The Official New Mom Thread Part 2

[Alice28]

Wow- for once a quiet day here on our thread!

lissawynn- how did the Dr. appt go? Do you have strep?

tkyes- WTG on 25 pages! That's amazing! And the house sounds so cool- I love older homes! I guess that's why I choose to still live in mine!

Kim- what kind of position is it your DH is considering? I'm sorry that you are still so frustrated about the whole thing. I hope that Aidan stops giving you such a hard time in the mornings. Joshua often did that when I dropped him off at daycare when he was about Aidan's age. It was hard to deal wtih.

Diz- Sorry Carson isn't napping well for you! I find on days that Molly doesn't nap well (or at all) I am VERY grumpy by dinner time. Those couple hours are truly my recharge time. Time for ME. (even if it often means cleaning, but I usually can watch my soap and exercise too).

BTW- does anyone here watch As The World Turns? It was a 3 tissue kind of a day.... One of the actors committed suicide a couple months ago and today the show addressed it and had a little service for him- I was crying! What a sap I am, but he had been on the show for 20 years or so.

Val- how sweet of your DH to clean for you today! I love it when my DH cleans up the dishes after dinner- that's kind of his 'thing'.

ETA- I forgot to mention how cute your kids look Nucpharm! Darling!

Jill- you doing OK? J&D? Still working on getting your computer fixed? Gretchen? What happened to you? We miss you!

And hi to all of our wonderful mommies!

I have Josh's soccer practice tonight, , so I am cooking dinner early. I got the boy's school pictures back today- Sam's are fabulous- I was amazed at how old he looks in them, and what a great shot it is! I'm so proud! Joshie's on the other hand.....he's not really smiling, more like gritting his teeth, so I think this will be the first time ever that I send the pictures back for retakes. I just don't like spending $20 on something that's just marginal, when I know how cute my little boy can smile!

TTFN!

 

[zalansky]

Hi Moms

I don't have time for a proper post but just wanted to check in and let you all know I was thinking of you!

 

[Ginamarie]

Lissawynn I hope you don’t have strep!

GLT- LOL about having your shirt on backwards.

Alice- Your house renovation plans sound really good. I hope it works out. I agree that redoing the kitchen and finishing the basement are worth a LOT for future buyers. I don’t blame you for sending the pictures back for a retake. We had to do that with my HS graduation photos I was blinking in all of them!

Tykes- 25 pages.. I only DREAM about getting that much scrapbooking done.

DisKim- Sorry you’re having a tough time with Aidan lately. I remember what a tough time DBro had with my mom going to work. We used to make her sneak out of the house when he wasn’t looking.

Nucpharm- I love the costumes!

Val- The corn maze sounds great, and kudos to your DH for getting you out of a night of cleaning.

Hey Zalansky!!!

Olivia was so good at the office today. She was happy and babbling, and insisted on being on my lap in order to nap, but it was ok. I’m taking a continuing education course all day tomorrow, so I’m going to miss her! OK, time to wind down, take a bath and pack up the diaper bag for tomorrow.

 

[tkyes]

val - wacky tourists would be easy, that's a good idea. DH was thinking we should incorporate Tyler's costume (lion) into ours. The only thing I could think of with that was that DH could be the tin man or scarecrow and I could be Dorothy. I think we could pull that off pretty easily.

alice - I used to watch ATWT when I was younger (my babysitter watched it). Who was the actor?

zalansky - hi

ginamarie - You could easily get 25 pages done if you have an entire weekend to do it. We started at 4:00 on Friday. I worked until 1:00 am. We started again around 9:30 Sat. We ran to the scrapbook store, had a lunch break and went out to dinner that night, but scrapped the rest of the time. I went to bed at 2 that night. We also worked for 3 hours on Sunday.

gotta run - dh wants to hop online and look for new rollerblades.


tamie

 

[gottalovethem]

nucpharm - Love the pictures! The kids are getting so big! Those buckets are adorable. And how fun to dress up a bit with dh!

Tamie - How about zoo keepers? Those buckets are adorable! Way to go on the scrapbooking! I am sooooo far behind in my photo albums, to dedicate some solid time like that would be great. Glad you were able to get away.

GM - glad Olivia was good for you today. Good luck with the class tomorrow.

zalansky - hi! Thinking of you too!

