Baby Blog: Five Months

Weight: 14 pounds, 12 ounces
Length: 25 inches

Dear Babycakes,

Five months old!! This was a very exciting month with lots going on and huge milestones reached.

Your Grammy and Grampy visited for the second time and this visit was more exciting because you could actually interact with them since you were older and more interesting. The two weeks spent with Grammy and Grampy were the first test of you staying with someone other than Mommy, Daddy and Grandma, the three people you had had solo interaction with for five months. Luckily you took to Grammy and Grampy perfectly and had some great quality time with them while Mommy and Daddy worked. You had lots of fun and had a few first with them to witness. First cereal (hated it, acted like we were trying to kill you as we attempted to feed you), first almost crawl (a weird army crawl move that was all arms and then a faceplant), and first huge long belly laugh perpetrated by Grampy in a restaurant which was such a delight for them to experience. Grammy even taught you one of your new tricks, blowing raspberries, which became your new favorite thing and something we desperately tried to break you of later on when spitting food became another form of fun. Thanks Grammy!

While your grandparents were visiting we decided to get you Baptised. While Mommy and Daddy aren't very into structured religion, (I'll explain more on that when you get a bit older. For us, faith is something we take very seriously, it's just the way religions go about it we object to) we were both raised Catholic and believe being Baptised and learning about God and Jesus is important. We had Grammy and Grampy stand in for your godparents, Uncle T and Auntie M since they could not make it to the ceremony. Unfortunately, on the day of your Baptism Daddy got very sick and was unable to attend. He got to see pictures and we went back the next day all dressed up again to take some family photos so we made do with what we had to work with. You were the youngest child getting baptised that day and the best behaved, until a child shrieking scared you and then you were inconsolable. The deacon, who took a liking to you, felt bad and spent some extra time trying to get you calmed down but we ended up having to leave early because you were just not having it. Several of our friend and family came to see your big day and then helped us celebrate at our house with some food and fun. Despite Daddy being incapacitated it was a good day.

You began teething like crazy. Huge drool and chewing on everything. We invested in several different kinds of teethers because our fingers couldn't take much more abuse. You especially loved the ones you could put in the freezer and would suck and bite them for hours if we let you. Weirdly enough you began wanting a pacifier again after months of spitting it out and crying whenever we offered it to you. In all honesty, anything you could put in your mouth went there. But no teeth yet!

We reached the point where you could not be left alone for even a second. Between your ability to roll and scoot and half crawl everywhere, and do it so quickly, you would very rapidly be found in precarious situations. Our family room became an obstacle course of danger zones and after several bumps into the coffee table and tumbles into various hard objects, we did some serious baby proofing. First we got a play yard, or as we like to call it, the baby octagon. Four days in that and you were great, loved the ability to play and roam with no dangers. Day five, you screamed every time we tried to put you in it. So we took everything out of the family room that was hazardous, put the play yard around the entertainment center and put pillows all around the scary spots and made the family room our containment zone. With the gate up in the doorway you pretty much had the run of the room, and you still cried occasionally if we didn't bring you with us when we left the room but for the most part finally were satisfied with having a whole room to terrorize yourself.

Every day it seemed like you learned a new trick. You had become a champion sitter and could sit unassisted with no problem. You also could pull yourself up into a sitting position from your side. Everything that you could reach became fair game and that included hair, boobs, leg hair, chest hair (Daddy is sure to be bald everywhere if you continue on using his follicles as handles), toes, calves, etc. You were super strong too and your grip amazingly firm for one so small. You even kicked a picture from off the wall prompting Mommy to catch it quickly before it beaned you in the head. We nicknamed you Herculean Baby after that. You were still growing like a weed, firmly in 6 month clothes for a while, and starting to test out your legs every chance you got. Finally, this is when you really discovered the cats and became obsessed with them, tyring to get them at every turn and would stop whatever you were doing just to stare at them. And as good as they are, they even would lay patiently while we taught you how to put them nicely and not grab. Little did they know what was to come when you got really mobile and began to pursue them with a vengeance only the young have the energy for.

Kid, Mommy and Daddy and the kitties, we're all old. Slow down!

Love, Mommy

Married...With Children

I was never one who needed a child to make my marriage or my life feel complete. Yes, I loved kids and I knew I wanted children, but after five long years of trying and many hard steps and stumbles along the way, I was okay with the possibility of our family consisting of just Charming, myself and the kitties. If Babycakes had never come along Charming and I would have been fine and life would have continued on.

