Photo Updates

Now that I have my computer back, I can start updating pictures from the last few weeks. Enjoy!



On the road: Turtle's first trip to Wendy's. Look at how he has his eye on my nuggets. Watch it, buddy. None for you.




Hanging out in his bouncy seat in the hotel room. A baby could get used to this travel thing.





At the pool with Daddy and Aunt H.





At the pool with Mommy and Daddy. Turtle is the random arm.





Grandma and PopPop at his 75th birthday party. So sweet.


Three generations: Turtle, Daddy and PopPop


The CaneWife family.


PopPop's special gift from his family: bowling stuff, including a customized vintage bowling shirt. He loved it.


99% of DH's family


Turtle's new babysitters. They really take "holding the head" very seriously.

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Happy 3-Month Birthday, Turtle!

Someone is such a big boy!



I called Dr. V this morning to discuss his eating. The soy seems to be working well for him, but he's not satisfied. Where he once was sleeping 6-7 hours (especially at night), he is now back to 4-5, and he's waking up HUNGRY. Like "give me my bottle NOW, lady" kind of hungry.



So we talked about starting cereal. She pointed out that they like to wait til 4 months, especially in premie cases because that's when most babies have the necessary head and neck control, and also, there is an allergy concern for starting too soon. However, she also pointed out that some 1 month old babies with reflux are on cereal to help with their issues, so it's really case by case. We decided to go ahead and give it a shot.



I ran to the store to get the necessary supplies (infant spoons and cereal) and we decided that his 11:30 feeding would be the best time to start, just in case it didn't agree with him. He was ravenous and so we got off to a bad start - he wanted nothing to do with the spoon or the cereal, so we gave him a few ounces of his regular bottle and then tried again.





He. Loved. It.





It took a minute for him to get the hang of the spoon - he didn't like that I took it away to get more cereal - and then he was opening up his mouth and licking away. It wasn't even as messy as I expected. He did great at swallowing. He got through about 1 oz of cereal and 5 oz of straight formula, and now he's sleeping away. We'll give a little more before bedtime to see how he does through the night.





PS - Regarding my big news. I am not pregnant. The factory is closed, and production has ceased.

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Still no computer

So no pics. But that's ok. I press onward.

It's been a LOOOOOONG week. Turtle has been an absolute wreck. Which means that I have been an absolute wreck. I have been unable to even put him down for the most part and that's just not fun. Even on the soy, the gas has been wretched, and he was waking up from naps, squealing with pain. Heartbreaking. He's been sleeping through the night and then last night... every four hours, wide awake, ravenous and hollering.

Today, I increased his bottles to 7oz and we ran our errands. We did serious damage at Babies R Us and Carter's (Turtle needs winter clothes and some more thing for the 3-6 and 6-9 month range) and I got some more fondant cutters and icing color paste at Michael's. We had lunch at Chili's and then I attempted to get a quick nap before our night out.

Not. Happening.

First, Turtle wouldn't settle down, so I brought him downstairs. Then Oscar got upset and watned to go out, so I had to bring him down an dout. Then Molly got irritated so she had to be let out of the room. Finally, I just threw myself in the shower and decided to hope for the best.

And that's when it happened. He pooped. Poor kid was constipated! So he went once for me, and then another huge blowout for his daddy after his bottle. He's been pretty much sleeping ever since.

He slept in the car to the restaurant, slept through dinner at Buca di Beppo, slept on the way home, slept through my baking frenzy and my floor cleaning. And he's so content.

I'm waiting for DH to get home from the Suns game. He's been sending me "amorous" text messages from the game, but really, all I want to read is "Hey honey, when I get home, ur off duty til Mon". There's still time. I'm glad he got out with the guys. It's good for him to enjoy that time.

I'm going to be announcing some news in the next two weeks. I'm pretty excited about it and I'm bursting to share it, but I want it to be complete before I do.

