Babysitters, We Are Not.

Tonight we babysat for some friends while they attended a work party. Their son, Carter, was born about a month before Andrew arrived. He is a sweet little boy who did not enjoy his time at our house - at all. We felt awful that he was so upset and realized that he was very aware that his mommy and daddy were no where to be found and he was in a strange house. He tried to be a good sport about it, but as you can see from the picture - he was not a happy camper. Andrew, on the other hand, had a really good night. I think he enjoyed the show of Mommy and Daddy trying to make Carter happy.

So, it is official...we are no good with children. We are pretty good with handling our own child, or maybe he is pretty good with handling us. Either way, when Carter started crying, Jeff and I gave each other the deer in headlights look and tried about 100 things to make him stop. By the end of the night, that poor baby was over-stimulated, over-bounced, over-fed, over song-ed, over hugged, over danced and completely over...us. But, when Carter's mommy and daddy arrived to pick him up...he was asleep. Go figure.

The Time Has Come...

After 2 great months of being off of work with my little sweet baby, it's time to go back. It really hit me last night that I need something to discuss other than baby stuff, poop talk and breast milk. I can feel my brain cells sliding out of my ears at night when I sleep. So, needless to say, I'm very excited to get back to work, back to tennis and back to a little bit of a social life.

Now, don't get me wrong - I LOVE spending time with Andrew. It's hard to imagine loving someone so much and seeing how my extremely selfish thoughts of the past have been transferred to his well being, his comfort and his growth. It's a wonderful transition, but one that needs a little bit of balance at this point. I totally respect those mothers that dedicate everything to their child, but I'm not one of those mothers. I don't think it makes me a bad person. I think that by maintaining my own sense of self and accomplishing my goals of 'me-time' that I'm actually helping Andrew have a mommy that is happy and healthy, which is much better for him. 

Now, look at this cute face... I realize that this could be hard!

Considering that I knew that I was going to have to go back eventually, we started the hunt for a part-time, in-home nanny. We went the route of visiting day care facilities and decided that we were not comfortable with that until Andrew was older. He would have been the youngest in the facility and would have been exposed to such a large number of illnesses at such an early age - no way.

My friend Lauren recommended a nice older lady to us. She had kept Grant (Lauren's son) for a few months back when he was younger. She had such great things to say about this lady, so we were thrilled to meet her. We met Jerlene - "Miss J" - yesterday and practically hired her on the spot. She was so good with Andrew. She talked to him, laughed with him, hugged on him, etc...

Miss J starts on Monday. She will be keeping Andrew on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. I will be here with them, but working (at least that is the plan). Sybil will come here and keep Andrew every Wednesday and Thursday. She has been such a life saver! It's great to have Mamaw in town and especially great that she is such an awesome cook AND care giver. So, between Mamaw Sybil and Miss J, our little angel will be well cared for during the day. This will let mommy work and daddy go to school.

It's been a great break and I'm so blessed to have been able to take this time with Andrew (Thanks Laura!!). I will miss the constant time with him, but I am also very excited to get back to work.

 

Happy 2 Months Andrew-- We Love You!!

P90X - 5th Time Is the Charm!

In May of 2007, Jeff and I were in Louisiana at a hotel celebrating our 1 year anniversary. While getting dressed and preparing to check out, I came across an infomercial that stopped me dead in my tracks. Now, I'm not an extremely cynical person regarding infomercials, but I'm not easily sold either. So, the fact that I could not stop watching this infomercial was a sign that I was falling for what they were selling. It was for a system called P90X - which stands for Power 90 Extreme. This program was not for the weak. It was sold as an extremely intense workout program. At the time, I was in pretty good shape but was still wanting to do quite a bit of toning to what I considered to be a flabby physique.

We got back to Dallas and I immediately purchased the P90X system with lofty goals of 90 days of extreme working out and a huge transformation. The 12 DVD system was just over $100 but the rest of my "commitment purchases" added up to a pretty expensive program. Weights, bands, heart rate monitors, weight rack, etc... I was totally committed to make this program work - for about a week.

Note to self - that thing was hard! Working out 6 days a week for at least an hour each day was a bit much for me to handle. I quit on day 6 - completely overwhelmed, totally sore and realizing that my goals of total body transformation would have to be through donuts and beer instead of weights and cardio. I was extremely successful in that particular body transformation.