But now after Babycakes is here we can't imagine our life without her. Charming just stated the other day he can't remember what our life was like BEFORE we had a baby. He didn't mean this in a bad way, just that we are so content with her it seems like she's always been here. And I agree. I know our life was fine, fun-filled and we were able to buy or do whatever we wanted within reason (Probably the only thing that gives me pause these days because that can be a hard habit to break. Dinner out? Well, we'd have to do it around the baby's schedule and can we afford it because we need to buy diapers? It just doesn't seem as important these days.)

Having a baby does put a certain kind of strain on a marriage. This isn't always a bad thing but can be a challenge at times. Figuring out how to juggle everything takes up a huge part of our days. How will we fit errands in? Do we need to split up or can we take the baby? Who is going to feed her, change her, entertain her while the other person has something to do? Whose tasks are deemed more important to do right now and whose can wait? This delicate balance gets even trickier when breastfeeding is involved because only one of you have the tools to feed the baby unless all you do is pump and bottle feed. Resentment and guilt from either party can build up over one person doing everything while the other person gets to "chill" on the couch nursing the baby. What we have discovered is an open dialogue works best. After one or two times of boiling anger occurring because someone didn't realize they wanted to do something and "I watched the baby while YOU did XYZ and you can't watch her for one measly hour while I do this ONE thing" accusations started to fly, we realized pretty quickly establishing communication of wants and needs is key. Some times things get pushed aside and that's okay. We work really hard to find a way to make everyone mostly happy with Babycakes obviously coming first, because that is what parenting is all about. Sacrificing time, money, sanity, etc. for your child. But we are careful to not let us get lost in the baby shuffle.

The hardest part of having children is definitely the financial strain. I knew babies were expensive. I knew we would be paying for years for things we probably never even thought of like after school sports and field trips and back to school clothes. But knowing it and living it are two totally different things. Watching money just leak out of our bank accounts is discouraging, especially since I wish I did not have to work so I could be with my child but I have to work in order to have the money to pay for raising a child. It's the worst kind of irony. Money is about the only thing Charming and I can have headed discussions about, mostly when there is none and we're stressing about how to survive another week or if one of us wants to revert back to our pre-baby times and buy something we absolutely don't need and absolutely want most desperately. We both have our weaknesses and some days it's hard to think about Babycakes first and us second when the new Coach handbag line is sent directly to my email. I really should unsubscribe from that temptation...

There used to be days in the beginning when I barely touched Charming. We try not to let that happen. We focus on getting Babycakes' needs taken care of but also finding slivers of time for each other. Even if it is just taking a few seconds to kiss in the kitchen, or give a hug and thank that person for helping out, it makes a difference. Some days I find a note in my dinner from Charming and it makes my night. Other times I do something for Charming I know he would have to do later that I can do right then because I have the time. Small, simple ways to let each other know we are thinking of us.

There are times when we reminisce about the "before" days, lamenting on how we could go to a show on a whim or not worry about saving money for college. The days when we both weren't so exhausted and our days off were spent doing things we liked to do rather than things we have to do. The tough days are when we are both beaten down from trying to wrangle Babycakes for hours on end and neither of us can remember if we ate anything in the last six hours. And we certainly can't drum up the energy to be intimate when we could sleep or eat instead. Before there were days no room in our house was safe from a visit to Funkytown, but at this point #2 is just a thought that will only come to fruition if the Immaculate Conception is indeed possible the second time around. We wonder why we did this to ourselves when we had a nice, quiet life before and didn't need anything else to make it complete.

And then Babycakes will start to laugh as Charming rolls around with her on the floor in a sea of throw pillows and I tickle her feet as she crawls by getting a big gummy grin as she changes course and makes a beeline to climb on me and our life just clicks. She made it complete and us individually and as a couple are better because of her. She made us whole and we didn't even know we need another slice to our family pie.

Baby Blog: Four Months

Weight: 13 pounds, 13 ounces (more than double your birth weight at only 4 months!)
Length: 24 inches

Dear Babycakes,

Four months is where I like to describe the beginning of the end. You were never really a calm baby. Always wiggling, struggling, straining and squirming. Some times you were hard to even hold on to. So we knew when you went mobile we were all screwed. And we were right. Just thought it wouldn't be this soon.

