Doodlerific

Day 9: Front Door

2012-02-09T22:14:00.001-06:00

The front door. Enough said.

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Day 8: Sun

2012-02-08T22:39:00.000-06:00

The theme of Jillian's 2nd birthday party is "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." As a result, we've been reading this book a lot!

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Day 7: Button

2012-02-07T22:10:00.000-06:00

Yellow buttons on Jillian's new stuffed Mario backpack. She has been carrying him around non-stop since she picked him out last night.

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Day 6: Dinner

2012-02-07T09:19:00.001-06:00

Dinner of champions - leftover pizza!

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Day 5: 10 am

2012-02-05T12:03:00.000-06:00

At 10 am today Jillian was eating her tortilla chip breakfast (she refused everything else and only ended up eating 2 chips before kicking the bowl onto the floor) and pouting because I took the iphone from her because she had already spent an hour watching youtube videos.

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Day 4: A Stranger

2012-02-04T21:32:00.000-06:00

I don't know this woman (thus the theme, "a stranger") but this particular butterfly really liked her - kept landing on her and hovering just above her head at the Butterfly House today.

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Day 3: Hands

2012-02-03T20:10:00.001-06:00

I love how this challenge gives me a chance to take some "in the moment" photos that I might not otherwise pull the camera out for. Here are my sweetie's hands, working the iphone. Today she discovered the youtube app and is browsing thru the list of related videos to find more mario videos to watch.

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Day 2: Words

2012-02-02T15:45:00.001-06:00

Another beautiful day in February, so we took a trip to the zoo. This is on the old water fountain between the train station and lakeside cafe. I love the vintageness of this piece and that it still exists and hasn't been torn out for something new.

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Day 1: Your View Today

2012-02-01T20:44:00.000-06:00

How awesome is it to have a high of 61 on February 1 in St. Louis?! We went for a walk at lunchtime with daddy at the Phantom Forest Conservation Area in Des Peres. My heart just melts when I see daddy and daughter share little bonding moments like this.

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Weight Loss Chart

2011-12-29T22:29:00.003-06:00

With the new year coming in just a couple days, I decided I needed something to help me stay accountable to the goal of losing weight. I designed the chart below to keep me motivated. I plan to print a copy each week and keep them in a binder to be able to go back and see where I was and where I am now. The document is designed with extra space on the left side so you can three-hole-punch it.

Along the right side is where you enter the date, your current weight, how much you've lost total and how much you have left to lose to meet your goal. This way you can quickly flip through the pages of your binder and see the numbers going up on the "lost" line and down on the "left to lose" line (hopefully!).

For each day there are water bottles, each representing 20 oz of water (the size of a typical water bottle) to mark off as you drink your water each day. There is also a notes section where you can note your exercise or food intake for each day.

Download Here!

Get a Melissa & Doug 25% Off Coupon When You Take the North "Poll"

2011-11-17T21:20:00.001-06:00

Melissa & Doug want you to tell them which of their educational toys you think is the best! Just click on the image below to place your vote in the North "Poll!" You'll Get a Melissa & Doug 25% Off Coupon** to use at MelissaAndDoug.com just for voting!

Fourth of July

2011-07-04T23:26:00.000-05:00

The difference of a year...

Fourth of July 2010, Jillian 3 months old, watching
fireworks with Daddy

Fourth of July 2011, Jillian 15 months old, playing while
waiting for the fireworks to start

7 Quick Takes, Vol. 4

2011-06-10T17:14:00.000-05:00

This week's "7 Quick Takes" all relate to a summer camp class that Jillian and I are taking at the local school district. The class is 1.5 hours long and for kids ages 12-22 months and their moms. I wish I had remembered my camera - I will next week!

Within the first few minutes of class, both the teacher and the teacher's assistant asked me if Jillian had any older siblings. Apparently they thought her socialness and curiosity would have come from watching an older sibling at home.
For the first 15 minutes of class the kids had free-play time. I left Jillian at a little table with buckets and shapes to sort and went over to the diaper bag to grab her sunscreen. I turned around (maybe 30 seconds after walking away from her) and she was sitting on top of the little table so that she could reach all the shapes and put all of them in her bucket.
Next up was outside time, she had no interest in the sand table or the sprinkler, but loved the water tray, bubbles and ball pit - all things she has at home.
Upon coming back inside, the next activity was crafts. There were 4 crafts to choose from, and I knew all were well beyond Jillian's experience with arts and crafts. We did 2 of the 4 crafts. The first was taking dot paint and dotting a paper plate cut into a fish shape. She didn't understand the dotting and wanted to suck on the dot bottle. I gave her a marker and let her finish her fish by coloring. I was trying to avoid the paint table but alas, Jillian saw it and wanted to play with the paint. The kids were to paint shells with paintbrushes. Jillian mostly just painted her mouth - she just really wanted to eat the paint.
Then it was time for circle time, but you know who was not at all interested in sitting on mommy's lap in the circle (I mean, why would she, the room is full of toys to play with). She ended up in the cozy coupe (which we also have a home) and I had to drag her out of it to bring her to the circle. After a couple of songs the teacher brought out a box of musical instruments and the kids each got to pick one. This got Jillian excited and she ran over to grab a shaker. However we only used them for one song and then the kids had to put them away. I pried it out of Jillian's hand and then she followed the teacher to the cabinet where she was putting away the box, pointing and saying "no no no no no no no no."
The last activity of the day was snack time. Jillian did pretty well with this one except that she dumped half her goldfish crackers onto the floor.
We got home and she went right down for a nap (and so did I). The teacher says by the end of the 4 week class the kids get used to the routine, I guess we'll see what happens next Wednesday!

Walgreens, vol 1

2011-05-23T19:11:00.000-05:00

The walgreens receipt doesn't have the regular price for the items on it like the CVS one does so I don't know what the regular prices were.

Items Purchased:
- 3 boxes of Golden Grahams ($1.99 sale)
- 3 boxes of Cinnemon Toast Crunch ($1.99 sale)
- scunci hair elastics ($2, with $2 RR)
- 2 bottles of pantene ($3.50 each sale, $1 RR with purchase of 2)
- Bayer Asprin ($3.49 sale)
- Huggies Little Swimmers ($6.99 sale price)

As is typical of walgreens, the sale started yesterday and they are already out of the contact solution that was free with Register Rewards. I got the last package of the Huggies Little Swimmers and there were only 3 hair elastics packages left on the shelf.

minus
- save $2 on Little Swimmers (manufacturer coupon)
- save $2 on Little Swimmers (May walgreens coupon book)
- save $3 on 2 Pantene products (manufacturer coupon)
- save $2 on Bayer Asprin (walgreens ad coupon)
- save $1 on Bayer Asprin (manufacturer coupon)
- save $1 on 3 boxes of General Mills cereal (manufacturer coupon)
- save $1 on 3 boxes of General Mills cereal (manufacturer coupon)

Total value of purchases: $32.45

Total out of pocket: $20.45
Total RRs into pocket: $3.00

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As it now stands, here are my savings year to date at Walgreens:

Total value of purchases: $32.45
Total out-of-pocket that I paid: $20.45
Total ECBs generated: $3.00

CVS , vol. 9

2011-05-23T18:36:00.000-05:00

Items Purchased:
- 2 boxes of Advil Tablets, regular price $9.49, sale price $7.99, plus $5 ECB when you spend $10 or more on Advil products
- 1 box of tampax pearl tampons, $7.99
- 2 packages of stride chewing gum, regular price $1.49, sale price $.99, plus $0.99 ECB when you buy 1 (limit 1)
- CVS green bag tag, $0.99

minus
- (2) save $2 on advil coupons
- save $2 on tampax pearl
- save $1 on 2 stride chewing gum
- free CVS green bag tag coupon from coupon machine
- $8.54 in ECB from previous shopping trips

Total value of purchases: $30.94
Total out of pocket: $11.19
Total ECBs into pocket: $8.99
Total ECBs left over from last week: $0

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As it now stands, here are my savings year to date at CVS:

Total value of purchases: $267.74
Total out-of-pocket that I paid: $73.87
Total ECBs generated: $55.55

Mamarazzi Monday - Easter Egg Hunting

2011-05-15T21:05:00.000-05:00

One egg for each hand

playing with the eggs

oops

Grandpa helped her find another one

She was not a fan of the orange egg...not sure why but she kept passing it up!

