Friday Photos: 14 Weeks aka 3 1/2 Months



"May the Schwartz be with you!"
We got this cool tye dye bunting sack from Laurushka. Thanks Laura! We love it.


Morella was just waking up for the second time -- and was still happy, right before her first dose of yucky medicine.


Mad Baby! Mad Baby!
Smiling, in an outfit sent from the very cool Sarah. Morella was our little boy for a day. :D

Morella's first time in the neglecto-saucer. She had to be propped with a towel and a blanket, but she stayed for a good 10 minutes and enjoyed her freedom. She's an independent one.

Morella conquers the dragon! This is the dragon that I mentioned Sigrid brought over on Monday. I predict that Morella and her Dragon (what shall we name it?? or do we wait for her to name it?) are going to be the best of friends.

Okay, baby is getting tired of sitting on my lap at the computer and wants to move on. Besides, I think she filled her pants.

Memo to Morella:

A five minute nap in the car is NOT a nap. You must take a nap after being awake for 2 hours. This three and half hours of being up and then taking a 20 minute nap is ridiculous. Yes, I know, the dog's sleep barking woke you up, but you still have 10 more minutes left of this nap, and heaven knows you need it.

Love,

Mom

PS: I'm serious! Go back to sleep!

This past Sunday it was finally above freezing and sunny so we decided to go for our first walk. Tim geared up Morella in the moby, I had the dog and we set out. She really didn't like going into the wind and sort of fussed, but on the way backs she feel asleep -- thus missing most of her walk. That's okay. Being able to go out though for a walk was just a tantalizing taste of how nice it will be in the spring. I am entertaining fantasies of going for twice daily walks -- once in the mid afternoon and another when Tim comes home. What an nice way it will be to break up the day!

The past two days she has gotten up at 11:30 which has sort of messed up my schedule. I was getting really used to the 12 wake up times...sigh. So I wasn't able to get dressed until after she went down for her nap at 1.40. Meaning I have eight minutes left of this nap. I got a letter from my Mom and she mentioned seeing Morella on my brothers TV again and it so happened that I asked Tim last night how to work the xbox live by myself. It's really easy. So after the letter I called her and we set it up for talking online. She was good for most of it until the end when she ate and was overall fussy and needed her nap. Then I washed pumping stuff for the next nap that she'll take and bottle stuff, brought up the laundry and got dressed, laid for five minutes and restored my back and caught my breath -- and now here I am doing a quick post.

Mom said that all of her kids (five of us) had colic for the first four months. Great, so she didn't get this reflux from Tim -- she probably got it from me. Sometimes I wished that Mom could remember more about when we were kids instead of that "it was just so long ago and such a blur". In one aspect that is sort of sad that I might think the same thing one day. On the other hand it just spurs me to write about her infancy more. Since I haven't touched her journal in at least a month, I took an idea from Be Prepared -- and started writing things about her day on her calender in the bedroom. I have been only using it to write down how much she ate during the day and how many times she pooped -- but the last two weeks I started also writing things we did or developments she is having. So, I will have a record of when things happened instead of thinking I will remember and then having it blur into "it seems like it was last week...." or "all the time..."

Voyager is starting to get close to when I started watching it. I think maybe I have another two weeks before they repeat and then I am going to have to find something else to look forward to during the day. That is kind of a depressing thought. The folks on this stupid tv show have become my friends! I love being able to watch 10 episodes a week and seeing character development so quickly.

Yesterday Morella had 29 ounces! She was hungry!! I made sure to offer her the bottle every two hours instead of three, regardless of whether or not she is showing or telling me that she is hungry because when I was doing it at 3 hours she was getting so mad right away that she wouldn't eat. That said, last night was better -- she didn't have a full out screaming fit (well maybe for a few minutes) but not like before. What was different other than the bottle? I had her all night. :( I understand that being a SAHM Mom means I take care of her all the time but I guess it really is all the time. I know, let Tim take her -- but he's been in such a funk lately and whenever he takes her she seems to cry and he shuts down even more and then I am completely miserable being around him because he won't talk and seems angry. Since he is the person I talk to most and interact with having a solid brick wall as company isn't exactly appealing. He mentioned last night that he has cabin fever -- maybe as an explanation for why he has been so moody.

Maybe. I have cabin fever too and there is nothing I can seemingly do about it. I was going to stay up this morning after she went to bed, but I was too tired. When she does take her naps I only have what? 20 minutes? Otherwise I have to wash bottles, usually pump (which eats up the whole time) or make dinner. I wish I could get the house cleaned up.

Oh she is awake now.

I guess when it comes down to it, I am starting to feel like maybe I am not trying hard enough. That I should be trying more -- sacrificing something else be it sleep or Voyager ... well those are the only two things I have. Maybe I need to just suck it up and get better about carrying Morella around more and trying to get more done (though honestly I do that as much I can during the day) or that she needs to be carried less...though yet again, I put her down as much as I can. I put her to sleep when she is drowsy not when she is fully asleep so that she can finish the job herself. With the house the state it is in, the husband being grumpy, the baby having a fussy evening, even little chores not getting done -- I think I might be sucking at this more than I thought. Shouldn't I have things under better control at this point?

Hmm my post from last night didn't make it over. Hold on, let me go upload Morella's first walk photo and see if that doesn't correct things.

If I gave up my two hour nap in the morning during Morella's four hour nap I would probably get a crapload of stuff done around the house. But is six hours enough sleep? I don't know. I feel like I need to be fully rested to truly be with baby all day and give her the attention she needs -- especially since she has been Duchess of Fussiness during the evenings again. I feel terrible for Tim that he has to take her during this time while I pump (well at least part of the time).

I can just imagine the day when I don't have to pump anymore -- I will get 2.5 hours of my life back a day.

This weekend was good. On Saturday we went out to couch shop -- to just get out of the house. I think we found the couch we want at Steinhafels. It's like a mile long couch -- sectional actually...and it will fit in our living room and I can already imagine lazy Sunday after noons with Tim, Me, Baby and Dog all sprawled out on the couch and being comfortable. So we are going to get rid of the current couch and then get rid of the L shaped desk in the office and put the futon there. I already measured it out and it will fit. The computer will go on the Hutch desk that we have in there. Then, just think! Pluto can still lay on the futon and be next to Tim when he's in the office -- which is large chunk of time. Oh I am excited about this. Of course I still need to send in taxes. If if I gave up that nap I could finish them tomorrow and have it all set to go. I could also finish packing up some packages and finally mail them...hm. Do I give up this sleep? Maybe once a week?