Robin - you're right, it has been quiet, I can actually keep up DD is not really giving a nice smile in her photo either -- well she is, but it's a toothless smile. I thought about retaking them but didn't know if I had to pay for the package over again. Guess I could have/should have asked

dizagain - amazing how little you can get done when the babe is up so much during the day. I've been there, it bites. Hope he sleeps for you tomorrow!


val - that place you went to sounds incredible, and so cheap, what a deal! And fireworks too, wow! I hope you have a nice week. Glad dh helped with clean up duty!

diskim -sorry you are so stressed. I agree with what someone else said about dh counteroffering, doesn't hurt. Good luck with everything. I think Aidan is just at that age where he throws the fits - Leif is beginning that too. Is he fine when you are gone? Good luck

Have a nice night DIS moms!

 

[fabumouse]

Hello all!

I left the house today to walk to pick up Kailey, with white spit up running down my back. Ugh!!

Ginamarie - is your friend going to Iceland for *work*?? If your friend is in NY, my Dh and your friend may have the same reason for going to Iceland . .. . and upload those photos!!! Looking forward to them.

Robin - I have been trying to get a pedicure for 2 months - I'm hoping I can get one tomorrow, and I LOVE them. So soothing!

GLT - you are just the sweetest! I've been doing the DH travel thing for a long time now - and I agreed to it. It was either that or him teaching graduate students at Columbia U, and the teaching thing was really rough. A) those students were really demanding both in expectations and in constant e-mails, B) the extra hours teachers put in are *crazy* for the pay - constant committees!, and C) we had this little *issue* with students and their crushes on DH for the year that he teached. OMG!!

WDWBetsy - Aubree is so beautiful and looks just like (from what I remember of your previous photo) you and your husband!! And she is so lucky! I agree, pregnancy complications like that are very very scary. How AWFUL not to be able to breath!!!

Gems - I hear you!! I am often surprised at how quickly I fall behind here - I think part of it is that you are such a lovely group, nobody leaves - but by definition, there are always new members!

Nucpharm - love the new photo!

SL - you too! I'm not surprised your MIL got all teary. I would, too.

Lissa - my eyes started bugging out at the sentence "we're all sleeping in the same bedroom" and something about a tarp. OMG!!!

Val - what a fun weekend! And glad you got a nap in! And my DH will pay to have someone else clean, but he's *terrible* at doing it himself (and trust me, my standards are very, very low. )

Hi, Z!

Dizagain - I feel that everyday - yes, we are ALL so blessed! What beautiful families and what fun activities.

 

[Alice28]

Tamie- it was Benjamin Hendrickson, the actor who played Hal Munson who died 2 months ago or so. I guess he had been battling depression for sometime, and just couldn't deal with it anymore.

GLT- I love the idea of zookeepers for Tamie and her DH! I bet there are times where Tyler does need to be tamed!

And on our picture packet it says quite plainly, "If you don't like your pictures, send the packet back on retake day and we will retake them for no extra charge..." And then if I still hate them, (and I'm not that picky, truly), I can get a refund. Sam's are FAB, like I said, so I know they can do a good job.

Hi Z!

GM- sounds like you had a good day with Olivia being a happy girl!

DH was helpful and showed up at DS's soccer practice, so I got to take the other two home 20 minutes early. Yay! He did say that his best friend, whom I like- we've been friends for almost 20 years too- is thinking of joining us at WDW for a few days (we can sponsor two rooms at Shades)....that's great, but his wife has always been such a wet noodle towards us...I know it doesn't mean we need to tour the parks together all the time, but I just hope she will be friendly. They aren't going to bring their children I guess, who will be over 2.5 and 6 months at the time. (she just had a baby boy about 10 days ago). Anyway, it kind of threw me for a few minutes when he told me....

 

[staci]

So Ive been gone for the weekend and missed a lot.......dh gets mad when I 'talk to people i dont even know' online so I limit my time on the weekend lol. He had a dissappointing enough weekend watching the Huskers,Hawkeyes, and Tigers lose.
Went to Mommy and Me today and Ellie weighed 16 lbs 9 oz, she had a good ole' time babbling and staring at the baby next to us. I never went with ds so it is fun to see how the little babies interact.
Not too much else going on..........cept my parents are going to watch BOTH kids tomorrow for the first time! We went out of town to see my brother about 3 weeks ago and him and his girlfriend watched them so dh and I could go out to eat; we got to calculating and we decided that was only the 2nd meal we have eaten alone since ds's birth! So mom felt guilty I think when I told her that, and she offered to watch them both (she is very uptight and worries that something will happen while we are gone so I dont ask her to do that). My dad will be here too, he isnt really a baby kind of guy, but he can try to keep ds busy. So dh and I are going to a local bar/grill place for some tenderloins. We really are not bar kind of people, but since we dont have the kids we may as well go somewhere we cant take them. I am excited, we need some alone time. Time goes so fast.......sometimes it seems like 'where did these kids come from'?? I cant believe they are MINE!