So now, I wait. I'm watching 21 (and will watch it again tomorrow with DH) and waiting for the baby to show his beautiful blue eyes. :) It's a good night.

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Home at last

It is good to be home. Really, really good.

I'm not going to have photo updates for a little while because of a hard drive problem but I promise there will be many when I'm back up and running.

Turtle was a true gem this weekend. With all the new people, the new environment, the long drive, etc., it really could have gone either way. And with the new gas problem he's been having, he really could have been "challenging." But he was an angel (at least in front of everyone). Everyone commented on how well behaved he was and how calm I am for a first-time mother. That meant a lot to me.

Basically, it was a family weekend, in every sense of the word. There was gossip, talking behind each other's backs, drama, the whole nine yards. I tried to ignore as much as I could. I had my own things to focus on and it wasn't worth it to get involved. Plus, I just tend to get angry with everyone, so I bit my tongue and let it be.

Dad had a great time. The party was super nice. It was in the clubhouse of his community and was a little reminiscent of a gymnasium dance, but that's ok. D had it catered and had a singer/keyboard player and all their friends were dancing and having a grand ol' time. We gave him bowling stuff: shoes, a ball, a bag and a vintage custom bowling shirt with the name of his team on the back. It was great.

It took a long time to get home on Monday. We left much later than I would have liked, and DH wanted to stop at the cemetary to visit his mom. Turtle was a mess the whole way home. I know DH wanted to spend more time at the gravesite, but I couldn't calm Turtle and it was hot without any shade for him, so he had to be quick. Also, we lost GPS signal in the middle of some podunk hick town somewhere and for about 30 minutes, I was pretty convinced that we were going to die in the midst of a cornfield. Since I am typing this, you can rest assured that we survived.

However, the good news on Monday is that Turtle finally got to sleep in his crib. He's been in a pack-n-play in our room, but he's getting too heavy for the bassinet setting, and I was getting concerned that the mattress was going to buckle in the middle of the night. When we finally got home and got the pugs, DH and I attempted to move the crib into our room. Of course, it was too big to fit through the nursery door so we had to take the front off AND remove the door. Fantastic. It was worth it in the end when we settled him in it. He gave us a big smile, wriggled around a second and went right to sleep. He's spent two nights in there and he's doing wonderfully.

Today, the pediatrician put him on soy formula. We're also using the fennel tea again because it seems to help relax him and hopefully, things will start moving along nicely again. I feel so badly - on Monday night he was screaming so badly that I just burst inito tears. DH found us both crying and useless and had to totally take over. Oh, well. I guess it happens.

In a few minutes, I'm going to hop in the shower, so I can go to the movies. DH is going to babysit, and it will be nice to get away.

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First Trip Tomorrow

I hope to God we're ready.

So far, Turtle has one suitcase (packed to almost unzippable), a big shopping bag of diapers/wipes/bottle liners and a smaller shopping bag of bottles and formula. This does not include his PNP, stroller, carseat, bouncer, sling and baby bjorn. Oh, and mommy and daddy, of course.

Tomorrow fills me with dread. DH's family is very... unstructured. Today, everyone made the round of phone calls asking who had made dinner plans for tomorrow. DH looked to me for help. I was like really? Where the hell are you going to take 20 people on a Saturday night? He now has it in his head that we can all joyfully order pizza out by the Holiday Inn pool. Swell. I told him he better have a rain plan.

I'm just sort of dreading the family drama. DH's sister is a lunatic, and she's gotten worse since I've known him. Since Turtle was born, she has neither congratulated us nor asked about his health, and yet she calls DH regularly to bitch and moan how no one cares about her. Um, it works both ways, psycho. Oh, and ps, if you lie about having cancer and use other people's weddings as your time to spew hateful things about your husband, people are probably going to care about you a little less. Right now, she's mad because DH won't pick her up from the airport at midnight tomorrow. He doesn't want to leave me without the car on the off-chance that something happens with the baby. And also, he didn't like the fact that she basically demanded a ride after not taking his calls for 6 months.

