Spoiling Turtle :)

That's what grandparents are for!

Turtle's paternal grandparents drove in from the west coast of Florida today to meet their grandson. I guess DH and I got him excited because he hardly napped at all until they got here at 1:30. Of course, my step-mother-in-law plowed right on past us to get to "her baby." She's really wonderful with him and he took right to them both. I couldn't be more proud - it's wonderful that he is so willing to go to other people.

I left DH to entertain for an hour so that I could run to the local high school - my neighbor's 18 month old had her first dance recital and since she was one of the first acts, I went to see. It was precious. The moms had to be on stage with the little ones and they were so adorable in their little pink tutus. I stopped by their house after they got home to drop off flowers for the little performer. She was a bit overtired and not too impressed, but I remember feeling so grown up when I got bouquets after my recitals, so I was glad to do it.

We grilled out - I made bourbon peach glazed pork chops with roasted red potatoes and lima beans, and then served up a peach trifle for dessert - super yummy. We drank frozen cosmos and now we're watching the DVD of my ILs community variety show. Dad is 75 and D is 70, and they both sing and dance like crazy! D even takes tap dancing classes. They are absolutely precious and I think it's awesome that they are so active and involved.

And Turtle is completely pooped and sleeping. Grandma D was able to wake him up enough to eat most of his 8pm bottle and so we think he's going to have a good night's sleep.

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The new schedule

Night one of our new and improved "longer sleeping" schedule was not so bad.

Turtle did great with the increase in his food, until 5am, when he only wanted 3 oz. Of course, that led to him waking up at 7am, pretty annoyed with the world. After that, it was relatively smooth sailing. I'm hoping that tonight will be better, and that we can get established on a rough 4/8/12 schedule, which would work great for us. If he takes to it, we're going to start up a solid bedtime routine and see how that goes.

Fingers crossed.

I was able to get in a nice, long nap today, which I desperately needed. I'll do great for a few days, and then it all just hits. I am going to make the attempt to set aside a few hours each day to take care of me, and hopefully, the new feeding times will make that a bit easier.

Tomorrow, my in-laws are coming. I got the house all cleaned up today, and tomorrow morning I'll start cooking for their arrival. I started to actually menu-plan for the week, and I'm excited to try out some new recipes I found on Food Network and Epicurious. If all goes well, we're going to try to go to Cap's on Sunday for lunch. Since we are clear to be out and about with the baby, I figure that might be nice: it's out in the fresh air and if I wear my sling, no one can really get to Turtle or get in his face. We'll see how he does.

DH is also going to get to talk to my step-mother-in-law about his dad's 75th birthday party in July. With everything that had been happening, Turtle and I were going to bow out, but now I think we'll be able to go. I know the rest of DH's family was pretty pissed that I wasn't bringing the new baby, but too bad. The monitor made things extremley difficult. We'll see how our 2-month appointment and our apnea clinc appointment go and make a final decision from there.

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Happy One Month Birthday!

I just can't believe that Turtle is one month old today. It doesn't feel like we've had him all that long, and yet here he's been.

Of course, we celebrated his special day with a trip to the pediatrician. Fun! No, really! It was. We had Dr. V and she was absolutely lovely. So far, we are lucking out with doctors up here. And the nurses seem to love us. They gave us a ton of formula and told us to just go ahead and leave - they would give Turtle back to us in a few years after they were done enjoying him. Ha!

Turtle weighed in at 10.04 pounds (up from 7lbs 6 oz at his May 9 appointment) and measured 22" (up from 20"). This puts him in the 75th percentile for his age, which is way up from his former 25th. His heart, chest and bowels sounded great, and Dr. V said she couldn't hear his ASD at all (although she said it could be because he was hiccuping, but that she thinks it could be resolving itself). Also, his PKU screening came back all normal.

He had been eating 4 oz of formula every 3 hours (and we were instructed by the doctors to make sure we woke him up to eat at those intervals to help him with his weight gain). Today, Dr. V upped him to 5 oz. per feeding and to see how much longer he could go. So far, he's taken three 5 oz bottles (and hasn't left a drop) and has gone 4 hours between each feeding. This is great as we can start getting him used to longer naptimes at night. We'll see how he does at his 1am - usually he's a little lazy for his middle of the night mealtimes, but you never know...

He also got his Hep B vaccine today. We had planned to do it at his first pedi appointment after we were discharged, which would have been May 1 or 2. However, with all the complications, Dr. S decided we should just wait til he was a month. He was such a trooper. He cried for just a second when the needle went in, and then perked right up. We kept an eye on him all day, and his behavior was perfectly fine - hearty appetite, regular sleeping and all that.

