Just time for a quick post. I was late to work but totally not my fault. The first day of spring in Colorado is filled with slushy roads, blowing snow and bad, bad drivers. My normal bus trip is 25 minutes, today 60 minutes!

Big news! Lily is eating rice cereal! First feeding was Saturday. She did pretty good. Not much cereal probably reached her digestive tract since it was on her bib. She seemed to catch on or maybe Randy was a better feeder than I was. I started out while he took a picture of every spoon to mouth movement. Then we switched and I captured every 2.5 seconds of pictures/movies while he fed her. For whatever reason he can feed her better with a bottle and spoon. I give myself props for breastfeeding but that's it. I have fed a gazillion babies when I worked in the NICU so I know how it works but geez, feeding my own baby is more funny than nutrition filled.

I also went to my friend, Kris' scrap booking get together Saturday night. It was so much fun! I got quite a bit done with Lily's book. I haven't even started her birth yet but getting there! Thanks Kris for being the hostess and providing us with space, awesome creative memories equipment and chocolate covered strawberries!

I won! I won!

I won the leprechaun contest! It's prettier in person but here is the winner:


In case you're dying to know I won a $10 Starbucks card. It will buy me 2.8 marble mocha macchiatos. They're so yummy!

Drink green beer!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Erin Go Braugh! I tend to get pretty "into" St. Paddy's Day since my family is absolutely crazy! Don't want to call my family crazy so I will give a few examples and you can be the judge:

1.) My cousin dyed my dad's and grandpa's hair green.
2.) My family takes off work and goes to the bar at 8AM
3.) My brother made McGuire's (my maiden name) Tavern sweatshirts for the family. (yes, I am wearing it today)
4.) I am wearing green colored contacts.
5.) I got up early to dress Lily in her St. Patrick's Day attire so I could take pictures.
6.) I pinched Randy cuz he wasn't wearing green but was still dressed in his pjs.
7.) I pinched 2 people at work for not wearing green.
8.) I took part in my company's leprechaun decorating contest and enjoyed glittering up my leprechaun.

Okay some of the reasons indicate I may be the crazy one but I swear I get it from my family. And it's my duty to pass it on...


This may be a surprise but I did a whole St. Patrick's Day photo shoot. I included one pic above but if you want the link just email me. I just sent them to my family and to the Dillings since I know they are just as crazy about St. Patrick's Day!

Thanks to Lily's great grandma McGuire for the bib!

We watch too many home decorating shows

Here are before shots:







Dining room before shots:









After many strenuous hours of hard work by me (I mean by my husband):







And dining room almost done shots:

Our sweet baby has a new talent.

Spitting. Yep, she now is spitting and I'm slowing learning not to have my face so close to hers during these spastic arms/legs flailing spit filled moments. I never imagined seeing someone spit would be so much fun. I couldn't wait to tell Randy when he got home from class! I'm a proud momma what can I say!

To keep with my crazy baby theme for this post I have attached a funny picture. I named it rightfully so "Crazy Baby." I just put it on my desk today and it makes me laugh every time I look at it. Her hair is crazy, her eyes are so big and her mouth is opened like she wants to eat you.

As I was falling asleep last night I told myself to bring the camera to work so I could upload pictures of our floors. It was a good thought but for that to happen I would have to be relaxed and sane in the mornings to remember to pack the camera. I never have a calm weekday morning. I will try and post some pictures tonight. Ya know since I'm not busy at all with a 4 month old, a husband, 2 dogs that demand treats/water/outside/attention, a trip to home depot to pick out a kitchen faucet since the 50,000 we examined at Lowe's won't work, additional grocery shopping since I didn't get everything I needed at my Costco and SuperTarget stops last night and make lunches/dinners for the next week. Oh yeah since I will have plenty of time I need to do the laundry that has piled up to the ceiling. If anyone is betting, put your money on me going to Home Depot (since my hubby will enjoy that and we really do need a sink) and me watching American Idol and Real World-Key West. All the other fun things will still be there tomorrow. (I will let the dogs outside, get them water and a few treats as well as play with and feed Lily:)

This past weekend was filled with really hard work. Our new bamboo floors don't lay themselves! A lot of pieces needed to be cut to fit around corners just right. It was so hard and strenuous. Or at least that what it looked like! Lily and I shopped while Randy and his friends installed our new floors. I had it pretty rough. heehee. I am very lucky to have a husband that likes to do things around the house. And the icing on the cake is that he does an excellent job! Thanks baby!

