Help not Hug

Rhea dropped a noodle on Duke's head tonight.  Duke could not reach the noodle on his head so he was freaking out.  It was quite funny to watch.  Justin and I were laughing while he struggled to scratch, lick, bark the noodle off his head.  Rhea found it hilarious too.  She was belly laughing watching Duke do all these crazy things.  I finally said to Rhea "are you going to help him?'  She looked at me and walked over to Duke, who was sitting on the floor, and hugs him.  And he let her hug him.  It was so cute to see.  I said "Rhea you have to help him" and she bent down and hugged him again.  I guess hugging is the only help she knows how to give.  Eventually the noodle fell off his head.

Today's Griswald moment brought to you by the Wnukowski Family

Justin & I had a night out on the town last nite.  Justin was in rough shape today so we were looking forward to a quiet night at home with Rhea and Duke.  At 7PM I picked Rhea up to give her a hug only to become covered in poop.  She has a massive blowout.  An hour goes by and she goes to bed.  She refuses a bottle but goes down without a fuss.  This should have been my first warning sign that something is not right.  At 9:30 I am laying in bed and no sooner do the words "I am going to sleep.  This was such a relaxing night"does all hell break loose.  Rhea starts crying.  Justin goes in to find that she had puked all over her crib.  I strip the bed and he brings her to the living room.  She proceeds to puke some more which caused my hungover husband to puke.  I tell him to leave the room and I left Rhea finish puking.  Justin comes and takes her and I begin cleaning only to find Duke eating the puke which made me pretty much puke.  Needless to say it is going to be a long night in Grafton!

sometimes I wonder...

I left Justin alone to put Rhea to sleep tonight.  We are trying to get better with a bedtime routine in the hopes that she will sleep through the night.  Part of the this routine includes brushing her teeth.

Me: How did she do tonight?
Justin: She did alright.  She cried for like a half hour.  I checked on her twice
Me: How did brushing her teeth go?
Justin: I mean it went fine.  Once I got my finger in there she basically eats the tooth paste.
Me: what do you mean "put your finger in there"?
Justin: I used my finger to brush her teeth.  I didn't see a tooth brush so I thought you wanted me to use my fingers.
Me: Did you look in the tooth brush holder
Justin: No

Sometimes I wonder how he has made it this far in life

One Year

One year ago today my Dr called me at 6 AM and told us my preeclampsia had progressed to a point were it was no longer safe.  Justin and I jumped in the car and made the drive to Boston.  Within two hours and exactly one month early,  she came into our lives.  She had a rough start and spent a few days in the NICU but she is strong and a fighter. She has made each day a new adventure for Justin and me.   We truly believe everything she does is amazing. This year has flown by.  Most parents tell you treasure these moments they fly by.  That is the only piece of parenting advice you should ever listen to because it does.  I mean she is one today.  One!  She has changed our lives for the better and I have enjoyed getting to know her this year.  I am not sure if she will ever know the depths of my love but I am ok with that.  When she wakes up first thing in the morning or I pick her up from daycare and she has that ear to ear grin, I think that is her way of telling me she loves me too.  It melts my heart every time.  So Happy Birthday Rhea.  I hope you enjoy what we have planned for you.

Breakfast of Champions

When I got home tonight I noticed the baby yogurt I bought yesterday had not been open.  Strange because Justin had to feed Rhea this morning and she eats yogurt and Cheerios every morning.  So I asked him what he gave her for breakfast.  His response?  "Goldfish because it's what she really wanted.  But don't worry I gave her some applesauce too"  Sometimes I just have no words.

