The Mommy MonoBlogs

Tasty Tuesday

2010-07-06T07:55:00.004-04:00

I am a huge fan of farmers markets and eating local. Summer is the best season for fruits and I've been having a blast making crumbles with different fruits as they come in season over the past month. I found the original recipe in Bon Appetit magazine (May 2010) and modified it a bit, then keep mixing up the fruit as things come in and out of season. It has been a huge hit with family and friends.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

Crumble:

3/4 cup all purpose flour

2/3 cup sugar

large pinch of salt

6 tbs chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1/2 cup old-fashioned oats

1/2 cup husked hazelnuts, toasted, coursely chopped

**I leave out the nuts and add a dash of cinnamon**

Combine flour, sugar and salt (and cinnamon if using) in medium bowl; whisk to blend. Add butter. Rub in with fingertips until mixture sticks together in clumps. Mix in oats and nuts (if using).

Fruit:

1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

1 pound strawberries, hulled, halved

12 ounces rhubarb, ends trimmed, stalks cut crosswise into 1/2 inch pieces

1/2 cup sugar

**I don't use the vanilla bean**

Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean into sugar (if using); whisk to blend well. Add strawberries and rhubarb to sugar and toss to coat well. Spoon fruit into buttered 11x7x2 inch glass baking dish. Sprinkle oat topping evenly over filling.

Bake at 375 until filling bubbles thickly and topping is crisp - about 45 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes before serving.

Variations:

I've never made this the same way twice since I like to use fresh, in season fruit. Here are some of my creations:

Sour cherries, strawberries and blueberries

Sour cherries, strawberries, raspberries and blueberries (I call this one a Very Berry Crumble)

Strawberries and peaches (Peach Blush Crumble) - this one was my favorite.

All of them taste great with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

I'm planning on trying a peach plum crumble next, and thinking apple pear in the fall.

Enjoy!! If you try this and come up with a new variation, please share!

yes, we're still alive

2010-06-25T07:54:00.004-04:00

wow...I knew it had been a long time since I wrote anything, but I didn't realize it had been almost a year!! Things got kinda crazy after finding out I was pregnant again and it was one hell of a school year. In preparation for the new baby, I felt like I couldn't spend any time on the computer unless it was work related and wanted to spend as much time with my daughter as possible. I was really worried about how life was going to change with the introduction of a new baby and how she was going to react. But I have to say, I couldn't have asked for anything better than it has been. It was a rocky start to our life as a family of 4, but Alessia totally embraced being a big sister and has been great with her little brother Gianni. My little man is going to be 4 months tomorrow, and I'm feeling like I need to get back some mommy-time and back to some blogging and venting. So expect some new posts coming up!

Nothing too exciting lately, except that my family has seem to caught baby fever since I announced my pregnancy! My cousin just had her first, a beautiful little girl, last week and we have 3 more babies coming in the fall - 1 girl, 1 boy and 1 ?? I love babies!! It's nice that the family is growing since between my husband's family and mine, we lost 3 people in 2009-2010. It's been a year of ups and downs, but hey, that's life isn't it?

Time is short, and I'm starting to ramble, so I'm off for now. Things to expect: some fun recipes I've been trying, summer craft ideas for the kids when it's too hot to go outside and, of course, updates on my crazy family!

Welcome home!

2009-08-23T07:00:00.000-04:00

So excited!! My brother comes home today! My amazing little brother (okay, maybe he's not so little anymore - he's 22) has ridden a BICYCLE across the country! Ever since high school and all through college, Larry was very involved in Habitat for Humanity. He was president of both schools' chapters and even when to DC to help lobby for affordable housing. After graduating in May from UVA's school of Architecture in this crappy job market - only 2 kids in his class actually found jobs in the architecture industry - he joined Bike and Build. He raised over $4,000 for this wonderful organization and joined 31 other young adults in a bike ride from Boston to Santa Barbara, CA over about 9 weeks. Along the way, they stopped in cities to help local chapters of Habitat for Humanity build houses. He's amazing! Did I forget to mention that my brother had only actually ridden a bike maybe 2 times before he began training for this monumental ride?? Anyway, I am SO PROUD of him! He tells all his stories much better than I could even attempt, so check out his blog: larrybikesamerica He also has amazing photos of his journey along historic route 66 and everything else from coast to coast.

Welcome home fratellino!!

Condo living sucks

2009-08-21T07:00:00.000-04:00

Well at least this one does. When we moved in to our brand new condo over 4 years ago, I never really thought about what it would be like to live on the 2nd floor of a building with a kid, let alone two kids! Over the past year, I've seen all the disadvantages of living here:

The freaking parking lot. We are constantly battling with the townhouse owners (in the same development) that park in our spots rather than in their own driveways or garages. As it is, our building and the one across the street has less spots than the rest of the condos in the development. Especially in the winter or rainy seasons (which seems like all the time lately), it sucks when you can't park by the door or even near your own building. I really wish I had a driveway and a garage, especially during the school year when I ws trying to get a baby, my pump, lunch box and bag of work shit in the building at the same time.
No space outside that's just mine. The builders had the brilliant idea of giving us "french balconies" off of our sunroom. The only problem: there's no freakin balcony! We have sliding glass doors that go nowhere. There's a railing right there! So what's the point of the sliding glass doors? I would kill for even the smallest little deck or a tiny back yard to take Alessia out to get some fresh air. Or to grill. I can't even tell you how much I miss being able to grill and eat in the great outdoors (or deck). It sucks.
The stairs...What were we thinking?! It has been a major bitch and thorn in my side. Whenever I need to make a quick trip to get food or anything, I have to make sure all my purchases fit into one bag so I can carry Alessia up in the other arm. We went out yesterday and I happened to need a few things and ended up filling two bags. At least my recycleable bags can be carried on my shoulder. But they were stuffed and I just couldn't carry Alessia too. It was such a pain getting up the stairs! She crawled up, but had to pause and "test" each step for it's sturdyness. It took forever! How will I do it with two? When I go back to work I at least have to bring in my pump bag and the two kids, the rest can stay in the car until Mark gets home. Can't wait to see what a scene that'll be!
There's no shade here!! Even though we have two playgrounds in the development, they're in the worst possible locations - in direct sunlight all day long. So the [probably toxic] plastic gets unbearably hot and renders it unusable. But try explaining that to a 15 month-old who just keeps saying "slide slide" every time we pass by. There's nowhere we can play out here where we won't boil in the sun. Oh and this summer they decided to add more mulch to the playground. Wonderful...except they used the same dyed one they use for the landscaping. God knows what is in it, not to mention it stains!
oh my beloved pool, how you have betrayed me! Before Alessia was born, I spent literally every non rainy day poolside, never really bothered by the fact that there was no shade by any of the chairs or over any of the pool ( I was a sun worshiper and loved to just lie there and read). And I really didn't think too much about the fact that the builders didn't put in a baby pool. But now it sucks! Alessia is a little fish - loves the water! But I hate having her in the direct sun for that long and it has been a very exhausting first trimester holding her in the big pool (cuz of course it's not just holding her - she wants to "swim" and "jump" from the edge and bounce up and down.) Only recently has she let me put her in one of the plastic floaty things (although I cringe to think what it's made of), but we still can't go until around 4 or later. That's the other thing...the pool doesn't even open until 11. She eats lunch between 11:30 and 12 and sleeps from 1-4-ish. I still make the schlep with her as often as we can, because Lord knows I won't be able to do it next summer with a 3 month old in tow.

There are a few things that keep me going here: I love our condo - the way it flows, all the colors we used and the fact that all the wall corners are rounded. And of course, my wonderful neighbor and friend Danielle lives in the building right across the street. I would be miserable without her and freak out every time they talk about moving. Speaking of Danielle, she recently gave birth to a beautiful baby boy! Congrats! If she can live here with two kids, I guess there's hope for me too! She's been an inspiration to me in so many ways over the past year of our renewed friendship and has helped me transform into the mom I am today. Love you Danielle!

Big news

2009-08-20T09:29:00.004-04:00

So I haven't been really blogging this summer (not like that's much different than all year long), but one of the reasons is that the only thing that has really been on my mind is that I'm pregnant again (baby #2) and I wasn't quite ready to tell people or really talk/write about it. We've actually known for a little over a month - we found out right smack bewteen the two funerals, so it was actually some much needed good news for both sides of the family. For me, I wasn't so sure at first. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited about having another baby. I always wanted at least 2 kids, but, as everyone has heard me say numerous times, I didn't want two kids in diapers at the same time. I know it sounds ridiculous, and that's not really true...I just wanted Alessia to have enough time with us on her own before another one came along. We were planning on having them about 4 years apart, just about when Alessia was ready to start some sort of school and I could hopefully stay home the first year with the baby. But SURPRISE! it happened a lot sooner than expected.

As excited as I am, I have a lot of anxiety about this pregnancy and about our family growing. First of all, when I was pregnant with Alessia I didn't know half the things I know now about the food we eat, the products we use, etc. It was a pretty stress-free pregnancy. I just followed the short list of eat/don't eat the doctor gave me and enjoyed my weekly greasy cheeseburgers and fries. I didn't think twice about the bellly butter I rubbed on my belly religiously or the makeup I was using daily. Now I almost feel like the knowledge I have is paralyzing.

I'm also anxious about how the dynamic of our little family will change. My husband is really excited about the new baby, but he's the baby in the family and doesn't know what it's like when mom and dad bring home another one. I look at Alessia and I worry about how she'll feel about being a big sister. I know it'll be different than I felt when my sister (and later, brother) was born. I was 6. I remember being so excited and proud at first, "This is my little sister, isn't she cute?" And she was the most beautiful baby, which everyone always made a point of saying. My excitement and proudness soon turned to intense jealousy. I remember asking if we could send her back and making nasty comments when people said things like "she's so beautiful, she doesn't even look like a real baby. She looks like a doll!" I always had to point out how she pooped or smelled :o) I know it's natural for siblings to be jealous when a new one comes along, but knowing how it felt when all the attention shifted away from me and to the new baby, I just don't want to see that happen to my little girl. I'm assuming it'll be better since she'll only be about 2, but then I remember my cousin Olivia when her little sister came home from the hospital (same age difference as mine will have). She wouldn't even look at you if you were holding the baby. She soon got better, but it would just break my heart if Alessia did that.

I know there are things I can't control, Alessia's feelings being one of them, and that I shouldn't spend this whole pregnancy worrying. But I can't help it!

I hope I don't come off sounding like I don't want this baby, because of course I do. The emotions of a surprise pregnancy are just very different than a planned one.

Crazy craftiness

2009-08-09T10:40:00.005-04:00

We've been up to some craftiness this summer. Our fun has included painting ceramic art, finger painting for the first time, lots of coloring, tissue paper and glue fun, making paper bag puppets and a trip to the Crayola Factory.

Here we are painting some ceramic shoes at our cousin Julian's birthday party:

Here she is doing some awesome fingerpainting with zia (aunt) Tina:

Here's her awesome Crayola Factory artwork:

Some more awesomeness - an underwater fish party! She had a blast gluing the tissue paper on (which were scraps left over from when I made paper "balloons" for her eco-friendly birthday party - which I am now realizing I never blogged about)

And our most recent craft, some paper bag puppets and a colorful sun. She loves these - I put them on and bark and meow at her and she cracks up! She decided she wanted to decorate everything with some shiny heart stickers. Lots of love in this house!

And here's mommy's craft of the summer. I really wanted to get Alessia some ABC magnets for the fridge, but you know me and plastics, so the traditional ones were out of the question. My sister Tina helped me make some wooden ones. And they came out freakin awesome (if I do say so myself!)

slow summer

2009-08-05T07:34:00.005-04:00

I can't believe summer is more than half over! We've actually spent most of the summer staying at my mom's between the funerals, then Mark has been working like a dog and her house is much closer than ours. Anyway, we have managed to get some fun in: while staying up there, we made some home-made playdough, went to the pool and enjoyed yummy fruit smoothies daily.

Alessia had a blast at nonna's, but I would say the highlight was definitely the playdough. It kept her occupied forever! Here's the recipe we used:

Ingredients:

2 cups of flour

4 tbs. cream of tartar

2 tbs. cooking oil

1 cup of salt

Food coloring

2 cups of water

Procedure:

Mix the above ingredients in a saucepan. Stir over medium heat for 3-5 minutes until the mixture congeals.

Store in sealed container in the fridge.

We made half the recipe, and instead of food coloring, used tumeric to color it yellow. The color actually came out really well. I was afraid it would stain our hands as we played, but it didn't at all. It did smell a bit when we played with it right away (like the tumeric) but the smell was gone by the next day. I did take pics, but unfortunately with my mom'ss camera and didn't send them to myself. Alessia loved it though. I found some old cookie cutters and a small wooden rolling pin and she just went to town! It was great not having to worry about her eating the dough, though she never even attempted it.

My mom has a Vitamix that I am now addicted to. We made yummy fruit smoothies everyday that I've been craving since we returned home. My specialty:

strawberries

blueberries

cherries

kiwi

banana

(and add some ice)

YUM!!

I'm sure I could make some yummy ones with an ordinary blender, but let's face it, it's just more fun with the powerful Vitamix!! Too bad we don't have any room to store one right now :o(

Going greener

2009-07-23T08:00:00.004-04:00

I've decided to finally ditch the disposable diapers and start cloth diapering. I've been wanting to for a long time, but my mother (who watches my daughter while I work) is completely unwilling to use them. So I finally made the plunge and ordered a set of Grobaby from Kellys Closet. I had tried this brand along with my friend Danielle at the beginning of the summer - she has an amazing and varied stash of cloth, and since she gave these a good review, I figured I'd buy a whole big package. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the switch, though I have to say dealing with Alessia's nasty poopy diapers is making me hope she catches on to potty training quickly! I just purchased some Smarti Pants as well to vary my own stash a little. I'm a little weary about the snaps because Alessia is a major wiggler when I try to put on a diaper, but I don't think the velcro can really last on the shells when they're getting washed every other day. I only have 11 shells and 25 inserts, so I'm doing a lot of laundry.

Speaking of laundry...since switching to cloth diapers, I've found that my laundry machine is a little stinky. I have an HE front loader. Anyone ever heard of this problem? I've tried washing the machine with vinegar, bleach, baking soda to get rid of the smell. As soon as I do another load, it's back. The only thing I can think of is that maybe since we have hard water, the drain is clogged or something and it's not draining properly. I've heard you should use Calgon if you have hard water, but where do you get that?