Extreme Couponing CVS, vol. 8

2011-05-03T22:52:00.002-05:00

Items Purchased:

Pantene Shampoo - $4.99 (sale price of 2/$6.97, get $1 ECB w/ purchase of 2)
Pantene Conditioner - $4.99 (sale price of 2/$6.97, get $1 ECB w/ purchase of 2)

minus $3 off purchase of 2 pantene products

Herbal Essence Shampoo - $4.29 (sale price of 2/$5.97, get $2 ECB w/ purchase of 2)
Herbal Essence Conditioner - $4.29 (sale price of 2/$5.97, get $2 ECB w/ purchase of 2)

minus (2) save $0.50 on any Herbal Essence product coupons

2 Old Spice Fiji Body Wash - $4.99 (sale price of $3.99)
2 Old Spice Swagger Body Wash - $4.99 (sale price of $3.99)

minus (2) buy 1 get 1 free Old Spice Body Wash coupons

2 boxes of Cheerios - $4.46 (sale price of $2.47)
2 boxes of Golden Grahams - $4.99 (sale price of $2.47)
2 boxes of Lucky Charms - $4.39 (sale price of $2.47)

minus (2) $0.55 off one box of Cheerios coupons
minus $1 off purchase of 2 General Mills cereals coupon
minus $1 off purchase of 2 General Mills cereals coupon
minus $2 off $10 CVS grocery purchase coupon from CVS coupon machine

Colgate MaxClean SmartFoam Toothpaste - $2.99 (sale price of $2.77, get $2.77 ECB w/ purchase)
Colgate MaxWhite Toothpaste - $3.39 (sale price of $2.77, get $2.77 ECB w/ purchase)

minus (2) save $0.75 on any colgate toothpaste coupon

Minus $6.71 in ECBs

Total value of purchases: $72.58
Total out of pocket: $20.53
Total ECBs into pocket: $7.54
Total ECBs left over from last week: $0

*******************************************************

As it now stands, here are my savings year to date at CVS:

Total value of purchases: $236.80
Total out-of-pocket that I paid: $62.68
Total ECBs generated: $46.56

Extreme Couponing CVS, vol. 7

2011-05-03T22:25:00.002-05:00

Items Purchased:

2 cvs green bag tags (every 4th scan you get $1 ECB) at $0.99/each (get $0.99 ECB each with purchase)
PAAS Easter Egg Coloring Kit - $1.99 (get $1.99 ECB with purchase)
24 pack of bottled water - $3.99 regular price, on sale for $2.22

Total value of purchases: $7.96
Total out of pocket: $6.62
Total ECBs into pocket: $3.97
Total ECBs left over from last week: $2.74

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As it now stands, here are my savings year to date at CVS:

Total value of purchases: $164.22
Total out-of-pocket that I paid: $42.15
Total ECBs generated: $39.02

Easter Bunny

2011-04-17T11:32:00.000-05:00

I am so proud of my little sweetie...she sat on the Easter bunny's lap at the mall and we even got a cute picture! She was terrified of Santa back in December (we visited him twice and both times she cried). Now to be honest, she wasn't sure what to think of the Easter bunny and a second before the photo was taken I tickled her and then jumped aside so the photographer could snap a photo. But still, she sat for a short time before reaching out to me and giving me her "get me outta here" look.

Extreme Couponing CVS, vol. 6

2011-04-10T23:30:00.001-05:00

Items Purchased:

Froot Loops - $1.69
Coke - $1.59 (coupon for up to $2 drink or candy value from twitter)
Bubbles - $3.99 (they were out of the $1.99, get $1.99 ECB w/purchase bubbles so they substituted these higher value bubbles)
Jelly Beans - $0.99
Hand Soap $3.99 (coupon for free full sized Essence of Beauty Antibacterial Collection Product when you like CVS Beauty on facebook)
Russell Stover Chocolate @ $.74 (Get $.74 ECBs WYB 1 – Limit 1)
$1 ECB from the coupon machine for winter spending

Total value of purchases: $12.99
Total out of pocket: $0
Total ECBs into pocket: $2.73
Total ECBs left over from last week: $0

*******************************************************

As it now stands, here are my savings year to date at CVS:

Total value of purchases: $156.26
Total out-of-pocket that I paid: $35.53
Total ECBs generated: $35.09

Extreme Couponing CVS, vol. 5

2011-03-31T21:16:00.001-05:00

ECB = Extra Care Bucks. They are printed with your receipt when you check out and are good toward your next purchase at CVS.

This week wasn't too terribly exciting in the way of deals and savings, but since I'm tracking my CVS purchases for the year, I have to post.

Total before discounts/coupons:
- Dole Fruit Cups (x4) - 3/$5
- Halls Cough Drops (30 ct bag) - $1.87
- Colgate Toothbrush - $2.99

Used the following coupons:
- $0.75 off 2 Dole fruit cups (traded at coupon exchange playdate - I think it was from a newspaper insert)
- $0.75 off 2 Dole fruit cups (newspaper insert)
- $0.75 off halls cough drops (newspaper insert)
- $0.75 off halls cough drops (newspaper insert)
- $1 off colgate manual toothbrush (newspaper insert)

Total value of purchases: $13.40
Total out of pocket: $9.93
Total ECBs into pocket: $4
Total ECBs left over from last week: $0

*******************************************************

As it now stands, here are my savings year to date at CVS:

Total value of purchases: $143.27
Total out-of-pocket that I paid: $35.53
Total ECBs generated: $32.36

Who wore it better?

2011-03-26T11:34:00.000-05:00

Who wore this dress better at their baby shower? Me or Callie on Grey's Anatomy this week? I have never seen an outfit that I own on TV in a popular show - until I this week's Grey's episode. It felt kind of strange actually to see the same dress I wore at my shower on Callie!

7 Quick Takes, Vol. 3

2011-03-11T20:53:00.001-06:00

Last night I found myself explaining to Tom what zydeco music was (he brought it up). The funny part is that I had no idea what it was until the new episode of the "Fresh Beat Band" that aired on Monday!
Jillian got her first pair of real shoes on Monday. They are so cute and seem so tiny - but then I pulled out the shoes she wore at her baptism and those were about half the size of this new pair.
Jillian started walking just over two weeks ago - it's hard to believe it's only been 2 weeks, since she walks all over the place now, it's so cute!
I have really been enjoying watching Jillian start to interact with other kids. She likes to sit by other kids, but doesn't play with them yet. Twice this week (at a playdate and at the mall playground) she played the role of the "bad guy." The boys were pretending that Jillian was out to get them and they had to stay away from her, but she kept crawling and walking up to them to try to be next to them.
I love to see what item Jillian chooses to take to bed with her. Last night it was the Good Night Moon book. At naptime today it was a block.
It's funny how I look at Jillian and think she's so big, but put her next to older kids and she is so tiny still.
I am excited to get Jillian a big girl bed this weekend. I'm tired of sleeping with her, and this will allow us to have a more structured bedtime routine because I won't have to stay in bed with her like I do now, because we won't have to worry about her rolling out of bed with a mattress on the floor.

Extreme Couponing CVS, vol. 4

2011-03-09T15:46:00.002-06:00

ECB = Extra Care Bucks. They are printed with your receipt when you check out and are good toward your next purchase at CVS.

Total before discounts/coupons:
- Cherieos - $1.99
- Cinnamon Toast Crunch - $1.99
- Lucky Charms - $1.99
- Huggies Wipes - $2.50
- Pampers Wipes - $2.50
- Huggies Little Movers Diapers - $20
- Frosted Flakes single serving - $1
- Umbrella Stroller - $17.99 (free with $25 purchase of baby items)

Used the following coupons:
- $0.50 off huggies wipes (huggies direct mail piece)
- $0.50 off pampers wipes (newspaper insert)
- $2.00 off huggies diapers (huggies direct mail piece)
- $0.75 off box of cherieos (pampers direct mail piece)
- $1.00 off purchase of 2 general mills cereal (newspaper insert)
- $1.00 off CVS purchase of kellogs cereal (CVS coupon machine)
- $10 Extra Care Bucks (ECBs)
- $6.58 ECBs
- $3 ECBs

Total value of purchases: $49.96
Total out of pocket: $7.24
Total into pocket: $0
Total ECBs left over from last week: $0

*******************************************************

As it now stands, here are my savings year to date at CVS:

Total value of purchases: $129.87
Total out-of-pocket that I paid: $25.60
Total ECBs generated: $28.36

Extreme Couponing CVS, vol. 3

2011-03-05T09:21:00.002-06:00

ECB = Extra Care Bucks. They are printed with your receipt when you check out and are good toward your next purchase at CVS.

Total before discounts/coupons:
- Oral B Power Toothbrush - $6.00 (get $3 ECB with purchase)
- Crest Prohealth Toothpaste - $3.29 (get $3.29 ECB with purchase)
- Crest Prohealth Toothpaste - $3.29 (get $3.29 ECB with purchase)
Total: $12.58

Used the following coupons:
- $0.75 off crest toothpaste from newspaper coupon insert
- $0.75 off crest toothpaste from newspaper coupon insert
- $3 off oral B power toothbrush
- $2 Extra Care Bucks (ECB)
- $0.99 ECB
- $1.61 CVS gift card

Out of pocket I paid $3.85

Total value of purchases: $12.58
Total out of pocket: $3.85
Total into pocket: $9.58 in ECBs
Total ECBs left over from last week: $10

*******************************************************

As it now stands, here are my savings year to date at CVS:

Total value of purchases: $79.91
Total out-of-pocket that I paid: $18.36
Total ECBs generated: $28.36

Extreme Couponing CVS, vol. 2

2011-02-26T22:00:00.002-06:00

No picture this week because I already ate the jellybeans!

ECB = Extra Care Bucks. They are printed with your receipt when you check out and are good toward your next purchase at CVS.

