The Official New Mom Thread Part 2

[dizagain]

Thanks, J&D! That sounds alot like what Hayley did, but we'll try again tomorrow - she's reading in bed and I don't want to bug her!

fab - you know I'll tell you to do what you feel is right with the feeding - she'll be FINE. I can't answer the question about when I felt "done" because I was "done" before I ever even started! Love the cute new picture - she looks so grown up and serious! That's great that she slept in her crib! Carson has been waking up some nights around 4 or 5 and I've been putting him in bed with us instead of feeding him and he goes right back to sleep...but I only doze because I'm scared of the pillow thing too. We make this huge gap for him and he manages to scoot over to me anyway.

robin - glad you found what you were looking for! I finally broke down and bought a PINK Nintendo today at Target even though I have $85 in gift cards at TRU that I was saving for it...I haven't seen one in awhile and TRU won't say when they'll have it online or in the stores. I guess I can use the gift cards for diapers/formula and it will cancel out what I would have paid cash for anyway...


joats - sorry about the pinkeye mess - what a pain!

lissawynn - hope you ace the glucose test! Sorry about the creepy doctor - I would think you could refuse to have him deliver. I'd definitely talk to someone at the practice about it.

tykes - glad you had a fantastic trip!!

zalansky - great news about your dad!!

justhat - hope Henry is feeling better and can sleep tonight.

Well, I need to get to sleep. Carson was in the bed with us by 3 last night and DH was up and down with his ankle throbbing. He did end up with just a sprain, but man, it is still swollen and completely black and blue halfway up his leg. Tomorrow is our 14th anniversary...we're going out to eat - maybe Olive Garden or a local italian place. I think we may actually leave Carson with Hayley as the restaurant is very close by and we have great neighbors all over the place who could jump in if needed. I'll most likely chicken out and take him with us, but at least he'll probably sleep and we can pretend we're alone! Goodnight!

 

[J&D]

Diz- It looks like you need to upload it to Photobucket or some other image hosting site. Once you do that you will have a URL address to post.

 

[Alice28]

Sunshine users----

The special offers are up! $25 gift cards for $23 for Disney, Old Navy, footlocker, fannie mae candy....

I just was able to order 5! I should be able to get 1 more tomorrow or the next day, if the offer is still there. (I'm waiting on 12 credits).

 

[Tasha+Scott]

Hey, all! Sorry it took me so long to get back on here. Kylie refused to take a nap until 1:30 this afternoon and then she slept till a little after 5! That has got to be a record for her. So I didn't get to pick up the pictures until much later than I had anticipated. We were gone a while running errands too. And Robin, Kylie had to carry Jasmine and Rajah with us and had them both in her hands the entire time.

Robin~ I thought your mom made the shirt but I wasn't sure. She should think of doing that and selling them. They look just as good as anything you can buy in a store and I'm sure she'd do well. I completely agree that GLT's kids would probably enjoy shirts like that.

nucpharm~ I'm so glad you got your package! Glad the wrapping wasn't too bad. I ran out of paper while wrapping Matthew's fire station thing and I had to improvise by putting a piece of scrap paper in the middle. I did my best to hide it but I am a bit of a perfectionist (that may be an understatement!) and it really annoyed me that I had to do that, lol! I have since bought more wrapping paper!

Hilary~ I just noticed in the picture you posted that Liam is starting to look a lot like Kevin! They are both handsome little guys!

Tamie~ Welcome back! We want pics!

J&D~ I too am going to have to bow out of the other exchange unfortunately. Money is getting tight with all the gifts we have had to buy and I would also like to get something for GLT if I am able to. It sounds like a fun exchange though and I wish I could participate.

lissawynn~ Dh's family drives me crazy with gifts too! We used to have to buy for everyone in his family. Then we started drawing names of his siblings and their spouses and we would each buy for the person's name we drew, the kids, and his parents, and grandparents. Still way pricey! Now we don't draw names but are still expected to buy for the kids (there are currently 3 besides Kylie), his parents, and his grandmother. So in retrospect, we still spend way more than is reasonable on our budget. It works out because dh makes good commission during the winter. Otherwise, it wouldn't happen. My family is fine if we don't exchange gifts but I feel guilty if someone buys me something and I don't do the same in return. Sigh...

