Holy S#!% It Fits!

Ok, this blog is totally about me. I have been losing weight like crazy. Thank you God for that! I got so incredibly fat between getting married and getting pregnant, I think I put on about 32 pounds between the two. Well, after giving birth to Andrina I lost 14 of the 21 pounds I gained during the pregnancy. Actually, gaining only 21 pounds while pregnant is very good. Although it does not matter much when you were already really fat before getting pregnant. So anyways, since January of this year I have lost, drum roll please... 32 pounds! And yesterday I was thinking about how I would like to wear this one black skirt I have for Andrina's baptism next month. But it's a size 10 and I was probably a size 18 in January. So I reluctantly tried the skirt on tonight and it actually fits! And it comfortably fits, it's not too tight. I am so happy. I'll be even happier if I ever get back down to a size 6 again. Or maybe even, glup, a size 4! (Yes, in our extremely superficial and materialistic culture a size 4 is considered "fat" by the dippy 20 somethings. But I'm more realistic and besides, I have the body of a real woman, meaning I have actual breasts and hips!). Gee... I wonder how much more I'd have to lose to get down to a size 4... Well, I'm going to try to lose at least another 32 pounds. Good luck to me!

Cutting Her 2nd Tooth

Who would ever think that baby teeth could be so cute? Of course, when it's your baby, everything is cute! Even the 2nd tooth that's coming in! Yep, I saw it today when Andrina and I played "upside down baby" (she just loves physical play). There it was, the top right center tooth, sticking out a tiny bit further, I think, than her bottom one that's kiddy corner. And the ones next to the two that have already cut through look like they are about to cut through the gum any second now. She may go from having no teeth to having four teeth in no time!

Cutting Her 1st Tooth

Tom noticed this afternoon that Andrina's first tooth has started to cut through the gum! It's a bottom center tooth (now I'm forgetting what its anatomical name is... and I got an "A" in undergrad Anatomy & Physiology too.... how embarrassing). There's about a whole millimeter of tooth visible. We were both putting our fingers in her mouth feeling her tooth and Andrina did not seem to mind too much, since we dipped our fingers in strawberry shake before doing it. But she won't let us really move her lip and look at it. It has just started to come through (it was not there on Saturday when I looked). Congrats on your first tooth Baby!

Shape Sorting Smart Baby! And 2 blogs for 1

Andrina has started to play with her block shape sorter set the way it's designed to. She always takes the yellow lid off the bucket but tonight she did that then started putting the shapes in their holes too. If you look closely at this picture, you can see that there is a blue circle in the circle shaped hole. Andrina did that all by herself! I'm so proud of her!

Also, her cognitive development is really starting to take off I think. We play peek-a-boo with the traditional words and I also will sometimes say to her "where's Andrina"? When she's paying attention to something else. She'll recognize her name, look at me and laugh and then I'll say, "there she is!" and she'll laugh some more. Well, this morning while I was changing her diaper, there was a burp cloth next to her head on the changing table and she grabbed it and pulled it up covering her face. So I said, "where's Andrina?" and she then uncovered her face with such giggles so I exclaimed "there she is"! And she giggled more! She completely understood the game we were playing. It was amazing! We played this game for about 5 minutes and I got the video camera and got some of it recorded. It was so cute!

Pushing Up

Andrina has pulled up in her crib, on the couch, and on Tom and I. Another interesting thing she is doing is pushing up off of her toys. Here's some of that from today.

From this morning (notice she's still in her jammies)

And from tonight
Ok, Andrina's face is not visible in either of these pictures, but I promise, that's her!

Original Johnson's

I always thought I would use fancy, expensive baby bath products. And I have bought and used some. My sister April bought me Burt's Bees baby shampoo as one of many shower gifts from her. I used it when Andrina was a newborn and it was a great baby shampoo. I really did love it. I was going to buy some more of it several months ago but I noticed it was $8 a bottle! That was really expensive and I didn't have a coupon for it (p.s., wow, April, I'm impressed!). So I decided that if I ever get a coupon for it, I'll buy it again but alas, I have not come across a coupon for it.

Then I had some samples of DHC baby products. They were ok but I'm not overly impressed with them. I probably won't buy those.

The last fancy or expensive baby products I used were Aveeno Baby. I think I got them in February. They were on clearance at Target in a gift set, and I had a coupon. So I got a bottle of baby shampoo, lotion, diaper rash cream, and a washcloth for about $11 with the clearance price and the coupon. They were pretty nice and I used up the shampoo already and I have used the lotion. It was great on Andrina's poor winter-dry skin. It really helped clear up the redness so I will save the rest of the lotion for next winter for her.

I have used the Bedtime Bath and Bedtime lotion by Johnson & Johnson. They do smell really nice with a lavender scent to them and I'll probably buy more of those too someday.

But the baby products I'm really liking are the original Johnson & Johnson products. I had a coupon for $2 off any Johnson's gift set and several others for $1 off each. Those ones are in the Sunday paper all the time. So I was able to use $4 worth of coupons for one gift set that had a lot of stuff in it. Well, I'm loving how Andrina's hair smells after I wash it with their original baby shampoo. And I love how her skin and my hands smell after I massage their original baby lotion on her. I'm sure it has a lot to do with how those products just make her (and my hands) smell like a baby. Like that newborn baby smell that now she's an older baby she just does not have anymore. So, long story short, I love the way she smells like a new baby after bath and massage time now. So I think I'll stick with the original Johnson's baby products for awhile.