While Dr. V said that she would like us to continue using the monitor until we meet with the apnea clinic on the 20th, she did give us one piece of fantastic news: we can take Turtle out and have him be around people. Now, we still want to take it easy, because he did have such a rough start, but it's great knowing we don't have to hide him away from the world - or wheel him up to the front window for people to view him like some kind of holiday window display. It also means we're not so confined anymore, and that's always a good thing.

All in all, DH and I are so relieved. He's progressing so well and so happily, and we really couldn't ask for more.

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Confession Time: I'm Tired

Let me preface this by saying that, once again, we are VERY lucky. We have a very easy baby who is rarely cranky and who rarely cries. And he is so worth every single bit of this, and we are totally in love with him and every bit of his delicious little self.

Be that as it may, it hit me about two hours ago that I am exhausted. I feel a bit guilty complaining, because I'm sure, in retrospect, it's not that bad. DH is usually a huge help and he's pretty good at seeing when I need an extra set of hands, but it's really hard to not have an outlet right now. Nor have I had any naps...

DH told me today that he's going to start working noon to 8pm which is going to be a little more difficult. I was hoping to be able to get out one evening a week for a few hours, just to get a break from the house and my daily cycle but I'm not sure how that's going to work now. I was feeling a little emotional this morning so opted not to discuss. I'll update more on this when I get to the conversation. :)

In the meantime, my days are measured out in loads of laundry, bottle washings, diaper changes and feedings. DH had volunteered to do 7pm meal and storytime, but somehow, that got lost in the shuffle, so I need to reincorporate that this week. In addition, Turtle and I are enjoying our evening walks. It's nice to turn up my ipod and get out in the air. I confess, I sing (horribly out of tune, I'm sure) to him as we walk, hoping that no one hears me.

So enough of me whining.

We have some milestones: Turtle can roll onto his side. My reaction to this was "Holy Shi**! He rolled on to his side!" It was quite a sight. He just sort of flung himself and ended up with 1/4 roll. I'll take it. Turtle is also able to lift his head while on his tummy, which is great! It takes just a wee bit of effort on his part, but he gets it. I'm so proud of him. He also swatted the stuffed turtle that hangs from his bouncy seat. Don't know if that's a milestone, but it's pretty darn cute.

Oh, he also has his Heisman pose down. You know, just in case... :)

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Happy Memorial Day

To my surprise, DH opted not to work the holiday, with the exception of a few emails in the morning. He also came down from his shower the most refreshed he's been since Turtle was born. With everything that has happened, we've both been dragging and probably a bit more closed off than we should be - it was nice to feel like we have turned a corner with all that.

Turtle was a little on the cranky side, taking a longer time than normal to settle down, so I decided to try out his peanut shell sling. My friend recommended the sooner the better, but again, the monitor made the sling difficult if not impossible to use. DH and I maneuvered him into it and he had a 10 second bout of hysterics, before settling into a sound sleep. We're going to say it was a hit.

After that, we all sat outside on the patio with some music. We grilled up some hot dogs for lunch and just enjoyed the day. DH got Bentley into a game of fetch, and it was great to see them both running around the yard. After DH caught a quick nap, we took Turtle on his evening walk. DH grilled again for dinner: garlic shrimp and stuffed clams, which we had with caesar salad and cous cous. Yum!

Turtle had an awesome night - ate well and drifted off within minutes of finishing his bottle, so I was furious when DH woke me up at 1:30, but only for a second. Turns out, my friend A's water broke and she was on her way to the hospital! She had her baby at 8:58 this morning, and she is beautiful. Yay!

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Our Family Field Trip

I let DH sleep in this morning (and he took advantage of THAT - I didn't see him until about 11:15!), and attempted to get some tidying up done around the house. I also wanted to build Turtle's bouncy seat so he would have another "activity" during the day. He was not the most cooperative, though.

Turtle cries for three reasons that we can determine: 1. he's hungry; 2. he's gassy; and 3. there is the slightest hint of foreign substance in his diaper. Numbers 1 and 2 result in a cute little baby cry. Number 3 causes our sweet, even-tempered, easy-going little boy to shriek at decibels that cause the neighborhood dogs to hide. While I appreciate his hatred for soiled diapers, I really am trying to explain to him that the hysterics are not necessary; that mommy will get those nasty diapers away from him, asap, but the less flailing he does, the faster I can work. So far, we're at an impasse.