Any cloth diapering advise would be greatly appreciated! Including any ideas on how to get my mom on board for the fall (I've already told her I'm not paying for disposables, but that doesn't seem to phase her:o( )

Still here

2009-07-22T14:23:00.002-04:00

Can you believe it's already the end of July?? I can't. Although I finished work over a month ago, my summer didn't really get started until this past weekend. It was a really tough end of June and first half of July for me and my family. We lost two family members - one on my side and one on my husband's all in the span of a week.
My grandfather hadn't been doing well since his surgery in January, and pretty much right after school was out, I was back and forth seeing him in the hospital, then we he was sent home under hospice care, we went there. He passed away with family close by on July 5th after 6 months of suffering. It was a really difficult time for us, but we are comforted in knowing that he's no longer in pain. I was fortunate to be one of the last ones to see him sitting upright and conscious. He smiled at Alessia, played with her hand and spoke with us. Not even 2 days later, he was gone. I miss him dearly, and am filled with regret that I didn't go see him as often as I should. Too late now.
Exactly one week later, Mark's grandmother passed away, also due to an inability to recover from surgery. It was two very long weeks after all this time of uncertainty.
So I haven't really gotten a chance to enjoy my time off from work with Alessia and the summer is quickly passing us by. But you can be sure I going to try as hard as I can to make sure I don't waste a minute of the next month and a half with her.
Didn't mean to be a downer...that's just life lately.

A long time coming

2009-05-23T08:17:00.002-04:00

I've been meaning to write this since the end of April, but, as usual, have not had any time. It's over! No more breastfeeding. It has been very bittersweet.

Let me take you back about a month...

Monday, April 20^th: one week and a day before Alessia's first birthday. I do my usual morning routine: shower, strap on the pump while I brush my teeth and get ready. But... no milk!! So I was forced to send her a bottle of cow's milk (which I luckily bought the night before just so she could try a little before I switched over) At least I had a bottle from Friday for her morning bottle. It was traumatic, as silly as it may sound. I just wasn't expecting to be forced into it. To make matters worse, she wouldn't even drink it at first. I really didn't want to give her milk in a bottle and was planning on introducing it slowly with her sippy cup. My mom quickly gave in and put it in a bottle and had to water it down (gross). I continued to nurse her at 3, bedtime and when she woke at night.

Tuesday, April 21^st: This is what went through my head as I woke up and got ready for work:

Just imagine my pump in place of the fax machine. I was really happy to be free of that thing and washing all the parts every freakin night.

We kept up the PM nursing, then literally right after she had her birthday, she started sleeping through the night. (I have not had a full night's sleep since I was pregnant. Can you believe I'm more tired now when my alarm goes off then when I had to get up several times?)

Fast forward to this past weekend: we took our first roadtrip down to VA for my little brother's graduation. I nursed her at a gas station in the afternoon on the way down, but substituted bottles on Sat and Sun because it was just too difficult to do while we were out and about, especially in a college town. Breastfeeding a one year old is nothing like breastfeeding an infant. It's impossible to do it discreetly – she despises the hooter-hider and pulls it off, and tends to fool around a bit. Then I tried again on the ride home, but she just didn't want it. Instead she thought it would be funny to bite me, blow raspberries, etc. Then she did the same at bedtime. On Tuesday, I decided to prepare a bottle before I brought her up, just in case. After signing milk, I tried to offer her breast, but she just fooled around. I showed her the bottle and asked which she wanted; though she came back to me for a second, she proceeded to point to the bottle, then went for it with a huge grin on her face. Last night I asked her again which she wanted, and she eagerly went for the bottle again :o( I knew it would happen eventually, and although I'm grateful she decided when to end it, I'm sad. We had a rough start, but overall I really enjoyed nursing her and the special bond we had. I especially miss our bedtime routine. But I guess I can't complain – we made it just over a year, and she never had formula (well except for the first couple days when we had issues). And I'm assuming that's how I shed all the baby weight and then some. Although I do wonder if all my weightloss contributed to the low milk supply towards the end or if it was 8 months of not pumping enough each day. On the upside, I can now enjoy adult beverages without worrying about it affecting her!

Anyway...just more proof my little baby's growing up.

Birthday part 2

2009-04-30T21:11:00.004-04:00

I still can't believe my little gilr is one! Where did the time go?? I do have to admit, part of me was really upset on Tuesday, because I feel like I got jipped out of the past 7 months with her because I had to go back to work. But then we can't change that, so I just have to accept it and move on. I really would've liked to spend the day with her.

At least she LOVED the presents we got her: Green toys cookware set and Haba sticki blocks. She's been having a blast playing with them since she opened them. I was really impressed to see she can actually stack the blocks (they have pegs, kind of like a wooden version of Legos) I got them both from OompaToys, which I absolutely love. They have a great selection of natural and ecofriendly toys, and a ton of European toys. I think most of the stuff they create over in Europe is just so much more creative than the typical plastic crap we sell here. Mark ordered her an awesome walker from Plantoys, but it turned out to be backordered and won't come in until next week.

So proud - she actually goes for the card first! Here's Alessia enjoying her new toys:

She got a TON of clothes from both my parents and my inlaws, a couple of books from my nephews, a puzzle from my BIL and a bunch of Austrailian and New Zealand classic books and a miniature Kiwi bird.

We're still trying to figure out what to do about her birthday party. It was tentatively planned for the middle of June, partly because I want it outside at a park (ecofriendly theme), but mostly because my grandfather has been in and out of the hospital and rehab (basically a nursing home) for the past 4 1/2 months. He was taken home on Monday, but they had to bring him back to the ER today. I just don't know what to do. I feel a little differently than my family with regards to what is appropriate or inappropriate to do when someone is ill or worse. *sigh* I guess we'll continue to play it by ear. I don't have the energy to discuss it tonight.

Happy Birthday baby!

2009-04-28T22:46:00.001-04:00

I know it's almost over, but I had to try to write at least a short little blurb...my little baby girl turned 1 today!!! I can't believe it! It went by so fast. I couldn't take off work today due to state testing, but Mark stayed with her then our parents and siblings came down for dinner cake and presents. I'll be back with more details about our celebration tomorrow, but here's a cute shot for now:

:o( Our best friends Danielle, Pete and Eliza were supposed to join us too, but unfortunately a Coxsackie scare put the kabosh on that. We missed them.
Okay it was a very late night for us, so I'm going to sleep. But I will def be back tomorrow cuz I have lots to talk about - the times they are a-changin around here.

Damn plastic toys!

2009-04-08T22:07:00.002-04:00

Ignorance was bliss. Thanks to my dearest friend Danielle, who first opened my eyes to the toxins in our world and has led me to read countless articles and books, I am officially crazy when it comes to toxic plastic toys and cosmetics, etc. The lastest: trying to put together an Easter basket for Alessia. I bought her a beautiful wicker basket, lined with adorable fabric, but it is still empty. I went shopping today to get some fillers. I originally wanted to make her some fabric eggs, filled with all sorts of noise making goodies, but then realized that the only store around me that sells fabric is Wallmart, and I fiercely boycott that store, so refused to go there. Option 2: decorate some wooden eggs. So off to Michaels, but the only had a few and they were way too expensive. Plus then I started to get all anxious thinking about what kind of paint I would use. So I went next door to Target and had an axiety attack in the Easter section. I must've picked up 3 or 4 bags of plastic eggs, but just couldn't bring myself to buy them. I just kept looking at the "made in China" and freaking out, picturing toxic chemicals leeching out into the baby's skin (ala the green cold germs from the Lysol commercials). I couldn't even find anything in the toy section that I could buy her without freaking out. I just don't trust anything that was made in a country that knowingly put a toxic chemical in the infant formula because it was cheaper than putting real protein in it - they killed so many innocent children. And I'm supposed to buy toys from them?? Don't remember if I blogged it, but back in October, I spent almost an hour staring at spoons and bowls in Babies R Us, trying to figure out which ones were BPA free (prior to all the labels). I know that she doesn't really put toys in her mouth, but the two don't differ at all in my mind.
Then tonight one of my sweet neighbors came up with an Easter basket and I just cringed at the site: plastic basket filled with plastic "grass" and plastic eggs. The exact cause of my anxiety attack at the store. And of course Alessia loved it all, especially the "grass". But what was I to do? My family does this to me to - "I know you said no plastic toys, but is this one ok?" as she's given a gift with no receipt. And I'm not going to be a bitch and say no, but you know I'm thinking it. What am I supposed to do? I still haven't figured out what do put in her basket. Or in my cousins' baskets. I can't be a hipocrit and buy them things I consider toxic. Any green, nontoxic ideas?

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that I've had my eyes opened to this reality, but there was a lot less anxiety in my life when I was naive.

Spring Break

2009-04-07T13:25:00.002-04:00

Well my spring break is finally here, but someone forgot to notify Mother Nature!! The weather is CRAPPY. Yesterday it poured all day, and today it's cold and miserable even though it's not raining. So much for our daily walks with Danielle and E or a trip to the zoo. But it's ok. I'm catching up on mommy/baby time and when she's sleeping, finally cleaning the house.

I can't believe my little baby is almost 1! 3 weeks from today she'll have her big birthday! This year really flew by. I wish I had been home with her the whole time, but that's life. She just amazes me though. She's still signing (when she wants), but hasn't added any new ones. She responds to a lot though, like the animals - I'll sign horse (her favorite right now), and she'll go get her horse. She is beginning to love music and is quite the little dancer. Yesterday she was rocking out to some Italian rap - Jovanotti. (yea, we don't really listen to "kids" music - I can't stand too much of it) My fears that I would have to feed her her own birthday cake are gone. She has become a pro at feeding herself and just shovels the food in. Speaking of birthday cakes, it has been a source of some disagreements around here. I don't want her to have a "traditional" chocolate cake. I would really like to get or make her a vegan cake since she hasn't had whole eggs yet, and something not too sugary. Any suggestions? On her actual birthday we're going to get together with my parents and my in-laws to have cake and presents, but we're not having her party until June. My grandfather has been in and out of the hospital and rehab for the past 3 months, so I wanted to wait a while in hopes that he'll recover enough to come. And if you recall from the Christening, I have a huge family, so our guest list is looking like around 70 people (adults and children), since we have some good friends with kids that we also want to invite. So I really wanted to have it outdoors, and hopefully will have good luck with the weather in June.

Well, Alessia is up and ready to play, so I'm off! Then we're heading out for dinner to celebrate my FIL's 61st b'day.

Proud mom

2009-03-10T21:04:00.003-04:00

really quick post...I have to get work done and finish cleaning up before heading to bed. But I just couldn't wait to blog this...

Alessia has been signing this week!! She started with "fan" (actually she started this sign last week and will not stop). She's obsessed with the ceiling fans in our house. She's beed attempting "light", but having a hard time differentiating it from "fan". Today she signed "more" repeatedly during dinner, then "bed" and I swear she attempted "book" after her latte. She's blowing me away!

Ok, got it out there, now I have to run! Can you tell I'm excited?

What happened to February??

2009-03-09T14:09:00.002-04:00

When did it become the second week in March?!? No idea where February went. Actually I do...I was trying to balance work and being a mom. It's not going well. I had to stay home from work today, so I'm taking a moment while Alessia naps to catch up on my thoughts and (hopefully) commenting on the long list of posts in my reader. (I can read them at work, but can't comment. I'm still here though!)

Ugh. Today I was thinking about how completely naive I was about motherhood and working moms before I became one. Yes, I was guilty of being that "non-mom" that couldn't understand what my working mom coworkers and friends were talking about when they said they didn't have time to do anything. Or why they couldn't get their act together at work and come up with their own plans. Man, I was an ignorant bitch, even if I never voiced my opinions and just kept them to myself. Being a working mom SUCKS. Don't get me wrong, being a SAHM is hard work and exhausting in its own right. But I would give anything to be able to stay at home with my baby. It's a completely different type of exhaustion trying to balance work and mommyhood, and I feel like one of them always suffers. And for me, it's definitely work that's suffering. I hate it. I used to love teaching. I was a workaholic, staying late everyday. Now I dread going in. I'm beyond exhausted and after 6 months of this craziness, it's taking its toll on me. I have no time to do anything, unless I take time away from being with my daughter. That's not an option for me. I love being a mom. I love playing with her, sitting and reading books with her and just holding her. I don't want to miss this time to type lesson plans or grade papers.
Can't remember if I've mentioned it before, but I spend an average of 10-12 hours a week in the car commuting to and from work and picking up Alessia from my mom's. That's if there isn't ridiculous traffic on the highway (it once took me 3 hours to get home with a screaming infant. Had to stop on the side of the highway 3 times. It was horrible!) I can't take it anymore. On top of that consuming a ridiculous amount of time, since I'm still breastfeeding, I have to pump in the morning before going to work, then again during my prep at work (the only time I have to get things done, or rather don't have), and then take the time after she goes to sleep to wash all the freakin parts. I can't express to you how much I despise my pump. I would love to smash it to pieces when I'm done with it - just like the guys in Office Space and the copy machine.
For anyone that knows anything about breastfeeding and pumping, you know that you should ideally pump every 3 hours: typically 3 times during a work day. My schedule only allows for one time. So what has that done for me? After 6 months of not pumping enough (and not drinking enough and probably losing too much weight), I can barely get enough milk for Alessia's two bottles while she's at my mom's. That brings us to today. Flipped out this morning when I was barely getting anything after 15 min. Alessia doesn't drink formula and we haven't started cow's milk yet (she just turned 10 months a week ago), so I have no backup. I couldn't send her to my mom's with no milk, so I took a family sick day to stay home and be able to feed her. Is that ridiculous or what? I have some cooworkers that poke fun at the fact that I'm still pumping, and it pisses me off. They have no idea how hard it is. I can't do this with the next baby. I have to stay home at least a year so I don't have to pump. But that's a whole other long post. Ugh. I hate living in a country that makes it so difficult to be a SAHM (at least living in this area). or even give us a long enough maternity leave. *sigh* How do other moms do it?

