Fifteen random musings on a Friday

1. Even if you're not a mother to a baby, but a bottle brush. They seem perfect for washing out cups and wine glasses. NO, I don't wash cups or wine glasses with Betsy's bottle brush.

2. I miss my Mom and Dad more since I've had the baby. I have a deeper appreciation for the sacrifices they made for us. I think about things all the time they did for us that I want to do for Betsy.

3. Babies love eye contact with their mother. It reminds me of this scene from the movie "Baby's Mama" with Amy Poehler and Tina Few when Steven Martin says "I'll now reward you with five minutes of uninterrupted eye contact." After I feed her a bottle Betsy 'rewards me with 5 minutes of uninterrupted eye contact'.

4. I'm terrified to have another baby. I try not to think about it, because it won't happen for several years down the road, but I'm struggling with the idea. For this reason I'm trying to make healthier decisions with my diet and lose some weight, I feel like I need to be in optimal health.

5. I'm also terrified of teething. Happy babies get unhappy while they teethe. *shutter at the thought of unhappy babies*.

6. Now that I'm back to work Ben and I compete for Betsy's attention when we're home. She is so beautiful, and babies seem to grow before your very eyes.

7. Yesterday it occurred to me that babies don't STAY babies very long. By 4 months they start eating cereal. By 6 months, fruits and veggies! By a year, table food.

8. I have a deeper appreciation for my in-laws since Betsy has gone to stay at their house while I'm at work. She's safe, healthy and thriving.

9. I'd like to make a road trip this summer to see all my family on the east coast. I mean Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. I would like to take 2-3 weeks and do this and I'm pretty sure Ben is open to the idea.

10. I'm really thrilled to be in touch with my cousin's on my Mom's side of the family. This is a recent development. It made my day to hear from my cousin Christina yesterday, I saw my cousin's Gina and Gregory last week, and I see my cousin's Cynthia, Jessica and Becky all the time in Killeen. And I love technology, blogs, email, and facebook make it easy to know what's going on in every one's lives.

11. At the age of 25 I never thought I would research things like 'high blood pressure', 'Congestive heart failure' and 'cardiomyopathy'. I also never thought I would take my blood pressure every time I got a headache. You've gotta do what you've got to do.

12. I want to know more about how to make your own baby food. I found a really cool machine at William-Sonoma, but I don't think it's worth the price. I think I'll just use my food processor. Anyone who knows about making baby food, please give me your feedback!

13. Ben and I watched a movie completely uninterrupted last night. I usually read a book while I watch a movie. It has to be a REALLY good movie to hold my attention alone. We watched The Duchess with Keira Knightley and Ralph Finnes.

14. It's funny how quickly you develop confidence in your parenting abilities. I questioned myself so much at the beginning. Getting out of the house with the baby seemed like a huge undertaking. Not anymore!

15. It's Friday and I have a free weekend!!

Great night!

I'm in a fantastic mood. It's FRIDAY! Top reasons Friday is good: I only work four hours and I get to wear jeans to work. Betsy has had a wonderful week. We have established a schedule. It helps, her going to my In-laws during the day to keep a schedule. It goes something like this:

5:45 diaper change, move her from her crib to our bed
6:30 we wake her up and feed her
7:00 goes to Grandpa's
11:30 bottle
4:30 bottle
6:00 gets picked up from Grandpa's
7:00ish bath
9:30 bottle
10:15 sleep

It took a couple days to get the schedule down. Baths seem to wake her up a bit, so as soon as we've eaten dinner I try to give her a bath and put her in PJs so she settles down. We moved her swing from our bedroom to the living room and while Ben is working on lesson plans and I'm reading, or we're watching a movie she swings around and watches the animals on her mobile go by.

Last night we were watching America's Best Dance Crew (hey, there was nothing better on TV and we were feeding the baby). Anyways, she starts dancing with the music! She hold her head up very well now because she loves being on her tummy. I'm told this is unusual for a baby, most dislike tummy time. She's a strong girl. She was sitting up my stomach and music comes on and she starts rocking around and kind of bouncing to the music. Ben and I were so entertained! Looks like we have a little dancing machine on our hands.