Zombie Parents

I have decided Justin and I should go as our scary selves for Halloween this year.  We have turned into zombies.  Sleepless zombies who are solely functioning on caffeine.  I have taken every one's advice, have tried every method, trick, and nothing works.  She will go to bed at 8 with little to no problem but Rhea wakes almost every night at 2 and screams and cries until almost 4.  This has been going on for months.  We have let her cry it out.  After two hours you realize she isn't going back to sleep.  She has slept with us but even this doesn't work because she is up at 2 screaming and kicking, or talking to herself or trying to talk to me.  We have tried feeding her.  Sometimes she will drink 8 ounces, other nights she will not take anything.  We have tried giving her a dolly, a blankie, a stuffed monkey.   My mother-in-law had her overnight on Saturday and she did the same thing for her.  I guess she is just "one of those kids"  I love her dearly but I want my ZZZ's back.  Any suggestions?

Pour me a glass of whine

I love a good glass of wine.  I am known to have a glass at the end of the day or socially with friends.  Occasionally I will enjoy a whole bottle by myself.  Rhea seems to have misunderstood my love of wine as she believes I love all wine and that just not true.   I like red, but hate Merlot.  I also am not a fan of whining.  And that is were the misunderstanding has come into play.  Every night from 6-8 she just whines.  Non-stop.  There are no tears and most of the time no motivation for the whining.  Just good old fashion body convulsing, feet stomping, hand throwing whining.  I know it is a phase but I am hoping the face below is gone.  Soon.  So I can go back to enjoying my wine and not hers.

Belated Grandparents Day

Grandparents are a funny breed of people.  One day they are just Mom and Dad and the next they are these crazy people obsessed with one thing and one thing only.  Your Baby.  My Dad took Rhea on Sunday to spend the day with him.  He also brought her to Toys R Us and let her go on a mini shopping spree letting her get "whatever she wanted"  When I tried to argue with him that I had sent toys for her to play with he insisted she needed new ones.  I mean she is 10 months old.  She would has the attention span of a fly.  She ended up playing in a cooler with her cousin Noah all afternoon.  Go figure.  The thing about my parents being grandparents now is that it makes me miss my grandparents.  I had amazing grandparents.  There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about them in someway.  Grandparents offer unconditional love.  I am not saying your parents don't love you unconditionally but during periods of your life your parents have disliked you.  But not grandparents.  My Papa swore I hung the moon, anything I did was amazing.  And once you see your parents with your children, you can actually visualize the love they have for you.  It is pretty powerful stuff.  Justin's Dad is a great example of the "grandparent effect".  He is utterly nuts about Rhea.  And she in turn in nuts about him. It is heart warming watching him sit on the floor and be goofy with her because he usually is so reserved.  Rhea is lucky in the fact that she not only has two sets of loving grandparents, but two Great Grandmothers who think she is the best thing since sliced bread!  Conversations usually go like this when we are with them "She just smiled, can you believe it, she is AMAZING!" "She just stood up, that little bugger, how does she do that?  AMAZING" I had a re-occurring dream when I was pregnant that I was riding in a car with my Papa.  It was so real.  And I think it was his way of telling me he is watching us and is nuts about her too.  Either that or he was trying to warn me about what my parents were going to turn into and was trying to help me escape!

Much ado about a Pancake

Rhea transitioned over to a toddler room at daycare this week.  She did fine.  I knew she would.  I on the other hand didn't fare so well.  On Wednesday I was informed she ate a pancake for breakfast.  What?  A pancake?  What happened to yogurt and Cheerios?  Apparently there was a miss communication regarding what Rhea eats.  But she ate the pancake and seemed to enjoy it.  So why was I so upset about a pancake?  To be honest, I wasn't really upset about the pancake.  I had been trying for weeks to get Rhea to eat anything but pureed food which has been an epic fail.  What I found myself upset about was the loss of control.  You see, I want to control what she eats and what she doesn't eat.  I want to share those "first" food moments with her.  Ever since I went back to work a part of me feels like I am just here for the ride and that she no longer belongs to me at all.  I know that is silly and not true but it feels that way sometimes.  I had this fantasy while I was pregnant about being home and raising my family.  The reality is so far from those blissful daydreams.  My thoughts are with her all day but I feel her slipping away from me more and more each day.  It makes me upset just thinking about it.  My boss told me these feelings and emotions are normal.  It's called being a parent.  Parents get upset over things like pancakes.  I guess she is right.  But it still makes me wonder if I over reacted.  I mean I have heard of crying over spilled milk.  But pancakes?  

