A few seconds

Um, can we sum up my experience as a mom in one word? Why yes – it is naïve. I seriously thought I would get things done – like that closet in my game room, it was going to be so organized while I was out on maternity leave; I was going to have her baby book written and up to date; I would blog every little detail of her life. Let’s be honest – I am lucky to get a shower each day. I seriously feel like I should get a merit badge if I actually get myself showered, her ready and get out the door by 11 to meet someone for lunch. I guess I will be paid in smiles, which are seriously adorable. My time hasn’t totally been wasted, though, I have caught up on my DVR’d shows (I have watched 28 back episodes of House Hunters) and I am well-versed in what everyone is up to on Facebook.

Another naïve thought was that I wouldn’t have “mommy brain.” First, I thought that was fake. Yeah. It totally isn’t. Things that I have done (and these are just today) – put my hand in my hot coffee thinking it was the dry cereal I was eating (because it only takes one hand!), gone to the grocery store with the equivalent of “something about Mary hair” since she spit up in it and I had no idea, and I left the hot water running for 15 minutes since I left the room and totally forgot it was on. On the upside, I now have an excuse for any ditzy behavior!

Emmy is seriously so cute, though, and totally worth the side-effects :).

Since this post is going to be a catch-all in things that I have been up to, I have to share that my inner child is now finally at peace. I got my very own American Girl doll!!!!

My whole life I wanted a Samantha doll because she looked like me as a child, but never got one because…well, I was 33 years old. However, now that I have a girl, I considered getting one…you know – for the baby. Before I actually had time to get one, though, my aunt and uncle surprised me with Samantha! I was seriously so excited. It was like Christmas morning and I can’t wait to buy clothes for her, get the Samantha books and you know let “Emmy” play with her. It was definitely one of the top 5 surprises in my life. I have seriously been obsessed since I was a child. I even texted Janie a few weeks ago when I got the American Girl catalog in the mail with the words, “How did they know I had a girl?” Ha! As some of you may know, Samantha is also retired, so you can’t get her in the store anymore, so she is basically a collector’s item!

My little girl will turn 2 months this week (where has the time gone???), so expect a two-month post soon. She has had so many fun things happen this month (like smiling!) to fill you all in on. Today she has her 2 month shots. I hope they are worse for me than they are for her. (I have already had sympathy pains for her!) I have declared today pajama day and plan to just hang out with my sweet girl.

Hope you are all doing well!

Brown Paper Packages

I thought I would share this little gem with you – last year I wrapped my gifts with paper ribbon and labels from Paperjacks and they turned out so cute. I wish I was being paid for this ringing endorsement, but alas, I am not. I just had really cute gifts! :) 

This year I bought the green ribbon to wrap Tommy’s side of the family’s gifts and red for mine. That way I can easily identify which gifts to take where. Sadly, I need all the organization help I can get. (For example, I had Tommy go to the store last week to get paprika…only to find it in the fridge. I have clearly crossed to the other side!)

Here are some pictures for the Paperjacks site.

This year she has added chevron paper ribbon to her collection. So cute!

And if you are super lazy like me (or a total genius – it’s a toss up), last year I bought kraft boxes for some of my gifts and just put the paper ribbon around them.

Enjoy!

More Favorites

Now that my little pumpkin is awake more often, we have some new favorite things around here that I thought I would share!

Emmy loves, loves, loves her play mat. It entertains her for a good half hour at a time and I consider that a huge success.  Also entertaining is the fan in our room, but whatever makes her happy :).

Emmy also loves to look at herself in the mirror. I got this Sassy mirror at Babies R Us. I liked that the mirror doesn’t really distort the image so she is able to see more clearly. Tommy thinks it isn’t sturdy enough, but what can you expect from a baby mirror?

When I was looking up activities to do with your baby, I came across the suggestion of having them look at black and white images. Oh my! It is so fun to see her eyes focus. I got her these cards off of Amazon, but honestly, you could probably just print some black and white images and show them to your baby. These are high quality and super thick, but there are only 6 in box. I do prop them up on her play mat, so I guess there’s that.

I have been reading (well, trying to read) lots of books on babies brain development, games to play and infant massage. I will let you guys know what I like as soon as I get through them (likely when she is 2 years old). 

For those of you wondering about the infant massage, she likes the massage in this video at the 30 second mark and I use some of these techniques on her as well.

For other new moms, another article that I have found to be helpful is this one about schedules. I don’t follow this religiously by any stretch of the imagination, but I have found it really helpful in identifying why Emmy might be crying. If we follow this routine of eat, play, sleep, I have a better idea of why she is crying.

More soon – along with some pictures! I cannot believe my little angel is already 6 weeks old!

Emmy One Month

It is so hard to believe that Emmy is already one month old. That month flew by. As with anything else in my life these days, I am a little late. (This drives me crazy to no end as I thrive on being on time. It is one of the many things I am learning to let go.) I have to say going into this whole baby thing I was completely naïve. Talk about a learning curve! I figured if those girls on Teen Mom could do this baby thing it would be a breeze for me. Ha!!!!

Emmy is growing and becoming so much more alert! She is loving her play mat and likes to look at herself in the mirror. She also loves her mobile and to be sung to. (The Christmas music is already out in full effect. I somehow know no lullabies.) She is super fussy at night (and sometimes during the day). Trying to figure out what is wrong is like trying to solve the most complex problem that only one non-communicative infant can answer. Sigh.

Emmy the day we brought her home from the hospital. She was so sweet and tiny!

Emmy at one month (she was not feeling this whole photo shoot thing).

She is such a pretty baby and bring us so much joy. I can’t wait to see what our 2nd month has in store for us!