little bits of splendor

every little step

2011-10-04T17:20:00.000-07:00

This was yesterday. K-Pie's latest trick is climbing up the stairs. It takes quite a lot of coordination to get each foot and hand from one step to the next. I have to stop myself from smothering her with cuddles prompted by how cute she is during her journey up the stairs.

We need to get baby gates up pronto. I tried to get them up this past weekend only to discover that I either don't know how to use a tape measure or properly read instructions or read item descriptions on Amazon or all of the above.

Rolling her eyes already

2011-08-02T14:13:00.000-07:00

We had some photos in the park done by Keri Meyers two Saturdays ago. Do you know about Keri Meyers? She works magic with little babies so you can remember how wee and wrinkly and adorably cute they were when they first arrived into this world. I had wanted to get newborn photos done with Keri when K-Pie was born. Unfortunately I emailed my inquiry a few weeks before K-Pie was due and apparently most moms get on the newborn photo shoot train early in their second trimester. Yeah, I sorta missed that one by a long shot.

Instead we found ourselves in a park the day before K-Pie's 8-month birthday for a mini session. The weather decided to cooperate and we had a lovely day of glorious sun (which is a feat in itself seeing as how this summer we've had like two days of actual sun and the rest of the time we've been miserably living up to our reputation of lots of depressing grey and rain). K-Pie though decided that she would not cooperate by refusing to crack a smile. This is a baby who normally can't stop smiling. She laughs at her own little farts for heaven's sake. And I really wanted her to smile because that is how I think of her, as a smiley, joyful baby. But K-Pie was stone-faced and would not crack a smile no matter how much the three of us adults were making weird noises with our mouths, waving our arms, dancing, and all around acting like semi-lunatics. The photos of our K-Pie turned out beautiful though. So thank you Keri Meyers and K-Pie for being absolutely beautiful even when you are being a serious little baby.

This one really cracks me up. Doesn't it look like she's perplexed by what she's looking at? It was probably when I was pulling out my awesome dance moves. She is like "geez mom are you already embarrassing me?"

For more K-Pie photos see here.

first teeth

2011-07-29T14:29:00.000-07:00

K-Pie has been quite the evasive baby when it came to showing off her new teeth which were first sighted in early July. Yesterday at dinner she finally decided to show off her new little teeth. The photo isn't the best but treasured for being the first time we've been able to capture her little teeth on camera.

baby suit shopping

2011-04-28T16:14:00.000-07:00

We are gearing up for a visit to the grandfolks next month. Lucky for vacation-starved me, they live in a beachside community in sunny Florida. It will be Tidbit's first time meeting the grandfolks, first plane ride, first vacation, and first time going to the beach. I had lots of fun picking out her first swim suit. Is there anything cuter than pudgy baby feets and chubby baby legs?

mommy brain

2011-04-04T11:14:00.001-07:00

This morning I opened a drawer to get scissors to open up a package of Babybel cheese. Then I spent 10 minutes looking for the package of cheese. I had put it in the drawer.

don't hold your breath

2010-11-05T17:17:00.000-07:00

Tonight we have lofty goals of starting to put together the nursery. This involves putting together a ridiculously complicated and slightly hideous futon for the mother-in-law to sleep on when she comes to town in December to meet grandbaby #1 (#1 not only because she's the best but she'll also be the first grandbaby on both sides). Then we can tackle putting together the crib, followed by a panic attack had by me when I once again realize just how much there is left to do.

What I'm worried might actually happen tonight: Husband and I plop ourselves into nursery with high hopes of assembling the futon. We then realize we don't how to put it together again. (I looked for instructions last night but they are not in my handy "Product Manuals" file which is not surprising since I am behind on filing). Tantrums ensue followed by a break which we fail to return from. Crib continues to reside in box. We get closer to the delivery date (aaack! only two more weeks!) and I continue to fail at getting ready for baby.

One day though I will share photos of our completed nursery. That day may take 18 years to get here but it will happen.

update (I am sick so not blogging as much)

2010-10-29T13:16:00.000-07:00

Today I am 36 weeks and 5 days pregnant.
I am going on my twelfth day of being sick.
I am moving for the second time in four months.
I think I might have issues with taking on more than I can handle.

modern lullabies

2010-10-05T16:31:00.000-07:00

Back in early March, before I knew I was pregnant, I had a stretch of gloomy days which ended with me falling into bed every evening completely exhausted and beat. At the end of the day, as husband and I lay in bed waiting for sleep to come, I would play us three songs to close out the long days.

