Spotify!

I have entered the current century and now have a Spotify account!  I'm excited!  I'm NOT SO EXCITED that I had to get a Facebook account in order to get a Spotify account, because 5 months ago they linked and now you use Facebook to log into Spotify. 

Huff. But I guess this now means I can get a Pinterest account too.

My Facebook account is a big fake, set up just so I could get Spotify.  My name is "Keri BarkMan".  No, I don't want to be your friend.  Well I do want to be your friend.  Just not on Facebook.  I prefer my friends in real life, thanks.

Balloons on the mailbox-party over here!

We have had an eventful and exhausting weekend.  Friday was Rob's 29th birthday and he JUST HAD to open his gift from me (and Em) first thing-a new iPod Touch!  I think he knew that's what he was getting and just couldn't wait.  For dinner we followed our tradition of grilling steaks at home, and we also had baked sweet potatoes and garlic bread.  This year, instead of the triple layer monster Paula Deen carrot cake, Rob requested mint-filled brownies.  I was happy to oblige, but one day I plan to make the monster cake again.  Of course, Rob will have to do something awesome first- maybe he can birth our next child.

Em helps dad open his gift.  Presents in bed-one big reason I love birthdays :)

Then, Saturday we threw a Farewell Party for our friend Lindsey, who's taken a postdoc job at Cornell University.  We're so sad to see her go, and she's sad to go too.  But she will be closer to family, and new beginnings are great.  

The party was great, complete with a slideshow of snapshots from Lindsey's time in Birmingham, lots of alcohol, flaming Dr Pepper shots, a stockpot bigger than me full of my mom's gumbo, and lots of other snacky foods.  I'll have you know that the gumbo is now GONE.  I made about 6 tons of it and I'm glad I did-it was very popular.  Good thing I don't mind making foods I don't eat. 

It's nice to throw parties again...little by little I think Rob and I are getting back into the swing of socializing regularly. Em was here the whole time, and got totally overwhelmed by the sheer number of loud-ass people in her house, especially at bedtime. This is the part where I learned that bedtime routines are great, except when you change ONE LITTLE THING.  Then your life is ruined temporarily. But we got her calmed down and asleep and then everyone continued to have fun!

Then, Sunday I realized I shouldn't party like a college student anymore, since, you know, I'm not one.  I also realized that they should make babysitters for the day after a party.

Everyone crowded in the room with the food.

And so many people were in and out all night-

I was suddenly very happy my mom gave me a giant stockpot.

The lovely assistant makes Flaming Dr Peppers

This was Steph's first Flaming Dr Pepper.  She was not so into it, but she gave it a try :)

Don't try to sip a shot.  It will never work.

Erica stretches to get ready for her turn!

Erica and I finish ours.  

I don't know why anyone does this if this is how their face looks afterward.

Later, Rob and I make our post-shot faces.

Obviously I should work on mine before the next party.

I take time out from partying to be a mom for a minute.

Poor sleepy baby just wanted to go to bed, dammit.

Edielicious and Amy

Amy and I demonstrate that we are incapable of taking good pictures.  

Both of us claim to be the least photogenic person on earth.

Then someone actually tried to take our picture for real and this is what happened.

There we go.

Porch folks.

Rosemary is drinking "tea" out of her mason jar.  

It took me a long time to figure out why her "tea" was fizzy on the top.

We have pretty friends.

With our guest of honor.

Is that Aimee drinking? Nah, it's just a red herring solo cup.

As cups empty, grins get bigger.

Exhibit A

Exhibit B.

Thanks for the memories, Lindsey!  Have fun making new ones-we will miss you!

Hulk Baby

Emerald seems to me to be an average sized baby.  She will be four months old in less than a week (!) and is growing out of her 0-3 mo size clothes and into her 3-6 mo size clothes.  The glaring exception is the pajama department.  Her legs are SO LONG that I have had to cut the feet out of some of her footed pajamas!  She did NOT get this from me!

In other news, she has learned to suck her thumb.  The kid won't take a pacifier no matter what I do, but I guess having a built-in one means I don't have to constantly pick pacifiers up off the floor.  She finally got the hang of thumb sucking after poking herself in the eye many many pathetic times.

What a difference a day makes

Today is Rob's birthday!  I have lots of pictures to share, and we are doing his bday dinner tonight, so I'm sure there will be more.  I've been kinda bad this week about uploading the new photos. 

One year ago today, I found out I was pregnant!  (That did NOT happen this year, so don't ask!) I remember waiting an extra 5-6 days to take the pregnancy test because I wanted to officially find out and tell Rob on his birthday that he was going to be a dad.