Lily is a wonderful shopping assistant. She slept most of the time but when she was awake she was very happy. When she slept I kept the stroller and car seat covers over her to keep out the mall germs as much as possible. A sales lady asked to peek at her so I pulled back the cover and Lily flashed her an enormously sweet smile. The sales lady said it made her day.

Might sound a little strange but I was excited to feed Lily at the mall. Staci had told me about Nordstrom's nursing lounge and I wanted to see for myself. When I first entered I sat down in a really nice area with a few sofas. I was getting ready to change Lily when I noticed a sign indicating the nursing lounge was in another room. The designated nursing lounge had a sofa and 2 nice chairs and was out of the way of normal bathroom traffic. Plus there was a nice diaper changing area with a sink. It was everything I heard of and more. I never shop there since I don't have $100 to spend on a t-shirt but I will be back to feed my baby there. Hopefully they won't catch on to my secret. I do shop at Nordstrom Rack but don't know if that counts.


Lily's head control is getting better everyday. We decided to try out her walker chair thingy. Not sure what the appropriate name to call this thing is but she likes it. Thanks Grandma McG. for buying it!

We also can put her in the baby bjorn facing out. This is nice since she loves to see everyone. She is also getting a little too social when breastfeeding. She will be eating well, hear a voice and stop and look around for a few minutes. Then back to business until she hears another sound, stops and looks around again. Our feeding times are getting longer and longer.

We got to meet Connor last weekend. He is so cute and very tiny. Lily is twice his size! It will be fun to see them grow up together, being so close in age. My mom has been planning Christmas 2006 since she found out she would have 2 grandbabies. The more I think of it I get excited too. Lily will be over a year and Connor will be 10 months. It will be fun to see them open presents and interact together.

We also visited with all of our family. Even my cousin, Erin, from OH was there. My in-laws live about 15 minutes from my parents so we get to see everyone. Most visits are crazy busy with us driving all over visiting as many family members and friends as possible in 2-3 days. But this visit was different in a very nice way. Everyone came to us! Thank you everyone! We still ran around a little, trying to get equal Lily time between the families but it was worth it. Lily did great on the drive to IA/SD. We left at 10PM and she woke up around her normal morning feeding time which was around Omaha. She ate, we stopped and changed her diaper, let her stretch, then she fussed for 10 minutes and went back to sleep. We planned to drive back to CO on Sunday but left Saturday night instead. Very happy we decided that. I imagine from now on our trips to visit family will be during the night. Sleepy baby is much better than fussy baby. Would you want to sit in a car seat for 9 hours? I wouldn't. I have also mastered the breast pump while traveling. Makes me even happier with our mini van purchase. Haha, I hear the mini van laughs out there. Just wait, I was laughing with you at one time. Mini vans ROCK!

Lily had her 4 month vaccinations yesterday. She was supposed to get them 2 weeks ago but was sick. She did great! I expected a repeat of her 2 month shots where she arched her back, looked directly in my face with that what are you doing to me look. Then was pretty fussy that night. Not this time! She cried for the 3rd and 4th shot but only for a minute. The rest of the night she was happy baby.

During our trip to SD I got to visit with my dear old friends, Kerry and Melissa. I'm not implying they are old in age rather old in terms of how long we have known each other. We can't recall when we first met. Pictures show us together as babies. We all lived on "Kid's Street" in our 500 person town. I have so many stories of the 3 of us that I could post daily for 20 years. Kerry has a 4 year old daughter, Karigan. Karigan is a mini-Kerry, same personality and little quirks. Karigan loved to hold and play with Lily and Lily enjoyed her too. Melissa also has a daughter, Gracie Mae, 7 months old. Gracie was very interested in Lily and Lily was very interested in Gracie's toys! We try to get together yearly for a girl weekend. The first trip was 2 years ago to MN. It was very memorable, at least I think!??! I clearly remember flying back to Denver with a major hang over, keeping the vomit bag close by. Poor Mel (heehee)was working that weekend with her dance studio. She had to wake up early and instruct her teams. Wouldn't have been that awful if we didn't stay up until 4AM drinking and acting like teens ourself. I think one day Mel had to coach at 7AM. Ouch. Last year we met at Kerry's house. We shopped a ton, had a spa day and hung out with Karigan. She introduced us to Free Willy, over and over again. What still blows my mind is that she still watches that movie! This year we will hang out with all of our girls, maybe get in a little shopping but no spa days or karoke bars. Can you see the progression as we get older? From wild drunken weekends to hanging with our kids. None of us would trade that for the world. Plus we always have our MN memories. Don't worry Mel, if you forget like you're known to do, Kerry and I will remind you. :)