Sleepless in North Grafton

Let me preface this post by saying I am not complaining about the lack of sleep.  What is the point?  Most of you out there are not sleeping for one reason or another.  It is amazing how you just adjust to running on four or two hours of sleep.  From the beginning Justin and I were blessed with a wonderful newborn who slept through the night almost immediately from birth.  On the nights she didn't make it through the night, she would only wake once and fall back to sleep immediately with the either my boob (when I was breast feeding) or a bottle.  Fast forward 9 months and her sleep has become sporadic and tiresome.   I mean last weekend she slept through the night until 7:30 AM.  Justin and I were so well rested, we felt like a million bucks.  That is until Sunday night and the rest of the week when she was awake at midnight, at 2, and at 4.  We started sleep training at the end of July but she came down with coxsackie, then cut her first tooth, then got coxsackie again, and is now in the process of cutting another tooth.  Sleep training doesn't work when you are sick and cutting teeth because the only thing that makes those things OK are Mommy and Daddy (mostly Mommy).   I probably should have spent last month reading up on sleeping and infants instead of reading the Fifty Shades Trilogy .  At the time I was staying up reading those books so sleep was something I wasn't doing anyway.  Now I want to sleep and I cannot.  I guess I am a glutton for punishment.  If anyone has any suggestions, I will be happy to hear them.  We have tried letting her cry it out, we have let her sleep with us, we have tried feeding her, not feeding her, and teething tablets which work to an extent but nothing is the solution.  And I know there is no one "solution" but I am willing to try anything at this point!

I try but not very hard

I have lost almost all my pregnancy weight, but my body is just not the same.  I feel like I need to loose ten more pound but those ten pounds really want to stay with me.  The majority of my pre-pregnancy clothes fit but they just don't fit the same anymore.  And everyday for the past 6 months I have done almost the same thing.  Start off the day eating right but by the end of the day I have eaten some kind of candy or cookies or something to derail my positive momentum.  At first I told myself it was ok to eat the sweets because I was not allowed to eat any of these items when I was pregnant.  But my baby is going to be a year old very soon so this extra weight is no longer baby weight but Mommy weight.  I really need to start exercising but I love to sleep more.  And the only time in my hectic day to exercise would be to get up at 5 AM and workout for an hour.  And that is just not happening.  So I am just going to try and enjoy the Mommy weight.  Rhea doesn't seem to mind!  And at this point in my life, her opinion is the only one that matters.

Hand Foot and Mouth, Again! (also known as Coxsackie!)

Whoever said "It is so much better having your young, infant child exposed to multiple viruses at daycare while they are young is a good thing.  I will help build immunities so they won't be sick later on in life" obviously never had a 9 month old.  With a virus.  Poor Rhea just wasn't herself and we were pretty much helpless in relieving her pain because we really didn't know what was the matter.  That's the thing about 9 month old babies.  They don't say much.  But they scream. And cry.  And whine.  But they do not say "Mommy my throat is really bothering me, it feels like I have bumps all over my tongue and throat"  Two rounds of Coxsackie Virus in about 3 weeks time.  Here is to hoping this is the end of the virus outbreaks for a while.

Let's play a game- Dog Toy or Baby Toy

Now that Rhea is mobile, she is into anything and everything! She recently discovered a basket of Duke's toys and since I told her "no" they have that much more appeal. The funny thing is, Duke only likes one of his dog toys and refuses to play with anything else.  But what he has discovered is how small and fun Rhea's toys can be.  Some days I walk into the living room and she is holding his toy and he is holding hers.  The hard part is telling them apart.   Most of the dog toys and baby toys I have squeak.  Some have that crinklier stuff in a foot or wing of a toy.  They are all brightly colored.  Many of them are soft and just the right size to fit in a mouth of a baby or dog.  Take a look at the photos below and see if you can guess the dog toys vs the baby toys.  Good Luck!