I look back at the first three months of your life and laugh at how naive I was. I constantly stressed about you possibly being developmentally behind, that you wouldn't reach certain milestones and we would need to seek therapy and help. Little did I know that you would be holding our house hostage by six and a half months with your ability to get into EVERYTHING because you could crawl to, climb on and grab anything within reach. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

It all started here, in the fourth month, when you figured out how to roll over. We were excited! Rolling over meant no more worrying about you sleeping alone in your room as much. If you were able to roll over the risk of SIDS was considerably less and we could sleep a little easier knowing you would probably make it through another night (yes, mommy and daddy were a bit anxious, but we were new at this.) Rolling over to your back also meant that you could stop your own tummy time sessions, something you had loathed since the beginning. Within a week you were rolling front to back, back to front, no problem. This led to you rolling all over the floor and thus the constant watch began. We could not leave you alone for a second. Unassisted you would roll right out of a room. And the bed was absolutely off limits because you would roll right off. One time I put you in the middle of our bedroom floor, went into the bathroom to get my brush, walked out no more than five seconds later and you were out the door and almost to the stairs from rolling.

After that heart attack we began to find ways to contain you. Although your father was in favor of hog-tying you in the middle of the floor or at the very least keeping you swaddled until you turned eighteen, I wisely brought home a jumper. This magical piece of baby equipment became our saving grace. Need a shower? Put the baby in the jumper! Have to get those dishes done? In the jumper goes the baby! Need to run to the store? The jumper!  Okay, no, no we of course never did that, but if it wasn't illegal to leave you home alone I'm sure you wouldn't have minded because you LOVED your jumper. You would stay in it for hours if we let you, bouncing up and down and squealing. But due to my worries of hip dysplasia we kept your jumping to no more than twenty minutes at a time. Oh the things we could get done in twenty minutes, it was glorious! It was the greatest thing we ever bought...until two months later when you really became mobile and didn't want to be in anything because crawling, pulling up and hand walking the furniture was way more fun. You would scream if we even thought about putting you in anything. But again, I'm ahead of myself.

Four months is also when you could sit up unassisted when you were put into a seated position. First you used the Boppy as support but soon you didn't even need the pillow to sit on the floor. This new position was fascinating to you and I'm sure the world got a whole lot more interesting when you didn't have to stare at the ceiling all day. After sitting came falling forward and attempting to crawl, which was both incredible and terrifying. Luckily you still could only get your butt to wiggle up and down and would face plant most of the time. These are all things you showed off for your new pediatrician who declared you in perfect health and right on track for weight and height.

Overall you were and still are a very happy baby. You laughed all the time now, not just when tickled. The smallest thing could make you chuckle, a funny face, weird noises, but the big belly laughs only happened once or twice this early. And they were awesome! Nothing is better than a baby's big laugh. You also became interested in everything near you, especially phones. We quickly realized we could no longer hold a phone near you are you grabbed it. This made most pictures of you taken on cell phones blurry because we were constantly moving them out of your reach.

One of your favorite games was playing with the baby in the mirror. I would sit you on the floor in the bathroom in front of the mirrored closet doors and you would slap your hands on the mirror and laugh at your "friend." Baby babble would ensue and the two of you would have a mirrored moment of friendship. The kitties were also a new fascination. You started to notice them and realized how soft they were so you would grab for them when ever they walked by. I have to give them credit, the cats didn't shy away from you and would always mill around if we were all on the floor playing. It's really nice to see all our kids hanging out and getting along.

What more could I ask for?

Love, Mommy :)

The New Me

The transformation from pregnant mother-to-be to mom is one journey I thought I was ready for. After all I had eight months to prepare myself for our lives to get flipped turned upside down. But no amount of reading, searching the Internet or advice from other people can truly prepare you for the upheaval a baby does on not only your body, but your emotions, your marriage, your sanity. I read an article the other day that perfectly describes how I am feeling about myself on any given day. It was a letter a mom wished she had written to her pre-mom self. And the part that lists the differences you will experience as a new mother really hit home, but no more than this passage:

"You will be different. You will see parts of yourself that are unrecognizable, brought only to the surface by the sheer fact that another human is suddenly dependent on you for everything. You will be anxious, you will worry, you will feel overprotective like you have never felt before. You will simultaneously need space and not need space because all you want to do is be alone and also never leave your baby with anyone else. You will uncover a plethora of mom-related judgements that were hiding in your heart all along, and one by one they will fall by the wayside as you realize just how hard and messy and glorious this calling of motherhood actually is. You will learn to love fiercely and wildly without expectations, and for the first time in your whole life, your heart will default to selflessness—a part of you that always existed but was buried deep down inside—waiting for this moment, this change, this baby, this occasion to rise."