Teacher blues

2009-01-29T20:53:00.004-05:00

I'm so bummed tonight. I finally got the official go-ahead to tell my one class (7th grade) that as of next week I'm no longer their Italian teacher. I totally did not expect the reaction I got. Some of my students were actually crying. I felt horrible, shocked and deeply touched at the same time. When you teach this age group, you usually get the feeling the kids could care less who's teaching them. School is typically not their top priority.
To make a long story short, because none of the administrators thought the other teacher would return from her maternity leave - she had twins and is a little older - they did plan accordingly for her return. They couldn't find a maternity leave replacement, so they divided her schedule between some of the rest of us. We were told not to say anything to the kids from the beginning. So, that brings me to today, informing them that we have 3 classes left together and trying to help them make sense of the situation. All they kept saying was "why our class?" "don't you want to keep us?" After class, one of the girls came to find me at my hall duty to give me a hug and tell me that she's so upset, disappointed and how she's going to miss me. I felt so bad, especially since I have mixed emotions about the whole situation. As I wrote yesterday, I'm relieved to have a little less work and more time, but I don't want to give up any of my classes.
I can just imagine what kind of response the parents will have. I would be pissed if I were in their shoes. I spoke to one of the assistant principals, telling her my students' reactions and that I'm sure parents are going to call. She pretty much agreed and said to go ahead and tell them the truth: I'm disappointed with the way this matter was handled, as is the principal, then direct them to my supervisor. So we shall see. What would you think if you were one of my students' parents? I'm debating whether or not I should write my own personal letter to them, just as a bit of closure: it was a pleasure to teach your child, etc. Good/bad idea?

where do I begin?

2009-01-28T12:10:00.004-05:00

I've been away from my computer for so long, I don't even know where to begin with this post. So much has been going on, and although I mentally "write" my posts daily on my long drive home, by the time I actually get home, I don't have any time to sit at the computer and blog. (Let's not even mention the fact that I should be sitting at the computer and doing real work such as lesson plans and grades - which I am procrastinating now on this lovely snow day) But there might be a light at the end of the tunnel. If you recall, when I went back to work I complained about having an extra course to teach to cover for a maternity leave. Well the teacher is finally coming back next week, so I go back to my normal workload of 5 classes. One extra class actually makes a big difference - in addition to having another 28 kids to keep track of, it's 28 more papers to grade, etc and one less period to do it in (although I'm not getting another "free" period - I'll have another hall duty, but I can get work done at that time). So although I'll greatly miss the extra pay (1/6 of my base salary), I'm looking forward to a little less work. I was beginning to lose my mind a bit.

In Alessia news, my baby is 9 months old today!! Happy birthday pupa! She's on the move now, crawling like a champ and climbing and walking along the furniture. The little daredevil likes to let go now and then as well. Sometimes it's like she has a hot pepper in her butt though. She won't stay still! Not a problem, until it's time for latte. Let's just say she's getting creative in her nursing positions:

Speaking of breastfeeding, as the time continues to fly by and we get closer to the 1-year mark, I have been thinking about weaning her. I never thought I would make it this far (especially with having to pump at work), and although some of my friends say they give me a lot of credit for continuing, I say I'm just a big baby when it comes to weaning. I can't bring myself to do it. So although I may say we'll stop at a year, I'm sure I'll still be breastfeeding her at least at night for as long as she wants. The plan now is to slowly start her on milk at a year during the day so I can finally end my relationship with the pump and the book closet.

Yes, this is where I spend 15 minutes a day so my angel can have her precious latte. Isn't it beautiful? The best is when I come out and there are a group of kids at the table. They look at me like "what the hell were you doing in the closet?" And the story is..."oh she's organizing the closet." It must be really messy for me to be in there every day all year! What a shame we have to concoct stories to hide what we're doing, like it's disgusting or inappropriate. And what a shame that in a work environment where all 3 administrators are women, they can't find/set aside a comfortable, clean, and private place for us working moms to pump. Oh well. At least it's not in a bathroom stall. And I get 15 min a day to actually sit and read. I've been working on The Omnivore's Dilemma since October, but finally getting close to finishing it! (More on that book later)

I know this is a loooong post, but just one more thing, then I'm off to try to accomplish some real work. Why are some women (especially fellow moms) so judgemental? I've been getting some annoying feedback, criticism, etc. about my parenting methods and attempts to be green. Why can't people just let me be? I'm not saying anything about what they do in there own lives. But why can't they just honor my wishes, especially when it comes to my baby and what toys, food, etc I expose her to? Apparently I'm a wack job and a difficult mom. Whatever. At least I'm not the only one! I'm sure I'll be back to gripe about this topic some more later. For now I'm off to grade some quizes.

Routine, routine, routine

2009-01-18T21:12:00.002-05:00

Is there such a thing as too much routine when it comes to a baby? Mark and I don't keep Alessia on a strict schedule, time-wise, but we do have a routine we typically stick to. After spending a week at my mom's while he was on a business trip, I began to wonder if our nightime routine is, well, too routine. Here's what we do:

some after dinner silliness downstairs - usually some more playing or goofing around in front of the hallway mirror
bathtime - and this has its own routine:

silly dancing around to the Black Eye Peas "Pump it" (Alessia just loves it) and stripping down for the bath
watching daddy fill the tub and play hide-and-seek with the baby in the mirror
bath time - always the three of us
some more mirror sillyness while daddy cleans the tub and toys

play with the cheesy electric light-up fish tank while I moisturize her and put on her diaper
"latte" and story time: Mark and I read to her as she nurses
Daddy and Alessia play around with their mirror counterparts
Spell Alessia's name on her door (she has an adorable sign that she always looks at and makes her smile)
And finally, put her down to sleep.

This routine just kind of evolved since I went back to work, and it works for us. The problem arose when I tried to do it alone or with my mom's help last week. Alessia screamed bloody murder at bathtime and tried to climb out of the tub. All week I could only manage to give her spongebaths and putting on her pjs was a struggle. I guess she was looking for daddy. She tolerated mommy-only story time and me putting her down, but man was it a rough week. We're both glad daddy came home!
Now Mark and I are wondering if we're too routine with her. She can tolerate differences when we're home, for example when our weekly dinners with Danielle go late and we have to skip a bath, she's perfectly fine. I dunno. What do you think? Is it possible to be too routine?

Will you stop growing up already??!!

2009-01-14T20:17:00.003-05:00

Alessia is getting bigger way too fast! Last Tuesday she started "big girl" crawling, and now she's a speed demon and has figured out how to do it on the slippery hardwood floor. We're in big trouble when we finally go home from my mom's on Friday. The house is totally not ready for a mobile baby yet! Her new thing is to climb up things and use them to walk around. She's always so proud of herself when she does it to. Huge smile on her face. And the girl has no fear! She'll just let go and BOOM! I'm usually good about catching her, but today I just couldn't get a good grip and she hit her head on the wood floor :o( I definitely freaked out, but after a kiss from mommy, she was fine. I guess she really didn't hit it as hard as I thought. I keep trying to tell her she's a baby, not a big girl yet! And stop growing up!! I think she'll definitely be walking before her first birthday, which seems to be sneaking up on us. I can't believe she'll already be 9 months at the end of this month!
Ugh...why can't they just stay little and helpless for just a little longer? At least she's still nursing, so that makes me feel better. And this week, it's been just the two of us sleeping in the bed at night and she's been adorable when waking for a feeding. I guess she can't really see me because the room is much darker than ours at home, and she just woke me up by reaching out for my face and holding it with both hands, then nuzzling me. Got to love bedsharing!

And we're back!

2009-01-12T10:26:00.003-05:00

Ugh...I orignally started this blog as a forum to talk about my "adventure" as a new mom when I was on my maternity leave. Then I went back to work, and any shred of "free" time has vanished. It sucks, because I feel like as a working mom, I need this outlet more than before, but have absolute no time for myself to actually sit down and write down my thoughts. I called out sick today to take a "mental" day (also my mom has had to work for the past 2 weeks, so it has been a little difficult with Alessia). I don't want to complain too much, because I know there are a lot of working moms out there who have it much more difficult than I, but this really sucks. I'm so behind at work: partly due to the extra course I'm teaching (=one less period to do my work), and because I can never find time to do it at home. Well I guess that's a lie. More like I'm not really willing to do it at home. By the time I get home from my mom's every afternoon, I have about 2 hours before Alessia goes to sleep. Subtract the time to make and feed her dinner, and there really isn't a lot of time to spend with her. I didn't have a baby to plop her in the pack and play or in front of the tv while I work. I want to enjoy her. I don't want to wake up one morning and realized I missed my little girl growing up because I was grading papers or typing lesson plans. Before I had her, I was all about work and took pride in my lessons. Now I feel like I have great ideas but neither the time nor the energy to actually execute them. *sigh* Oh well, I can only do so much.

Enough whining. For those of you (namely Tina enjoying her adventures in NZ) that check this for updates on Alessia, here's all the excitement that's been going on here:
What she's doing:

"big-girl" crawling. Yup, she's officially on the move. She actually started last Tuesday, and is getting faster and faster. She loves chasing Danielle's cats.
pulling herself to standing in her crib. Started that on Friday. Not so excited about that one. We have to lower the mattress again. She is so cute when she does it though...huge smile on her face - she's so proud of herself!
walking while holding on to her crib rail.

What she's "saying"

"dada", well actually more like "dadadadadadada"
"mmmmm" but no mama yet
"nanananana"
and still doing the "gremlin" noises.

What she's eating:

big-girl food, cut into chunks. Though she absolutely refuses to feed herself. She'll pick up the pieces and mash them between her fingers, but won't put them in her mouth. She leans forward for me to do it. Which is okay by me. I don't want her growing up too fast!
chunks of:

broccoli
cheese
banana
kiwi
sweet potato
pasta

pastina
yogurt
chicken
turkey
pork
beef
and all the "starter" fruits and veggies

Suprisingly (even to myself), I'm still making all of her food. She has actually never tasted prepared baby food. I guess it turned out being a lot easier than I originally thought, so I've kept up with it. God knows it's been saving us a lot of money, especially combined with the fact that we're still not giving her formula.

Ooh, and the biggest news....my little baby has teeth! One officially "out" - bottom right rises up from the gums. Bottom left has cut through the gums, and top right is just about through as well. I just noticed the top one last night while I was tickling her on the floor. I don't have any pics because she refuses to show us her teeth, but hopefully soon. I'm at my mom's for the week while the hubs is in AZ, so I don't have any pics to upload right now, but if you check out Danielle's weekly winners, she has two of Alessia from Sat.

One of my new year's resolutions was to try to find time (ha!)for myself to continue blogging and get back into yoga, so hopefully I'll be back tomorrow with a new post!

More firsts

2008-12-19T12:58:00.002-05:00

My little baby girl is getting so big! On Wednesday, she had her first haircut! Although my mother has told me (on more than one occasion) that "they" say you shouldn't cut their hair until after they're a year old, I just had to do it. When wet, her hair actually reached past her shoulders, but it was only a this strip of hair across the middle of the back of her head and it was constantly getting all knotty and tangled. So after her bath, I snipped off her adorable curls! She was so fidgety, that Mark had to hold her instead of taking pics, but we did get it on video. I just haven't had the time to download it yet. Although she no longer as the curls in the back (though it was more frizz than curl), she's still a cutie. You'll probably think I'm a nut, but I did save the hair. Now I just have to find one of those little boxes that says "Baby's first curls".

Her other first: she's cutting her first tooth! Yup! On Wednesday night as we were doing our usual pre-bath dance, I noticed a little slit in her gums and the unmistakable whiteness of a little tooth! I've been trying to get a picture, but of course she won't open her mouth now. She's been rubbing her tongue over her gums and cracks me up.

In other news, we've been continuing to sign with her. She has already signed "milk", though never for me (she has her own gesture when I'm with her, can you guess what she does?) and responds with grunts or frantically waving her arms when you sign milk, more, eat, and water. After hanging out with Danielle and Eliza, I can't wait for Alessia to start using signs. Check out Danielle for an adorable video of her daughter signing. She's amazing!

Today we have a snow day, so I'm trying to get some last minute gifts online while Alessia sleeps. Then we're off to a playdate with Eliza!

Not-so-Wordless Wednesday

2008-12-10T07:00:00.001-05:00

"That's shocking!"

More yummy food

2008-12-08T07:00:00.002-05:00

Alessia is just loving "big people" food. We have now introduced protein (meat) into her diet. After her Thanksgiving meal of turkey and sweet potatoes, we have tried chicken and beef. She loves either of them mixed with peas and carrots - which I think taste like chicken soup and beef stew - and chicken with butternut squash. When I first started making her baby food, I didn't think I would do the meats, but now I realize it's just as easy as the fruits and veggies. If we're going to eat chicken, I just make some plain for her. Same with the beef. And since she'll eat her food pretty thick, I don't have to water it down too much or puree it to death. It still manages to look a little appetizing.

chicken with peas and carrots

Chicken with butternut squash

No picture of the beef, sorry. Actually that one didn't look too appealing, but it tasted good! Thanks to my little cuisinart mini chopper thing, it takes no time at all.
Any other suggestions for meals? Other combos?

First Christmas

2008-12-07T16:13:00.004-05:00

The first of many firsts this month: Alessia cut down her first Christmas tree! (ok, she watched daddy cut it down)

We usually go out in a big group with my inlaws and their friends, but we just couldn't justify making the trek into PA 1 1/2 hours just to get a tree and torture the baby. We decided to go local, so we all went our separate ways. Besides, I'd much rather support a local business. So after a yummy yummy breakfast with Danielle, Pete and Eliza, the three of us went to a local tree farm. It was cold (though not nearly as cold as today, when everyone else went), but Alessia and I kept each other nice and warm. Poor baby couldn't really move her arms in that big jacket, but she was really well behaved.
Today we decorated the tree, and although I thought to video tape that, I didn't take any pics. Since she's uber-curious these days, I put her in the sling as I hung ornaments. She loved it, except when I wouldn't let her touch the tree or the glittery ornaments.
Now it's officially Christmas time. No more "normal" music..have to find the holiday tunes on Sirius, and have to get some more presents for the family. Very exciting!

Oh, and I did feel a little guilty cutting down a tree just for decoration. But we apologized to Mother Nature and are planning to plant a tree in the spring to make up for it. Yes, I know I'm looney.

Go Elf yourself!

2008-11-29T16:44:00.002-05:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Thank you! We'll be here all week!

Happy Thanksgiving (better late than never!)

