Family resemblance

Can you decide?

Finally... a good smile!

Too Big

This is what happens when you try to dress your child in clothes he's not big enough for yet:
(His legs are drawn up, so his feet are where his knees ought to be.)

This just made me giggle while he was lying there on the changing table, so I thought I'd take a picture and share.

This Ain't No Lie

I think he's starting to go through a growth spurt, since he wants to eat more often.
:)

Getting Back to Normal . . . Or Not

I am thrilled to report to you that as of today I can wear my wedding rings again! YAY!

At about 7 or 8 months pregnant, my hands swelled up enough to keep me from wearing my wedding rings, so I started wearing this ring, instead. This is an heirloom that I think is beautiful. I think it belonged to my great-great Aunt Ilma. It has a very pretty relief on it of flowers and leaves.

However, I LOVE my own engagement ring and wedding band. You know how you hear of some people upgrading their rings for their 20th anniversary or whatnot? That will not be me. I got exactly what I wanted when we got engaged, and I will never want a replacement. It's a pear-shaped diamond, and the bands have little diamonds all the way around. I love how classy and old-fashioned it looks.At my two-week postpartum appointment, I asked about when my hands would get back to normal, because the swelling everywhere else had subsided. Truth be told, I was a little nervous that my finger size had permanently changed or something. But the doctor told me that by my six-week appointment, I should be able to wear my rings again. She was only a day off, since yesterday was the day I had that appointment.

Ah yes, that danged appointment. It went really well up to the end. I have healed perfectly well--you can hardly see my C-section scar, I haven't had any baby blues, etc. The doctor gave me the okay to do any kind of exercise, etc. However, at the end of the appointment, I asked her a question and did not get the answer I expected. I told her that it seems like my stomach is not back to normal. I really feel like somehow the muscles are positioned a little further forward than they were before. I expected her to tell me to do crunches or something to draw them back in. But no. Do you know what she said? She said that this just may be my new body.

WHAT?!

She said that the fascia (which I now know is the layer of tough tissue that lays on top of your abdominal muscles) stretches when you're pregnant, and after delivery, some people snap back and some don't. Apparently, in part because Noah was so big, I may have stretched this dang fascia so much that it won't snap back completely. UGH!!!

As a reminder, here's how big my belly got. (Sorry it's fuzzy--the picture, that is, not my belly--this was scanned from a print.) I saw this after the baby was born and was a little shocked at how big I was. It's of Nathan putting my socks on, since I couldn't reach my feet:
I think it's funny to compare that to JLo, who had twins (although, as Amanda pointed out, I don't think she's 9 months in this picture):

So all that to say that as resolved as I was to work out before, I am definitely more resolved to work out now! We'll just see what I can do to get back to normal. Maybe exercise will fix everything, and maybe it won't, but it certainly won't hurt. (Just to be clear, I'm not depressed about this. Just a little shocked. Noah was definitely worth whatever happens to my abs.:)

Speaking of working out, I just found out that as a family member of a grad student, I can join Harvard's gym for $65. And that gets me a membership through June. What an amazing deal! Gotta love Harvard.

Shelfari

Has anyone noticed my nifty Shelfari bookshelf on the right? These are a few books I have enjoyed and recommend. Definitely check out "Father Elijah"--it's basically an apocalyptic Catholic thriller. That sounds cheesy, but it is superbly written, the characters are very real, and the spiritual truths are real and extremely well-presented, too. It's several hundred pages, but you will get sucked in and won't be able to put it down. I think I've read it about five times, and everyone I've recommended it to who has read it has loved it.

Many of you probably already have Shelfari accounts. The neat thing is that one of the guys who started the company is the brother of one of our friends, Caleb (the Caleb of "The Hugs" blog). Shelfari is pretty nifty--check it out!

Six Weeks Old

Noah is six weeks old today! He is getting more and more interactive, which means he is more and more fun. And Nathan and I are discovering that we love him and are attached to him more and more as time goes by. He has truly become part of the family.

These pictures just don't do him justice at all. The kid is so stinkin' cute. I will work on getting those smiles on camera. He will just grin at you with his mouth wide open and be so delighted with the song you're singing or, I don't know, your hairline. :)

Here he is in Aunt Deb's cute outfit:
Tummy time is fun!

He really is a strong little kid. I am taking a mom and baby class at a local maternity store, and the instructor showed us the way to help them make the most out of tummy time (as shown in the picture--if you prop them up, they're not grinding their face into the floor). She used Noah as a demo baby to show everyone how to set the babies up, and he was holding his head up and looking around like a champ. After a while, she looked down as he was still going strong, and she exclaimed, "Look at him!" [Insert proud Mom face here.]

He is still fussy sometimes, but it's getting better. Lately we've been having trouble getting him to sleep. It's like he's fighting it--he gets swaddled as soon as he's tired, and just as he starts to drift off, it's like he realizes what's going on and starts to cry and arch his back. Then you have to calm him down until he gets sleepy again. Any tips?