The physical changes were nothing compared to the emotional ones. The fact I had to use a squeegee to clean myself whenever I went to the bathroom, slept on what Charming and I affectionately called puppy pads so I didn't leak all over the bed, wore a bra to bed so I didn't wake up in a puddle, clumps of my hair falling out, hemorrhoids the size of grapes and hips and a lower back that still don't feel quite right, I took these things all in stride. Part of the experience I reminded myself. Sure, I was bleeding for the first time in almost a year, my body was squishy in weird places, had stitches in a zone I was too afraid to look at and would discover sex now felt...weird. But that was all worth it because I had a baby all our own.

What threw me for a loop was the fact I felt off. At first I am sure I had a touch of the baby blues combined with sleeplessness and sheer terror. I had heard about that moment that every mother reaches at some point in desperation and exhaustion. That moment where bad thoughts creep in and you have to put your child down and walk away to collect yourself. Never thought it would happen to me. But when the fleeting image of me using a pillow to stop Babycakes from crying for just. one. second entered my brain, it scared me so badly I began to seriously question myself and if I was capable of being someone's mother. The fact I recognized that that moment was very real and that I would never, ever do anything to hurt my baby flipped a switch. From then on I started to become the new mom I absolutely didn't want to be.

I worried about everything. I wasn't sleeping because I would stare at the monitor to make sure Babycakes was still breathing. I questioned how everyone else did things for the baby because their ways were not MY ways and so they had to be wrong. I wanted a break but I didn't want to be away from my baby and I had a hard time trusting anyone else with her. I began to look at other moms on Facebook and out in public, declaring I would NEVER do that with my child. In short, I became the biggest douche of a mom and I hated myself for it. I could see myself falling into this spiral and if I didn't do something quickly I would turn into the absolute antithesis of the kind of mother I always saw myself being.

So, I made an effort to stop. I loosened up my new mommy reigns and allowed people to help and anxiety to take a hike. Sure, I still worried a bit, but I wasn't running into her room every hour to check that she was breathing. I didn't hover over my husband any more while he changed a diaper to tell him he should do it THIS way. And I started to enjoy. Because through all that worry and anxiety I got lost in the dependency part and forgot to really see my daughter. Sure, she needed me, a lot, but every day was a new adventure for her. Every day she got stronger and more interesting and discovered something new. I could still supply her needs, love her unconditionally, but also really enjoy her and experience life through her new eyes, something amazing and mind blowing. From that same article:

"Your whole life will be different. Every single day you will wake up with the responsibility of loving a child beyond measure. It will affect every decision you make, every thought you have, every fiber of your very existence. You will slowly learn to let go of control and expectations, a process you will practice every day for the rest of your life as a parent. You will start to see the world as a mom—you will see love and God and humanity through new eyes that will change you and mold you and make you more aware of how small you are and how big God is. A void will be fulfilled that you didn’t even know existed."

Our lives will never be the same and I am now a completely different person than I was six months ago. Things are messy and chaotic and there are days that go by when I forget to eat and don't even touch my husband. But I wouldn't change a thing.

Baby Blog: Three Months

Weight: 12 pounds, 6 ounces
Length: 23 inches

Dear Babycakes,

Yes, you are almost seven months old and I am just now getting around to writing about your third month. There are times Mommy sucks even though she means well. Better get used to it kid.

This month was all about discoveries. It's like you woke up one day and thought "Woah, there's a whole WORLD out there and it has all this STUFF in it! What can I put in my mouth first?!"

It started with your fist. You sucked on that fist like your life depended on it, at times gagging yourself several times until we would extract this soggy appendage from your mouth. Your dad joked about how this assured us you could never make it in porn, something you most certainly will never know the existence of because, of course, you're perfect and innocent. (Side note: If you are in fact in porn at the time of reading this please know I hope nothing we did or said lead you to that lifestyle choice. Although if there was something to push you down that dark path, the culprit will probably turn out to be this blog. I'm sorry. Mommy loves you! Wear condoms!)

You also started to grab your toys hanging above you on your play mat. With a surprisingly strong grip for someone so small you would pull these toys down and try to get them in your mouth. daddy and I could spend hours watching you try again and again to eat your toys, not understanding they were attached and unable to bend to your will.

