When In Doubt, Put Your Mouth On It

this applies to several things.

1. baby monster. everything, everything goes in/on/near that little mooth. he's like a slug leaving his slime trail all over the house. my chin is usually soggy from his, um, affection.

2. the dog licked breast milk off henry's mouth today. sigh. i just...i....whatcha gonna do.

3. i gained weight this weekend since i hate 3 cupcakes-in-a-jar (from robb= delish!) and 1/2 a vegan chocolate sheet cake that my dad made (amahzing!). ay yay yay. totally worth it.

Heart Fall.

i absolutely LOVE this time of year. love the newness of a fresh school year, love (the idea of, anyway. don't actually enjoy the sport that much. but really do like tailgating) football season, love the leaves changing and sweater weather. love that it's my anniversary, my birthday AND halloween all in one month. love that it is swiftly followed by thanksgiving and Christmas and that there's all kind of fun family gatherings around the corner.

we got married october 5th a lot so we could take advantage of the fall colors in pictures. i hired a professional photographer to come to our house last week for the same reason. i wanted family pics with the fall colors.

i'm having trouble picking because there are 50 and i need to narrow them down and order a reasonable amount! want to cover my house with pics of my kid but a) don't want to have to take a 2nd mortgage on the house whilst paying for the pics and 2) don't want to go TOO overboard to avoid henry geting a fat(ter) head and in case we have more children in the future and there would be no way we can compete in the adoration we heaped on henry.

so if you have an eye for photography and want to give your input, drop me a comment and i will send you a link to the site so you can help me pick the right pics! :)

:)

Look What Henry Made Me All By Himself!

so...sadly/happily my sister-nanny will be off to greener pastures soon. she is now officially a licensed RN (!), so i guess, really, her greener pastures will be dealing with adult feces instead of infant feces. a big step up. :)

but anyway, we're all super proud of her and excited for her future. it's been amahzing having her here with henry and helping around the house and we will miss her. (she was a total steal- a qualified nurse and excellent cook willing to work for just a little bit of money and a lot of slobbery baby kisses? fantastic. ).

but, we're also really comfortable with the daycare we found and feel good about him going there full time once she has moved on.

(although i must admit, robb has always dropped him off in the morning and i pick him up in the afternoons until last week when i took a day off to get ready for the dedication party and i dropped him off at daycare for a few hours so i could get stuff done. wowza. the leaving part is WAY worse than the picking up part. and it's not that i think henry is missing me while i'm gone it's that i am longing for him the whole time. eck.)

so far, from everything we've seen, this daycare center goes above and beyond. they are extremely diligent and thorough and do just an incredible job. the level of detail and care they show each baby monster is amazing.

and they are so organized. they have little cubbies and lockers and boxes all labeled with each baby's name. it's darling and very efficient. and they do arts and crafts! see below.

i get overwhelmed just trying to manage 1 infant for a few hours a night...they have some 6-10 infants at a time and yet the women are all peacefully tending to them and not crying and drinking in a corner. like i would be/am.

and the babies are hilarious to watch. most of the time they're being held or are in swings, bouncers, cribs, etc. but sometimes they're having floor time and when there's a pile of them on the mats on the floor it's like something out of the discovery channel. the bigger ones who can scoot or crawl inevitably trample the less mobile ones and they just paw all over each other- a hand ending up smashed in someone's nose, a knee in someone's diapered crotch. it's like watching sea turtles on a rock, scrambling up each other to get to the sun. they seem wholly unaware that they are on another person and not a piece of furniture.

i want to put on a safari hat and crouch and watch, speaking quietly into a microphone with a british accent as i observe these strange creatures in their native habitat.


henry's locker and his footprints as halloween decor.

Henry's Dedication at Genesis the Church 10/23/11

mr. man was dedicated today, which is our church's version of baptism (baptism is for adults when they can decide for their ownselves that they want to commit their life to God. a dedication is parents committing to God and the church that they'll raise the kid up knowing God).

the ceremony included a message from the pastor, us reading a letter to henry about our wishes for him and then all of our family and friends came around and prayed over him. it was awesome! and then we had brunch here at the house. henry was wonderful all day. he handled the chaos and attention just beautifully.

anyway...here is a copy of the letter that we wrote and read to him in front of the church.



-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

henry monkey,

we love you. we've loved you for a long time. and we waited to meet you for a long time. we had losses and struggles that were very hard, but we survived them with the hope that we would one day know you and hold you safely in our arms. and now we get to!

we're so grateful God put you in our lives and in our home. we still can't really believe we get to keep you! what an incredible blessing you are to your mom and dad and grandmas and grandpas, great-grandparents, aunts and uncles, godparents and many more. you have about a million people who love you already and, you will learn over time, they are really good at it.

you are just a few months old but already you've shown yourself to be a fun and sweet guy fascinated by the world. we are so excited to help you explore it and to figure out your place in it. you are strong and healthy and happy, chatty and funny. and we are impressed by your unusually deep voice for a baby.

we don't know who you'll grow up to be but we pray that you will always know that you are loved. and that you know the confidence, strength and peace of God walking by your side.

