Traveling....with a baby

Um, yeah. What was supposed to be a 3.5 hour trip from Nashville turned into more like 7 hours, as the bug had to eat....twice. Which means that my lady parts have now been spotted all up and down I-75.

When I have regained my sanity, I'll post more about Christmas. Highlights include a cappucino maker, a new puppy (not mine, my dad's), the Rockettes, and many hours of Rock Band.....where I exhibited my mad drumming skillz. If set to easy mode, while playing an easy song. Don't hate.

Two Months

Well, actually more like 2 and a half months, but I tend to be a little less than organized about things like documenting what my baby was like at 2 months. Or about most things in general.

Anyway, here's a little word picture of AG at 2 months. Also known as a run-on sentence....my apologies.

Smiley, super active/always in motion, miraculous little sleeper (11-12 hours at night!), BIG "talker," found her tongue and LOVES sticking it out, also loves when mommy sticks hers out back (uh-oh, possible bad habit?), happy, rarely fussy, loves smiling at her stuffed Santa, has ROLLED OVER, still hates tummy time, starting to like bathtime (praise the Lord), loves her swing & bouncy seat, hates her carseat (or being restricted in general), wakes up early and talks to herself, size 1 diapers, size 3 month clothes, 10lbs 5oz at 2 month appointment, still has blue eyes, & totally ROCKS the baby mullet.

And in case that word picture didn't really do it for ya, here's a real one of AG. (Also at 2 months, mommy has finally gotten back into real clothes and makeup. Nice.)

(Her ear is not deformed, I'm just squashing it. Also, not sure why her hair looks red?)

I've Been Had

AG=Master Manipulator at the age of 10 weeks. I'm serious. This girl has skillz. (Yes, with a z.)

As mentioned before, she is on napping strike. And mommy has had to get some tough love going on up in here. (Wow, how dorky did that sound? I promise not to say that ever again).

Anyway, baby girl will scream like she's in severe pain, until the moment I enter the room. Then she's all, look how cute I am mommy! I'm smiling at you. Don't you want to pick me up and play with me, or better yet, feed me? And I'm all, "Okay, I'm gonna be strong.....oh LOOK at my precious girl smiling at me....baby talk, baby talk, baby talk."

I'm telling ya....she's good. Watch out dad, you are in SUCH trouble with this one.

(Yes, that IS a dirty diaper in the corner. Just for you, readers, just for you.)

We just went on a serious kamikaze shopping experience at the mall--I basically ran around trying to grab presents for everyone on my list in less than an hour. Now I am recovering with some iced sugar cookies that I BOUGHT FOR MYSELF (who does this?) from Cheryl & Co. Betsy, this is your fault girl, b/c when I read about them on your blog, I immediately browsed on over to their website and sent myself a little present. In the form of more cellulite on my thighs.

Are you SERIOUS??

Can someone please tell me why my baby has decided that A) she hates her carseat, and B) she will not tolerate a nap?

Seriously, we were doing so well! WHAT is the problem? I need mommy-advice ASAP!

Christmas!!

**Um, I just found this post in my list of unpublished posts....oops. So yes. I am posting about Christmas.....on January 18th. Why not, my Christmas tree's STILL up, so clearly I am living in denial about Christmas being over.**

Christmas is pretty much my FAVORITE time of year. For lots of reasons, obviously first and foremost being Jesus....And, now that I don't have to worry that you'll think I'm not really a Christian, or that I forgot why we celebrate Christmas in the first place, let me tell you a few of my other reasons too.



1. Because I LOVE giving gifts. Love it! And I am so not about to be the person who gives you something practical either. In my opinion, gifts should be something fun that you wouldn't buy yourself. John and I have very different approaches on this, as illustrated by his response when I asked him what he wanted for Christmas and he said "nothing." Say what?! Do you not know me at all? To which he replied, "Okay, then get me some diapers." Hmmmm, I wasn't aware you were wearing diapers these days, honey. And then my favorite response...."Why don't you just make me something?" Since we know that I am A) not crafty, and B) not culinary, you are taking a BIG RISK with that one, babe.



Clearly, you can see our problem. I like to make it easy by compiling a wish list, complete with links, sizes, and order of preference. I'm kidding. Or not.



2. Christmas decorations! I seriously love putting them up, and completely hate taking them down. They may or may not have stayed up until February last year. We got started on them yesterday, and in assembling our pre-lit tree, found out that about half of the lights don't work. John suggested getting another strand of lights and filling in the gaps. Lazy Sherri is wondering if some creative ornament arranging might cover up some of the un-lit spaces.



