Oh the Pregnant Days

(No, I'm not pregnant)

It's funny the way a woman's mind works. While pregnant, I felt like I was miserable most of the time, I didn't even have that difficult of a pregnancy. All while I was pregnant women would tell me all the time, "I just loved being pregnant!" or "Isn't pregnancy the best? I miss being pregnant!" or even "I could be pregnant forever!" I just couldn't believe people loved being pregnant. I would always smile politely, but my friend and I (who was also pregnant) would talk about those crazy ladies who just didn't remember the real pregnancy days.

They didn't remember the sleepless nights, the exhaustion, the nausea, the mood swings (my husband remembers those!) the bloating, the backaches, the standing in front of a mirror in the morning crying because nothing fits you and you just feel fat.

And yet, I find myself watching pregnant ladies thinking, "I miss being pregnant, look how cute they are, I loved wearing maternity clothes." Wait! No I didn't! Why is my mind playing tricks on me?

My sister thinks that it is just programing within women, the way God created us, that no matter how uncomfortable we thought we were, all we remember is the feeling of life inside. It is our motherly instinct...

Carpool Lane

The other day I was a little late (surprise, surprise) driving down the 91 freeway in a little bit of traffic (again, big surprise). Brendan was sleeping in the back seat and I was trying to figure out the quickest lane to drive in to get where I wanted to go. My eyes veered to the left and I see the carpool lane traveling at a nice 65 miles an hour while I stop & go at a measly 40 mph.

I technically have two people in the car, I could drive in the carpool lane. But the again, the point of the carpool lane was to encourage drivers to ride-share, not to enable moms with an infant in a carseat to get to the mall faster. But a rule is a rule, and I wouldn't be breaking any rules by driving in this beloved lane, right?

What do you think? I know that a baby is a person, but is carting a baby around really considered a carpool?

By the way, I didn't end up in that lane, I took my time and drove to the mall in my 40 mph lane with the rest of Southern California.

Update on 10-months old

I did leave out a couple more of Brendan's achievements from the past couple months.

• We think Brendan can now say "Mama" and what appears to be "Daddy" or "Dada" but it isn't always consistent
• He waves bye-bye, but not always when you ask him to, only when he wants to.
• He now has 3 teeth that have broken through, and 3 that we can see on their way, but they haven't broken the skin yet, it was a fun weekend with those teeth, let me tell you!
• Brendan can move around with ease while standing and holding onto my legs, the couch, bookshelves, ect.
• He has stood a couple times without holding on, but once you clap or are excited, he falls right onto him bum!
• Brendan is actually a pretty independent eater. Not really picky, because he will eat anything, but only what he wants, sometimes he likes carrots, other times he wont even try a bite. - The one thing he will always eat are his Stars by Gerber. He loves those things!

Okay, I don't think I left anything out, if I did, it will just have to wait until 11 months for the update! Until then, I did capture Brendan's attitude on film last night while feeding him a snack, it is a little long (3 min 45 sec), but if you have time, enjoy!

Babywearing Mama

After I had Brendan I saw a few women walking around with Babies in a sling. I decided that I didn't want one since I figured they grew out of the sling once they could sit up. The slings were also very pricey. I figured it wasn't that big of a deal to carry my son around, or better yet, just push him in a stroller.

The I found some one's Blog. Adventures in Babywearing. In this blog, Stephanie talks about her life as a mother of 4, the youngest one is about a month behind Brendan, and she carries her everywhere, in a sling. They call it: Babywearing, because you basically wear your baby.

Although the thought intrigued me, I wasn't about to pay $45.00 or more on a baby sling. Then a saw a one-day-sale on a Slingling Baby Sling. It was on MamaBargains.com, their motto is "Get hooked on one hot deal at a time Grab it before it disappears!" The slingling was only $19.99. So I bought one, I though I would try it out, and if Brendan didn't like it, I could just save it for my next baby. (I had heard that if you don't use it from the beginning, they wont like it.)

Friday afternoon, my sling arrived in the mail. I love it! I used it all weekend, I will never go back! It was so nice having Brendan right there without killing my arms. I wire him on my side, which he preferred. But when he started to get tired, I moved him to face me and once he quit squirming, he fell asleep on my chest, while I was still able to push the stroller (that he wouldn't ride in).