The other best part of the night is that she's started touching my face when I hold her. For probably two hours last night I held her and she kept putting her hand on my cheek. Ben got jealous and had to try but she didn't want to touch his face (hey, get rid of the beard and she might be interested).

Have a great weekend, we're going to try to go to Ben's soccer game tonight. It was 30 degrees this morning but it's supposed to warm up tonight. Don't worry, I won't take her out if it's too cold. And of course the super bowl is Sunday. Fun times!

Baby definintions

As a new parent you may take to 'nicknaming' things you never thought you would.

Ninnie- a pacifier.

Ninnie kiss- when you're holding the baby in one arm, and your other hand is full and the pacifier is about to fall out of her mouth, so you kiss her ninnie so it doesn't fall on the floor. It's typically followed by a baby smile.

Snoogle- another term for baby.

Sheep- term used for CRYING baby. Because her cry sounds like a sheep saying "baaahhh".

Hippie ninnie- pacifier with a big flower on the front, resembles the style of the flower child. Also known as the 'flower power ninnie'.

Samurai ninnie- yellow pacifier with big black sun burst on the front. Named so by Granny.

Punk rock ninnie- Pink and brown pacifier that says "Punk Princess".

Pink Polka dot ninnie- Guess what this one looks like?

Think we have to much time on our hands? Nah, being a first time parent is a blast.

Betsy Pictures

Hi Ho, It's off to work I go.

I think a person's attitude play a huge role in how they handle difficult situations. Monday was my first day back at work. I thought I would be an emotional wreck but I wasn't. It helps a lot that 1. the baby is staying with my father-in-law, and there is no one else I would rather her be with more so than our families. 2. Betsy is a good baby, I wasn't worried about her crying all day because she's never been like that! 3. My wonderful husband is dropping the baby at his parents house on the way to work so I don't have to 'leave' her. This is a huge help, I think it would have been more difficult for me to drop her off before I went to work.

There were no tears Monday. All day Sunday and Monday I was acknowledging good things about my life and praying about going back to work. I know God was with me Monday, I couldn't have done it without him. I made a mental list of things I was happy about! Let me share a few:

1. My baby is safe and well taken care of.
2. I got to catch up with my coworkers.
3. I have a good job with great insurance, something I TRULY came to appreciate with all the medical expenses we had with both hospitalizations.
4. I didn't have to buy new pants to wear to work.
5. The baby went to bed at 10:30 pm and didn't wake up until 6:30 when we fed her and dressed her to go to Grandpa's. I really enjoyed a full night of sleep.
6. I was back home with my two favorite Schnauzers! Madison and Ben!
7. My house was clean and my laundry done before I went back to work.
8. The Superbowl is Sunday! And we love football.
9. Ben's soccer team won their third tournament, that means they won all three tournaments this year!
10. Watching my baby with her pacifier. Have you ever seen Maggie Simpson on the Simpsons? That's what Betsy looks like.

Vacation

Sorry it's been so long...let me tell you about my vacation!

Wednesday night Mom, Lauren, Betsy and I went out to dinner after we flew in to Atlanta. It was delicious, the Cheesecake factory, and my Mom spent the entire time staring at the baby and giving her plenty of affection.

Thursday morning my cousin Gina came over and we hung out and talked, she played with Betsy then my Mom came home and we went to lunch and took the baby to meet her coworkers. My Gina brought my cousin Gregory and his wife Rachael's baby Macy along and everyone was in love with the little ones. Thursday night we did skin makeovers with a Mary Kay representative Gina is friends with! It was super fun, my Mom, myself and Betsy as well as my Aunt Mary, Gina, Rachael and Macy. And I've really enjoyed the skin care products I bought from the lady, what a nice pick me up after spending most of my time and money on our sweet baby!

Friday we met some of our 'extended family' for brunch and they got to meet the baby. It was so nice to see these ladies, I usually get to see them over Christmas so it was nice for them to meet our newest family member. Friday night we went out for Mexican food and I had a strawberry margarita, my first adult beverage in about a year! It was yummy and so relaxing to go out and have a nice dinner.