2008-11-29T10:11:00.005-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

Not only was this Alessia's first, but also our first time hosting Thanksgiving. Since both my brother and sister are out of the country, I had my parents over along with mark's, his brother wife and kids. I think it was a success. Of course I continued my mom's tradition of making entirely too much food, but now we have lots of yummy leftovers. For those of you who enjoy cooking, here's two yummy recipes we made: Porcini mushroom turkey and Cauliflower and brussels sprout gratin with Pine nut breadcrumb topping from Bon Appetit magazine. In addition, the menu featured 8 other sides (yes I'm crazy): roasted artichokes, rice stuffing (a tradition in my family), broccoli rabe, cranberry sauce (made fresh), sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, roasted squash and parsnip medley, and corn bread. Oh and we started with a few appetizers: bruschetta, mixed antipasto and cheese and crackers. Thankfully, my in-laws made dessert: apple and pumpkin pies and my sisterinlaw made cookies. Can't wait to see the gas bill after having the oven and stove on all day, but it was well worth it. The turkey came out delicious; I splurged and got an all-natural free range turkey from the local butcher, and I swear you can taste a difference.
Alessia was sooo well behaved and sat at the table through the whole long dinner, mostly in her high chair, then passed around like a hot potato. She enjoyed some sweet potatoes (actually ate all of mine) and some turkey. It was so exciting to see Alessia enjoy her own little thanksgiving dinner. I pureed some of our turkey and added some sweet potato. She sucked it down like there was no tomorrow!

This Thanksgiving, I was so thankful for my beautiful little girl and my wonderful husband (as well as the rest of the family and all our friends).

And now the holiday season has officially begun! We're off to the mall to visit Santa, people watch and get some presents. Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Mamma's going it alone

2008-11-16T19:11:00.003-05:00

:o( Mark is on a business trip for the next 3 days, so Alessia and I have packed up and gone to my mom's. There's no way I could've gotten her here in the mornings and get to work on time (nor do I really want to stay home all alone with her through the night). Although I'll definitely enjoy the time with my mom and all the free meals, I miss the hubs and our own routine. It was really sad doing bath and story time alone with Alessia. We've started a new routine: we used to sit on the bed and read a few books, then I would nurse her, however lately she's been reaching for me as soon as we sit down, so Mark will lean in and read her the stories by my shoulder so she can drink and see the book at the same time. It's definitely harder to do by myself, but we survived! And although she went down easily for bedtime take 1, I'm dreading the night. No, she still doesn't sleep through the night. But Mark and I have a little system going that works for us. When she wakes up the first time, she only wants me, so I pick her up and she instantly puts her head on my shoulder and goes back to sleep. But she won't let me put her down, so I slowly pass her off to Mark, who she always lets put her down. The next time, Mark usually gets her and brings her in the bed to eat, then whenever I wake up again and notice her still in the bed, he brings her back to her room. So tonight should be interesting. Wish me luck! I'll need all I can get to make it!

Where did the time go??

2008-11-10T19:43:00.002-05:00

Sorry I've been MIA - things have been hectic around here and I just don't know where the time went. Work is really getting to me. I'm having a hard time juggling everything and having any spare moments to even think, let alone blog. I guess I can't be supermom and a superteacher at the same time. Something's bound to be half-assed, and right now it's definitely the teacher. My heart just is not in it for the first time since I started teaching. I would so much rather be home with my baby. But that ain't happenin, so let's move on, shall we?

Since I don't have much time these days, I'll give a quick rundown of what's been happening:
New foods for Alessia:

bananas - she loves them, but they don't love her.
green beans - did NOT like them at first. Actually gagged and puked (well the puking is Mark's fault. He made me give her another spoonful just so he could see her make a sour face, then she puked it all up) But after a few attempts and mixing it with brown rice cereal, she eats it.
carrots - yum! They're sweet, so of course she loved them
mangoes - these she just can't get enough of, probably because they taste like candy
oatmeal - prefers it to rice cereal

What she's doing:

sitting up on her own for long periods of time. She will actually sit and play with her toys. Until she starts getting nosy and looks around and...KABOOM! falls over.
a kind of military crawl, a few paces, then rolls over or "swims" on the floor
stands up holding onto the bars of her gymini - this is her absolute favorite. Sometimes she throws a fit if you don't let her stand up to play.
"walks" when you hold her under her arms. Actually puts one foot in front of the other and will walk for as long as you hold her.
making all sorts of sounds, and LOUDLY! She's been doing a lot of "singing" lately

um...I think that's about it! Now I should go do some real work *sigh* Is it June yet??

oh yea, I forgot, yay Obama!! As Oprah said, "Hope won". I'm so excited to bring Alessia up with a true example of "you can be whatever you want to be".

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-01T21:40:00.003-04:00

Okay, I'm a day late. But now you get pictures! After driving all over creation...

first stop: Mark's office. The accountant taped an envelope to Alessia that read "I only take cash" and brought her around the office, making people put money in. I was soooo embarassed.

Second stop: Livingston Camera Mart to visit the in-laws. Alessia had a blast flying through the air. Did you know turtles could fly?

Third stop: My parents. Some family and friends stopped by to see her as well. She had fun playing with candy (no I didn't let her eat any, but she loved playing with the M&Ms and Skittles packs)

Finally, home. Tick-or-treating with her best friend, Eliza (and Danielle and Pete too)

Where should we go?

Any yummy candy for mommy?

I thought I was pretty creative with the sling. You could still see her shell that way, although people still couldn't tell she was a turtle. "Cute frog!" "oh she's a dragon!" "Is she a slug?"

yum yum yum

2008-10-30T20:45:00.004-04:00

it's official, Alessia looooves food. And loves to let you know she loves it. She insists on "singing" while you feed her. Tonight she practiced her "eeee" and "aaayyy" sounds while she chowed down on some butternut squash. Cute, but makes it difficult to feed her. Today she also had avocado for the first time. My mom said she made a funny face at first, but still ate it. So far, she hasn't rejected anything. Soon to come: oatmeal (we've been eating brown rice cereal), peas, green beans, and carrots. I have to get some recipes for some yummy combos for her as well. Any suggestions?

Tomorrow I'm playing hookie from work so I can spend the whole day with her and show her off in her costume. We're driving all over creation to make the rounds to all the "important" people, then back home to do some trick-or-treating with Danielle, Eliza and Pete. Can't wait!

Wordless Wednesday

2008-10-29T20:38:00.003-04:00

...and we're back!

2008-10-28T19:36:00.004-04:00

Sorry I've been MIA (though did anyone really care?). There have been plenty of blog-worthy events and topics, however for various reasons - being freakin exhausted, having to self-censor, and having absolutely no time to do anything - I haven't posted a thing. So here's some news:

Alessia is 6 months today! How the hell did that happen?! She's too cute. I'm too lazy to download any pics because this computer is too slow for my patience tonight, so I'll have to add some tomorrow. But here's just a few amazing (well at least to me) things she has been doing:

make an array of noises, some even I can't make
transfer objects from one hand to the other, even tiny pieces of ribbon on her toys
sit up with minimal assistance
rock on all fours - actually she kind of does like a military crawl, but gets annoyed after a while and decides it's just faster to roll around to get places
anticipate what's going to happen in her favorite bedtime books - every night when we read The Going to Bed Book, right before the last line "...they rock and rock and rock to sleep." she starts to smile and giggle cuz she knows we're about to rock her. When we read Good Morning, Good Night, she gets ansy for the last page where she can play with the little blanket that covers the baby.
she's starting to love "peek-a-boo"
she gives me huge, tight hugs when I pick her up from my mom's everyday

She's been enjoying "big people food" for the past 2 weeks, and so far has had apple sauce, pears, bananas, sweet potato and butternut squash. She's loved them all, and gets so excited when she sees the bowls coming. It's all been homemade, so I'm happy she likes them.

She was supposed to have her 6 month check up tomorrow, but when I didn't get a call from the office to confirm, I called them only to find out that someone cancelled the appointment without calling me, and she wasn't in the system. So we're going next week. No biggie. I'm happy she's not getting shots tomorrow, but really wanted to see how much she weighs. I guess I'll just have to wait!

Wordless Wednesday

2008-10-22T20:49:00.006-04:00

more big people food and other updates

2008-10-19T19:34:00.005-04:00

This weekend Alessia had applesauce for the first time! (homemade) The first time we got a mixed review when she had it separately - I don't think the apples I used were really sweet. But she ate it when I mixed it into the cereal. Today she was uberexcited when she saw the bowl, and was lovin the cereal, but still not excited about the apples on their own. I mixed it in, and then kept sneaking her some apple-only spoonfuls on the side.

Yesterday I also made her pears and sweet potatoes and froze them. I figure we'll try the pears Wed. then try either the sweet potatoes or squash on Sat. Should be fun!

So while food has been going well, Alessia's sleep patterns have been horrible. For the past week, she has been waking up around 10 screaming and will only calm down if I go get her. If Mark gets her she continues to wail and look for me. As soon as I pick her up she falls back asleep, but I can't get her to go back in her crib. I wonder if she could be having nightmares? Last night while I was holding her, she started to whimper then cry again in her sleep like she was scared. I tried a night light earlier in the week but it didn't seem to make a difference. I'll try it again tonight, and hoping it will work. Before going back to work, getting her to go to bed and sleep had gotten so much easier. The past two months have felt like we took 3 steps back. I just hope it'll get better soon! I can't take all these wakings during the night when I have to get up before 5 in the morning.

Okay, I've procrastinated doing my lesson plans enough. I'm off!

Wordless Wednesday

2008-10-15T20:18:00.001-04:00

From 20081011 First REAL Food

yumm-o

2008-10-12T17:24:00.002-04:00

Day 2 of real food for Alessia: organic brown rice cereal again this morning, just thicker. Big success. Most of it actually stayed in her mouth and got to her belly this time. And Mark called it - she's a hummer. Just like sometimes when she nurses, she likes to hum while she eats. Today she kept grabbing the spoon as I put it in her mouth and wouldn't let me take it out. I had to grab another spoon for her to play with just so I could pry the other one out of her clutches. When she finished what was in the bowl, she cried and made her usual panting for more food noises, so I made a smidge more and a bit thicker. She loved it. It's very exciting around here!

So now we start thinking about fruit and veggies. I started looking on the web for some recipes and advice on what should really be organic (the so-called "dirty dozen") and what doesn't really matter, and what to start with. Danielle led me to wholesomebabyfood, which I found very useful. Got a few basic recipes and went off to the store to get provisions.

Day 1: Applesauce. I used the apples we picked last weekend. Believe it or not, this is the first time I've ever made it! It's not a typical dish you'd find in an Italian household, so I actually needed a recipe for it. Boy did I feel dumb when I realized all you had to do was peel, core, chop and boil/steam them. But it was fun. Alessia was very interested in the whole process.

I didn't buy enough trays to make more than one kind of food in a day, so I'll have to do a little at a time. What's to come: Butternut and acorn squash, sweet potatoes, peas, green beans, and pears. As we introduce them, I'll let you know what she likes.

You know, I never imagined I would be the kind of mom I am: breastfeeding, babywearing, green (as much as I can be), and making my own babyfood. But I'm loving it. Except for the part where I have to go to work everyday. I could live without that for now. And I think that surprises me the most.

My little baby is growing up!

2008-10-11T22:00:00.000-04:00

My little girl is growing up! We made the decision to start her on cereal this weekend (which I know my family thinks we should've done like 2 months ago). Alessia has been super interested in food for about the past month, drooling like crazy and "chewing" when she sees us eating. If she's on my lap, she reaches for my food and stares at me as I put it in my mouth, following the fork with her eyes. I was very adamant about waiting until she was 6 months, keeping her diet exclusively breastmilk. We almost made it - she'll be 6 months in about 2 weeks. This past week, her usual bottles just weren't cutting it for her, and even on my days off, she was eating like a fiend. There is no way I can get more milk for her, so rather than trying to increase the quantity, I decided it was time to introduce cereal. Why not just supplement with formula you may ask? We've made it this far without it, it doesn't make sense to start for two weeks.

So how'd it go? Take a look:

At first she didn't know what to do with it, but after a while, she was real excited and doing a pretty good job getting it down. So over the next few days we'll experiment with the thickness of it (it was very soupy today), then I guess we'll start to add some fruit. We're using HappyBaby organic brown rice cereal to start with, then I want to try the oatmeal and multigrain. I haven't been able to get their frozen food yet - none of the stores near me carry it, so I got someEarth's Best stage 1 pears to start. I've also hear good things about Tasty Baby from Danielle, so am thinking about trying that out. I really want to try making my own food, I just have to find the time and get some appropriate size (and safe) containers to freeze it in. I was planning on making apple sauce with the apples we picked, but have not gotten around to it yet and we've already eaten most of them. So it's off to the store or maybe the farm next door. I also got some yummy squashes from the farm that I figured I would roast and puree.

I would gladly welcome any yummy recipes you have that your babies enjoyed or any suggestions of products.

Another day off

2008-10-09T19:54:00.004-04:00

I had off today due to the holiday, so I got to spend the day with my bambina. What a beautiful day it turned out to be! We went for two walks with our buddies, Danielle and Eliza, and then played for a bit at the playground in our development. But of course I didn't have my camera with me, which was a shame. She was so cute sitting in the plastic airplane rocking back and forth (and of course I'm sitting there thinking "how toxic is this stuff?") We'll have to make it over there again with a camera.

Today she started doing the cutest thing. She smacks her lips together, kinda like a big fish (Mark would know exactly what kind of fish to compare her to, but not me) making this cute "popping" noise. Too cute.

As she played with, or rather ate, some toys in her room, I started to go through her drawers and closet and put away all the clothes that don't fit her anymore or that are too summery. I can't believe how fast she's growing up! (or just how many clothes she has!) It did suck putting away some things that she only wore once, but hey, I guess that's what happens. Maybe I'll have another girl (in the very distant future) so we can use all these clothes. If not, we'll just pass them down to someone else's baby I guess.

Speaking of growing up, stayed tuned to see what big step Alessia makes this weekend!

Fun times

2008-10-06T20:55:00.002-04:00

We have been very busy around here lately. Saturday, we went to a baby and toddler expo with Danielle and Eliza. It was fun, but a loooong drive, at least in my world. But the girls were fabulous and slept there and back. One major complaint about the expo: the entrance they told us to use was not stroller accessible! We ended up wearing the girls and lugging the strollers up the stairs. I don't know why we bothered bringing the strollers in...neither girl really stayed in them long. We just never learn! I was really looking forward to Deidre Imus' seminar on "growing up green", but it ended up being a disappointment. She started almost a 1/2 hour late, and spent most of the time just scaring the crap out of me with statistics about childhood chronic illnesses, cancers, etc, etc. (which I already know), then basically was just plugging her products and book. I was hoping for some practical info, like what I could start doing at home. So we bolted - it's not like the girls were really sitting there quietly anyway. Then we made it to the expo floor, and I have to say I was a little disappointed at the lack of freebies or samples. Just mailing lists. Although I did end up winning a discount on a sitting with a professional photographer (which I'll never use) and Eliza was a finalist in the cutest baby contest.