Sunday, it was finally warm so we all decided to take our first walk! Tim put Morella in the Moby and I lassoed the dog and we went on a nice long walk ... well maybe not long but about at 40 minute walk. Morella wasn't fond of the wind blowing her face on the way out but on the way back and in the lee of the wind she fell asleep for most of her first walk. Still, we got out and I am just itchin' to do more of it. I was prompted to look at the jogging stroller that we have I really do think that Tim is right in that she can't use it until she is 6 months old -- that means June! Gah, I don't think I can wait that long. I might have to break down and finally get Morella a stroller. :(

A stroller...a crib....well I guess I could find the crib used somewhere on Craigs List, but I don't have to worry about that for a little while longer.

Today, we went on our first trip to the drive through bank! Hurray! I did it!!! Then afterward we did a little grocery shopping, came home, watched Voyager and then Sigrid came over with delicious Arby's food and a wonderful stuffed dragon for Morella! It's so cool. I think she is going to love it when she is older. How cool would that be for her favorite toy to be a dragon?

This week is the end of February -- thank god! Then it's March and hopefully the snow will go away. I am wondering if I should get her a dress for Easter. I don't know. She'll be 4 1/2 months old -- that is old enough for a baby to wear a dress right? Eh. I don't know. I guess I'll see how she's doing at that point.

Well, I should go to bed. I feel like the decaf coffee I had tonight was a little caffeinated. I also need to make a bottle before bed. Though technically there is one in the fridge...so I don't HAVE to make a bottle right now. I could just do it in the morning with that batch of milk. Yeah, I'll do that.

--Edit: What I COULD do is go to be earlier like when she sleeps at night...and then I could stay up in the morning. Hm. This is possible.

My little Mafia Accountant -- don't mess with her or she'll mess with you.



Quick like, while I have 15 minutes left of her nap.

Last night was great. Tim decided that we should go shopping and even though I told him how much money we had for the rest of the month it was so totally worth it. We went to Petsmart for some bugs for Koopa, then to Best Buy for a new CD, followed by a trip to Babies R Us to get some more milk bags and then to Borders for a book for Tim using the %30 coupon. Right before that Morella was in meltdown mode, but these trip calmed her down and she was awake a good portion of it just looking around and sucking on her snowbunny suit. We need to get out more. I can just imagine how much she will love going for walks when it's nicer out.

I got a Lorena McKennitt - Ancient Muse. The second song the Gates of Istanbul, which was included on a mix CD that I got from an old college friend this past Christmas has moved me. It's been awhile since I have heard a song that I can't get out of my head and that I can listen to over and over and over. The rest of the album is good. You know I love new age music so it all fits. I am now listening to the album for the second time today -- in part because it been playing to calm down baby. Noontime till nap time is music and dancing time. After that it's Voyager time. Then it's nap time again followed by Daddy's home and let the fuss of the evening begin. Not that she is fussy everything, but we have yet to figure out stuff to do in the evening because by then we are all rather tired. I tell you that four hour nap she takes in the morning after her first bottle is priceless. I am finally able to start catching up on mail.

Speaking of which, we got the next size up in prefolds and wraps from Sarah! Thank you Sarah! Morella and I are working on "What an awesome friend you are Care Package" for you and Ruth. But mostly it will probably be a sappy letter about how truly lucky we are to know and have you in our lives. :)

Enough! Tick tock! Here are some pictures (the first one is actually inspired by a set that Sarah took. I did a series of what Morella does best -- waking up from sleep). Click picture once, and then click that picture again to make bigger.


Once she was up I couldn't resist taking a few of us. I thought they turned out well!

Morella weighed 10 pounds and 9 ounces. So that means she is still gaining about a 1/2 an ounce a day. Today, though, was the first time that I was really okay with this because it does follow a growth curve that she has set for herself. Her ears and throat, and lungs all looked great, she was energetic and even talkative. She is healthy - despite the reflux. The doctor told me that her son had reflux too and that she knew exactly what it was like and then said I was doing a great job!

I sort of felt like I was for a moment there. :)

So her prevacid is still the same because it's a pill that is cut, it's really hard to go up in dosage without overdoing it. Her randiditine did go up to 1ML twice daily and already I am seeing improvement. Morella still refluxes of course, but she isn't in as much pain when she does. She also said using tylenol once a week or for fussy flare ups was fine but didn't think the mylanta was a good idea because the calcium would block nutrient absorbtion. Of course, she also added that a GI would know more and asked what they said. I said she had never been to a GI and she said "Really?" I said, really.

Anyway. So we are going to work with the upped randitine and if that doesn't seem to help her then all I have to do is call and then I can get a referral to a GI specialist. Sadly, the only GI specialists are at the UW. I sort of wish that we could have gone to one right away, but then again I suppose the prevacid and randitine, in combination with the Simply Thick (in addition to being easier to swallow for her, it's also thick and stays in the tummy more....) is the most we could do.

Baby girl was much better today overall. I started to keep track of her sleeping in addition to her eating...and I have realized that she takes 30 minute naps. Well, aside from her long nap in the morning after she gets up. For example she gets up at 7:00 - eats, gets medicine, diaper, change of clothes and then goes to sleep around 8:00, then she stays asleep to around 11 or 12. After that she is up for about 2-3 hours and then takes a 30 minute nap. I mean EXACTLY 30 minutes! You could set your alarm to it. It's so crazy. After the 30 minute nap, she is up for another 2-3 hours before repeating...and then it's evening and she goes to around 3 hours before getting ready for bed. Though her going to sleep at 9 isn't always indicatives that she will go to bed right away. Like tonight. She was sleepy at 9.45 -- but didn't really go to sleep in her bed until 10.20.

Anyway. I'm going to bed. Having baby duty all day makes for an exhausted person -- especially when I didn't get to recoup my sleep loss (from pumping) this morning during her morning nap because of the doctor appointment.

Okay, so I got a doctor appointment with the roving pediatrician tomorrow at 10:00AM. I was assured that this doctor has all the same medicine adjustment skills as the our regular pedi, who I am seriously thinking about switching once I can -- which is when the new one starts in March. Morella did better throughout today, but by bedtime it has built up enough to be hurty again. She's been up twice now crying and finally Tim decided to give her a little tylenol to sooth the throat so she could sleep. That reminds me to ask about mylanta supreme to help with these flareups).

