5 on Friday: maternity pictures

Remember when I shared my inspiration for maternity photos way back when? I did two sets of maternity pictures (lucky me!). The first shoot was a surprise from my husband and I love love LOVE them! He surprised me during our baby moon and I'll forever hold dear our moments in Bermuda. Here a few:

My second shoot was one that I had planned. I wish I could share them all with you but I only have two digital versions.

I love how all the pictures from each session turned out. Hopefully it doesn't take me forever to have them printed and hung.

5 reasons why my daughter doesn't have a name

I started this before my daughter was born. Clearly she has a name now but it was tough.


I think my daughter is going to be named baby sister. It's what we've been calling her since we found out she was a girl.

I can't find a name that I feel suits her. I want a really beautiful name, something that makes you go "Oh, that's a pretty name" when you hear it. Something that rolls off the tongue well. I've looked up the translation of the words pretty and beautiful in almost every language known to man but nothing hits me as that's it! Here are two names that fit that bill:

Jalia (say: Ja-lee-uh) means pretty in Swahili- a friend of ours named her daughter Jalia.

Jolie means beauty in French. It was a strong contender but Angelina Jolie ruined it for me.

I didn't want any celebrity affiliations. Which is why Jolie was out. We live in a culture that is celebrity obsessed and I just didn't want her to be associated with any potential negative publicity or long lasting impressions. Think about the image you get when you hear the name Beyonce. I don't want her carrying that around for the rest of her life.

Kendall was really my number one name for about a week. Then that Jenner girl did something else and I was like absolutely not!!! Also, someone in my church has that name.

I also didn't want a name that someone else had. Of course it's nearly impossible to be the only person in the world with a name (unless you make it up completely) but the separation had to be huge for me. This meant no one from our social circle, friends, family, work, etc. I just didn't want to run the risk of the name landing on the social security administrations top 10 girl names of 2105. I just didn't want her to be Jennifer C. I went to school with 3 Ashley's 2 Crystal's (with different spellings) and a boat load of Jennifer's. Clearly those were popular 80's names. This caused Charli to get the boot. Spelling variations included.

I prefer a family name. My brother, son, husband, and I are named after someone in our family. However, everyone in my family have really old southern names. Nothing would fit with my style and modern variations just weren't cutting it. I also wanted something that she can carry with her for the rest of her life. However, Olivia got ruled out. Which really broke my heart because it's the number one family name that I loved. My grandfather's name is Oliver and his mom's name was Olivia. Plus my cousin who is like a sister to me is named Olivia. It was a perfect homage- the perfect family name, But all the bandwaggoners ruined that for me. You people suck. 

I also wanted something that would stay with her for years. There are some names that automatically seem old to me (Ethel, Gertrude) and some that are really only for little girls (Molly, Journey had a really special meaning for us considering all that we went through. But, I felt that it lacked professionalism. Since we aren't loaded with money this little girl will likely need a job at some point and I'd like for her job applications to not get overlooked in the future.  So, leave your best name suggestions below. Even though this post is old and baby girl is here- we may need the help if we ever have another.

Fever

You know that song by Peggy Lee... it was remade by Jessica Rabbit (feel free to laugh at me) and Beyonce? I'm sure a few other artists have done their own renditions but that's not the point of this post.

But speaking of Jessica Rabbit- do you remember the movie who framed Roger Rabbit??! Wow- that's throwback! Anyway...


I'm getting that fever. I know 5 mommy's due in September. I remember being in the September birth club. Bloggers that I follow have been announcing pregnancies left and right, and, I also know of a few other pregnancies that are a secret right now :)

And then this...

How do they always know what I'm thinking?? I took the stupid quiz and the results were 'almost there'.

But I didn't need a computer generated quiz to tell me that because turth of the matter is we aren't quite ready yet. I feel like we still need to give our little guy time to be an only child. Plus we have some big changes on the way in terms of our careers and I need to get that situated first.

So I'll take some tylenol and hope my fever goes away ...

Wordless Wednesday

This is absolutely hilarious and comes via pinterest (email me for an invite). I haven't done a Wordless Wednesday post in almost a year (my blogiversary is coming up!! :)) but this was worth sharing. Besides, I'm pretty sure my husband illustrated this.

