Last nights tropical storm

Last night we were supposed to be hit by Tropical Storm Ernesto. Or maybe we were hit by T.S. Ernesto, I don't know if it actually hit us or not, but either way....it wasn't very strong. I think the thunder storm we had last week was stronger! Brandi came over to ride out the storm here and we were all closed up in the house just in case. Lily went to sleep around eleven and Brandi and I stayed up and watched movies. When I went to bed after 2AM, I was dreading the lack of sleep I had just set mysef up for, but much to my suprise.....Lily slept almost through the night. She woke up around 6:30AM, I changed her, and fed her then she went straight back to sleep. It was a miracle. She finished her bottle, burped and then fell instantly sound asleep. I went back to bed expecting to be up again in about two hours. I woke up at 10:45AM wondering if Brandi or Ross had gotten Lily because surely she wasn't still asleep. I checked on her and SHE REALLY WAS STILL SLEEPING!!! I took a shower and then checked on her again. She was now awake but not crying or anything. Just laying there in her bed all bright eyed and cute. I said "good morning sunshine" and she looked right at me and smiled the biggest smile! I love being a mom!

Professional photos

Yesterday I took Lily to have her picture taken. Wow it is expensive! I went to Sears with my coupon for "no session fees and a free 5x5" and ended up spending almost a hundred bucks! For some reason I thought it would be rather cheap....wrong. I even told the chick to give me the cheapest thing and turned down all the extras that I was offered. And then tonight, I talk to David and find out that Sharah (his girlfriend) is in the process of becoming a professional photographer AND she will be here in two days! Damn I wish I knew that yesterday! oh well. at least I have some FABULOUS pictures of my sweets.
Anyway, enough bitching about the money I have to tell you that Lily was so funny getting her picutre made! She really gave the photographer a tough time. She would stare at her and stare at her and then as soon as everything was ready she would look away. And we have more proof that she is advanced. Take a look at the picture where she is on her stomach. It took about 10 takes to get that one because she kept trying to crawl off the pillow. She is only 6 weeks old, can't hold her head up yet and is trying to CRAWL!!!! She'll be at Harvard soon!

Hurricane Ernesto

I have lived in hurricane prone areas all my life, and have been in several. Eva, Erin, Opal, Charlie, Katrina, Rita & Wilma. This time, with Ernesto threatening Florida, I feel completely different. Now it isn't just me, I have a newborn to consider! My dad and Ross both think we should evacuate. But if you see the future-track, it includes the entire Florida Peninsula! I have friends and family all up and down both Florida coasts, but are they really any safer than here? What if it misses here but hits wherever I evacuate to? Then we would be in a hurricane AND away from home. So, we have decided to stay. We aren't in a flood zone and we have hurricane shutters. We already stocked up on batteries, can goods, diapers, and dog food. Later today we will go get gas and water, then tomorrow stock up on ice. I just hate that Ross will have to be at work. They don't close the bar until the power goes out. So, like in Katrina, he may be still at work when it hits! Hopefully Brandi & Godzuki will come over.

Spoke too soon

I knew I shouldn't have bragged about how good Lily had been about sleeping throughout the night. The past couple of days it doesn't seem like she sleeps at all unless we are out somewhere. She only seems to sleep when there is no way that we can sleep at that same time. Like at the grocery store! We are both exhausted.
Well, a little of the exhaustion is self induced because I had to go to a trade show yesterday. I guess I didn't HAVE to go, but it was important for me to go in order to grow my business. Things have been going really well with my website. If things keep up at this pace I will be making big bucks by Christmas! I opened the store the same week as Lily was born, so it is 6 weeks old. Each week I have sold more than the last, and this week I have sold over $700 worth of merchandise and there is still one day left of my work week. My goal is $2000.00 a week. I am getting to the point where I am very low on inventory, so this is why the trade show was so important. I picked up only two new products but they are ones that I am very excited about. I am going to add Bahay Bags to the addictedtorockabilly.com site and college themed purses and totes to sell at ebay (auctionbums2006). Of course FSU, and also UF, UM, Ohio State, Penn State, and Texas. That should keep me busy until it is time to roll-out the Halloween costumes!

Success!!

I doubt that it will happen again for awhile, but last night Lily slept so good! She went to sleep at 11Pm, and did not wake up again until 6:45AM. Then she had a nappy change, and a feed, then right back to sleep until 11AM!! WAHOO! I woke up when Ross came home from work at 5:30AM and couldn't believe that she had slept that whole time. And to top off my great beginning of a day, her diaper rash has started clearing up....AND the diarrhea has gone away!! oh happy day!