Anyway. One year ago today - if you believe in life at conception -- Morella started her journey. It was a warmish February day and we had breakfast as Hubbard's in Middleton to kill time between the sample drop off and the IUI -- which took longer than the usual 5 minutes because I have a super tilted cervix -- to a good 15 - 20 minutes. The RE said I ovulated two eggs, one from each side, we had an excellent sperm count (after the washing) and everything else looked good. I saw the goods put in via ultrasound, waited for 15 minutes and then went home by 1:00 and laid around some more. The dreaded two week wait began, though I really got my first result at 11 days past ovulation thanks to a test from Hilary.

To think, one year ago today Morella was two cells...and now she is a billion or trillion or ...but really she is one wonderful little girl.

Happy Conception Day baby girl!

I held Morella up most of today because her reflux was bad, and by this evening she was like she was when we had taken her off the randitine for those few days when we started the prevacid. It's quite obvious to me that she has fully outgrown her dose of .15 ml a day, and everything online says that this is a very weight sensitive medicine. I called the doctor today to have it adjusted and no one called me back. Maybe she wasn't in because of stupid President's day, but it still pisses me off.

I really don't like my pediatrician and I am definitely going to try the new one when she starts in March. For heaven's sake, she said herself that she could count on her hand the cases of silent aspirators she has had in her office and yet I don't feel like she is taking this seriously. If reflux is the reason she is aspirates then wouldn't we want to do everything possible to make sure that she can heal from it? Having her outgrow the medicine? Ridiculous! Well, she got what she wanted. Morella did outgrow it, but it's really apparent that she still needs it. She was in such pain this evening.

It also makes me wonder if the prevacid is having any effect -- does that need to be adjusted too? She is currently on half a solutab a day (15mg total). I will call again tomorrow. And Morella finally did go down to sleep, I just hope that she sleeps the night through. She was exhausted, and she was on the low end of eating again today (23 ounces).

If I went by a guess of her weight -- which I HOPE at this point is 10 pounds then 10 x 2.5 = 25 ounces. Though most sites suggest that she should be hitting the 27 mark. She hasn't hit that mark in over a week and half, which I guess is about when her reflux pain started to get worse.

Great, and now I also see that reflux peaks by four months. Peaks..so we can expect things to get worse until then...and then what? Take another four months to get better?

EDIT: I found a site that calculates how much ... so if she is 10 pounds then she should be getting a minimum of 22 ml per day. The 15ml that she is on now is based on her 7 pound .. like I said before. But 7ml is a big difference!

Moby Love: I captured a quick shot of Morella after she fell asleep for a quick 30 minute nap this morning, allowing me to thus be here and writing a photo-erific update.

Here is another one...I wish I looked better, but you know it's darn cold outside, full of snow and you are lucky I even got dressed today. :P

It took a while to find this wonder...it's the fifth sling carrier type thing that I have tried and quite honestly it's the best one hands down. She is centered, my back doesn't hurt anymore, I have both hands free, she is upright which is best for reflux and she gets to be carried around and see the world without too much effort at all! Plus Daddy can use it with no problems either ...bonus when she falls asleep I can go to the office computer and sit down and surf! or update you with photos. I broke down a bought a real moby last Friday and I am glad I did...it's so much more comfortable than the one I made. :D Here, here's a picture of Morella in the one I made:Today is a pretty mellow day and since baby did take a quick nap, here are a few more photos from this weekend. I am thinking of you Laima! I hope it made it worth your while to check out my site today. ;)
Morella and her bottle. Lately when she eats she will stare at me VERY intently. I can't help but to stare back and marvel at this little miracle.

One of Morella's new favorite things to do is eat her fingers. She'll chow down on them all day if she could. She has even stuck them so far into her mouth that she has gagged! That said, we have a daily washing her hands ritual to de-slimeify them.

And lastly, because she is awake now and I think just pooped her diaper...here is our little angel at her best.

You know, I don't think Morella's hair is going to fall out like everyone said it would. In fact, it's getting longer and filling out. I commented to Tim today that I didn't expect her to have that much hair. I was a rather bald baby myself -- and I have no idea what Tim looked like when was born as there are no baby pictures and he said he didn't remember. :P

It's a good thing that our Chicago friend canceled this weekend due to the weather. The ice rain started early this morning and it just got yuckier as the day progressed. However, we did get one visitor and that our After-Work beer friend Oliver who braved the snowy conditions to come over and deliver a bag full of the most sinfully delicious chocolate chip cookies with pecans. Gah, I had FOUR of them today...and trust me, I used restraint. The visit was wonderful! Oliver is such a nice guy -- everyone should have an Oliver in their lives. :)

After he left, Tim was inspired by his courage to go to the grocery store. We had tried to go yesterday but Woodmans was packed. Tim has said it was busier than Christmas, but I didn't believe him. We decided to not go and went to Dick's instead where he got some pretty great snowboots and I got a pretty great Annie's pretzel. Anyway, so when he came back from Woodman's using our Woodman's green totes (save the environment yo -- plus they are really nice bags) he said that Woodman's was filled with employees roving around looking for something to do. It was not as busy as it was yesterday, little wonder considering how rotten the conditions were today and it effectively closed the entire town down with it's ice rain and snow. He said that check out person said that yesterday was the busiest day that they had yet and that people had parked all the way around the entire building making it impossible for semi's to deliver their goods! I am SO glad that we didn't try to force going yesterday, I could just imagine what a terrible time we would have had.

This morning after Morella's breakfast we all trooped back to bed to get some extra shuteye. At one point we woke up because we heard something hit the roof and slide off. We were too tired to fully investigate since the noise stopped and went back to sleep. Later on though, we saw that a huge branch (like a diameter of 8 inches) had fallen and slide off our roof and mostly into the neighbors yard. He came over to let us know about it and Tim said he would help him move it later. It's going to have to be chainsawed...but it doesn't look like it caused any damage to our roof. Whew! I think it was the ice that weighed it down because it was a healthy branch.

I forgot to mention that yesterday was Pluto's birthday! He's now eight years old. Tim celebrated it by buying him a plain McDonald's hamburger. He managed to scarf that down with no problems. Tim made sure to buy some beef liver today so that we can cook it up and add to his food to make him interested in eating again. Gah he is such a drama hound.