It's going to be super interesting.

Other than that, today was good. Wednesday and Thursday -not so much. I couldn't do right by Turtle, no matter what. He just cried and cried and was gassy and fussy and no amount of cuddling, soothing or leaving him alone would calm him. It broke my heart. I was so relieved this morning when I woke up - the monitor was going off (an equipment alarm) and I peeked into his PNP to see that he had completely wormed his way out of his swaddle and his blanket to get up on his side with both hands half in his mouth. And then he just looked over at me and gave the biggest grin. Makes it all better. :P

Don't know how much I'll be able to update this weekend - hopefully all goes well!

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Our Trip is Set

We are going to NJ in September to see my mom and to go to the Yankees game!!!!!!!!!

I am so beyond excited! It will be a great time of year, and I'm hoping we will be able to take Turtle to Manhattan too! We'll see - no matter what, its going to be great. The Yankees will play the Rays and it will be an afternoon, so it's perfect. Mom is happy to watch Turtle, but I didn't want her to have to deal with bedtime and the monitor - it's not like Yankee Stadium is a quick 20 minute drive if there's an equipment issue.

Not much else to report - I'm a little frustrated with a few things, but am trying to work that out. I attribute it to not feeling so well, but I'm working on getting over it. Hopefully, I will be better before we hit the road on Saturday. It's a long drive to not be 100%.

That's about it. I'm getting my hair cut tomorrow - I'm really thinking about going drastic, so we'll see how I feel at the salon. Either way, there will be pics!

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Family Visit and Upcoming Trip

I have been on the go since 5.

DH's brothers, their wives, and combined six children were supposed to be here at 9am to see the house and the baby on their way to Disney. DH took Turtle to pick up Panera, and I made little mini quiches for breakfast. And then we waited. And waited. And waited. And then DH decided we didn't have enough food, so he ran to Publix and then we waited some more. At 10:30, they descended upon our house, devoured breakfast and raved over the baby. Turtle was on his very best behavior and enjoyed his time with his cousins.

We will be seeing everyone again on Saturday.

Tonight, DH mentioned to me taking a drive to NJ to see Mom and Dad. I guess the All-Star game inspired him, because he had talked to Dad about us all going to a game in the old Yankees Stadium, and Dad said to come up anytime. I would LOVE to do it. I've only been to one home Yankees game and it would be great to go in the final season. I'll have to further discuss with Mom to see what she says.

And that's about it. One day closer to my big hair cutting adventure, and one day closer to our first overnight trip with Turtle.

Oh, and now that I can do pics again, here are the announcements that J made for me! I dropped in a different pic for copyright purposes and removed names for privacy, but how cute are they??? Check out her store for more of her gorgeous designs.

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Another whirlwind day

Molly, Bentley and I are all snuggled up in bed, while, the best baby ever is snoozing away in his pack-n-play next to us. DH and Oscar are downstairs watching TV, which is fine, because B has taken DH's pillow.

I have to be up super early tomorrow - we are expecting ten breakfast guests (four adults and six children) by 9am. Ugh. It was supposed to be just six, but we found out about the other four today. It's two of my BILs, their wives and children. They are caravaning down to Disney and want to stop to see the new house and the baby on their way.

While it's sweet that they're coming, I really wish it was more around lunchtime. I hope DH is in a helpful mood in the morning.

We also had a long talk about a guardian for Turtle. DH would like it to be one of his brothers. I would like it to be my mom or Nicolas Cage. But, seriously - my mom is the only person I would be ok leaving Turtle with. His brother already has 4 kids, and while they have the finances for a fifth, I don't necessarily agree with their childrearing philosophy. I have to talk to my mom about it, and I hope she says yes.

Also, my friend J dropped off the baby announcements tonight. I can't post pics tonight, so I will post the sample tomorrow. She is amazingly talented and her work is gorgeous. Thanks, J! I can't wait to get them all sent out!