Source: laughingsquid.com via The Mrs. on Pinterest

 And if you have a moment- check out Jenni's post from today. She's got a third baby on board and at 8 weeks pregnant her belly is like WHOA! 

3 months young

Hey Sweet Potato!

Yea, I've taken to calling you that nowadays- but don't worry I'll stop before it embarrasses you. And I promise to come up with some equally if not more mortifying :)

So I better get this done before you turn 4 months old. I know this is super (by super I mean a month) late, but what can I say, we've been super busy!

Time is going by so fast! You are almost no longer a newborn :(. You have grown so much since you were first born - God's miracles are amazing.

I'll start with your stats. At your 3 month well visit you weighed in at 15 pounds 2 ounces. Whew! That's the 90th percentile! You're getting pretty heavy- but it's okay that means you are healthy and growing. You measured 23.4 inches long and it's pretty much confirmed- you've got your daddy's head: 17.5 inches.
Although you are obviously growing like a champ you haven't quite doubled your birth weight so the doctor says we will see what's happening at your four month visit and maybe you can start cereal! I'm very excited for your next milestone but I'm also worried that you will eat me out of house and home.

Yep, you saw that correctly, you're getting some thumb action. I actually think it's quite cute- but I won't let you make it a habit. You also got some more immunization shots but I'll spare you the gory details :).

You've done so much this past month it's amazing. This is your second trip to the grocery store (sometime Mommy forgets to take pictures of some things- but you will appreciate a picture from your second grocery store experience right?!) The first time we went you were sleeping when we arrived so I left you in the car seat. This time I strapped you in the Moby and let you look about. I think you appreciated all the colors around you. I had to take this picture because your G-Ma thinks I don't dress you warm enough sometimes (even though you sweat like a cup of ice water left in the sun while you are in the car seat) so I had to verify your warmness (she worries about you a lot) and show off the cutest hat in the world!

We've celebrated 3 (I think) holidays!

Thanksgiving... although you would think it's Christmas with all the gifts you received.

Christmas... (really Christmas!)

and New Year's Eve.

You've visited your 92 year old Uncle...

Had a playdate...

 And still continue to enjoy bathtime...

Mommy and Daddy keep you very busy. Well, that's it for now. I'll be writing you again real soon!

A Christmas Tradition

This is another funny tradition started by my hubby a few years back. Are you familiar with Elf Yourself? If not get on over there and get acquainted- it'll be the funniest 20 minutes you've ever spent trying to entertain yourself. My husband has been 'Elfing' people for probably about 4 years now. I clearly remember when he first did it- my entire family called each other and spent a good half hour on the phone cracking up. I wish I could share that first one with you but I never actually saved it to my computer and the web link must have expired but for your viewing pleasure- here is this year's Elf... I hope this serves to brighten your day and you hop on board the Elf train!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Y3W: Nursery Reveal:Part 1

Well sorta...

I know that was more than three words and this is a 'kind of' reveal.

I love it when people finally reveal their babies nurseries! Although this is typical done while mommy is pregnant- we had some special circumstances. First, I am a procrastinator. It's horrible but I reasoned that the baby would be sleeping in the bassinet in the room with us so really the nursery didn't need to be done right away. Second, hurricane Irene delayed delivery of some of the furniture. It actually delayed two thirds of it and that actually annoyed me to no end. Lastly, my husband decided to rip down the ceiling at the last minute- it was annoying him to no end.

So let's start with the before:

This was our second bedroom/multi purpose room. Notice how the day bed doubles as a laundry folding table and my home office is accompanied by an ironing board.

My husband will surely be upset that I posted pics of the bedroom in such disarray. I must admit I didn't properly document the 'during' process. I would always have an after thought of "I should have taken a picture of that!"

The inspiration for the nursery came from another mommy blogger. I loved it because it wasn't gender specific (important because I didn't know who my little guy was yet) and could be accented to suit either gender. So this is the work in progress:

And that last minute ceiling incident? Well here is the only picture that I remembered to take and it's already nearly done so you don't get the effect of the look on my face when I came home and could almost see straight through to the studs.