3. Peppermint Lattes. Needs no explanation.



4. Christmas parties! I feel like we usually go through about 3 solid weeks of nonstop parties. This year's been a little trickier with the baby though, since apparently most people don't have parties that last from 6-7:30pm.



5. Christmas cards! How fun is it to see pictures of your favorite people, along with any new additions (babies, puppies, etc) from the past year? Unfortunately, this falls into my "good intentions, but" category. As in, I had good intentions of doing a Christmas card, but it just didn't happen this year. Or last year. Or the year before that. Actually, I'm pretty sure we've only managed one Christmas card in the last five years. Oops. It was a good one though, we were even wearing red and green.



Now, to be grinch-like, and tell you the (very) few things I don't like about this time of year:



Lenox Mall

Traffic

My tv shows going on break til January

Eggnog

Fruitcake (I tried some the other day, and am pretty sure I threw up in my mouth a little bit.)

Oh Crap.....Literally.

So, I COULD write about how Ally Grace weighed 10lbs and 5oz at her 2 month checkup the other day. Or, how sad it was to watch her get her shots (worse for mommy than it was for baby). Or maybe I should write about how she ROLLED OVER yesterday during tummy time! Yes! And I could write about how cute it was to watch her get stuck halfway, and how I sat and cheered her on until she finally got it.

But, I'm not actually going to talk about any of those things today. Instead I'm going to write about how I was just standing in one of my favorite home stores, minding my own dang business, when I literally got showered with poop water. Showered. With. Poop. Water. And yes, I have washed my entire body approximately 57 times to make sure that I'm not gonna get a parasite or some other nasty funk from who knows what was in that water. (But, I'm pretty sure it was poop, so yeah. Good times.)

Seriously, this would ONLY happen to me. Because out of the 15 people in the store when it happened, I was the one standing near the pipe that burst in the ceiling from the condos above the store. The pipe that then proceeded to shower down brown water with even browner particles in it. Which splashed all over the right side of my body. Thank the good Lord that I wasn't standing directly underneath it, because I might have had a nervous breakdown right then and there.

Several ladies (who were watching me with "better you than me, sister" looks) offered to get me some antibacterial wipes from their car. And the shop owner was sweet, and offered to let me go scrub myself in their bathroom. Which I took him up on. (Although I'm thinking it would've been sweeter to offer me a big fat credit at their store, or maybe free shopping for life).

In summary, I am pretty sure that, no matter what, your day is better than mine. Unless you've been hit in the face with poop.

Serious Cuteness

I mean, really? Are you not melting into a big puddle right now? We've been trying to catch her in a smile for weeks, and yesterday, John JUST managed to get one of her with my cell phone. I am IN LOVE with this little girl. I just know that this little face will NEVER do anything wrong. She will always be sweet and respectful, and I'm sure we'll never fight about anything, right?

Riiiiiiight.

So last week, we had a couple of firsts: Ally Grace had her very first shopping trip. A girl's gotta learn early! And mommy had her very first nursing in public experience. And by public, I mean in the ladies lounge in Macy's, wearing a Hooter Hider. But still. I felt pretty hardcore. A lady approached me and asked me about my nursing cover, saying that she needed to get one for her daughter (who just had a baby). I told her to google Hooter Hider, and she could probably find one that way.

I also told her I am not to be held responsible for anything else she might find when googling Hooter Hiders.

Ally Grace hit 8 weeks old on Thursday! I can't believe that it's been 8 weeks already. (I also can't believe she was ever curled up inside my belly. It seems like a weird and slightly horrifying fairy tale).

Anyway, she's getting so big! We've gotten to watch little chins (yes, chins) and fat rolls pop up, which is so adorable. At her last pediatrician appointment, she weighed 9lbs and 5oz, so I'm excited to see what she weighs when we go to her 2 month appointment today.

I'm sure you're all on the edge of your seats. Or not.

I'll leave you with a couple of photos from the last week or two....enjoy!

Look at this little bear.....how adorable is this outfit? Her face is telling me that she may or may not completely love it.

I think she's starting to feel a little sassier here. But who wouldn't feel super sassy in paw print booties? Or maybe she's just about to cry. I can already envision the fights we'll have about her outfits. On a side note, I am totally the type of mom who can't wait to say "Because I said so."

Um, why is she already as tall as we are?

Her "Jim Halpert face."

Have a great Monday!