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My bargains

I confess: I'm not a sale shopper. If I see something I like and it happens to be on sale, super. But I just never go out of my way to FIND the sales. I hate shopping, I don't have the patience, and I'm pretty good at not being impulsive.



DH has gotten very into coupons and sales, and I'm trying to be a good sport. I mean, saving money is saving money, but I don't see the point of buying things we don't use, just because we have a coupon, and if we need something, well, I'm just going to go ahead and get it, regardless of the presence of a coupon. We're finding our balance.



Today, he wanted me to go to the mall with him (yuck). He needed to pick up his contacts and also wanted to look for a onesie for Turtle. I would have been thrilled just laying on the couch, but I humored him. For whatever reason, he was in a wandery mood, so we wandered right into Children's Place and Baby Gap. Now, I admit, BG is pricey. They have some adorable things, but even I can see that spending $24.99 on a 3-6month outfit is silly. Turtle has actually been getting great wear out of his clothes and he usually only wears one outfit a day (he doesn't spit up a lot), but still. I have found equally cute things at the Carter's outlet for less than half the price. I restrained myself.

But CP was a different story. They had TONS of cute things, and I was oohing and aahing, but trying to be good, when suddenly, I saw the cutest brown plaid bucket hat. I have been looking for infant bucket hats EVERYWHERE, and I haven't had any luck. This was cute! And in his size! And marked down from $5.50 to $3.50! Wheee! DH really didn't comprehend what a find this was, but oh well.




So we get to the register and the cashier says "Did you see the overalls that go with it?" Obviously, this woman could tell an overall sucker when she saw one. So I looked meaningfully at DH, and he was like, oh fine, go look. They had one pair left, in 6-9mo! Score! They were $14.99 marked down to $9 and change. We escaped under $13! See, DH??? I can do it!!!



Then, somehow, I was able to lure him into the home decor store. They were having a huge sale, and we were checking out outdoor benches and I found a box of those decorative balls in greens and whites. Usually, those things go from $25-30, which is why I haven't actively been seeking them, but these were on clearance for $9. And they would be perfect in a glass bowl I had for the kitchen table. DH fussed a little, but got them, and now I sort of feel like the kitchen is complete for real.






And that was about it for today. On our way home, we saw a big ol' turtle crossing the street, but he got to the other side before we could get to it (Turtles can haul ass. Anyone that says differently is lying).

Finally, our little one had a great day. More smiling and general merriment. And he slept for seven hours yesterday - he ate at 4pm and didn't wake up for his next bottle til almost midnight! Too bad it wasn't midnight to seven, but hey, he's getting there.

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Bacon and Beef and Green Thumbs, oh my!

When we were in Target yesterday, I found these adorable wrist rattles in the shape of a pig head and a cow head. I figured it would be super amusing (for me) to put them on Turtle. Well, he loves them. And he sucks on them and licks them, so we have named them Bacon and Beef. It's hysterical.

But let's start from the beginning.

We got up early to go to the Farmer's Market at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre. It wasn't huge at all, but we got some beautiful long beans, green tomatoes, an avocado for guacamole, garlic-stuffed olives for our antipas tray for dinner and, surprisingly, a great gift for my Mom for Christmas.

Turtle was less than thrilled in the car, but he was great wandering around the booths in his stroller.

From there, it was off to breakfast and then Home Depot. DH decided that he wants to grow his own tomatoes. This turned into a marathon shopping trip where he got not only tomato plants, but seeds for green beans, basil, oregano and curly leaf parsley, a gorgeous pink and yellow hibiscus plant for me AND a replacement curtain rod for the kitchen.

Depsite the rain, he got to work, and before long, our back patio had been transformed into his own personal garden.

