Blogger is Making Me Crazy

Evidently Blogger can't handle my videos in iPhoto. Every time I try to retrieve a video to post, or a photo that's near a video, my computer freezes. One of many reasons I suck at posting lately. It's making me crazy.

The 365 Project: Day 319 (Nov 16)

I'm not gunna lie, Day 2 home alone started with me in tears. She had a particularly bad night--waking to feed every 2 hours or so, which basically translates into a sleepless night for me. Then you get out of bed in the morning and realize you have zero energy and are on your own for the next 10 hours. It's a bit overwhelming. 

To make it through the day, we took 4 walks around the neighborhood. Four! At least I'll finally start burning off a bit of this ring of leftover baby chub. 

In other news, our attempt at tummy time today started with a few minutes of intense screaming...and ended in a nap.

Lana is 8 weeks old today!

And I'm about 1,565 weeks. Woah.

The 365 Project: Day 318 (Nov 15)

Today was our first day home alone. I can't believe it's already been 7 weeks and Raf's leave time is up. And so the new life at home begins. Scary.

The 365 Project: Day 317 (Nov 14)

Getting in some good snuggles before dad goes back to work tomorrow.

That's a Lotta Ham

A conversation with Pat the other day about how good split pea soup must be cooked with the ham bone in the pot, led to these 3 purchases (big hunk of ham, meat thermometer, roasting pan). 

I figure my quest to be a happy homemaker should probably include some Betty Crocker old-school style cookery. (You know: cook and carve a hunk of ham, freeze it in individual serving sizes, use the fat and bone in soup stocks, etc., rather than buying the handy little microwavable slices.) 

Thankfully I have Raf to do the dirty work. Have I ever mentioned how I hate to handle raw meat? If I had to do it myself, I'd surely be a vegetarian...

PS-the split pea soup turned out pretty yummy! Refer to your handy Betty Crocker cookbook for the recipe. Although, note to self: try starting with 6 cups of water next time. (I prefer a thicker SP soup.)

The 365 Project: Day 316 (Nov 13)

Lana has recently started some pretty serious attempts to suck on her hand. Part of me dreads this (visions of a 9 year old thumb sucker), but a bigger part celebrates because it means she's beginning to explore the art of self-soothing, and it may ideally signal the end of the replacing-the-binkie game! It looks something like this:

And usually ends something like this--unsuccessful and exhausted!

The 365 Project: Day 315 (Nov 12)

Today was Raf's first day back to work. Thankfully it's a Friday and he was able to work from home, so we had a chance to ease into it a bit. 

The highlight of the day was learning that Lana's finally fairly chill in the carrier when I'm sitting down, which means I get to sew and soothe at the same time...woo hoo!  

The 365 Project: Day 314 (Nov 11)

Dan & Jenn (the new Mr. & Mrs.) stopped by for a visit today, so that Dan could meet Lana before they headed off on their beachy honeymoon. Lana was mesmerized by Dan's jacket. Either she's a huge Sharks fan, or it has something to do with that whole black and white vision thing at this stage!

I've concluded that Dan totally lucked out. Not only is Jenn a great cook (thanks for lunch!), but she's also a baby soothing pro! I'm going to need to con her into hanging out with the babe on days when mama needs a break.

The 365 Project: Day 313 (Nov 10)

The 365 Project: Day 312 (Nov 9)

Smiles caught in the wee hours. 

Best $7.50 Ever Spent

I picked up this wall art from the clearance section of Target the other day, in hopes that it would coordinate with the rest of Lana's room, and help fill up the big wall above her changing table. Bingo!

And the best part--she LOVES it! Every time we lay her down to change her diaper she stares at the bottom of it and smiles and kicks and coos! It's so adorable!

The 365 Project: Day 311 (Nov 8)

Bright eyes!

I {heart} Naptimes

The 365 Project: Day 310 (Nov 7)

Lana met a bunch of new friends this weekend! Some of the boys (and one wife!) from Raf's high school crew came out Saturday night to meet the babe.

Then, on Sunday morning, Annemarie came to visit and pick up the baby blanket I was making for her sister. She's pregnant with a little boy and AM is currently in NY throwing her shower. I made Annemarie sit around and hold Lana so that I could put the finishing touches on her spaceship blankie!

And then, because we love company, Gina came over, along with her friend Cody (who made the trek from Lodi) and her daughter Presley. It was so much fun to have another (older) baby in the house! It's awesome to see that all the work we've put in to Lana's room will be appreciated one day--Presley was having a blast playing with all of her toys, and pulling the books off the shelf, one by one. Gina, because she has cleaning OCD, kept trying to sneak in behind Presley and re-stack them, and the minute P would notice, she'd scoot right back over and pull them all off (one by one) again! It was super cute.

At 14 months, she's also a texting pro...!!!

And because Cody is SUPER awesome, she surprised me with a huge bag full of summer clothes for Lana! I think we've literally purchased less than 5 articles of clothes for this kid ourselves--and most of those have been swaddlers or footie pajamas (pretty much all we find the energy to dress her in most days!) If only this trend could continue until she's 10 years old...or 20.

Look at all those cute shoes! She's going to be one stylin Little Bitty!

