and we were swingin'... yes we were swingin'...

Up until now, Mary Beth has been inseparable from Lamb. Lamb, the baby papasan, was the best present we've ever received. And with her reflux, it was the perfect angle for her to sleep. She never slept a night out of it. In fact, when we went to Austin, we just packed up Lamb and headed down I-35.

Randomly 2 days ago, she began to not like Lamb. Very odd. Kept burping up in it and wouldn't get comfortable. It took FOREVER to get her to sleep in it!

And then... yesterday morning I decided to try and put her down in the pack and play bassinet, because I really wanted to take a shower and she was suffering from drunken baby syndrome after a feeding. I mean she was completely out. So I put her down, and low and behold! She stayed there for almost 2 hours!! And then later in the day went back for another hour. Of course then all hell broke loose and she didn't want to go in there, in Lamb, or anywhere else for that matter.


Then came the swing. That's right folks, the swing. The swing that Auntie Kim and I put together ourselves and then Mary Beth proudly proclaimed her immediate disdain for. Put her in last night... Another miracle. Loves it and falls asleep. She's in it right now!

There's gotta be a downside somewhere, right? Like now she won't like breastmilk or something? :-) Well, in any case, my daughter's now a swinger.

Little Mary Beth she's as pretty as the angels when they sing. I can't believe I'm out here on her front porch in this swing, just a swingin'...

for my marketing peeps!

It's not a Happy Hour until someone takes their shirt off!

(Please allow a little message here from Mary Beth to my former marketing department at Regent back in Florida. We miss them incredibly!!)

Hello Marketing peeps! It's me, Mary Beth. You may remember me from that bump that protruded out of Mom's belly. Yes, I said "protruded." I'm the daughter of a writer, remember?! A little birdy told me that you were having a Happy Hour today. I fondly remember going to those with Mom. She wasn't too happy about not getting to drink during them though... Anyway, I sent some goodies for you all to enjoy today, in lieu of really late thank you cards for the presents. I wanted to send wine, but apparently I'm not old enough to purchase it. Minor details. If I were there today I would tell you:

Kristen - thank you for arranging my baby shower. I have tons of presents from you all now, and lots of ribbon that Auntie Kim has sewn on my burp clothes. I'm stylin' now. Oh, and Mom wanted me to tell you to go eat either a tuna melt or the potato salad. Ummmm. Food...

Nadia - you need to come visit. I woke up screaming every hour last night, and Mom seems to think that you, and ONLY you would have been able to calm me down. (And I still get the hiccups every day!)

Andrew - three times? Really? You chose to go through this 3 different times? Mom thinks that's just silly! :-)

Nancy - there's a bunch of birds outside making noises. Mom said you would take wonderful pictures of them. But you'd have to come to Texas. She says we have a better chance of running into you in Minnesota this summer.

Kari - just wanted to let you know that Mom did a horrible job painting her toenails the night before I was born. She should have stopped for a mani/pedi like you. Now please give her some work to do -- she's driving me crazy!!!!

Jill - so this fluffy, soft thing that keeps making noises is what made my whole world vibrate before I was born? His name is Orbit? Interesting. He doesn't like me very much right now...

Tracy - you keep making Mom laugh with your facebook posts. Keep 'em coming, and come visit us next time you're in Texas.

Nicci - feta cheese. Finally got to have it (well, through breast milk). You were mean and had it at the office before I was born. It was worth the wait.

Colleen and Karen - once? Really? You chose to go through this just 1 time? Mom thinks that's a good idea right now. But I'll convince her to do it again eventually...

And last, but certainly not least, Mike - Mom said you told her people with only one baby at a time aren't allowed to complain. So I've been screaming twice as loud and twice as often in your honor.

I hope you all have a wonderful Happy Hour. Don't drink too much -- you know who I'm talking to...

Love,

Mary Beth

a full week...

(Mary Beth meets OUR Godfather!)

