The Official New Mom Thread

[Strawberry Lemonade]

Hi nucpharm! Welcome! I hope you and your family are feeling better soon.

 

[justhat]

Congrats nucpharm and welcome! Hopefully you'll all get healthy again quickly.

SL that's so sad about your husband's grandmother. The same thing happened to my cousin's grandmother about 6 weeks ago. She fell down the stairs and broke her hip and went to the ER, then a nursing home (though they did operate on her), then back home, but then she got a blood clot on Thanksgiving and had to go back into the hospital. She's coming home again I think today. It's really sad cause even though she's 96 she was in great health and had she not fallen down the stairs she wouldn't be in this shape now. It's a shame to see things like this happen to anyone, especially around the holidays though. I'll keep your husband's grandmother in my prayers.

Well DC, dramatic as they are here, cancelled school today for NO snow on the roads!! I can't believe it. My husband left for the airport at 5am and said the roads had snow on them so when I woke up at 6 (our usual time) I turned on the news to see school closings. Madison's school closes if the DC public schools do (as do most other preschools/catholic/private schools in DC) and sure enough every school in the city is closed. I wouldn't mind, but at 6am when I was checking, the roads were clear and it essentially stopped snowing. In fact at 6am it was raining, but then turned back to the tiniest flurries ever by about 6:45. Luckily I got Madison to sleep till 8, and by then the snow was totally gone, off sidewalks too, and it's completely sunny, not a cloud in the sky. And looking at the small patch of grass across the street from us there's maybe 1 or at most 2 inches of snow. The grass is covered, but the small plants are all visible. So Madison's holiday breakfast at school has been moved to Monday. Hopefully people can still make it, lots of the parents work so I know it's not that easy to just take off whenever you want to. So, like you SL, I'll be sending out Christmas cards today too. They're not finished yet, but I figure I can do that today. Then we'll be going out to get some ornament hooks cause I can't find the ones I had leftover from last year.

 

[lissawynn]

Good morning! It's really beginning to look a lot like Christmas here. We got almost 8" of snow last night and this morning! I have a day off from school, and since Jimmy did not want to sleep this morning, I've been up since 7:00 A.M. At least I'm going to make a dent in my laundry and possibly finish wrapping my Christmas presents.
I have to scroll back and read what I've missed.

I finally had time to scan Jimmy's picture with Santa. Now, there's no copyright information on the back, so do you think I can get away with getting some copies from Wal-Mart?
I'm gonna try it on-line and see what happens.

 

[Alice28]

lissawynn & Diskim- I too do NOT envy you for having to be fashion police at school- like you don't have enough other things to do!

lissawynn- great pic of your grandparents. I miss mine too--One of Molly's middle names is after my Grandma.

I am NOT envious of all of you with all the snow! Although it's been unusually cold here in Portland too. And dry. 28/30 at night and only 40 during the day. It's usually not so cold here! It would be fun to get a couple inches of snow, but no more! They're such freaks here about snow- it snows an inch and everything closes. We don't know how to deal with it.

Justhat- hope you are feeling better!

Welcome nucpharm and Matthew! Hope you are feeling better soon!

SL- I'm sorry about your DH's grandma- hope she recovers quickly.

Zalansky- Camryn looks very cute in her Bumbo!!!!

2sweetangels- hope you are surviving in the snow with your kidlets.

Tasha- Kylie is a rocking and rolling, no matter how she does it, right? That's so fun! I had to drag the baby gate out last night cause Molly would NOT stay away from our stairs!!!

Val- I'm not sure about the cereal. I think you're probably ok...I know at a certain point they are supposed to drink less formula a day and concentrate a bit more on the food. But my mind is failing me as to when. I just remember when my oldest was a baby, telling the doctor how much breastmilk or formula he had a day and she looked at me and said, "He shouldn't be filling up so much on the milk stuff- he needs to start having more of the different foods." The b-milk and formula were still #1 in his supply of nutrients, but the variety of foods was important too. There's got to be a chart somewhere on the internet about how many ounces of formula they are supposed to have a day at the different ages, and conversely, how much baby food is ok.

lissawynn again- I think you're probably ok with the Santa pic if there's no copyright info on it...I feel like I've gotten copies of other kids with Santa in my Christmas cards and I highly doubt someone bought some package from the mall with 50 wallets...they must have gotten copies at a regular store. It's a great picture BTW!

MIL is still here and it's going fine. She likes to treat us to go out to eat when she's here, and that's been super nice. And she's really enjoying the kids, and that's what I wanted in the first place- having the kids see their Grandma.