Saturday Mom and I met my sister and her 'friend' Sean for brunch. I use the term 'friend' loosely because I would now classify him as her BOYfriend. Well, he's adorable, such a nice guy, and I think he's a keeper. Way to go Laur ;) Afterwards we went to Mary and Glen's house and helped them prepare for a get together that night at their house!

Sunday I flew home. It's nice to be back but I miss my Mom and sis already. It was such a nice treat to see them before I returned to work,

Travel success!

Air travel with Betsy was great. The local airport is so small, only 6 gates, so there was no crowd and I only had to walk about twenty feet from where my father-in-law dropped us off to check-in and check our suitcase. I took the stroller and car seat to the gate and the security people were very helpful with getting all my stuff through the security check.

There were only about 8 people on the entire plane so Betsy and I had a whole seat to ourselves. (see pictures of her sleeping in the seat next to me). I fed her at 12:45 and we left for the airport at 1:00, and Betsy didn't eat again for 5.5 hours when we met my Mom and sister for dinner. She slept the whole time! Not one peep out of her on the plane. People were so helpful offering to help me carry her diaper bag or maneuver our luggage but really, it wasn't necessary. Sleeping babies are easy to handle.

I fed Betsy her night bottle then Granny REALLY wanted her to sleep with her. So I put the (fed, dry) baby in bed with my Mom at 11:30 and she slept 8 hours! Granny just got to cuddle the sweet girl, then I woke up at 7 and came in to change and snuggle with her. Then Granny fed her a bottle before she headed to work. My cousin Gina came over shortly after and met Betsy. When my Mom gets home from work we'll be going to lunch then taking the baby to my Mom's work to meet her coworkers. Yea!!

Need a laugh?

OK. Since I had Betsy 3 weeks early we did not yet have our car seat installed when we were admitted to the hospital. Ben went by himself to meet with a specialist to install the base.

So today I go to un-install the base to bring with me for our vacation. We're using the one in my father-in-law's car for the trip to the airport. He is graciously giving Betsy and I a ride so we don't have to leave my car at the airport.

It took three trips to the garage, 2 phone calls to Ben and finally googling "How to remove Graco snugrider base with latch", a scraped knuckle and bruised shin to get it done. This was all done with the garage door open so I could listen for crying baby, me with rollers in my hair and a hot pink shower cap to keep the rollers in, wearing hot pink bathrobe and crocs.

Think I scared the neighbors?

Also, this morning less than 10 hours post bath SOMEONE decided to spitup and get it all in her hair. It wasn't me. Now I need to go give my sweet girl another shampoo. OH well, she makes the cutest faces in the bath I'm not complaining.

Leaving on a jet plane.

We've been busy the past two days!!

Monday we ran errands, Target, the jeweler, grocery shopping and the funnest of all...Betsy experienced her first soccer game!! Ben's varsity team won 2 to 1, and Ben coached the game, the head coach was out. Betsy spent about 2 hours in the snug rider, she slept about half the time and was so mellow while she was awake, the snugrider was a success. Now, this is one of those items we didn't HAVE to have but now having used it I think we'll really enjoy it. And I loved having my hands free, she didn't feel heavy or anything! I love it! I can also see how people who live in a large city and do a lot of walking would enjoy this item. Living in the burbs and having a car it's easy to use a stroller for the same purpose.

Today we went to the hospital for my 6 week check up post baby. I'm completely healed from having the baby. My blood pressures are still good despite weaning myself off medications, I'm cutting the very last of my pills as of tonight. My doctor says I need to monitor my blood pressure indefinitely from this point on. I embroidered a blanket for her and she loved it! She has a love for fuzzy blankets. She gave me about 5 hugs and she fawned all over the baby, Betsy seems to wrap anyone around those little fingers.

We also dropped off a bunch of cookies from our local bakery for the labor and delivery staff. They went above and beyond the call of duty, I hope if we have another child in the future we have an experienced and knowledgeable staff like the Scott and White staff.