8 Months and counting....

Rhea turned 8 months old this weekend.  Where has the time gone?  She is turning into this little person who has a personality and likes and dislikes.  Her new thing is sticking out her tongue and panting like a dog.  Apparently she is spending too much time with Duke (though he never pants and barely ever sticks out his tongue!)  She reminds me so much of Justin.  She is just goofy and wants to discover the world on her terms.  She is determined to walk.  She learned to crawl in a week and she is trying like hell to stand up.  I think she may be standing on her own two feet by the end of the summer.  I just want to freeze this time and keep her all to myself.  Lucky for me, I got a brand new camera this past month and I have been able to capture all those everyday moments.  I put some photos below for your enjoyment!

Luxury Baby Items

As a new mom the baby product world can be very overwhelming.  I found it very confusing and scary trying to pick out things before Rhea was born and now that she is hear I realized the only things your truly need are bottles (or boobs), diapers, a car seat, some clothes, and a safe place for the baby to sleep.  Everything else should be considered baby luxury items.   Don't get me wrong, I have bought into some of the "must haves" for baby.  Sofie the Giraffe is a one of those things.  I am also not ashamed to admit I bought Rhea a Coach bag when I was in Florida.  It was a strawberry and she needed it. (not really!!!) But I have had many WTF moments when it comes to baby products.  Nosefrida? The baby snot sucker (this is their tag line not mine).  You put one end in the baby's nose and the other end in your mouth.  Really?  Who in their right mind wants to suck snot.  Certainly not me!  Jean Diapers?  Diapers have a shelf life of about 2 hours.  And their sole purpose is to contain poop!  I certainly don't poop in my jeans.   Not worth the extra money!  Baby apple sauce?  This costs about .89 cents a jar for 4 oz where as a 25oz jar of Motts costs about $1.50.  It is a process we all go through.  I was at Target this week and they had a sale that if you bought a box of  diapers you got a free pack of wipes.  The wipes came in a luxurious wristlet like bag.  This was my WTF moment of the week.  Where on earth would any mom need to tote around a wristlet full of baby wipes?  The bag has a spot for small items like money or credit card but no place to hold a diaper.  I included a photo below.  Any one else have a baby item WTF moment?  I would love to hear them!

Happy Fathers Day Justin!

This Father's Day is a bit different for me.  Instead of celebrating my wonderful Dad, I am also celebrating Rhea's wonderful Dad.  Justin and I entered "the 'hood" (parenthood) in November and we have been scared as hell since!  We are still trying to figure it all out.  There have been plenty of ups and downs.  And though at times I feel I have struggled with doing things my way (the right way!) and Justin's way, I am learning that his way may not be what I consider "right" but just another way of doing things.  An example of his way of parenting is rigging pillows under her bottles so she can feed herself while he continues on his i-Pad.

Or when he used his nose to hold the bottle because he really needed the extra sleep

Drinking beers while walking her around the neighborhood ( I feel like Nana "what will the neighbors think!!!!)

Yelling out "She looks like the mailman!!!" to a room filled with doctors in the delivery room

  

But all in all he has been wonderful.  Rhea has him wrapped around her little finger and he loves her with all his heart.  His way is the road less traveled as a parent and I wouldn't have it any other way!  I love you Justin.  Thank you for being a wonderful husband and wonderful father.  The past year has been a roller coaster for us both but there is no one else I would want to share this ride with.  I am so lucky you picked me to be your wife and so happy Rhea has you as her father.