 Now?

I Love...

The Crib- ignore the animal brigade standing guard over his bed

The dresser/changing table. Once he's potty trained I want to trade in the changing station for the hutch that is sold separately.

The armoire- no none of his belongings are in the closet to the right. The downfall of living in a 1920's (or thereabout) built home is that the closets in the kids room is taken over by the parents. My brother and I lived our entire lives like this (he's still living it) and I hope we get to move before my kids become victims...

 Yes I've fallen asleep many nights feeding him in this chair. So has my brother... and father... but without the baby and during the day...

Remember the ceiling incident... whew!

This is the only wall that has something on it... yea it's pitiful!

So the nursery is almost complete. I still have to decorate the walls some. This is a tiny room so I don't want to overcrowd it and make it stuffy plus he has to grow into it and Christmas hasn't come yet. I suspect he'll be getting a ton more stuff.

I have wooden letters that spell out his name- I need to paint and hang them. Problem is I'm not sure what type of craft paint to get and what color/design I want to paint it. I'm a crafty wanna be so that process is going to take forever! I also want to add maybe 2 more smaller shelves in there. There are a couple of things I want to display in the but I don't want it to take up too  much wall space. And lastly I'm pretty sure I want to put wall words over the crib. I am OBSESSED with wall words and would have a saying in every room in my house if I could (or I thought it wouldn't be over kill). Problem is I don't remember the website I want to order it from. I know there are a million websites that sell wall words but this website had some over thee best quotes along with customizations that I've have yet to see duplicated on any other website.

So there you have it- that's where my son does not sleep. And I have a feeling that with all of my indecisiveness the nursery reveal part 2 post won't be for quite some time. This is where you come in... please give me some design ideas! No matter how big or small. Even if you don't have any "ideas" but know good websites/stores where I can get unique and/or personalized pieces please let me know.

Thanks a bunch! And you can link up with Y3W!

Trick or Treat!

Yes, I am aware that Halloween was a week ago. Although in some neighborhoods in surrounding areas Halloween was just 3 days ago due to power outages cause by a freak snow storm. But either way I wanted to share the cutest trick-or-treater in the world!!!!

Growing up we didn't really celebrate Halloween but I am obsessed with documenting my son's life so he will have the chance to see how he looked as a baby and how things were.  We didn't actually take him trick or treating. We stayed at my sister in-law's house to pass out candy while she and her husband took their son trick-or-treating.

I think he's the most precious bumble bee ever!

Hey guys- It's us!!!

I’m slowly settling into life as a mom. It’s been 5 weeks and so much has happened!

I think I got off to kind of a rough start. Which is why I think it should be illegal for first time moms to be released into the wild with their newborns. However every day things get a smidgen better.

First up- Breastfeeding. As you all know I intended to breastfeed. All evidence sums it up as ‘breast is best’. So what happens when it’s just not working out? The first time I fed him was quite a few hours after he was born. The smoke still hadn’t cleared from the excitement of having a new baby but the nurses reminded me that I needed to feed him. His first nursing session must have lasted about 10 minutes. I remember being so emotional while feeding him because a) I used to have nightmares about not being able to breast feed and b) It was one of my first tasks as a mommy with him being outside the womb. I remember looking down at his little cheeks moving and thinking ‘I’m sustaining him- he’s being satisfied because of me’ I was moved to tears.

He would nurse for about 5 to 10 minutes every 5 hours or so while I was in the hospital. The nurses started getting concerned that these sessions weren’t long enough and he may not be getting enough to eat. The nurses there are also trained lactation consultants (LC’s) and I met with a new one every shift trying to get him to nurse for longer. They would help me get him to latch and give me pointers about what I could and/or should be doing to help me. I had about 4 baby nurses and each of them had a different opinion about the situation. This is very confusing for a post partum mommy. I do know that it my job to take all the information that I’ve been given and use what I think is the best/most important for our family. However, sometimes all of this information is too much especially when they start talking about problems that could arise. At one point they were going to test his blood sugar to make sure he was actually eating enough.