You also started sucking on your tongue. Something that annoyed the heck out of your father and grandmother. I figured you were just figuring out you had this thing in your mouth and hey! It's another thing I can suck on! You stopped doing it so much later on once you realized you could grab your feet and woah! Stick those in your mouth too?! (Do you see a pattern here?)

You had your first giggle which I wish I could bottle up and save for dreary days when I need a pick me up. It was so cute and so sweet and for something so mundane as giving you a goofy face to laugh at. Once we figured out you wanted to laugh we would do everything in our power to try and make that happen. But those giggles in the beginning were precious. You gave a lot of smiles but not many laughs right away. So when you did let one out they were extra special to us because not everything made you laugh. Grinning you had down pat and as a generally happy baby you smiled a lot! You also started to recognize your name which was really cool.

Those bad hours at night from nine until midnight thankfully came to an end. Now you were wired right before bed, which we kept at around 1 AM because that is when I got home from work and could put you to bed. Yes, mommy suddenly was not around as much any more. Something that tore my heart out every day but you seemed to take in stride. Mainly because you had Daddy and Grandma to keep you company so not having Mommy around didn't seem too bad with two out of the three people you saw constantly sticking around. Going back to work was harder than I thought. I hated leaving you every day and not seeing you for so long. But I got used to it and although I still miss you terribly it's something I have to do. Seeing you light up and start to wiggle when you saw me each night when I came home helped a lot to ease my guilt at leaving you.

At work I pumped to keep up with your feeding schedule so Daddy and Grandma could feed you while I was gone. Now you got four bottles a day instead of one, something I didn't like but was inevitable since I was not there to feed you every three hours. You never had a problem with the bottles and going back and forth was not an issue. Except for distractions. We started having to urn off the TV and have people leave the room because you would get distracted while eating. Everything was so exciting you wanted to see everything, even while trying to eat. But you must be getting enough to eat because you were growing like a weed and already in six month size clothes.

But I was always home to put you to bed, our special Babycakes and Mommy time. We would have a bath, read a story, sing some songs and after I nursed you it would be time for bed. I cherished these times with you, especially since the night time wakeups were getting scarcer. You were sleeping up to eight hours straight through the night, something unheard of for someone so young. I suddenly was getting more sleep, even though I would still wake up a lot to check the monitor and make sure you were okay. But every hour counted after the previous two months of waking up every two hours. We were getting into another newer rhythm with me going back to work and it was turning out to be a good routine.

You also met your Uncle T, Mommy's brother and your Cousin B, Mommy's cousin from Massachusetts. Uncle T and you got along aces, he could make you laugh and you loved it when he bounced you around. Also, I got to witness my brother feeding a baby for the first time while simultaneously scrolling through his phone and watching Discovery channel. A man of many talents your Uncle T.
I was constantly in awe at how even more adorable you got with each passing day. Your little personality was coming through and it was amazing to watch you blossom into a person with likes, dislikes, wants and needs. Every smile, every laugh, every cry shaped who you were starting to become. It was a gift every single day and all the new discoveries you were making were amazing to us as well because we were seeing the world through your eyes and how new and exciting everything must be. You were showing us how to live again and it was beautiful. I don't think I could ever express how wonderful that is.


Love, Mommy

Worker Bee

I intended to write this post about a week or so after I went back to work. Now, suddenly here I am almost five months later and going to work every day still sucks as much as I feared.

It's not the job itself, exactly. Well, it's not always the job itself. I still love what I do even if I don't love where I do it some days. I just never expected it to be so difficult to be away from my baby for nine plus hours, five days a week. I went from being the one person who was with Babycakes, literally, twenty-four hours a day exclusively for two months straight, to being the person who sees her the least amount. Getting up at nine-thirty in the morning, Babycakes up at ten and I have to be at work by 2:45 PM means I only see her for about four and a half hours since she is asleep when I get home. Charming sees her for about 8 hours, my MIL gets her for 5 to 6 hours and I get the short end of the baby stick.