(From left to right: basil & parsley, two troughs of green beans, oregano)

(tomato plant hanging, herbs moved to table)

While he was working on that, I attacked the kitchen window situation. I had bought a rod a while back and hung it, but because of oddly placed studs in the wall, I could not get a middle bracket in and the thin rod had a horrible sway in the middle. I. Hated. It. Every day I saw it, it would annoy me. Even worse, I could not find a rod to replace it and had kind of given up hope. Well, finally, I found one in Home Depot that wasn't perfect, but would be faaarrrr better than what was there. Due to different bracket sizes, I was able to get this one in the middle and as you can see in the picture, we have a straight rod! Yay!

This morning, I attempted to help by moving our hibiscus to the front porch. I got some great photos of it and the flowering tree outside. I think the front of our house is really coming along (And we are clearly ready for football season!).

Finally, I went around back to water all the plants, and that's when it happened. The reason I hate nature and hate gardening: I was attacked. As I was innocently pouring water from my can into one of the umbrella plants, I realized the can felt heavier rather than lighter. I looked down, and found this horrendous thing staring back at me.

Of course, I shrieked and bolted inside to safety. DH was amazed at how I can methodically and coldly assassinate spiders the size of small children, but how a tree frog can send me screaming. ::Shudders:: I bet that thing has fangs. That's as close as I was willing to get for the sake of the photo, and he hopped off somewhere, but I'm not looking forward to future meetings.

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TGIF

I have NO idea what I'm doing up, since we are leaving for the farmer's market at 8am, but I just can't sleep.

I took advantage of Turtle's nap in his swing to really scrub down the house. Somehow, insanity struck and I got down on my hands and knees to clean the baseboards. They look gorgeous, so I'll have to make a point to do them more often. I was also able to get a nice phone conversation in with K and finish baking the cookies for my Rocky Road Ice Cream Sandwiches.

Tomorrow, I have a huge day of cooking and finishing cleaning. I'm looking forward to it.

DH and I had a looooong talk about parenting tonight. For whatever reason, he is obsessed with Turtle's napping schedule. Turtle is not a daytime napper. After his bottles, I keep him up for an hour or two to play, either on me or on his mat/in his boucer/swing. When he's ready for a nap, I will put him in my sling, where he will sleep deeply and comfortably for hours. Sometimes, if he seems super-tired, I will put him in the PNP, but normally that wakes him right up, so why bother?

DH has got it in his head that a) Turtle is not napping and b) sleeping in the sling is going to be detrimental to getting him to sleep at night. Um. Yeah. I'm not sure where he's been, but Turtle ROCKS at going down at night. Every night, he eats his bottle, gets changed into his gown, and then he sits on me or in the sling to settle down, and then I put him in the PNP in our room. I attach his monitor, swaddle his legs, put the blanket on, turn on his nature sounds, give him a kiss and within 10 minutes (which are 10 minutes of stretching, adjusting, etc, NOT crying), he is sound asleep until his next bottle. No rocking, no holding, no nothing. Sometimes, if he's fussy, I'll have to give him his paci a few times, but that's maybe once a week. Personally, I think he's perfect at going to sleep at night.

So after our conversation, DH sees that everything is fine and there is NO reason for him to insist on "traditional" naps during the day. And that the sling isn't having a negative effect on anything. I have to admit, I think he's a bit jealous of the sling. He's been trying the Baby Bjorn, but Turtle isn't in love with it - I think because he prefers to be more secure and in that, his legs dangle. DH also wants a universal answer to how to calm Turtle when he cries.

::blink blink::

IF I KNEW THAT, DO YOU KNOW HOW RICH I WOULD BE???? HOW MUCH PEOPLE WOULD PAY TO HAVE THAT CRUCIAL PIECE OF CHILDREARING INFORMATION???

I had to explain to him that when he was fussy today, I picked him up and sang along with Hairspray on TV, and danced, mind you, making a complete idiot out of myself. To calm him down for bed tonight, I just bounced gently along with the Riverdance CD, until he went to sleep. Sometimes, I shush; sometimes I swaddles; sometimes I put him in his stroller and take him for a walk. It's always different. He didn't like that - but I think he understands that there's no one way.