After an eventful weekend of Bob being in Vegas, we had to find a way to top it. First, Andy and Jeff came over for a few hours on Sunday, so Mary Beth finally got to meet Andy, her future godfather. Then, she and I packed up WAY too much stuff and took a roadtrip to Austin. Auntie Kim was going through niece withdrawal, and Uncle John and Aunt Corinne were in Austin visiting Mom's cousin Denny for the Food and Wine Festival. It was the perfect chance for Mary Beth to meet her great-godparents. (I'm pretty sure I just invented that moniker, but it fits!) And John's yet another redhead, so of course we had to have that bonding moment. Hopefully we'll all make it to see Papa in July, and we can take a 4-generation redhead photo!

I have to admit that taking a 3-4 hour roadtrip with Mary Beth was a little nerve-wracking. Who knew how she would react? She seems to like the car, but for that long? So on the way I stopped in Waco for a diaper change and quick feeding. I really shouldn't have. We could have waited. So I drove straight on the way back. She was fine -- just had a few loaded diapers over the next few hours after returning home. Seems she was saving them up since she was sleeping.

Anyway, it was great to see John, Corinne, Denny and Eva. We don't really get together very often, so it was fun to tell stories and relax. Corinne was even trying to remember stories about when Mom had us as munchkins like Mary Beth. It's unfortunate that without Dad around, we're missing some pieces of the puzzle. But with as many family members as we have, hopefully we'll get lots of stories for Mary Beth.

We came back on Tuesday night, which basically meant that other than a few hours on Sunday, Bob hadn't seen Mary for about 5 days. He commented that in that short amount of time, she's changed. Yup. Every day.

I had my 6 week post-partum appointment yesterday. Which Mary Beth slept through, even when she gave Dr. Jeff his MexiCoke. Anyway, seems I'm somehow back to my fighting weight without even lifting a finger. OK, I lifted breasts, because breastfeeding ROCKS for weight loss. I gained between 27 and 30 pounds (depending on the scale) with the pregnancy, and give or take 3 pounds, I'm back. Now, it's not the shape that I want to be in, but I basically was like this before the interloper moved in. If Mary Beth will actually take the bottle from Bob, I can start hitting the treadmill soon. Woo hoo!!!

Pics!

sybil strikes again

So, Bob escaped (barely) to Vegas for a gathering/Bachelor party. I call it a gathering since there are only 3 people involved. But technically it's a Bachelor party. It was just a few weeks ago when he asked if he could go. I'd just be alone with Mary Beth for 2 nights. Well hell, I'm alone with her all damn day, so how much harder could the nights be?

Famous last words.

Good God she went crazy yesterday. And it wasn't even just the night! She'd be napping and then scream at the top of her lungs. For no reason except to see how quickly I could get to her. I honestly thought Orbit may have mauled her one time or something. Truth be told, he's scared of her since she can cry louder than him! She'd want to be fed, but wouldn't eat. She'd want to lie down, but then wouldn't. She wanted to be rocked, but then would punch me when I sat down. Seriously I thought I was going to go insane. I was NOT looking forward to the night.

Then somehow she settled down with me to watch tv. I gave her a bath (yea me - all by myself!), and then I went to the couch and kept her with me instead of the Lamb or crib/playpen. Don't know what did it, but she actually fell asleep. And then continued the happiness later and actually slept in the playpen for 4 hours! I slept from 1:45 to 5:45! I haven't done that in, well, 5 weeks now. After eating, she went back to sleep in Lamb and then continued to have an OK day with me. Sure, she got fussy after waiting 2 hours for the car to be done today... but I was pretty ticked off too. At least she had a good excuse of being hungry -- I was just mad!

I think her name should have been Sybil. One day she's a holy terror ready to demolish anyone or anything that crosses her path, and then the next she's sweet, loving child-o-mine. Wonder how many other personalities are buried in there. I asked this on my facebook page and my lovely brother reminded me that I'll be asking this same question in another 15 years.

Crap. Hate when he's got a point.

Here's lovely child-o-mine asleep on my chest last night... hopefully she'll do the same for me in another hour. She is pretty damn cute though...

happy one month!

