Dump Truck Cheerios

They taste best when eaten out of a blue dump truck, but I really wish my mama would let me play with the camera!

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That’s my Nerdlet!

Yes, she really is doing her best to imitate the car engine. She stops when I’m at stop lights and starts up as soon as the light turns green and the car moves. She also imitates the vacuum cleaner and the garbage disposal. Funny, they all sound about the same. 😉

I love this kid!

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I’m pretty sure the prunes won

The story of an epic battle, told almost entirely in pictures.

It started so calmly.  A bowl of oatmeal and prunes, our usual favorite breakfast.

It quickly got out of hand. Or in hand. Well, there were hands involved. Sticky, sticky hands.

That poor bunny bib never stood a chance.

After conceding defeat, there was a warm bath with lavender soap and a rubber duck, a massage, a quick cuddle, then…

Peace reigned again. We’ll rest up, recuperate and join in battle with cereal and fruit puree another time.

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Love that girl. Love that guy.

Someone slept from 10:30pm until 5am last night!

I don’t say it out loud enough, and I really should…Shannon is the most wonderful guy. When I least expect it, he does something that just blows me away and makes me remember why I was so certain he was the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with after only knowing him for a month. Yesterday, the three of us went to do some of our holiday grocery shopping. Shannon was in charge of Olivia Moonpie in the stroller while I did the actual shopping. Side note: Shannon has had his “weekends” on Wednesday and Thursday for a few weeks which has been fantastic! Also, we were in a “boutique” grocery store that is set up kind of like IKEA in that there’s sort of a route they want you to follow through the store from department to department. Back to the story — Throughout the store, he kept up a steady stream of chatter with her, showing her different vegetables, pointing out all the fancy holiday packages, and generally making sure she was entertained and happy. As we got near the end of the store, she was starting to get a little bored and a bit fussy. I realized I’d passed the frozen section and forgotten something, so I sent them back to get it while I went through the dairy department and on to the bakery. When I got to the bakery, they had pecan pie samples so I grabbed two and headed back to meet them. As I came around the corner to the dairy aisle I found Shannon standing in front of Olivia Moonpie, doing that silly bouncing dance we all seem to do for babies in chairs to the store music as she giggled and squealed. He was completely oblivious to the shoppers around him and about as happy and relaxed as I’ve ever seen him as he played the clown to make his little girl smile. That moment of pure silliness and love, the grin on his face and the sound of her laughing with him made was worth every single second I spent in a hospital bed or stuck on the couch. He gets up with her in the night so I can simply pump and go back to bed. When her reflux was so bad, he spent most nights sleeping propped up on the couch with her on his shoulder so she didn’t have to sleep flat on her back. He loves to pick out her clothes for the day so she looks good. He’ll do anything to make her smile.

When I got sick in April, Shannon was able to start working from home full time to take care of me. Then, when Olivia Moonpie came, he continued working from home to make it easier to get to the NICU and later on, to be an extra set of hands at home since she was a little more high needs. Having him around every day, all day has been wonderful. On Dec. 1, Shannon is starting a new job developing software for Macs. It’s his dream job and I’m so very happy for him. But, it means he’ll be leaving us every morning to go to an office. Olivia and I are a little sad about that. I’m more than a little nervous too. I know in my heart of hearts that I will be fine without having him as my backup all day. I know that I’ve been extraordinarily lucky to have him around as I get used to caring for Olivia Moonpie and in the real world, he would have been back in an office shortly after she was born and I’d have been on my own. Still, it leaves me with butterflies in my tummy. We’re going to miss Daddy very much.

I find myself at a loss for words these days. We struggled so much to get here. And while things aren’t perfect (I certainly didn’t expect to be unemployed for these last two years and I’d hoped we’d be happily settled in back in NC by now), I’m about as happy as I think any person can possibly be. When I bend over her bouncy seat to pick her up and Olivia Moonpie grins that big, pink, gummy grin and grabs a fistful of my hair, then snuggles her head down on my shoulder while I carry her, I can feel the balance sheet going from red to black. Every shot, every blood draw, every negative, every surgery, every early morning violation, every check we write to the credit card company ….it’s all paid now and the account is balanced by one sweet-smelling, wriggly, babbling 12 pound, fuzzy-headed girl in a big cloth diaper and footie pajamas who likes to sleep in my bed holding her daddy’s hand in one chubby fist and mine in the other.

Going to the grocery store yesterday to get ready for our first Thanksgiving:

The cutest cheeks out there:

My view of sleeping beauty as I write this post:

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A little something to make you smile

I love Grover

Oh, this might make you smile too. I know it makes me smile.

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Quick pics

Taken this morning with my cell phone during a mid-breakfast sleep break. I love these pictures!

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The life and times of Olivia Moonpie

What a difference a week makes.

We had our follow up with the hospital’s lactation consultant yesterday.  The first visit, Moonpie managed to get 18mL in about 10-15 minutes of nursing.  This time, she got 41.  It may be that she just got lucky, or that all the practicing we did this past week paid off, or it could just be that yesterday’s nurse left the two of us to do our thing without shoving Moonpie onto the nipple and constantly messing with her.  Either way, I feel better about her nursing and we’re going to start trying to do every other feeding at the breast as a start to moving to all boob, all the time.

We also switched from feeding 75mL every three hours to 40-45mL every ninety minutes.  This has helped tremendously with the reflux issues.  It would seem that Olivia Moonpie’s appetite far outpaced the size of her tummy.  Since we started with the smaller, more frequent feeds the spitting up has almost completely gone away.  We no longer need to hold her upright for 30 minutes after eating (although we often do just because we like it).

And she’s now 21 inches and 8lbs, 4.6oz.  The cheeks, they are very chipmunkish and irresistable.

Don’t forget to vote every day this month for Olivia Moonpie! C’mon, admit it, she’s got “Gerber Baby” written all over her. 😉

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This is where Moonpies live

That dress and slip are what I wore home from the hospital.

There WILL be artwork in that big blank space before too much longer.

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Sleepy girl

Get lots of rest, Olivia Moonpie, so you can come home soon.  Happy (belated) six week birthday!

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random photos from my phone

Sometimes, a load of laundry can make you happier than anything.

That onesie on the left? That’s newborn size. That onesie on the right, the tan one? That’s the preemie size that fits Olivia Moonpie like a glove. She may be five pounds, but she’s so long and skinny!

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