Mommy Musings

Happy half birthday Meredith!!!  Today my little girl is 6 months old.  I cannot believe just how big she has gotten in such a short time.  In some ways I feel that it was only yesterday that I brought home her tiny little body...and other times I feel like she has been part of our life forever.  I can barely remember my life before her.  In some ways being a mom is easier than I thought, and some ways tougher.  There are more sacrifices and adjustments that we have to make, but every single one is worth it when I look into her smiling, laughing face.  I love that the person she wants most in the world is me.  The best moments are when my husband and I are holding her together and she reaches up with her little hands, putting each one on Skip's and my faces.  She is absolutely perfect and we are blessed with each and every day we have with her.  I can't wait to see what the next six months and beyond bring to our little family!!

Today I am thankful for my AMAZING husband who let me sleep in until 9 and made me a pancake breakfast in bed....for no particular reason.  I love you Skip!!!

Tomorrow Little M and I are going to not one, but TWO Mommy Group meetings! It will be the first outing for both groups. I am super excited to meet some fellow moms and get out of the house! I will post tomorrow night how they go!

Here's a picture of our other dog...Shiba Inu! (Yes, her name is the same as her breed...we were not feeling original!) Her birthday is the day before Little M's and she's 4 1/2. Here she is laying in bed, taking over my spot!

From now on, all of the blogs about baby items are going to be based off the registry on buybuybaby .com.  I just don't seem to have the brain power to come up with all these lists by myself.  Obviously all of the opinions about each item will be my own.   Bibs - buy lots and lots of these....I didn't use them for the first three months and thought it was a waste, but as soon as Little M started teething she had one on constantly...sometimes I would need to change them three times a day!  They are also great now that she is bottle fed.  Buy several plastic ones for when they start solids.  They can easily be wiped off or washed in the sink. Burp cloths - I used these all the time when I was breast feeding.  Now that Little M is on the bottle we mainly use bibs.  They are also good for wiping up messes and when she spits up.  My mom says that once all my future babies have grown up they make for great dusting rags.  I love the Gerber ones the best as they are the softest. Bottle...

I'm a day late with this, but I'm pretty much a day late with all my blogs.  Yesterday was Memorial Day, and as I'm sure you can all guess, this is an important day of remembrance  in our house.  I have been getting rather annoyed in the past few years that people seem have to forgotten the true meaning of the holiday.  I heard about the bumper-to-bumper traffic all the way down the parkway to the shore, starting on Thursday night.  I watched on the news Friday morning, people setting up on the beach at 5 am!!!  I know that Memorial Day has become the unofficial start to summer, but that is not what it's about.  It's about remembering all those men and women who gave their lives for our freedom.  We are allowed to spend our days at the mall and down the shore, sitting outside with friends, grilling and enjoying the sunshine, because of their sacrifices.  I just think it's important to pause and reflect on just how lucky we all are to be alive and enjoying our fr...

Today I am thankful for this gorgeous day.  I feel like I talk about the weather in every other post, but today was just PERFECT!  And beautiful weather always makes even the toughest days seem better.  Like today for example...the husband was working another 16 hour shift and the baby woke me up at 5:00 am.  I'm not even sure how I'm still up at 11:30 pm with no nap!! (just shows you just how obsessed with my husband I am still...I'm only waiting up to see him, since I haven't seen him since 6:00 am this morning!)  But despite all that, Little M and I had a great day.  She was very happy and smiley, which is always a bonus.  We went to the store first thing, then came home for breakfast.  Afterwards we walked up to my parents' house and we hung out there for a bit.  After lunch I took her to the park (first time I've done that by myself!) and I walked her around the pond for an hour.  It was so nice to be in the sun, get in a decent workout, and I even got some...

So it seems as though my little girl is going through some separation anxiety.  Going back to work those two days was definitely not a good idea for her.  Since Friday night, she wakes up several times after we put her to bed.  As soon as my husband or I go in and pick her up, she falls right back to sleep.  It is only when we try and put her back in the crib that she cries.  We have to slooooooowly put her back in and tip toe our of the room.  This happens at least 4 times between 7:30 and about midnight when we go to bed.  She has also been getting up between 5:00 and 5:30...much earlier than her normal 7:00.  I'm assuming that this is separation anxiety since it started the night after I subbed at school, and nothing seems to be wrong with her, other than freaking out that Skip and I aren't with her when she wakes herself up.  I'm hoping that she will start to settle down soon.  Skip and I have decided that I definitely won't sub at all for the rest of the school ye...

