The new "New Moms" thread!

[Tiggerlover91]

You didn't run me off Denise!!! Happy Hannukah by the way!!!

Thank you!

Here are some pictures of our first Hanukkah together!

The evening of Dec 21st after we lit our first candle!

Grammy (babysitter) and Mo! He LOVES her so much!

Mo having a waffle for breakfast for the first time!

Mo and his Hanukkah toy! He LOVES closing the characters back down!

Mo studying his toy to try and figure out which one he was closing first!

 

[kellyf2626]

Happy Hanukkah Denise!! Love the pics of Mo and your family!!!

 

[Jen_in_NH]

Hi everyone! How are you all?

Denise - Mo is so cute! I love how intent he is on his toys.

Christopher had a rough weekend. Every time he took a nap, he would wake up crying uncontrollably. He would settle down after we'd snuggle for a while, have a sippy of milk, and sit for 30 minutes or so. He was wicked stuffy, so DH brought him to the doctor today. He's got an ear infection Hopefully it will clear up soon and he'll go back to his normal happy self for Christmas.

I hope you all have a good holiday. I'm off for the rest of the week!!!

Jen

 

[exwdwcm]

hope all you in the NE or midwest aren't getting hit too hard by the winter weather. it is 23 here today. it was 70 a few days ago. back to 60 by Christmas. talk about making me sick with this back and forth! William is better with his RSV now- still a little congested, but much better. We are very much looking forward to a few days off and Christmas with him and the family. I am off starting wednesday until next Tuesday. I might work from home on tues/wed next week and then we are off Thurs/fri. So after tomororw, i won't come back til 1/5!! yeah. Just working a lot and enjoying time with Will. He is growing like a weed. He weighed 28lbs almost at the doc and is almost 14 months now.

BECKY- how awesome that you are able to help that family- it's amazing how generous people are.

Kelly- i'll check out the blog- i hope you have power back and hope it stays.

Pollito- i am SO SORRY about DH. it is scary out there, I have friends being laid off left and right. another one just this week. another one at fedex is having her salary cut by 5% and no more 401k matching. but at least she has a job. I hope he finds something soon. welcome home- we need pics of the trip. sounds like a great time. lol at Alex on dumbo.

Jen- how scary on the stairs- we don't have a gate on the bottom of ours since it is too wide. we have a cheapy gate that we slide in between the pillars, but Will figured out how to slide it out of the way. We might get a bungee cord and tie it when we need to. he goes up the stairs really well, but I fear him falling. We do have a gate up top.

Bethany- happy bday to OWEN!!! yeah! sounds like a great time- we need to see some pics! Oh and that breaks my heart on the sick little guy......ugh....i just can't even imagine how hard that is. prayers go out to them.

Jenny- yeah for Noah walking!

Stacy- ouch- you be careful out there missy! No more falls. I am glad your mom is there to help and hope DH makes it home to help soon. I hope you heal up quickly too. I am so glad everything appears to be okay with the pregnancy. take it easy!!

Denise- happy Hanukkah!!! i love the thing you posted- I am going to send it to my family. so cool. hope you are enjoying all the fried foods, maybe some latkes? Mo is just so cute in those pics.

Nicole- hi!!

Meredith- yeah on the gym membership- you are going to be super hot!

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

Hey everyone! Hope all of you getting these winter storms are staying safe and warm. DH keeps saying that he's very glad we aren't going back to MN for Christmas this year. I know what he means, but I still feel a little homesick.

Here's some pics from Owen's first birthday party...

Owen in his Indian party outfit our friends gave us.

Owen enjoying his first cupcake and frosting!

The picture we took to use as our thank you notes for his birthday presents. It took me 65 shots to get this one, and the stinker still isn't smiling! I just cropped it a bit and had it printed at Target, then used double sided tape to stick them to postcards and wrote in our thank you notes on the back. They turned out cute!

oops...speaking of Owen, he's just woken up early from his nap. Yikes! Hope he's not too bad for DH tonight...I have an appointment from 5:30-6:45.

 

[Villain-lover]

Cute pics Denise and Bethany!!!

I love the Indian outfit tht Owen is wearing! Too freakin cool!

 

[DMickey28]

I am sorry it's been sooo long!! I will do my
best to catch up.

Bethany - Happy Birthday Owen!!!
I love the outfit and the thank you cards!!
Very cute.

Jen - I hope Christopher is feeling better. We don't
have stairs at my house but we are visiting my
parents and they have them. We are just sliding
a big board through the bottom right now and he is
listening pretty well about staying away. A friend of
mine has banisters at the bottom and she took two
2x4's and used those plastic wire thingys to tie them
to the posts then attached the gate to the 2x4's.
Does that make sense?

Denise - Happy Hannukah! I love the pictures of MO.