Playtime

Brandi went to Vegas for Sam & Tony's wedding and brought Lily back that cute Viva Las Vegas Elvis onsie....so cute!

I got bored and started pulling out Lily's toys that she is too small to play with. Veronika & Ned got her this Bumbo chair that Nichole keeps singing the praises of. The box said that it is for infants who can hold their head up. Well, what about infants who have moms that hold their heads for them? Seems to work ok. I don't know how much fun it is for her, but it gave me 10 minutes of entertainment.

Doctor

(picture is Marje and Ross way back on August 3)
Lily has had a mild case of diarrhea since last Tuesday. I wasn't really that worried about it because she wasn't showing any signs of dehydration, but because it had been so long, we took her to the doctor just in case. Of course, she is fine. Doc said we shouldn't worry as long as she is eating well, and everything else is normal. The worst part is the horrible diaper rash that she has developed because of it. Her poor little bum is so raw and she wails every time we have to clean her up. It hurts me to hear her scream like that too. One of the "mommy changes" that I have developed is that I cry every time she does. This evening we went down to the beach for our walk and she got cranky and screamed the entire car ride back. I must have looked like a moron to anyone who saw me driving along with tears pouring down my face. Oh yeah, back to my story, the doctor said that Lily is growing well and even a little ahead of the average (Her Granddad in Zim has been telling everyone that she is advanced....now he is proven right!) She weighs 9lbs 12oz. She weighed 8lb 2oz at her 2 week check up.
Oh yeah, I can't believe that I didn't write this first...Lily is learning how to smile! She doesn't do it all the time, but every now and then if she isn't tired or cranky, you can get her to smile at you by putting your face really close to hers. Before now her smiles have only been gas. She is working really hard at holding her head up on her own too. She now prefers to be held up on your shoulder so she can practice. The bad thing about this is that every now and then she loses control and head butts you in the mouth or spits up down your back. :)

Zelda, Kenny and Zits

Zelda is driving me crazy! I know that Jack Russells need alot of attention but this one has gone off the deep end. Ross plays with her constantly (She gets more attention than Lily and I combined!) and I take her for a long walk or a run 6 days a week. She has a doggy door and a yard to play in, but all this just simply isn't enough for her. Today I took her running with me and she ran 2 miles, and then was bugging me to play catch with her 5 minutes after we got home!! Right now she is in my lap because she was crying for attention. Doesn't she understand that I am TIRED!
Ross got a new camera from his mum, so that one with Lily looking like Kenny from South Park is Ross's doing. I was at work so I am not sure if he was having trouble dressing her, or if he just thought she looked funny. Either way, I thought it was cute.
Lily has acne! I had acne really bad during my pregnancy and was so happy when it cleared up, until I realized that I gave it to my child! Everyone (including her doctor) says that it is normal, but I don't like it. I want her to have beautiful baby skin like the babies in magazines!

2nd post today....I'm catching up!

I don't know how well you will be able to see these pictures, but they are amazing! They are pictures of Lily compared to pictures of Ross and I. I was trying to determine which one of us she looks like, but comparing these pictures only made it harder to determine the answer to that question. The first 3 are Ross and the rest are Me.

Five Weeks old today

(These pictures are from two weeks ago 8-3)Wow time is flying by! Lily is eating loads and pooping loads too! I remember when I was pregnant and had 5 weeks to go and it seemed like FOREVER but now that the countdown is working in the opposite direction, the clock seems to be running much faster.
David and Sharah were supposed to be arriving for a visit today, but unfortunately Sharah had a family emergency and they had to postpone. We are sad about that :(
Yesterday I had my last post-pardom (is that spelled right?) doctor visit. Everything is good. My doctor promised me that my strange scar swelling would go away. I was really worried about it too because I found articles on the net about it and they called it the "cesarean overhang" and had pictures of all these women's scars where it never went away. I am keeping my fingers crossed that my doc is right. Another good thing is that she gave me the ok to excersize again! We took a family run last night around the neighborhood. I had Zelda on a leash, and Ross pushed Lily in the stroller. I came back to the house and did sit-ups and push-ups too. It felt so good to work out again. The part that sucks though is that I am so fat that my belly jiggles when I run.....yuck! More motovation to keep it up. This afternoon when I got off work I went running up and down the beach and now I am so stiff. I LOVE IT!