Anyway, it seemed lik every time I snapped a part together on his bouncy seat and moved on to the next direction, he wanted to be changed. He also is not sure if he likes the bouncy seat. He sat in it twice today, with the most puzzled expression imagineable. We'll try again tomorrow, to see if he's any more amenable to it.

DH decided that we should get out for a little bit today. He suggested we put Turtle in the car and go for frozen custard at Rita's. I'm a sucker for frozen custard so I was in. Turtle and I stayed in the car, while DH got my small cup of swirl with chocolate sprinkles (aka, my lunch for today) and then back home we went. He then suggested I take a nap before he went to Publix. Score! I was exhausted and slept for about 2 hours. The only bummer for today was that we wanted to go for a walk, but the second we got the stroller out in the driveway, it started raining. I had to settle for sitting with Turtle on our covered patio for an hour before dinner to get our fresh air. Not quite the same, but I'll take it.

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My Little Day Off

This week, DH asked if I minded if he went to the Hurricanes game today. Of course, since we have been in the house together practically 24/7, I could not have minded less. Last night, we both really didn't get much sleep. Turtle wasn't particularly fussy, but for some reason, we were both suffering from insomnia. For a brief moment, it seemed like DH was going to back out of his own plans, but somehow, he conjured up a second wind and after giving Turtle his bath (the first one he's done since leaving the hospital), he was on his way.

I promptly ordered up "Enchanted" on PPV, popped some popcorn, and hit the couch with Turtle. Good times!We did more time in the boppy, with a little help from Molly, and this time, there were no tears at all. Such a good boy.

In the meantime, DH told me to be expecting a UPS delivery, but that it was not for me and that I could not open it. I behaved myself, which was hard because when the box showed up, the return address was our jeweller in South Florida. And when DH got home, he had to keep the torture going by checking it all out first, in super slow motion.

But what a beautiful surprise! He had designed a gorgeous pendant for me, incorporating my birthstone (emerald) with Turtle's (diamond), and Turtle's inital, in a beautiful little heart. Of course, I put it on immediately and will be wearing it constantly. He apologized for it being so late, but Turtle came quite a bit earlier than planned, so it would have been just on time for his EDD of May 18. Whatever - it was such a thoughtful gesture, and the fact that he designed it (apparently it involved sketches that he drew himself), is so sweet and romantic.

Oh, and he also brought Turtle his first Sebastian the Ibis today. Turtle befriended him immediately.

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More scrapbook layouts

These are pretty basic, but I like how they came out. I also have more photos on order from Shutterfly and need to wait til our photo shoot with Jaime to get some more pictures.




I can't believe how much our munchkin has grown and changed since he was born. He will be a month old on Tuesday, too! It doesn't seem that long since we've only had him home since the 9th, but we can see the changes every day. His personality is really shining through and it's so cool to see him able to focus on things and recognize voices and DH and me.

My plan this weekend is to help DH learn how to use our camera - I have some fantastic pictures of him with the baby, but I need him to get some good ones of me and Turtle. He's more a fan of his camcorder (although fortunately, he forgets to grab it more often than not), so I don't know how successful I'll be.

Happy scrapping!

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New Activity: Tummy Time!

Who would have thought the phrase "Tummy Time" would ever be an integral part of my vocabulary. Beuller? Anyone? Yeah, I figured.

Anyway, my cousin's wife sent us this great tummy time boppy, and now that Turtle is off the monitor in the day, we figured it would be a good chance to try it out. He's definitely been trying to hold his head up more, and although he sleeps with his head on the side (and alternates sides voluntarily), we figured it was time to work on strengthening his muscles and getting him used to another new position.

At first, Turtle was none too pleased with the turn of events. After all, he had planned for a long day of napping, eating and doing baby things. This was clearly NOT on the agenda.

Then he realized that this little activity involved getting to gum toys, and having been taken from his long-standing vendetta against Mr. Yellow Elephant in the downstairs PNP, he quickly turned his attention to slobbering at Mr. Stuffed Butterfly. "I'll get you, Butterfly!" is what we believe he is saying on the inside, while shaking his tiny fist.

By the end of the five minutes, he had rediscovered his fingers and had quite forgotten what Mr. Butterfly had done to enrage him in the first place. Together, they chilled on the boppy, friends until tomorrow...

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Happy Thursday

Nothing much new to report over here. I am totally loving having Turtle off his monitor during the day - it makes it so much easier to enjoy him and spend time with him. I think he prefers it too - after all, who really wants nasty electrodes plastered on their chest day after day?