As a new mom, it is very difficult to navigate through all of the "stuff" that babies seem to need nowadays.  Without experience, it's hard to figure out what is really necessary, what will actually work, and how much of something you really need.  I am going to dedicate these next few blogs to what I personally have learned about baby "stuff" so far. Bath Time Needs bathtub - I nvest in an infant-to-toddler one with an attached sling.  It holds the baby comfortably and makes bath time a lot less nerve wracking . Washcloths - The baby ones are softer and easier to use; one package of four or five is plenty. Shampoo - Buy a body wash/shampoo combo.  There are tons of great brands out there, but I have found Johnson & Johnson to be the best, and it is not expensive Towels - I like the ones with the hood.  They help keep the baby's little head warm and they look so cute!  The number you need depends on how often you want to do laundry. Disposable Washcloth...

Today was my first day back at work since Little M was born.  No, I haven't gone back to work full, or even part-time.  I was just a substitute teach for the day.  Before the baby, I worked as a middle school teacher in a local elementary school.  I still keep in touch with many of the teachers, and happily agreed to sub in the fourth grade class today and again on Monday. I was excited to get out of the house and reconnect with all my old colleagues.  I also used to love teaching and was excited for the chance to dust off my rusty skills.  I was very nervous though.  It was the longest I was going to be away from Little M ever.  With her constantly changing skills, I was worried I would miss out on so much.  I was also concerned because I had committed myself to working both days.  I was locked in to Monday, even if today didn't go so well.   I was grateful to my husband who would be home with the baby before work at 1, and my mom ...

This week I am thankful for: - My husband who tries to let me sleep as much as possible whenever he is home - My beautiful daughter's laughter - My husband and my mom for watching Little M so I can substitute teach sometimes - Not having to work full-time outside the home - Take-out at the end of a long day - My mom making me a homecooked meal the first day I go back to working - My health and the health of my family

Here are some flashback photos to my wedding...way back on July 29, 2005!!

I hope all my fellow moms out there had a very happy Mother's Day! This was my very first as a Mommy, and I was very excited. If there is one thing I have learned since becoming a mom, it is that nothing goes the way you planned...and yesterday was no different! As with every day, there were both good and not so good things that happened. First, the not so good: -Cops don't get holidays off, so my husband had to work from 7am - 3pm....sp there went my dreams of sleeping in nice and late. -Little M thought that the point of Mother's Day was to spend as much time with me as possible...by waking me up at 5 am! -I pulled a muscle in my back while trying to load car seat, baby, purse, diaper bag, and giant bag of gifts into the car...all at the same time (ok, maybe that was my own fault) -my FAVORITE Italian restaurant in town (the one I had been practically dreaming of for days) was CLOSED!! Seriously...who closes on Mother's Day!??! -The pizza place we ended up ordering...

Check out this GREAT blog I follow...and her new giveaway!  It's a military cookbook filled with stories from past military wives.  Right up my alley as you can tell!!  Head on over there and check it out!   Military Cookbook Giveaway

By nature I am not really a bracelet type of girl. I have a few beautiful ones that I save for special occasions, but never day-to-day.  However, recently I have taken to wearing a bracelet every day that my husband gave me a few years ago.  Now my husband has WONDERFUL taste in jewelry and has gotten me several beautiful pieces over the years.  However this particular bracelet may not appeal to most of the general public.  Here are two pictures: It is made of green parachute cord, attached with a button found lying around somewhere.  It was a birthday present from my husband when he was only my fiance, back in October of 2004...when he was deployed to Iraq.  See...it's all starting to make sense now:)  All of the Marines in my husband unit wore these 24 hours a day 7 days a week, the entire length of their deployment.  He had one made for me, that matched his, so we could always be connected to each other in some way while he was gone.  Nei...