we will do our best to teach you to be a kind, loving, smart, and graceful person and to not mess you up good. no promises.

we thank God every day for your health, your smile and that belly laugh that sort of sounds like ET. we welcome you with open arms into God's family.

you were worth the wait.

love,

mom and dad

What's That You Were Saying...?

i find that i am very rude as a mom.

several times a day i walk away from a conversation realizing that i can't recall the second half of someone's story. which means that i either stopped listening half way through or they stopped telling it because something came up with the baby and my attention was pulled away.

i said i'd never do that. i HATE it when friends are crappy conversationalists because they're distracted by their kids.

or, rather, i used to hate it. i totally get it now. it's not that what you're saying isn't interesting, it's that my baby is way MORE interesting to me. :) plus, i know that he will LOSE HIS SHIT if i ignore him. you might just pout a little.

and sorry to any friends who had kids before me if i acted put out when you ignored me for your kids. i now know it's just part of the deal. your kid's snot bubble was more pressing than my telling you about how i killed a man with a trident. i understand.

and now i should find myself a safehouse or a relative close by. lay low for a while... :)



(for my mom: that last stuff won't make sense because it is a quote from the movie "anchorman: the legend of ron burgandy." and i didn't actually kill anyone. )

Holy Busy, Batman

working full time + henry-ing= wow. very busy. i find i have very little time to do things like keep up with the house and finish projects (still working on finishing applications for life insurance, a trust fund for McMonkey and re-financing the house. we started all these months ago. if we finish by the time henry starts kindergarten, i'll feel accomplished).

also finding it hard to find time to *blog* and answer emails and check in with friends who are going through stuff in their own lives (fertility issues abound- so common and so shitty. i want to beat up this thing that causes so much pain to the ones i love). if you're one of those i'm neglecting currently- I'M COMING, HOLD ON!!

and it's been ridonculously busy at work, so that doesn't help. yipes. i'm training new people and PA students and so i can't pick my nose without someone asking about my technique. it's exhausting.

but, hark! it's the weekend! and tonight we're relaxing as a tiny family and then tomorrow we go to see more of our family and it'll be great! plus the university of whatever is playing whatnot state university, their big rivals, so it'll be a fun football weekend, too. since i had a baby i get out of having to actually GO to the games. now i just dress him up in team spirit, drink a bloody mary and then go inside where it's warm while the other suckers sit in the stands and get rained upon.

anywho- the pediatrician's visit this week went well. h-diddy is right on track and strong. he was standing up (with little help) on the exam table when the doc walked in and she exclaimed about how strong and coordinated he is. he giggled and smiled at her while she did the exam. and then he clawed up/chewed up the paper cover that goes over the table like the baby monster that he
is.

and since he'd had some diarrhea and was a little out of sorts that day, i postponed his vaccines. will get them next week when i know he's 100%.

here are his current stats:

-weight- 15lbs 13oz (75th%)
-height- 25 1/4" (75%)
-head circumference- 16 1/2" (50th%)

Four Months Old and Feeling Fine

little monkeystein is officially 4 months old and he is doing AWESOME! he is sweet, funny, easy-going and growing and developing just beautifully. he is a very likable chap. robb said the other day that he thinks henry will be "one of those people who everybody likes." :) so far he is quite charming and likable.

he has his 4 month appt on tuesday. well see then what his official weight, height, etc are. but for now we'll just report that he seems appropriately chubbly.

he is sitting with assistance and rolls over onto his side occasionally on his own. he is intentionally reaching out to grasp things now but doesn't have a whole lot of control over it. he smiles and laughs A LOT, and now with merely a silly song or look from us, it no longer requires we do gymnastics and such.

he's sleeping roughly 8-9 straight hrs/night and still takes a couple good long naps every day. he eats 7-8 times/day and eats great either nursing or from a bottle (about 5-6 ozs at a time). he is in size 3-6 month clothes, so that's normal and he just moved up to the #2 nipples (this is fascinating, isn't it? more for my friends with newborns than anyone else who is probably forking themselves in the eye right now out of boredom) and is in regular sized cloth diapers.

things to report/admit: i have dropped him JUST ONCE. and it was only a few inches and into his carseat. but it was directly onto his face. in macy's. with a lot of witnesses. he doesn't seem harmed by it. that side of his head was always sort of smooshed, right? :) builds character.

what else...he has started to notice the dog a bit. fistfulls of hair and howls won't be long now. and his fat thighs and feet are very ticklish. which is good, because you can't really keep your hands off them.

so that's what 4 month old hj looks like. life with him gets better every day.