That Does Not Belong to You

We keep having to remind our cats that some fun new things around the house do not belong to them.

Viola will go anywhere comfy to sleep.

Livvy has recently started taking running leaps onto this in order to make it slide on the hardwood floor. It's entertaining, but we're still trying to let her know it's not really allowed.

Resolution

He finally did it!

Click here and here for a history of this and for a good laugh.

Proof!

Proof that Noah smiles a lot when Nathan sings to him:

Five Weeks

Noah is five weeks old today! My, how the time flies!

He is a healthy, growing boy, and I know this for a fact because today we went to the pediatrician. Here are the stats: he is now 23" long and weighs 11 lbs. 2 oz. He is in the 75th-80th percentile in weight, length, and head size. He's a big kid!

(He also got a shot, which was a little traumatic for Mom, especially since I didn't know he would get a shot before we got there. Noah, on the other hand, screamed for about three minutes then was fine.)

He's growing and changing so fast. I don't have a plethora of pictures this week, but I do have one really good one:
I think he's so cute when he sleeps.

So let's see. What is he doing that's new? Well, he's smiling more and more. He smiles a lot when Nathan is singing to him, which I think is the best thing ever. He is also on his way to finding his hands, although he hasn't quite put it all together yet.

As for the fussiness, it's definitely gas, not necessarily something chronic like colic. The pediatrician said that it'll peak at six weeks, the third month will seem much better, and it'll be over by the fourth month. My first reaction was, "By the FOURTH month?!" But as long as it gets steadily better after a week from now, I can handle it. And he has not been incredibly fussy all day every day since I wrote the last post. It comes and goes. If it were a constant ordeal every single day (like it was all weekend), I think I might feel a little desperate. But this level of fussiness is do-able, I think. He was grinning at the pediatrician today and charming all the nurses, which goes to show you that he can also be happy and super cute.

And here is a bonus video of Noah waking up from a nap. This is another video that maybe only the grandparents will enjoy, but he does make some funny faces at the beginning, he displays his huge yawn, and he punctuates the end with a nice, uncouth toot, which is preceded by a face that I think is hilarious. (Can you use words like "punctuate" and "uncouth" when referring to bathroom humor? Sorry--I am obviously digressing in my style of humor. Oh well. I haven't been out much lately....) It's a little fuzzy:

Colic?

So we think Noah may have colic. He is so incredibly fussy sometimes, and we've narrowed it down to some kind of digestive issue. He usually starts crying about an hour after he's been fed, and he calms down only after gas--or something else--comes out his nether end. The thing is, it is not easy to help his little system move along, so the poor child is wailing uncontrollably and we can't do anything to help him.

We've tried bouncing, swaying, swinging, cuddling, swaddling, burping, massaging, singing, shushing, heat, a pacifier, chamomile tea, Mylicon drops, doing all this upright, doing all this on his back, and probably more that I can't think of right now.

I will say that last night went pretty well, after we finally got him to go to sleep (a process which has been taking a couple of very stressful hours the last few nights). I figured out a little system during the night last night--feed, burp, belly massage, Mylicon drops, put him to bed. Ha! I guess I figure that I might as well throw the whole arsenal at the problem. It did seem to work--he went 3.5 hours between feedings and didn't cry much. We'll see how today goes. I have a feeling that this evening will be tough again, though.

Has anyone dealt with this? Does anyone have any brilliant ideas about what to do?

**UPDATE** The nurse at the pediatrician's office just called, said it just sounds like gas and that he's going into the baby fussy period that peaks at six weeks. She suggested we lay him on his belly on a firm surface for about 5 minutes after each feeding, then to sit him upright for 30 minutes or so. At least we know there's a light at the end of the tunnel!

One Month Old!

Yesterday was Noah's one month birthday! Sorry I didn't get anything up on the day of. But the poor little guy has been having some digestive issues, which is taking up all of mom and dad's time, and he is not so happy himself.

BUT, Granny requested a new video, so here's one, just for Granny. Believe it or not, this was probably his happiest moment of the day:



Anyway, Happy 1 Month Birthday, little boy!

Four Weeks Old

So the biggest news this week is that Noah is growing like a weed! I finally took him to the pediatrician's office to weigh him on their scale (they said I could do that any time, which is nice). The doctor had said that he should be gaining half an ounce or an ounce per day. Well, the kid now weighs 10 lbs. 9 oz. Nathan and I did the math, and that means that he is gaining 1.7 oz. per day! At least we know we don't have any feeding problems!

He is also much more aware. He will look at you for much more time and listen to you talk to him. His attention span is not exactly long, but it's much longer than it used to be, and it's nice to know he knows who we are and is interested in us. If one of us is holding him and the other begins talking, he looks around to find the other parent. And he's beginning to follow other objects with his eyes, too.