Total before discounts/coupons:
- Jelly Beans - $0.99 (get $0.99 ECB with purchase)
- Colgate Total Advanced 5.8 oz - $4.49 (get $2 ECB with purchase)
- Sunday Newspaper - $2
Total: $7.48

Used the following coupons:
- $0.50 colgate from newspaper coupon insert
- $2 Extra Care Bucks (ECB)
- $3.79 ECB

Out of pocket I paid $1.27, but then I realized that the toothpaste ECB did not print. After asking the cashier about this, he adjusted the price of the toothpaste and printed the ECBs for me manually.

Total value of purchases: $7.48
Total out of pocket: $1.27
Total into pocket: $2.99 ECBs, plus a CVS gift card worth $1.61 from the manual price adjustment on the toothpaste
Total ECBs left over from last week: $10

Take the Total ECBs and gift card minus the total out of pocket, and you get a profit of $3.33

*******************************************************

As it now stands, here are my savings year to date at CVS:

Total value of purchases: $67.33
Total out-of-pocket that I paid: $14.51
Total ECBs generated: $18.78

Extreme Couponing CVS, vol. 1

2011-02-13T22:18:00.003-06:00

Today I scored my best "extreme couponing" deal to date at CVS Pharmacy. My purchase total was $59.85, but I ended up MAKING 94 cents on the transaction, and here's how it worked out...

ECB = Extra Care Bucks. They are printed with your receipt when you check out and are good toward your next purchase at CVS.

Total before discounts/coupons:
- Speed Stick Stainguard deodorant - $2.99 (get $2 ECB with purchase)
- Colgate Total Advanced 5.8 oz - $3.79 (get $3.79 ECB with purchase)
- Two Prilosec OTC 42-ct $24.99 each, total $49.98 (get $5 ECB with purchase)
Total: $59.85

Used the following coupons:
- $0.50 from 1/30/11 newspaper SmartSource coupon insert
- $0.75 from newspaper coupon insert (I forget which insert and week it was from)
- $8 off of purchase of 2 packages from 1/30/11 RedPlum newspaper coupon insert
- $25 rebate with purchase of 2 packages - download HERE
- $1 Extra Care Bucks (ECB) from the "coupon machine" that is just inside the store that you scan your card on and it prints coupons for you.
- $10 CVS gift card

I've seen on other blogs how shoppers keep track of what they spend out of pocket vs the actual retail cost of the items they take home. Below is the summary of this transaction:

Total out of pocket: $14.85 (really $39.85 but I took off the $25 prilosec rebate since I will be getting that back)
Total into pocket: $15.79 ECBs
Total ECBs left over from last week: $0

Take the Total ECBs minus the total out of pocket, and you get a profit of $0.94.

*******************************************************

As it now stands, here are my savings year to date at CVS:

Total value of purchases: $59.85
Total out-of-pocket that I paid: $14.85
Total ECBs generated: $15.79

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I highly recommend following the blogs below to save yourself time when finding these awesome deals:

My baby is walking

2011-01-02T22:11:00.002-06:00

Merry Christmas

2010-12-24T20:57:00.000-06:00

Because I couldn't pick a favorite, enjoy these holiday photos of Jillian, by CRWstudio.

Mamarazzi Monday: A Tree in the House

2010-12-20T12:09:00.001-06:00

These pictures are from a couple weeks ago, but so cute I couldn't resist sharing!

Picking out our Christmas tree - Jillian is wondering why we took her out in such cold weather

Jillian wondering why there is a tree in the house.

Mamarazzi Monday: Snow

2010-12-13T23:19:00.000-06:00

It was too cold to go out in the snow, so I brought it inside. She wasn't impressed.

However, I did make her a snow man.

Look who's on the move!

2010-11-29T22:08:00.002-06:00

Who does she look like more?

2010-11-23T11:18:00.002-06:00

Daddy, Jillian and Mommy, all around 6 months old

Jillian Dancing

2010-11-23T10:38:00.003-06:00

Mamarazzi Monday: swings!

2010-11-23T00:19:00.000-06:00

enjoying the last warm day of the year at the park

7 months old

2010-11-23T00:14:00.001-06:00

Monthly pic with Mr. Bear

Went on her first car trip to Chicago and Peoria Illinois to visit mommy's extended family (we switched her to the convertible car seat before we left so she'd be more comfortable in the car)
Her 2 bottom teeth came in!
Started prunes, chicken, blueberries, cherries, beef and puffs
Likes to watch ceiling fans
Loves the frog puppet that sings
Went to the playgroup fall festival and to the pumpkin patch with the playgroup (and one with Mommy and Daddy)
Makes kissing noises
Met our Parents as Teachers educator
Visited the local elementary school (already)
goes from laying to sitting
gets up on all fours but doesn't crawl yet
pulled up to standing on her toybox
Went to Boo at the Zoo and went trick-or-treating as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz
Likes to pick out her clothes for the day from the closet

picking out her clothes

First Halloween

2010-11-05T12:53:00.001-05:00

Just a quick blog post to share some halloween photos of my little sweetie! We had a fun weekend - carved pumpkins on Friday night, went to Boo at the Zoo on Saturday and Trick-or-Treating on Sunday.

Checking out the pumpkin guts

"What am I supposed to do with this?"

All dressed up in my Dorothy costume that Mommy made, and ready to trick-or-treat.

Double fisting the candy - she was content to chew on the candy in the wrappers - it's a good thing she doesn't know what is inside the wrappers!

Half a year old

2010-10-07T14:42:00.014-05:00

6 months old

Weighed 17lbs, 15oz and was 25.5 inches long at her doctor visit at the beginning of the month month doctor visit
Says mamamama
Started sweet potatoes, squash (didn't agree with her), apples, bananas, peaches, pears and mum-mums
passes toys from one hand to the other
Finally rolled over from her back to stomach
Pet the goats at the zoo
petting the goats at the zoo
Bangs the high chair toys on the tray
Scoots around on her butt
Pulled herself up from sitting to her knees

My little camera ham showing off
(we have lowered the crib mattress now)

5th Month Memories

2010-10-01T09:20:00.001-05:00

5 months with Mr. Bear

This blog entry is WAY late as she turns 6 months next Tuesday. At any rate, here's a recap of Jillian's 5th month:

Sleeps in her crib at night
Kicks her legs and waves her arms around (we call it restless baby leg)
Loves to splash in the bath
Sits in highchairs at restaurants and the shopping cart at stores
Started checking out board books from the library with Mommy
Looks for dropped toys
Sits upright in the stroller
Sits unassisted for several minutes at a time
Started green beans, peas and carrots this month
Reached out and felt the rain
Loves the jumperoo

7 Quick Takes, Vol. 2

2010-09-24T11:06:00.002-05:00

This morning I had to change Jillian's diaper when she woke up at 6:45 - I usually wait until we get out of bed around 8:30 to change her, as changing her diaper signals that it's morning and she won't go back to sleep after she nurses if I change her diaper first. Anyway, I didn't bother to put clothes back on her since we were going to be under the covers in my bed. The little stinker started opening the tabs on her diaper! Guess we won't be going around in just a diaper much anymore!
So what do you think about the Katy Perry/Sesame Street debate? We don't watch Sesame Street yet (she doesn't show any interest - but she loves the Wonder Pets and Yo Gabba Gabba on NickJr), but I watched the video and to be honest, I probably wouldn't have thought much of her outfit. Kind of sad as I'm so used to seeing this kind of stuff on regular TV that I don't think it would have jumped out at me.
Jillian loves touching things and has recently shown an interest in touching animals - this week we pet a dog during a walk one morning, and she has pet Chili the chinchilla a couple times now. Of course as luck would have it, the inlaws 70 lb golden retriever is scared of her! I am anxious to take her to the zoo and see if she shows interest in the animals there.
I just read yesterday that our trash collection company, Veolia has sold off all their equipment, trucks, etc, as of Oct. 1 to a different local company. Problem is that Veolia has contracted with the county, and the county won't switch the contract to the new company without bidding out the collection service which takes 60 days. I just want to know who is going to be collecting the trash for us next Friday (Oct. 1).
We tried the mesh feeder this week for the first time - Jillian loves feeding herself. We've done apples and bananas in the feeder so far. Check out the video below of Jillian eating an apple slice.
She's also really into Baby Mum Mum's (rice crackers that dissolve in her mouth) now, as evidence from the picture below. I have found these at Walgreens and Walmart.
Lastly, our kitchen has ants in it again. This usually happens in the spring but the huge rain we had a few days ago brought them in and it's driving me crazy!

PS - I know I haven't posted the 5 month update yet - it's coming, eventually!

Growing Up Fast

2010-09-06T00:07:00.001-05:00

This past week Jillian has done several new things...

She is sitting (unassisted) really well now, and can move from sitting to laying on her stomach. She has even gotten her knees under her trunk a few times but hasn't actually started to move yet. I'm pretty sure she'll be crawling in the next month though.
During the day whenever I fill a glass with water from the fridge dispenser, I let Jillian feel the cold glass and recently I have been letting her taste the water. Well we were at a restaurant for lunch on Friday and the waitress sat Tom's glass of iced tea in front of him. He was holding Jillian and she immediately put both hands on the glass and started pulling it toward her mouth. Not only did she taste the tea but she started licking the lime stuck on the top of the glass!
Today we were sitting on the couch eating our dinner (Chipolte) and I had sat Jillian on the floor in front of me while we were eating. She looked up at me and crossed her arms over her chest and stuck out her bottom lip! I've never seen her cross her arms before.