Tomorrow we head to Atlanta to make a 4 day trip to visit my mom and sister. I'm all packed, I hope I remembered everything we need, I'm sure it will be fine. Say a prayer that Betsy travels well!

Weekend update

We had a fun weekend! Friday Betsy's Uncle JD came in town and spent a couple nights with us. JD is a VERY hands on uncle, he provided 'back up' support for Ben during diaper changes, fed Betsy a few bottles, and held and cuddled the baby as much as possible in one weekend. JD tells Betsy repeatedly that she is the prettiest baby in the whole world, she has beautiful eyes (JD has decided they are cornflower blue, which happens to be his favorite color).

Saturday Ben's cousins Christi, Jonathan and Kristen decided to come in town from Dallas to meet Betsy! She got lots of attention and cuddling, though the first half of their visit she spent sleeping in the arms of one cousin or the other. When she finally woke up she impressed all with her ability to make eye contact and hold her head up, what a genius baby we have! We all had dinner with my in-laws, (lasagna, my FAVORITE!) then we headed home where Ben promptly fell asleep. Poor guy, he's having a hard time getting over this cold thing he has, but thankfully my and Betsy's immune systems are working hard and neither of us have come down with it yet.

Tomorrow Betsy and I are running errands (to the mall, to the grocery store, and going on a walk) then we plan to go watch Ben's soccer teams play. The varsity team won all three games this weekend, so their record is 6 and 1 at this point. I'll also start packing for my trip, I'm heading to Atlanta with the baby on Wednesday! I'm staying Wed-Sunday, and it takes a lot of planning when traveling with a 6 week old. I'm a little sad already, it's my last week of maternity leave, but I'm kind of looking forward to getting back to work.

Well, I'm going to watch the rest of the Pittsburgh vs Baltimore playoff game, Betsy has graciously decided to sleep through both Sunday night football games so Ben and I have enjoyed an evening of Chili's curbside to go and football fun!

I was very excited yesterday to find a christening gown for Betsy that was on super sale at Dillard's! I had a gift card from Christmas from Ben's grandmother, and I was happy to use it to buy this.

Ben has been home sick for two days with a bad sinus infection, but he's a trooper. He is still helping out with the baby...look he's changing a diaper. And since Betsy seems to get bigger every day here's a picture of her from yesterday.

Betsy's video debut

If you go to the site below you can see Betsy's first video. Watch until the end, it's worth it!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=732987538941023047&hl=en

Chicken Baseballs

In case you want to make them yourself, for me these are comfort food. Delish.

Chicken Baseballs Ingredients
3 oz. light cream cheese softened 2 cups cubed cooked chicken
2 tsp light margarine melted 1 8oz can reduced fat crescent rolls
1/4 tsp salt 2 Tbsp milk
1/4 tsp pepper bread crumbs
2 Tbsp chopped onion

Instructions for Chicken Baseballs
In a blender (or by hand) combine cream cheese, butter, salt, pepper, milk, onion. Blend. Pour mixture over chicken and stir. Separate crescent roll dough into four rectangles and seal perforations.

Spoon 1/2 cup mixture into center of each. Pull opposite corners of dough to center and seal-sprinkle each "baseball" with bread crumbs and place on ungreased cookie sheet or pizza stone. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

More randomness

Since I'm kind of fitting back into my pre-preg clothes I went ahead and cleaned out my closet today. I'm boxing up my maternity wear to pass along to whoever gets pregnant next or maybe for myself 4 or 5 years down the road. We'll see. It's the little things that make you happy, and I spent an extra few minutes color coordinating and sleeve length coordinating, it's so nice to have that extra half rack to keep things organized!

AND, TODAY IS MADDIE'S BIRTHDAY!! She's 3 years old today, can you believe it? Maddie was our first child, we got her three months after we became engaged and she was like the first grandchild to my parents and Ben's parents.

And, I finally made some burp cloths for myself, this is the only thing that has Betsy's name on it so far. I'm hoping to spend some time embroidering stuff for her this week.

For first time moms:

Random thoughts...