Two more times I committed to P90X and two more times I quit within a week. So, when I decided in March of 2009 that I was going to do it again, Jeff and others just nodded their heads in fake confidence in my claims. But, this time I was completely committed (sounding familiar?). But, I also had a friend doing it with me, so I could not possibly fail... right? I made it to 6 weeks - I was really liking it. But, I was not seeing much in the "body transformation" that they were selling. I was; however, seeing that I was getting more and more tired each time I did the darn workout. Well, completing this program was not in the cards for me - I was PREGNANT. And, for anyone who knows this program, doing it while pregnant is not an option. So, I quit again.

Fast forward to today. After having a baby 8 weeks ago, I've rekindled my love/need for P90X. And, I'm really lucky this time because during one of the middle of the night feedings with Andrew, Jeff ran across that infamous infomercial that sold me so quickly. Welcome to the dark side my sweet hubby! Trust me, it's really difficult to see this commercial and pass it by...especially when the entire system they are selling is sitting on our tv stand. So, Jeff is doing it too! And, that friend that was doing it with me before is going to do it with me again (she quit too - see it's contagious!). And, 2 more friends are doing it with us as well. There is no possible way this can fail....riiiggghhhhttt???? . We shall see. I am a little worried with the ongoing pains I'm experiencing in my c-section incision, especially considering the extreme ab workouts that are required. It may be a little too soon, but I'm determined to give it a go. I'm not sure if I will make it the entire 90 days, but I can guarantee one thing - I will not need to stop during this attempt due to pregnancy. So, one less excuse to slow me down.

See you in 90 days when I'm so shockingly healthy and toned that I will have to sign autographs. Fingers crossed.

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad

Today is a special day. Today, my parents have been married for 36 years! As a married person and now a new mom, I'm even more impressed with them than I ever was. At times, marriage is very challenging, then put the additional stress of children on top of that - wow, that's a lot of work. I am so proud that they made it through the hard times and kept that commitment to each other in tact for 36 years. They should be so proud - it's an accomplishment that many people are not able to claim. I pray that someday Jeff and I will be celebrating our 36 years together as my mom and dad are now doing. Congratulations!

Here is a picture of Mom and Dad with me as a baby. Check out that Afro!

And, here is a picture from Christmas, 2009.

 
Love you mom and dad!

Smiles All Around!

Andrew started smiling for us a little after he was six weeks old. He had those occasional smiles before that time, but we were never convinced that those were real smiles or our boy dealing with gas. We are officially convinced that the smiles we get these days are the real deal.

It's really a lot of fun to watch him grow and advance to the next stages of his development. He has moved from an eating, sleeping and pooping machine to a more interactive baby. He knows our voices, recognizes our faces and does quite a bit of "talking" to us in his baby language. But, my favorite by far are the smiles...

Cradle Cap and New Pics

Andrew has come down with a pretty yucky case of cradle cap. It's very common and is not painful or anything - just not very cute. The cradle cap is like dandruff but it sticks to his head and you have to pick at it to get it to come off. We have a special shampoo from the doctor to help treat it. We are lucky he has such a cute little head of hair because it hides most traces of it.

On a positive note, when the cradle cap came, the baby acne went away - almost completely. In my opinion, that's a great trade-off. We are still dealing with very dry skin and having to lotion his entire body 2 times a day. I keep waiting for him to enjoy that process. I know that I would love that kind of treatment. He will come around. But, for now, it's a scream fest.

Here are a few recent pictures of our fella. 

We took this picture right before we left to go watch the first Cowboys Playoff Game against the Eagles. He did not get to stay in this long because he had a small diaper explosion and we had to "retire" his jersey for the night. But don't worry, we had a back-up Cowboys outfit in case of such a problem. 

This picture is from the same night. Jeff and I are decked out in our Cowboys attire as well. We had a great time at Jennifer's house - even though Andrew slept the entire time...or maybe I should say BECAUSE Andrew slept the entire time.

 

The next few pictures are a glimpse in to our little morning ritual. Andrew plays with his Baby Gym while mommy washes bottles, shoves breakfast in her mouth and takes shooters of coffee while trying to pick up the house a little bit. He is such a cutie though, that I tend to spend a lot of time looking at him and taking video or pics.

 

This last picture is of Andrew trying out his Bumbo seat that Sharon gave to us. He seems to be a little young for it because he can't really hold up his head. But, we will keep trying. He really seems to like it - not as much as Jeff though - as you can see in the next picture. 