Pollito - I am so sorry about your DH's job. I
hope something comes up soon. It's getting scary out
there ...I get so freaked out when I think it
is going to get worse first.

I am sorry I couldn't get to everyone. I"ll be back.

*****
We are in Massachusetts with family for the holiday. We
have been here for a week. We were at WDW before that, so I'll
catch up with pictures soon.

Alexander is moving ahead so fast with words. He
is practically starting to say everything we repeat to him. It's
awesome!!!

 

[7beasley]

Hi all

We got our power back Friday afternoon -- thank god!!

SOOOOO....guess who's walking????

Yup - Izzy is -- finally!! She turned 14 months old on Sunday and the day before she took her first steps -- 2 or 3 little wobbly frankeinstein steps...so cute! What a great xmas present.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday!

~Nicole

 

[exwdwcm]

DMickey- have a great time with your family- can't wait to see pics of WDW!

Bethany, what a cute idea for the thank you cards.

you can see all William's latest pics at his blog, including my homemade mickey wreath and my disney christmas village!
http://williamreed1.blogspot.com/

 

[kellyf2626]

Hi everyone!! Hope everyone is in the holiday spirit!!

Jen - Sorry to hear about Christopher's ear infection! I hope he is feeling better and will be able to enjoy Christmas!!

Bethany - Love the pics of Owen!!! What a great idea for thank-you cards!! I'll have to remember that for next year!

DMickey - Sounds like Alexander is doing fabulous with his speech! That is fantastic!!!

Nicole - Yay for Izzy walking!!!!! And thank god you have your power back!!!

Michelle - I wanted to tell you about the horse that you saw on Brady's blog. He likes it...but has no interest in the tv-component part of the toy. It's not that great...kinda delayed, so when Brady bounces, the animal (or whatever) on the tv appears....but it's so delayed that he has no idea he is doing it!! So, he ends-up just playing on it by itself...which is fine...he loves it! BUT - they sell a zebra one for a bit cheaper that is just the stand-alone jumping thing (without the tv part)...and it has lights on the zebra (which the horse doesn't have). I think he would like the zebra even better with the lights - and especially since he has no use for the tv-part!! Just wanted to let you know!!!

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

Hey everyone! Ugh, I need to vent for a bit here...sorry this gets a little long, but I'm so frustrated!

Owen has caught a cold just in time for Christmas, and I think I might be coming down with it, too. And there's more family drama shaping up over Christmas celebrations - ugh! DH has 3 younger sisters, and the oldest one is hosting Christmas. The 2 younger sisters live out of town and stay with DMIL, and we're all supposed to meet over at oldest SIL's house for presents & Christmas dinner. Well, they want us to get there at 10am and stay until 3pm, which in normal circumstances would push Owen's limits since it messes with his naps (he usually sleeps 9:30-11:30 and 2:30-4:30), but since he's sick I know that he just won't make it that long without melting down.

SIL said that we can bring Owen's pack-n-play with us and he can just sleep at their house (since "every other baby in the family has done that just fine and we've never had a problem before" ), but when Owen is sick he already isn't sleeping well, and then he has a REALLY hard time sleeping in a new environment. I think if he were healthy I'd say that Owen will cope and needs to learn to sleep in new places anyway, but since he's sick I feel like he needs to get as much regular sleep in his own bed as he can.

Anyway, now DH and I are being told that we're going to spoil Christmas because we said we'd get there after Owen wakes up from his morning nap. I've told them to go ahead with opening gifts without us - especially for the kids - and we'll for sure be there in time for Christmas dinner at 1:00. In fact, I said we could probably even get there by 11:30, but they still insist we should get there at 10:00. I'm not even going to get into all the times they have been late to or missed family events because of their kids sports events or other schedule issues. I know it's Christmas, but good grief! Let the kids open their gifts without us - we already gave them their Christmas presents anyway at the first family Christmas party with FIL and his wife. We'll be there in plenty of time to help get Christmas dinner on the table, and we'll be able to stay longer if we let Owen sleep well in the morning.

Sigh. Thanks for being a place I can vent. I'm trying to stay positive for DH since he's already stressed about work stuff without dealing with family on top of that.

 

[7beasley]

Oh Bethany...I am so sorry you are dealing with this crap at what is supposed to be a happy time of year!

I know you will probably get some grief from your/DH family but I think you simply put your foot down and show up after Owen's nap...he comes first - plain and simple and bottom line. Just ignore the family. If they persist in nagging/bugging you - then tell them you will "do your best to get there for 10am" (which will satisfy them) and then just do what you want anyway...

I used to scream and yell and stomp my feet because my SIL was ALWAYS late -- I finally realized that I can't change her behavior -- she says and does what she wants and the only one that it seemed to bother was me -- so now I just go about my business. If I say dinners at 6pm then we eat at 6pm whether she is there or not -- she doesn't seem to care and it saves my sanity.