What a great product! I would defiantly recommend the sling to anyone with a baby (no matter how old your baby is. If you know how to sew, I have heard these are extremely easy to make, and make a wonderful gift! Unfortunately for me, I can't make my own, so I will have to deal with only having one sling. At least it is washable!

Thank you Stephanie for opening my eyes to Babywearing, go check out her blog if you get a chance.

And thank you Mama Bargains for having such a great price on the Slingling!

10 Months Old

Last week, Brendan hit 10-months-old. My baby is growing so fast! Well actually, he isn't really growing that quickly, he is a little small for his age, but he is developing like crazy! I know he will be walking before I know it!

I missed the 9-month update, so I will make sure to add as much information as I can for the past couple months. You can pretty much count Easter as our 9 month. I do have a BUNCH of pictures this month - enjoy!

Enjoying a snack at Pat & Oscars before Grandma had to leave. Brendan's favorite toy is our Cell phones. We have given him his very own cell phone that he can chew on and throw as much as he want! I love this picture and how well he sit up in the high chair. It makes eating out so nice that he can sit and be a part of the dinner table with us. While we were moving, Brendan had a great time crawling in and out of empty cupboards, this one in the hall was the perfect size to play in. Now that we are at the new house, he is into EVERYTHING. Next weekend, we baby proof all cupboards!

Like I said in an earlier post, Brendan is feeding himself now, and has been for quite some time. Many times, he wont eat it when I try to feed it to him, but will eat it off his tray. At dinner time, we are teaching Brendan that we have dinner together as a family. He will eat off of our plates. Last night he had salmon and mashed potatoes off Daddy's plate. Brendan loves when Steve comes over. Steve was in our wedding but moved oversees shortly after for Missions. He is now back in the area and and has been spending a lot of time with Scott and Brendan loves to play with Steve!

Other updates include Brendan's trip to Disneyland this weekend,I'm not sure but I think he enjoyed the Winnie the Pooh Ride. Bath Time is still very enjoyable. He now has his boats to play with in the tub. And usually Daddy will sit on the edge of the tub and play for a while. Brendan's personality has really come though, he cracks himself up! In the mornings, his favorite game is to roll over and quickly crawl away as soon as the diaper is off. Once he gets just out of reach, he starts laughing hysterically! I really should try to get it on video.

Brendan loves the TV, or at least the noises coming from it, he gets a little bored with it after a few minutes, that's the ADD he inherited from Mommy. The other morning I turned on Disney's Baby Einstein while I got ready for work. I think I have seen something like this before.... That's Right! From my favorite Childhood movie: 101 Dalmatians, 1961.
Brendan has dropped down to about 2 naps per day, late morning and early afternoon. Each nap is about 1-2 hours long. He is sleeping through the night, which he has done for a while, but he sleeps for much longer now. We have moved his bed-time to about 8:30 since he no longer takes a late afternoon nap, for the past few nights, he has slept from 8:30 PM to 6:45 AM. I must admit, I do wake up in the morning a little worried since I haven't heard him yet, but the sleep has been wonderful! Here is Brendan having his bottle in his Boppy. I can't believe how much he has grown. See the same boppy at 2 weeks old.

So there is our baby boy! Less than 2 months from being a year old! I better get planning a birthday party.....

The Kindness of Strangers

Last night I met a friend for dinner at the Elephant Bar. I was running late, juggling my big-mom-purse, the diaper bag, and of course the baby and running into the restaurant. Dinner was nice, I really enjoyed spending the time with Renee. It was after dinner that the problems started.

My cell phone had died during dinner, which should have been that big of a deal. As I headed back to my car, I was searching my purse for my keys (I said it was a big-mom-purse so this did take a while) but of course I couldn't find them. I look in the car, and there they are. Sitting on my seat, laughing at me. I had a million thoughts running through my head, I had a baby in my arms, my cell phone was dead, and I had to go to the bathroom RIGHT NOW. So I run into the mall, searching for a restroom, There is not one anywhere close to where I am. I finally run into Nordstroms, up the the second floor, and find the ladies restroom conveniently with a nice Mother's Room so I can change Brendan as well. I then search my purse again, just to make sure I don't have the extra set in my purse. Of course not.