Dear Mary Beth,

Today is your one month birthday! It's hard to believe that it's been one month since you came screaming into this world. We haven't killed you, and you haven't killed us -- looks like a win/win situation for all so far! Looking at you and knowing that we created you is a bit overwhelming. You're impishly cute with the best facial expressions and stretches!

We keep getting told that the first month is the hardest. Hopefully this is true! Although you get cuter everyday (which we didn't think was possible), you unfortunately have acid reflux, which makes you extremely uncomfortable! And if you're in pain, we're in pain. It kills us to see you unhappy!!! But we've visited Dr. Z, your pediatrician, and she's promised to make you better! And we also discovered today that you react well to eating from the bottle -- somehow reduces the gas and its effects so far.

In this one month's time, you have been visited by Aunt Kim, Uncle Jeff (very briefly), Grandma Lillian, Carissa (high school soccer teammate), and Rhonda (high school friend). They all think you're adorable. You've been showered with presents from family and friends. You've gone to dinner at Carrabba's and Kinkaids (2 times now!) and have made a few shopping trips to Babies R Us and Target. And yesterday we went to see Dr. Jeff for his kids' birthday party. You like him -- you gave him daisies!

What do you like? Being rocked in the chair, bath time, taking my glasses off my face at night, being in the car for a ride and the Little Lamb baby papasan that you sleep in all the time. What do you dislike? Being flat on your back (which is why you sleep in Lamb!), bright lights, gas, and being wakened. Unless it's for food and then you're ok with it! Oh, and you don't really like the swing, which is disppointing considering how Kim and I got it for you. It's a secret -- we'll tell you one day.

We're so glad you're here, Baby Love!!

Love,
Mom and Dad

namesake's birthday

Today, April 10, would have been Mom's 64th birthday. So I felt it appropriate to have a little chat with Mary Beth to tell her about Mom and the special day.

I told her "Today would have been your Grandma Mary's 64th birthday, so we should celebrate!"

She then preceeded to burp up all over me. I took it as a sign.

"Oh yeah," I told her, "Mom always said she was a year younger because we forgot her birthday one year. So I guess she would have been 63 today."

I swear she smiled at me before she settled right back to sleep. Love how Mom uses my child to put me back in my place...

Rob and Kim joke that since Mary's birthday falls in Spring Break time, she's going to be a "Woooo" girl. Can't really argue with it. So here's a WOOOOO for you, Mom!

who needs sleep?

No surprise for mothers out there that I haven't posted in a while. Little Mary Beth has kept me quite busy and sleep deprived. If God were a woman, men would have the ability to breastfeed as well. Anyway, this past weekend Mary Beth decided that she was going to turn into a holy terror. I told you Mom and Dad would find a way to get even with me...

Actually, I have no idea how we were when we were infants, but Mary Beth had been acting strange for a while. Her grunts and groans that were cute 2 weeks ago were getting louder and more persistant. I knew they couldn't be "normal" like everyone told us. Then she started burping up everytime I fed her. And not like a normal baby burp up. Much more and more often. So disheartening to see! Then this weekend she just couldn't be consoled. Didn't want to be fed, held, left alone, etc. I spent 2 hours bouncing her around and singing to her to get her to fall asleep -- only to have her scream as soon as I put her down. I had had it!

So yesterday I called Dr. Z, the pediatrician. We had an appointment this morning (though like a true redhead and my daughter, yesterday was quite pleasant!) and it turns out she has severe acid reflux. It's good to know that I'm not "that" mom that runs to the doctor anytime something is weird or inconvenient! She prescribed some meds and said that hopefully this will alleviate the pain and fussiness caused by the gas and reflux. Poor little Mary... On a good note, she takes medicine out of a little dropper a heck of a lot better than Orbit the Wondercat.

Didn't want to post a photo of her burping up for you, so thought you'd all like one in her better days. She's been hanging out with Dr. Evil and is going to hold the world ransom for ONE MILLION DOLLARS.