Happy (One Day Early Because I Can't Hold It In Another Second!) Anniversary to Us!

Photos courtesy the amazingly talented Wendy Gail Photography - more to come!

The Wedding is Off.

Okay, okay, so maybe that was a dramatic post title...

To clarify, the wedding is not off in its entirety. We're still getting married. We've just opted - likely to the chagrin of our family and friends - to forgo an enormous, money-hounding ceremony and reception for an intimate affair just the three of us.

I'd thought about this before. Long before we got engaged, I seriously kicked around the idea of running off the three of us to the islands or some similarly beautiful locale to tie the knot in peace. Lord knows weddings are expensive. Just HOW expensive, however, I had no clue about! I mean, several grand? Sure. Twenty to thirty grand? You crazy!

Another friend of ours is getting married. Actually, several, but one in particular got engaged around the same time and is planning a wedding around the same time. She's referred to her "budget" and stress in the same sentence a lot, which is understandable, except her parents gave her a LARGE chunk of money to spend on the wedding. While I don't begrudge her that, it's hard to hear considering that the total contribution both of our sets of parents have made is the astronomical sum of...$0.

Ouch.

Whomp whomp.

I always knew this would be the case, but it still super sucks. And while we've managed to put money into savings, I cannot justify depleting it for the sole purpose of one days worth of memories. Sure, a fancy wedding would be lovely, but I'm not that type of girl who is going to care that much when all is said and done. If someone else was paying, I'd love it. The reality, however, is that they're not, and I cannot justify taking out a chunk of our savings that should be put towards Ava's college fund, her own wedding so she isn't screwed over by our poor choices in the future, or towards the terrifying possibility that one of us could lose our income. It's just not worth it to me.

So, we'll be forgoing a wedding. I know it's disappointing, but know this. There will still be a ceremony. I'll still wear a beautiful and fancy white dress - and it will not be dumbed down per our intimate and likely informal ceremony. It's magnificent, let me tell you. We'll likely skip town for either the islands or some tropical beach, and after saying our vows, we'll sit on the beach as an official family of three, two of us sipping champagne and all of us nomming on delicious (vegan for A) cake and basking in the glow of post-wedding bliss.

And, to me, that sounds perfect.

Happy Mother's Day!

So many things to say. For now, until tomorrow, I'll leave you with a photo, as well as the sincere wish that all of you are having the type of Mother's Day weekend that I've had so far. That is to say, the best best BEST weekend ever. EVER. The last time I was this happy, I had a newborn Ava in my arms :D

(Not At All) Wordless Wednesday. In Fact, WordFUL Wednesday Is More Appropriate.

Good morning! Afternoon? What the hell time is it anyhow?

This is the state of my life these days.

There have been many things keeping me away. See exhibit A & B for starters.

Exhibit A:



That's our fence. Or, what was our fence. Now we currently have one giant backyard which we share with the neighbors. The neighbors who, unless they've come by in the middle of the night, have yet to acknowledge this, and have not answered their door yet. Awesome.

Exhibit B:

I have come down with some cold-like illness that isn't enough to completely debilitate me, but that I can't quite shake. Probably because I'm running around working, writing, trying to launch my business, mothering, and finishing up the Millenium Trilogy. That last one may sound like an optional endeavor to you, but if so, you haven't read the first two. Happily, I knocked out the last of it this morning, and can proudly lay claim to having read all three books of The Hunger Games series and all three of the Millenium Trilogy since January 1. How? I rarely sleep before 1AM. Which, in writing, sounds incredibly idiotic of me. Anyhow, enough rambling, I'm feeling sick. The end. Hopefully it'll go away soon. Like, before I take up with a new book and start sacrificing sleep again.

In other news, sweet A is currently a terror. Like, throws herself on the floor and then scoots backwards while perpetuating a long, whiny cry...just for me. That's the real kicker. And no one believes me. Yesterday, looking flustered, the dry cleaner (yes, the same one who couldn't keep her hands off my belly) asked how A was, to which I responded, "Great, although moving quickly into the terrible twos and throwing some tantrums for her mommy!". And, per the standard response I've been getting when I admit my toddlers monster attitude some days, she said, "That beautiful baby? No way. She's a sweet girl."