nucpharm: the kids are adorable!

alice: I love home improvement! we just did our windows ourselves with replacement windows from Lowes and it was SO EASY! dh and I did it in a weekend with both kids home and no one to help! Are you guys doing it yourselves or hiring someone?

tamie:i really need to get some scrapbooks together for the kids, but i know i will never want to stop if i start! lol so I just take lots of pictures

diskim: i hope you guys get all this figured out with dh's job; I love being a SAHM for the most part but there are times i miss the adult interaction (and going to the bathroom without little eyes watching lol)

vald1977 - that sounds like a great weekend! we have a farm like that and it is $9 a person so i cant justify the money since the kids are so young! I wish ours were that reasonable!

fabmouse: lol about the spitup.

 

[WDWBetsy]

Thanks to everyone for their kind words! I believe everything will be fine - I really am not going the surgery route unless I have to.

I am so very, very lucky that Aubree is healthy. She looks more like my DH to me, but I see glimpses of myself in her. I love her red hair (although I hated mine when I was little).

I've been trying to get caught up on what everyone on here is doing. I am loving the pictures of your families and hearing what everyone's up to.

I am still torn between us going by ourselves to WDW and taking her. I know the touring pace would be more relaxed with her, and she'd probably be bug-eyed from taking in all the sights. I even bought a new Combi umbrella stroller with a rain/wind guard. But I also see the major benefits of us going away and relaxing by ourselves - and riding the rides we couldn't when I was pregnant. She would be safe with my sister and her family, so I'm not worried about who would take care of her.

Any thoughts from those who have taken a baby to WDW or who wish they would have? I'm somewhat afraid that if we don't take her, I'll get there and cry everytime I see a baby. I would love to hear your opinions.

 

[Tasha+Scott]

WDWBetsy~ First of all, welcome to you and Aubree! When I was growing up I always said I would name my girls Megan and Aubree if I had 2. Of course that did not happen because dh did not like Aubree enough and I knew too many Megans. I love the name Aubree though! And redheads run in my family so I also love her red hair! Of course I am half-Italian and have really dark hair so I am not one of the redheads, lol. My brother and my grandmother both are though.

About WDW, I can understand your dilemma and I honestly can't tell you which would be best. I can see the benefits of going without the baby. However, I just couldn't do it. We opted to skip WDW until Kylie was 1. We actually spent her 1st b-day there. Dh sort of wanted to go without her at first but I just didn't think I'd be happy away from her for a little over a week. Dh came around to my way of thinking as the months went by and we took Kylie with us. It was the most relaxed, most incredible trip we've ever taken. I'd take a baby again in a heartbeat! She is truly what made the trip so special.

That being said, Kylie was older than Aubree will be. She really, really enjoyed it. She also is very easy-going and even on her worst day I know I am blessed because she is still pretty easy. She also is not afraid of anything and never has been. Loud noises, crowds, animals...she loves all of it! She thrives on things that I know some babies are terrified of. She takes after me and not dh in that regard, that's for sure! Anyway, I can't tell you about a younger baby but most people I know say that babies are the easiest age to take and don't regret taking them. I think how well the trip goes will depend on your baby's temperment.

I also feel a trip away together without the baby would be good for you and your marriage so I just really don't know. I know I couldn't leave Kylie but that was just something I wasn't able to do at the time. I also wasn't able to send her to daycare until she was 15 months old though.

You might want to try leaving her with your sister for an entire weekend or something before your trip just to see how hard it will or will not be for you. That will give you a better idea of whether you can do it or not. Just a thought. Either way, I am sure you will have a blast!

Okay, I should be in bed. I have to do my recertification class for CPR tomorrow morning. At least I don't have regular classes due to that so a break from studying!

 

[DisKim]

Good morning ladies. Thanks for all the kind words about DH's job. I think he is going to stay where he is at and I'll just have to hope that something better comes along in March when he is finished with his degree. I'm just tired of it. I've been waiting for 10 years for something to come along so I can enjoy my kids. He really makes very good money, but the cost of living is so darn high here that I have no choice but to work.

To add to my funky mood, I got an e-mail from DH's niece who is getting married. The bridal party is going to a bridal show with her on Wednesday night. I am so bummed. There is no way I can go. It is an hour away and I have to work the next day. I am also having trouble dealing with my SIL. I can't stand her and she is in the wedding party too. I don't think I'll survive having to deal with her until the wedding. I'm avoiding her as much as possible. She has just always been such a snot to me. I wouldn't have even known about the bridal show unless my niece had told me about it as an afterthought when I e-mailed her a question about the puppy. SIL is the one who organized everyone going but she left me out. I will keep my mouth shut for my niece's sake but once this wedding is over, I'll have to tell her what I've been thinking.