Sleep torture, sucking fingers, and hats

Don't get me wrong, Lily is WONDERFUL and most of the time she sleeps very well. However, Every now and then we get sleep tortured. Look closely at the picture of Ross and you will see Lily's little body beside him. Here is how the sleep torture goes. Lily goes to bed, I quickly clean up and try to get myself to bed asap. A half hour passes and Lily wakes up screaming. I get her out of bed, rock her for awhile she falls fast asleep again. Lily back in bed, I get back in bed. another half hour passes and we go through the entire procedure again. Then we get to the point where she doesn't even need to be rocked. She will go back to sleep if you just put your hand on her and move her a little. This is torture! Somehow it isn't exhausting for her, but as you can see by the look on Ross's face, it is very tiring! We have tried putting her in our bed but it is so squishy that she rolls over into us and I am afraid that I will suffocate her so there is no way to sleep like that either. So, we have to make a palate on the floor in order to sleep with her.

The finger thing. When I was a kid I didn't suck my thumb, I sucked two fingers. It HAD to be those two fingers. Not any other. My parents finally broke me of it when I was about 4 by taping my index finger to my middle finger and my ring finger to my pinkie like star trek. I have caught Lily doing this twice! Crazy huh?

The hat. I ADORE it! The little outfit was a gift and it even has matching undies! It is a little too big for her, but I couldn't resist. She wore the hat the whole day too. That is, until Ross got a hold of her and then it disapeared. He thinks it looks stupid. He dislikes it so much that he wouldn't take these pictures to work with the rest of them! What do you think of the hat?

What the books don't tell you

I must have read a dozen books on pregnancy and childbirth, and none of them talked about what I like to call "the aftermath". I guess people are just supposed to know what a wreck pregnancy leaves your body in. Maybe because I don't have a mom, but no one warned me about all of this. I must have missed that memo.
I am just shocked at the condition of my body. Sure, I expected that I would be fat and I expected that it would take me awhile to get back in shape, but I didn't expect this!
1. Every ab muscle has disappeared completely. If I lay on my back and poke my belly, I can feel that I do not have a single abdominal muscle left. I have never had a washboard stomach, but I have always been able to feel at least some muscle under the fat. Not anymore.
2. Hormones effect hair growth. I swear my legs are hairy again 4 hours after shaving them.
3. If you have no ab muscles, you cannot suck in your gut.
4. a C-section scar swells up. Not only does my fat gut stick out of my clothes, but so does my c-section scar. I am serious! You can see the swollen lump through my clothes! it is the weirdest looking thing! It is disgusting. My doctor tells me that it will go away eventually, but it could take months....Great!
5. Fat clothes don't even fit! I feel mighty stupid wearing maternity clothes while you are pushing a stroller!
6. Hormones effect eyesight. I went into the hospital with perfectly fine sight and came out so blind that I can't read street signs anymore.

Not everything is bad though...
I have come out of pregnancy with some good changes too.
1. I have realized that I really don't need to be wasted to be social.
2. My nails grow longer and stronger than they ever have. For most people this happens DURING pregnancy, but I guess I am a late bloomer.
3. My acne has cleared up.

I guess that once you have a baby so much attention is focused on her that everyone forgets to tell you about these things. I am writing them here so that maybe we can have some pregnancy aftermath awareness!!

Lily is 3 weeks old already

Time has been flying by! I have been so busy and I love it! I was so bored during my pregnancy and now I am too busy to read my emails. This week my dad came to town to meet his first granddaughter. He arrived on Monday and left on Thursday so it was a hectic week. Fun though. Wednesday night Marge (Ross's Mum) watched Lily while Ross, my Dad, Brandi and I all went out. My first drinks since Halloween went down a little too smoothly. We all got good and drunk. It was so much fun, but Ross and I realized that we are not going to be able to both get that drunk at the same time until Lily gets older. In the middle of the night we each had to take turns holding her while the other one vomited. It was quite a circus act.
With Marge's extra help around the house I have still been able to open my new webstore even! I haven't done as much with it as I would like to, but thank goodness that I have a laptop and wireless internet. I hold Lily with one hand and try to manage web-building with the other. It is a slow process but it is working. Exciting too. I haven't started advertising yet, but I have actually had quite a few sales. Each week my sales have doubled from the week before so if I can keep that up (or at least just keep a weekly increase), it may just pay off afterall.

My two loves!

Isn't this the sweetest thing?