Hmm...

How cute is this birthday party!?

Matt and Jenna are waayyy to cute for words. And their son's first birthday gives me alot of inspiration for Erin's first birthday - even though it's far away - you gotta have some inspiration files on hand, right?

Also, if you get a chance, head on over to the Matt Daniel Photography website as well. He does some amazing work...

He may be employed by us when the little one is a little older...

Yeah. I'm a Blogger...

Totally dropped of the face of the internets here in the past two weeks. Lots of HUBabalooo going on at our house... but more on that later. First things first...

Erin was dedicated a couple of weeks ago at the church Hubs and I got married in . She was not super excited about being at the front of the church, but what can you do. I mean, no matter how good of a baby you have... it never fails that they will show out in church. Bless that little booger. However, she did not fuss when the pastor actually baptized her, so that was a relief. Seemed to enjoy it really. Yeah for bath time.

Thanksgiving came and the poor little thing got passed around like a football. And after 2 days of mommy cooking (totally made the cheesecake from Jen's blog. You must try it!) I think she liked the non-stop attention, but I swear it makes her spoiled. What are you gonna do though. It was an interesting day all-in-all... having a child puts perspective on what you are thankful for.

And then we pretty much secured our spot for Parents-of-the-Year. Some friends of ours wanted to go to this really fun holiday block party thing in downtown Savannah on Saturday. And I really wanted to go too... however, we didn't go until after dark. No big deal to Hubs and I. (Apparently a big deal in baby world... but it sounded like a fun, family thing to do. So we thought we bundled Erin up and Hubs plopped her in the Bjorn and off we went. She chatted it up... loved it...even though most of the street party was over. A good time was had by all...

Until Sunday when she had a fever and now has the early-stages of an ear infection. Not such a good time. Sad part is she is still a really happy baby when she is sick, so not being able to fix it breaks my heart.

Apparently she wasn't as bundled up as we thought. There is no match for the cold, humid air of the south. We live. We learn. Next time I'll consult that handy baby instructional manual that they come with..... if only I knew where I put the dern thing.

Lay down and Die...

I know it's been a rough season, but that's no reason to give up on us. It's a rebuilding year...

No really, in all seriousness....


UGA VII died unexpectedly yesterday. It is a sad day in the Bulldog Nation. It just adds insult to injury this season. Only 4 years old, "Loren's Best" had his first game last year against GA Southern. It's just a little too soon for him to take up his final resting place by the field next to all the others before him (yep, all the UGAs are buried inside the stadium next to the bridge side end zone).

Rest in Peace little cutie.

Working It Out...

It's official. I am a working mama. As in - I leave my kid at a grandparent's house on alternating days and come into work, where she is not, and try to produce income for our family.

2 days down.

And I'm doing better than I expected... and maybe that's because she's with people I trust. We aren't starting daycare til January (if I ever pay my dang deposit). So January may be a little different. But for now I am fine. She is fine. Or at least I keep telling myself that.

But truly - as much as I love the IDEA of staying-at-home-mom I don't think I am cut out for it. Being a mommy is AMAZING, UNBELIEVABLE, MORE THAN I IMAGINED. It does break my heart to hear her chatting it up with grandma when I call. However, as a person, wife, and a mommy it is better for us all if I do some sort of work. It keeps my brain fresh and frustrations to a minimum. Seriously. I can be an individual and a mommy and I am learning that that is o.k.
It's the Quality of parenting that matters not the Quantity... and my quality and quatity may be inversely proportionate to one another.

There is still the guilt though. And all the working mommies around me say it never really goes away. But alot of people have/had working moms and we all came out the other side quite nicely. So it's not so bad really - even if my heart does ache all day.

Right?

What made you happy this week?

Licking chocolate-chi-cookie batter off the beaters. That made me happy this week.

And has consequently made me unhappy at the amount of actual cookies I have eaten this week.

C'est La Vie.

What about you?

Cloth Diaper Thursday

Lesson # 10: He's a good sport...

Getting baby-daddy (aka hubs) to agree to let me try cloth diapering was a non-issue. He was totally up for me taking on the endeavor.... a good sport really.

And he continues to be a good sport... even though I don't think he will ever be a believer. We are now only using disposables at night (and sometimes on the go - but I made wet bag so not so much anymore). The other night baby-daddy was talking to Erin at the changing table and the conversation went like this:
"Oh, mommy doesn't have any disposables out for daddy to use. She's gonna make me use this big ol' fat thing on your little hiney.... (Erin smiles) yep that's right, mommy doesn't leave the other diapers out for daddy.... no she doesn't."

Which made me realize 2 things. 1) Daddy wasn't really comfortable with the whole cloth diapering thing to begin with - so maybe support doesn't = success after all. And 2) Things would be easier on him maybe did a diapering lesson - even though now that we are using the sposoeasy there is no lesson to be learned.

So the cloth diaper lesson for the week - was make it easy for your spouse. If they aren't totally on board- don't go with the crazy, foldy, needs a cover thing. Your best bet is gonna be an all-in-one diaper.

I want to be dedicated to this - but sometimes being parents is a compromise... and if keeping daddy involved in all aspects of child-rearing means disposables - at least we gave it a valiant effort. Things are definitely looking up since we switched... but only time will tell...

Thanks hubs/baby-daddy for being a good sport. And we are going to do this together. (Even if some of my ideas are a stretch. Hopefully making my own baby food will be as well tolerated :)

Survival...

We survived. All 3 Outta Shape Amigos completed his/her leg of the triathlon. Which actually ended up being a duathlon. Why? Because the lake water was too polluted with bird poop to swim in. Totally threw me off course since I had pumped myself up for the swim.

So instead I had to run a mile and then pass the time off to my sis for her 13 mile bike. All I can say is I finished the mile. You know how we were supposed to be on a training schedule for a 5k? Well that lasted about 2 weeks, and then life threw one evening off schedule and it was all downhill from there. So 1 mile without stopping 10 weeks after delivering a baby wasn't too shabby.

Sis and hubs did awesome. And we finished 2nd in the relay division out of 2 relay teams. Time = 1:37 to complete. The overall winner finished in 59 minutes. I mean, it's something to strive for. A long term goal if you will. But we finished and are very proud of it!

We survived, and we have a shirt and trophy to show for it. Our little lady bug even cheered us on. Even though she ended up with a minor sun burn to show for it. "Parents of the Year" I tell you.

Anywho - Hope you had a great Halloween! Happy Fall.