I've decided to post pictures!! Yay!! As Staci says "A blog without pictures is one boring blog" or something like that. Probably shouldn't have used quotes, oh well.

I figure pictures like this will keep my readers interested!!!

Sorry for my blogging absence. Last week I was busy with a sick husband and caring for Lily since our babysitter's daughter was sick. I didn't work a lot. :) Plus we drove to IA/SD Wednesday night to visit our families until Sunday. We've been pretty busy!!

Regarding my blogging game, here are the answers:

1. I rode the tilt a whirl at Six Flags for 9 hours for a radio competition but didn't win the final prize. True and very proud of it. Randy also joined in the fun but was the first person off. :) He didn't throw up though. I did win 4 season passes but not the trip to California for the American Idol finals. Oh well!

2. I belong to the mile high club. True, very true. Enough said.

3. We secretly found out Lily's gender but never told anyone. FALSE!!! Our families would have disowned us. Plus I'm not good at keeping secrets.

4. My first car was a 2 toned yellow Ford Fairmont. True. I drove the 3 blocks to my high school and ran out of gas along the way at least once a week.

Thanks for those that played. I guess the right answer was pretty obvious. I still haven't told Melissa she read the rules wrong and that I really didn't know Lily was a girl! Oops. After my co worker, Kim, read it she demanded I tell her which one was false. I think she would have hyperventilated if I did know about Lily and didn't tell anyone. heehee.

Goal Met!!!

2nd Post Today!!
It's so nice here, 58 degrees!

I decided to give my answers on Monday. Just in case anyone else wanted to comment. My fingers are crossed.:)

Lily is doing much better. She hasn't coughed much in the past few days. Her nose is back to normal, sometimes clear and other times snotty.

We've been letting her nap longer in the evenings and she has been a lot more happy from 7-9PM. She continues to wake up around 4AM but also continues to fall back asleep after about 10 minutes.

I just have to say that I'm thankful I'm married and don't have to date. I have 2 friends that are single and experiencing the dating world. It's fun to hear about their first dates and butterflies but when I try to give advice I feel so goofy. I really have no clue, so don't take what I say too serious girls! What do I know anyway, I haven't dated since 1994 and I was 17! Plus what does a 17 year old know about dating! Back then it was a lot of prank calls and drive bys.

Goal: 2 posts today

I know I always start each Friday post saying I love weekends, but I just can't help it. I haven't always understood the importance of a weekend. When I worked 3 12hr shifts at the hospital my days always changed. It wasn't until I worked at the clinic that I had a better understanding. Not a complete understanding since I worked 4 10hr shifts and did call one weekend a month. My current job has provided me with a greater appreciation for a weekend since I work Monday-Friday.

This weekend will be filled with Donny. He arrived last night from California. Donny is one of our college buddies and have known him over a decade. Probably most of the people reading this know Donny. Even if your a stranger to me. Donny knows everyone! His personality is amazing and his ability to strike up a conversation is like no other. One of my fondest memories with Donny, includes Uncle Dillhole as well. We got a little wasted, okay a lot wasted, during one of our ski trips and pretty much terrorized the rest of the condo that was asleep. We were on a rampage. But had so much fun doing it and will always be a memory that can make me laugh out loud. And have the pictures to prove it. Oh those silly ducks.

I also seem to comment about being late to work frequently. I do make up the time and it's usually only 5-10 minutes late. BUT, I have to comment today cuz I was early!! I got to work 15 minutes early. Thanks Randy for feeding Lily!