 

[DisKim]

Lissawynn - All I can say is I am very jealous of you as I sit here in my classroom on the DIS when I should be typing up a new "challenging" quiz for my honors class. We are on the Jersey coast, so we are getting a bunch of stinky, ugly rain. It is washing away all of the snow we did have and it's just awful. I wanted a snow day so bad. This is me today . It's so disappointing when other schools all over the place have a snow day and we don't . We often get cheated out of snow because we are so close to the water.

I love the pictures of everyone's Christmas trees. I'll have to try and post a picture of mine when I get home. DD is having a sleepover party today. I am not looking forward to that. It is only her and two other girls so it shouldn't be too bad. I'm sure Aidan will love the attention he gets. I'm having my mom take Alex so the girls don't abuse him. They are so mean to him. My mom is making me feel so guilty today. Today is her birthday and I asked her way ahead of time if she would mind if Emmy had her sleepover today. She said sure. She also agreed to take Alex. Now she is complaining and I keep telling her to go out and I'll keep Alex. The problem is she has nothing to do anyway. I hate it when she makes me feel guilty because she has been divorced for 20 years and has no social life. If I don't act as social secretary for her, she does nothing. OK, I have to get back to work.

 

[vald1977]

Welcome Nupcharm !

Great pic of your tree, SL. I like the kitty in the background looking out the window .

Lisawynn,
Jimmy's Santa picture is so sweet. I hope you can get copies done. I would try that little machine they have in Walmart where you can do it yourself if you can't do it online.

Justthat,
Sorry your breakfast was canceled. They have done that here a couple of times where they cancel and then it doesn't even snow or it only snows the tiniest bit.

Diskim,
I hope your dd has fun tonight. I remember the days of sleepovers fondly .

Robin,
I'm glad the visit is going well. I'm going to go check online now to see if I can find some kind of chart or something. I'm not too worried because she was in 80% for weight at her last check-up and she still seems to be gaining to me.

Well, we have snow day here . Of course Katrina got up extra early this morning but at least I still got to lounge around in my pjs instead of rushing around.

Here are some pictures of our tree that I just took. I don't know if you can tell but it is really snowing out there! The bottom picture is Katrina eating her first cereal. I figured since I was downloading pictures I would stick that one in as well .

Have a good day, everybody .

 

[justhat]

Lissawynn, we copied Madison's photo with Santa last year. We went to CVS and did it on their machine and the CVS worker who had to type in the code to print didn't say a word.

Vald, Katrina is soooo cute! That is such a perfect photo!

 

[lissawynn]

Jimmy is napping and my neighbor is kind enough to clear off our walk with his snowblower. I am thankful b/c I don't want to leave Jimmy inside by himself while I shovel. I just have to clear off about 7-8 feet of walkway inside our gate. DH won't be home until much later, and I don't want the mailman taking a header.

I read the info on the Wal-Mart site and they claim that you have to have a signed copyright release if you're making copies from a professional photographer or what they consider to be a "professional" photographer. Does that include the 17 year old girl who took Jimmy's pic. I was in such a hurry when I chose the package, I didn't notice I could have bought the disk w/the release for $20. That's what I get for rushing. I think I'm going to send the pic through Wal-Mart online and if they ask for a release, I'll just bag the photos. I don't know how savvy my Wal-Mart photo folks are...

Robin - I'm glad your MIL is enjoying her time w/ the kids. It's good to hear things are going well for you. Yay to Molly! I mean, stop it, Molly! Stay away from the stairs!

DisKim - I'm sorry you're in school today . I am taking full advantage of my day off. I had a thousand loads of laundry to do, and since Jimmy peed though his diaper on our bed this morning, I'm also washing everything on our bed. Sorry your mom is being a downer. I hope the sleepover works out tonight.

Speaking of peeing through the diapers...Pampers Baby Dry diapers do not work well for us. Jimmy has a little chunk around his middle, and they just don't fit well enough. We do much better with the Cruisers or the Huggies Supreme or Huggies with the stretchy tabs. I am using the last of the diapers from my diaper shower, so no more Baby Dry for us.

justthat - A snow day with no snow? I hope you get done everything you need to do today.

nucpharm - Welcome to you and Matthew! When my son was about the same age, he was terribly congested and had a hard time sleeping. We took him to the dr, and they really couldn't do anything for him because he was so young. We did use the Baby Ayr saline drops and nasal aspirator a lot, and that seemed to help. We also had the cool mist vaporizor going all the time. We tried to keep him from sleeping flat on his back. If you have a bouncy seat (even his baby carrier seat) let him sleep in that so his head is a little elevated. Jimmy went on that way for about 3-4 days and I truly felt like they were the longest days of my life. Hang in there!

SL - Very pretty tree!