Uh huh. If by sweet, you mean the devil incarnate.

OK, OK, she's not really that bad. I adore her, and for the most part she is a smily, happy little munchkin. But if she wants to be held (and since one of her molars on the left side has broken the surface, that's often) and I can't hold her that second (ie. I'm cooking/in the shower/bathroom/etc), homegirl throws a fit. If daddy wants to hold her and she wants mommy, down to the ground she goes. If she wants mommy to read Busy Monkeys for the umpteenth time that hour, and I instead choose to throw myself off the roof take a break to, oh, I don't know, eat dinner, dramamama possesses my child in a way that could quite possibly someday require an exorcism. GAH!

In other news, I have my first client for my business venture, From Two to Three, whom I'll be meeting with two weeks from today. AHHHHHHHHHHH! Exciting/nervewracking, no?!

What is everyone else up to? I feel like I've been absent forever!

All Good Things Come to an End.

Let's see if I can get through this post without entering a state of complete mental collapse.

My job. You all should know by now how much I love it. How I consider the D's my very own family. How very, very much they - and of course the girls - mean to not only me, but to David and Ava. I secretly pray they'll end up accidentally having another baby so I can stay on forever.

That was the news I was secretly praying for, but here's the news I actually got: With S in school 3/4 time, and P in actual school full-time, my hours will be getting cut from the forty they were prior to this school year and the thirty they are now to roughly 10-20 as of the fall. Whereas we've found a way to rework our budget with the previous cut and I've been able to supplement with babysitting and my writing gigs, there is no way I'll be able to get by on those things alone if I'm only working ten hours or so per week. Not only that, but I'll only work a couple of days per week as opposed to a few hours a day, which - while great for the ol' gas mileage - makes me insanely sad. I'm not entirely convinced Ava doesn't think that the girls are actually a part of our immediate family, and while it's heartbreaking for me, I feel like it will be hard for her also.

Aside from the emotional stress of this change, I'll also have to find a second job, one that will pay well enough and coordinate with my new, reduced schedule. Oh, and that will allow me to bring A, because adding the expense of daycare is just not going to compute.

Any ideas? Suggestions? Know anyone in Austin looking for a kick ass nanny and will allow me to bring my super sweet and charming - despite her food-throwing haha - toddler with me?

I'm all ears.

A Quick Update.

Whew...how have four days gone by since my last post? Geez, time flies.

We've been up to a lot of cool and exciting stuff, and this mama has been pulling some major OT at work! I actually offered to step in for the D's so that they could go to New Orleans for their tenth wedding anniversary, and so I was at work from Friday morning to Saturday late night, hauling 3 little girls to basketball practices, basketball games and birthday parties, as well as trying to get (and keep!) the house clean, bake brownies for Mr. D's birthday Saturday, and generally not lose it after something like 40 straight hours at work. It went well considering how stressful it could've been, but I'm glad it's over. Definitely not feeling like I got much of a weekend, though!

Then, there was this pesky little time change. Normally I'm down with the whole "fall back", taking full advantage of that extra hour of sleep, but Ava didn't get the memo, and woke up early just the same. To top it off, her nap schedule has been all over the place today, with her falling asleep in D's arms before she'd even had breakfast, and then napping again right before we were supposed to head out to run errands. Oh well - A's nap takes precedence over just about anything, since it directly correlates to my sanity!

After she woke up from her second nap, we ran some errands, including hitting up Toys R Us to start on A's Christmas and birthday shopping! Considering the two are days apart, I think we're going to be better off starting our purchasing out early like this in order to spread it out a bit, but we knew that we wanted something extra special for her birthday, and we just couldn't wait to pick it up for her! Check out what we got our little lady for her first birthday:

Awesome, right? We got an insane deal on it, between a merchandise credit we had, a $20 off sale and a 20% off coupon that came on our mailer! We're planning to do this for her birthday, and then the rest of the things going for Christmas/stocking stuffers/Santa :) I'm so excited!!!!