Oh, and by the way, if you would like the Secret to Calming Your Hysterical Baby, please send $599.99 in cash to CaneWife, 123 Main Street, Anywhere, FL, 111one1. Your very own Secret will be mailed to you in 6-8 weeks. Mention this blog for a 2% discount. Get Yours Today! :)

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Smiley Day

After two days of waking up in the middle of the night, Turtle finally got back on track and slept 6 hours last night. Yay.

I've been having some mini-meltdowns (I'm tired, I need a nap, I want to eat dinner sitting down for a change), so the uninterrupted sleep was a huge relief. Turtle still fights naptime during the day, but I play with him and then put him in the sling, where he sleeps super deeply. He won't even wake up around when he should be hungry. It's the darndest thing.

Today, I made an appointment to get my hair done. I haven't done a thing with it since Turtle was born and I'm disgusted. Even though I'm home, I make an effort to put on real clothes every day, and do my makeup, but I have never been great at doing my hair. I'm sort of thinking of cutting it short and doing some fun and funky colors. I was watching What Not To Wear, and they did this super cute cut on this girl and the stylist called it "damage-proof." I need that!

Of course, DH laughed at me and said "that's what moms do! Cut all their hair off!" Ugh, I don't want mom hair. I just don't have time to blow out and flat iron. Even on a good day, it doesn't happen.

Turtle was in a fantastic mood today. We had so much fun playing with him. He just kept smiling and laughing and grinning. It was hilarious. I sat with him for about an hour before I realized that the camcorder was sitting right there and we weren't getting anything (I TOLD DH we would never use the damn thing). I had him bring me the camera, but I was at a weird angle, leaning back on the couch with Turtle propped up with his back on my upper thighs, so I didn't get anything cute. I can't wait to see the video when he downloads it.

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So ready for bed

I don't know how it happens, but it seems like the more tired I am, the more I manage to get done around the house. It's crazy.



Today, I mopped the kitchen, did two loads of laundry, unloaded the dishwasher, gave Turtle a bath, and made dessert and a marinade for dinner, all before 11.



DH asked for my help with getting fax numbers for a new business venture he's working on, expecting that would keep me busy for a few days. Ha! By 6:30, he had a neat excel spreadsheet of the info he requested.



Bathtime is going better. In fact, we even got a little smile out of Turtle today. He has a bit of cradle cap, so I treated it with olive oil and covered that with a hat and left him to play on his boppy before his bath. He didn't seem to care too much, which is good, because I kind of felt guilty putting food products on him. However, my mom swears it's 100 times better than baby oil, and the pedi didn't have a problem with it, so olive oil it is.






I'm trying to give him more Tummy Time. He's been a bit clingy lately, so I'm taking advantage of his recent good moods to work on his back muscles. Sometimes, he adores it. Sometimes, he falls dead asleep. Too funny.










And of course, he got some wonderful snuggle time with Daddy today. Sooo cute. :)

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Doctor Update: Again

DH called the pulmonologist today to see what she had made of Turtle's monitor reports. As with everything, there is good news and bad news.

The bad news? Turtle will stay on the monitor another month or two as a precautionary measure. The doctor told us that since they book really quickly, we could go ahead and schedule an appointment for September. She will keep a close eye on the reports as they come in every two weeks and if things improve, we can cancel the appointment.

The good news is that she is not at all concerned. She determined that Turtle was having an average of 1-2 bradycardias a day but they all came during deep sleep, he self-corrected all of them and his breathing was never affected. Even though it was alarming to us, she doesn't see anything to worry about and still feels it's something he will grow out of.

To prove her point, since the last reading (Wednesday of last week), he has only had one brady alarm, so he's already beating last time's "average." We have our fingers crossed that his streak continues.