Okay, tomorrow I need to finish the taxes -- as in sign them, make photo copies and package them up. I finally got a chance to review them again with fresh eyes to make sure there were no mistakes tonight and I am still amazed at how much we are getting back. We are talking 5K people! I have NEVER seen that much come back. I cannot wait for the new couch and loveseat combo we are going to get. The futon will probably go in the basement, though we would really like to try and find a way to fit it in the office. It would mean getting rid of the T-office desk and moving all the computer stuff to the desk hutch...and moving a bookshelf over...but I think it could be done. It would be nice to still have a place for an extra bed with some privacy in the house. Maybe we should buy a crib too, as the person I was going to get one from never called me back. Hm. That's an idea. OH and then a new stove and of course the rest goes to other home improvement projects like regrading the house, replacing the front door window, repainting some parts of the house...eh...the list goes on. My point is...having a kid AND a mortgage really pay of...er sort of kind of. You know what I mean. ;)

Last, but not least, in addition to asking about upping Morella's medicine dosage tomorrow, I am also going to ask about whether or not the prevacid really needs to be 12 hours apart...I mean when something says take twice daily, I had always assumed that meant 12 hours apart. However, Morella has been starting to crash out earlier and earlier...there are now more days where she goes to bed at 8.30 or 9 than not and I would hate to wake her up and give her medicine at 9.45 if she is already asleep and down for the night. Though if we have to do it, then I guess we'll keep our current schedule of letting her sleep in the living room with us holding her until it's time for bed.

Okay that's it for the Pumping Chronicles...heh..no I need a better title than that. It's just that I am able to update on this last pump of the night.

I've been a little unfair to Pluto. I feel terrible saying this, but more often than not he annoys me because he wants so much attention, he wants to lay on the couch -- and often he lays on Morella's couch blanket. When she takes her tummy time nap in the afternoon, if I forget to clean it, she'll wake up with dog hair stuck her little face and call me silly, but that bothers me. He's going through a depressing time, and I am sure that my negative attitude probably has something to do with it. He hasn't been eating much and he's super needy - which in turn, makes him more annoying to me. Sigh. Poor Pluto.

Last night the Grandparents watched Morella while Tim and I went out on a date. We went to MadCity crab house and had some oysters and crabdip and a beer, followed by dinner at Noodle and Company where Tim mistook the hot sauce for fish sauce and covered his dish in it! I kept my laughter down as I watched him drink water desperately. After that we headed to DeJope Bingo and played a bit. Around 12 I told Tim we had to go because my boobs said we needed too. We walked out $7 bucks ahead! That NEVER happens, not that go gambling much anyway. I can't remember the last time that Tim and I both went to a casino. I am thinking it was probably Majestic Pines during one of the visits to my Dad.

Before we left though, Morella's reflux flared up and she became very upset and cried hysterically. I tried to remain hands off so that her grandmother could take care of her because I want her to be able to get comfort from other people. The grandmother insisted that Morella just wanted me, but I don't think that is true. Just because she recognizes my voice doesn't mean that I am any better at helping her right now. It's more likely that I know what to do to calm her down faster -- the right jiggle with the soothing words combined with the right walk is what she expects for quick comfort. Of course that doesn't mean that comfort can't come from different people. Sigh. In any case, her reflux has gotten steadily worse this week and I can't help but to think that me having straight up milk with cereal the other morning had something to do with her sudden onset of the xantham gum version of runny poop. I also think that she might have outgrown her randitine dosage. The plan was to let her outgrow it...and she has -- the dosage that is. I think that she still needs the randitine to help with the pain of the reflux to reduce the acid. After all, if we want her to be healed and pass the next barium study with flying colors then shouldn't we be focusing on giving her the best chance at doing that? I don't think now is the time to try and let her outgrow it.

So I am going to call on Monday to the pediatrician to get her dosage adjusted. I wonder if this means that I need to take her in to get weighed so that we can get the correct dosage...I am curious to see how much she has gained in the last couple weeks. More importantly, I want my happy little painfree girl back. She's such a good baby when she is feeling good and it just tears us up when she isn't feeling good.

Tim commented today that she has become much more interactive. She has! She has made such leaps and bounds these past two weeks in becoming a little person that it's just amazing. At this rate, it's going to be nigh impossible for me to leave her for a week to go on vacation this summer. However, I am committed to her spending time with relatives so that she can get to know them. It's important for children to know their family as they grow up -- I think that is part of what is lost in this day and age with nuclear families. I remember week visits with my grandmother and father and I think it helped me tremendously with learning that there are different ways to live life. Plus, it helps to strengthen relationships. Okay, that isn't until the end of July though -- she will be 8 months old by the. I can't even imagine what she will be like at that point! That seems so close and yet so far away.

Alright. Last pump of the night is done and my contacts are getting stick and hard to see through. I also stayed up too late last night goofing around on the internet and wasn't able to recover that lost sleep today. I need to get myself to bed so I can have that good 6-7 hour stretch of sleep. I put Morella to sleep on her side when I put her to bed at 10 because left prone position is supposed to help with reflux. Tummy is actually better, but I am not comfortable putting her to sleep on her tummy when I am not watching her closely. I'll shift her to her back now as I go to sleep because some time has passed. Oh and you know, the doctor said to put her to sleep on her side to help with that whole head turning thing. Morella has a tendency to want to turn her left to the right and I am supposed to do my best to make sure she spends enough time during the day looking the other way. I have to do things like feed her in the other arm (hard) and putting all her toys and stuff to the left so she'll want to look at them, and after tummy time I make sure to lay on left side and talk to her so that she'll turn to look at me. Still, I worry about having a baby with lopsided ears and flat spot behind her ears on the right side of her head.

A mother life is fraught with worry...right? I guess I am doing a good job fulfilling that requirement, eh?

Tim did it! It took him two days and a lot of techno mumbo jumbo but we were able to hook up the xbox live using a wireless bridge, so we saved ourselves a bunch of money and after the 13 months are up, we could use the bridge for other stuff. Like if we ever finish the basement..or whatever. I don't know.

So yeah, Tim hooked it up and I video conferenced with my family tonight! They got to see Morella and me live and talk and see the grubby house, and my homemade moby wrap. I love this thing, I really do. I can put her in it after she has eaten and I get to walk around and do stuff and she is happy that she is being carried and can see everything. Plus, you know it's constant stimulus because she is doing whatever I am doing, which is just a lot cooking, washing dishes, shredding mail, doing odds and ends. I can't bend over with her really good so I am getting lots of lunges in, but mostly I avoid that. One of the things I have been doing is cutting the threads that got pulled out of towels to make them look brand new. Well, maybe not brand new but not as scraggly looking as they do now. It's totally a putzy thing, and now there are towel bits littering the whole living floor.