For my friends who are expecting first babies and who read the blog. I don't know how I forgot this, but remember that there are different sized nipples when you buy bottles. We use the Avent bottles and have three different sizes. First, I don't recommend buying any of the little 4 oz bottles at all. They grow out of these so fast, you might as well just buy the 9 or 11 oz bottles. The 11 oz bottles came with 3+ month sized nipples and you wouldn't thing that would make that much of a difference, but oh gosh it does!! The 3+ size make for VERY messy feedings, the formula just comes out way too fast for a 1 month baby. SO, if you decide to buy the bigger bottles (which I do recommend) make sure you buy the compatible smaller size nipples. It will make feedings much easier for you!

Another tip for the expecting moms, I am so glad we spent the time to organize as much as possible while we were pregnant. Every drawer and closet possible. It makes things easier when you're frazzled and sleep deprived to know where to find things.

And one more, if you are not planning on breast feeding, try your best to save your gift cards! We saved the Target gift cards we were given as shower gifts and used them to buy formula and we made it through the first 6 weeks without having to buy any out of our pocket. Formula can get expensive, at 5 weeks Betsy goes through about 1 of the premade containers per day, and they cost about $6 each. I'm going into the specifics here because when I was trying to budget for things in advance I had no idea what to expect for formula. There is a cheaper option, to use the powder based formula that you mix yourself. I planned on doing this originally, however Betsy wasn't sleeping very well and it's like comparing the consistency of skim milk to a milk shake, she gets much fuller and stays happier longer if we used the premade stuff. If you do use the powder based mix I've been told the Target brand is comparable to the Similac we use it's just less expensive.

Also, if your baby spits up formula while in the hospital ask if you can try another type. We tried three formulas out and Betsy needed the formula for sensitive tummies. This is much easier than going out and buying the formula yourself to try out when you get home.

We bought about 2 or 3 large boxes of diapers per month as soon as we found out we were expecting and I wouldn't expect that we need to buy them now until she's 6 months or bigger. We just bought two packages of newborn and about 4 or 5 boxes of size 1-4. That's another option to prepare in advance.

We're fortunate that we can wash things often, so we don't need many multiples however, if you have a changing table you need at least 2 covers for the changing pad, preferably 3. Babies will surprise you mid change and you'll need to have a replacement.

Woo hoo!!

Guess who slept in their OWN bed last night? BEN! That's because we moved Betsy from sleeping with me to sleeping in her crib. I know you're not supposed to sleep with a baby in the bed, but when it's just myself and Betsy I feel ok about it. We wouldn't even TRY to sleep all three of us in the bed, so either myself or Ben had been sleeping in our guest room or on the couch. BUT NOT LAST NIGHT! We both slept in our room.

Last night was another pretty good one, Bets had a big bottle at 10 pm, then went to sleep at about 11:30 and slept until 3:20, woke up had a bottle and a change and slept again until 7:30. Before bed I gave Betsy a bath in her infant tub while Ben gave Madison a bath in the bathtub. So everyone slept really well last night.

This morning I woke up and started two loads of laundry, changed the sheets on all the beds and put away the clean dishes. Yesterday I went to the grocery store, made my favorite WW recipe, (chicken baseballs) and baked a cake. I used my new covered cake dish my Mom gave me for Christmas, I love it!

That's about all. I'm really enjoying my maternity leave and I'm trying to make the most of the last two weeks.

Don't want to jinx myself, but...

Betsy has been so good for the past couple weeks! What a difference getting her to sleep at night and stay awake during the day makes. Saturday night she had a bottle at 10:30 and slept until 6 am. I was awake until 2 unfortunately because that's when I had to go get Ben from school. Last night she had a 6.5 oz bottle at 11:30 and slept until 5 am, we changed her diaper and gave her a bottle (about a 15 minute process) and she slept again until 10 am. So I slept in too! Let's hope she's as low key when she goes through the teething stage.

Speaking of Ben's tournament did I mention that they WON the tournament?! What a great way to start off the tournament schedule.