It takes about 2 minutes to take a home pregnancy test, and Holy Toledo Batman, that two minutes really changed our lives. 

So while today is Rob's birthday, and NOBODY LOVES BIRTHDAYS MORE THAN ME, it will also forever be the day I found out that I was a momma.

Sunday Lunch

This weekend Rob and I went over to our friend Rosemary's house for Sunday Lunch!  I wouldn't call it Brunch because it was at 2 in the afternoon.  Anyway, we had salmon croquets, green pea and mashed potato nests, green beans, and scones.  And I learned how to make salmon croquets.

True story:  I thought I had never had a croquet before.  I envisioned it to be like a Hot Pocket with fish inside, which made me less-than-excited about eating one.  But then I learned it's a smallish salmon patty made with onion, bread crumbs, lemon juice and spices.  And except for getting Tony Chachere's spice blend all up in my nose and throat, it was an overall good experience.

Another true story:  Rob and I came down with some kind of terrible plague last week.  I didn't think I was sick until I started experiencing sharp piercing pains in my ears, down into the tubes that connected to my throat.  And pressure behind my eyes that made me sure that my face would just blow right off.  We are recovering now, but man that sucked. Must have been a virus since neither of us really had a fever, and we are getting better.  Emerald, so far, has not gotten it, and I now understand what babies with ear infections must feel like. Could it be too much to hope that she will never get one?

Anyway, in order to prove to you all that...

1.  I DO leave my house sometimes.

2.  I DO interact with people other than my baby...

Here are some pictures.  I have to say they are not my best work.  And you know I'm not so good at pictures, even on a good day.  I will just blame it on the earaches and lack of balance--you will notice that I'm not holding the baby in any of these pictures! Enjoy :)

Rosemary in her element.

The Castello's with my kid.  Why my kid?  Don't they have three?  Soon to be four...girls!

We love them. I swear they are the best neighbors and we are lucky to have them :)

Em did not participate in happy photo time.

Amy with Addi the porcelain doll.

Rob got lots of help with feeding Em...

Addi is obviously ready to be a big sister again. She loves baby "Ehmrull" so much :)

2/3 of the Mans Family fails at happy photo time.  Also, maybe I could have fixed my hair a little?

Rosemary snuggles with Em, still not really participating in photo time.  

But this was about 2 seconds before she fell fast asleep on Rosemary's shoulder.

Hope everyone had a great weekend, despite the supercrappy weather.

a slice of truth

Inadequate Moms at the Daycare Day.

Yesterday was not Valentine's Day.  I mean, it was, for all intents and purposes.  Now that I have a child in daycare, I have come to realize something very important.  

I am inadequte.  

Really, I am.  I would love to say that I'm a superdupermom who makes cakes and brings presents for her daughters "class" full of three month olds at the daycare center.  I have to admit, I heard they were having a Valentine party, and I was like, "really?"  Anyway,  after I got over the initial shock, I read the list of classmates and teachers and came to realize that I only needed like 10 valentines for Emerald to "give" to her "friends".  Lots of quotes in this post, huh? And then I decided it was pretty cute that even the tiny infant class got to have their own party.  

So I went to target and bought a box of Hello Kitty Valentines.  They included magnets!  How could I go wrong?  Well, for starters, I thought the magnets were going to be rectangular shaped, but they were circular, roughly the size of a quarter.  I left the magnets out, because FAR BE IT FROM ME to bring a choking hazard to the daycare.  I filled out the cards with each child's name very neatly printed on his/her valentine card.  I wrote special notes from Emerald to her teachers thanking them for all they do every day to keep her fed, clean and happy, etc.  I did all this ONE WEEK AHEAD OF TIME! I thought I was doing a great job.  Here is proof:

I sat down with my Betty Boop coffee cup and got to work! I also paid some bills.

Please note the tiny choking hazard magnets.

So when Valentine's Day came yesterday, I congratulated myself on the following as I was running out the door (with my hair flowing luxuriously behind):

1.  I remembered it is Valentine's Day

2.  I put Emerald in a red onesie with Minnie Mouse and some hearts on it.

3.  I remembered the Valentines.  I chose to carry them to daycare in the box they came in and didn't see anything wrong with this.

So then I got to the daycare feeling quite good about myself, and this lasted about 2.5 seconds until I realized that the other moms made CAKES (for whom?), and brought PRESENTS for the teachers!  I thought my nice note was enough, because hell, Rob and I don't even exchange presents on Valentine's Day.  I got some beautiful roses and carnations which he arranged for me, and he got a card and some chocolate.  And we spent some time together.  I didn't know there had to be presents. And some people made these special bags for the kids to put their valentines in.  I did not do this, because as you might have heard, MY CHILD IS THREE MONTHS OLD.  Anyway, the teachers made bags for each of the babies, and Emerald got a cute construction paper carrying bag of her very own.  

