Happy Halloween!

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?"

Surviving the first week back

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!

Can I just wear her?

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.

babywearing contest

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

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

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

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.