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Tennis and Thunderstorms

Of course, DH had to watch the finals of Wimbledon today (sigh). And I'm sure, as you may have expected, he and I root for different players: he's a huge Federer fan, and I root for everyone who plays against Federer. But seriously, if I HAVE to watch, I do like Nadal.



I really don't enjoy tennis on tv, but he does, and since I used to work in the field, he seems to assume that I'd like nothing more than to spend my entire Sunday following the match. Whatever. It took forever because of rain delays, and then we had a vicious storm here, so the satellite was out. As soon as things cleared up, we were able to see the results. And Rafa had FINALLY schooled Roger, winning his first Wimbledon title. Hallelujah!

But, here are the boys, engrossed in the action on TV.





This afternoon, DH attempted to give me a break by taking Turtle out for a drive so I could get a nap with the pugs. That was a great idea, except for the second I got everyone up in bed and settled, a horrible thunderstorm started. Molly took everything in stride, but Oscar flippedo ut and Bentley attempted to climb up my armpit. Needless to say, there was no nap, and I was terrified for DH and DS. I was scared to even call him because I didn't want him distracted by the phone. So I just had to wait and pray he got home safely. He did, of course, but that didn't stop me from running out there and whisking Turtle out of the carseat and back into the house to snuggle.

Finally, Turtle got to try out his baby Bjorn for the first time. As you can see, he was quite bored by the whole experience. But at least DH can give me a break when Turtle is in his "hold me" moods. :)

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Accomplished so much!

First and foremost, Turtle's 4th of July outfit. I forgot to post this yesterday.



Now....Even I was amazed at what I knocked out today.



I admit, I was a little bitter that I couldn't sleep in - Turtle was up at 6 and raring to go - but I held it together, in hopes of a nap later on. DH thought he was going to luck out and get to sleep in when I left our room, but Oscar took care of that.



While DH hit the couch, I mopped the kitchen and main rooms, emptied all the coolers, did two loads of laundry, returned all the chairs to the back patio and respooled the hose. All before 10am. Way to go, me. He still has to clean out the rest of the garage, but I knew he wouldn't do it today.



We gave Turtle his first real bath today (non-sponge). It started with a smile and ended with a whimper, but that's ok. As soon as I put the camera down, the smile came back, so he was just playing, silly boy. It's a little more difficult than the sponge bath, but we'll be pros in no time. :)





DH took a few pictures of me and Turtle outside. He was mad because I made him wear a hat. Too bad he looked so damn cute. I have every intention of torturing him again in the near future.





This is how he responds to my intentions to irritate him with hats:





We had lunch at Cheesecake Factory and then went to Target - my fryer was damaged so we had to exchange it. We got some frames for our bedroom (I'm enlarging some b/w photos of our family and using gallery frames to display them on the empty wall of our room) and National Treasure 2, which we watched tonight. It wasn't as good as the first one, but I loved it anyway.

Today's bad news? My favorite memory block fell off the wall and shattered. I had a beautiful grouping of 9, and now I'm down one. I'm going to have to take them all down, spackle and rehang. I love my memory blocks, and I'm so sad to have lost one like that. Here's some examples of how they look so you can get the idea. Ugh.

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My new toy!

In prepping for our party, DH did a Target run and came home with this:


I had mentioned wanting a fryer the other night when we were having a potato wrapped shrimp appetizer at dinner. I had no idea that he processed that info into actually getting me one. But wheeee!!! It also steams and boils - I'm sure you can see the boast on the left - it holds 16 ears of corn! This will make my southern fried chicken easy as anything, and I am so excited that I get to try to fry my own spinach (if you haven't had, it's amazing).

He also said that he was looking at getting me an ice cream maker, but is holding off until I decide if I really want it.

I also decided that I was really bored with our bedroom. We're done with major home improvements for the year (boo), so new bedding is out for now, but I realized we still had our bedding from the townhouse. I flipped our mattress, washed everything, and voila! New room! I love it. I really always loved this pattern but wanted to try something different for the new house. I guess if it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?