 

[nucpharm29]

lissawyn-thanks for the advice about keeping him elevated a little to sleep. I completely forgot that's what the Dr. had me do when Emma was sick as an infant. She actually had me have DD sleep in her infant carrier carseat thing. It really helped. Thanks for jogging my memory

About the santa pics--My dad takes pics for my moms vet clinic each year, for fun--santa and the animals. Well, he had the photos developed for the customers on "professional" paper. One of the customers went to Walgreens to make copies of the pics, and they definitely weren't copywrited (heck, dad is a chemistry prof not a professional photographer). But the clerk at Walgreen's said she couldn't make any copies of the photo b/c they were on professional paper. What a crock! Hopefully, Walmart will treat you better! Lots of luck!

 

[Alice28]

Val- I can't get over how precious little Katrina's face is! What a dolly!

DisKim- Sorry your mom is being a pain.... Family can be so *fun* sometimes.

I've GOT to get moving this AM. I'm still in my PJs. MIL is having lunch with some friends today, so I am free until 3 or so. I need to vacuum and get some laundry done. I had to make Molly a bottle last night and then it leaked all over my bed. Ughhhhhh....

 

[T16GEM]

This is our tree, I managed to get it all up yesterday, this is the first year that we have had an artificial tree as I couldn;t cope with the mess from a real one.

How old are they before they are too big for the bumbo seat? I have been thinking about getting one for Shelby, they are only available by mail order in the UK. Cameryn looks so cute in hers!

I use the Pampers Baby Dry and so far we haven;t had a problem with them, I usually switch between Pampers and Huggies depending on which is cheapest or on offer at the time, I don't have a usual brand that we stick to.

lissawynn - Wow 8" inches of snow! I wish we got snow like that here, we had a smattering a couple of weeks ago but it was all gone in a couple of hours when it rained

We went to the clinic today to get Shelby weighed and she has only put on 2oz this week, I am concerned as she usually tops out at 9oz per week, I'm wondering if it's because I've switched to bottle feeding rather than breast feeding aswell now and things may have started to even out. I'm also increasing to 5 oz bottles from tonight in the hope that I can get her to sleep longer.

 

[Strawberry Lemonade]

Thank you Gretchen (gwcollins) & Lily!! We got a surprise on our doorstep this afternoon - Peek-A-Blocks and Mix & Match Blocks. Lucas loves them and he's playing with them right now! Thanks again!

 

[lissawynn]

Gems - Love your tree! Are those long things crackers (noisemakers)? I love a real tree, too, but last year my mom gave us the artificial one in my photo, and it's up again this year. I can't imagine what kind of mess a real tree would make with a busy baby in my living room.

I don't know if any of you ladies have guessed that I'm a kind of "compulsive" person when it comes to organizing, cleaning, doing the laundry, etc. Well, a few weeks ago, I saw those huggable hangers on sale on HSN. I have seen them for years and have always thought of ordering them. Our home is small and our closets are smallish (I do have a LOT of clothes). I thought I'd give them a try, so I ordered a set of 60 (I wanted the 120, but DH talked me out of them in case I didn't like them.).
Today I finally had time to get them out of the box, and I LOVE them! I didn't have enough to do my entire closet, but they are so nice that I got on hsn.com and ordered 120 more (to finish my closet and maybe share some with DH).
I don't know if any of you have them, but I am surprised how much I love them.

 

[bellacam]

Hi mommies! I love all the trees. I took advantage of being cooped up in the house today and got all my Christmas stuff done. Tree is up and I did my Christmas Cards. Let me know what you think.

Here is my tree...

 

[2sweetangels]

Hello mommies! Lovely tree's!!! Its midnight here and im still up, I must be overtired. Well just wanted to say hello and my girl's are doing great.

 

[DisKim]

Well, Emily had her sleepover. It was so much fun! The girls actually had me dancing. I bought mugs for them to make and wrap as Christmas gifts for their parents. I also bought an ornament making kit. They loved it so much that they are up now making more. They are such good girls. I thought all you moms of little baby girls would like to hear that they are still cute at 10! We have such a busy day today. Emily had little sleep and she has skating lessons and basketball. Alex has a birthday party after that. I am determined to finish my shopping today. I am also having a little get together with my friends and their kids on Monday and I have to go shopping for that. On top of all that, I'm thinking about going into NYC tomorrow and taking the kids skating in Rockefeller Center. I have two offers from people to watch Aidan. I could really use some special time with my two older kids. Of course, Emmy will drag me into American Girl Place where I will probably end up spending at lest a hundred dollars and they will both drag me kicking and screaming into Toys R Us in Times Square . They also make me go to a restaurant called Mars 2112. It is so stupid. You wait on line to go into a simulated spaceship ride and you "arrive" on Mars to eat dinner with a bunch of people dressed up like aliens. The food is lousy and the aliens are annoying and my kids just love it so to Mars 2112 I will go. Ahhh... the holidays. I love every minute of torture the kids put me through. BTW, last year we went to the new Disney store in NYC. They had alot of the toys that you can only get in the theme parks. It was cool.