I would love to catch up, but I need to get dressed for work.

 

[lissawynn]

I don't have strep! I do have fluid on both my ears and that's what's contributing to the sore throat and pain in the ear. My dr. gave me a 10 day supply of amoxicillin and said that should clear things up.
I was wide awake before 5:00 this morning and will be beat by the end of the day. Tonight is our town's Halloween parade and we're going to my mom's to have dinner and see the parade (she lives along the route).

Not much to report on the house. I'll have to post some pics later of what the demo looks like so far!

Hope you all have a great day!

 

[Strawberry Lemonade]

Good morning. Last night I was trying to burn all my trip pictures onto a CD so I can have them developed before my scrapbooking session on Friday and my CD drive went kaput. Then it took me 45 minutes to email them to myself at work so I could burn a CD here because my computer would only let me email a few pics at a time. I did manage to get the CD done this morning.

tkyes - Wow. You sure had a successful scrap retreat. My scrapbook night is just a couple hours in one of the JoAnn Etc classrooms. I'm lucky if I can get 4 or 5 pages done. I was thinking either zookeeper or lion tamer would go with Tyler's costume.

lissawynn - Glad it's not strep.

nucpharm - Great pictures!

val - Your pumpkin patch sounds like a lot of fun. I hope your job doesn't get too hectic with that girl leaving. They haven't replaced anyone here yet and I'm not holding my breath either.

dizagain, zalansky -

Alice28 - When will you start your home improvements? They sound great. Mine needs some but I don't want to pour a lot of money into it when I know we'll be moving within a few years. I'm afraid we won't get it back.

ginamarie - Good luck with your class.

fabumouse - If it's not spit up, it's drool or snot. Oh, to be a kid who doesn't care what he wipes his nose on.

staci - Hope you and your DH enjoy your dinner alone!

WDWBetsy - We also waited until Lucas was older before we took him to WDW. Although I've heard that infants are much easier to handle on vacation than toddlers.

Tasha - Good luck with your CPR class.

DisKim - I hope your DH finds something else soon. Sorry you can't go to the bridal show. Your SIL sounds like a witch!

Have a good day, everyone.

 

[fabumouse]

Good morning everyone! I only have a few minutes as I'm finally getting my skanky feet washed and pedicured. (I haven't used the word skanky in way too long).

Staci - I guess I'm lucky because DH thinks it's great that I have a community on the computer, especially for times like the end of my pregnancy where I wasn't particularly mobile. I have a feeling you all are going to hear from me a lot during the snowy months.

Anyhow, isn't it kind of funny that your DH doesn't understand you spending time talking to people you "don't even know" while he's watching a sportsgame filled with people he doesn't even know?

Babysitter here - gotta run!

 

[lissawynn]

fabumouse - I teach in a middle school and we (faculty members) use the word "skanky" ALL THE TIME!

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

Good morning all! I can't believe I'm so far behind, it's actually a "quiet" week in our house!

cabmom--your family is beautiful! I'm sure all those boys keep you on the run!

WDWBetsy--We took all 4 kids, including Luke (6mo at the time) to WDW in August. There are pros and cons to both arguments--I would miss my baby terribly, but a break would be nice. Like Tasha said, it helps if you have a mellow kid, which Luke is. You and DH could ride things with switching off, and could take turns bringing Aubree back to the room for a good afternoon nap and/or early in the evening while the other enjoyed the nighttime stuff. Of course, this doesn't mean much "together" time. You could also consider the Fairy Godmothers or other babysitting service for one night of adult time--we LOVED the Fairy Godmothers! Then again,if you have a kid who sleeps through anything, I would definitely consider bringing her and the nice stroller and going with the flow. I don't know--it's tough, but I worry that you would get there, and then be miserable on vacation because she wasn't there, so I would lean towards bringing her. But it's your call.


Tamie--that's so great on your scrapbooking. I got as far as buying an album for Celeste...3 1/2 years ago! At least i've been taking lots of pictures. Scrapping is on my list of things to do when Celeste starts school and Luke is on a schedule.


staci--I love home improvements, too. Our kitchen is due for a major overhaul, but it won't be for a couple years because I don't want to have toddlers around when we do it. So, I'm trying not to think about it, but I get jealous of all the other moms here who are doing renovations.

dizagain--I had the "baby not sleeping" problem the past couple days. I worry about Luke's diet, but then he does fine at night (except for wanting to nurse), so I think it's just that the poor guy gets all out of whack being disturbed by siblings and their noises and schedules. He's sleeping great now, which figures since I have to go to Wal-Mart. Sigh! I can't win!