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Happy 4th of July!

Turtle's first 4th of July was great.






Last night, we went with our neighbors and their daughter to dinner at the Shellfish House before heading over to the fireworks at World Golf Village. Dinner was surprisingly decent (I was always skeptical because it's right behind a gas station). The only weird thing was that they had a rather awkward magiican, but it was all in good fun.

The fireworks were really pretty. We ended up having to park in the field across the street, but it worked out better. Next year, we'll pack a cooler and do a little 4th of July tailgate. It'll be great. Turtle did great. He slept all through the noise, and I was so proud of him. He had his last bottle at midnight and slept til 6:30! It's great. A little hard to get used to, but great.



Today, we hosted a block party. DH really wanted to do something to get to meet the neighbors a little more, and so this was his event. There were 3 times as many people as I expected, and it was pretty much a success. I was busy with Turtle and the dogs so I missed a bit of it, and I kind of wish DH hadn't bought quite so many fireworks, but what can you do. It was his shindig, and therefore, his brand of entertainment.



I did a ton of baking today. I had DH take this picture so you can see how we do things in my kitchen these days. Turtle just hangs out with me, and I tell him all about the foods I am making. Sometimes, he sits up and listens, and sometimes, he just does what he's doing in this picture: snoozes.





And here's Bentley. If he was just an inch taller, he could reach the top of the table, but for now, he will just have to settle with being able to see what's up there. This picture was too cute to resist.







DH wants to get some pictures of me with Turtle tomorrow. Apparently, we have very few, because I'm always the one taking pictures. Hopefully, we get some nice ones. :)

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Yeah.

The nurse came to download the monitor today. We had 90-some odd alarms and 20 braydcardiac espisodes that need to be reported since June 5.

Not. Good.

I'm pretty devastated by this. After all, at our pulmonology appointment, the doctor was so confident that we would just be using the monitor for another month, just to be sure. Now, I have no idea where we're at. I'm trying to stay positive - after all, the doctor could look at the episodes and decide they are not a concern. However, it could be indicative of a deeper problem or of the hole in his heart not closing properly.

And so, once again, we wait.

I'm the worst at waiting.

I'm also pretty sure that Turtle picked up on my mood today - he was a fussy mcfussersons all day. He just wanted to be held - none of his toys were doing it for him at all. I tried to take a picture of him in his cute outfit and this is what I got:

He did cooperate a little later for this shot.

DH insisted I go use the gift certificate for a manicure/pedicure that he gave me for Mother's Day. I've been promising that I would go, but I never made an appointment. He kept bugging me until I called. I usually do browns, but decided to try to be summery with pinks. I don't know what I think - it's a little more girly than I'm used to. The foot and hand massages were pretty heavenly though.

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Some photo updates & big brag

I know. I've been slacking on the photo posts. Boo to me.

But get this. Turtle slept for SIX WHOLE HOURS last night. From 10:00 to 4:15. He had a big ol' 7 oz bottle at 10, and I don't know if it was a side-effect of his shots, or what, but there was not a peep out of that child. Of course, we didn't get to take advantage because we kept waking up to check on him - god help the parent who is not prepared with his bottle when he comes to. He might have gone longer, but silly me, I got all neurotic about how he would be when he woke up. Note to self: don't wake up the sleeping baby.

The end result - he was in a FABULOUS mood today. He was super un-fussy when he woke up at 7:45, enjoyed his 8am bottle, and was giggling through his whole bath. I needed a few minutes to clean up, and tried putting him in his swing (which he has hated the last week), just to see if I could get the time. He watched his mobile for a minute and the next thing I knew, he was sound asleep.

Apparently, good deep sleep = happy Turtle. Praying that tonight is more of the same. :)

And now, without further ado, some pictures. Enjoy!

He learned the tongue thing from his pug brother.

Well, hello, Mr. Monkey.

Out (literally) & about in St. Augustine

My hand! Nom nom nom!

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