Noah is also smiling a lot more. I think that most of the time it's because of gas, but I'm beginning to think he really is grinning from time to time. It's so cute! His smiles range from a little half smile to a huge, open-mouthed, squinty-eyed grin.

Some new pictures:

My mommy loves me!

Daddy loves me, too.

I'm not sure I like this outfit, Mom.
I'm getting bigger--check out that expanding tummy!

My tummy is big...

...but Daddy's hand is much bigger!

And saving the best for last:

Mom FINALLY caught a smile on camera!!

Sunday School is Better Than Hannah Montana

So my brother, Ken, is a youth minister outside of Austin, and he sent the fam his latest video. It made me laugh, so I thought he wouldn't mind me sharing it. (Ken is the blonde one with the sideburns.)



My favorite part is the very end, when they play it all serious. :)

February Arbonne Specials

Hello all! Happy February! Check out all the specials Arbonne is running this month. And don't miss all the new products, either! Arbonne is always on the cutting edge, and they've brought us some wonderful new things, as usual.


20% Off Hybrids Daily Power Punch for Kids
In February, save 20% on the Hybrids Daily Power Punch for Kids, available for only $17.60, regularly $22, while supplies last.

f.y.i Sweet Talk Me Set for $32
With every $75 SRP order increment, qualify to purchase the limited edition f.y.i. Arbonne Sweet Talk Me set for only $32, regularly $78.30. Set includes SweetFrostings Color Palette, SweetSugar Body Balm and SugarCoated Powder Duo.

Prep and Plumps for $10!
With every $75 SRP order increment, qualify to purchase a Prep & Plump for only $10, regularly $28. Choose from five kissable shades that will surely leave your special Valentine spellbound. #1781P Velvet; #1780P Platinum; #1783P Saucy; #1789P Delicious; #1788P On Point


New Products

Arbonne has come out with several new products this month. True to form, they have created things that take advantage of the best of science and nature so that you and I get the best results. Check them out!

NutriMinC^® RE^9® REgain Illuminating Enzyme Peel
Illuminate your skin with an exotic cocktail of natural fruit enzymes from African papaya and Far East pineapple that gently exfoliate, revealing a more even complexion and noticeably smoother-looking skin. In just 10 minutes the peel purifies and revitalizes the look of tired skin for a more youthful, radiant appearance.

NutriMinC^® RE^9® REtaliate Wrinkle Filler
This go-anywhere, easy-to-use precise applicator pen delivers a dynamic formula infused with GABA and hyaluronic-silica spheres that visibly help to soften and diminish the appearance of wrinkles, crows feet, and deep lines, ensuring that you can look your best … wherever you are!

NutriMinC^® RE^9® REtreatment Set
Includes all five NutriMinC RE⁹ treatment products - REversing Geleè Transforming Lift, RElease Deep Pore Cleansing Masque, REgain Illuminating Enzyme Peel, REtaliate Wrinkle Filler, plus a complementary REveal Facial Scrub - along with the Weekly Usage Chart, which offers a convenient guide to daily usage for each of the Treatment products!

Virtual Illusion Lash Enhancer
Magnify your eyelashes with this science-based, nourishing formula that helps transform the appearance of volume, texture, density and radiant shine in lashes. Strengthening and conditioning ingredients revitalize lashes, helping to prevent breakage, and promote longer, thicker-looking eyelashes.

Virtual Illusion Makeup Primer
Create a flawless canvas for makeup application with this advanced primer. A blend of vitamins, skin-perfecting pigments, advanced cushioning and anti-aging ingredients work in harmony to help tone, smooth and minimize the visual appearance of fine lines, wrinkles and enlarged pores. The result is a velvety, matte, radiant finish.

Book Meme

You guys know I'm all about books, so when Cyn tagged me for this, I was all over it. It's also kind of a random way to do a meme, and I thought it was entertaining.

Here are the rules:
1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

This is from "Your Baby's First Year, Week by Week":

(by the way, this is from Week 11, in case you're wondering)
You've also probably come to understand when is the best time to play with baby. Some days she wants to play more than others. If she's sleeping and eating a lot due to a growth spurt, she may be less interested in playtime. Other times, when she's learning a new task, she'll want to continue to play long after her usual limit.

I tag Katie (THE book woman, who, like me, will be tempted to go find a cool book rather than grab the one closest to her), Courtney, April, Meredith, and Nancy.

I Look Like My Daddy

Check it out:

Nathan in 1982

Cambridge, England

Noah in 2008

Cambridge, Massachusetts (okay, well, a couple of blocks from Cambridge, anyway)

Are You Yankee or Southern?

My mom forwarded this to me, and I thought it was pretty fun. Take the quiz to find out if you're more Yankee or Southern. (Actually, the quiz is to find out if you're Yankee or Dixie, but as I don't consider Texas "Dixie," I changed it.)

http://www.angelfire.com/ak2/intelligencerreport/yankee_dixie_quiz.html

It says I'm 79% Dixie!

What about you? Leave a comment!