In less exciting news, A had a reaction to the yogurt we tried with her, which makes me super sad. I've been easing dairy back in - sometimes successfully, less successfully with other forms - and it's gone well enough that the doc suggested that we could try yogurt with her, as the milk protein is the most broken down in yogurt. We tried it, in a very small amount of YoBaby! Yogurt Blends, and the poor doll had diarrhea for over 24 hours. As such, no dairy for her - or I again!! - until after 1 year. Anyone have any good vegan frosting recipes to pass my way to accompany her vegan chocolate birthday cake?!

A's still on her antibiotics, and let me pass a little tip along to those of you who may also have a baby who isn't down with the refrigerated antibiotics. A is a champ medicine taker when it comes to Motrin, etc, but anything the doc prescribes, she fights like hell. So...at my wits end, I've started taking it out of the fridge an hour before she needs to take it in the dropper, and letting it settle to room temp. Voila! She takes it just fine!

Alright, that's enough update for now - time to go cuddle my little baby bear! Hope you all had a great weekend!

Snip Snip.

Not what you're thinking. No vasectomies in this house today (yet). Instead, I CUT MY HAIR!!!

8" to be exact.

Between the cut and the highlight, I was at the salon for FIVE HOURS. Even with 8" less, I have a LOT of hair. A LOT.

Check it:




Whaddaya think?

Writing News, Quarter-Life Crisis, and the Nine-Month Photo Shoot From...

First off, thank you all for your wonderful support/commiseration/advice on my last post. I was...not in a good place. I'm feeling much better now, having both a.) slept, and b.) told D I was unhappy, and am hoping things continue on the up and up :)

Generally, I am feeling a bit of a quarter-life crisis coming on. I hate my hair, I hate my clothes, I feel like considering a move (something I swore I would never do), and so on and so forth. I just feel listless and bored, and am hoping to shake it by a bit of shopping and perhaps a little makeover. Either way, I'm trying to focus on taking positive steps forward, as opposed to wallowing a la Saturday morning. I'm a firm believer in the whole "if you don't like something, then change it" philosophy, and cannot stand when people whine or complain and then do nothing about why they're unhappy. So that's that. Some things are going to be changing around my life, and while I'm not entirely sure what and how, I'm excited for what the future holds.

As for A, she's getting so big! I cannot believe that she took a step three days ago, and then repeated it twice over the weekend. She's certainly not walking just yet, seeing as how she can't take more than one step, but I'll take that one and go with it. She's also gone from standing with uncertainty, not wanting me to let go, to me being a mere prop for her to pull herself up on and then let go and stand, looking so proud and smiling so big!

Today was A's nine month photo shoot, although where A was during the shoot I don't know, seeing as how I have nine month photos of SATAN. Ok, ok, so that's not entirely fair, but whoa Lord. She was not having it. Her last few photo shoots have gone so well and she was all smiles, but seriously, about 90% of the pictures from today she's either crying, pouting or all red faced from crying and pouting. TO be fair, though, this time last week she had two teeth on bottom, and now she has six total - four brand spankin' new ones on top! Yikes.

As for my writing news: I am going to be writing for Gather's other writing program, talking about my experiences as a mom (sound familiar?). This is exciting for two reasons. First, I was hired as a moms writer initially, writing news that pertained to moms (new vaccine research, new info on attachment, crib recalls, the works), but then that "channel" got phased out, so I was moved to celebs, lucky to get to keep my witing job at all. Now I love celebrity gossip as much as the next gal, but I feel a bit like a sellout sometimes when I'm "reporting" on Lindsay Lohan's "bar hopping like a coked-up kangaroo" (love you, Modern Family!) or somebody's fake boobs. I mean, it's fun and all, but not exactly the type of thing many people take me seriously for. Anyhow, the new project is also exciting because it's in collaboration with Pampers, and so all my writing will be featured on the Pampers website as one of their mom writters/bloggers! YAY! I was supposed to go through training via conference call last week, but I'm an airhead and didn't realize it was EASTERN time (duh!), so it's being rescheduled to this week :) I'm excited to start, though how I'm going to find time I do not know :P

Happy Monday, everyone! Oh, and if you didn't see my post below about eating/foods for baby, please feel free to weigh in :)

One Slight Announcement...