I know this is the downside of being a working mom, but I wish I didn't HAVE to work. If I chose to do this I think I would feel a bit differently. But right now it is impossible for me to not work. And that leaves me with a hole in my heart every day I have to leave that sweet little face and drive to a place I really don't want to be. Even on the days I feel like I need a break I would rather be with her screaming than at work. But it is what it is and I make do. And her big gummy smiles when she sees me every morning make up for leaving her during the day. Another saving grace is the fact I get to leave my precious child in the hands of my MIL, someone I know will take care of Babycakes with extreme care and love. We are beyond fortunate to have a close family member watch our baby. I know how lucky we are because if I had to leave her at a daycare or even a babysitters, I'm not sure I could handle being away from her as well as I am coping with it now.

The first few weeks back were rough. I bawled when I left the house, all the way to work and sometimes halfway through my shift. I would find reasons to sneak away so I could call constantly and check in or just to hear her make noises over the phone. I was a mess and seriously questioned quitting every single day. Keeping busy was key because the busier I was the less I thought about not being with my baby. If I had downtime I would dwell on all I was missing because every look, smile and coo were so precious. I would desperately try to figure out a way to not have to work at all or at least not as much. But I could never make the numbers work. Eventually the pain got a bit less. There is still an ache when I have to leave each day and Babycakes gives me a breathtaking gummy smile as I'm walking out the door (it helps if she's napping by then so I don't feel so bad because I don't want to wake her) but I don't cry in my car the whole way any more. And getting the updates each night from my MIL are fun even if it does make me feel a bit left out. The time to come when she cries because I'm leaving will probably start this guilt all over again at leaving my child behind and feeling like a horrible mother because I'm not with her all the time.

The day I returned to work I was offered a promotion and a shift change. After two months of not being in work mode, dealing with sleep deprivation and all the changes I had to adjust to, this was something unexpected that threw me for a loop. It would have been a bit more money, a different shift and more responsibility. But Charming and I would not have had the same days off. As much as I would have liked the opportunity to move up, at this time in our lives family time together for me is more important than any job. So I turned it down. Do I regret it? Not for a second. The time Charming and I get to spend together with Babycakes is precious. We won't always have that opportunity so I figured disrupting that would not be a wise move in my personal life. I figured being happy at home is essential to being a good employee and seeing my husband is vital to that balance.

Speaking of balance, it was a challenge to get back into the swing of things. I didn't imagine trying to turn off my "Mommy Mode" would be so difficult. But I soon got the handle on making sure work stays at work and home stuff stays at home. Except when people want to see baby pictures. Then I can't help but share. The biggest adjustment was fitting in my pumping schedule. Since I am breastfeeding I had to find time to pump at work so I can stay on the same feeding schedule as Babycakes. I was a bit nervous about where and how I would pump. But I was given a single bathroom with a chair, an outlet and a lock on the door in order to pump in private. I know the law states I am required a room that is NOT a bathroom in which to pump but I like my setup because I can clean everything right after. I make sure to wipe everything down with Clorox wipes before I begin and keep everything sterilized and clean. I have become such a pro I have it down to a twenty minute process that I fit in three times a shift in between my shows. So far my pumping at work has not impeded my ability to do my job at all and I am able to steadily feed Babycakes even when I'm not there, something of which I am extremely proud. I am happy I can provide for my baby and I will do anything I have to in order to continue doing so until she is at least a year old. It's what is best for her and as long as I am able that fact is what makes sure I find the time and the energy to do it every single day.

There are days I feel pulled in a million different directions, days I struggle to find the energy to do simple chores because I am worn out, but I am making it work. I think that is what parenting is all about. Not being a Super Mom or the person who juggles everything perfectly, but one who works at it every day to make things flow as best as I can. I have multiple responsibilities and I'm trying my hardest not to let anyone down.

Especially Babycakes. That tiny human is my top priority, always on my mind even when I'm not there.

So, It's A Funny Thing...

...having a baby makes it hard to get anything done. Prioritizing things has become my life. I can wash the dishes OR fold the laundry. I can eat OR go to the bathroom. I can sleep OR take a shower. I can read a few pages of a book OR try to watch a TV show in 20 minutes. I have become a master at figuring out what is most important at that moment. And sadly, this blog has dropped to below necessary. Which is how I ended up not posting for two whole months.

Bad new mommy, letting a little thing like a BABY get in the way of such things!

But I am going to try to catch up now and keep at it.

Along with Babycakes' Baby Book.

And her photo page.

And Skyping relatives.

And all the other things that I seem to have to do with a first child.

How the heck do people do it? I need about twelve more hours in a day...

So be on the look out for a slew of new posts to come as I try to catch up and get on a more regular blogging schedule.