Juggling a Lot of Balls, Don't Drop the Baby Ball

a friend recently asked me what it's really like being a mom. i said it's even better than i thought it would be. and i thought it would be amazing.

i said that i'm happier than i've been in my whole life. my heart feels full and content just watching him watch the world. and when he makes eye contact and smiles at me, every cell in my body does a happy dance. i want to spin around in joyful circles like when i was a little kid to make my dress swoosh around me.

but i also told her it's the hardest thing i've ever done. i'm exhausted and stressed and short of time always and knee deep in filthy house and irritable at work and toward robb....

the thing is, all i do is think about, worry about and plan for henry. all i want to do is play with and care for him all the time. he is all consuming. but there are about a million other things i HAVE to do, too. and not enough hours to do it all in. working full time (plus) and nursing and otherwise mommy-ing while trying to keep a reasonably organized house and life and pay bills enough that at least the lights stay on and occasionally exercising and maybe even getting a haircut now and then all on 5 hrs of sleep...hard to do. i need a personal assistant and maid and trainer and cook. (the last one i sort of already have).

i'm learning to let things go and just to take those little hugs now, i can answer that email later or clean the floors later. and they'll always send a notice before they shut the power off, right? :)

years ago when robb and i first started discussing whether or not we wanted to have kids, i was worried about how they might cramp my style. i was worried that they might interfere with my pursuits and try to steal things that are precious to me like sleep and going out to movies and restaurants and my youth and such. i was afraid i would become automatically mom-ish and un-cool after kids.

and i would tell people who are considering having kids that it is the GREATEST thing in the world (at least it is with my kid, can't guarantee you won't end up with a total pill, i guess). but that you have to be prepared to be totally, wholly consumed by the child and that everything else will fall back. it's work you're happy to do- even changing diapers and doing his laundry is enjoyable because it's HIS and he's great, but it is a lot of work.

i think because we waited so long, and then because we had all the problems we did in getting him here in the first place, we feel mostly prepared to make these sacrifices and make him our total priority. but it's still hard sometimes.

and you really will just have to give up on trying to be cool. (robb would like to interject here, ahem, that i have never been cool, so this is not a loss). there is nothing cool about nursing bras. there is nothing cool about finding yourself in grocery store in sweatpants and sandals, hair pulled back, no makeup on singing loony songs into a shopping cart like crazy homeless cat lady.

but i guess i don't care anymore. if he smiles at my songs about henry monkey tails, it was totally worth the strange look i got from the teenage bagger.

This Would Power All of Monstropolis.

And That's How You Endear Yourself to Hotel Staff

first vacation with the baby. like, real vacation where we're staying in a hotel among strangers instead of with family. who have to love us.

it requires a lot of packing. and planning. and apologizing.

we're in the home town of all of our parents, but we're staying downtown in a fancy shmancy hotel (courtesy of my parents- thank you very much!) so we can enjoy the art competition going on in the city and so that we can celebrate our anniversary (oct 5, next weds, 9 yrs).

so last night on our way into town, our usual 2 hour trip took 4 hrs. there was tons of traffic and it was rainy and henrymonkeymonster required several stops for feeding and voiding. we (FINALLY) got to my in-laws hours late to drop the dog and have a visit and they fed us an amazing vegan meal (from the thrive diet and alicia silverstone's new cookbook) and so we didn't get to the hotel until after 11.

when we arrived we valet'd the car (see? we are VERY fancy) and had a bellhop help us with all of our bags. the count on our bags is something like 36. for only 4 months old, kid has a lot of baggage. (har har har)

we got up to our room around midnight and got settled in. exhausted (up since 5am, worked all day), we just wanted to go to sleep but i happened to notice that the cooler bag with all of our bottles full of breast milk was missing. now why would this matter, since i'm nursing anyway, you ask?

BECAUSE I WANTED TO DRINK. we have a babysitter (my mum) saturday night and I WANTED TO DRINK on our hot date. we went out to a fancy romantical dinner to celebrate our anniversary and I WANTED TO DRINK. and if i had no pre-pumped reserve milk, i would have to be running back and forth to the hotel to nurse him and...

we scoured our room and...nothing. so we called the front desk to see if we'd left it somewhere down there while checking in. no, haven't seen it, we'll have the valet folks pull the car around. now, mind you, we had been there less than an hour and had already had them pull the car around one to retrieve my cell phone, so now we are TRULY, 'those people.'

and the car comes up with nothing. the front desk manager is calling us every 10 minutes to report progress. offering to buy us formula, etc. robb goes down to the lobby and searches around. the manager calls the bellhop and his manager. at one point they thought maybe it had gotten mixed up and dropped off in another room (i'm envisioning strangers making caucasians with my breast milk). but it hadn't.

so then they looked at the security footage. it hadn't fallen off or been stolen by another hungry baby or anything. we were all perplexed.

then the manager called back and asked just how big the bag was. small! smaller than a loaf of bread. but way more important!

well, ma'am, we see in the footage someone putting a small bag in the bottom of the stroller...could it be there?

shit.

yes, it could be there. it could be in the mesh pocket in the stroller, folded up leaning against the wall, sitting 3 feet from me this whole time.

d'oh! so we made a bunch of people jump through a bunch of hoops for our own stupidity.

but the story ends well with us enjoying a wonderful dinner (and a glass of cabernet AND a martini!!) and henry enjoying great time with his grandma, having his own caucasian. hold the kahlua. hold the vodka. hold the ice.