The 365 Project: Day 309 (Nov 6)

Today was my first long day away from Lana. Before she was born, I got to thinking about things I might like to do to make some money once my primary responsibility became mommyhood. Wedding coordination is one on a short list of ideas. Ever since planning my own, I LOVE weddings, and I find that friends often ask me to help out with theirs--whether with planning or with day-of coordination. I figure if I'm the person that friends trust to help with their big day, then maybe there's something to that!

So, in an effort to see whether it might be something I enjoy, I offered to help out with day-of coordination for my  co-worker, Daniel, and his fiance, Jenn's, November wedding. The verdict: I had so much fun! I really enjoy the chaos of wedding days. I think because it's as crazy and hectic as any event, but it's wrapped up in love and celebration and family and friends...which makes it about a hundred times cooler than any other type of event planning!

Since I enjoyed it so much, I'm hopeful that I can get the word out and book a few gigs next year. If any of you have friends getting married locally that could use some extra help and peace of mind on their wedding day, please share my info!

And a huge CONGRATS to Daniel and Jenn! Thanks for letting me be a part of your big day. I had a blast and everything looked incredible!!

The 365 Project: Day 308 (Nov 5)

And the fun continues!

The 365 Project: Day 307 (Nov 4)

One thing that seems to help with the fussing is toting Lana around in a carrier as much as possible. She spent a number of hours in it today, and it really helped. The best news--this is the first day she didn't freak out when I'd sit down with her in it, which is HUGE! 

At one point, she decided she wanted to hang her head out the top, so we entertained each other with a little photo shoot...

The 365 Project: Day 306 (Nov 3)

An example of what the fussy nights look like...unwilling to sleep on her own, or not fussing but WIDE awake!

Goldilocks

Once upon a time there lived two bears. Mama Bear and Papa Bear were anxiously awaiting the arrival of their Baby Bear. Instead, they got Goldilocks. 

We've experienced some rough days and nights around here over the past week. I don't know if it has something to do with the first Wonder Week (typically occurring around week 5), or if she's experiencing a growth spurt, or if this is the legendary 6th week peak of fussiness that I read about so often, but she is currently one crazy, fussy beast. Our days are spent ensuring that things aren't too fast or too slow; too hot or too cold; too boring or too stimulating, because this little Goldi demands that things be JUST RIGHT!

Now, if you hadn't already caught on, fussiness is no stranger in this household. Right around Week 2 when all the books say colic will typically hit, it did--with a vengeance. Of course, I hadn't read anything about colic (or much of anything else) at that point, but I sure feel well educated on the subject now!  

To compound whatever fussy peak (at least I sure hope this is a peak!) she's experiencing at the moment, we've also been dealing with nursing issues. Sometime late last week I realized that we had a textbook case of oversupply. Before having a baby, I naively thought that an oversupply would be a nice problem to have--no worries that the baby is getting enough, and plenty left over to pump and store away for a rainy day, right? Sure, if your baby is cool with handling your oversupply. Mine? Not so much. She thrashes and gulps and chokes and screams while nursing, then pukes it all back up and has explosive watery poo. It never occurred to me that breastfeeding could be so stressful. 

So, I read up on the La Leche League website about how to reverse an oversupply and attended a local LLL meeting for extra advice and support, and I do think our adjustments are helping. Helping with the breastfeeding issues, that is--not the teenage angst she's currently exhibiting. And, as part of this angst, she's suddenly taken to cluster feeding (every 30-90 minutes, rather than the 2-4 hour blocks I'd grown accustomed to), which isn't helpful when trying work out nursing issues!

One thing's for sure, this girl sure keeps us on our toes! We just have our fingers crossed that she'll continue to follow the typical newborn timelines and leave us with us a chill and cheerful babe in the next couple months, once she's adjusted to this crazy new life outside the womb. 

The 365 Project: Day 305 (Nov 2)

New Parent Lesson of the Day: Each little finger that makes up the 24 Hour Death Grip must be pried apart and cleaned between regularly. There's some funky lint that collects in there!

The 365 Project: Day 304 (Nov 1)

Pat came over to visit, hold the babe, and watch the World Series clinching game tonight. We're having some issues with breastfeeding (yet again), which leaves Lana cranky and me exhausted, so the extra hands are very much appreciated!

The 365 Project: Day 303 (Oct 31)

Guess who finally got iPhones? We did! 

I told Raf at the beginning of the pregnancy that I wanted an iPhone as my "push gift". I pretty much think the concept is ridiculous, so I figured I should demand something equally as silly (rather than, say, diamond earrings). However, since he got one too, I think I should be entitled to yet another gift. Plus, it's my birthday month, so...

The real reason that we finally took the plunge is because we now consider it to be affordable. (Well, that and the fact that it's pretty much the #1 new parent tool!) Now that AT&T has added additional monthly plan options, our monthly bill actually has the potential to be less expensive (rather than $80 more a month like it was when we looked last year)! 

We are, of course, completely engrossed in app browsing these days. It's so fun! Any good recommendations from all of you long-time iPhoners??

The 365 Project: Day 302 (Oct 30)

Raf's Dad can't get enough of granddaughter time, so he came over to hang out and watch the Giants game today. I'm glad she's starting to get some consistent Polish lessons!