I was reading over at Wonderbliss about some freebies and samples (I am all about the free goodies) and she just got a free starter tea set from Adagio Tea, a Loose Tea company. Apparently they are running a promotion where you link to their site and get a free gift.
Go check it out! You know you wanna.
…Until Having a Baby.
A few days ago a magical thing happened in the Portland area: it snowed. And it actually stuck to the ground. And stayed around for several days.
As a result, the entire town basically shut down. People around here, myself included, just don’t know how to deal with snow so we basically become temporary shut-ins. Luckilly I had been to the grocery store recently for diapers (really, I feel like that is all I buy anyway) so there was no need to venture out in the snow. But after awhile, one becomes bored and starts looking for alternate sources of entertainment.
That’s right, I used my daughter as a dress-up doll. To be fair, I just wanted to have her try on some of her baby gifts before she outgrew them, but I must admit it was so fun to see her in her cute little things. And they were so adorable I just had to take a picture and share it with the Internet. See, it’s all your fault.
I took some more pictures and they are either in the Dress Up gallery or the Ana Misc gallery. Enjoy.
Simeon and I just survived our first soak-the-diaper, up-the-back, out-the-onesie, through-the-sleeper, and all-over-Daddy explosive poop. It was impressive. We almost didn’t know how to get her out of her clothes, it was THAT BAD. We somehow managed to get her undressed and immediately into the bathtub. After scrubbing down Ana, and everything she came in contact with, we were all finally happy (and clean) once again.
All I can say is I am happy she wasn’t wearing one of her cuter outfits, because I think we are gonna have to burn that one.
Dear Ana,
Today you are officially one month old. It is so strange, because it seems like you have always been with us. I can hardly remember what life was like before you were born, and quite frankly, I don’t want to. You have changed my life in the most amazing way possible. Your father and I were talking the other day about how when we announced we were pregnant with you other parents would look at each other, smile knowingly, and tell us we had no idea what we were in for. But I have to tell you, Ana, you are exactly what we were hoping for.
I wanted to thank you for being such an amazingly well behaved baby. You sleep, eat, and poop like a champ and we wouldn’t have it any other way. You eat every three hours during the day and only wake up once during the night for your feeding. When I was pregnant with you I would have little bouts of insomnia where I would wake up each night around 3am and lay awake for an hour or two. I now know that was just your little way of letting me know in advance what your schedule was going to be. So thank you for forewarning me and allowing me to adapt to your schedule. You are just so considerate of your mama.
Have I mentioned how happy I am that you are such a great sleeper? Because it is one of my favorite things about you. When you were less than a week old your Uncle Greg asked me how we got you to sleep in your crib, to which I replied, “that’s where we put her.” I was adamant about you sleeping in your own crib, in your own room. (When you are older you can thank me for teaching you about being independent.) But I have to admit the majority of the credit should go to you, because you are simply wonderful that way.
The question we get asked most, after “does she let you sleep at night,” is how you get along with the cats and dogs. My resounding answer is that you all get along great. The cats mostly like you because you brought fabulous places for them to sleep into the house: the swing, the bassinet, the changing table. And the dogs truly love you. Ellie likes to smell your little head and curl up at my feet when I hold you. But Molly loves you most of all. She cannot stand for you to cry and instantly runs over to check that you are ok and to make sure your daddy and I are taking care of you. She loves to lick your little hands and feet and rests her head alongside your tiny body when I nurse you. I always knew the dogs would love you, but the shocking thing is that you also love them. You coo when they lick you, stare into their big brown eyes, and don’t even flinch when their excited tails whack you in the head.
Already you have changed so much since we brought you home from the hospital. You have recently started making the most adorable little coos and squeaks. I hear you in the car seat or in your crib, just cooing away, absorbing everything and enjoying your surroundings. And you smile all the time. I don’t know how many of them are real smiles or just gas, but they are smiles just the same and I will take them any way I can get them.
Little Miss, I simply cannot wait for all the things I get to share with you and teach you. I can’t wait to see your face when you feel sand between your toes for the first time, to cheer for you when you take your first step, and to help you back up when you fall down moments later. I promise to teach you how to read, how to braid your hair, and how to make amazing chocolate chip cookies. I promise to do all that and so much more, but only if you promise to help me learn to relax, to remember to be silly, and to enjoy each and every moment to the very fullest.
All my love,
Mama
I had a request this morning from Carole for some more baby pictures. Not wanting to disappoint, here ya go. I like to call this one “Momma gets to take a shower.”
Here is Ana’s signature facial expression when confronted with a camera. I assume she is thinking something along the lines of “Woman please. I am trying to enjoy sitting here and you keep flashing that thing in my face.” We are currently working on this.
And just to prove I can still take pictures of things other than my baby, here is my silly cat Frodo. I guess this was his way of helping me put the Christmas decorations away. Yeah.
And last but not least, Simeon, Ana, and I all went to Miss Lindsay’s Princess Birthday Party yesterday. I cannot believe she is already three years old. Wow. And is she not just the cutest thing ever?
There pictures I took are either in the Lindsay’s 3rd Birthday gallery or the Ana Misc gallery. Enjoy.
Happy 2007! I wanted my first post of the year to be something special, but as the days passed and I still hadn’t come up with something, I just put more and more pressure on myself to write something fabulous. So Simeon and I decided it was time to update my site. What do you think of the new look? I wanted to point out some of the new features. Firstly (and the most obvious) I updated the photo header and background color. I am not totally sold on it, but I will have to give it a few days to grow on me before I change it. Sometimes I have a hard time with change. Then I added in little sprinklings of my favorite font-just to add a little whimsy and personalize my site at the same time. I also updated the “Blogs I Read” list; removed those who have stopped blogging, updated the links to those who have changed their URLs, and added a few more to the list. Oh and I got rid of the pregnancy script (the thought of being 43 weeks pregnant was just too much to handle!) over on the side bar and added in a Flickr badge, which is essentially a fancy little shortcut to the pictures I have over on Flickr. All the other changes are mostly administrative and things that shouldn’t change the site functionality. But bear with me in case things work a little differently than you are accustom. Other than that, I hope you all have a great year and I am really looking forward to 2007! Yea!!
When I was pregnant with Ana, I got very accustom to stepping on the scale each week, but I haven’t weighed in since the Monday before she was born. I figured since Ana is three weeks old today, it was time I confronted the scale. I was very happy to see the numbers stop climbing a surprising 27 pounds below my last weigh in. That’s right: TWENTY-SEVEN POUNDS. So according to my math, that means I am officially 21 pounds under my pre-pregnancy weight. How freakin’ cool is that?! And I got an adorable little girl outta the whole ordeal to boot! Wahooo!!