I'm extending the book giveaway through this Friday, July 9th, because, well, I haven't finished the book yet! Due to some unforeseen events (aka life as a mother), I can't get my act together enough to finish it. So far, though, it's been very good :) Click here to enter.

Recalls & Other Articles Pertaining to Moms.

Recent Recalls of Mom-Related or Mom-Friendly Products:

More Children's Medicine Recalled

Spaghetti O's Recall

Marie Callender's Dinners

Other Moms News:

Re: Nannies

For Fathers

Re: Children in Hot Cars

The AAP statement on swim lessons

CafeMom

Belly Bandit Review

Flag Day ideas that will also work for 4th of July!

PSA Time.

I hate to be preachy (for the most part...), but this is something I think deserves a moment of my (and your) time, given that it's now officially the first day of summer and it's getting increasingly HOT.

Last year in Austin, a man drove to work just like every other day, but this time something was different. He forgot that he was supposed to drop his young son, who was 18 months old, at daycare, seeing as how it was not normally a task that was his to do, and just drove straight to work, forgetting about the sleeping boy in the backseat. Eight hours later, the man returned to his car to find his son dead, the result of severe hyperthermia and heat stroke.

This story divided our city. If you're anything like me, your heart broke. You felt so much grief and sympathy for the family, recognizing that it was an accident. There were others, however, that felt that he should be prosecuted for child endangerment, and sadly, he was. While the man did not end up serving jail time, the child that his wife recently gave birth to is never allowed to be alone in a car with him, amongst other stipulations. I know that it is typical for the public to want answers and justice when things go so unmistakably wrong. But let me tell you, friends. This can happen to anyone. ANYONE.

It's so easy to say, "Not me. That would never happen to me." But we've all been there. You know, that place where you're sleep-deprived, or your partner is sick and you have to break routine (as was the case in my story), or you have a big presentation at work and are simply preoccupied. This really can and does happen to anyone.

I read something the other day that said an average of one child a week will die in a hot car this summer. Please, please, PLEASE, don't let that child be yours. Here are some tips to remind you to ALWAYS check for your child in the backseat, despite preoccupations and other outside factors:

-Leave a stuffed animal in your child's car seat on a daily basis. When you put your child into the car, toss the stuffed animal into the front seat next to you to help you remember that your child is back there.

-Always keep your handbag and/or diaper bag in the backseat with your child. That gives you one more reason to check the backseat, and even if by chance you forget it, you're not going to get too far into your day before realizing your wallet/PDA/etc is missing.

-There are also products on the market that serve to remind you to check the backseat by activating a chime when your child is in their car seat and your turn your car off. If you're very concerned, this can be a great reminder.

-Arrange to have your daycare or child care provider call you when your child is absent. It's always a good idea to ensure that they're cognizant of this fact as well as of when your child is under the weather, and that phone call could've saved the little Austin toddler's life.

Again, please do not dismiss these ideas based on the thought that this can't happen to you. It can, particularly if you experience a change in routine. Just 15 minutes in a hot car can be enough to cause heat stroke in an infant. Hopefully, with the tips above, you can honestly say, "Not my infant."

I'm Baaaaaaaaaack!

Hey friends! For those of you who haven't been following along during the time that my blog was made private, it's been a while! Allow me to catch you up:

Let me introduce you to my sweet baby girl, Ava Elizabeth, born 12/28/09 by c-section:


Here she is again at three months, growing cuter by the second:


Many, many more were taken in the interim, but you'll have to check the archives for those :)

Now that you've met her, here's the world's quickest run down on the past nearly (gasp!) six months:

*She's currently getting her second tooth, for a complete set of front teeth on the bottom. I've yet to wrangle a picture of those yet.
*She has a pretty severe dairy allergy, so any suggestions on dairy-free living are appreciated! Mommy cannot wait until the day I can have ice cream again, but for now, it's 100% worthwhile to be dairy-free so that A can continue to get breastmilk exclusively.
*That's right..I've gone over to the dark side. I'm a lover of breastfeeding, a "lactivist" if you will. Though, if you're not, I won't speak ill against you. To each their own :)
*We're currently co-sleeping. When did I become such a hippie, you ask? Well, A had what looked and acted suspiciously like the measles a couple weeks back, and was cutting her first tooth and REFUSED to sleep anywhere except with mommy. And, being totally paranoid about SIDS like I am, this is the only way she'll not roll onto her belly. So in our bed it is.
*Ava rolls both ways (though she won't roll from tummy to back since the first couple times she tried it out), and sits unsupported for minutes at a time. Holy moly!
*A comes to work with me, and so we're together all the time. I mean, seriously, all the time. While I generally love this arrangement, I have been struggling with the need for personal time and a date night (we've yet to have one since she was born!). Suggestions on feeling less guilty about this welcome :)
*We started solid foods on Monday with my homemade sweet potatoes. So far, so good.
*D and I aren't married still, for those who are wondering. I'll leave that at that.

Hmm...any questions? Ask away. Glad to see you all again. Feel free to follow along. Oh yeah, you'll notice a new little gadget on the side. I've been hired as a writer on all things mom/parenting, as well as a bit of celeb gossip and business news from time to time, so my articles post to the side in real time. As always, I love comments, either here or on the articles at Gather.

For a more detailed play-by-play of little A's development, check out What Are We Up To?

Today we're getting six months pictures done, so expect those within the next day or so!

We Have A Tooth!!!

Last night, while getting Ava in her jammies, I was bit. Little munch has been going through a bit of a biting phase as of late - she actually made me jump last night when nursing (OWW!) - but this one felt different. This was the type of bite that indicated one thing and one thing only - her first little baby tooth has arrived! It's on the bottom on her left hand side! Cute!!!!

I'm incredibly excited, despite it barely having broken the surface, if for no other reason than the most painful part of this particular tooth is over! This has been such a huge week! As sad as I am that she's been on the brink of teething while sick, I'm so excited for the emergence of little baby toothy numero uno! Congrats, little A! Is this your way of trying to get the point across that you want some food already???

I tried to snap a picture, but it was nearly impossible. I basically ended up with a bunch of shots of Ava's adorable little tongue (this may have a little something to do with her being forcefed medicine several times a day since Saturday and her now quick attempt to spit out ANYTHING you attempt to put in her mouth. Ill try some more later on today!

Quick Update.

No news may or may not be good news - we're not entirely sure yet. Ava saw Dr. H this morning, and he did a nasal and larynx (throat) culture for pertussis (whooping cough). He seemed optimistic, which made me optimistic. That is, until I picked S up from school and was handed a flyer stating that THEY are having an outbreak as well. WTH?!

Apparently it's all over the news that Austin is in the midst of a pertussis outbreak. Austin mommies - hug your babies and wash your hands.

We won't have test results until Thursday. Until then, fingers crossed and temp taking constantly.

Thanks for the prayers!

Ava's Christening.

After what seemed like many months of trying to set a date, reserve a church, and just generally get this show on the road, the day finally came! Today was Ava's Christening at All Saints Episcopal Church in Austin, and it was absolutely beautiful. Check it out for yourself:

The Beautiful All Saints Episcopal Church:


Gorgeous Church Interior:




Before the Ceremony:




Our Little Family:


Waiting on our Guests:


(Have you ever seen a more beautiful sight?)



The Ceremony:
(This is my favorite picture of our family)


(Yes, she fell asleep midway through - poor little sleepyhead!)




Attendees:


Ava & Father Walker:


The Celebratory Bunny Cake I Made:


I am so happy with how today went! Thank you to everyone who was there to celebrate with us - we wanted it to be a small, intimate ceremony with our closest friends and local adopted family, and it was exactly that. The only bummer was that Ava's godfather had to miss the ceremony, but we'll see him this week to make up for it!