My next thought is, I need to find a payphone. Let me tell you, in case you haven't looked for one lately, with the increase in Cell phones, pay phones are increasingly less in public places. I walk into this small photo shop at the end of the mall with bags and snotty-nose baby in hand and ask the young girl behind the counter if she knows where a payphone is. She immediately just hands me her phone and tells me to make as many phone calls as I need, then she hands me a Kleenex "for your baby" she says. I first try my husband - no answer. Luckily, we have AAA. I guess it's not that lucky since we are required to at least have one for our AAA Auto insurance and I bought myself a membership since this is not the first time I have locked my keys in my car. So I make the call. It is 8:05, I am told the truck will be there by 8:15. I try to explain to them that I don't have a cell phone, so they wont be able to call me back when the girl behind the counter tells me, "you can give them my number and just wait here until they come."

This young girl has no idea who I am, just a mom, with a running-nose-baby, having a bad day.

The tow truck finally shows up at 8:35 and lets me into my car. I tell the girl I'm sorry I don't have anything to offer as thanks, she tells me, "no worries." She could have just pointed me in the direction of a pay phone, or tell me she doesn't know where one is. But instead, she went the extra step to show some compassion for a frazzled mom. I leave the girl without even knowing her name. Just a stranger, helping a stranger out.

9 Month Pictures (almost late)

Last night we went and got Brendan's 9 month pictures taken. I think they turned out okay, we got a new photographer this time and not the same one who has taken his last two sets of pictures. This girl was very nice, but had only worked there 1 week. I had a picture that I got off the Internet for 36 picture package for $4.99, you can't beat that! On the same page, there was a coupon for a free 10x13 with a note right on the coupon that said "combine with any offer!" I have used this coupon before and gotten a free 10x13 portrait. However, this time, she told me the 10x13 was already included in the package.

No it's not!


If you know me or my mother, you know that we will fight and argue with a salesperson to get what is right. (While pregnant, I started to yell at the checker at Borders when she wouldn't give me a gift receipt, totally embarrassed my husband, that's another story...) The sears photographer said that she let someone use that coupon on Saturday and got in trouble, and so she wouldn't give the 10x13 to me. I know this poor girl has only been working there for a week, but I want my free picture.

I took the coupon, on the bottom of the page, in fine print, in gray, it says "Free 10x13, in same pose, can be combined with $4.99 portrait package." She calls the other photographer that had already left for the day, who agrees with her that I don't get the picture. Finally, seeing that I am getting no where, while trying to stay patient with this girl, I tell her "I wish there was a manager or someone else I could talk to." She tells me I will have to call the corporate office.

Oh don't worry, I will call them, and I will get my Free 10x13 portrait! (I'm even getting worked up as I type this after-the-fact).

This morning, I called the corporate office to complain. The lady I spoke with acted as if there wasn't a problem, but did tell me that I should get my free 10X13, she would call Sears and let them know they need to order me another 10x13 to be included in my order.


How frustrating!!

Anyway, what you guys probably really want are the pictures! Here are the pictures we had taken last night, like I said, they turned out okay, not as good as the last, but they will do.
This one is a great one of his teeth, what a happy boy!This one Scott says: "What's-up Dawg!"I really like his eyes and mouth in these! They are not Scott's Favorite.This is the one we ended up getting, I wish it was a little closer though...I guess I should have asked if they could zoom in. Oh well, I still think he is pretty cute!

Water & Weight

I have now gone 3 weeks without soda at work. I have broken my bad Coke drinking habit (I think, although I am likely to fall back into it again) by switching entirely to water. My boss and I made the switch together. It is nice to have someone everyday to remind you and keep you committed, a support for your good habits instead of the bad ones. We each have a large Styrofoam cup that doesn't leak or sweat all over my desk (I know it is bad for the environment, but one thing at a time please) and it sits on my desk full of nice cold ice-water to drink all day. There is something about a cup with a straw on my desk. If the water is in a bottle I don't drink it, but give me a cup with a straw and I will drink it all! I actually feel better, although I do miss the bubbles from the coke. I am consciously drinking more throughout the day to make sure I get enough water and actually feel a little better, although I really miss the sweet-bubbly Coca-Cola.

I was mentioning to a friend of mine that understands my addiction to soda that going from my Full of sugar, full of caffeine coke to plain ol' water was a little hard on me. She said "I wonder since you weren't drinking diet coke if you will see a drop in weight by going to water." To be honest, the thought had crossed my mind. Since I am still carrying around a little extra "baby weight" with me, it would be nice to drop some.