We All Fall Down

I had one of "those" mom experiences today. I checked my vm and Rhea's school called stating "not to worry but...." My heart sank and panic set in. She bumped her head but that she was fine. Of course I ran down there to see what was going on. And this is the face that greeted me

Of course it wasn't this picture exactly but you get my point.  I was worried and she was fine.  The school treated it like a crime scene.  The teacher was called to the directors office, there was an incident report that I needed to sign.  But I guess this is the world we live in.  I mean she is just learning to crawl.  She is going to bump her head and fall down.  The teacher to child ratio in Rhea's class today was 2 to 2 meaning there were two teachers working and two children in the class room.  She had plenty of one on one time and was not neglected in anyway.  It made me realize that I want to teach Rhea that she is going to fall down, she is going to get hurt, she is going to fail.  And you cannot analyze everything and try to find blame.  It was an accident, a part of life.  You have to get up and keep going.  Eventually I would hope she will learn to use her hands to brace her falls.  But for now there is a note in her file that reads  "Scatter pillows around to break possible falls".  And I am OK with that.   I guess we all need a soft place to land every once in a while.

Crawling

She is crawling.   I cannot believe she is starting to crawl!   She is my baby and she is moving around all by herself!  I cannot believe seven months have flown by.  Now her crawl isn't that graceful.  She starts from the sitting position, goes down into a push-up position, and then falls to her knees.  She pushes forward about 2 inches, falls down, and cries.  Then we repeat.  She also has started to pull herself up in the crib to nibble on rail.  We are lowering the crib mattress this week.  I blame the 10 month old in her daycare class.  He crawls all over the place, picks himself up onto things.  She is amazed by him.  I think she is mimicking him.  I wish she would mimic the 4 month old in her class.  The one that just lays there and giggles.  I miss those days.

Look at me Ma!

Baby and a dog are one and the same

Two nights ago while Rhea was taking a bath I tried to pry her mouth open to see if she has any teeth coming in.  It was a struggle and she won.  I said to Justin "She is just like Duke!  She will not let me near her mouth!" To which he replied "She also eats poop"  I have only know Rhea to eat formula and some oatmeal and fruits and veggies so I asked him to explain.  "Well the other night she blew out her diaper and it was so gross.  And there were lots of wipes and poop everywhere.  The next thing I know she is eating a poopy wipe.  But don't worry.  She is fine now.  But see she is just like the dog.  Love poop too!" Now, I am not casting judgement on him because I knew that was bound to happen at some point.  He was just so casual about it.  I would have freaked out.  But that is the difference between me and him. And it is probably what will balance us out as parents.

Ramblings of Rhea

After months of me coaching Rhea and repeating over and over again "Momma, Momma" she uttered her first rambling words this past week. And it wasn't Momma.

Happy Mothers Day!!!

Happy Mothers Day to all the Moms out there, new and old!!!  My father sent me a video from Johnson & Johnson (I cried, I guess that's what Moms do, they cry at sappy commercials) and the theme of the video was "your doing OK Mom".  Basically the video was being told by the baby to his Mom letting her know she is doing a good job being a Mom.  I hope Rhea feels this way about me.  What a crazy six months it has been.  And believe me I haven't the slightest idea what I am doing but it still amazes me that you just figure it out.  She was born, we brought her home, we freaked out for six weeks, and then things went back to our new normal.  And maybe we aren't doing everything by the book.  And yes, somethings didn't turn out the way I wanted (example breast feeding, and not having to go back to work), but she is healthy and happy and at the end of the day that is all that matters.  And luckily I have a great Mom of my own to turn to when I need advise.  I also have a great pool of Moms to turn to when I need some reassurance that I am doing OK.  So here it all of you, my mom, my nanas', my cousins, my aunts, mother-in-law, and friends.  Thank you for helping me be a good Mom!  xoxo

Diabetes- 21 Years Later

I have had type 1 diabetes for 21 years today. What I would like people to know is that I don't have "the bad kind" nor do I have "the good kind".   I didn't get it from being too fat or eating too much cake.   I cannot take a pill.  Pricking my finger to test my blood sugar is not as painful as those stupid commercials on TV make it out to be.  Diabetes isn't contagious so please don't ask me if I am afraid of "giving diabetes" to my daughter.  It is a completely ignorant and hurtful question.   Unless you plan on asking my parents Tom and Moe how they felt about "giving me" diabetes,  keep it to yourself.   Diabetes is now a part of who I am.  And I am ok with who I am, things could be a lot worse.  We have had our differences through out the years but I have survived.  And 21 years later, that is all that matters.