Why work when one can shop?

Couldn't write at lunch time, had to shop instead! It's so nice working within walking distance to shops. Didn't buy anything but enjoyed escaping my office. It's very nice outside, over 50 degrees. Much better than the single digits that haunted us most of last week. Just to give you all out of staters an idea of this crazy Colorado weather, Sunday until later next week it's expected to be in the 60's! Not a big surprise that everyone around me is sick with the weather going from one extreme to another.

Talk about being sick or in my case staying healthy, I had my first shot of wheat grass today. My friend got one and they had extra so I tried it. Not horrible but the orange slice afterward helped a lot. Sadly but responsibily that was my first shot in well over a year.

Last night was filled with entertaining Lily, baking cookies for her day care and cleaning like a maniac! Lily was a good sport. At one point I put her in a stroller, not the cheap umbrella one and not our big travel system-something in the middle of them. I pushed her around the house as I cleaned. It worked pretty well for a while. Everything works well but there is a stopping point. Or as my husband calls "The hashbrown limit." He is referring to eating but I suppose it works for most anything. It's stopping right before you reach the point of no return. Once Lily starts fussing I know to change her environment before it's out of control. She can take the swing for about 30 minutes, hang out on the pak-n-play changing pad for about 10 minutes and now be strolled around the house for about 20 minutes. It's so not about me anymore.

Our friend, Donny, arrives tonight. He is loads of fun and a very happy person. Can anyone guess what Donny and Randy will be doing tomorrow? Or maybe I should ask if anyone can guess what I'll be doing tomorrow? First answer is DingDing!! snow boarding and second answer is working. Yay for me.

I'm addicted to blogging

I love blogging. If I didn't worry about getting fired from being on the internet I would blog all the time. Including writing on my blog and reading others. It's too much fun. Anyhow, today should be even more fun. Staci invited me to join in a blogging game. I changed it a little. Here are the rules: I give 3 true statements and 1 false statement. You guess the false one. Yes, this means you have to leave a comment. Please! I really enjoy comments. Here goes:

1. I rode the tilt a whirl at Six Flags for 9 hours for a radio competition but didn't win the final prize.

2. I belong to the mile high club.

3. We secretly found out Lily's gender but never told anyone.

4. My first car was a 2 toned yellow Ford Fairmont.

Heehee, I am laughing here in my little office. How much fun can a girl have???!!!!! Comment away!!! I'll post answers Thursday or Friday.

Just a quick update since I surfed the web on my lunch break. :)

I think Lily is doing better. Last night she was fussy around 8PM but I think it was because she didn't take a very long nap in the evening. When she's fussy (not counting when she's sick) it's usually cuz she needs to sleep. Easy to fix, just let her sleep unless it's a hour before bed!!! Ever since last weekend when she was pretty sick she has been waking up around 4AM. Usually we can hear her on the monitor fussing and she will fall back asleep by herself. That first night she was sick I did feed her at 4AM and now it seems like she wants to continue but I sure don't! It's hard when you're used to sleeping most of the night and then all the sudden you're waking up at 4! Not fun when I have to get up at 5:30AM.

Today I had a presentation at work. I was a little nervous since I haven't talked to a group since I taught CPR. At first I could tell my voice was shaky but halfway through I was really enjoying it. My topic might have been a little boring to my co workers but it's what I do and I like it!

Last night when Randy was teaching Lily and I did another photo shoot. I have to do it when Randy's not there or he will make fun of me. He still makes fun of me but it's easier to take when he's not witnessing the photo shoot! She was a good sport! Good thing we have a digital, I think I took about 30 pictures. Only about 4 of them were any good. She's getting good at smiling for the camera but turns her head when I take the picture. I still need to work on that darn scrapbook!

Guess who's 4 months old!

That's right, Miss Lily is 4 months old today. To celebrate, she got a cold and Randy is sick too. Hopefully we can celebrate in a healthy way in a few days. It started last Thursday night and we took her to the pediatrician on Friday. He said it was a cold and we pretty much had to wait it out. We had already been treating her chronic stuffy nose for weeks by raising the head of her bed, using the humidifier nightly and saline drops. Now we added Tylenol and lots of TLC.