Robin--I'm not a soap opera fan, but that's a shame about the actor. It's kind of funny, so many people think that being a famous actor would put you on top of the world--I guess not!

Kim--I hope things go the way you want with DH's job. Don't let the snotty SIL get to you.

 

[Alice28]

Oh man, I had the worst time trying to fall asleep last night! I kept coughing and it was so annoying. I am still tired, but I was so hungry I got out of bed. DH has been so nice and getting up and getting Sam ready and off to school every morning, that I don't HAVE to get up until Molly or Josh gets up (8:30), but I usually get up at 7:30 anyway to say goodbye to Sam.

Anyway, Staci- that's really cool you and your DH did the windows yourselves! DH would never, ever attempt to try it. He's Mr. Anti-Handy. Our home is 108 years old and the windows are original- those weighted sash windows. I don't think I want to spend the money to do those kind of windows again, but I do know by looking around our neighborhood (mostly all homes as old as ours) that we can buy modern windows that look like the old sash ones. We will definitely pay someone to do it, which will be at least $5,000 I am sure. Probably $8K for our cabinets and countertops (we don't need to replace the flooring). $2K for someone to paint the house the way we want it. The bulk of the money will be for the basement, because the foundation will have to be repoured ( we have a rock foundation), and the house might have to be jacked up a few inches to do that. Crazy. The floors are dirt down there, so the ground has to be leveled and cement poured for that, walls sheetrocked, etc. We're not going to make it super fancy, just get it finished, carpet laid down, cable wires routed down there. We want it to be our big family room (I would imagine it's at least 600 sq feet down there) with an office attached. The other problem though will be that we will have to buy a shed- we have no garage, so all of our tools, holiday crap, DH's military stuff, etc is in the basement. We do have an attic room off our bedroom that has space in it- I will probably end up putting either holiday decor or DH's military stuff in there.

ANYWAY, I don't think we're going to start any of this until March. We'll start with the kitchen, since I think that isn't dependent upon the weather. Then we'll go from there. We decided to just do this, because as I've shared, our house is small, yet we don't really like anything else we can find in our price range. The houses I really like are about $100K more than we can afford.

lissawynn- so glad it's not strep!

WDWBetsy- I have toured with a baby (although it was DL) and it was fine. Lots of breaks. I think I would have missed him too much to not take him- plus I nursed my kids, so it would have been kind of hard to leave, lol (he was only 4 months). I did go on a 4 night trip this last May with my mom, as I really needed some time away, and yes, I missed Molly (she was 14 months at the time), but it was so great to go and not have any responsibilities outside myself. How long is your trip?

Fab- have a great pedicure!

BNB- I hope you are able to get to Wal Mart soon! It's hard dealing with everyone's schedules and getting things done!

SL- glad you were able to get your CD done. That must have been frustrating....

OK, well I don't know much else! I saw my preggo neighbor yesterday- I cannot believe she only has 5 weeks to go! I think she looks really good! I'm excited about the shower this Saturday, although I will be really busy Thursday and friday prepping for it.

 

[staci]

wdbetsy: I havent ever been with a baby. ds was 23 months when we took him. we really considered going in sept, when the baby would have been almost 3 months old, but dh vetoed that idea......he's not as wdw crazy as me.
that said, we did go to a large zoo about 3 weeks ago; dd was right at 3 months old. We were there about 5 hours and dd did wonderful; i actually said while walking around that we should have gone to wdw because she was so easy.
we had the stroller and the baby sling. She rode in teh stroller when she was alert and happy. When she was fussy daddy carried her, and when she was tired i popped her in the sling, where she slept happily for about two hours! It was actually much more enjoyable than a day at home (dd is a fussy baby). being outside just gave her so much to look at.
so based on that experience, if we had the money to go now, i would definitely take her along AS LONG AS I were going during the months where it isnt very warm. It was about 80 at the zoo and any hotter would have been too hot in teh sling.
hth.

 

[floridafam]

I don't have a ton of time to get caught up but I wanted to say hello and welcome to all of our new mommies.



It was so cold here this morning. Have a great day.

 

[bellacam]

I spent almost half an hour responding and its gone!!!!!! Now I'm out of time so Hello to all will have to do. I am feeling much better and did not get bronchitis, thank goodness. Still a little sniffly, but I'll take that over major congestion anyday!

Welcome to WDWBesty and Aubree!!!

Have a good day everyone!