How not to get rid of hiccups in a baby

Rhea has always been prone to the hiccups.  They typically do not bother her.  Every once in a while you can tell she is aggravated but other than that no big deal.  They do however bother me and Justin.  We just feel bad at how annoying they can be.  I have been giving her gripe water and it does seem to help.  Justin has taken a different approach.  Last week I am giving Rhea a bath.  She has the hiccups but is enjoying her time in the tub.  All of a sudden Justin busts through the bathroom door screaming.  I asked him what the hell he was doing, he had scared me and the baby.  He said he was trying to scare the hiccups out of her.  I will let you visualize the look I gave him and kindly asked him not to scare the baby again.  

A Vampire Without Her Fangs

This post is for all my Twilight friends.  I am clearly comparing my child's teething issues to fictional tween novels.  But I don't care!  You have been warned!

My poor Rhea!  She is still teething and the teeth are no where to be seen!  She is like a vampire without fangs!   I would be afraid to be alone in a dark ally with her right now as she is gnawing and sucking on anything she can get her chubby little hands on!  I have seen her make a meal of Sofie the Giraffe!  Poor Sofie didn't stand a chance!  I was hoping the teeth would pop through this past week but still nothing.  I have been trying to teach her to be on Team Edward and fight the urge to drain anything or anyone but she has informed me she is Team Volturi meaning she will drain you.  You have been warned!!!  She is looking for her next victim!

Girl Fight

I have no idea where she learned to do it but Rhea is a hair puller.  There are clumps of my hair all over the house.  I will probably be bald by the end of the week.  She grabs hold and will not let go.  And I have no idea how a 5 month old baby is that strong!  I basically have to wrestle her to let it go.  And all the while she is laughing and tugging my hair.  It is insane.  I feel like I am in a girl fight every day of my life.  I see those tiny hands grabbing for me and I fear for my safety.  But I keep going back for more.  I cannot help it.  She is too cute

5 Months

Honestly the last five months have gone by so fast!  I know it is what everyone says but it is true.  Rhea is 5 months old now!  5 months!  She is getting so big and we are discovering all these personality traits about her.  I am in love and it pains me to think she is growing up so fast.  I just want to freeze this time in a bottle.  Capture this feeling and keep it with me.   We have nicknamed my Dad Paparazzi as he is Rhea's Papa and he acts as if she is a celebrity every time he sees her snapping hundreds of pictures at a time.  And as much as we poke fun at Paparazzi, I am so glad he has captured all these moments for me.  

Emotional Eater

Rhea is growing up right in front of my eyes and I don't like it one bit!  She started eating rice cereal this weekend.  I am not sure how much she actually ate or if she really liked it but she gave a range of emotions while doing it.

At first she was unsure of what to do

Then she was unsure how to feel

Then she was really happy to be eating

And seemed to really enjoy it

But then she had enough!

Irony?

So my new addiction is Pintrest.  And on Pintrest I discovered this cool recipe to make lasagna cups using wontons and red sauce.  This worked out perfectly for me as I had left over wonton wrappers I needed to use up and a ton of veggies.  I made them Monday night.  I thought they were a success.  Justin ate them.  He said they were good.  On Tuesday night I prepare to re-heat the left overs and Justin stops me.  He tells me he cannot eat them on the second night because they will make him sick.  This is coming from the man who ate moldy beef jerky last week because he didn't want to waste it.  Apparently my lasagna is as appealing as moldy beef jerky.

Damn you Daylight Savings!