So talking with my Mom threw off my pumping a bit, but I figure I'll just do my last pump at the usual time, which is 11 (only an hour and half between) and just go from there. Baby has been pretty good about sleeping through the night and getting up to eat between 5.30 and 7.30. This morning it was 5.30, but that was because she didn't eat much yesterday -- only getting 21.5 ounces. Her reflux was pretty bad. We are wondering if her randitine dosage needs to be adjusted. The pediatrician had wanted to try and let her outgrow the medicine. From what I have read online though, is that when they do start to outgrow it, it's pretty useless. She is still on the same dosage as she was four pounds ago. We are giving it until Monday to see if she doing any better, if this whole reflux acting up was just a phase (because that does happen). After talking to Mom and my brother, I gave Morella a bath. She started to cry half way through it, so I had to hurry up. I wonder why she did that? She usually loves baths...

But after that, I did the hair dryer trick and it calmed her down, and even relaxed her. I called Tim in to hold the hair dryer and wave it about as I lotioned her up with the Calming Comfort Lotion from Aveeno that we got from Kathleen. Then she ate two and half ounces her bottle and was out like a light! She is also finally able to wear her sleep sacks now that we switched over to just using the propped cosleeper. I had to use a rice log that Laima gave Tim two years ago to prevent her from ending up at the end of the cosleeper from her kicking and wiggling through the night. I tried it out last night and it worked like a charm!

Anyway so Tim put her to sleep and then I was left with...free time? Holy cow, what should I do with it? Should I start cleaning because we have guests this weekend? Should I make bottles (no I should wait on that until last pump), should I finish a letter, or package up some stuff, or should I go and spend some quality time chatting with Hilary and making a post? You can see what won out on that one. Though I am going to get up at 10.30 and work on the bathroom a bit. I just don't know where to start with the rest of the house. Start small and specific, right? Scrub the toilet, the tub, wash the mirror and wipe off the counter.

I was inspired by Hilary's post about everything coming together and being happy, and was thinking today of those moments.

--in Dark December there was a moment, at night, in which I was breastfeeding Morella and Tim was practicing accordion in the office. I felt, for a moment, that everything was perfect and as it should be.

--This morning when we woke up for the second time, I looked over at her in the sleeper and she looked over at me and smiled and was happy. Ahh.

--I have taken two baths with her and both times, when she first gets in, she will look up at me with absolute trust in those bright little eyes and just be calm, content and happy. I love those moments and care take my eyes off her and my heart just melts.

-when I pick her up after she has been sleeping, and she is still a little groggy, she will cuddle in next to me and burrow her face into my neck. She's such a little bit then, I want to just huggle her forever. But then she wakes up more and wants to face out.

We'll it's 10:30. I suppose I should start on the bathroom.

Tim's parents are coming tomorrow night to babysit, so we will have a Friday evening to do stuff! We aren't quite sure what to do with it yet...dinner, movie, skating, hochunk, rock show, coffee....so many possibilities. We are thinking of putting all our ideas into a hat and drawing it out. I am supposed to be thinking of more things to do to liven it up. I guess I can do that tomorrow morning.

I'm really tired. I've been cranky all day and I can't seem to shake it. Maybe it's because I had baby duty completely for the last two days without a break. There were a few naps she took today. She just wasn't feeling that great the reflux was really taking it's toll, and she even threw up the two and half ounces she ate at 8 and then it took a long time for her to eat three more before protesting bed. She is now sleeping in the cosleeper, I propped up one end of it and put her in the reclining sassy sleeper. It's not as reclined as the bouncinette was, but it'll have to do. I threw together a quick mobile buy just tying some Shapes on Board figures to ribbons and hung then from a hanger.

She isn't sleeping yet, though she is clearly exhausted -- as I am. Plus when she naps I usually have to take that opportunity to pump. There are more times than I can count that as soon as I am done pumping, she is awake. Pumping is not a break for me. I hate that Tim and the baby seem to think it is. Giving me time to pump does relieve a little stress but only because I worry about when I will get another chance. I can look at the internet while I pump, but I can't often interact with it.

It's also snowing again and again and again. Madison broke a snow fall record today with 79 inches total so far, and we have another big snow fall coming on Thursday. I am starting to feel a little trapped in this house. Every day is like the other.

I called yesterday to see about Morella's next barium study and the woman seemed to think that I made it up that she said we could do it earlier and went on to say that three months inbetween studies was a short amount of time because recovering from reflux takes awhile. So, in the end I did make an appointment for her set for April 2nd, exactly three months later. I pray every chance I get that she will pass this next test. When I told Tim about it later he said that he didn't think she was ready for it either. Why why the hell didn't anyone tell me? Or maybe every has told me and I just didn't want to listen. Which of course makes me feel like crap.

Of course that really means no breastfeeding and it's just an eternity of pumping ahead of me. I know I can drop pumps when she is older and is drinking less milk. But when will that be? I am just not feeling very supported on this whole pumping regime right now. Why did I delude myself into thinking that there was chance we could breastfeed again when clearly it was nothing but a pipe dream? Gah, I feel like the kid in the class with a big booger hanging out of her nose and no one will tell me it's there.

Every time Morella throws up, which is rare, I blame myself. Did I eat something wrong? Did I not hold her up enough? Did I offer the bottle too much? I know that logically, babies do this but I can't help but to think I might have caused it. I know, pretty narcissistic of me, isn't it?

Speaking of which, I am done pumping now -- I had a definite decrease in today's output probably as a result of stress or not drinking enough water. I hope that a good nights sleep resets this sour mood I have devolved into today. I don't like feeling this cranky, it's so irrational. But, I have a feeling the baby is going to be waking early to eat since she didn't eat that much this evening. I hope she feels better tomorrow. I hope this reflux goes away soon. We are almost at the 3 month mark...I hope she isn't one of those kids that is plagued by this until she is one.

I am having one of those nights where I want to be cheered up but I can't even think of how that would happen.

First here are some more photos from the past few weeks. I really need to put these in the gallery, but that is for another day. Let's see pictures now!!! The first is Morella at 9 weeks. We had gone out to visit Hilary for coffee and so I dressed her up. These were taken the same day as Jason 's Black and White photos.


Here I am with Morella at 10 weeks.


Nutz. According to the news I am missing a historical rally, but Tim is going to be there. As in the Barak Obama visit at the Kohl center today. We tried calling brother in law Phil several times to see if he would babysit but alas our calls were never answered. Ahh well, I am sure Tim will have a good time and keep me informed.