Mamarazzi Monday: Jillian and Friends

2010-08-16T19:36:00.001-05:00


Crinkle King (can you tell this one is her favorite?)

Green Bug

Frog Legs

Crinkle Kitty

See Mamarazzi Monday entries from other bloggers - click the icon below!

Mamarazzi Monday: Green Beans

2010-08-09T23:57:00.000-05:00

This past week Jillian got to try green beans for the first time, her first food other than the rice cereal.

At least as much got in her as is on her face!

She stole the spoon from daddy and tried to feed herself

See Mamarazzi Monday entries from other bloggers - click the icon below!

Fourth Month Recap

2010-08-07T21:45:00.001-05:00

Monthly Mr. Bear Picture - She looks so grown up!

Recap of Jillian's Fourth Month:

At her 4 month checkup today she weighed 14 lb 11.5 oz and was 25" long
Loves playing with all her toys (look for a blog entry next week introducing them all to you!) She even convinced daddy to buy her a new toy that she picked out at Target.
Went swimming at the Chesterfield Family Aquatic Center and the Maryland Heights Aquaport
Checked out the sprayground at Millennium Park in Creve Coeur
Attended her first playgroup with mommies and kiddos from the St. Louis Mommies Group.
Found her toes - and likes to play with them!
Enjoys exploring different textures - soft and silky on Twinkle Froggie, and a cold soda can for example.
Learned she can scoot down in the bathtub and drink the water. Giving her sips of water from a sippy cup helps keep her from drinking the bath water.
Took her first long car trip (2.5 hours) to Boonville, MO for the first annual Boonslick Art and Music Crawl. She did pretty good in the car, considering she can't see anything from her rear facing car seat, so riding in the car while awake is extremely boring for her!
Started rice cereal! She seems to like it and understands the concept of opening her mouth for the spoon. She also likes to stick her hands in the bowl though.
She also started taking baby zantac this month to help with her reflux problems. It hasn't totally alleviated the problem, but her spit ups have decreased dramatically. We still have to give her mylanta after she eats once a day or so too.
All three of us visited the Butterfly House in Faust park last weekend, and even though it was REALLY hot inside, Jillian watched all the butterflies.
She started making the Razz sound and blowing bubbles and sticking out her tongue this past week and thinks it's hilarious to do so.

With our buddy Andy at the Maryland Heights Aquaport

Yummy Rice Cereal!

Playing with my dress and sticking out my tongue

What it costs to have a baby

2010-08-04T11:30:00.001-05:00

I finally got around to adding up the total cost of the delivery and hospital stay. Remember, this was a medicated, but not complicated vaginal birth, with 2 days, eight hours total time spent in the hospital.

Total billed to the insurance: $14,097.66
Provider discount: $6,385.03
Total paid bt the insurance: $6,155.57
Total paid by us: $1,556.40

Mamarazzi Monday: The Sprayground

2010-07-26T23:56:00.002-05:00

We took little Jillian to the sprayground at a local park for the first time yesterday. She loved it and didn't want to leave...mostly because she was trying to drink the water in the fountains (her latest obsession).

Our friend Andy sprinkling water on Jillian's head

Trying to drink the water

Where'd the water go?

(it shuts off every 10 minutes or so and you have to go press a button to start it back up)

All done - such fun!

See Mamarazzi Monday entries from other bloggers - click the icon below!

7 Quick Takes

2010-07-23T12:31:00.001-05:00

In an effort to blog more, I decided to try out a "7 quick takes Friday" blog post. I first saw this on the blog "So Much to Say, So Little Time."
I found a neat website today, www.stlexercise.com, which lists places to exercise in the St. Louis area. Turns out a lot of the pools near our house have "tot time" in the mornings at a discounted rate for an hour or two where they open the pool up for just kids under 5. Jillian is too young this summer but I could see weekly trips to the pool happening next summer. I also discovered that Ballwin's Vlasis Park has a splash ground which I'm sure we'll make lots of trips to as well.
I also read yesterday about a new organization - St. Louis Coworking, where you can rent space to do your freelancing. It's downtown, so I have no interest in participating, but it's a neat opportunity to have available in town.
I tried the new pretzel M&Ms. I wasn't real excited about the concept of pretzels and M&Ms, but CVS had them free (with $1 back reward bucks) so I figured it was worth a try. They were pretty good!
Moms will enjoy this one - Ridiculous Parenting Products. My favorite is the Plush Pee and Poo Duo. Seriously...who would buy a stuffed toy shaped like poop?
Jillian grabbed her toes today when daddy was changing her diaper!
Jillian is always doing silly things - and a couple days ago while we were at wal-mart, I unbuckled her carseat straps so she'd be more comfortable while riding around in the cart. A few minutes later I look down and see that she's found herself a new "toy" to suck on - the plastic clip on the carseat.

3 Months and Growing!

2010-07-08T21:16:00.002-05:00

Monthly Mr. Bear Picture
(notice how she can sit supported now instead of laying on the bear?)

So much growing, so many new things this month...

No doctor check-up this month, but her "unofficial" weight taken at home was 14 lbs
Started off the 3rd month with her baptism
She hates bottles now and screams VERY loudly if you attempt to offer her one
Seems to live by the motto, "Daddy is for talking, Mommy is for eating" as she talks and plays with Daddy but if she's hungry or needs to be comforted, she needs Mommy.
She's very attached to blankets, thanks to Daddy using them to distract her during diaper changes. She likes to grab onto the blankets and chew on them, and also play "where's the baby" where you cover her head with the blanket and she kicks and pulls it off.
She finally seems to like the baby swings, and tolerates being put in them for short periods of time.
She still won't sleep in the crib, but she likes to lay in the crib and watch the mobile
She LOVES to watch TV (and anything that resembles a TV - including Daddy's cell phone, the ipad and the laptops). She especially likes to watch Cardinal baseball games with Daddy.
She lifts her head 90 degrees on her stomach and can hold her head up for very long periods of time now. We sit her in her bumbo in the middle of the table during meals now so she can feel a part of the meals.
She babbles and coos a lot, and she has conversations with Daddy. She has also invented the "get louder game" where she gets louder and louder with each babble back and forth with Daddy until they are shouting at each other. She also talks to her blanket, and Grandma and Grandpa's golden retriever Daisy.
She likes to play, especially with the toys in the bath (she has picked up the ducky in the bath a couple times), and also with "crinkle birdie," a toy that Grandma got her that makes a crinkle noise when you grasp it. Another game we play is the "up and down game" where you grab her hands and pull her to a sitting position and then gently lay her back down again.
She recognizes her name - even when strangers say it. When we got her 3 month pictures taken at JCPenney, the photographer said her name and she lifted her head high to look at her.
She got to ride in the stroller without a carseat a few times, but she doesn't quite have the trunk control to sit up in the stroller.
She rolled from her tummy to her back
Daddy let her lick a tater tot and she found it quite tasty!
We watched fireworks on July 3, and she wasn't frightened of them, after Daddy lifted her from the stroller and pointed to the pretty lights in the sky she watched them in amazement.
On the night before she turned 3 months old she slept through the night (8 hours!)
She grew out of most of the 0-3 and 3 month clothes this month and is now wearing 3-6 or 6 month clothes.

Holding up my head

Sitting in my bumbo chair, watching TV with Daddy
(one of my favorite activities)

Playing with my toy "crinkle birdie" that my Grandma gave me.

My baptism

Chili Kiss

2010-07-07T21:16:00.003-05:00

Click the black box below to start the video!

I can roll over!

2010-06-30T18:29:00.002-05:00

Coupon Mama

2010-06-25T17:44:00.000-05:00

Since the baby was born I've become quite the deal searcher and I wanted to share where you can get coupons for free online and print them at home. The sites have you install a coupon printer to your computer, so that you cannot print multiples, so you have to have your printer connected to your computer when you go to the sites to print the coupons. I just to through the sites and print coupons for products that I already buy at the regular price when I need them. Occasionally I'll come across a coupon for a new product I'd like to try, but for the most part, I'm saving money on stuff I already need. Generally when I go to Target or Walmart, I save at least $5 by using coupons.

coupons.com
Everything from baby wipes, diapers, cereal, insect repellent, shampoo, pet food, even toys.

I printed $4.50 worth of coupons from coupons.com today

http://coupons.smartsource.com
These are the same coupons that come in your Sunday newspaper, but you don't have to buy the paper to get them, you can print them for free from their website!

I printed $1.30 worth of coupons from smartsource.com today

redplum.com
Again, more coupons you'd find in the Sunday newspaper, free to print online.

I printed $2 worth of coupons today from redplum.com

target.com
Scroll down toward the bottom of the page, and on the left is a box that says "Coupon Savings." Click "Get Coupons" and you can print coupons good only at target. Best part about these coupons is that you can use any manufacturer coupon (from the newspaper, or printed from online) in addition to these store coupons for the same item.