This was our playlist from the first night:

Looking back, I think my heart knew before my head that you were slowly growing.

punching her way out

2010-09-30T11:28:00.000-07:00

We took a childbirth class this past weekend. We ended up skipping the last day since the class turned out to not be what we were expecting. Most likely that was due to husband and I not being in touch with our emotions. Also we are really immature. Please see husband's drawing below as evidence:

A few things to note:

Husband drew our baby with pigtails and hot pink boxing gloves.
My hair really does look like that.
Husband does not get to play poker while I am in labor or anytime soon after. It's an inside joke we have that he'll be playing poker but in reality, he will dealing with my hysterics.
No one in the class laughed when they saw his drawing. Instead we got the feeling they felt very sorry for me.
Others in the class drew sunshine and oceans to represent labor and birth. Most everyone in class is planning on trying to have a natural childbirth. I have a feeling it won't be so much sunshine and oceans then.

things I didn't know before getting pregnant:

2010-09-22T14:59:00.000-07:00

Just how much time I would be spending at the doctor's office for routine visits. We're now going every two weeks but once I hit 36-weeks, I'll have to go in every week.
Related to the doctor's office, I have peed in way too many cups.
I would decide to try for a natural childbirth. I was all about epidurals and such until I started to learn more. (Note: If you are gung-ho about drugs, do not watch The Business of Being Born. I much regret watching this documentary). Now I want to try to go natural.
I'm getting more and more afraid that I won't be able to stand the pain of giving birth naturally.
You need to register for birthing classes really far in advance. Thinking I had a lot of time, I waited until I was mid-way through my second trimester and found all my first choices were full. We were able to find a class for this weekend but it wasn't the one that best fit our philosophy so I'm hoping it will pleasantly surprise me.
Random people will touch your belly.
Random people will also be nicer to you because you're pregnant. I have been offered cuts in restroom lines and grocery lines. I have had people pick up items for me that I have dropped. I have strangers ask me all about my little one.
My skin has changed colors on different parts of my body. I don't like it.
I feel like I have to go pee all the time. When I sneeze, I have to cross my legs and really focus to keep the pee in and the sneeze out. This often results in me standing in funny positions in public places.
You need to start looking for a pediatrican before the baby is born. I went for my 31-week check-up today and was asked if I'd found one yet. Yet? I didn't even know I was supposed to be looking. I just bought a crib two-days ago. Parenthood is already overwhelming.
Even though I don't need to eat much more to eat for two, my brain and body don't seem to believe that. I find myself hungry all the time. It shows in the weight I've gained all over and not just on my baby bump.
How all of it wouldn't matter as much every time I feel my little baby dancing around in my belly.

dear kicky pants

2010-09-14T13:12:00.000-07:00

You spent the evening yesterday amusing your daddy and me by kicking and punching up a storm. A few times you made me wince. Your daddy says it seemed like you were punching double-fisted or kicking hard with both of your little feet.
You become especially kicky when we're watching a movie at the theater. I don't think you liked all the gunfire in Machete so much since you were kicking up a storm then. Everytime there was a loud explosion, you'd give me a good kick. Your daddy disagrees; he thinks you're going to a feisty baby like your mama. Your daddy mistakenly thinks I am feisty. For the record, I am not so please feel free to be sweet and well-behaved.
One of my favorite things is to watch how amused and amazed your daddy is by you moving around in my belly. As scared as I am to take on being a mom with all the mistakes that will go along with that, I'm so looking forward to you joining our little family.

a new belly milestone

2010-09-14T12:36:00.000-07:00

This morning I needed husband's assistance in order to get my tights on. I couldn't bend far enough to reach my right foot. I still have ten weeks to go before I am full-term, which means I have more than two-months of awkward dressing in the morning. Hopefully I will not wear out husband's patience.

cool or warm

2010-09-13T14:43:00.000-07:00

We need to start ordering our furniture for the impending arrival or our baby, which means I need to decide on final color scheme ASAP. We're still thinking of creating a space inspired by this room, which will work well with the natural-colored organic crib sheets and bedding we'll be purchasing.