Yesterday Ben woke up early and took the tree apart. He moved all the Christmas decor up to the attic and we re-arranged the living room. I like this new set up because I can see the TV now from the glider my Mom brought us and Betsy likes rocking in that chair. Ben took care of most of the feedings and a few of the diapers while he was home. I love doing those things for the baby but it's so nice when someone else is home to help with the responsabilities.

And I wanted to acknowledge that getting into a pattern with the baby has been much easier than I expected it to be (with the exception of the first week when I was so sick). I know having my Mom here to help with figuring out her appetite and getting her to sleep in long stretches really helped. Taking care of a baby isn't hard, it's just a matter of feeling confident, and preparing in advance.

I understand how people fall in love with their child and want to have several in a shorter period of time. (No, that will not be happening with us though).

Pictures from the past couple days...meeting friends for lunch, Betsy enjoying her boppy play gym and her mad face!

One month old.

Today is a big day, Betsy is 1 month old! I cannot believe how much she's grown in one short month. I weighed Betsy today, and I don't know if this is right but it said she weighed 11.2 pounds. She was 7 lb 1 oz when she was born, so that mean she gained about 4 pounds in a month. I broke out the tape measure and I think she's 24 inches long. She was 19 when she was born. Isn't that crazy?!

Today we woke up and drove Ben to work. He went out of town for a soccer tournament and didn't want to leave his truck at the school at night. We had a good night...slept from 11:30 to 7 am with just one bottle and diaper change at 3 am. I was shocked Betsy slept so long, she ate at 9:30pm, 3 am and 8 am when we got home. I did some work around the house and showered and changed and we went to the mall. I dropped my rings off at the jeweler to be resized, I'm really look forward to having my wedding band fit back on my finger!

I picked up Chick-fil-a for Tiffany and myself, then Betsy and I drove over to hang out with Tiffany and Betsy's boyfriend Ryder. We hung out and caught up, and talked baby stuff. It's nice to have Tiffany to relate to on the new Mom front. We came home and Betsy ate her birthday cake flavored bottle, I did 4 loads of laundry and she slept while I watched the BCS national championship game and I cleaned out my diaper bag. Here are some pictures of my big girl!

Betsy: Bathing Beauty

It's the infamous first bath pictures! Ben decided using the infant tub for Betsy wasn't fun enough so he threw on his swim shorts and showed Betsy how fun a big girl bath could be! Here are a couple pictures of the bathing process, Betsy getting dried off and the clean sweet girl after the party.

Ben's soccer game was rescheduled for last night so he got home pretty late. He did get in some quality snuggling time before bed (see pictures) . Betsy and I had a great night last night, she ate at midnight and we were both asleep by 12:30. She ate again at 4:15, we were up for 15 minutes to eat and change her diaper and we woke up for good at 8:10. Thank you Betsy for letting me sleep! That was almost 8 hours.

What happened?

Betsy didn't find the premier of the new season of the Biggest Loser as intresting as I did, so she passed out in the middle. This picture serves to document that Betsy does the same mouth thing I do when she sleeps. See how her mouth puckers? Ben sleeps next to that sleeping beauty face every night.

Also, note the cute ruffles on her little bootie.

It's warming up!

The weather is SO much nicer today than yesterday, Betsy and I are about to sit on the back porch and sunbathe/read.

It's amazing how fast babies grow. This morning I went through Betsy's closet and took out her three month clothes so I could wash them and she can start wearing them. Her 0-3 month clothes still fit, but she's outgrown almost all her Newborn clothing. That's crazy! Luckily almost everything 'newborn' she had was Christmas themed and Christmas is now behind us.

Speaking of...today is the day, our Christmas decor is coming down. I always get a little sad taking down the tree because the living room looks so sad without it. (OK, we have a perfectly lovely living room, I just love Christmas, and so does Betsy. She was enamoroed with the lights on the tree). So this afternoon I'll be dragging out our tupperware containers, the old news papers and tissue paper and taking off the ornaments. Actual tree breaking down will come when BB gets home from work today.