Oh, and I would definitely request that Dr. Creepy not have anything to do with you or your baby now or any time in the future. I had a Dr. Creepy during 1 of my visits when pregnant with Kylie and I also prayed he wouldn't be on call or something when I had her. Thankfully, he wasn't. When Kylie was about 8 months old I went to a party with some of the ladies at the church we were attending. Dr. Creepy was the husband of the woman who was hosting it! It was a surprising moment to say the least. Thankfully, he had no clue who I was and he left shortly after we all arrived.

fabumouse~ BFing is such a personal decision. If you feel done then I think it is okay to be done. But I chose not to BF Kylie so I may not be the right person to give an opinion on it. I may decide to BF our next child but that is still far enough in the future that I do not have to make a decision on that for quite a while. Oh, and I love the new picture of Madeleine in your siggie!

Okay, it's getting late and I have school tomorrow so I will just say a Hi to everyone else and sorry if I missed you! I did decide to cheat and I bought some really delicious looking cupcakes from the bakery. I don't think I bought enough though but there will be so much food that hopefully it won't matter. I didn't realize it until after I was home. I wasn't thinking straight I guess. Anyway, here is Kylie's Christmas portraits. The first is the one that came with the package. I also ordered 1 additional pose and cards. I did good and only bought those. I usually get suckered into ordering way more than I need but not this time! Yay, ME! This was not our easiest portrait session either, let me assure you. These pictures turned out really well considering the lousy photographer we had and the fact that Kylie just wasn't wanting to do it to begin with. Oh, and the dress she is wearing is what she wore in the pageant. We did fix her hair differently for the pageant though.

And here is the cards we ordered:

Night, all!

 

[T16GEM]

Hi all,
Just a quickie from me to say thanks to those who PM'd me about the exchange.

Things have been hectic here this last week, I have a cold and feel awful. My sinuses are blocked up and I can;t take anything to ease it so I have been steaming my head to try and clear it up! I have skipped work today too so that I can have a break. Shelby is with my mom so it's worked out quite well.

We have just bought a machine too that we can use to put bears and other gifts into large balloons, it's so much fun and I have sold some already. I will have to post a picture of one so you can see what I mean. They are a good fun gift idea.

Hope everyone is ok.

Speak soon (hopefully) gems

 

[T16GEM]

OMG!! Bellacam! Congratulations, Bailey is so cute! You are so lucky, your pictures made me cry! I am such an emotional wreck at the moment! She weighed the same as Shelby when she was born! Congratulations to you again! Funny story about the Pizza Hut though!

GLT - I am sorry for what's happening with you and your DH at the moment, you will be fine, and things will work out well for you I am sure, you need to be happy and you deserve to be. I am thinking of you right now.

Loretta - Sorry to hear about your dad, I cannot imagine how hard it must be for you right now, I don't really know what else to say.

 

[Strawberry Lemonade]

Good morning everyone! My package should be arriving at it's destination any day now. I'm surprised it didn't show up yesterday. I'm sure it will before Thanksgiving.

Lucas has the sniffles and I hope it doesn't develop into a full blown cold. One of my nephews had a cold on Sunday and I know Lucas picked it up from him. My sister and my nephews are ALWAYS sick. I don't know where they get it. This is one of the reasons we're getting Lucas a flu shot next week. My sister even had meningitis last month (not the deadly kind). She's a SAHM so I don't know where she picks up all these diseases.

On the topic of gift exchanging, We usually buy for my sister and BIL, SIL and BIL (DH's side) and our parents. Everyone's budget is pretty much the same - between $20-$25 per person so it doesn't get out of hand. We also do a Yankee Swap type game with my extended family on Christmas Day and that's only a $20 gift.

Tasha - Great pictures! Kylie looks so sweet in her fancy dress. Is that one of the pageant dresses?

fabumouse - I only BF'd for 8 weeks. It was doomed from the start, but I feel that I at least gave it a solid try.

lissawynn - I didn't mind the orangey glucose drink either and like Joats, I had GD. Maybe there is something to that.

BnB - Congrats to the thespians in your family.

J&D - Hope Jenna is feeling better. I'm still in for the Secret Santa exchange, but if there isn't enough interest maybe we can postpone it.

tkyes - Welcome back! I can't wait to hear all about your trip.

joats - I hope you and Jace don't have that mutant strain of pinkeye that Alice28 seems to have!

hillbeans - Cute picture of the boys!

