More Betsy pics

Weekend update:

We have lots going on this weekend!

Yesterday after picking up the snoogle I ran errands to the grocery store and Target. Ben came home right after school (no soccer game) which was convenient because Madison knocked my cell phone off the bed, shattering it in three pieces and I was phoneless all day. I was bereft without a phone. I kept thinking of calls I needed to make and it made me nervous that Ben couldn't get ahold of us. I don't even LIKE the phone, I prefer email. It goes to show how dependent we've become on technology.
Ben made a nice dinner and it was ready when Betsy and I got home. After eating dinner and feeding the baby we headed to AT&T. We signed a new contact (which needed to be done for oh, about 2 years now) and got our two new phones for close to free. The nice sales man took the time to show us how to USE the phone. Betsy got to bed about the same time as usual, as did Ben and I.

This morning Ben is in Bryan for his soccer games. Betsy and I got up at 6:30 and I've been doing things around the house. She took a nap and now she's in her new swing cooing and laughing. Speaking of, yesterday I put my Mamma Mia CD on in the car and Betsy was laughing so much! Two different times we got in the car and I turned the music on and she would spit out her pacifier and sing/coo/giggle along. TOO CUTE!

I have a to-do list as long as my arm, and I'm also trying to make some progress preparing for Betsy and Will's baptism brunch. Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Nursery is done!

I've been adding things here and there. Here are a few pictures of the completed nursery! My favorite new addition is a cross stitched bed time prayer my Grandmother Bet made 25 years ago (for me!)

Betsy in another swing!

I'm a craigslisting fool.

I bought a second swing, so Grandpa has two at his house (one for Betsy and one for Will). This is the *last* swing I plan to buy, another CL find. She loves it. The mobile moves around a lot and it has a MIRROR mounted underneath so she can look up and see herself! She smiles at herself, it's pretty cute.

Here are some pictures of her enjoying the new swing.

Betsy Pics

Craig's List: Mom's best friend

For those of us who are blessed to have family close by I find it's convenient to have TWO of some things. We needed an extra swing (my Nana found a fantastic used swing for us), and I loved it so much I bought an identical swing off Craig's List to keep at Grandpa's house. I did this on my lunch break yesterday. It was only about a mile from work.

After work I stopped by a lady's house in my neighborhood who had a twin stroller listed for sale. It's a chicco stroller, very nice. Well it was perfect for Grandpa to take Betsy and Will on walks so I went ahead and picked it up too.

Here are pictures of yesterday's Craig's List finds.

Have we talked webcams yet?

My new favorite thing is the camera built in to our computer. I think it's just about the best thing since sliced bread (or the chick-fil-a sandwich).

I miss my family so much and with this new discovery I feel SO much more in touch! We're using Skype to host our webchats. Skype is free, and the camera is built in to the laptop so this was a piece of cake!

So far I've just chatted with my mom (aka Granny). We usually sit at the kitchen table and I hold Betsy on my lap and Granny sings and talks to her. Betsy chatters back a little bit. Last night however, Granny joined us for bath time!

Ben was at a meeting so I just took the baby and the laptop in our room and we did our whole bath routine with Granny watching and talking away. Then I put the lap top in the crib with the freshly bathed and diapered Betsy and she and Granny stared at each other and babbled while I picked out clothes and got her in PJs. What an experience!

I carried Betsy and Granny-in-the-computer from the living room, to our bedroom, our bathroom, the nursery, showed Granny our new closet system and our new book shelf. She says it does not make her seasick getting carried around, and watching Betsy on the computer is way better than television. At one point Granny 'watched' the baby for me on the bed while I got the bath supplies set up. Who would have thought Granny would babysit from 1000 miles away? :) Next time she's going to join us for EB's bedtime book reading.

I'm hoping Lauren and I will skype tonight. Lauren will be teaching Betsy a cheer while Lauren's boyfriend Sean will teach her about the triple option offense. Betsy can't wait to school her Daddy the first time they watch a Georgia Tech football game together.

I also can't wait to get my Dad and my Nana set up to webcam with us. Dad's been super busy with home improvement projects but he's going to love it! I plan to get Nana set up next month when Betsy and I make a trip to Florida (in 23 days!!).