I printed $2.30 worth of coupons today from target.com

www.cvssavingscentral.com
I just discovered this one today - the CVS rewards program. You earn 2% back with every purchase in-store and online at CVS/pharmacy, 1 Extra Buck for every 2 prescriptions purchased in-store and online at CVS/pharmacy. Get instant savings on items featured in their weekly store circular ads and earn even more Extra Bucks on select brands advertised in our weekly ads. Then you can spend your Extra Bucks at any CVS/pharmacy location or online the next time you shop. Now obviously there are some restrictions and expiration dates on these extra bucks, so I'll be watching closely the next couple months with this program to make sure that I'm actually saving money with it.

At my first visit to CVS today, I got a 64 load bottle of Tide for ~3 cheaper than Target's price, just by using the CVS reward card at checkout, and got $10 extra bucks (good for the next trip to CVS) for buying a box of huggies (which I also used a $3 off coupon from coupons.com on), $2 extra bucks for buying 2 bottles of pantene, and $5 extra bucks for buying a 42 count box of prilosec. Grand total of $17 to spend toward next week's extra bucks items at CVS!

2 months old

2010-06-09T16:40:00.001-05:00

Highlights of Jillian's second month:

Jillian likes to take car rides, but if she's awake, she crys when the car stops at a stoplight.
She loves to take a bath and at the end of this month, she started playing with the toys in the bath - she likes to kick at them
She smiles at us all the time but I've yet to get a good picture of her smile.
She has laughed a couple times for us, I'm not sure if she realizes that she laughed, I think the sound just escaped from her when she was happy
We started the month off with a horrible diaper rash, but discovered that the generic Target "Up and Up" brand diaper rash cream works wonders. The Butt Paste brand just wasn't clearing it up.
We went to the zoo 3 times this month, but Jillian has yet to grasp what the zoo is all about. Mostly she just wants to nurse. The third time we rode the carousal together.
We also tried out her backyard wading pool.
She knows the difference between her home and being out somewhere. After a big day out, she looks around when we get back home and relaxes.
Jillian only sleeps in her bouncer at night. The doctor thinks this might be due to her having some reflux, so we'll be trying some remedys during month 3 to try to help her with this. She also hates having blankets on her and kicks them off and we have to keep putting them back on her - until she falls asleep that is.
Other ways to get her to fall asleep are vacuuming, sitting her by the dishwasher or taking her downstairs to the basement by the washer and dryer and having her listen to the white noise created by these appliances.
She said her first word - "Mom" - ok just kidding, but sometimes when she cries (especially when she's frustrated) her cry sounds like "mmmooooooooommm"
When she's really concentrating on something she has her little hands in fists. As she relaxes, the hands relax as well.
Speaking of her hands, she loves to suck on them. On the day she turned 2 months she managed to get her thumb into her mouth, but hasn't figured out how to do that consistently yet. It's rather entertaining how loud she can be slurping her hands.
She also uses her tongue to play "ice cream cone" when it's time to eat, licking the nipple instead of sucking on it.
She's started cooing - ooo and ahh sounds

6 week comparison

2010-05-18T00:12:00.001-05:00

On the left is mommy at 6 weeks, on the right is Jillian at 6 weeks

6 weeks

2010-05-17T20:40:00.001-05:00

Jillian is 6 weeks old today! Last week we decided to take the sling out of her infant bathtub since she was filling up the whole thing, and just let her lounge in the infant tub. Turns out she LOVES the bath when she can splash around, and doesn't even mind getting water in her eyes. She also calms down in the bath so she's been getting at least one, sometimes two baths a day when she gets worked up too much to console (usually from a diaper change). On the sleeping front, she's awake from 11 pm to 3 am just about every night, and sleeps pretty much all day long. She likes to sleep in mommy and daddy's bed, but only gets to when one of us is awake with her in the bed. Otherwise she sleeps in her bouncer. We get between 3 and 5 hours between feedings at night and 2 hours between feedings during the day. Daddy helped out with our photo shoot today with Mr. Bear, so below are some additional poses he came up with:

Bathtime

2010-05-14T11:14:00.001-05:00

A few of my favorite (baby) things

2010-05-10T21:46:00.003-05:00

After being a mother for 5 weeks, I thought I'd share the things that make parenting an infant easier (at least for me!)

Boppy Pillow - The boppy is a must-have for breastfeeding. It is so helpful in supporting the baby and your arms while you're nursing, which allows you to relax more instead of being tense while trying to hold up a baby. Whenever I have to nurse without the boppy it reminds me just how much I love this pillow! I pull the pillow up tightly to my stomach and then lay my baby on it. She knows when the boppy comes out that it's time to eat! Be sure to buy at least 2 slipcovers though, as my baby is a sloppy eater and gets milk on the pillow a lot.

Boppy Pad Liners - I don't know what we'd do without these. They are waterproof pads that go on the changing table, so whenever she poops or pees during a change, we can swap out the pad and not have to take the entire changing pad cover off for washing.

Fleece Sleepers - These are not a specific product, any fleece sleeper will do. Jillian hates blankets, and these are actually warm enough to keep her asleep when she kicks her blankets off.

Playtex Drop-Ins Bottles - I love these because they require very little cleaning. There are only 4 a few pieces - nipple, ring, drop-in liner and the plastic bottle liner holder. The nipples and rings get washed in the dishwasher in a bottle dishwasher basket, and the bottle liner holder can be reused without washing if needed since all the milk is in the disposable liner.

Fisher Price Beautiful Garden Comfy Time Bouncer - Another item that I don't know what we'd do without! Sometimes this is the only place we can get her to sleep. I just wish we could remember to turn off the vibration on it when we take her out of it so the battery doesn't get run down as quickly. The vibration is so quiet we forget it's on.

Johnson's Nursing Pads - These are one of those necessary things that you need if you're going to breastfeed. I like this brand the best because the pads are VERY absorbent and they are contoured to the shape of your breast and even have a little indentation for the nipple, unlike a lot of other brands (including the reusable ones) that are just flat.

Fisher Price Rainforest Baby Gym - Jillian loves to watch the lights and listen to the nature sounds. She also plays with the hanging elephant and toucan. Often this will occupy her attention for up to 20 minutes. Also worth noting is that I bought this in great condition for $20 from someone on craigslist (it retails at $69.99).

Graco Travel System - I pretty much don't go anywhere without the stroller anymore, unless there is a cart that I can put Jillian's car seat into. Shopping with her is so easy with the travel system, she usually sleeps in the stroller and when she fusses, pushing her around is usually enough to make her happy.

Medela Symphony Breast Pump - I originally picked up the Simplisse manual breastpump, which I really like, but it's slow to use. After a couple weeks, I ended up renting the Medela Symphony electric pump. It's super easy to use, and lets you pump both sides at once. It takes just 10 minutes for me to pump each morning to get 3 bottles worth. I've been keeping 4 pumped bottles in the fridge for Tom to give Jillian when I'm either asleep or away from home, and freezing any additional milk pumped for future use.

Nursing Shirts - I love nursing shirts. Being able to nurse without having to lift up the whole shirt is so nice. I highly recommend picking up at least a couple nursing shirts if you're going to breastfeed. I have 2 and I am thinking of picking up a few more.

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-10T15:33:00.001-05:00

Jillian and I with the flowers daddy helped
her pick out for me for Mother's Day.

1 month old

2010-05-05T18:11:00.002-05:00

Jillian is 1 month old already!

Here are some highlights:

She loves to eat and even seems to dream about eating (she makes sucking motions in her sleep)
We go for walks in the stroller around the neighborhood a lot, she likes this for the most part except for when mommy isn't paying attention and hits a big bump!
She likes to sleep on mommy, not so much in her bassinet or her crib. This frustrates us at bedtime, as one of us is up most of the night with her these days.
She's outgrown all her newborn clothes, and is in the 3 month clothes now.
She's getting really good at holding up her head for short periods of time.
Next week we go to the doctor for her 1 month checkup, so I'll update then with her weight.

How things change...

2010-04-23T15:54:00.002-05:00

You wouldn't dream of driving somewhere without baby safely strapped into a car seat in the back seat, but consider this...when Daddy went home from the hospital, a car seat wasn't even required. The nurse just handed him to his mom who held him in the front seat on the drive home. Mommy rode in a hand-me-down car seat used by her older cousins.

On the left is Mommy, at 2 months, in her car seat

On the right is Jillian, at 2 days, in her car seat

The first 2 weeks...

2010-04-19T22:04:00.002-05:00

2 weeks old

I can't believe that 2 weeks have already gone by since Jillian was born! It was a crazy 2 weeks, as I had an allergic reaction (hives and swelling) to the pain medicine the hospital sent me home with and had to go to the emergency room, and then I spent 3 days with the worst headache ever while withdrawing from the pain medicine being stopped suddenly. I'm finally feeling more normal, and can enjoy spending time with the newest member of the family. But enough about me, here's what we've learned about Jillian:

Jillian lost ~8 oz in her first 5 days (very common for newborns) but had already gotten back up to her birth weight by her 1 week birthday. It will be interesting to see what her weight is at her 1 month check up.
Likes: She LOVES to eat and sticks out her tongue and opens and closes her mouth when she's ready to eat to let us know, and pants like a puppy when she knows the "food" is coming. She also loves to sleep curled up on Mommy's chest, and when she's awake, she likes to lift her head (which she can already hold up for several seconds at a time) up and look at Mommy with her big eyes.
Dislikes: being swaddled, clothes (especially if they cover her hands), having chinchillas visit her while she's sleeping
She has the uncanny ability to spit up within 2 minutes of being dressed in a brand new outfit.
At 12 days we made our first adventure out of the house to someplace other than the doctor's office - we had lunch at Bob Evans and then went to Babies R Us.