Looking back on the situation- I think he was fine. My baby was affected by birth medications and I think he just sleepy. I didn’t let them test his blood sugar however I find it weird that they still discharges us if they were concerned enough to want to test his blood sugar. It is a rule of thumb that breastfeeding mothers can determine how much their babies are getting based on their diapers. He had the “right” amount of poopy and wet diapers so why did they need to get me all worked up?! At one point I sat in my husband’s arms and cried because I thought I had made the wrong decision using birth medication.

Once we were home things didn’t get that much better. After I would begin a feeding he would move his head about and that would cause him to ‘slip off’. This would in turn either cause him to not be able to suck or cause me pain. Either way I would then unlatch him and start again. Then he would pull his head back again. Then rinse and repeat. After doing this several times he would get frustrated and just scream! I would be horrified. I wanted my child to eat but I wanted this to be a good experience for both of us.

Our first full day home I called 3 different LC’s and got three different opinions on what I should do. One lady told me to nurse him every 2 hours no matter what. Is she insane?? First off my problem isn’t the frequency in which we nurse- it’s getting him to stay on. Secondly how am I supposed to function in 2 hour increments and why would I wake my child to do something he may not want to. While I understand that there are numerous breastfeeding moms who nurse every two hours, I just didn’t think that was us. I felt like she wasn’t listening to me and my concerns at all. One of the LC’s I talked to what highly recommended by my cousin and I heard he mentioned by several others. So we paid her a visit when my little guy was just 4 days old.

I felt very comfortable during this consult. She listened to what my concerns were. Went over a plethora of information and assisted me with my breastfeeding technique. First she stripped my little guy down to his diaper then weighed him. Then we nursed and afterward she weighed him again. This let us know how much he ate. She also put me on an elimination diet and gave me a supplement to help start bringing in my milk as I was still producing colostrums (which was totally fine). We learned a lot of useful tips and information. We went home confident that we could proceed. Our first nursing session went okay but I felt like things started going downhill after. We were back in her office less than a week later. She gave us more tips and tools to help us be successful. This time it was different though. I was more sleep deprived than ever and using the breast pump was a daunting task. While my milk had come in- it was very shy about coming out. After about 30 minutes of pumping I was get about 1 ml of milk. WTF?? I could not believe this! The LC suggested I get bigger breast shields. This made the pumping a little more comfortable but did not help me get more milk out.

I was getting extremely discouraged and was beginning to feel like a failure. I know these aren’t good thoughts to have so my husband suggested that we stop. Of course I didn’t want to give up but instead revamp. A friend of ours shared that her daughter wasn’t able to latch and she had to pump for the first month and supplement with formula. She would pump about 3 ounces a day and give that to her in conjunction with the formula. This made me feel only a little bit better because while she had to revamp her plan as well she was still able to pump way more than me. I decided that I would still try and wait til he was four weeks before making any final decisions. Perhaps our situation would be similar. So I hung in there. Although I was extremely sad that we had to give him formula, I tried to look at the bright side- my son was getting fed right? I started to hate every single pumping session; I despised formula, and hated everything that I felt deceived me about nursing being a natural thing.

What did moms do before formula was invented? Did their kids starve to death or did no one have any nursing problems prior to the invention of formula? What’s wrong with me that I can get it right? I had done everything I thought I could to prepare! I went to classes, bought and read books, did my research, talked to other moms who nursed/currently nurse- No one or nothing ever said that this could happen and what to do about it. Even all of my research talked about problems like over supply and mastitis. Nothing says what to do if your baby doesn’t like your breast. After many nights of going back and forth I knew my thoughts and feelings weren’t healthy and I could not harp on why things weren’t working out. My husband even started to get concerned about post partum depression. I had to snap out of it and give my baby the best that I could. So I packed up all of my breast feeding supplies and got out my formula coupons.

While this isn’t how imagined it- it’s what’s best for us right now. I still have hopes that I’ll be able to nurse him one day- even if it’s just once a day. It’s not likely that it will happen because I haven’t expressed milk in over a week so I’m sure it’s beginning to dry up. However I do know that I will have the opportunity to try again if we should ever have any additional children.

I know this post was extremely long but I hope my story could one day help another mom know that if she isn’t successful breastfeeding that she isn’t alone and there are much worse things that could happen in life.