Our weekend was filled with lots of couch lounging, walking the baby and watching the Olympics. I am totally into sports I never imagined I would ever like. We watched woman's curling forever and I love to watch Apollo in the short distance speed skating. Besides being sick, Randy's weekend was busy with researching wood floors and counter tops. We decided to do some home improvements with our tax return. Randy is Mr. Handyman and is enjoying this process so far. Hopefully the excitement will continue!

Diapers, this is my next order of discussion today. We have tried them all, Pampers Swaddlers, plain Pampers, Huggies Supreme, plain Huggies and Target brand. Okay, we haven't tried Luvs and likely never will. We love the Swaddlers, they're by far the best. The Target brand actually surprised us and do work pretty well, better than the Huggies anyway. We have purchased the Target brand the last few times since they are half the price of the Swaddlers. But this weekend I purchased the wrong size or at least the higher end of the weight limit and we have had so many blow outs it's crazy. I changed her outfit approximately 2.67 times a day. After we use up these diapers I will be buying the Swaddlers again. Spending a little more money will be worth not cleaning poop from leg crevices, feet and back. Yes, I said her back, somehow the poop moves around and works its way up.

Another funny poop story...I thought she might be getting constipated since I hadn't changed a poopy diaper for 4 diaper changes. This was at the start of our weekend, before the blow outs mentioned above. Anyhow, I kept telling her to poop. She loves to hang out in her birthday suit while chilling on her changing pad in the bathroom. I like to expose her bottom to air to prevent diaper rash. All of the sudden I heard an explosion. She had pooped so much! I had a spare diaper under her but it didn't help at all. Her legs were covered, her feet were covered, the changing pad was covered. Randy came to help but we didn't know where to start. We ended up washing her bottom in the sink which she enjoyed! At least it didn't shoot across the room. Better not jinx myself!

Lily is getting very ticklish and I'm having so much fun with it! I can tickle her neck and she will laugh out loud. If she's like her pops she's in trouble, he's ticklish everywhere. I can just say "tickle, tickle" and he will freak out.

Since I am posting today it's probably obvious that I'm at work. Posting on my lunch hour of course! I noticed the bus lot was really empty, I got a great parking spot and the bus ride was really quick. It wasn't till I got to work that someone mentioned it was President's Day. Why?Why?Why do I have to work today when no one else does? Okay that's a little dramatic, there are people out there working. But still it's not fair. Oh well, guess I'll just enjoy my quick bus ride home.

Oh by the way, Lily's 4 month check up was done last Friday as well. She weighed 13 pounds 14 ounces and was 24 and a quarter inches long! We declined the vaccinations since she was already sick. We'll have to do them in a week or so but it was nice not to deal with her getting poked 4 times! He said she's doing great (which we already knew!)

A story to tell the grandkids...

Since Valentine's Day was yesterday I decided to talk more about my love, Randy. I'm going to start at the beginning. Over a decade ago.

It was a hot and humid summer. I was 17, not a care in the world and working at Vanity. A fun and cool teen girl's clothing store. My paychecks were spent before I could cash them. Randy was 18 and tan. He worked at Charlie's Novelties and Beer Collectibles. Our stores were located in the same mall, 3 stores apart. I had my eye on him. I was single, no harm done. I called him my "Bud Man." Due to the beer collectible part of his job. I had to walk by his store to get to the mall food court. Of course, every time I walked by I would check to see if my "Bud Man" was working. This continued for the beginning of the summer. Then I opened my mouth. I told a co worker, we'll call her Becky, about this hot, drop dead gorgeous guy that worked at Charlie's. My co worker and possibly considered friend, Becky, said she knew him, his name was Randy. She decided to go talk with him, I thought to put in a good word for me. I am still puzzled by the following events that took place. She didn't put in any word of me, instead she bought a beer coozie and got a date with him. Yes, Randy was going on a date with Becky. Anyhow, only one date occured, thank goodness! My mind gets a little blurry, this was almost 12 years ago. I do recall walking by the "Bud Man's" store on one fateful night in June 1994, returning to Vanity from my dinner break. This dark haired and extremely tan fellow said "Hello." From there he asked me to a movie that night. I said no. Wondering why a gal would say no to a guy she dreamed about all summer? I couldn't go out on a date without preparing! I was in work clothes and work hair and work makeup. I needed time to plan! I said yes to dinner and a movie for the next night. I borrowed some clothes from my friend, Mel and met him at the mall. We ate at Garfield's, shared chicken strips and fries. Our first movie was "True Lies." If anyone has heard us talk about this night we tend to argue about what happened at the end of the movie. I'm the girl, girls remember everything. As the credits rolled and people were leaving, Randy leaned over and kissed me. Not a peck on the cheek but a full fledged kiss. It definitely took me by surprise! After that night we were inseparable. He left for college about a month later, I followed him to college a year later, we moved in together 4 years later, got married 6 years later and had a baby 11 years later. That's our story. :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today is a strange day. I like it Valentine's Day and I hate it. Why pick one day a year to really show someone you care. What about the other 364 days? Why buy really, really expensive flowers today when you can get three times the flowers for less money tomorrow?