Alice28 - Glad you got the toy you were looking for.

dizagain - Happy anniversary!

Gem - Hope you feel better soon. Glad to hear the balloons are going well!

 

[lissawynn]

Hey ladies. Good news on the construction front. They have closed off the back of the house and the windows are in. The contractor assures us that the roof will be done before the end of the day tomorrow. We also have wiring done upstairs. The drywaller is coming this week to check out what he has to do, and the plumber came yesterday. I think a lot of those things are going to get banged out next week. DH has the entire week off to go hunting, so he'll be around.
I e-mailed one of our h.s. teachers who does masonry work on the side to see if he'd be interested in working on our chimney. We can't put the other window in that side of the house or side the house until the chimney is done.
I'm just hoping our tub/shower is off our front porch today. I'm going to decorate the front of the house since I have no where to put my tree. That's the Christmas miracle I need. My house needs to be done so I can put up the tree. If I have to do it on Christmas Eve, that's when I'm doing it.

SL - I had the orange drink and it wasn't too bad b/c it was really cold. I managed to kill the hour reading People and listening to my iPod.

Gems - Sent you a PM.

Tasha - I'm going to talk to the dr when I go in for my check up on Monday. I want to know exactly what rights I have. I'm also considering calling the hospital admin. directly to see what they have to say.

dizagain - Happy anniversary! I hope your DH is up to going out to dinner tonight.

nucpharm - Way to go on the wrapping! I'm just putting my stuff in gift bags this year. I'll be lucky if I can find everything by Christmas time. I am attempting to put it all in one HUGE box so I don't lose anything.

fab - I never breastfed and don't plan on doing it with Annabel. I never got flack from anyone about it, either. I just can't imagine trying to fit pumping into my hectic school day. Jimmy drank formula until he was around 10 months, then I switched him to whole milk. Aside from three ear infections (which the dr. said could be caused by drinking while lying down), he's been perfectly healthy.

Alice - I'm glad the GH are on their way! Are you almost done your shopping?

Hillbeans - It looks like your boys are loving their gifts!

I don't have much on my plate for school today. I should start grading the essays I collected last week, but I just can't get in the mood.

I'm going to see if the filters are off and maybe do some Secret Santa shopping.

 

[joats]

Good morning all.
Jace finally went down for a nap although he's been ready for one since 5am when he woke up with his eyes glued shut together and pulling at them. Poor baby. Oh and giving him the eye drops is such a treat

I wish I could use this day off from work to go out shopping but I think it's best to keep Jace in for a day or so. But I'm ready to get out there and shop!! I'll just do some more online today I guess and do laundry, pay bills, clean etc.

As far as gift giving. On my side we only buy for kids so I only have to get for my niece (6), nephew (3) and my cousin (15). I usually spend $30-50 on each. On DH's side we have to buy for pretty much everyone but luckily he has a small family. It get's tricky though as we cannot see my SIL and her kids - they've never met Jace. I think I've talked about this before. They do not give their kids any shots and Jace's MD does not want contact with them until he's 2 and has had all his shots. It's really a tough situation as everything has to be split up no big family party. It's hard to believe I haven't seen them since I was pregnant with Jace.

Lissawyn: Glad to hear some positive news on the renovations. I hope it will all be full steam ahead from this point on.

SL: I hope Lucas' sniffles don't turn into any else. With this weather back and forth it does not help. We are sick all the time in our house - as I'm sure you can tell by my posts. We're about as unlucky as your sister.

Gems: Sorry to hear you are sick. I was wondering where you've been. Haven't seen you post in a while. Your machine sounds neat.

Tasha: Kylie is beautiful!! Her smile just beams!!! What a cutie in those photos.

Dizagain: Happy Anniversary

nucpharm: I can't believe you've already started wrapping..man, you are way ahead of me in being prepared.

Fab: I think mine came earlier than most too - about 3-4 mos I think. I was bummin'. I never really wanted to stop BFing when I did but due to work schedule and lack of place to pump I tried to just nurse before and after work but my body did not cooperate. So I was about 4-5 mos I think. Do what you feel is right. From what I understand any nursing is/was better than no nursing and you've given her 3.5mos. If you feel the time is right..It probably is.