The baby is still sleeping which is giving me time to write this post. You see, the past week she has not been taking consistent naps during the day. It was like a switch went off last week where she doesn't like to take significant naps during the day. She'll have a cat nap here and there but nothing longer than 30 minutes at a time. It's rough finding time to pump and let me tell you that I could sure use a shower. That is one thing I miss about pregnancy -- the awesome hair that I never had to wash. Now it's back to it's greezy self after two days. :P It's also starting to come out again so I might very well get a hair cut in the next few weeks. It's nice that I know two people who cut hair. I wonder how they would feel about me taking a baby along...hm.

Anyway, so my nefarious plan -- Tim took a half day so that he could go to this rally. He came home at 1:00 with some Taco Bell for lunch, though the bastards didn't include the chalupa that we paid for. I tell you that 50% of the time the folks at Taco Bell leave stuff out. I think that they do that a lot, maybe like a scam because it's drive through and sort of a pain to get too. UPS delivered us the next month supply of Simply Thick for Morella AND a package from my brother. He really did buy an Xbox Live kit with a 13 month subscription! Holy cow! So in order to get it to work we had to go Best Buy to buy a wireless bridge so that Tim could make it work. While we were out we also got a coffee. Ahh....I needed that jolt. I am just going to freeze that next batch of milk to be used at a much later date when her reflux won't be affected by the caffeine (if it has any effect at all). Tim was going to do this on his own, but by 2.30 this baby still hadn't napped and since he was going to be gone for much of the evening I needed some good pumping time and .. well some breathing time. Car rides are notorious for putting people to sleep and sure enough it worked! She is STILL sleeping, so that's about a 2 hour nap so far, which seems like an eternity considering how few naps she has been taking.

She is starting to wear her 3-6 month clothing as her 0-3 sleepers are too short. Now that I have had time to go through these clothes, I noticed that we have even less clothes for her in the 3-6 realm. I counted that she has maybe 6 or 7 sleepers, some pants (but it's more for the 6 mo mark) and 9 onsies. I guess that's enough to get us by. I suppose we could buy her some more clothes, but I'll just wait it out and see. We have a TON of 6-9 and beyond clothes though.

I figured out a solution to our bath dilemma. You see she loves baths but hates coming out of them. I mean she throws a tantrum that seems to last well beyond the actual bath. I tried putting her towels in the dryer to warm them up -- nada. Then yesterday, I thought "hairdryer!" So I plugged in the hair dryer next to her changing station and after her bath I laid her down and turned on the dryer to low warm -- and the combination of the noise and the warmth = no crying and a happy baby! It was awesome! Bath time is no longer something I dread to give her. You should see her hair -- check out our little punk rock baby (11 1/2 weeks).



Oh so back to the xbox live kit - after Tim gets it work I will have xbox live that has a little camera so now my parents can actually SEE Morella and we can visit and see each other on the television! I can't wait to try it out. I guess I could also play online games, we only have Halo -- and since that is my brother's main job I would suck at it. I don't have time now to do it, but you never know what the schedule will look like in a few more months. I guess I am going to have to schedule weekly video chats with my family to make sure my brother's gift gets well used. If anyone else has xbox live, give me your info!

I feel like there is something else I wanted to talk about, but let me work on those pictures real quick. I can yap later.

Also yesterday, I saw Morella do some amazing tummy time -- all that crying is paying off! Look at how far she lifted herself and sustained it!


Now, you can tell me if you are sick of seeing pictures. I can totally understand.

This was Morella at 10 weeks...What makes her smile this big other than her Grandma? Well, I thought I would take you on a little tour of her favorite things....


Mom!

Daddy!

My Care Bear !!!!



The FAN! (ooohhhhh, one in every room!)

Butterfly and Flower Mobile over my diaper changing station.

Lambchop and Eyeore


The Magic Mirror
The flower mobile I look at in the living room. Mommy made it.

Free time? What's that?

These past two days have been one constant: walk baby, feed baby, change diaper, try to get her to sleep (she won't! she is on a napping strike), pump, wash bottles and pumping gear, make bottle, change diaper, feed baby, walk baby around facing out, try to get her to sleep....then at night she DOES sleep and I have to go sleep except that in a few hours I have to get up to pump, wash bottles and pumping gear, make more bottles, catch a few winks, change diaper, feed baby, try to get her to go back to sleep...

That said, in between shouting fests, where I put her down and or let her swing (though she isn't sleeping) I made a moby wrap. I tried using my infatino carrier but I couldn't get it to adjust right and she'll still a little TOO little for it to be really good carrying her face forward. With the moby wrap I can stabilize her via shoulders, so that she can look out and it's easier on my back. I had to try twice though to get it right -- I made it out of a hospital sheet (new) that I got at a garage sale this summer. The first time I used it, it was too short and the middle part was too bulky -- so back to the drawing board. I am sure I'll be trying it again soon. Oh like right now, because i only got 10 minutes to myself which ... wait, she might be going back to sleep.....though she needs to take her medicine. Blarg.

I can take five more minutes to finish this post.

I think Morella doesn't want us to have a new couch yet because she won't take that afternoon 3 hour nap so that I can go and do taxes. Ha ha, how often do you hear about people *wanting* to do taxes! Well, I do. I want a new couch. I have never, ever in my life been privvy to a new couch and the idea of it -- well it almost overwhelms me. We are also planning on getting a new stove because our current stove sucks! The oven door doesn't shut all the way and the back left burner doesn't always work.

Tim is planning on going out tonight. We thought about getting a babysitter so I could go do, but that was not to be. It's okay though. If she is up in an hour (almost a certainty) then I am going to drive him there in the hopes that a car ride will soothe the beast. Or buy me more nap time.

Maybe she had developmental growth spurt because when she is awake, she is super active. Talking, looking around, moving around, it's almost like she doesn't WANT to go to sleep because she is so much more aware of her surroundings and us. The way she looks at me these past fews days is awesome! It's like she is really, truly looking at me and seeing Tim and I for the first time as people and getting to know us. Likewise, I am seeing some real personality shine though. We haven't quite gotten her to do that belly laugh yet, but we can get her to shout happily by kiss ambushes and tickle fests. Oh and I did I mention she loves mobiles? Seriously, they are the best thing ever! She can't stop looking at them and for the most part it seems to calm her down if she is getting overly fussy, for a moment at least. Still, this baby needs sleep. I understand things are exciting but the longer she stays awake the more tired and unhappy she gets.