My day started off like normal, I woke up late. I normally have 2 alarms but forgot to set the second one. I woke up when I should have been leaving for the bus. Oops! In my morning rush I found a card from my husband. He picks some great cards but what was better were the things he wrote. Very sweet and touching. Of course I cried, silly people. I always cry! Tonight will be our usual routine of hanging out. I couldn't be happier! That's what I love, the 3 of us together, doing nothing.

Last night Miss Lily...rolled over 3 times. Yes, I said 3 times! She was naked on her tummy (before bath time:) rolled over and smiled really big. Then again and finally I got the camera out and she cooperated with the 3rd roll. Two teeth and rolling, that's our big girl.

I have been so busy working I forgot to take my lunch break. That's why I am posting at 3:30PM. I don't get my normal hour since I have to make up for my tardiness this morning. :)

My mom sent Lily a ducky toy that makes quack-quack noises. At first she liked it but now when she hears the quack-quack she starts to stick her bottom lip out like she will cry. I remove the ducky from her view so she doesn't end up crying but it's kind of funny how something can elicit that response and it's only a ducky! Thanks anyway mom!

Reflect on the past, look ahead to the next...

I'm talking about weekends! I love'em! Randy and I decided someday when we have the means, we will take Mondays off. I can't wait! Might not be for another 10 years but still, I imagine when that day comes it will be awesome.

This past weekend was nice, peaceful, quiet. We hung out a lot. Did the usual cleaning, laundry, cooking, errands but mostly we relaxed. Watched the Olympics which Lily really enjoys. Randy decided her future...gold medalist in snowboarding and first female on Mars. Not too much expected, huh??

Lily is really what her middle name is all about...Joy! We had a lot of fun this weekend. She's chatting up a storm, getting louder and louder. She's chewing on her fingers so much they are red! We can definitely see 2 teeth but she hasn't acted fussy like that night we first noticed them.

My boss has 2 kids and decided that's enough. Him and his wife have been very gracious and gave us a ton of baby stuff including a bassinet, mobile, baby sling and as of yesterday-toys! We picked up a few bigger toys, one is a tigger ride thingy and another is some big contraption that is very bright and has interesting nooks and crannys. Another was a mirror with bright colors, that thing entertained her for at least a 1/2 hour! Nice to get toys, especially free toys. Now we just need to figure out where to put them all!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY NIECE, KELSEY!! It's her 10th birthday on the 10th! Her Golden Birthday! Last night we went out to dinner with the family to celebrate. Then we went to SIL's house, gave Kelsey her presents, watched Beauty and the Geek, sang Happy Birthday and made it home in time for Lily's 9PM feeding. It was a lot of fun. Lily was in a great mood, smiley and just very content. I took a lot of pictures, a cute one was the in-laws lying on an air mattress with Lily, all 3 watching tv. I'm glad she was in such a good mood since it was the last night the in-laws were staying. They are driving home today and I know they will be sad to leave her.

My nephew is doing well. Last night was their first night home. I'll have to call later to see how things went. It's scary to not have the nursing staff around 24 hours! My mom figured out her digital camera and emailed pictures. He's a cutie pie!

Randy and I have a date tonight with our couch. Probably not till after Lily goes to sleep since we have to entertain and keep her awake till 9PM. We taped all of our weekly shows and have to catch up.