Yesterday we went apple and pumpkin picking with the inlaws and Danielle, Pete and Eliza. Although the weather was yucky, cool and wet in the morning, we had a fun time. Got a few apples (time to learn how to make apple sauce for Alessia - any good recipes?) and a lot of great shots. Here are my faves:

Do moms get sick days?

2008-10-02T16:05:00.004-04:00

It was about time I got sick. I made it almost 5 weeks this year before it hit. Tuesday night, I had the worst sore throat, and of course Alessia had a rough night and I lost count how many times she got up. I went in yesterday, but was absolutely miserable and by the end of the day, I was almost near tears every time I swallowed. So I prepped for a sub just in case. I woke up this morning to a little less pain, but now my ears itch as well as my throat. Fun! So I called in sick. But do we moms really get sick days? Of course not! Though my mom offered to take Alessia for the day, it just didn't make sense for Mark to take her there and pick her up after work. They wouldn't have gotten home until 6. So I ended up getting a second day home with my bebe!

She woke up at 5:30, much to my dismay, and would not go back to sleep. She rolled around in my sheets for a bit, then I put her in the pack and play (whichis still next to our bed) and she played in there a bit, but I couldn't hold her off for long. So after a couple diaper changes and a feeding, we decided to go out for a walk with Danielle and Eliza - cuz that's what you do when you're sick, right? I just needed some fresh air, but definitely did not have the energy for our normal loop today. But Alessia was sooo cute in the little sweater my friend Meri knit for her and the hat a colleague crocheted, I had to snap a shot:

AFter the walk, mommy got a great nap while Alessia lay passed out in her crib. After that, we've just been chillin, and of course I waste all other nap times online rather than doing work around the house or work work that I really need to do.
She's turned into quite the roller - you can't turn your head for a minute or she's across the room! God help us when she starts crawling! Here are some cute shots from the day

Oh and for those of you that care, apparently her rash is a reaction to her poop. Something in my diet is the culprit, so it's time to start eliminating again. First round: all dairy (again) and soy - though I don't think it's the dairy, but we shall see!

Win a handbag!

2008-10-02T12:39:00.003-04:00

In addition to my crazy shoe obsession, I love handbags, and thanks to Dana, I found out about this great giveaway! Handbag planet is giving away a handbag every hour for 24 hours to celebrate their launch. Go check them out! They have a great selection of bags, and I know even though us moms are usually just toting around a diaper bag, it's nice to have some awesome accessories for those sans-baby moments or for when we finally don't need those big bags!
So what are you waiting for??!! Go get yours!

Wordless Wednesday

2008-10-01T20:28:00.003-04:00

weekend updates and happy 5 month bday!

2008-09-28T17:20:00.001-04:00

Happy 5 month birthday Alessia!! Wow, I can't believe it's been 5 months since I heard the doctor say "it's a girl!" after 32 hours of labor. It has flown by so fast! Look at my big girl!

Since I'm so bad at posting, here are all my updates:
Alessia still has that funky rash, so she's off to the dr. tomorrow. But I have a meeting after school, so daddy will be taking her. Can't wait to see what transpires. It doesn't seem to bother her at all, just looks nasty.

She's still talking up a storm, but now she's even doing it while eating. That's been fun. She makes these crazy grunting sounds then moves on to her cooing and gurgling, with milk sputtering out of her mouth. I guess it can be cute sometimes (it would be cuter with a bottle).

She had a growth spurt over the past week or so and all of a sudden none of her clothes fit. The pants are all too short and her shirts are turning into belly shirts. Mamma has to go shopping!

We've been reading to her forever, and she usually sits and stares at the pages as we read. Her favorites at the moment are Where's Spot? (flip up book) and Good Morning, Good Night (a touch and feel bedtime book). This week she just started getting interested in the flaps in Where's Spot? Thursday she spent about 20 minutes lifting the flaps and turning the pages.
At bedtime, when we read Good Morning, Good Night, we have to stay on the last page for about 10 minutes so she can play with the little fleece blanket that covers the little girl sleeping in her bed. She's too cute!

Friday night we went out to dinner with my parents and sister as a sort of "goodbye" to her before she leaves for New Zealand. Well technically she already left - her flight was supposed to leave around 3:30 today but got delayed, I wonder if she's in the air yet? I'm surprisingly really upset over all this. For those of you who don't know, my sister has decided to go backpacking around New Zealand for the next 7 months. She got a work/holiday visa. It's really really cool, and I'm so proud of her for doing it. She planning on doing some WWOOFing (willingly working on organic farms) and just traveling around working odd jobs to cover her expenses. Then she's off to Thailand to do some volunteer work. She's amazing. But I'm still her big sister and am worried to hell. She just has too much faith in humanity and trusts people too easily - though she does have a good head on her shoulders. I just worry and share my mom's fear that we'll never see her again. I know it's awful, but it's the truth. At least she has started a blog so we can follow her. She just better keep it updated and remember to call home.

Yesterday, after a horrible car ride and detour through Manhattan, we got to visit some family in Queens. Alessia had a blast playing with her cousins. They were all so cute together! Alessia kept grabbing Ava's arm and "petting" her. She didn't even care when Ava grabbed her face and stuck her thumb in her eye. She was just in heaven playing with fellow little people. I'm so excited for Christmas this year because I can already see they're going to have so much fun together. But god help us when the get older!cousins Ava (in grey) and Olivia.

Ava and Alessia

This week I get Tuesday off for the holiday and am so excited to spend the day with Alessia. Big plans: go for a morning walk with Danielle and Eliza, do some shopping, and just hang out with my bebe. Can't wait!

Another round of shots

2008-09-24T20:54:00.002-04:00

No that those kinds of shots! I'm talking about vaccines. For those of you that have been following and paying attention to my rambles, at last month's checkup I refused two of Alessia's vaccines so she wouldn't get 4 at a time. So I had to go back this month to get them. Although I always dread these visits and feel sick to my stomach when it's time for them to "shoot 'er up", I figured it wouldn't be that bad. They weren't giving her another checkup with the dr., just a visit with the nurse (since they do all the "work" at the visits anyway). I figured, how long could it possibly take? AN HOUR. Yes, that's right, we waited in the waiting room for an hour before they called our name. While we did make friends with a cute 9 year old girl who even mopped up Alessia's drool for her while she was making her laugh, we did not enjoy it. Alessia started to get real cranky - she missed a nap and a feeding during that time. So she was already screaming before they even pricked her. Oh and the best part, they didn't even put us in a room for the shots. They just called us over to the nurse's station, had me expose her thighs (aka take off her pants) and sit her on my lap as they gave her the shots. Last time, I was able to sit in the room for a few minutes after to nurse her to help soothe and calm her after, but not this time. I was, and still am, so pissed. Next month I'm calling ahead to ask how their schedule is running. If they're running late, they can call me at home when they're ready! I'm not sitting in the waiting room for an hour again. Oh and did I mention the attitude they had when I asked (crying baby in hand) how much longer it would take?
Are all doctor's offices like this? Or am I the only lucky one?

Oh and she's been fine since the shots - no fever or irritability. Yay! Though she does have some kind of a rash, totally unrelated, that I can't figure out. She has ubersensitive skin and I think it may be eczema, but it's on her upper thigh/butt cheek. I dunno. I'll call the dr if it's still there at the end of the week. Wonder how long I'll have to sit in the waiting room for that one.

how fast time flies by...

2008-09-21T20:54:00.003-04:00

I just can't seem to get the hang of my new schedule and find time to post and comment on the blogs I follow (I'm still reading, just can't comment from work!) Time just keeps whizzing by.
Speaking of time...last night was Mark's and my 10 year high school reunion. Man did that creep up on us quickly! We technically didn't go to the reunion, but showed up for the after party. Alessia is teething again and has been real fussy at night and I didn't want to leave my mom with that. So we headed out after she finally went to bed. It was a good time, though I'm paying for the late night today. As conceided as it sounds, one of the best parts for me was hearing how good people thought I looked after having a baby...All those morning walks with Danielle really paid off! I may feel like sh*t, but at least I apparently don't look it! Yay!
Not only was it weird to think how much time had passed by since I had seen most of these people, but then when we were playing "catch up" and I talked about Alessia, it was so weird to say that she was just about 5 months. Where did that time go??!! She's getting so big and so is her personality. When I look at what she can do now and how she interacts with us, it just amazes me and I can't believe how fast it's all going. Her newest things are this funky gurgling sound she makes nonstop and she finally got her foot in her mouth.
I would put a picture here, but still haven't had time to load any onto the new computer. Maybe I'll get a chance tomorrow. Instead I'm off to finish some laundry and pass out before round 2 of putting her back to bed.

long time no post

2008-09-16T21:09:00.002-04:00

So sorry I haven't been posting - I know some of you family peeps (especially those that have moved to another country for the next few months) check up for info on Alessia, but I have been exhausted!!! Actually I don't think that word even does it justice...I am waaaay beyond exhausted at this point. But let's not dwell. Here are some Alessia updates:
She's having another bout of teething this past week and was CRANKY at the end of the weekend/beginning of the week. The drooly monster has returned. But today she was back to her smiles and giggles, so we forgive her.
She's been "talking" up a storm. I think she's going to be just like her mamma - a big mouth! Her new sounds are funny gurgles and sounds she makes while sucking air in through her mouth. She gets a kick out of it. The gurgly sounds probably feel funny. And she looks at you like "you know what I mean?" I just immitate her or talk back and we both crack up.
Saturday night we finally made the big move: Alessia slept in her crib in her own room. She loved it, but I had a hard time. I kept going in there to check on her. She was sleeping so soundly, I couldn't tell if she was breathing and startled her a few times when I checked. She's still in there. I guess we all sleep better like that, although I do miss having her sleep snuggled up next to me in the bed sometimes. She still wakes up at least twice during the night, but Mark has been a big help and going to get her and bring her to me to eat, then I put her back.
Lately, she's been seriously eyeing our food, drooling like crazy when she watches us eat and has tried to grab food from my hands on occasion. But our dr. says it's best to wait until 6 months before introducing any food, so she's got a little over a month to go. Poor baby! You should see her when she watches her friend Eliza eat.

Um...I think that's it for now. Sorry there's no pics. We finally set up a new office and switched computers, so I haven't moved my files yet or had time to load any new pics on this comp. I promise to have some soon.
Now it's off to bed with my sorry ass so I'm not a complete zombie at back-to-school night tomorrow (my second one this week - oh the pleasures of teaching both 7th and 8th grade).

week 2

2008-09-11T19:58:00.003-04:00

We've almost made it through week 2 of being back at work...just 1 more day to go. It's been getting better and easier to leave her each day. Last week, when I would pick her up from my mom's she wanted nothing to do with me and was crabby all evening, which made me feel like crap. But this week she's been all smiles and giggles when she sees me walk through the door. Her new thing now is to wake up when I get in the shower and she just wants to play with us. Not cranky or anything - she saves that for my mom - but really freakin cute. She wakes up with a huge smile as soon as she sees me and starts giggling. It's almost like she misses us during the day and just wants some more time with us. Unfortunately for her, I don't have time so she goes in her swing or the bouncy in whichever room I'm in at the time. She has been crabby at night though, fighting sleep and getting up more often during the night and wanting to nurse. So I've just been keeping her in bed with me so I don't really have to wake up so much. I don't mind, in fact I think I sleep better when she's curled up next to me.

As far as actual work goes, I'm freakin exhausted! The extra class is killing me more this year than last year when I was pregnant, mostly because I don't have the luxury of staying after school to get stuff done. The kids are pretty good, except for a group in one of my classes - I can already tell it's going to be a looong year with them. I found myself giving the "I'm not a babysitter" speech already. Oh well. Oh and then there's the pumping. I had covered up the windows looking into my classroom so I could stay in there and do it during my prep, which my principal was aware of. Then the state came in on Tues for a walk-through inspection and told us we couldn't cover them (I'm not the only one). When I asked my principal where I could go she curtly instructed me to use the faculty bathroom within the girls bathroom. I freaked. It's basically a broom closet turned bathroom stall with a locking door. No outlet, nowhere to put the pump, and nast dirty. How disgusting! So I was a wreck, until I ran into a couple of fellow mom colleagues who were just as incredulous as I was by her directions and one of them (the school psychologist) offered me her office to use everyday. So that's working out well. She lets me use her computer to get some work done while I'm in there. Thank god there's some decent people in this world.
So, bottom line, we're surviving for now. Oh, I forgot - the cops think they caught the asshole that tried to break into my car. Yay.

Surviving the first week back

2008-09-07T20:43:00.004-04:00

We did it! We survived my first week back at work. It definitely wasn't easy, but it got better towards the end of the week. I was a little down though, because she was so fussy in the evenings and I began to feel like I'd never see her smile again! (Silly I know) But we just had the best weekend ever, and it makes it a little easier to go back to work tomorrow. Yesterday we just hung out inside - the weather was absolutely disgusting and we missed our morning walk - and played and played and played all day long. We got tons of belly laughs out of Alessia and she put up with all the kisses from mommy the kissie monster. She took one decent nap and I snuck out to get a pedicure with Danielle, which was much needed and enjoyed by us both. This morning the in-laws came down for brunch at the diner. Since it was such a beautiful day, we decided to walk there. I put Alessia in my batik ringsling, and hoofed it. She was great at the diner - actually stayed awake and cheerful (until she was hungry of course) and had some fun with nonnie and pop-pop. She's usually sleeping or in one of her cranky "I want mommy" moods when they see her, so this was a nice treat. I may not have gotten everything on my "to-do list" done, but I don't care. Alessia seemed so happy to stay home with us all weekend, I just had to eat it up.

Back to work in the morning and the exhaustion will set in again. But before we start the complaining again, here's a cute pic of my little "flashdancer" sporting her babylegs (a gift from Danielle and Eliza)
I'm a maniac, maniac on the floor. And I'm dancing like I've never danced before!

