about it all. Shhh, don't tell anyone but we may just forget about the cereal and move straight to the hard stuff...sweet potatoes. That's right. Big boy food. We'll see. I am kind of chicken when it comes to change with you. You're growing up so so so fast I can barely keep up. But with this growing up comes all the delightful moments we have. And these moments are made all the better because you sleep through the night and THANKYOUSOMUCH.

This month our goal is to get you on a daytime schedule. So far you call the shots but guess what? Game over buddy. Mama's in charge from now on. Hopefully you'll humor me for at least a few days and get to napping at regular intervals. Please. It will make our lives so much easier and our days much more predictable. And maybe you could nap for longer than 45 minutes? You used to but this silly teething business has really messed with the hours long naps. And mama needs her downtime to read blogs, err, um, work out.

I love you so much little man, so very much. I am so excited to see what this next month brings for you and for our family.

Love,
Mama



Posting will be light around here due to the holiday, so Noah wishes you an early Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!  He didn't have a driedel handy for his posed photos, just a Santa hat, my apologies.

Rearing it's ugly head

Noah has cut his first tooth!  This really explains so much of his crappy behavior these past few days/week.  He'll be going along his day fine and then, out of nowhere, just melt into a little puddle of grumpy, screechy baby.   I honestly didn't think he was actually teething since the pediatrician claimed he didn't see any tooth buds below the gums and we were months away from the first tooth.  Clearly he was wrong. You would think that all the recent drooling, chewing on my knuckles, and gnawing on anything he can get his itty bitty hands on would alert me to teething but I steadfastly believed the doctor.  I have now put my boobs on high alert to watch for biting.  I hope he realizes that once he bites, he is DONE.

Owning up

I stopped Shredding (that's the 30-Day Shred workout to the uninitiated).  On accident, I swear.  I did it faithfully, well, almost, for a couple of weeks but then Noah got sick, I got sick, Tim dipped his little toe in the sick waters and claimed death.  So things sort of fell apart on the workout front while I took care of the cranky ones.  I had even made it to Level 2, damn it!  Without dying or having my limbs fall off from sheer exhaustion and I gave that all up to wipe snot.  

Then I saw this website.  It was created by Linda of Sundry Mourning, whose before and after photos were enough motivation to get me moving again, and supported by many voices in the blogging community.   I felt that if they could do it, then why can't I?  I mean, I am even asking for a gym membership for a Christmas gift for god's sake.   There is no reason I can't set aside at least 20 minutes a day for a little DVD workout, possibly even more when the ellipticals have TVs on them at the new gym.   I can watch WHATEVER SHOW I WANT without someone else whining about Mythbusters, or Shark Week, or Prototype This, or vampire/zombie movies being on, pleeeeeaaaassseeeeeee.  And I can have a whole hour to myself with no baby hanging off my boob.  It still means getting in the car and driving to the gym, but I need to do it for myself, for my mental health, for my physical health.  

It also doesn't hurt that I am standing up in a wedding in MEXICO in April and the dress I picked, while gorgeous, also as an extremely low back.  No one, and I mean NO ONE, needs to be subjected to the back fat that I am sporting these days.   I can't even think about how I would look in a bathing suit.  Right now, I can conceal the flab and chub with clothing, and people still say I look pretty darn good for having just had a baby.  But honestly, that baby was born almost FIVE months ag,o and it's high time I firmed up and lost some of this extra fat.  The actual weight number may be nice and pretty but that doesn't mean this body looks good without clothes.  

So, I am once again pledging to try harder.   You have full permission to give me shit next time I tell you I fell off the workout wagon.  Fingers crossed, hopefully there won't even be a next time.

(Also, when the hell did my metabolism decide to take a permanent vacation?  I have to watch what I eat ALL THE TIME now and that is serious bullshit.  Metabolism, I don't want to have to fire you, so buck up and do your damn job already.)  

And yet another filler post

Sorry. I'm having a hard time coming up with anything to write about...kind of like me being at a cocktail party over the weekend and having nothing to talk about besides the baby. And this may come as a shock to you, but those who don't have children could care less about my baby starting solids. My god, I bore myself. So, in lieu of the written word, I am giving you pictures of the cutest baby this side of the Mississippi.

The fingers are CONSTANTLY in the mouth.  Sometimes he gets the whole fist in there and gags himself.  You would think he would learn the first time...

I mean, seriously?  At 4 and a half months he's already learned how to ham it up for the camera.   Moments later he sneezed and banged his forehead on the desk.  Tim and I looked at each other and I said "DO NOT REACT. HE WILL NEVER KNOW THAT HURT."

Gah!  He kills me everyday with that smile.  I wish he was edible so I could eat him.  For breakfast, lunch AND dinner.

Crazy-making

Noah and I were out on the first of many Christmas shopping trips today. I say many because a 4 month old baby does not tolerate leisurely strolls through 14 different stores so we will be attempting small trips in these next coming days. We made a short stop at Marshall's today (note to self: sifting through racks of crap does not make for a happy baby) and Noah began to melt down so I took him out of the car seat/snap n' go contraption and removed his coat and hat. He was probably a little hot and getting cranky. By the sound of his screams, I figured he didn't really care for the cheap material of the dress I wanted to try on either so we hustled ourselves out of the store.

I put him back in his car seat, wrapped the bundle me around him, and ushered us out of the store and into the parking lot. We made it to the car, I packed him and my bags into the backseat, and we headed towards the parking lot exit. It was then, when I looked in the rear view mirror and saw his limbs flailing about, that I realized I NEVER BUCKLED HIM INTO THE CAR SEAT. That's right, I committed my first major parenting error. Of course I immediately pulled over, parked the car, and got Noah all settled AND buckled into the car seat before continuing on our way. But those few minutes were enough for my crazy mama brain to begin running through all the possibilities of what could have happened.

You know it's not good when your mind goes straight to the baby dying in a car accident scenarios. But it was like I was possessed. All the way home I couldn't stop thinking about what if? What if a semi had hit us? What if I had hit a patch of ice and rolled the car? Is this the rest of my life? Always wondering what if? Always worrying about the harm that could befall my child(ren)? How did my mother ever let me leave the house, let alone allow me to go to CANCUN as a 17 year old? Nononononononononononono never gonna happen.

If it wasn't poor form I would have had a drink in the middle of the afternoon to calm myself. Thank god nothing happened and I realized my mistake before entering traffic. Next time my checklist will include Baby Buckled In? Check and double check.

Pity Party, Table for One

We teetered on the edge of this exact situation all weekend, but somehow came out safely on the other side...no medical intervention necessary. THANK GOD. I mean, seriously.

Still need help on the diaper thing BUT...

Boo.  Little magical, I mean, evil, elves left Chicago a present overnight.

View from our front window.

Our backyard.

Remind me again why I didn't let Tim move us to California?