A special thanks to Father Walker for performing both her ceremony and my own. It seems ever so born-again Christian of me, but I had my own baptismal ceremony privately yesterday afternoon. While I know that it wasn't necessary, I didn't feel right about sending Ava into the Episcopalian faith alone, with her dad being baptized Catholic and my (Jack) Mormon background. I have always known that the Mormon faith was not by any means for me, and though I've attended St. James for a year now and have studied the Episcopalian faith, it was important to me to make it official so that I would be able to give her the guidance and answers she might need someday.

Hope everyone is having as wonderful a weekend as we are!

We Interrupt The Previously Scheduled Programming For An Announcement!

I wanted to wait until I knew for sure before posting, but I have some very exciting news!! Baby number two? Oh, hecccccccccccck no. More like I got offered a great opportunity to be on a mom/parenting blog team for Gather, a website similar to Facebook but still up-and-coming. I am SO excited! I have always wanted to write for a living, and while this is just consulting work and would be similar to what I do now on my blog but without all the pictures, etc., it's still me being paid to write. A-ma-zing!

As a result, I'll definitely be curious to know what types of things you all would be interested in reading about. So far I'm planning some posts on breastfeeding (troubleshooting, anecdotes, etc.), sleep, and, after this weekend, traveling with baby. I'm not quite sure exactly how this is all going to work just yet - I have a conference call tomorrow morning with a woman in the corporate office in Boston - but I'll be sure to fill you all in when I know more. I'm so excited for this opportunity and hope you all will read along! A link will be provided when I launch, of course :)

Infant Sling Recall/Infant Needs for Vitamin D!!! PLEASE READ.

Here's a link to the MSNBC article - please take heed. While the recall involved only Infantino and Wendy Bellissimo slings, I feel that the basic principle cculd easily be applied to all slings due to their design, and will be refraining from using ours until A is a little older. We haven't used it much due to this very concern.

Also noteworthy today - babies who do not get enough Vitamin D are at increased risk for cancers later in life. Since breastmilk does not tend to transfer Vitamin D well, breastfed babies are more affected than formula-fed babies, but both should receive supplementation if taking in less than 200 UI per day (this is the equivalent of less than a quart of fortified formula). I highly recommend D-Vi-Sol. A's a champ with taking it since she likes the flavor. She's not a big fan of the Poly-Vi-Sol that we bought on accident once, and after smelling it, I can't blame her. Plus, she should be receiving enough of the other components due to exclusive breastfeeding. See full article here.

Ava's Baby Book.

I am notorious for keeping really detailed and crafty scrapbooks. I started them my first semester of college, and now have close to 15 books all filed away with pictures, keepsakes, plane tickets, foreign travel, and, most recently, pregnancy! In this same vein, I wanted to make keepsakes for Ava, especially while she's little and growing so quickly, and so I turned to Blurb for a little help (Thanks, Jen, for sharing this idea on your blog!)!

I spent several hours yesterday morning and afternoon working on a keepsake book for Ava, made entirely from this blog! I started at my first post, and went through to the announcement that she was here, with the last page containing her newborn pictures. It was so easy to use and format, and though it took me a few minutes to get the hang of it, I'm so glad I personalized it and added picture captions, etc. It was WELL worth my time. The book is over 200 pages, containing most of my relevant entries (I omitted some whose gist was, "Get this G-D baby out of me!!!", as well as the very few that had nothing to do with Ava or pregnancy...), 266 full color photos, all her sonogram pictures, and more! AND...are you ready for this? It only cost $70!!!!! That's far less than it would've cost me to print that many photos and buy the materials to make a far lower-quality scrapbook by hand. Not to mention it would've taken several weeks, not hours! I cannot wait to get it in the mail!

Two-Month Doctor Visit.

First off, let me say how much I adore Dr. Halden. He's awesome. He never makes me feel like a crazy, neurotic mommy, and he is just great with her. I like a doctor that talks my baby through things even knowing that she won't necessarily understand the words. She seems to like him as well, since she always smiles at him throughout the entire examination. She's so charming. Just like her mommy :)

Anyhow, the visit went well. Ava now weighs an even 11.5lbs (50%), and is 23" long (80%). Her head circumference is 15" (25%). What a little cutie patootie!