I'm stuck though on whether we should go with a charcoal grey glider which we could potentially transition to a living room or family room piece later on. Our sofa set is a lighter grey so it would be easiest to work in another cool-colored piece.

However, I'm thinking something warmer and even more neutral will work better with the color-scheme I'm working with. So maybe we should go with the stone color?

And then of course, I'm really liking the color combination of the glider in Everett's room featured on ohdeeoh:

Would stone with black piping clash with the amber and white crib we'll be getting? Should I stick with one solid color which might be easier to work with since I'll likely be using the same glider for our next child (assuming we have two kiddos)?

So which color(s) should we order? I really need to stop being so indecisive! We have 10-weeks until I'm full-term so decisions need to start being made.

none of this makes any sense

2010-09-09T15:41:00.000-07:00

I just spent $70 on various creams, oils, and gels to combat such lovely pregnancy side effects as stretch marks, sahara-like dry skin, and itchy boobs. Meanwhile I continue to rock the rat's nest that is my mess of curls I call hair because I'm too cheap to buy decent shampoo.

we'd spend many nights here

2010-09-07T14:30:00.000-07:00

I dragged the husband to a couple of shops to research baby items, which included testing out gliders. Figures the glider that I want is the most expensive. It was also the most comfortable and could transition beyond just use in the nursery.

But hello, isn't the Monte Luca Glider quite striking? I could see myself spending many nights in it rocking my little daughter to sleep.

you suddenly complete me

2010-09-07T11:54:00.000-07:00

Via Lovely Morning via Highchair critics

What an adorable way to document their pregnancy. We haven't been very good about documenting this pregnancy. In fact, I don't think I've had any photos taken of myself except for the ones from the weddings this past weekend.

organic baby bouncer

2010-09-07T11:29:00.000-07:00

I ordered our first big baby purchase online today. I picked up the organic Baby Bjorn Babysitter Balance today for a great deal from Gilt.com so got to check off one item from our registry as purchased. I probably should've held out since we still haven't purchased the crib yet, but I'm bad at resisting sales.

If you're interested in checking out Gilt.com sales, you can join by clicking here.

deciding between cribs

2010-09-03T10:21:00.000-07:00

I didn't realize that deciding upon a crib would be so difficult. We're trying as much as possible to keep things organic or non-toxic for our little one. Mostly because I have crazy allergies so I want to do all I can to start our baby out in a healthy and clean environment. Here our are contenders:

The Gulliver crib from IKEA gets great reviews and ratings and the price can't be beat.

Our other crib contender surprisingly comes from Walmart. It's the Baby Mod Parklane crib. I like that this one has a storage drawer which we'll likely need since space is already at a premium in our cramped room.

peaceful nursery

2010-09-03T10:07:00.000-07:00

Most likely the nursery for our little one will be a corner of our bedroom. I like the idea of making that corner a soothing santuary for our baby. I've found this feature on styleathome.com particularly inspiring. I really love it but I'm trying hard to figure out how to put our own spin on it to make a special space just for our baby.

kicky baby

2010-08-25T11:12:00.000-07:00

Your daddy and I call you our kicky baby. We noticed this early on in one of the ultrasounds where it looked like you were kicking and punching around in there. As you get stronger and bigger, you seem to be amping up on the kicking and punching. Saturday was the first time I saw your kicky efforts actually moving my belly. I was starving and cranky and impatiently waiting for your daddy to finish getting ready so we could go out for lunch when I noticed my dress moving. Then I realized it was you, little one, rocking momma's belly up and down. And then I didn't want the moment to end, I just wanted to stay there in the bed, watching you rock my world.

the first baby purchase

2010-07-09T16:10:00.000-07:00

I made my very first baby purchase the other day. I had thought that as soon as I found out we were having a daughter, I would've gone crazy buying adorable baby girl things. Instead I bought some cloth/reusable diapers on sale.

I told Clyde that buying the diapers made me excited because it's the first purchase I've made for our baby. It might be a good strategy for me to get all the boring purchases out of the way first.

dear baby

2010-07-06T21:20:00.000-07:00

I felt you kick today, for the first time. Just three little kicks to let me know you're in there.