The youngest customer at Bob Evans (12 days old)

At 13 days we got ice cream at Fritz's (she slept thru the whole thing!)
At 2 weeks (today), she grasped an object besides mommy or daddy's hand for the first time in the baby gym. She tried to eat from the toucan's nose (well I guess it's a similar shape to a nipple?).

Trying to eat from the toucan's nose, and grasping onto the ring to pull it closer

Labor and Delivery

2010-04-17T12:23:00.003-05:00

Just before leaving for the hospital - 40 weeks, 3 days

At my last OB appointment (day before my due date), we discussed inducing labor, and when the doctor said that he was available Monday I said let's do it without giving it a second thought. It was really surprising to me how relieved I felt to know that baby was coming out in 4 days, whether she wanted to or not!

On Monday morning (April 5) we got to the hospital just after 8 am, reviewed paperwork, my vitals (3 cm dilated, 75% effaced, -1 station, anterior cervix), and got situated in our room. Around 10 they started an IV of Pitocin, a drug used to start labor contractions. I had a few contractions, but nothing really painful, and by 1:45 I had only dilated up to 4 cm. Even though I wasn't in much pain, when they offered the epidural I went ahead and had it put in and after that the doctor came and broke my water to get the labor going faster. I took a nap and when I woke at 7 pm I was at 8 cm, having felt nothing due to the epidural. By 8:45 I was at 10 cm and they started setting up the room for delivery.

I started pushing around 9:45. I could feel pressure in my lower pelvis so I knew when a contraction was coming but I couldn't feel anything else (thankfully!). The doctor came in around 10:30 and pushing continued. It became obvious pretty quickly that her head wasn't going to fit out without an episiotomy, and all at once, my IV came apart causing blood to start running down my arm (quickly attended to by the nurses), the doctor made the episiotomy cut (again, I felt nothing due to the epidural) and I pushed out most of her head. Tom tells me that after that push her head slowly slipped the rest of the way out and after another push I heard a nurse say, "now that is a big baby!"

She was born at 11:15 pm, April 5, 2010, weighed 8 lbs, 13oz, and measured 20.25 inches long.

Advise to mothers - when they offer you pain medicine before the epidural wears off, take it! I didn't feel any pain when I went to sleep at 4:30 am after the delivery, but at 7 when I woke up the pain was horrible - they offered me pain medicine at 4:30 am but I declined because I wasn't in pain (because I was still numb from the epidural) and didn't realize how much I would hurt when it wore off!

35 minutes after birth

Baby girl is here!

2010-04-06T13:33:00.005-05:00

We are so pleased to introduce Jillian Nicole, born Monday, April 5, 2010 at 11:15 pm,
weighing 8 lbs, 13 oz, and measuring 20.25 inches.

40 weeks - full term

2010-04-02T15:57:00.001-05:00

Today is baby girl's official due date - but only 5-10% of babies are actually born on their due dates. If she doesn't come this weekend, we go in Monday morning to induce labor, which means that baby girl will have made her way into the world by very early Tuesday morning at the latest! Oddly enough, I feel much calmer about when labor will start knowing that Monday is the day. The doctor did say there is a 15-20% chance she'll come before Monday on her own.

So what does 40 weeks feel like? Constantly feeling like you have to use the bathroom, constant ache in my hips and back, and the skin on my stomach feels so stretched that it feels like it just might split open at any moment.

We got the rocking chair for baby girls room in today, just in time for her birth.

39 weeks - almost there!

2010-03-25T23:02:00.001-05:00

We're almost there - one more week until Baby Girl's due date! Things are progressing well and hopefully we'll have a baby before her due date, but if not, the absolute latest she will be born is April 9, as the doctor said he won't let the pregnancy go more than a week past the due date. We pretty much have everything ready and we're just waiting for the big day now. The hospital bags are pretty much packed, the car seat is installed, and we even requested absentee ballets from the county for the April 6 election in the event we will be too preoccupied to get out of the house and vote that day.

Fipsy loves the bassinet play pen in our bedroom - he thinks the storage area is a chinchilla seat, since it's just the right size for his furry butt!

Baby's Room

2010-03-21T23:31:00.001-05:00

Baby Girl's Crib with her musical giraffe that daddy picked out

Flower and butterfly decals above the closet and window, and a butterfly growth chart on the wall. The baby bouncer is in her room right now, but I'm sure it won't stay there once she's here!

Baby girl's dresser/changing table with matching lap, ipod/ihome and the butterfly mobile I made.

I painted the wooden butterfly and flower shapes to match the decor we decorated her room with.

The rocker won't be in until right around her due date, but it will go next to the crib/lamp beside the door.

Maternity Pics

2010-03-21T18:31:00.001-05:00

I just wanted to share a few maternity pics that my friend Elizabeth took of Tom and I last week...

Chili always has a way of getting into the middle of things...

no hints on her name - you'll have to wait until she's born!

Fipsy and the Baby Swing

2010-03-20T13:49:00.003-05:00

Baby Shower

2010-03-18T20:41:00.006-05:00

We got all kinds of goodies at the baby shower - clothes, blankets, a baby bouncer, a baby bathtub, bottles, toys, and more. Check out more pictures!

Guessing Game #2: Baby's weight and length

2010-03-14T22:24:00.001-05:00

How much do you think baby girl will weigh - and how long will she be?

Mom was 7 lbs, 6 oz and 19 inches long
Dad was 8 lbs, 8 oz and 20.5 inches long

Get your votes in - she could come any day (or 3 weeks from now)!

Weeks 36-37

2010-03-14T15:07:00.001-05:00

Sorry I didn't update last week - so much to do and so little time! Baby Girl is full term now (as of 37 weeks) and could come any time, but "they" say that babies born to first time mothers usually hold out until close to their due date or even after.

We almost have everything we need for Baby Girl - my baby shower was a couple weeks ago and we got all kinds of cool things, and I picked up the remaining items at super discounts used from folks on craigslist (think $145 baby swing for $30!).

A couple days ago Baby Girl started a new game - previously whenever she was kicking and you rubbed the spot she was kicking, she'd move so you couldn't feel her anymore. Now she kicks back at you when you rub her!

Hopefully I'll get some more pictures posted soon of her room, my belly and the baby shower, but this is all the updates I have time for right now!

Guessing Game #1: Baby's birthdate and time of birth

2010-03-01T11:45:00.001-06:00

It's the game you've all been waiting for - when do you think baby girl will be born. Her due date is April 2, but only 5% of babies are born on their due dates...most are born sometime within the 2 weeks before to one week after their due date.

What day and time do you think she'll make her arrival into the world?

Week 35

2010-02-27T21:55:00.001-06:00

Baby Girl's room is finally done! All we have left to do is decorate it, and find a rocker/glider for her room. Pictures below...

Week 34

2010-02-20T22:41:00.001-06:00

We had our 34 week doctor appointment on Thursday - he confirmed that she is head down (which I was pretty sure of already). He got out the portable ultrasound to "make sure" he was right, and he was, we saw her little fists and her head - at this size, you can't see very much on the ultrasound because she's taking up all the room in there! Everything else was fine, we go back in 2 weeks and after that it's every week until she's born. When the doctor went to listen to her heartbeat with the fetal doppler she kept kicking it so hard we could hardly hear the heart beating - but obviously she's doing fine with all her moving around! In fact, right now she is kicking me pretty hard, trying to tell me that it's time to go to bed so I'm stretched out on my side and she has more room to move around (every night when I lay down she wiggles around to get in just the right comfy position).

Monday night was our first "prepared childbirth" class (it's a 2 hour class once a week for 4 weeks). They had us watch a video showing 3 women going thru labor and when it was over Tom grabs my arm and says "I had no idea labor was so painful!"

We celebrated Tom's birthday tonight with his parents and his mom brought out his baby milestone book and some things she saved from when he was a baby. We spent a couple hours reading aloud from the book and hearing stories (some more embarrassing than others) from his parents and grandma. For example, his dad taught him all kind of important skill during his first year of life - like how to stick out his tongue. Among the milestones noted was when they started feeding him solid foods - which was at 4 weeks. They now say to wait until 6 month to introduce solids. It's interesting how things change.

Week 33

2010-02-14T13:40:00.001-06:00

Quite a busy week here are some quick recaps!