 

[zalansky]

Gems - I thought your tree was a real one - it looks great! What are those scrolls on the tree? They look very cool...as for the bumbo the box says it is for babies 3 - 14 months of age. They have to be able to hold their heads up good, Cameryn is still working on holding her head up good, she can for a few minutes...so she doesn't last long in the seat at this point. Its very cool though, and I ordered mine online.

Bellacam - Love you tree too and your did a wonderful job on your cards. I did our last night too and it was a disaster. We did it before bedtime so both kiddos were crying and in no mood for it. But, I just used the best one and made ours because I was afraid I wouldn't get them out in time for Xmas! I attached the picture we used below. Cameryn hated her cute little patent leather shoes so we had to take them off and then Connor wanted his off too! What a waste of $ that was, the shoes I mean.

Diskim - Your sleepover sounds like fun, I hope my little ones have them someday. I think my friend dragged me to that restaurant with the aliens, it was terrible and loud if I recall. You're right the food, yuck! But at least the kids had fun

2sweetangels, The new picture of your girls is so very cute. Are they excited for Xmas?

Vald - as everyone else had already said, Katrina is adorable! WHat a sweet face she has, she is just gorgeous! And so is your tree...

Lissawynn - let us know how those hangers work out, sounds like something I need for my closets!!

I know I missed some people, I will catch up more later, I am heading to the Spa this morning for a facial and massage! yippee!! Dh got it for me last Xmas but then I got pregnant and never used it. I will check in again later, have a nice day everyone.

 

[nucpharm29]

Morning ladies--love all the Christmas trees. I'll have to post a pic of ours later. I was so excited to put it up this year. Last year Emma had just learned to walk, so we decided that putting up the tree would be a mistake. So this year, I just had to have it up, even though we have a newborn and won't be here for christmas. The picture we used in our christmas cards is the pic of the 2 kids in my signature. It took many, many pictures to get one that would work.

OK, I have a question for any of you breastfeeding moms. I nursed DD and didn't have any major probs. Now with Matthew, we're struggling a little. I know part of the problem is that he has a cold. But more often than not (and cold or not) he'll pull off me screaming; like he's in pain or something. I'm starting to do the thing where I'm eliminating dairy, chocolate (dear god!), citrus and spicy foods to see if that helps. I've also used Mylicon drops for gas and that doesn't seem to really help. Any advice? He seems to be gaining weight okay, I just hate to see him so uncomfortable.

 

[2sweetangels]

Zalansky- thank you, I try to chnge the picture every so often so you all can see how the girls are growing, plus my mom told me about the new signature rule, so I decided to put only 1 picture up that has both girl's in it. Katelyn is very excited. This is her 2nd Christmas and she understands it a little better then last year.

Well good morning mommies!! Its been a nice quiet morning at my house. Katelyn slept untill 10am, which is not right for her. Hayley was awake, but she never cries, she just lay's around and talks. My 8 month old cousin is here today, he is a cryer, so he is the most difficult of all, but he came around 10:30 am. Wll got to run, just wanted to check in.

 

[joats]

Hey Ladies!
I love everyones holiday pictures - the kids & the trees. We went to get our tree today. It was so cold!! We have a tree farm a few miles up the road. I bundled up Jace and carried him in his snuggly. He did great, except that when I finally got back to the car and met up with DH (who went ahead with the guy to put the tree on the car) and then DH says Jace had so much "snot" running down him - he looked like he had a beard. Poor thing! That's the only thing about the face foward snuggly - can't see what's going on with him. Meanwhile we must have passed 30 people who smiled at us probably all the while thinking I was an unfit mom letting my baby have his face covered in snot!! LOL!!

I'm hoping to get him to see Santa tomorrow, do my christmas cards and decorate the tree in addition to all the regular household chores, etc that need to be done.

This thread moves way to quickly. I try to read when I can, but I never get enought time to reply to all, so then I don't post anything thus making me even farther behind. ARGH! I've decided since it's nearly impossible for me to reply to everyone, I will just try to post when I can and hope that you will all be understanding if I chime in and out of conversations. I definitely read everyone's post but struggling to reply to all each time. Hope that's alright with all of you as I so enjoy reading about your experiences.

Welcome Nucpharm29! Regarding the bfeeding - has your flow changed? I know Jace only did that when he didn't get a flow fast enough.

Well...that was short lived...He's up from his "big" 10 minute nap and screaming. I'll try again later to finish.