This is the reverse of that situation (you are the SIL in my example) -- just do what you want and others will deal.

If putting your foot firmly down doesn't work then go with the wishy washy answer and tell them you will "do your best" and then just go late -- and take the phone off the hook while Owen is sleeping.

When you show up late - if they say anything to you - simply say "sorry, we tried, but poor sick Owen was sleeping and there was nothing we could do..." and leave it at that --- after all what kind of people are these that would yell at you for not walking up your sick child.

Good luck!!

Merry Christmas!

-Nicole

 

[kellyf2626]

So sorry you have to deal with that Bethany! Isn't family great, lol?! I echo everything that Nicole said. Owen comes first...as well as your sanity! Everyone else will deal!!

 

[ashjohnson80]

In Case I don't get a chance to tell you, HAPPY HOLIDAYS everybody!

 

[beckmrk04]

Merry Christmas everyone!! (I'll probably get to post sometime after the Christmas-craziness is over!! )

I hope you all enjoy your holidays with the little ones (I'm so excited to have Vaylie open her presents!!!).

P.S.- Happy Hanukkah Denise!

 

[Tiggerlover91]

P.S.- Happy Hanukkah Denise!

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and Happy Hanukkah to everyone!

Thanks for the encouragement in dealing with the in-laws. DH was great last night, and stepped in to be "the bad guy" for me. SIL called again to talk about plans for Christmas day, and said we could come over early and put Owen down for his morning nap at their house, and was generally coming up with all kinds of plans to get us there on her schedule. Which I understand in part, so I can see how we're being a pain about it.

DH talked to her, and just said "Bethany and Owen are both sick. We're going to take it easy tomorrow morning and have some quiet family time, and then we'll come over after Owen's morning nap. We'll be there around noon at the latest, but possibly earlier. We'll bring two side dishes with us for Christmas dinner, and we don't mind if you all get started with presents without us. In fact, we think you should." I could tell his sister was protesting, and DH said "I made this decision. My wife and son are sick. They will be miserable if we try to stay out for 5+ hours without naps. That will make me miserable. And then I'll make the rest of you miserable. So you'll all be happier this way. Trust me."

His mom called a little later and tried to talk to him about getting there early, and he defended our decision again, and has said that he'll take all the blame for our being late. He told his mom that it's his fault because he doesn't want to deal with a cranky kid or a cranky wife on Christmas day - he's the only one who gets to be grinchy and grumpy for the holidays!

 

[ChrizJen]

Hey everyone!
I'm not technically a "new mom" in the traditional sense, but I am a new foster mom! We got our first foster placement last Wednesday!!
She's 20 months old, and the sweetest little thing you can imagine!
It's been a very nice Christmas present! We're having so much fun!
But I really am new to this whole mommy thing, so it's been quite an adjustment having a little one around!
I can't share too much info, and I can't post a pic (for confidentiality reasons), but trust me when I say that she's a DOLL!! We'll find out more next week about the permanency of the placement. We're hoping to have her for a while!!

Merry Christmas everyone, and hug your little ones extra tight!!

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

Hey everyone!
I'm not technically a "new mom" in the traditional sense, but I am a new foster mom! We got our first foster placement last Wednesday!!
She's 20 months old, and the sweetest little thing you can imagine!
It's been a very nice Christmas present! We're having so much fun!
But I really am new to this whole mommy thing, so it's been quite an adjustment having a little one around!
I can't share too much info, and I can't post a pic (for confidentiality reasons), but trust me when I say that she's a DOLL!! We'll find out more next week about the permanency of the placement. We're hoping to have her for a while!!

Merry Christmas everyone, and hug your little ones extra tight!!

Welcome, ChrizJen! Congrats on your foster baby! I have a ton of respect for foster parents. Thanks for taking care of this sweet girl, and I hope you have a wonderful Christmas with her!

 

[Pollito916]

Happy Holidays everyone!

Thanks to everyone for the well wishes for DH's job. He's gone to tons of places to apply, but I don't think we'll have much luck until after the holidays. We've all been sick now too, so I haven't been doing anything but working and trying to sleep, which I can't do b/c the coughing keeps me up. So frustrating!

Jen - I hope Christopher's ear infection is getting better.

Denise - Happy Hanukkah! Alex has that same pop-up toy and loves it too!

Bethany - good for your hubby for standing up for you guys with his persistent family! How would they feel if it was the other way around, having to travel with a sick baby - be reasonable people! Oh, and great b-day pics, what a cute idea for the thank you cards, even if Owen wouldn't smile!

DMickey - Hope you all had fun in WDW!

Nicole - yay on another new walker!

Michelle - Nice pics on the blog, William is so photogenic and you have a lovely home!

ChrizJen - welcome and congratulations! I remember you from the ttc thread, so I'm glad to see you make it over here.