I managed to catch a head cold this week, and have been congested with my nose running non-stop since Wednesday. Hopefully it doesn't last much longer...
I discovered early in the week that if I rub the lower part of my stomach, it will wake up the baby and she'll start moving around. Tom tried it last night for the first time and got a kick out of interacting with the baby for the first time.
First "craving" of chocolate hostess cupcakes (Tom thinks there must be some kind of conspiracy going on b/c his mom craved twinkies, also made by hostess)
I spoke with the priest at the church near our house this week and got permission to have Baby Girl baptized at St. Ann in Normandy (where we got married). We have to attend the "Baptism Preparation Class" next month and then after she's born we'll pick a date for the baptism ceremony.
We had 3 chinchilla "accidents" this week - which is unusual because they usually wait until they are back in their cages to relieve themselves of #1. I'm not sure what the deal is with that - we started decreasing their playtime this week so prepare them for less attention when the baby comes, so I wonder if it had to do with that.
We got her bedroom mostly painted - the first paint that we bought was too light on the walls (even after 2 coats) so yesterday we picked out a darker green color and I think we're both really happy with how it looks on the walls. It just needs some touch-ups and the walls will be done.

Baby Girl's room in green!

Week 32

2010-02-05T22:51:00.001-06:00

32 weeks down, 8 to go...

Everything is still going well, blood pressure is low, baby's heart rate is good, and she's still measuring 1 week bigger than she is (33 cm, this is week 32, but again, +/- 2 cm is considered normal).

Her room is coming along, we have everything primed, the closet is painted (white so that if we repaint the room, we won't have to repaint the inside of the closet), and the ceiling is almost done. Hopefully by the end of the weekend we'll have some of the green on the walls.

The room looks a lot different in white

31 weeks - elbows!

2010-01-30T19:37:00.001-06:00

Baby girl discovered her elbows this week...I woke up Thursday morning with something hard and pointy sticking out of my side, after rubbing it for a minute she moved away from the spot. She still moves a lot, but since she has less room in there, her kicks aren't as hard.

This afternoon Chili heard a baby crying on tv and got scared and took off from daddy and went running around the house - here's to hoping this isn't a sign of things to come!

We went shopping for carpet for her room today and found a couple carpet remnants at Becky's carpet that are very cheap (less than $1/sq ft!) and are nice and soft. I think we're leaning toward the carpet remnant on the right...the pics were taken with my camera phone though so the color isn't as accurate as seeing it in person.

Week 30

2010-01-22T20:55:00.001-06:00

Just 10 more weeks until baby girl is here! At the doctor yesterday, my belly measured 31 cm, which corresponds to "31 weeks," so she's still measuring big (but plus or minus 2 cm from the week you are at is considered the normal range). The glucose tolerance test and anemia blood work from the last appointment were both normal, and I'm now 8.5 lbs above my pre-pregnancy weight (but add in the 16 that I lost and gained back for the total pregnancy weight gain so far).

My prenatal swimming class is going well, but sleeping not so much. I have to get up every 2 hours to use the bathroom through the night, and acid reflux/heart burn makes it difficult to find a comfortable position - and once I find a position that works for that, my back or hips start hurting. And to top it off, the random, vivid dreams I have when I actually do fall asleep keep me from sleeping very restfully.

We've made a little progress on baby girl's room, one wall and the closet are now primed...hopefully the whole room will be primed by the end of the weekend...pictures below...

Your only hint about her name...

2010-01-13T11:23:00.001-06:00

This is the only hint you're getting, and it's only because I spent the weekend painting and decorating the letters in her name to hang in her room and I'm so happy with how they came out I had to share one with you. The letters are 8 inches tall. And no I'm not telling you whether it's the first, last or a letter in the middle of her name (but you can safely rule out MY name as a possibility - ha).

Baby's Room - Before

2010-01-13T11:19:00.001-06:00

As of this past weekend, the baby girl's room is cleared out and ready to be worked on. Schmoopy seems to be doing pretty good in her new digs (right next to my desk in my office!), and has already learned that she gets more treats being right next to me all day.

Below are the "before" pictures.

View from the door, looking at the closet, which will be getting new
6 panel doors to match those in the rest of the house

This corner will have her rocking chair.

Looking from the closet out toward the door to the hallway.

This is the corner where her crib and dresser will go.
(Tom couldn't wait and put her light switch plate up already...)

28 weeks - "on the big side"

2010-01-08T09:22:00.001-06:00

At our doctor appointment yesterday, the doctor said after measuring my belly that "if anything, she's measuring on the big side." Figures huh - especially since there's still more than 2 months left and my maternity clothes barely cover my belly anymore! I had the 1-hour glucose tolerance test at the doctor yesterday, which screens for gestational diabetes - fingers crossed that the test comes back negative.

Check out this awesome 3D ultrasound of a baby at 28 weeks. She's extremely active, always moving around and has started getting in some pretty strong kicks lately. Yesterday Tom was like "was that her?!" in response to one of her kicks. She also likes to stretch - I call that "baby yoga."

27 Weeks - We're in the 3rd Trimester!

2010-01-02T15:30:00.001-06:00

Here we are at the beginning of the 3rd trimester! It's hard to believe that baby girl will be born sometime in the next 11-14 weeks (most babies within 2 weeks before their due date to 1 week after). Starting next week I'm taking a prenatal aquatic exercise class at the YMCA.

Still no cravings but I did have a couple instances of "pregnancy brain" the other day...first at breakfast, I filled a glass with milk, then went back to the fridge to get the butter out. Instead of getting the butter out though I filled another glass with milk and didn't even realize until I went to carry my plate into the dining room and I had 2 cups of milk and no butter on my english muffins. That same day for lunch I was making myself a quesadilla and after flipping the quesidilla I proceeded to put the used turner back in the drawer (realized only after searching the kitchen for the turner when I needed to flip again...).

2000-2009: The Decade in Pictures

2009-12-31T21:19:00.003-06:00

2000: Senior year of highschool, homecoming dance
2001: High School graduation
2002: Chicago trip with roommate
2003: Got my first chinchilla (the Fipster)
2004: San Diego Trip with Tom
2005: College Graduation
2006: Wedding
2007: Yellowstone Trip
2008: Camp Pin Oak Reunion
2009: Pregnancy

It's beginning to look a lot like baby...

2009-12-31T16:36:00.001-06:00

Chili trying out the new travel system while daddy watches closely

We have a crib in my office, a dresser in the dining room, the travel system in the entry hallway, and a pack and play full of the baby clothes and gear we've accumulated thus far in our master bedroom. The baby stuff is taking over the house! The baby bedroom is empty and ready for work to start. The walls need to be sanded and spackled (thanks to the previous owners horrible job of spackling in the past), and then painted and new carpet installed. In future weekly blog posts, I'll try to include pictures of the progress on the room.

Happy Holidays

2009-12-30T13:18:00.004-06:00

Hope everyone had a great holiday! As we were taking the pictures for this year's card (and yes, the santa hats are on the chinchillas heads, no photoshopping here!) we were talking about how next year we'll have baby girl pictured on the card too (don't think the chins are going to be pushed aside).

25 Weeks

2009-12-20T16:38:00.004-06:00

This week we really started cleaning out the baby's room and picked out a paint color which matches the decor we picked out nicely. It's the green swatch with the paper clip on it in the photo below.

We also picked out her crib and dresser at Treasure Rooms. The crib is a convertible crib which means that it is a crib, and then can be converted to a toddler bed and a full sized bed so she'll have the same bed growing up. Here is a link to a convertible crib picture - this isn't our crib but it gives you an idea of how a convertible crib works.

Paint swatch pictured with wall decals and switch plate

Crib (store display, this isn't the bedding we will use)

Dresser - the top has a removable changing pad, so it doubles as a changing table and once she's done with that part, it looks just like a regular dresser and matches the bed

24 weeks

2009-12-11T18:31:00.004-06:00

Fipsy the chinchilla is the same size as baby girl is right now!

Yesterday was my 24 week checkup at the doctor - I am finally back to the weight I was before I got pregnant and then lost all the weight due to the morning sickness. Everything was fine at the doctor and we go back in 4 more weeks.

23 weeks

2009-12-06T09:10:00.004-06:00

At 23 weeks, baby girl is quite active, especially when mommy plays New Super Mario Bros. Wii (or even just watches daddy play). This week marks the beginning of the 6th month of pregnancy, just 4 more months until she makes her big debut!

We've pretty much finalized our baby registries (Target and Babies R Us). For those that are asking, the theme of her room is butterflies and flowers, and going to have light green walls, pink bedding and chocolate brown furniture.

As for her name, we do have a name picked out, but you'll have to wait until she's born to find out what it is! This way, when we call (or text or email) you to let you know she's here, you'll have some element of surprise - since you already know she's a girl!

Week 22 - Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-27T07:04:00.005-06:00

Proud Daddy feeling baby move

Daddy got an awesome Thanksgiving gift yesterday from baby girl - he got to feel her kicking for the first time! Grandma and Grandpa Kyle also got to feel her kicks yesterday afternoon.

I also registered for our childbirth class and the infant care class that the hospital offers this week, and we've almost finished the baby registries. The decor for her room is all planned and picked out but I have no motivation to start cleaning out all the junk that has accumulated over the years in that bedroom which will have to happen before we can start painting and decorating!

Bring on the Pink!