Day 2

2008-09-03T20:34:00.002-04:00

We survived another day. Today went much better since Mark took Alessia to my mom's. I can deal with giving her a hug and kiss goodbye then putting her in daddy's car. I can get her off my mind a bit while I"m driving by myself to work. And she's having a blast at my mom's. Today she rolled over from back to tummy in front of a witness for the first time. We know she's done it during the night, but could never catch her in the act. That was cool, though I did feel a little sad that I had missed it. But it's okay, I've been there for every other first so far.
Update on the car: it's officially ghetto-fab. The door handle fell off in my hand this morning when I went to open the door. Apparently the piece the asshole took also keeps the handle from snapping off. Then when I got to my mom's in the afternoon, what was left of the lock chamber fell out onto the ground when I slammed the door. Wonderful. Mark's taking it to the insurance adjuster tomorrow then we can finally get it fixed and I don't have to feel like a hoodrat driving it around and parking it at work.
I'm freakin exhausted. Have I mentioned what time I get up in the morning?? Alessia has been waking up for a second feeding between 3:30 and 4 and my alarm goes off at 4:30. Fun. It's starting to catch up to me. But alas, I still can't go to sleep yet - I have to prep for tomorrow's fun fun lessons. Those kids better enjoy it!

WTF????!!!!!

2008-09-02T20:58:00.003-04:00

I'll make this short, because I'm exhausted and going to head off to bed shortly. We survived my first day back at work, but not without some drama and a major WTF moment. Alessia woke up at 4:15 to eat, then my alarm went off 15 min later - oh what a joy it is to wake up so early :o( Everything went smoothly - I'll spare you the details of my new morning routine - and my little sticky notes throughout the house helped out. At 6:05, I went up to wake up my pupa and get her into Mark's car. No prob. She was happy and smiley and curious as to what was going on. I gave her a kiss and was proud that I had broken down again. Then I go to open my car door - here's the WTF moment - the door handle looked a little odd. It took me a moment to realize what was wrong. The keyhole cover-thingy (yes that's the technical term) was gone and the lock was exposed. Someone tried to break into my car during the night. Right outside the front door of my building. And I don't even live in a crappy area! And my car isn't even the nicest or most expensive in our development or even our lot! I didn't have anything valuable in there except maybe my EZPass. The creep didn't succeed in getting in and taking anything, but damaged my door while trying to bump the lock. What kind of asshole would break into a car with 2 carseats in the back?! Why??!! And why today of all days??!! Words can't expressed how freakin pissed off and upset I was. Mark stayed behind to call the cops to file a report and I had to take his car and drop Alessia off at my mom's. And that was horrible. I was an emotional wreck, and she just kept crying. My parents met me in the driveway to take her out of the car, because I just couldn't do it. Of course I started balling, called Mark and cried that I didn't want to go back to work. I cried about half of the way there, until Mark changed the subject to my car. Then I spent the rest of the time cursing out the MFer for messing with my car and making me feel violated.
Work went fine - I still have a ton to do tomorrow morning before my students arrive. Alessia had a great time with my mom and didn't seem to miss me at all (as my father so nicely pointed out to me). At least she's dealing with this well. I hope I get better at it.
Okay, off to bed to dream about sweet revenge if I ever find that creep that ruined my morning and my car.
So much for a short post.

Bye bye baby

2008-09-01T21:01:00.004-04:00

I've been dreading writing this post, but at the same time needing to do it. Tomorrow I go back to work. I've already broken down twice today just at the thought of leaving my baby and not being able to spend all my time with her. Can't wait to see what I do tomorrow. I know it would be even harder if I was leaving Alessia at a daycare or with someone I didn't know. I'm lucky my mom's watching her. But it's still freakin hard.
It's so funny how you change after having a baby. I always used to say that I give SAHMs a lot of credit because I couldn't do it. I thought I would be bored out of my mind, because that's what my summers were like when after I got married and was home alone. But after being home for the past 4 months with my beautiful girl, I can't imagine going back to work. Who would of thought?! I guess I've really changed since being a mom. I never thought I would breastfeed her, then when I started I figured it would only last until the end of the summer, but here I am with my pump all packed and ready to go to work with me. I envy my friend Danielle who left her job to stay home with her daughter. I wish our summer routine of morning walks and fun daytrips with the girls could go on forever.
I was always so into my work. I would stay in my classroom 2 hours after the end of the day to grade papers, prep, etc just to not have to bring work home with me. And the crazy thing was, I loved it! All I ever thought about was work and my students. This year I haven't even gone to my classroom to set it up. Usually I've already been there 3 or 4 times and the room is done. That's definitely adding to my anxiety about tomorrow. I have to cram into one day what I would usually do over the course of 4 days, and I know my heart just won't be in it and I'll be thinking about Alessia. *Sigh* I can't think about this anymore. I should just go to bed, because with my luck, she'll choose tonight to wake up every 2 hours and I'll be a zombie when my alarm goes off at 4:30 (I have to leave my house at 6 every morning because of the lovely traffic).
I give working moms a lot of credit...I just don't want to be one.

dirty diaper derby

2008-08-29T16:55:00.004-04:00

Today feels like it's dragging on forever! Alessia's visit to the doctor went well. My little peanut is now 11lbs 14oz, and 24in tall. Although she may seem small, the doctor was very pleased with how she's growing and that I'm continuing to exclusively breastfeed her. I turned down 2 of the 4 vaccines, so I have to go back next month to get them. I don't mind paying another copay - it's so worth it not to cause her so much pain. Speaking of pain, she did okay with the shots. I fed her right before she got them - which supposedly helps because it raises their glucose level or something like that - and then again right after to soothe her. Mark took her home in his car so that I can have one peaceful car ride. And wouldn't you know it, she slept for him?! She did cry a little, but then passed out. Figures! Oh, and I asked the dr. about her earring "injury", and he looked at me like I was crazy. She's fine, it'll heal, I don't have to do anything. And it does look much better. It didn't seem to bother her, but it really bothered me and made me feel bad for piercing her ears to begin with.

So far, no fever from the shots, but oh my god the poopy diapers! I think I've changed at least 4 already, which is more than usual for her these days. And she has mastered grabbing her toes, so of course when I put her on the changing table she goes for them. Makes it very difficult to put a new one on! The last one I put on took 3 attempts and then I realized she still had a cheek hanging out. But it's so cute when she grabs her feet! She looks at you like "Whoa! Now what do I do with them?" Oh and last night she let out the loudest, cutest, full-on belly laugh at bathtime. We've never heard anything like it! So cute...we hope she does it again tonight and we catch it on video.

sleepdeprived rambling mommy

2008-08-28T11:35:00.001-04:00

Due to lack of sleep, my brain is all over the place - hence the title of this post. No creativity today. So please excuse my rambles.

Attempting to go green: I've been inspired by my friend, neighbor and fellow blogger, Danielle, to try to go green. First, she opened my eyes to what kind of health products I was using on Alessia and directed me to Skin Deep to check the safety of what I was using. End result: I got rid of all the stuff I originally bought and got safer products. Alessia's skin actually seems better since getting rid of soaps and lotions containing fragrance. I would love to try cloth diapers after hearing her review after using them on Eliza, but my mom (who will be watching Alessia when I return to work) is not feeling it, so I'm keeping the disposable. Besides, I don't know how long I would last with them anyway with the yucky breastfed poopy diapers. Maybe when she's a little older and less disgusting down there. Next came cleaning products. I've always been a little weary about what kind of chemicals I'm inhaling every time I clean the bathroom - when I was pregnant, I refused to do it. Luckily Mark cleaned them for me. Then my aunt got me thinking about the cleaners I was using in the kitchen, and I started to worry a little. Danielle has reviewed some good eco-friendly cleaning products, but when you're on a tight budget and on maternity leave with no pay it's hard to rationalize to the hubs spending the green on greener cleaning supplies when we have a ton of "traditional" ones. She mentioned using vinegar to clean some things in the home, so I decidede to look into it and see just how far you could go. I found some info here and here on how to clean just about everything in your home with vinegar, baking soda and lemon juice. So I'm trying it out. So far, I've used distilled white wine vinegar in lieu of fabric softener. I was a little skeptical that my clothes would smell like stinky feet but they didn't. In fact, they were just as soft as when I use fabric softener. I've also used diluted vinegar to clean the kitchen and bathrooms with equal satisfaction. The faucets have never been so shiney! I used baking soda to clean my stovetop and was very impressed. It worked better than the commercial products I had been using to cut through cooked on grease. While I'm happy with my greener cleaning, I'm getting some slack from Mark and my mom, who both think I'm crazy. But I'm used to that, especially after I freaked out over the main ingredient (triclosan) in the antibacterial hand soap we all use and rushed to the store to get what I called "non-toxic" soap. See what happens when I read??

And the award for worst mommy in the world goes to....
Since Alessia was born, I sometimes feel like the worst mom ever. For example, when I let her sleep on her tummy, when she screams as if being tortured to death in the car, when I strap her into her stroller for a walk even if she's crying just so I can get out of the house and get some fresh air and drink my coffee. And this morning. As we embarked on our daily morning walk with Danielle and Eliza (which will be missed terribly starting Tuesday), Alessia fussed and cried as usual. Every few steps, I would stop to try to figure out what was wrong. Are the straps too tight? Is something pinching her? Did part of her body fall off and I didn't notice?? Then I check her earrings...the left one has dried blood caked on it. OH MY GOD WHAT HAPPENED!?! I have no idea when or how it happened, but it must have either gotten caught on something or she pulled it. Probably the latter since there was also a scratch on that side of her face, by her ear. Mind you, I had her ears peirced 5 weeks ago, and this never happened. This one earring was not as tight as the other, and when I got home and checked it as I cleaned it with alcohol, it looks like the back is pissed off and she cut it a little. Now her little earlobe looks a little swollen to me. Why in the world did I peirce her ears??!! Every little girl in my family has had their ears pierced around 3 months, so I didn't even think twice. I think they're adorable. However, I'm always freaking out that she'll get hurt. And now it has happened. And it's all my fault. She doesn't seem to care or be in pain -though maybe that's one of the reasons she woke up so much last night - but I feel horrible. We have a dr. appointment this afternoon (and she's getting shots again), so Mark said to just have him look at it. So he can look at me disapprovingly and confirm that I'm a bad mommy?? Just hand the award over now.

Speaking of the doctor - at her 8 week appt. they gave her 4 shots. Poor baby! 2 in each leg, so no matter what side I nursed her on, she was in pain. I told Mark he has to back me up, especially if I chicken out, but there is no way they're doing that again!! No more than 2 at a time. I don't care if I have to go back next week for the rest, but there's no need, in my opinion, to do so many at once. And I've spoken endless times about her Alessia hates hates hates the car, especially later in the day. Our appt is at 4:30 and the office is about an hour away, so I'm not looking forward to that drive. And I'm really not looking forward to the one home, especially after her shots and the night we had (nothing major, just no sleep for mommy). I think I'll pawn her off on daddy for that ride home. See, aren't I horrible??

Okay, I think that's enough rambling, don't you? If you actually read the whole thing, thanks!! If not, I don't blame you! I'll leave you with a pic of my cutie pie who is 4 months today!

Can I just wear her?

2008-08-27T09:35:00.002-04:00

So this morning I was thinking about having to return to work next week. Alessia woke up early - although nothing compared to my future work days - and I was begging her to go back to sleep. How the hell am I going to do this? She still doesn't sleep through the night, and lately has been waking up for a second feeding between 4 and 5. I'm guessing that to get out of the house by 6, I'm going to have to get up either right after she eats at 4 or set my alarm for that time. I'm still optimistic about being able to pump before leaving in the morning and then again at work, but we'll see how that goes and how long it lasts. All I know is that the coffee is definitely going to have to be ready for me in the morning, because there's no way I can live without it. It's funny, I was never really a hardcore coffee drinker before having her. Now I can't get by without my morning cup o'joe and sometimes need another later in the day.

As I was feeding her this morning and talking to her like I always do (I don't care if she can't understand me...it's venting), I thought "how about I just wear you to work?" Nobody cared when she was in my belly, how bout I just wrap her up and keep her on my belly throughout the day? Then I won't have to call 5o billion times throughout the day to see how she's doing. I know I'm crazy, I just don't want to leave her yet! But couldn't you just picture me teaching with her in my mobywrap or batik ringsling? Haha...I'm sure the kids would get a kick out of that and I would get soooo much done :o)

Oh well, a mom can dream, right? I better go get some cleaning done while Alessia takes her morning nap. My mom is on her way to keep her occupied while I attempt to regain some order in this house. Ha! I'll let you know if it actually happens.

Updates

2008-08-26T15:00:00.005-04:00

We've been busy busy busy around here, so I've been away from the computer. Here's our highlights since last Friday:

My sister finally found her luggage and got to Pozzallo. I haven't talked to her since because her cell isn't working in that tiny town for some reason, but I'm sure she finally got that drink and relaxed.

Saturday we went to Lewis Morris Park for a picnic with another couple we met in lamaze. They have a little boy, Luc, who is a week older than Alessia and just adorable! The babies had a good time - Luc tried to put the moves on Alessia.
And the daddies took them down the slide. The adults had a great time too, enjoying some "big people" conversation.

Then we stopped by a BBQ to see my inlaws and some of their friends to show off Alessia. There was a huge fire pit and citronella torches all over the backyard, so I was freaking out about the baby. No matter where I went, smoke followed. We all smelled gross. It's not good when your child smells like a bonfire.

Sunday we did some shopping - finally got a new desk so I could set up an office to clutter up. It just makes me think of work, and that sucks. I really don't want to go back next week and am really not looking forward to having to bring work home with me for the first time in 5 years. I'm still trying not to think about returning to work cuz I freak out. I'll let you know how it all works out.

Today we went to the Lehigh Valley Zoo with our friends Danielle and Eliza. It's a fun zoo, especially for little ones. Just like our last zoo visit, Alessia slept for the second half.
Here we are seconds before she passed out in front of the Emu. That stubborn bird kept walking around and hiding behind bushes, so he's not in the pic. But he was really cool!
Here's a cute one of Eliza after we stopped to feed the girls by the butterfly garden. She was a good girl and stayed in her stroller. I didn't bother this time and just put Alessia in the sling straight out of the car.
We saw some fun animals, and I took pics of all of them to make a little book for her, so when we go back next year she'll know them all!
Since Alessia slept for about an hour in the zoo, she was not a happy camper in the car. Danielle squeezed in between the two carseats in the back (thank God she's skinny as a toothpick!) and tried to calm my screaming baby. She passed out about 10 min before we got home. It was a 40 min drive. Thank God for Danielle and Eliza this summer! They've made it a blast, but also makes it hard to go back to work. I'll miss our adventures!