Our progress means that we have taken Turtle out of his gowns, except for nighttime. Which means that I get to dress him up in all his cute little outfits! He's still a bit small for some of his newborn things, but he's growing, so I'm sure he will catch up. We have photos with Jaime coming up in a few weeks, so I'll surely be running by Carter's to pick up something especially precious for him.

We have also been enjoying daily walks in the stroller. I'm going to have to try to work it so that DH can join us, but he's having a busy period at work, so now is not the time. I am trying to get him out to a Suns game or something this week - we both need some time out of the house with friends, and it's only fair if we take turns.

In other news, David Cook is the new American Idol, and Jason Taylor came in second on Dancing With the Stars (and is suffering major issues with the Dolphins administration because of his involvement with the show). Grey's Anatomy season finale tonight and that's about all I have on the pop culture front.

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Home Visit Today

I admit. I've been pissy about the home visit all week.

In our training, we got an earful about all the reasons that CPS could be called, and we have been absolutely OCD about documenting every single bell, whistle and alarm out of Turtle's monitor. We have a 3 ring binder with 9 pages full of info that we took down. In addition to filling out the date/# of beeps/apnea-brady stuff, I also noted all the instances where he was hiccuping, playing with his leads, crying, etc.

So not only am I feeling like the world's worst mom because we have so much info from this thing, I also almost lost it last night when the leads were placed badly and we had 5 apnea alarms in a matter of 10 minutes. All the while, Turtle is breathing away, of course, and the machine just wasn't picking them up. Mind you, we are not supposed to be worrying about apnea. We are supposed to be worrying about bradycardias. And I would like to point out that the last brady we recorded is from May 16.

The nurse got here today and totally put our minds to rest. She checked Turtle out and declared him a healthy baby. He's got great weight gain, color, etc. And she put us straight on a few things.

1. He can be off the monitor during the day unless we are out of the room (going to the bathroom, garage, upstairs for something). Based on what she pulled from the monitor, there is no reason that we should be afraid to have him off of it. Until the doctor clears us, he should be on it at night, just in case.

2. We only have to record the alarms that we think are really legit. If wires are loose, or we can see him breathing, it's not worth noting. NOW you tell us.

3. When she downloaded the info, she was able to show us the difference between legit alarms and not legit. We had a total of 165 alarms over the 10 days (it felt like 1000), and they are used to dealing with upwards of 500 in that same time period. Of those 165 alarms, only 5 were things that she tagged to send to our doctor. And none of them were in the last few days. The damn thing can get set off by things like cell phones, laptops, and even the electrical storm we had the other night. All of that can be dismissed. She could also show us that even though the alarm was ringing for apneas, you could see that he was breathing in a shallow pattern (perfectly normal for a baby).

4. CPS will definitely not be called on us.

I feel so much better. There's a lot of technical nonsense that she went into as well, but bottom line - he's growing out of this. According to the nurse, the patterns she saw are perfectly typical of a healthy, 3 week old baby, and that makes our upcoming appointment to the pediatrician so much more bearable.

And now we can enjoy Turtle a little bit more. It's nice to be able to just pick him up and snuggle him without having to watch out for wires or screwing up his leads. I am breathing so much easier now.

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The New Mommy Workout

I still have a few weeks until my 6 week follow up at the obgyn, where I should be cleared for baths, exercise, swimming pools, and, to DH's relief, hanky panky, but in the meantime, it is nice to get a little light activity in.

Turtle has been most accommodating in this pursuit. Following are two routines that are sure to help you keep in shape until you can hit the gym again. Enjoy!

The Mealtime PressUp
What you need: a chair, a dinner table, a loaded plate with utensil of your choice, a settling down baby just out of arm's reach.
How it works: As a new mom, the slightest noise from your baby is enough to make you sneak a peek. Especially if he's already been fed and changed. This works to your advantage in this exercise. Sit down and load your utensil with food. Before it reaches your mouth, listen for baby noises. If you hear something, immediately drop your fork. Use your thighs and butt muscles to press up from your chair and walk over to the baby. Note that all is well. Return to your chair and use your thigh and butt muscles to return to a sitting position. Repeat for 40 minutes or until dinner ends. The combination of getting up and down and never actually getting a full fork to your mouth is the secret.