However, we do not have a scale at home. Our scale that we got for our wedding broke somewhere around my 2nd trimester. At first I was irritated, how would i know how much weight I had gained with my pregnancy?? but the dozens of doctors appointments I went to kept me pretty well informed. It was somewhat of a relief not to have that reminder of my constant gaining figure sitting on my bathroom floor. I didn't worry about it, I ate pretty well, was conscience of what I ate, but didn't stress about it.

Now, almost 10 months after giving birth, I have no idea what I weigh. (Well, to be honest, I do have an idea since I know what I weighed before I got pregnant, and I know what I weighed 6 weeks after delivery.) It is nice to be able to know that although I don't know how much I have loos, I do know my clothes fit better each month, and I feel good about myself. I don't need to worry about what the numbers are telling me.

My advice? Get rid of your scale while pregnant, it will only cause frustration and annoyance. Don't worry about the numbers, concentrate on the better foods. It worked for me anyway, I may not look the way I did before, but I do feel good!

Cleaning Lights

Since we bought a house that was a foreclosure, the previous owners did not leave the house very clean to say the least. The kitchen was the worst of all.

When we looked at the house we noticed that all the floorboards were taken off, but weren't sure exactly why. My dad figured out once we got in the house the reason. Apparently, the house was previously infested with roaches, GROSS! Luckily, all bugs were dead when we moved in, but we had to clean up all the dead bugs and their traces they left behind.

The kitchen was filled with bugs, we cleaned all the shelves and drawers, and yet I still find them around. The kitchen is filled with grease that has gotten on everything. The cabinets above the stove were so sticky with residue that after scrubbing them over and over with different high-powered chemicals, they are finally livable (still a little sticky).

Scott and I are almost all unpacked with the kitchen and have it almost all clean. This weekend, Scott noticed the lights in the kitchen had some dust on them and tried to wipe it off. Only to discover that it wasn't just dust. The lights are COVERED in grease and dust and bugs. We originally thought the lights were frosted glass. Come to find out, it is actually suppose to be clear!

That is so disgusting! Well, now at least that part of the kitchen does look better! You can see why now I have waited before showing you pictures of the inside of our house. I want you to see the nice, pretty version! And not the bug filled, greasy version....

Kitchen

The unpacking is incredibly slow this week. I have been working late nights as this is our busiest time of year. On Wednesday, we worked until 11:30 at night, by the time I got home, both Brendan and Scott were fast asleep. I did notice that Scott has started unpacking the kitchen and when I got up the next morning, this is what I saw. It is just a sneak peak at our kitchen. Once everything is settled, unpacked, and arranged, I will give you a tour of the house. But for now, you can see my Red, Black & White kitchen!

Good News & Bad News

Starting with the Good News:

My Crib was not recalled after all. It seems as though it is the same crib that was recalled, but only cribs made between May 2006 and November 2007 were recalled. My husband looked at the crib label today and our crib was made in January 2008.

The Bad News:

I still don't feel like my crib is very safe since the slats creek and crack when pushed on. Did they switch the type of wood or thickness of wood from November to January? Or is it only a matter of time before they figure out my date range was faulty as well? This is also the third recall the company has had on cribs this year. It doesn't make me feel very safe but if they wont take back my crib, what more can I do? I think I may write them a letter...

For now, I will just keep a close eye on my baby in his crib.

Crib Recall

I know that this happens to hundred of people every year. But I never expected it to happen to me! Who really expects it to happen? I saw the signs, I should have seen it coming.

My Baby Crib was recalled.

The press release:
And here is Brendan this morning sleeping peacefully in his crib...


The crib was given to me at my Baby Shower by my Office. I had noticed when I tried to move the crib or slightly push on the rails to pull myself up off the floor that I would hear a crack, but I didn't think much of it, just "I better be careful so I don't break the crib." What I should have thought was "wow that cracks really easily, I hope that it is safe for my baby who loves to kick everything!" But I didn't and just continued on my merry way.

My mother called me last night after seeing the recall on the news. I was frustrated, but wasn't all that surprised. Mostly mad.

The biggest pain is that we just took the crib completely apart, moved it to the new house, and put it back together. No we have to find a vehicle to borrow that is big enough to take the crib back to Babies R Us and then bring a new crib home, and figure out how to put that one together.

I guess it is worth it for the safety of my child!