Rhea has been a really good sleeper.  She can put her self to sleep with little to no fussing and sleep blissfully through the night.  That is until this weekend when we sprung forward and her sleeping schedule has been shot to hell!  She didn't sleep at all during the day Sunday and by 3 PM she couldn't get out of her own way!  She did finally nap and was a much happy camper.  That is until bedtime when she cried and fussed.  Mind you she fussed for 10 minutes and then went off to what I thought was a good nights sleep but Rhea was up at 3 AM and again at 5!   She was sick two nights this week so I will give Day Light Savings a pass on those nights but Rhea has gotten up almost every night this week to eat at 3AM.  She hasn't done this since she was 6 weeks old!  Any Moms out there have any tips to combat this?

Four Months

I sound like every other person on the planet but man time flies!  Rhea is four months old this week and it is amazing how fast she is changing!  She is really into things now and it is fascinating watching her discover thing like her hand and Duke.  She is big giggler and her laughter is contagious.  You have to stop what you are doing to laugh with her.  That is why my house is a mess.  At least that is what I am telling myself.

Nice Stranger

So all of you know my Dad.  He is one of the nicest people I know.  Most everyone who meets him loves him (or at least in my mind they do).  So today he came by my work at lunch and we went to the daycare to see Rhea.  As we were leaving and I was putting my shoes back on (yes Rhea's daycare room is a shoe less room) a class of Pre-schoolers walked by.  A young boy started to get giddy and was pointing at my Dad saying " Look, look, a nice Stranger!!!"  The teacher was trying to explain to him that strangers are not nice and he should never speak to strangers.  He looks at her and says "Well, he looks nice"  It was so cute that this four year old boy could see what I think the world sees.  Although I hope Rhea never speaks to strangers no matter how "Nice" they may seem!!!!!

Life Lessons for Rhea

I hope that I can be a good mom.  I hope that we will have a relationship like the one I have with my mom.  I hope Rhea learns how to be a good person.  I hope she will make good decisions in life.  I hope Rhea will be proud of the life Justin and I build for her.  I hope when I get old, she will take care of me.  I hope she wants to be independent and make her own way in the world.  I hope I hope she never has to feel pain, though I know that she will.  I hope she will enjoy the family traditions we start together and the ones she will join in on.  And I hope she learns from me how to use coupons!  I have been teaching Rhea how to coupon and she makes it look so good!

Cereal Offender

Justin loves cereal.  I buy lots of it.  Justin opens a box of cereal, eats it, leaves the cover open, cereal goes bad, he will not eat the rest of it.  This is a cycle that keeps repeating itself if my house.  We have talked about it, fought about it, laughed about it.  At the present time he has 2 boxes of Cheerios, 1 box of Corn Pops, 1 box of Total, 1 box of Shredded Wheat, 1 box of Pink Frosted Shredded Wheat, 1 box of Raisan Bran, and one box of Oatmeal Squares open.  I don't eat much cereal but when I do I usually eat Kashi.  So last week Kashi was on sale and I bought myself a box.  Justin tried to open it last week and I argued that he has 8 other boxes open and that he needs to eat them first.  Today he opened the Kashi cereal, took it out of the box and hid the box in the recycling so that I would not find it.  But I did.  We argued about it and I let him know because of my diabetes I need the box label to count carbs.  He agreed to get the box out of the recycling bin and put the label with the hidden cereal.  When I checked to be sure he did it I found a Wheat Thins nutrition label in with the Kashi Cereal.  When I confronted him about it he confessed that he just grabbed any box from the recycling.   Starting today I am not buying him cereal anymore.  Mark my word!!