So that's it. Now my little peanut is napping and I have to get some stuff done. We'll see how far I get.

Last mommy's group

2008-08-22T09:58:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was our last mommy's group at Postpartum Place because I'm going back to work. It was so sad!! That group has been a life saver since I had Alessia. It got me through all the tough times I had with breastfeeding, Alessia's sleep problems in the being, and most recently, heading back to work. Even though it was a major pain in the ass to drive the hour to get there once a week, especially on days when we either got a late start because Alessia woke up late or when she was screaming in the car, it was always worth it. I just wish there was a place like it that's closer to us. But it's definitely one of a kind. Even if I did find another place closer, I probably would still make the trek up there because I just love Maria, Dawn and Sharon. Not only are they knowledgable, but hilarious and make you laugh it off sometimes. Maria especially, so I was so happy to see she was running group yesterday. Our relationship is not over, however. I have their phone number saved in my cell and on speed dial at home, so I'll be calling with any new questions as a venture into pumping at work.

******NEWSFLASH*********
Okay, so I started typing this post around 10:00 while Alessia napped. Since then, it has been pandamonium around here. I decided to pump while she was sleeping, and wouldn't you know it, as soon as I finished, she woke up and wanted to eat. But she was impatient and wanted a quick letdown, which wasn't happening, so I got her a bottle. As I'm feeding her, my aunt calls me - "Call your sister! She called from the airport crying and hung up." Apparently I'm the only one that can call Italy right now. So I call her cell. Let me preface this by telling you that my sister is one of the most independant women I know, even at only 22 years of age. She has travelled internationally alone, which is something I could never do. I can't even eat out alone! She's currently at the airport in Catania (Sicily). They have lost her luggage and she can't figure out what bus she's supposed to take to get to my grandfather's house in Pozzallo - about 2 hours away. On top of that, she's exhausted from traveling and hormonal (PMS), so she's a wreck. I'd be a wreck even without the hormones, so I totally understand. The people at the airport are complete assholes, especially to americans. My sister can get by in Italian, but apparently they're giving her the runaround and she can't find the bus. bHer friend is with her, but doesn't speak a word of Italian. My brother is in Pozzallo, but his cell is not working. So here I am, with Alessia talking away in my ear, and trying to fix this situation from the other side of the planet. I call my grandfather, who unfortunately is going a little senile these days, and has no idea who I am at first (though I never really call there, so the confusion is understandable). I try to explain the situation, then just ask to talk to my brother who I find out has gone to the beach and we can't get in touch with him b/c his cell doesn't work. So here I am, going back and forth b/w everyone - calling Italy, then my mom, blah blah blah. In the midst of this, Alessia poops, so I take her upstairs to change her, only to find that it has shot up the front of her diaper and is all over her stomache. How the hell do I clean that??!! So into the tub she goes - and I've never bathed her by myself before because I'm so afraid she'll slide into the water and drown. As I'm trying to hose her off, the phone rings...it's Mark, and I just freak out at him trying to explain everything, then hang up. Alessia is giggling away, because she thinks this is hilarious and is loving the extra bath. Once she's all dressed again, I call mark to explain everything and apologize in advance for the astronomical phone bill that will be coming. I get back in touch with my sister, who still can't find her luggage, and apparently my grandfather is going to pick her up now. My uncle called him to try to figure everything out, and this is apparently the new plan. Though my grandfather doesn't really like driving that far anymore, so I don't know what's going on. In the meantime, a bus to Pozzallo has come and gone, and the next one is not for another 2 hours, but they still can't figure out where the terminal is. For those of you that are wondering how confusing could it possibly be, let me tell you this: don't envision an airport like Newark or JFK...Catania is a small airport that has recently decided to become an international airport, so it's under construction. Since it's in Sicily, the construction will take FOREVER. It was confusing before they started working, so God only knows what it looks like now. I told my sister to head to a bar as soon as she gets to town and have some drinks. What a day! I'm still waiting to hear from her to see how it all pans out and if she ever gets out of the airport.
As for me...Alessia ate again and passed out. I put her in the little bassinet from her Bugaboo and she's sleeping in the living room. Mommy needs a cocktail!

Don't put me down mommy!

2008-08-19T12:03:00.003-04:00

All of a sudden, Alessia won't go down for naps for me anymore. It's like we've taken two steps backwards. She wants to be on me to sleep during the day, and has been a little fussy at night as well. At first I thought it was related to the teething, but now am wondering if it has something to do with where she naps. She always napped in her packandplay in the livingroom. But about a week ago, we moved it into our bedroom because she had outgrown her bassinet but I'm not ready for her to sleep in her crib yet. Today I realized that it was then that she started giving me a problem with her daytime naps. Today I went to put her down, and she kept waking up. As soon as I would pick her up, she would curl up and fall back asleep. I would normally just be fine with it and wrap her, but I have to do some cleaning (yet here I am, blogging away) and can't do it with her on me. So I tried to put her down on a blanket on the floor in the livingroom, and low and behold, she stayed asleep and didn't even fidget! Do you think she just doesn't want to be upstairs? Maybe she associates my bedroom with nighttime and just doesn't want to be up there during the day? Or she can sense I'm not up there with her? She didn't do this at my mom's house on sunday, but Mark seems to think that she sleeps so well there because she sleeps in a comfy crib. Who knows! But at least she's sleeping now and I can finally eat and then try to unclog the toilet (although I would love to leave it for Mark to do when he gets home, just like he leaves me dirty dishes in the sink in the morning)
Look at the little fussybutt asleep on the floor. What a cute pain in the ass!

babywearing contest

2008-08-19T11:24:00.004-04:00

For all you babywearers out there, check out the latest giveaway from Along for the ride. They're giving away a Beco Butterfly and a Beco toy carrier.
Win a Beco Butterfly Baby Carrier and Beco Toy Carrier from Along for the Ride.

Rough day

2008-08-18T15:38:00.005-04:00

I think I mentioned in an earlier post that Alessia is apparently teething. It's been rough. I don't know if the teeth are actually coming soon, or what's going on, but this sucks...for both of us. Poor baby is so uncomfortable and just chomping away at her fingers and anything else she can get in her mouth. She's drooling like a fiend - I have nicknamed her "droolymonster". I don't think she has a fever...she fusses like crazy and whenever I think she feels warm, it's not a great time to take her temp - she either just finished eating, crying or sleeping. Plus I'm totally freaked out about having to take her temp the correct way and refuse to do so while I'm home alone with her. My aunt asked if she had diarrhea, because both her girls had that when they were teething, along with a runny nose, but honestly how do you tell if a breastfed baby has diarrhea? What's the difference? I just feel so bad. And then on top of it, I'm freaking out about the toys she puts in her mouth. Mark keeps letting her chomp away at one in particular, and I'm like "Is that plastic BPA free?? Is it safe??"

Today she is being such a fussybutt. She won't sleep if I put her down...she starts wiggling her tush like someone shoved a pepper in her butt. Then the only thing that soothes her is nursing, but she keeps spitting up. Is that part of teething? I can't figure out if it's something I've eaten in the past few days or if it's a side effect. I had to hold her earlier while she napped, so I sat in the glider and finally finished reading Belly Laughs - which I started reading when she was first born and totally forgot about. Then I thought she was in a deep enough sleep that I could put her down, but nope! Cried and cried and cried, then nursed, fell asleep again, then woke up and spit on me. Fun!! So right now she's in her Mobywrap, passed out and I'm finally getting to type.

We had a pretty good weekend with the family. On Saturday, Mark and I took her to the park for a bit and took some cute pics.

Yesterday we went to my parents' to say goodbye to my brother who's heading off to Italy for the fall semester to study architecture in Firenze. Since it was another beautiful day, we spent as much time outside as possible to get some fresh air. We sat on the swing with Nonno, then after dinner went to a local park with my brother for a stroll. And as usual, Alessia didn't last in the stroller very long. Luckily I never go anywhere without my Batik ringsling. We walked back, with Uncle Larry pushing an empty stroller. It was a funny site.

When we came home, Alessia was a wreck again. Screaming and fussing and not wanting to go down. She nursed forever, making the weirdest noises...kind of like "Mmm hmmm" and a grunt combined. But I managed to finally get her down and she only woke up once during the night. This morning she woke up in the best mood and was a pleasure on our daily walk with Danielle and Eliza. I was like "Who are you and what did you do with my baby??" And now I'm like "where did that baby go??" Oh well. I'm praying Mark will play with her a bit when he gets home so I can have a few moments to myself to shower and maybe a little yoga or meditation. When do mommies get a break??

Any advice or wisdom regarding the teething?

Girls' day out

2008-08-15T15:39:00.003-04:00

Today we went to the Turtleback Zoo with some other moms and babies from my mom's group and my friend Danielle and her daughter Eliza. So fun!! Eliza was probably the only baby that enjoyed it fully - the other babies are little: 11 wks, 13wks, 15wks (Alessia) and 4 mths. It was still a blast though. When she was awake, Alessia did check out some of the animals - she seemed to like the turtles and monkeys. She definitely enjoyed the train ride Danielle and I took the girls on at the end. We dragged our strollers along, but of course the girls didn't stay in for long. So we both carried them, me in my batik ringsling, and Danielle in her BabyHawk, and pushed around empty strollers. Next time I'm definitely leaving the stroller in the car. What's the point?
I was so proud of myself today: I was able to nurse Alessia in the sling as we continued to walk around the zoo. It was my first time using the sling this way. The best part of the day was probably when all the babies were eating at the same time. What a site! Eliza in her stroller (since she's a big girl and gets to eat food now), two babies under HooterHiders, and mine in the sling, all sitting on bench across from some Tucans. What a kodak moment! Too bad we didn't capture it. As for the car ride, someone up there likes me today! Alessia was great! Even when she woke up, she just chomped on her fingers and hung out. Maybe she was soothed by the fact that Eliza was back there with her to keep her company. Or maybe I was just lucky today.
It was kind of hard to take a lot of pics because Alessia passed out in the sling and I had to support her head a little and keep tabs on the baby-less stroller. But here are two okay pics of the girls catching a ride by the llamas:

ups and downs

2008-08-14T15:10:00.011-04:00

It has been such a crazy week! I haven't gotten a chance to sit down and write any posts because Alessia has been a little fussy this week. So here are the "downs" we've had: Apparently, she's teething, so besides the fussiness, she's been biting and chewing on me during feedings. Can we say "ouch"?!? That has also been affecting her sleeping, both during the day and at night. I guess she's just uncomfortable. So bedtime has been taking an average of 2 hours to finally get her down, where we were finally able to just put her down while she was sleepy and she'd put herself to sleep. Oh well, what are you going to do? We just go with the flow. It just freaks me out when she starts screaming because it's so not like her.

"Ups": she laughed a real laugh for the first time yesterday. So cute!! Until now, she would just open her mouth real wide and smile with a little squeak sometimes, but this was a real giggle. She has also found her voice, so she just babbles and squeaks and squeals all day long. Adorable! The other day, she just made my heart melt. While I was feeding her, she pulled off and looked straight into my eyes while she gently stroked my face and held her hand up to my mouth for kisses. She's been doing that a lot lately, just feeling my face while she eats and stares at me. I just love it and always look forward to feeding times (well except for when she bites me). Yesterday Alessia and I went to the supermarket by ourselves for the first time. It may sound like no big deal, but it was for me! My husband has been doing all the food shopping since she's been born or all 3 of us go. I can't see over the cart if I put her carseat on it. But I was all out of breakfast foods, and Mark was coming home late. So I put her in my ringsling (from Heavenly Hold, and went about my shopping. She didn't cry, and we came out with everything we needed. Yay for babywearing!! It makes life soooo much easier.

Um...let's see, what else? Oh yea, we got the pictures from the christening. So cute, except that she won't smile when she sees a camera. I think we got one with her smiling, and that's because it was taken from the side so she was distracted. But I think she still came out adorable. Here are some of my faves:These are her godparents, Carmela and Joe.

Rambling Monday

2008-08-11T12:22:00.005-04:00

Lots of random things to say today...
Friday hubby and I went to our friend's salon/spa to get our hair cut and my brows waxed so we would be beautiful for the christening. She is learning to cut hair, so we get free haircuts for as long as we agree to be her guinea pigs. I didn't have anyone to watch Alessia, so I brought her along and a bottle so I could feed her while we were there. Mark went first and Alessia was so crabby from the car ride, I couldn't get her to stop crying or eat. After maybe 2 minutes, my friend came over and said "she has to be quiet". Just like that. I got so pissed off I took her outside and stayed there until Mark was done. It's not like she's a toddler who was running around screaming. She's a BABY!! And was pissed me off more was the fact that here she is, my friend, and she couldn't find a nicer way to say it? So then I refused my hair cut and just got the bushy brows done. I didn't want to be there any longer than necessary - she takes forever to cut hair. How freakin rude. Mother's have to go out in public with their babies sometimes, and babies are not always perfect. Have some compassion! I'm still pissed about it...it's the Sicilian blood in me...can't let anything go.

Yesterday was Alessia's christening. It was a beautiful ceremony - we were the only family, and a great, big, family party afterward. But it was a crazy day for my little pupa! She was really really good, considering she was in a huge dress and being passed around a lot and had flash going off in her face all day long. My father-in-law was the photographer and took about 1000 pics (not an exaggeration). I'm waiting for the CD of pics so that I can post some. I felt so bad for Alessia after each round of photos, because like a true photographer, my FIL took at least 5 - 10 shots of each picture. She was exhausted by the end of the party. Today we're both just lounging in our pjs and taking it easy. Not everything was perfect though...I think we got ripped off by the restaurant. I hate dealing with this crap (remember phone anxiety? It extends to dealing with this stuff in person too) but my hubby put this party all in my hands. When I settled the bill at the end, I made sure to check how many bottles of wine they charged us for. Well, I had a splitting headache from the little kids running around and screaming for the past 4 hours, that I couldn't do the math in my head (or maybe just really didn't care to?) - 12 carafes of wine at $22.50 each does not equal $401. I couldn't understand why they had totaled the number of soda pitchers and just assumed I was paying for wine, since that was the only cost discussed when we planned the menu. Well, when we got home and I explained it to the hubby, he flipped out. I never agreed to paying for soda (did I?) and especially not at $11 per pitcher. I mean I could get a pitcher of beer for less than that! So I'm supposed to call them up and yell to get money back or something. Yea right. The hubby's going to have to do that...Mrs. Chicken Sh*t isn't up to it.