Then I got to work and Joy gave out homemade cookies with sprinkles and yummy frosting and then I felt worse.  And she told me to get used to it, that this is just the beginning!

I shared some Hello Kitty magnets with Lesley and Joy. And when I got to the daycare in the evening, the teachers all told me how much they enjoyed their notes.  

I guess it turned out okay in the end. And as I said in my previous post:  I don't shake her.  I don't leave her outside.  I make sure she is fed and clean.  I read books to her. I suppose the kid will be fine.

Party at my Crib.

We have had success getting Emerald to sleep in her crib!  Previously she was sleeping in a rocking cradle, which we kept in our room for a while.  Several weeks ago, we moved the cradle into her room to get her used to sleeping in her own room.  Then last week we moved her into her crib!  She has slept there ever since!  She still needs her swing or bouncy seat to fall asleep for the night, but once she is asleep, I move her to the crib for the night.  I'm hoping that one day soon she will be able to go into her crib and fall asleep by herself, instead of in the swing or bouncer. Right now, if I put her directly in the crib she yells and spits up everywhere in protest.

This has spawned a hilarious set of photos because she is very active while she sleeps and never stays where I put her. "I wonder where she got this from," says the yoga teaching, running, wish-she-had-time-for-kickboxing mom.  When I was little, I routinely fell out of bed because I moved around so much.  I also talk a lot in my sleep and occasionally wander around the house.  See what we have to look forward to!

Wearing herself out at the gym:

Playing on the new couch:

I have to say this is a pretty great picture-even if I took it. 

Usually Rob critiques my pictures til I get mad and hand over the camera.

Worn out from all her workouts

She starts out like this.  Head under the mobile, sleeping peacefully.

Don't worry, sleep nazis, I remove the blanket after her room warms up a little.

I don't need those emails from people telling me how you 

NEVER PUT A BABY IN A BED WITH A BLANKET. 

I don't shake her.  I don't leave her outside. I bathe and feed her and keep her warm.  End of story!

She is starting to look a little more like a kid sometimes.

She has moved down to the other end of the crib.

And by morning, she is completely flipped around.  

What I don't have pictures of is the fact that she now sleeps on her side.  

Or with her hands behind her head, feet propped up on the crib bars.

Like her dad, she knows comfort.

Happy Tuesday.

La-Z-Mans

Well.  The biggest news of the weekend was that we got our new sofa delivered!  It's a La-Z-Boy that reclines on BOTH ends, so Rob and I never have to sit next to each other again. 

But alas, we watched a movie last night while sharing ONE of the recliners.  Old habits die hard, I guess, and at least we still like each other.

New Sofa!  I was so excited that I shook the camera and now the pic is blurry.

Waiting on the boss to render her verdict.

(Bells anxiously awaits in the papasan)

I like it! 

Sitting on a blanket--no need to test the SUPERULTRAFABRICSHIELD 

stuff they put on it to protect against vomit and various other gross things.

Em is now three months old and considered a "supported sitter", so we got her a Bumbo-like chair to practice her sitting in.  It's technically called a "Bebepod", which is pretty damn close to "Babyholder" (Abby).  I liked this one better because it straps to a chair, has a little seatbelt, and comes with a tray and toy attachement. She now has more special seats than just about any child should need, I think. And we have even more babyholders under the crib, just waiting on her to get big enough to use them us to have the floor space to set them up. 

Babyholders in the living room.

Babyholders in the nursery.

A babyholder in the bathroom.

After using the bathroom babyholder.

Enjoying the Bebepod.

In the outdoor babyholder, getting ready for a run with mom.

At least she uses them and we aren't just tripping over them and cussing for no reason.

Things are getting easier, baby-wise.  This weekend was one of the first "normal" feeling weekends we have had since before becoming parents.  I still feel like I'm in a time warp where it is always November (probably because I don't remember November at all), but the day-to-day is manageable, dare I say enjoyable?  It was really always enjoyable, but it's nice to feel a little more normal now. Em got through her first cold and now just has a disgusting sounding hack. And there was no new-mom freakout or trip to the pediatrician, so I feel I deserve major points for that.

Rob is trying to rack up brownie points because he wants to go on a (possibly overnight) fishing trip sometime soon.  So he took care of the baby for most of Saturday so I could get some stuff done, and then he washed and waxed the mustang.  I mean, I already told him it was fine if he wanted to go on a fishing trip, but I won't argue with a clean shiny car!

Happy Monday!