The Bedtime Crunch
What you need: a bed, a settling down baby just out of arm's reach.
How it works: Again, when you're turning in for the night (or until the next feeding, those little baby noises will get you every time. Lay down flat on the bed, and turn up your super-sensitive-mommy-hearing. When sounds emerge from the pack-n-play/bassinet/etc, use your abdomen muscles to sit up in bed to take a peek. If all is well, again, use your abs to lower yourself back down to the mattress. If you can't tell, you can increase the intensity of this move by actually getting up from the bed (you can utilize your mealtime pressup technique here) to check on baby, and then return to the laying down position.

THE SMALL PRINT
These exercises are not approved or endorsed by Chuck Norris or any other pseudo-celebrity. They are not for sale via infomerical, ebay or other. Please consult with your doctor before embarking on any new exercise regime. These "workouts" are shared merely for my own amusement and the readability of my blog. Any injuries you may sustain from taking me seriously are due to your own lack of common sense, and probably because you did something wrong. Consider yourself warned, or Chuck Norris will be knocking on your door. :)

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Random Thoughts Day

It was a really pretty day, so I got to take the Turtle for a walk in his stroller. He has to be under a mosquito net for the time being, but I think he really enjoys the great outdoors. The fresh air put him right out and he had a great nap. Normally, he's a little fussy between his 7pm and 10pm feedings, but he seemed to sleep right through it. I hope he doesn't try to make up for it between his 10pm and 1am. And, selfishly, it was really good to get out and stretch my legs. I'm looking forward to incorporating daily walks into the schedule, and have already told DH that it's going to be great family bonding time. :)

Next up, I would like to announce that I have never done this much laundry in my entire life. I have always hated folding clothes, and the past few weeks have really cemented that fact. I totally miss mom even more- she is truly the best folder ever. Our wash and wears will never be the same.

On the plus side, we got through another day (thanks to DH for agreeing to knock off work a little early so I could catch a quick nap). We're doing pretty well, if I do say so myself. We have a good system going, and DH is really involved. He'll totally surprise me by leaving his office to do a diaper change or a feeding. I really appreciate the help and I love that he's so motivated to be such a big part of his son's life.

His dad and stepmother will be down next weekend to meet their newest grandson. We're both very excited to see them, although it's going to be a little draining. I hope DH will take them out to dinner one night or sightseeing - since Turtle is on lockdown, things can get a little ...tight around here. I have to start planning menus for their visit, too.

Finally, Dancing With the Stars: The Finale. Le sigh. Although Jason and Edyta are in last place by points, I hope the votes will carry them through. I am amazed by how fantastic he is. He was truly a treat and a half to watch tonight. Although, in all fairness, Kristy Yamaguchi is phenomenal and it's been a while since a female star won the show. I'll be tuning in tomorrow night for the the grand 2 hour results show, to cheer JT on.

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Back to baby stuff!

It wouldn't be "baby stuff" without pictures of the baby!


Auditioning for the remake of Home Alone - Macauly Culkin was never this convicing.


You know the Pooh hands are enough to melt you.


He's totally practicing raising his hand for when he starts school. He's also making his "pondering face."

Here's Turtle's monitor, just in case you were interested. It comes in a spiffy carrying case for easy travel. Don't let the small size of that speaker fool you, either. I can hear the alarm go off upstairs, in the bathroom, with the water running.

And now for the dull stuff: Things I learned this week (from Mom) that might come in handy.

1. Make everything as EASY as possible. This was fantastic advice, especially considering everything we have gone through. Before Turtle came home, Mom assessed our house and came back with the following suggestions:

a) Have a PNP upstairs in our bedroom and one downstairs where we would keep Turtle during the day. At first, I thought she was insane, but then when I built our first PNP, I realized that there was no way I would want to tote that bad boy up and down the stairs twice a day. The other benefit is that he's used to different sleeping places, so that the transition to his crib will hopefully not be too traumatic.

b) Set up changing areas on both floors. Again, I thought the nice changing area in the nursery was perfect. Turns out, we're never actually in the nursery. We got a white plastic drawer system for downstairs that we loaded up with diapers, wipes, bath supplies, burp pads, extra PNP sheets, extra gowns and receiving blankets that we keep next to the PNP. Upstairs, we hung one of those canvas storage organizers over the back of our bedroom door and stocked it the same way. That way, we're not rushing all over the house in the middle of a poop emergency, trying to get him changed. It's phenomenal.

c) We also set up a feeding area in our bedroom. We moved the big leather chair from the nursery into our room, and we bring his bottles for the night upstairs, with a bottle of water and formula. That way, when he wakes up, we are ready for him, without having to do anything more than pour and shake. In the middle of the night, this is a total lifesaver.

d) Although we're not taking him out much, we have two diaper bags totally stocked and ready to go. That way, we're not scrambling to find things when we're trying to walk out the door with Turtle. The trick is going to be remembering to restock the bags when we come home from outings, but we'll see how it goes.