Thank you Carla for the fleece tip! I had some fleece in my small material collection and have been able to cut up a few so far for her to use. I first tried using a receiving blanket fleece but this stuff is thicker and better quality. Her bottom has not been the least bit red and it always seems dry on the touch midchange (that is until she pees).

I had a wonderful day on Wednesday though. I got a package in the mail from FedEx. I opened it up to find a collection of soap, bathbombs, body wash etc from Lush. I have had so many friends go on and on about how wonderful this stuff is and haven't had a chance to use it. I guess that's because I'm so cheap. :P Anyway, it was a belated birthday present from Sigrid -- and I can't tell you how touched I was! She said to make sure I took a little time for myself and .. .well it was just so thoughtful and unexpected and awesome.

Then, an hour after that arrived another delivery came to the door! It was from my Mom. She had made me a mysterious birthday present and didn't have the cash to send it until the first of the month. I had no idea what to expect. Sometimes my Mom's gifts are ...well they are all thoughtful and from the heart, but sometimes a little frivilous -- like the ballerina statue from one year or last years bedazzler (though honestly I imagine I am going to get some serious use from that in the upcoming years for Morella). I enjoy seeing what she has come up with next and my brother had warned me that it might be childish. Hm. What was inside? She has put together a card making kit, except this is like the mother of all card making kits! She included scissors (who can have enough of those), sparkly gel pens, metallic markers, homemade envelopes, papers -- and OODLES of handmade scrapbooky things to put on cards for every occasion. Of course, being my Mom a fair number of them are butterflies and fairies and decorated with glitter, but there is a ton of other stuff too. I was blown away. I looked though it on the couch with Morella and was almost brought to tears. She must have spent hours on this -- and to think that she thought I might not like it?! Sadly it has sat there, unused and un-reperused for the last two days on account of a excitable baby.

I spend a lot of time thinking about the people I want to write. I am torn between writing emails and letters because while I do get on the computer, I am usually pumping and since chest compressions make more milk come out faster, the most I can do is look and occasionally get a quick line or two out in response to other blogs. Whereas, I can often write something or work on writing something while holding the baby on the off chance that she does fall asleep. That being said, I have two letters I have been working on for the past three weeks. :(

Sometimes I think "maybe if I stayed up later and got less sleep..." but then I just imagine how awful it would feel to take care of a screaming Morella being that tired. Would I rather get a few me things done or not feel miserable while taking care of my sweet girl? I guess those things can wait. She won't be little forever and there is plenty of time for that other stuff. Though these last two days are totally reminiscent of those first few weeks when she came home.

Okay my frozen pizza is done and it's time to eat. It's not often I get to eat at a leisurely pace or with both hands.

There is a big snowstorm blowing in tonight, so I need to make a trip out to the East Clinic to pick up a refill prescription of randitine for Morella since I wouldn't be able to do it tomorrow. Oh shoot, she is awake again. She drifted off to sleep at around 9ish giving me just enough time to eat something and then take a quick shower, now I am pumping because I didn't get to finish this morning's session. My plan was for her to stay asleep for another 15 minutes then I would change her diaper, drop her in her snowbunny suit, toss her in the carseat and haul her out on this little trip. Well, I got four minutes into it...lets see how much longer I can go before she starts to cry.

--- a couple hours later --

I did it! I left the house today! Hurray! I decided a few weeks ago that Wednesday was my Get the Heck out of the House day -- but because of the snow storm I figured that doing it tomorrow is out of the question. Can I just say I am sick of the snow and winter? I definitely have a case of the winter blahs. It occurred to me yesterday to ask Tim if babies are affected by the winter blahs too...and he said probably not, that she was too little and that she sleeps all the time anyway. HA! I wish! She is fighting sleep today that little bugger.

Well at least I finished the first afternoon pumping session -- How much you ask? This one yielded 7.5 ounces. I have been averaging about 35-40 ounces a day.

Anyway. So I managed a shower and got dressed. I bundled her up and we went to pick up a refill of her favorite medicine (sarcasm) then I stopped at Panera and had my first lunch with my little girl! Of course she slept most of it, but hey there is the principle of the matter. :D While eating, I called Tim to find out what the ingredients in Paczki (polish donuts) were and discovered I needed Plum jam. Well, Tim wanted jelly -- which is what I got -- but I ended up doing my first grocery trip with the Bit! I got a few other things while I was there, cereal, milk, granola bars, Toast Um's, bread, cheese curds, peanut butter cups, and I splurged and got some fancy soda for my afternoon date with Voyager. I got the new Diet Dr. Pepper Cherry Chocolate and some more Caffeine free Diet Coke. I figure a LITTLE caffeine won't hurt that much. I really wanted to try the soda -- it's tastes very chocolaty. Cool! When Target used to have their syrup additions I would always use that combo.

So yeah I ran errands with the baby today! And I have to admit I feel a ton better for getting out of the house and I feel a bit more prepared now that I stocked up on some fun stuff to eat while holing up for this storm. Oh and the check out lady was the daughter of one of our neighbor's that snowblows for us. We sent over some homemade valentine cookies and rice krispie treats the other week as a thank you -- I hope they are feeling charitable tomorrow! It sucks when Tim has to spend all his home time outside shoveling and not helping to take care of the baby. :P That was nice to see a familiar face and show off the baby. ;) Too bad I didn't think of going to the grocery store before I had left because then I could have brought my reusable tote bags I got last time. Ahh well, apparently I asked for paper bags this time and got two --that's okay because I have two packages I want to send out and needed some sturdy wrapping paper for them. We have enough doggy poo bags as it is.

I am sort of torn right now about cloth diapers. It seems when I use them more than 2 or 3 in a row her bottom gets bright red! We are using free and clear detergent and I am not using fabric softener in the dry cycle, I don't know why they are doing this other than the moisture is getting trapped in there and not letting it breath? I am also not comfortable changing her after eating because of her reflux -- she gets diaper changes before she eats. There have been a few times where if she is super fussy after eating and I do change them I come perilously close to getting barfed on. I am just not fast enough with the cloth diapers to change it in two minutes or less. I haven't discussed this with Tim yet but maybe cloth diapering will have to wait another few weeks until she hopefully outgrows this reflux or it gets better? Hm.

That brings up the barium suck/swallow study. I still haven't called the woman to set up a time for early March to have it repeated. A part of me is really afraid that she won't pass the test and we will be stuck thickening her milk forever! Or starting her on solids as soon a month four starts. I recall that she said we might be able to use a cup to feed her ... but I can't imagine doing any of that when she can't even sit up yet on her own. I know, these milestones are coming up, but since she is my first hands on baby -- I don't really quite believe that any of them will happen. I know that a bonafide laugh is coming up around the corner -- but really? I mean REALLY?