2009-11-12T17:26:00.004-06:00

It's a GIRL!

In addition to the sex of the baby, the technician checked out many baby's organs and everything is growing just as expected. Apparently all babies grow at about the same rate until 29 weeks when family traits start to kick in, making the baby bigger or smaller than it's peers.

19 Weeks - back on the Zofran

2009-11-11T12:23:00.003-06:00

We're almost to 20 weeks (2 days until this pregnancy is half done!) but there were a couple things from week 19 that I really wanted to update before tomorrow's *hopefully* big announcement (if this baby even has it's legs crossed...).

About a week and a half ago I felt the baby for the first time (that I *knew* was the baby) while we were watching Daddy try on a new suit for my cousin's wedding this past weekend. I think I'd felt the baby before that but wasn't sure and without really knowing I couldn't count it. Anyway, ever since then the baby seems to be moving a little more each day.

I'd been avoiding starting to take the Zofran again (anti-nausea drug), but after throwing up 4 times this week, Tom insisted that I start to take it again...can't blame him I guess...the first was in the car Sunday afternoon on the way back from my cousin's wedding in Chicago - mostly my fault though, I waited too long to stop for lunch, holding out for a Hardees. At least we had the "puke bucket" in the car with us. Then on Monday baby did not care for my snack of popcorn and orange soda and I proceeded to throw up 3 times within just a couple hours - including on the side of the road "I think you're going to have to pull over honey" (we were in his car) and at Chipotle. Still I'd much rather have this random throwing up at this stage in the game than the constant nausea and throwing up and being confined to the house/bed that was weeks 6-16.

Boy or Girl - a look at 12 wives tales

2009-11-09T12:59:00.006-06:00

Just a few more days until we find out the answer to the question everyone's been asking - is baby a boy or a girl? I thought it might be fun to guess based on the wives tales...

Chinese Gender Chart - said to be over 90% accurate: boy
Where are you carrying extra weight - in front like a basketball (boy) or all around like a watermelon (girl)? girl
Are you carrying the baby high (girl) or low (boy)? neither - I seem to be in the middle
Do you refuse to eat the heel of a loaf of bread (girl), or prefer the heel (boy)? girl
Morning Sickness early in pregnancy - yes (girl) or no (boy)? girl
Mayan Legend: Age at conception plus the number of the month of conception - odd (girl) or even (boy)? 26+7=33 is odd which equals girl
Have you been craving sweets (girl) or salty or sour food (boy)? girl (don't ask Tom about the 4 lb bag of skittles...)
Have you been craving meats and cheese (boy) or fruit (girl)? girl (to be fair, I've had a lot of cheese too...)
If someone asks you to show them your hands, you show them palm up (girl) or palm down (boy)? girl
How do you pick up a mug - handle (boy) or body of the mug (girl)? boy
Tie your wedding ring to a string. Hang it over your belly and see if it swings in a circle (boy) or if it goes back and forth (girl). both (it went back and forth first and then started going in a circle...)
The husband's family history - in each of the last few generations, only one girl has been born. As of right now, there are no girls in his family in our generation. So I am calling this wives tale a girl (but Tom thinks this one should be marked boy since more boys are born.)

And the verdict is...based on the wives tales...girl

But we have to wait for Thursday to find out for sure! Feel free to add any more wives tales to the comments section - I know there are lots more out there that I didn't weigh in on above.

New Pics

2009-11-02T12:33:00.002-06:00

Baby Belly - 18 weeks

Halloween Costume

17-18 weeks

2009-10-30T14:58:00.003-05:00

Sorry I didn't update last week...not much going on to report. I went two weeks without throwing up, but this week baby decided I needed a reminder that s/he is still there and I threw up 3 times.

Two weeks until the big ultrasound - I can't wait. We'll be starting our baby registry once we find out if it's a boy or a girl, so I've been looking at baby gear and trying to pick out what we think we'll need...travel system or just a stroller? Do you really get much use out of a bouncer before the baby grows out of it?

So mom's...what do/did you use a lot and what just took up space?

16 Weeks - My Little Gerbil

2009-10-20T11:00:00.004-05:00

I'm a few days late posting the 16 week update. The week started off with an email from fitpregnancy.com, telling me that my baby is now the size of a gerbil. The funny thing about it is that I am much more familiar with the size of a gerbil than the size of an avocado, which is the size comparison that babycenter.com uses.

I had a doctor appointment on Friday, he said the baby's heartbeat sounded good. I had lost another 2 lbs though (for a total of 15 since the 6 weeks mark) and he said if I haven't gained weight by the next appointment he's going to make me start drinking ensure shakes to add calories to my diet.

The other big news is that while I threw up 6 times at the beginning of week 16, I have now gone 7 days without throwing up at all. This is the most consecutive days since the morning sickness started at the beginning of August.

At the next appointment we get the 20 week ultrasound which we'll have a chance to find out if it's a boy or a girl!

15 Weeks

2009-10-09T11:37:00.005-05:00

Also known as "a record 4 consecutive days of non-puking" week. Started the week off though by throwing up 4 times from various smells - a potato cooking in the microwave and car exhaust for example... It's been nice actually feeling well enough to get out of bed and actually do something!

I guess the only other milestone this week is that since I am no longer dehydrated, I've immediately entered the stage of "having to pee every 30 seconds."

14 Weeks

2009-10-02T11:59:00.003-05:00

Much better this week, I only threw up 3 times...and once was in between eating Doritos on the couch and getting up to get a soda from the fridge. I immediately went back to my snack afterward too with no adverse effects.

Not much else this week to report, just trying to work and keep the house clean (you know those normal things that I didn't used to think about). We had to rush Chili to the emergency vet Wednesday night after she passed out in her cage, to which my sister said to my husband "Boy between the wife and the Chinchillas there have been a lot of emergency room visits lately!" They didn't find anything obviously wrong with Chili and she's been ok since...here's to hoping it was a one time thing!

FAQs: The First Trimester

2009-09-26T14:07:00.006-05:00

Baby bump at 13 weeks (to quote Tom, "you're going to be huge")

Are you sure you aren't having twins, since you've been so sick? Yes, I'm sure, I've had 4 different ultrasounds now, and NONE show any sign of a second baby.
Have you tried ________ to combat the morning sickness? Yes, I can almost guarantee that whatever it is that worked for you, I've tried it!
What cravings have you had? Kind of hard to have cravings when you are throwing up most things that you eat...we'll see what the second trimester brings. Tom is hoping for white castle and sauerkraut cravings...I told him not to hold his breath!
How do the chinchillas feel about the baby? Well, Roo was not too pleased when she heard the news, she stopped in mid-air while reaching for a treat and stared at me when she heard the word "baby". Chili really enjoys bouncing off my belly, and now that Fipsy is back to eating on his own, he's attached at the hip to me whenever he sees me and demands to be held. When he's out playing he spends most of the time sitting next to me and watching over me. Schmoopy has no idea that she's going to lose her bedroom here in a few months...

13 Weeks - Eat, Puke, Repeat

2009-09-25T17:07:00.003-05:00

The "feeling good" that I alluded to last week was short lived...this week I've felt horrible nearly every waking moment, and threw up 13 times in the last week, including at the former Crestwood Macy's last night (made it to the bathroom, don't worry, however I don't think the bathroom had been cleaned since they closed the store...). In addition to the nausea and vomiting, this week I've also had a headache nearly every day.

12 weeks

2009-09-18T14:34:00.005-05:00

Yay, we made it to 12 weeks so I have now posted all the previous blog entries that I wrote up while we were waiting for this point.

At our doctor appointment today, the doctor used the fetal doppler to listen to the baby's heart beat, but Tom and I couldn't distinguish my heart beat from the baby's from the background noise so we got another ultrasound so we could see the heart beat again. This time we also saw some little arms and legs and fingers and the baby was bouncing around too. And of course the baby's heart beat blinking away. Watching the baby on screen is SO much better than just looking at the ultrasound pictures. I told the doctor today that I could sit and watch all day long. That got me about 10 extra seconds of baby watching time - lol.

This week I've had 2 days without puking, and even ate some pizza and bread co without it coming back up, so we are really, really hoping that this means that the sick phase is almost over

Another trip to the ER...

2009-09-04T16:50:00.001-05:00

Just shy of 2 weeks since the last visit to the ER, we ended up visiting once again. This trip was much less exciting than the last...no new pics to share either. Basically I hadn't kept down anything since dinner the night before (water, crackers, etc), and threw up 3 times by about 11:45 am. Tom insisted we go back to the ER, which was much busier during the day (but I still got in right away, apparently they don't like to leave pregnant women out in the waiting room with all the other sickies!).

They gave me 2 bags of fluids thru IV, and then after I kept ice, then water, then crackers down they let me go home. Total time spent in the ER – about 5 hrs. This time though, Tom packed up our laptops before we left the house so at least we had something to entertain ourselves - and the nurses got quite a laugh at the two of us sitting with our laptops in the ER. And besides, the ER offers free wifi, so why not?

This "morning sickness" thing is really getting old...going on 4 weeks now of non-stop upset stomach, nausea and daily throwing up. I'm really not sure what I'd do if I had to go into an office job everyday...