Let us know if you have a webcam and want to schedule a computer date :)

Our piglet

I've been calling Betsy the piglet lately. She's hit a growth spurt I think, and she went from eating 4 five ounce bottles per day to eating 5 six and a half ounce bottles. From 20 ounces per day to 32 ounces overnight. Betsy is usually dressed in pink. I love other colors on her but pink really looks beautiful with her coloring (inherited from Daddy). And you should hear the noises she makes while she chugs her bottle *oink oink*.

It's Monday...again?

It's Monday. Again. Funny how Monday comes around so often. Every 7 days.

We had a wonderful weekend. Friday night Betsy and I took it easy at home. She was a little fussier than usual at night, probably because she snoozed so much while home with me Friday afternoon! Friday afternoon I put together a closet extender and reorganized her closet. All the clothes she needs to grow into are on the extender and the clothes she can wear right now are on the right side of the closet. This helps me see what fits, and rotate her clothes more often. And it helps poor Ben not have to try on three different outfits trying to find something not too big. I also worked on Betsy's baby book and photo album Friday. Her book is up-to-date. Now I just fill in the "baby's firsts" as they happen. I added probably 25 pictures in the book, plus her foot prints, hospital bracelets, etc.

Saturday morning we woke up same time as usual and got ready because Ben's cousins Jonathan and Christi were in town! We went to chick-fil-a and picked up biscuits for everyone and spent most of the day at my in-laws house. My mother-in-laws best friend since sixth grade was also in town, and she met the babies then came over to see our house. Saturday night Jimbo and Jane kept Betsy for a few hours while Ben, JD, Tiffany and myself went to an anniversary party. It was fun, hanging out with adults.

Sunday BB, EB and myself got ready and headed to Austin to the mall. We went to find Ben some clothes but I ended up with the shopping success. I got a few work practical work clothes and I found a book shelf for Betsy's room, (finally!). We had dinner with JD and Tiff-bo, then headed back home. Bets was an angel all day, couldn't have asked for any more! Then she ate her two bottles and conked out immediately, she was worn out.

A love of literature

One thing I'd like to share with my daughter is a love for reading. When I was little my parents used to read to me every night. My favorite book was "The Poky Little Puppy". I bought it for Betsy, it was the first book we read to her. For a couple of weeks we've been reading to her before bed. Ben loves sharing this time with us too. My Aunt Dolly sent us a bible stories book for children, I am so excited about it! When I became a little older I would lay in bed with my Mom and while she read her book I'd read my bible stories book. Then I'd tell her about whatever I had read about. I'm sure all these things contributed to my becoming an English major in college.

I probably read a hundred novels a year. Writing that, it sounds crazy! I thought once I had a baby I wouldn't find time to read but that's not the case. I read on my lunch break. I read before bed. I read in the bath. I love the library!

I'd love book recommendations for Betsy. To any of the moms who read the blog, please share what books your children love.

Thoughtful Thursday

Considering we don't get home until 6 pm, and we're asleep by 10:15 I feel like we get a lot done at night. We don't sit around much during the week nights. One of us is playing with/feeding/bathing the baby while the other is doing stuff that needs to get done. We have a system. I kind of forget what it was like before we had the kiddo. Last night was a good one:

-We had baked potatoes for dinner
-we took the baby and the schnauz for a walk around the neighborhood
-watched some DVR'd American Idol
-I washed clothes and hung up some new stuff Granny sent the bear
-I read a book to Betsy (and Ben)(touch and feel Puppies book)
-washed, sterilized and made bottles
-baby got a bath
-Ben and I got to hang out and talk a lot
-Bets went to bed a little earlier (9:30?)
-I did some closet organizing in her room *devised a system so Ben knows which clothes fit now and which clothes she hasn't grown into yet*
-I read a book
-we got to sleep around 10:15 and slept until 6:30.

I can't believe we both get up at 6:30, I shower and get ready, Betsy eats and we're all still out the door at 7:05. Somehow I thought when we had a baby I would need to start getting up earlier to get her ready in the mornings but all we have to do is feed her and toss a couple bottles in her diaper bag. She was easier than I anticipated. All for now. Maybe this post is for my pregnant friends who are like me and sit in trepidation wondering how it will ALL get DONE?! It just happens. Hakuna Mattata.