Speaking of BB, have I mentioned what a fabulous man I'm married to? After our brownie baking/football watching marathon last night I took a load off and read a book and Ben made one of our favorite weight watchers recipes, bubble up pizza. I'll just throw together a salad and I don't even have to worry about cooking dinner the next two nights!

That's about all. Here are a couple pics. One of the baby in her favorite sweater this morning. We broke out her sun glasses and a cute bow from Aunt Megan for her first sun bathing experience. Also here is me 4 weeks post baby and week one of being back on Weight Watchers. I'm hoping you'll see a noticeable difference the next time I post a picture of myself.

Monday Madness...

I love blogging in front of the fire. It's 32 degrees here in Central Texas. Not the best weather to be out and about with a four week old, but Betsy and I had to brave the elements to run some important errands today. We went to my place of employment to add her to my health insurance plan. I thank God we have good health insurance through our jobs, baby and hospital expenses were steep, but having good coverage makes all the difference in the world. The college has been closed since December 19th, and I had to add her within 30 days, so we toughed out the weather to get it done. On a happier note, I brought her to my department and she met all my coworkers. They loved her and thought she was pretty darn cute. She made Mommy proud by being a total cutie, and doing no fussing or crying while we were out. We also went by Wal-mart to pick up groceries and to get the ingredients necessary to make peanut butter brownies.

Ben's coworkers in the history department did the nicest thing the week after Betsy was born, right after my second hospitalization and brought us dinner from Chili's and gave us a monetary gift which we used to begin Betsy's college fund. It was so thoughtful and generous of them during a very stressful and hectic time. So tonight Ben and I cooked three batches of peanut butter brownies to disperse among the history, geography and government departments who all participated. Ben was supposed to have a soccer game tonight but due to inclement weather the game was cancelled and he stayed home and helped me bake while we watched the Fiesta bowl.

On an unrelated note, sometimes motherhood can be overwhelming. Take today for example. Betsy and I slept in (because we had a slumber party and stayed up ALL night!), I took a shower, she took her first bath in the bathtub (yea for finally losing her umblilical cord!), we got her all prettied up and we ran our errands. At 3:15 pm I realized despite feeding Betsy at 3:00, 6:00, 9:00, 12:00, and 3:00 I had neglected to feed myself or drink anything all day. WHAT WAS I THINKING?! I told Ben about it and he honestly can't comprehend how I forget to eat at times. I have become my father's daughter, I am SO BAD about this when I'm in the midst of a project. Days I spend on my sewing orders, forget it! If Ben doesn't ask me what I ate for lunch or dinner those days I forget about it.

Anyhow, we had sandwiches and fat free pringles for dinner and I made up for my missed calories at breakfast and lunch during the brownie making. It's been a pretty fun day.

P.S. My Mom keeps asking for Betsy pictures but today she wouldn't have it! She has been asleep all day and won't keep her eyes open for me to get a good one. Oh well, I tried, here are some pictures from today including a picture of our delicious brownies.

Sweet Sunday!

Here's the 2 minute update on what's happening for Ben, Shan, and Betsy:

Betsy is loving her life of drinking milk shakes, playing with her Mom and Dad, chilling in her swing or in her bouncer. Ben is back to coaching. His soccer team won their first game on Friday. Shannon is dreading taking down the Christmas tree. Loves to snuggle with Betsy, and is pretty excited to go on a real date with her Husband today!

Our New Years Eve...

New Years was low key in our household. We all watched the Chick-Fil-A bowl. I wrote thank you notes. Ben and I gave the baby a bath during half time. I tried to go to bed about 10 so I could get couple uninterrupted hours of sleep while Ben was up with the baby. Betsy went a little crazy around midnight, apparently her Daddy fed her her usual 4 ounce bottle and it just wasn't enough! So she needed to wake her Mommy up to feed her another couple ounces so she could be a happy baby and sleep for a while. Happy New Years!

Let's see...she ate at 11:30, then again at 3:45, then we really woke up at 7:30. So it wasn't too bad, I only woke up once during the night. I think the 'light sleeping' I was doing while pregnant since I was so uncomfortable prepared me for this, being able to wake up and fall right back to sleep.

All for now, talk to yall later!