Happy 10 Month Birthday!

To my little go-getter!

For the records, you are 18 lbs, 7 ozs (31st percentile) and 27 and 3/4 inches (48th percentile).
I love you Andrina! Happy 10 months!

Love,

Mommy

Call Me Martha. Or Bree.

I've blogged before about how much I LOVE springtime. The only thing I love more than spring is my baby Andrina. Well today we took a blanket out on the front lawn and enjoyed the beautiful weather together and breathed in the wonderful fragrance of our lilac bushes. They smelled so good and were so beautiful that I decided I would take some cuttings after I put Andrina down for her nap. I did. Then I decided to take some cuttings of our cherry blossoms and add them to the lilacs in a boquet. Here's my semi-annual Martha Stewart moment:

Notice the all purple boquet is enhanced by the simple white vase?

Placement is important too.

Here the boquet enhances some of the pictures in our bedroom.

My First Real Mother's Day

Last Mother's Day when I was about 7 months pregnant, I told Tom that I expected a Mother's Day present as, in my thinking, I was already a mom even though I had not given birth yet since: 1) I wanted to have a baby and we choose to conceive, 2) I had made it through more than 2/3 of the pregnancy so far, 3) I was already attached to my baby girl and had seen her ultrasound pictures so I kinda knew what she looked like at least even if I could not hold her yet, 4) I had already sacrificed my body, my emotions, my sleep, my physical health, and the everyday comforts non-pregnant people take for granted, and 5) I was nurturing and nourishing my child even though she was not born yet.

But this year I really feel like a mom now. I so much feel like a mom that the present I've really been looking forward to is a card colored by my baby. Which I got thanks to my wonderful husband. He bought a card "from" Andrina for me and helped her color it for me. Here it is below:

I cried when I read it. This is the sweetest thing. Not that Andrina knows what it is or what it says but I know she means everything it says in her pre-verbal, completely emotional and sensory level of thinking.

Tom also bought me gifts: my favorite candy, milk-chocolate covered coconuts, roses, a very sentimental card and a very beautiful mother-baby heart shaped pendant with a diamond in it.

Thank you Andrina and Tom. Thanks for letting me know I am so loved and needed. I love you too.

Who Needs A Ball Pit At Chucky Cheese?

When you can get the same effect on an unmade bed-better yet if Daddy is still in it!

Birthday Party Planning

Andrina is almost 10 months old and I am now busy planning for her first birthday party. Wow, she has gone from tiny newborn to and active older baby! So much growth and development in such a short time. I have several long lists of things to do, including the list for the handyman who I have to hire to do things like drill two holes in the brick above my fireplace to hang up pictures of Andrina. Tom said he'd handle getting someone out to stain our deck. I need to arrange for the dogs to be boarded during that and the party. I need to get someone out to clean up the doggy poop out of the yard before the party (we do do that but I want to make sure it's all gone with all of our guests out there, plus I'll be super busy and who really wants to do that anyways?). There are decorations to buy and hang, but I have bought most of them. I need to order m&m's, put together party favors and treat bags for the kids, invitations need to be mailed, plan the menu, buy the food, order a cake, and on and on.

But, I am actaully excited about all of it. I know Andrina won't remember any of it but it will be such a special day for her and I want to make it as special as possible. And I am excited that I got two big things done today for it-I ordered the photo invitations and I reserved a moon jump and the tables and chairs we'll need. The invitations are super cute and I can't wait to get those mailed out to everyone once they arrive. Come Monday I'll need to get back to calling and continuing with the party plans.

One Of My Favorite Things

Is when Andrina wants to be picked up and she lifts her arms up to me. I just love it! I love it how she tells me in this way she wants to be held or taken away from where she is. I'm sure I'll get to the point where it will happen all the time and my back will be killing me but for now, it's only a few times a day and I love it!

Say Cheese!

Happy Birthday Anne!

Dear Anne,
Thanks for inviting me to your birthday party! I had a lot of fun! I loved eating birthday cake and playing with your toys! I hope you like the presents I got you!
Love your cousin,
Andrina

Smart Baby!

Every mom thinks her baby is either very smart or a genius. And I certainly fall in that catagory. Tonight after Andrina drank her before-bed bottle, she took the burp cloth off of my shoulder and wiped my mouth with it while laughing! Really laughing, like how an adult would laugh in response to a good stand-up comic. I was so impressed! I want to say that she knows that's what it is for and was playing a game with me (hence wiping my mouth instead of hers and the laughing while she was doing it). It is also noteworthy how happy and full of joy she was while playing this little game with me that she repeated several times, laughing each time!

Andrina and Teenie

Here's another pic and post about Andrina and our dog Teenie (who we always call Puggie but her official name is Teenie-when we adopted her and she already had that name).

I'm so happy to see my baby enjoying the doggie. And I love how great Teenie is with the baby. Teenie loves to lick Andrina's face and follows her around. And now that Andrina can crawl, she will crawl after Teenie. It is so cute! How perfect of a picture, a baby with her first friend-her doggie!