I also had the doctor check on something while we were there, since it had kept me up all night worrying. Last night Ava took a bath with mommy, one of her favorite things in the world. As I was holding her facing away from me and letting her kick and splash with her little hands and feet in the water, I noticed something...unique. Ava's cute little baby butt crack veers slightly to the right. Yep, that's right. She has a slightly crooked butt crack (there's just no nicer way to phrase that part of the body..you should've seen me trying to mention it to the doctor without using the phrase butt crack. "Um, can you look at this...right here. Behind her. At the top of the back of her diaper." HAHAHA). Anyhow, when I naturally got all freaked-out mommy and headed to the internet, I read that this can be a serious indicator of undetected spina bifida occulta, or some other misalignment of the spine. It can also mean a tethered spinal cord. All three things would mean major spinal surgery on my just-turned two-month-old precious baby daughter. Holy crapballs. I naturally stayed up all night worried sick, while my wee one slept pretty peacefully next to me in her bassinet. Dr. Halden said he was glad that I had noticed and would happily check it out, but after examination declared that it was just a normal variation, one that would probably straighten out itself, and that her backbone was perfectly straight and closed. WHEW.

Then came immunization time. In case I haven't mentioned before, I am severely allergic to the Pertussis vaccination (the P part of the DPT/DTaP), and after my first and only dose at two-months-old, stopped breathing. Yikes. Anyhow, I've been dreading these immunizations basically, like, forever, and was quite nervous. I wanted to make sure that she had it, though, especially considering that I am not vaccinated, and pertussis is making a comeback both in the US and in my particular area. No way am I going to risk infecting her. Adults can handle it. Babies die from it. Anyhow, Dr. H was great about it, and had us stay an hour after to make sure that she didn't have a reaction, since mine was delayed. It was heartbreaking to see her get the four vaccinations, but I'm so glad that she's protected, and she recovered quickly. I then nursed her in the patient room while we waited the hour to ensure she was ok, and we went on our way.

I'm going to take this opportunity to get up on my soapbox for a second. Please, please, PLEASE vaccinate your babies. I know that it's becoming increasingly common to opt not to vaccinate for fear of the possibility of side effects/repurcussions, but I am 100% opposed to this practice. Yes, the diseases we are vaccinating against are rare these days, but only because of the implementation of such an effective early vaccination program in the U.S. The U.S. has also seen an increase in what were previously thought to be eradicated diseases since this movement towards non-vaccination. This stems from both increasing populations of susceptible children, and increasingly populations of immigrant children who didn't have the privilege of receiving vaccinations. I do not mean to imply anything negative about the immigrant population, but as we see increasing immigration from countries without the luxury of vaccinations, we also see a corresponding increase in the spread of the disease within the U.S. because we are leaving our children susceptible. Please, for your children, DO NOT think that they're invincible. Your babies rely on you for protection, as does the country as a whole. If everyone relied on everyone else to get the flu shot and no one actually got it themselves, we'd have an entire country full of bed-ridden and hospitalized individuals. PLEASE VACCINATE. OK. Stepping down now.

Off to hold my baby and hope that I can make the rest of her day can amazing to compensate for the morning shots!

Just Another Manic Monday.

This morning was my six-week postpartum visit (Happy 6 weeks, A!). It also happened to be the morning of the worst downpour I have ever driven in, and also the latest I have ever slept through my alarm. Oops!

The doctor's visit went well. I am cleared to begin training for whichever run I end up participating in this spring. While I'm anxious to get my abs back, I'm not so psyched about actually having to put forth the effort, but I digress. In other good news, I've lost all my baby weight. At this rate, ill breastfeed forever! I suddenly understand the skinny women with a two-year-old attached to their breast ;)

Now that we've knocked that appointment out of the way, it's off to Barnes & Noble and the post office to send my littlest sister's birthday gift (only two weeks late :/), and then time to go to work! Four and a half weeks until Spring Break!