 

Jeff is King Bumbo.

Our little guy is 7 weeks old now - seems like time is flying by. I love every day with him and I'm getting better at knowing what to do and what he likes and does not like. I really hope that I can learn to manage Andrew, time with hubby, working, cleaning, tennis, friendships and getting back in to shape. Right now, I can pretty much just manage him. Yikes!

Christmas In Louisiana

We spent our first Christmas as a new family in Louisiana this year. It's actually the same as what we do every year. Jeff's family (Mike and Sybil) come to my parent's house and we all celebrate Christmas together. Jeff and I went in very early this year as a result of getting to attend the Cowboys game in New Orleans on December 19th. Our normal Christmas visit is about 4 days and we doubled that this year. It was not bad considering that it was double the amount of time that we had assistance with Andrew from grandmas, grandpa, Uncle Matt and Uncle Mike. However, when we finally made it back home, we practically raced to our room to give our own bed a big hug. It's great to be gone and even better when you get back home.

Although Jeff and I had a wonderful time catching up with family, eating great Louisiana food and escaping the demands of our own home, we did have some challenges with Andrew while we were at my parent's house. I'm not sure if it was because of the new surroundings or all the people handling him, but he became the fussiest baby in Louisiana. By about day 4, he cried almost any time that he was not eating or sleeping. Now, to his defense, he broke out in the worst rash/acne on his face and scalp. It looked so uncomfortable and I knew he had to be miserable. We were not sure if it was bothering him, but we assumed it was based on his ever-growing frustrations with each day that passed. His Christmas gift to mommy and daddy was to sleep long enough for us to open all the presents on Christmas morning and enjoy a big cup of coffee. Notice the bow on his head - all wrapped up in cute Christmas jammies and sleeping while I focused on unwrapping the goodies behind him.

Below is a picture of Andrew with his daddy on the second day that we were there - all sweet and quietly sleeping - no real sign of the rash that was on the way.  The bottom picture was full blown rash/acne. The picture really does not do it justice. The fact that people at the Christmas party we attended on Christmas Eve kept asking what was wrong with his face was a clue that it was not just me being a little concerned with a slight breakout. My cute baby boy had become a full blown pizza face.

Once we got home, things started to get much better. He was back in his element, the fussiness was gone and our sweet baby boy started smiling for us! His rash is getting better every day. The doctor has us treating it with a special lotion and he is almost completely back to his normal sweet baby face.

All in all, our Christmas in Louisiana was great. It was so nice to get to celebrate Andrew's first Christmas  with our entire family. Not to mention, Cooper and Oscar absolutely love the amount of yard space that my parents have. They spent so much time checking things out and keeping everyone safe.

It turns out that while we were gone, Dallas had a White Christmas. It's a shame that we missed it, but I would not trade our Christmas tradition for a little snow. The time with the entire family together is priceless. We can't wait till next year!

Cowboys and Saints

Jeff and I had the pleasure of going to the Cowboys/Saints game in the Superdome over the Christmas break. Thanks to my wonderful friend Lauren and her dad for the tickets to the game. What a great Christmas present - 50 yard line seats about 30 rows up from the field on the Cowboys side! It was absolutely awesome! The Cowboys defeated the Saints - 24-17 - giving them their first loss of the season.

Now, while there were several hundred Cowboy fans in their Blue and Silver attire, Jeff and I chose to cheer for our team in disguise. We wore "street clothes" that would not make us stand out as Cowboy fans. I heard too many of my friends from home fussing at me about cheering for the Cowboys over the Saints -- Actually wearing Cowboys attire would only make things worse. In my defense, I was never a huge Saints fan growing up. Anyone who knew the Saints back in the 80's and 90's knew that it was not exactly the team that was expected to go very far. I never cheered against them, just never really got in to it.

And, just to be clear - I would LOVE for the Saints to win the Superbowl - As long as the Cowboys could not do it. And, I especially feel that way after going to the game. What an amazing and fantastic experience. The Saints fans are awesome. I think I actually lost some of my hearing in the 4th Quarter when they were coming back to an almost-victory against the Cowboys.

I thought I would post some pictures of our night in the New Orleans Superdome. Thanks to my mom and dad for watching Andrew and letting us get to do this. These pics will let you know how awesome our seats were! Go Cowboys! Congrats on a great win. And, Good Luck Saints!

 

 

This final picture is of our AWESOME Miles Austin. A true up and comer for the Cowboys.