It snowed last night and my bus ride was 45 minutes, 15 extra minutes. Ugh! Normally I don't mind cuz I can cat nap but today I was holding a coffee drink and didn't want to fall asleep and spill it. People are grumpy on the bus as it is and would be even more if I spilled on them!

We invested in some Oragel and a teether. Lily really liked chomping on it, especially when it was cold. I also purchased a nursing privacy wrap. It was $10 at Target and I knew I had to feed Lily at the restuarant last night. I have fed her in public before, always with a blanket covering and as out of the way as possible. I'm not 100% comfortable with it but that's not the important part, it's feeding her that matters. We could give her a bottle but since we're in public I don't get to pump, have to warm up milk and well, it's just easier to breast feed. At my husband's x-mass party I was feeding her when she threw up... a lot. She kind of gagged and I had to act fast. I didn't realize till after I cleaned up her mouth that I totally exposed my breast. Not sure who saw, no one said anything. It was a brief flashing, but still a flashing. Hence the need for a privacy wrap. It worked pretty well. Probably shouldn't have pulled it out of the box and used it for the first time in public. It will take a few times getting used to but should come in handy.

Lily came to work!

My in-laws, Randy and Lily came downtown to eat lunch with me. After lunch I brought her around my office to show off. She changed back and forth between being smiley and fussy so she didn't stay long. My co workers enjoyed seeing her though. I last showed her off when she was 8 weeks old and she slept the whole time. At least this time she was wide awake. We ate at Blake Street Tavern. Mainly bar atmosphere, not smokey at all for the lunch hour and really good food.

Last night Lily was pretty fussy. She had the cry where something was wrong, like she was sick. At one point my SIL and I saw inside her mouth during a cry and we both saw 2 whitish teethlike areas. I've been feeling for teeth for the past 2 weeks since she's turned into a waterfall with drooling. Still can't feel any teeth but they seem to be making an appearance. Makes sense why she would be fussy. Plus she comps on her hands all the time. I'll be investing in some oragel and teethers soon!

New Mom Syndrome

I want to talk a little about new mom syndrome. I have it, I completely admit it. Will it ever go away? Will a second kid help? My friend, Staci, is my mommy idol. She is very laid back with her 2 girls. I am not that way. When it comes to Lily I want to protect her. I know this could be dangerous. I don't want to overprotect her, she needs to experience life without me looking over her shoulder all the time.

My first new mommy issue is handwashing. Is it really that hard to wash your hands before holding a baby? This is my dilemnia...in my mind it's not hard but I get very uptight when others don't wash their hands or think they don't need to when asked. Do I need to take it down an notch and hope they didn't just pick a booger before holding Lily? And what if they just picked a booger, would it really hurt her? Now if someone is sick, yes, it's very important to wash their hands. But she's getting older and maybe strict hand washing isn't such a necessity. Her immune system is up and running unlike when she was first born.

Just to give my background and try to make you understand why I'm so anal about hand washing. :) I used to work in the NICU and had to instruct families ALL the time to wash up before visiting their premature and/or sick babies. Even though they just walked past the sink with a huge sign reminding them to wash. As I'm writing this I am adding another reason to change my strict hand washing mind set. Lily isn't a sick (besides chronic boogers) or premature baby.

Another smaller new mommy issue--I don't think anyone but Randy or I can take care of her. I'm learning a lesson on that one! Not only does our babysitter do great with her but with my in-laws watching her this week I realize others really do know how! I should have caught onto this sooner since our babysitter has been doing her job for 20+ years and my MIL has 3 kids and 6 grandkids. Everyone is probably thinking what does she know? It's her first baby! Anyhow, I now realize it's about letting go. I could totally write a book about how to care for Lily- what position to burp her, when to do tummy time, etc. If you've dog sat for us you've seen our lists. They get pretty long and that's only for our dogs! I know other people can handle her just fine. Big deal if things aren't done MY way, my lesson learned is that other people love her and take great care of her.

I fully admit to new mommy syndrome and admission of the problem is the first step to recovery, right?? I will add that to my New Year's Resolutions (never too late for resolutions!) and try to rid myself of being overly anal!