Panera lunch is my new cocktail hour

Not sure how I never noticed this before but Panera is the hottest spot for new moms and their babies.  Everytime I have gone there the past few months all I see is groups of moms fawning over their babies while eating a salad.   It is crazy!  I find myself checking out woman and their babies and using language I would if I were out for drinks with my girlfriends.  "Check out how cute he is" I may say referring to an adorable male toddler sitting a few tables over.  Or "Look at her outfit" referring to the 9 month old in a pink and flowery get up. "That is a $600 dollar stroller!"   Rhea and I really need to step up our game because when I was there last week, I forgot a burp cloth so I had to use a napkin.  I know the other mom's were looking at me, judging me.  I know for a fact at least one mom was.  My mother.  She was horrified that I was using a napkin.  She was horrified I didn't have a Sofie the Giraffe.  She was horrified Rhea didn't have socks on.  To be fair she did have socks on when we left the house but she kicked them off when we got to lunch and refused to keep them on.  She told me I need to be more like other Panera moms.  She told me to get it together!  At this point I wished Panera sold booze as I would have ordered a drink!  

GrandMoes Observation

While out on a shopping adventure with my mother the other day, she was very quiet in the front seat.  When we got out of the car and I was loading Rhea into the stroller, coffee in hand, my mother asked me point blank "What is up with you and all the yuppie moms with their coffee and strollers?"  Appalled at being called a yuppie, I began to defend myself when I looked around the parking lot and there we all were.  Yuppie moms, at Target (which has a Starbucks in it by the way) with our coffees, pushing our babies.  I really didn't have an answer for her.   But I enjoyed every sip of that coffee while I browsed around Target. 

I Just Lost my Underwear...

I don't care, I'll go bare, Bye Bye Long Johns...Does anyone else remember that camp song?  The rest of the song goes: They were very close to me, Tickle me -Hee Hee Hee Bye Bye Long Johns. I have been singing that song the past few days because I have said good bye indefinitely to my Great Granny Panties.  How I hated purchasing them and having to wear them.  But oh how I grew to love the comfort of them, the softness, the way they didn't ride up and covered my ass.  But now that the baby is here, I have been looking at them differently.  There is no way my ass is or was that big (or was it?)   So I have decided to pack them away with all my other maternity clothes.  Who knows, one day we may meet again.  Until that day, I will just say Bye Bye.

The Nose has it

The Wnukowski family have very large noses. It is part of who they are. The noses get stuffed up, get in the way of kisses, they can hardly smell anything. And apparently that huge nose can feed a baby. Pictured below is Justin going hands free to feed Rhea and still play his iPad. If she is happy then I am happy!!!

How to say I told you so in a nice way

We purchased a media tower to house all our DVD players, cable box, Apple TV and so on. This was back in August. Justin was supposed to configure all the wires and set this all up before the baby arrived but this never happened. When we were shopping for this piece in August I stated to Justin that the shelves were not deep enough for all the boxes we had. He used his arm as a measuring tape and assured me everything would fit perfectly. Fast forward to January and he finally set everything up. Notice how something sticks way out. I told you so.

2012 Resolutions

My only true resolution this year is to just stop stressing and enjoy the baby.  The last 7 weeks of 2011 have been some of the most stressful times of my life.  Having a baby changes everything and anything you could have ever done to prepare for this moment is basically null and void.  It is scary as hell when they release you from the hospital and you are now in charge of that little life.  Looking back over the last 7 weeks, I should have stressed less and just went with my own instincts.  And I vow to do that this year.  I think parenthood is basically keeping your child safe, fed, warm, healthy, and you make the rest up as you go.  People mean well when they offer their two cents but I am tuning them out in 2012.  I have chosen to breastfeed my baby, but I also give her formula.  And I realize this is OK.  In 2012 I am doing what is best for me and Rhea.  And breast milk and formula are what is best for us.  All you lactation crazies can keep you opinion to yourself. (Like the lactation consultant who advised me today that I check out a low milk supply website for support since I was offering formula with my breast milk) Thanks but no thanks.  These moments go by so fast, I don't want to look back at the end of 2012 and think "I should have enjoyed her more".  2012 is the year of Rhea and I plan to savor every moment.  And maybe loose the baby weight too.