Tim said that she only has eyes for me right now. I don't think that's true. I think we need a full week or two of it to be really true. And then so what? After they become more aware eventually Mom gets the raw deal because Daddy become super special. Right?

I am working on a set of pictures to show you some of Morella's favorite things -- from Morella's point of view. But that will have to wait because I need to get the yeast started on rising before Voyager comes on. Yes. It's lame that I have one show that I looked forward to every day -- but it's my Calgon. I don't know what I am going to do when the series finally catches up to where I had left off --- hopefully it will be spring by then and I can leave the house.

My back has been aching again and instead of complaining about it myself, I decided to start doing some exercises -- focusing on the back. I did a good 10 - 15 minutes this morning. Hopefully this will be the small step I need to start getting more exercise in general. I could really do with starting up stretching again. I know I totally let myself go after the 4 month of pregnancy in that department -- though I did walk ALOT. Still, that isn't stretching.

I was feeling guilty this morning about Morella. Sometimes during the day, I feel like my main goal is to get her to sleep. Then as soon as she is asleep longer than an hour, I wonder if she is sleeping TOO much! Sigh. I mean, it's not like she sleeps the whole day, and you are are supposed to let a sleeping baby sleep -- and she could still be working on some of those immunizations (yesterday she sleep almost all day!). She was up for two hours before crashing and at the end of the two hours she was crying pretty hard. I thought about giving her more tylenol, but then decided the swing would be better and she probably needed a nap. True to form shes been sleeping now for two hours.

How long do babies nap? She seems to nap in the morning at around 10 or 11 for twoish hours, and then later on will nap around 3-4 for a couple of hours and then is up for the evening and then goes to bed at 10. Sometimes she is so tired she'll crash around 9, but since she still has to take her medicine at 9.45 we let her hang. Mostly though she's still up and at 'em at 10 and has to go bed by 10.30 whether she likes it or not.

Yesterday I got so much done! I showered, got dressed, did laundry, washed dishes, made dinner and made a mobile. Well I didn't make the mobile, but I did put clip on butterflies and flowers for Morella to look at in her bedroom, right above the diaper station. She LOVES it. Inspired, today I did make my own mobile -- flowers -- for the living room. I'll take a picture. Now I need one more mobile for the bedroom for above her co-sleeper. We are thinking of transitioning her out of the bouncinette to the co sleeper (in two weeks)-- and I will need something for her to look at night while she goes to sleep.

Another big development this past week, is that she is really interested in stuffed animals now. I have two right next to her diaper station -- Eyeore and Lampchop (who she prefers) and she smiles and flirts with them! In the living room she gets to play and talk to Cheery Carebear and Honeybee Busy doll. I don't have any toys for the bedroom because she should be sleeping when she is in there. :P No wait, I do have a book -- a peek and boo book. You know, I always had thought that stuffed animals were kind of lame and a waste of space. But then I have to think back -- and by that I mean look back at pictures -- of when I was little and I did have a few dolls and stuffed animals that I loved. Namely the doll that my Mom made me in which the thumb would stick in the mouth -- and Dumbo. Anyway, apparently babies like to socialize with stuffed animals and dolls. I didn't know that, and honestly wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it for myself!

She hasn't been that chatty the past few days, I think that's because she just wasn't feeling that hot, which I can totally understand. Oh man was she mad when I made her do tummy time this morning. Is there anything more heart twinging than tears?! Geez.

It was a good thing that I got dressed yesterday because Laima called met at 5.30 and said she had an extra ticket to the Birdhouse Factory performance at the Overture Center! Of course, I said I would go -- I've never been to the Overture Center for a show and it was free! It was an acrobatic sort of Cirque de Soliel show with "factory" as the theme. I think my favorite part was the trampoline act although the contortionist did make me say outloud 'What?!" when she suspended herself using only her teeth. Before the show I had a few extra minutes because Tim and Morella drove me. It has snowed and Tim said I wasn't skilled enough of a driver to handle that snow. I think he was right, because our tires are sort of sad (bald?) and not handling the snow well at all. At one point in the drive, we were going down this hill by the Capitol and all the cars stopped and we started to fishtail and Tim used the emergency brake!!!! Now that was skill. I was utterly impressed with his driving finesse. (shh, don't tell him otherwise it will go to his big head).

After being dropped off safely, I went to Paul's club for a drink. I only had 10 minutes before meeting Laima (who was eventually late, so I could have taken my time), I decided to get a hard alcoholic mix drink instead of my beer standby. I got a cranberry vodka. When I ordered the the drink I had said, in a very questioning sort of way "Vodka cranberry?" and she said sure, then stopped and asked me for my ID. Woo! Still getting ID'd at my age. :P

I had my one drink, and on an empty stomach proceeded to get very tipsy for the next hour! Dang. I paid for it later on though because drinking any alcohol makes me super tired by bedtime, and when you are trying to get a baby to go to sleep -- it just isn't worth it.

What else, oh I got my last tax form in the mail today so I can finally do taxes!! I can't wait to get a new couch and stove. This couch, I feel like, has gotten WAY worse the past couple of months. Maybe that is because I spend so much more time on it. In fact, I would do it today if weren't for the fact that the office desk is a sty and I need space to work and spread out. Plus, the baby has started to chirp herself awake. I got a mix cd in the mail today from my friend Heather and I can't wait to listen to it.

This week as been an awesome mail week. I got a tye dye dress/bag/shirt type thing for Morella and ... get this -- Tim and I both laughed and appreciated the great humor in it -- a Lil' Edgar action figure. We LOVE it. Thank you Laura! You rock and it's the cleverest Morella present yet. We also got a dress jumper with embroidered butterflies on it for the baby from my Aussie friend in Houston, I got a lovely handmade card with fluff and a princes photo album from Sarah, a bottle of fancy schmancy body wash and bar of decadent

[LOL baby snorted herself awake! Oh my god that is so funny]

chocolate from Kate and Eric, and a card from my Mom and great wonder woman print and news from Callie. I am determined to redouble my efforts to start getting some mail sent out from this address. You know more exporting (though I love the imports - it makes winter less dull and really brightens up the days). Thank you friends! I am so lucky to know such awesome people.

Oh, now Morella is eating her fist, time to rescue her! Or at least offer her some salt or pepper to go with that fist. ;)