Robin: Way to go on the score of the Galactic Heroes you wanted! Isn't it such a great feeling when you get the email saying your stuff shipped?? I'm waiting for my Amazon notice!!! I got my children's place last night.

Hillbeans: The boys look so cute playing with their new toys.

Hi J&D, Jill, DisKim, GM, GLT, Z, Justhat, FF, BNB, Tamie, Bellacam and anyone else I've missed.

I love reading about everyone getting their packages and all the nice things people have selected for one another. I am really glad I participated in the exchange (Thanks Gems) and look forward to receiving mine from my buddy. I love getting mail and packages!!!

I'm going to take this opportunity to clean up a little more around here and get some bills paid as with the holiday there is less mail time to get them in on time. I will try to check back later if I can get little man to take an afternoon nap.

Have a great tuesday!

 

[lissawynn]

Well, I managed to get some shopping done at gap.com. I got DH a pair of boot fit khakis and a nice sweater. I also got myself the last style/color of maternity pants they had with a full panel. These are so comfy I could sleep in them. Plus, now I have pants that fit me for every work day. I just have to make sure they're all washed by Sunday so I'm not scrambling on Monday morning.
I also got a few baby things for Annabel. They had short-sleeve/sleeveless onesies on sale. They have a ruffle on the neck and armholes.
I used a 15% off coupon I got and got free shipping.

I am going nuts here. I do have school stuff to do, but I can't stand the thought of grading essays. I don't even have that much more Christmas shopping to do. I was hoping to pick up the last few things I needed on Friday.

 

[Tasha+Scott]

I am in class but we aren't doing anything yet except trying to get things organized with regard to assignments. Anyway, so this will be quick.

SL~ The dress is actually just a Christmas dress we bought on sale at Belk. I thought it was fancy and would suffice for the pageant but all the other girls except 2 infants were in the expensive, fancy pageant dresses. So if I want to put Kylie in another pageant it looks like I will be renting a dress next time...if there even is a next time! Dh took pictures of the pageant but I haven't developed those yet. I will post those when I do though so you can see the other girls as well and what type of dresses they wore.

joats~ Where did you get the MK game you and your dh played? That sounds like something my dh and I would enjoy and I'd love to get it.

Okay, we are about to start class. Gotta go!

 

[Strawberry Lemonade]

Blech. My mom called and said Lucas' nose is running a little yellow. I now have a call in to the ped, hoping she'll call a prescription in and I don't have to take him to the dr office. I don't really want him to be sick for Thanksgiving - he'll be in good spirits, I'm sure - but he tends to wipe his snot all over the place and I'll feel bad for my aunt's house. He's so quick about it sometimes!

lissawynn - WTG on the Gap shopping. I have some Gap maternity clothes and loved them. Glad your house is coming along.

joats - Poor Jace! Sorry you can't get your shopping done.

 

[llij]

Hi all!

Today is my crazy day. I've got two back to back classes and I won't get home until after 10:00 tonight. My MIL was supposed to come today, but my dh called her and told her that I needed to study so she is driving up half way today and will arrive tomorrow. I felt terrible that he called her and told her that b/c she is always welcome here. I only told him that I needed to study for his information and that I won't be able to entertain her all day. Ugh. I love my MIL, she is just high maintenance and I am under the gun to finish up all of my projects. She is staying until next Monday which will keep me busy. Anyways, I ramble on...sorry!

I also wanted to thank SL for the gifts we got last night!!! There was a package when I came home from school and it was perfect! The girls opened the foam craft kit this morning and can't wait to make the snowmen after school. That hat, gloves and stuffed animal for John are so cute! I need to take a picture and post it! The yummy hot cocoa for Dave and myself is great! I almost bought the same thing for us last week and I'm so glad that we got one from you. Yummy! Thanks again, SL!!

SL - I hope that Lucas is ok and not getting sick!

Joats - Same for Jace, I hope he gets better soon!

Robin - Thanks for looking out for GLT! You are wonderful!

GLT and Zalansky - Continued prayers for you both!

I gotta run.....I need to cook up a bunch of food and study for a test today. Have a great day ladies!!!!