2. Don't let things build up so that you find yourself getting overwhelmed. Again, this seems critical. Turtle does nap a lot, so there is time to get things done, but it seems easier to do things little by little rather than wait to do everything all at once.

a) For example, we do a baby wash every other day, after his 7am feeding. At that point, we have a few gowns, blankets, burp pads, washcloths, sheets or bathtime stuff to go in. By the afternoon, everything is dry, folded and put away where it belongs. We have enough of the basics to make it through a few days (if it's just an item or two, I'll wait), which is also a great help, but this way, we never run short of things we need for him.

b) We have an ongoing rotation of bottles on the counter. Rather than waiting to run the dishwasher, we wash the bottles, and sterilize the nipples as they are used. That way, we are never without. As soon as everything is washed and dry, I refill everything with liners, and we are ready to go. It's a great system and again, we aren't out.

We are really thrilled with how all of this has been working out for us. It's been a great few weeks of parenthood, and while we totally miss the presence of grandma, I'm glad that she was able to impart all her experience to us before she left.

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The new fence

Clearly, these photos are not going to be nearly as cute or entertaining as pics of my little munchkin, but they must be shared, in the interest of home improvement posts. We are really happy with the end result.


The sides are 6' high and transition to 4' high along the back. This ensured that our view of the water was left pretty much intact.


It's great being able to leave the french doors open to enjoy our patio with our entire family.

I know it looks like Molly is having a grand time, but she's on to us, and is making a run for the back door. She doesn't like to fuss around out there. She'll go to the bathroom and then come right back. She clearly believes that the boys should be the ones stuck outside, not her.

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Sad today

Mom is leaving tomorrow.

I know this sounds like me being a whiny baby, but I don't want her to go. I realize she had her husband to go home to, but dammit! Why can't she stay???

DH is sleeping so Mom is making me french toast from our panera cinammon raisin bread (god help my arteries and my thighs), and she is going to treat me to lunch today at Caddyshack - we haven't really gotten to spend any time together, and so we are going to leave DH watching Turtle. He'll do ok - if the dogs act up, they just get put out in the yard, which they adore.

I'm letting him sleep in - I really think he was hoping I would take the 7am feeding, but no such luck. I was wiped out from the 4am. Turtle likes to sit up a bit after he eats now, so I'm reading aloud to him from Running With Scissors. If anything, he'll have a colorful vocabulary. :)

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Turtle's Memory Book

We are definitely making progress in Turtle's first memory book. I'm able to get a few pages done between his naps, which is nice.

Our St. Augustine Babymoon

Our last little vacation before Turtle's big debut. I used

three different styles of Making Memories paper (it came in a package from Target, but I forget the name) with a vellum sentiment from Deja Views, with coordinating flowers, held in place by bronze brads.

Welcome to the World

Of course, the most important day of our lives had to be commemorated by a perfect page. Black and white gradiated stripes with two shades of violet frames around the photos and black and white buttons in heart, flower and regular shapes.

Yes, he will hate us for that photo. Yes, we are ok with it. :)

Proud Dad

Because he is. :) This is another Making Memories 5th Avenue layout, with Doodlebug cardstock letter stickers. It's hard to see but I trimmed the wide edge to the right of the photos with button shaped brads for additional texture. DH could not have been happier at this moment.

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Fantastic Day!

This morning, Mom and I got up early to take Turtle to the hospital for his PKU screening. I totally passed the diaper bag packing test, as well as the carseat and stroller test. So we parked and were walking in and who should we run into but my birthing nurse! I was so happy - I had written her out a card and sent her a photo of our family with an update and our email address so she could keep in touch. She was thrilled to see us and delighted to see that Turtle was doing well. It was awesome to see her.

Turtle did great for his test - he only cried for a second. Poor thing has had so many needles in the past few weeks that nothing seems to phase him.

Never underestimate the lure of the Poky Little Puppy

When we got home, our fence was totally halfway done. By 4:30 today, we had a completely enclosed yard! Yay!!! Tomorrow afternoon, DH is going to go out and clean the back patio so we can grill out on Saturday. Exciting stuff!

Oh, and the dogs LOVE it. They are totally tuckered out right now, which is EXACTLY the point. :P

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