Photo shoot

Just because I love sharing pictures of our sweet girl.

Quick Ditty

Both Ben's JV and Varsity teams won last night against their in-district rivals. That's very exciting!

Betsy is doing great and last night we web-cammed with my Mom for the second time. It's so fun having a face to face conversation though 1000 miles apart. Betsy showed off her standing skills and did some cooing for Granny. My Mom and I sang to the baby and she kind of cooed along with us. So far her singing voice is as bad as mommy's.

And the highlight of my week... I finally got a haircut. It had been 5 months, it was time. And the stylist gave me the best shampoo of my life, it was so relaxing!

Gotta run, have a great hump day!

Deep thoughts

I've noticed having the kiddo along makes me more careful about our safety. My Mom drilled in our brains to "be aware of what's around you". Don't linger in parking lots after dark. Make wise decisions about where to be. You know what I mean.

I think this has hit home more so since we've had a baby. For example, BB (before Betsy) I would never let Ben walk me to my car after his soccer games. I can take care of myself. But now that I have the baby with me I do like him to walk me to the car, and stand there with us until she's buckled in and the doors are locked.

Or driving the speed limit. I am much more conscientious about this now. And I pay attention to people who exit the ramp the same time I do. Some wacko driver kind of scared me the other day and I got back on the highway to make sure they weren't following me.

I hope I don't sound paranoid, I'm really not. I just understand better now why my parents were so concerned about where I was after dark and who I was with. A baby is vulnerable. She is at the mercy of her surroundings, so I see it as my job to protect her from getting hurt and to avoid dangerous situations as much as possible.

Monday with Maddie and Betsy

A few pictures of the sweet girl from today!

Valentines Madness

Valentines Day was eventful for us. Ben came home from his parent's house where he was helping his Dad move some stuff to their storage unit. When he got home he was complaining about his eye hurting. It was watering and red and finally he and his Dad went to the hospital to get it checked out. The doctor found a small piece of metal in his eye, and his cornea is scratched. They put in a numbing solution, gave him some creme to put around his eye and a pain medication. Poor guy :(

Ben's Aunt and Uncle Gail and Byron came to town to meet our nephew Will and visit with everyone. Betsy visited too, and cuddled with both Byron and Gail. It was a nice get together.

We came home and Ben and Betsy got in the bed while I ran errands and I picked up dinner for our Valentines surprise. My Mom surprised us with a gift card to the Olive Garden so I ordered dinner to go and picked it up. Betsy decided to sleep through dinner so Ben and I ate at the table, on nice dishes, without the TV on...I don't know about you but THAT is the ultimate romance for us!

Anywho, after Ben took his pain medicine he, Betsy, Madison and myself laid in bed and I read a story out loud to Betsy (and Ben, since he can't see he couldn't watch TV). It was pretty cute. We read from her Winnie the Pooh story book. Enjoy the pics...I think you can see how swollen Ben's eye is in one of these.

2 month appointment

Friday was Betsy's 2 month appointment.

She's healthy! Weighs 10 pounds 7 ounces, 22.5 inches long and her head is 15.75 inches. All in about the 50% range. We LOVE the new pediatrician, his sons both play soccer at Ben's rival high school and he was very impressed by Betsy. She has "excellent head control" and "very strong legs" and she's "advanced" in the things she's doing, especially all the standing up. She got three shots and took them like a champ but has been sleeping them off for the past couple days. Here are some pictures from the appointment.

Splish splash

Ben broke out the ducks for bathtime last night. He had fun playing with them and Bets had fun watching. This morning while he fed her she kept smiling at him, and he got so excited. She can't decide if she's a mama's girl or a daddy's girl.

More Betsy pics

One thing no one told me about having a baby is how hard it is getting the perfect picture. I mean, as an adult we look at the camera and smile and we're still not happy with probably 80% of the pictures. When it's a baby, they don't want to look at the camera, they don't want to smile at the camera, they just want to get Mommy and Daddy to act like a goof ball in an attempt to obtain the baby smile on film. Sneaky those little ones.