 

[Strawberry Lemonade]

Jill, I'm so glad the package arrived yesterday. I was getting worried about it. I'm glad you like everything!

 

[floridafam]

Mommies,

I am such an idiot.

I sent some of you a PM.

I typed my paypal address in wrong on the PM.

It is mrsspackler@yahoo.com I left out the mrs and put ms in the PM.


SORRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Strawberry Lemonade]

I'm sure you're all thrilled with the play-by-play of my day. But here's something else: there is apparently a rodent or small animal of some sort trapped in our heating system. It's running back and forth above our heads and freaking a few people out. So consequently, no one is doing any work because they're all running for the parking lot every time we hear it move. I'm a little nervous because there's an open ceiling panel in my room. I'm not afraid of animals (if it were a spider, that's another story) but I don't anything to jump on my head.

 

[Alice28]

KIM Can you tell me where you ordered those refurbished ipods for $29? Sam wants something like that for Christmas, and I don't want to spend more then $50. He knows he's getting the Blue Man Group keyboard, and I guess you can plug an MP3 player/ipod in it to play along with your music. Thanks for any help!

Jill- I hope you get through today and tomorrow!

SL- Hope Lucas isn't sick!

Tasha- Kylie sure is a beauty! What a big smile!

Joats- enjoy your time at home today- hope Jace feels better. You sure have had a yucky time with illnesses lately.

lissawynn- score on the gap deals! They have terrific maternity clothes. Glad your home is going to be closed up today! No, I'm not quite done with my shopping- close though. I need to shop for my dad, one more thing for Sam, one more thing for Molly, my nephews & niece (but I know what I'm getting them- 2-3 DVDs along with candy, popcorn and just giving a movie gift basket), 1 thing I'm getting today for best friend's little boy, and then DH. Which I am CLUELESS about. He wants new pots and pans at Costco. I guess I should just get that. How freaking romantic. I'm hoping my mom will want to go in on them with me, we'll see. She never knows what to get him either. And my dad's bday is Dec 26th, so I need to get a bday gift for him too.

Well, I woke up with my sinuses all screwy. The rain came in last night after a whole 24 hours of clear weather. I think when the barometer drops, my sinuses get all yucky or something. So I am going to take a steamy shower quickly before Molly wakes up. Then we're off again- Sam got $50 from Grandma yesterday in the mail for his birthday and he wants to peruse Toys R Us or Target and I said we could do that this morning.

 

[floridafam]

Hi Mommies,

If you PM me back, could you confirm that you have seen the above message about me putting in my paypal address wrong.



Thank you.

DisKim,

I tried to send you a PM but your box was full.

Strawberry Lemonade,

EWWWW. I would be out of my office in a second. I hope Lucas is feeling better soon.

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

Good morning all! Almost time for the end of the "Golden Hour", so this will have to be short.

Jill--Good luck today.

Fab--I must tell you, I bottle fed my first, nursed the middle 2 for over a year each, and supplement with Luke--so, been there, done that, no matter what your choice! But what I wanted to tell you is, I figured out with Luke that my right "girl" produces very little (I pumped a lot with him). Naturally, Robert and Celeste had both favored the left one. But what Celeste did at ~10 months was, she started gnawing on the right one. She actually gnawed a hole that couldn't heal! I cut back to nursing only twice a day on that side, then weaned entirely from that side only. I felt a little lopsided, but this was at the point where she was naturally nursing less anyway. I've never heard of the lopsided production before. Anyway, if you feel you're ready to quit, there's nothing wrong with that. Or maybe supplement during the day and nurse during quieter times--it's up to you. I do suggest you price out formula, though, it's just real expensive. There are generics that are fine, and coupons and stuff. Good luck, whatever you decide.

Tasha--Love the new pic, Kylie is just adorable!

Alissa--I'm glad things are moving along with the house. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Joats--Poor Jace! I hope he's feeling his old self soon.

Gotta run--"Hi" to everyone else!

 

[floridafam]

Robin,

I also bought a refurbished ipod shuffle for $29. I got it for DH to use when he works out so he doesn't get his nice one all gross.

They don't have them listed on the website today. They have been selling out and then relisted but it's always very early in the morning. Just keep an eye on the Apple website in their store under Refurbished ipod. I think someone posted a link over on the budget board.