As an update to my "to pump or not to pump" post, Mrs. Chicken Sh*t actually got on the phone to call my principal about my schedule. It was seriously a 30 sec. conversation. I asked if I could have my prep in the middle of the day so I could pump and she said she'd pass that info onto the asst. principal who creates the schedule. It sounded like it wouldn't be a prob. so I'm happy. No formula for Alessia!

So I'm completely delusional when it comes to what I think I can do. Like when I watch So you think you can dance, I'm totally like "I could do that!" I used to do musicals in HS and we always did tap shows and I got to dance in the front (or close to it) I was pretty good, if I may say so myself. So in my head, I could compete with professional dancers. I could handle all those Mia Michaels, Tabitha and Napoleone, and Jeanmarc and Franz (sp??) routines! Bring it on!! No training you say?? I took a few months of ballet, tap and jazz when I was 6! I took 2 hip hop classes once in college! i even took belly dancing lessons from this creepy guy in college once that wanted to open a hooka bar and have belly dancing waitresses! And don't forget all the ballroom lessons I took for a year before we got married! I could totally win that competition. Move over Katee, Courtney, Twitch and Joshua! Today, as I'm lounging on the couch with my laptop and watching the Olympics (in my pjs still at noon), my delusions continue. Men's badminton is on. I didn't even know they had that in the olympics. I rock at badminton!! I could totally be an olympian! I used to kick butt in HS when we played in gym, and still do! I don't mean to disrespect these athletes, but badminton? Is anyone else watching this? I just can't take these guys seriously. But I could totally do it - just give me that gold metal right now. I'll put it next to my big fat check from winning So you think you can dance.

Sleepover at Nonna's (grandma's)

2008-08-09T12:56:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow is Alessia's chritening, and even though it's been over 3 years since we've lived in Morristown, our life is still centered around it. What does that mean? We're trekking up there to have her baptised at the church there (which is also where we got married). So, as usual, we're sleeping at my mom's for the weekend and getting her ready here tomorrow morning. In the past, Alessia would sleep in the basinet seat from her bugaboo or in the bed with us. But now she has outgrown the basinet and no longer wants to sleep with us (which makes me a little sad). So where did she sleep? In the crib my mom got for when she starts watching her daily! It was a big deal for me...she's like a "big" baby now! I'm not ready for her to be farther than a few inches away from me at night, so the few feet from the airmattress to the crib was a lot. I like to sit up in bed and peek into her bassinet throughout the night, or just reach in to feel her breathing. She loved the crib because she had room to spread out, and she slept like, well, a baby!

Okay, now to favor wrapping and flower arrangements!! So fun! I'll post pictures on Monday of the big event.

I would never!!

2008-08-08T09:25:00.000-04:00

Now that I'm a mom, I find that I say things never imagined I would. Here's a sampling:

"Does this poop look normal to you?"
"No peeing on the table!"
"Yay!! A poopy diaper!"
"That was a lot of pee-pee!"
"I don't have a third boob to offer you"
"That was a good one!" (in reference to gas)
"Just let me suck these boogers out!"

And things I never thought I would do or said I'd never do, but, alas, I'm guilty!

Breastfeed
Not want to stop breastfeeding
Let Alessia sleep in our bed
Go out without makeup on
Breastfeed in public
Wipe drool, spit-up, boogers with my bare hand
Go out without realizing I have spit-up on me
Pick someone else's nose (Alessia's of course)

I know there's more, but I can't think of them right now...

What do you do/say now that you're a mom that surprises you? Any mom-to-bes: what does your "never" list look like?

To pump or not to pump

2008-08-07T14:29:00.003-04:00

I have to go back to work in about 2 weeks and I'm freaking out. My mom's going to watch Alessia, so at least I don't really have to worry about daycare. I just don't know what I'm going to do about feeding her. I've been exclusively breastfeeding her this whole time - she's only had maybe 5 bottles of formula her whole life (we had some difficulty in the beginning), and am having a hard time figuring out if I want to give it up. I find this so ironic because even when I was pregnant with her, I never thought I would breastfeed. Then when I did decide to do it, I figured I would do it until the end of the summer and supplement with formula. Now I just don't want to give her formula at all. I have no problem with formula or other moms using it. For some reason I'm just having an adverse reaction to having to use it myself. My plan was to pump in the morning before going to work and sending her with at least that milk at my mom's and then nurse her in the evenings. But now I'm thinking I want to pump during the day so she doesn't have any formula at all.
I teach middle school, and if there are any teachers out there you know how difficult it is to find spare time and privacy. And to add to it, I was given an overload this year because they couldn't find another teacher. So I'm looking at my schedule and realize that I could have time to pump once in the middle of the day, but I have to ask my principal to schedule that period as my prep instead of a hall duty. No big deal, right? Except that I'm a big chicken. I have crazy phone anxiety and can't even bring myself to call her. Instead, I just sit here and worry she'll say no when I do finally ask, and then what do I do? I brought this up at my moms group this morning at Postpartum Place, and they were just like "don't ask, demand it!" They're much braver than I am! Well, it's too late to call her today, so I guess I'll have to try tomorrow. Wish me luck!

mystery smiles and giggles

2008-08-06T08:59:00.003-04:00

Alessia just cracks me up! Her new thing lately is to stare up at the ceiling and start smiling and cracking up. She'll even stop eating to turn her head and look up, which has been making feeding her a little difficult at times. What's up there? Could it be the lights? At first I thought it was the highhats - maybe she likes the circles. But then she does it upstairs too, where we don't have them. Is there someone up there that I can't see but she can? Ok, that would be creepy. She's so cute when she does it.
I think it's funny how you can have all these toys for your kids, and they are amused by the simplest things around your house. I can't wait until she really starts moving around to see what else she'll entertain herself with.

Grandpas are so cute!

2008-08-05T21:00:00.000-04:00

I love seeing family members interact with Alessia, but I think my favorite are the grandpas. As I grew up, my father and I butted heads a lot because we're so similar, and I think I forgot how affectionate he could be. He is adorable with my daughter. You can see him just melt when he sees her. Yesterday we went down to my aunts house to celebrate my grandfather's 83rd birthday. My dad's eyes just lit up when he saw her and immediately took her from my arms to walk her around. They're just so cute together! He loves taking her outside to show her the flowers and plants and I can hear him telling her how he's going to teach her to pull weeds as soon as she can walk and joking that she'll probably try to eat them. I just love how this tough guy melts with Alessia in his arms!

My father-in-law is the same. Although he already has two grandchildren from my brother-in-law, Alessia is his first granddaughter, so you know she's spoiled. He owns a camera shop and shows her off in the pictures frames on display - he takes out the "fake" family shots and substitutes our family pictures. It's so cool to walk in the store and see her face in the frames, like a model! My favorite thing about him is how he's so careful with her, like he's afraid to break her. He's so cute when he holds her!

She loves both of their mustaches as she is now eager to grab anything and everything with her grubby little fingers.

I also got some cute shots of my grandmother with her. This is her first great-granddaughter. She was so excited when I told her I was finally pregnant and I'm so happy she's still here with us and Alessia gets to spend time with her.

car rides

2008-08-04T15:28:00.003-04:00

Alessia hates car rides. I dread having to drive anywhere with her by myself, and even when there's someone in the back it usually doesn't help. And every time I tell someone about it, I get the same response: "You're baby doesn't like the car?! But all babies love the car!" (I got the same response when she hated the bath too). It has been suggested the maybe she gets carsick - apparently some babies do - but I don't think it's that. I've tried everything I can think of - I try to make sure I feed her right before we go so she's not hungry, I've tried to leave when she's sleeping or about to fall asleep, I've tried music, shhh-ing, and static on the radio. Nothing seems to work! She seems to only be able to tolerate car rides in the morning, and even then not for long.

There have been a handful of good rides though, and yesterday was the best. I sat in the back with her and my husband drove (we've done this before with no luck), and we played on the hour drive to my aunts house. About half-way there, she fell asleep. Then on the way home she actually slept the entire way. I didn't do anything different, so I have no idea how to replicate these wonderful rides. Plus, what do I do when I'm alone? My mom keeps saying she'll grow out of it, and I hope she's right. Come September when I go back to work, Alessia will be in the car a lot since we have to drop her off at my mother's everday. I don't think I could deal with her screaming everyday for the whole ride, especially during rush hour.

Any suggestions or tricks? How can I make the car more enjoyable for her when we're alone?

The lost art of breastfeeding

2008-08-02T08:00:00.002-04:00

So I just started watching Bringing Home Baby on TLC, and there something I keep seeing/hearing...moms having a lot of difficulty with breastfeeding when they come home from the hospital and switching to formula. I hear the same thing from a couple of my friends who have recently had a baby. Somewhere along the line, we got the idea that breastfeeding is this innate, natural thing that we can all do and that it should be easy and painless. I think it's the complete opposite. You learn to breastfeed, and it's uncomfortable, and usually a little painful in the beginning. I think in the US, our problem is most of us never had a "teacher". We're not very open in this country when it comes to feeding our children. Breasts are mostly seen as sexual objects, so when we nurse our children in public, we are encouraged to cover up or go hide somewhere to "do the deed". So no wonder so many of us have no clue what to do and have problems having our babies latch on. And then to make matters worse, we feel guilty if we can't do it. The hospitals don't always help...I feel they push formula on us - just look at the "freebies" you get: all formula themed. Thank God for lactation consultants and La Leche League - what would we do without them? How many of us have actually seen someone breastfeed prior to becoming mothers ourselves - without their child and breast hidden under a blanket or shawl? Still, so many new moms have no idea where to turn to for help.

I'll admit, prior to having Alessia, I didn't give much thought to breastfeeding. I wasn't even sure if I would do it. But I figured "how hard could it be?" I was surprised when my doctor's office wanted to sign me up for a breastfeeding class. I went mostly out of curiousity, and thank God I did! I met Maria from Postpartum Place, and more important than learning positions I learned where I could get help. When in the hospital, I requested help from the lactation "specialists", but found they weren't really helpful - they just positioned her for me and I had no clue what to do on my own. When it was time to go home we had so much difficulty that I freaked out and called PPP the next day to set up a consult. They were a life-saver for weeks to come (their number is saved in all my phones) The best part: they have support groups for moms that meet weekly. Alessia and I make the 45 minute trek each week to meet with the group. It's so great to hear other moms going through the same struggles and surviving. As our children get older, topics change, so it continues to be helpful. It's an opportunity for each of us to share what's going on with our baby and ourselves and provide support for each other. I'll miss it when I go back to work!

On a side note, August is World Breastfeeding Awareness Month and Aug 1-7 is World Breastfeeding Awareness Week. Check out http://www.breastfeedingtaskforla.org/bfweek2008.htm for more info.

Back to sleep?

2008-08-01T06:41:00.010-04:00

Look at my little angel...when she would sleep on her back, no problem.

Like every new mom, I'm scared to death of SIDS. I'm guilty of constantly checking to see if Alessia's breathing, waking her up sometimes with my efforts, and of course being crazy about her sleeping on her back. Then she turns 1 month, and BAM! "I HATE sleeping on my back mommy!!" She could be in a deep deep sleep in my arms, and I put her down oh so gently and POP! the eyes open and the screams ensue. So now she only sleeps if I hold her up against my chest. This drives me mad, because she also does it at night. So I buy a mobywrap to help my little one sleep on my chest while I can at least have some breakfast in the morning and do laundry, etc. That's when the co-sleeping started as well (though I do love having her with me all night - it makes nursing in the middle of the night so much easier), but she had to sleep on us. Then she appeased us by agreeing to sleep on her side, but only in our bed and up against me.

Then one day while we were doing some tummy time, she started sucking her thumb and fell fast asleep in minutes. She looked the most peaceful she had in weeks. So I started putting her on her belly for naps and staying in the room with her so I could constantly check on her. What great naps! Not to mention she could soothe herself to sleep when on her tummy. But this didn't solve the problem of her sleeping at night. As soon as I put her down, even on her side, she wakes up and won't go back to sleep. So the past two weeks, she's been sleeping horribly at night, even when in our bed. She kicks and punches and tosses and turns. The other night, my husband managed to get her down on her side, and she turned onto her tummy during the night. I heard her move and saw her and freaked out. But she looked so peaceful, I let her stay - I was up every 10 min to check on her, but she slept for hours! (she was in her bassinet, not our bed)

So am I a horrible mother for letting my little one sleep on her tummy? This is the inner turmoil I've been dealing with. Although how many of us slept on our tummies and are alive to talk about it? So I brought this up at my mom's group at Postpartum Place, and the director, Maria, brings up the fact that the fetal position is so important for our babies and we're robbing them of it by putting them on their backs. So many children have had sleep problems since the back to sleep campaign started. All the sleep books out there also started popping up at this time too.It's still a lot of theory regarding what can lead to SIDS, which I think is why it scares us to death. Babies with severe acid reflux are sometimes put to sleep on their tummies...why is that okay? Alessia can pick up her upper body and move her head from side to side when on her tummy, so I'm not too concerned about her getting stuck face down. Even though I know at some point she would be able to put herself on her tummy during the night, I'm still so nervous about her sleeping this way at night. But I feel like I'm doing her a disservice by not allowing her to be comfortable at night and therefore not sleeping. So do I keep her uncomfortable and up all night, or help her to roll onto her tummy and sleep?

***Postpartum Place does not necessarily advocate putting babies to sleep on their tummies.

First post!

2008-07-31T18:21:00.000-04:00

So this is my first official post ever. I'm addicted to reading my friend Danielle's blog, http://newmommyrant.blogspot.com/ (check it out, she's awsome!) and saw what a great outlet having a blog could be. So here it goes! Hopefully you'll find my rambles somewhat interesting and share your wisdom.

I'm a new mom - my daughter Alessia is 3 months old - and enjoying every minute of it (yes, even the exhausted, stinky, dirty moments). I've really enjoyed the time home with her and really really don't want to go back to work in September (I'm a middle school Italian teacher). We've had some bumps along the road which I'll expand on in future posts - breastfeeding, sleep, car rides- but overall, she's such a good baby (thank God!) and it's been a fun journey thus far.

The plan is to post daily - at least for the rest of the summer, and hopefully when I become a working mom in the fall I'll be able to keep it up. So having said that, I'll be back tomorrow...off to feed, bathe and put piccolina bellina to sleep!