How many people can make you feel extraordinary?

"A dog has no use for fancy cars, big homes, or designer clothes. A water log stick will do just fine. A dog doesn't care if your rich or poor, clever or dull, smart or dumb. Give him your heart and he'll give you his. How many people can you say that about? How many people can make you feel rare and pure and special? How many people can make you feel extraordinary?"


I just finished watching the movie "Marley and Me". I had read the book a few years ago and I cried then. So I knew when I watched the movie tonight there would be tears again. As usual the book is always more in depth and John Grogan is an amazing writer. It was probably easy to turn this into a book because as you read you see the people come to life. For him, since it was his life, he was able to tell his story.

Of course the book is about Marley, their dog, but it is also about family... family and how as you go through life, things change and what you may have thought at some point was important, really doesn't compare to what is important now. How no matter how crazy some of your days (and nights) are, you are still there for each other.

As I watched this movie tonight, sitting next to my husband, with my baby falling asleep in my arms and my 3 dogs at the end of the bed. I thought to myself how lucky I am to be loved by all 5 of them. they are my little family. I remember writing in one of my first blog posts about how my family began with my dogs. any dog lover out there knows what I mean. They are your four legged children. And even though sometimes Lexie, Maggie and Annabelle drive me crazy, I love them so much!

At the end of the movie the oldest child was watching videos of when he was little and how Marley was always a part of birthdays, holidays and all of life's events. I said "We have to start taking more video". With Joey nearing the 6 month mark, I think of all of the moments we have already had. I think I do a pretty good job of taking pictures, but I want more video. There is nothing like looking back at his pictures of when he was a newborn and how much he has changed and grown. He is so smart and amazes me more everyday.

So to answer the question at the beginning... My family makes me feel extraordinary! And my family includes my four legged children. :)

In the picture above- Lexie, Maggie and Annabelle instantly fell in love with Joey when we brought him home. (Feb 2010)

Mmmmmm... Carrots are good!

Today we gave Joey his first official solid food! Ok... well as solid as baby food can be. He had carrots. After a few faces of uncertainty, he actually seemed to enjoy this new experience. I have to say, at least the carrots smelled better than the rice cereal, so I would imagine they had to taste better too. Baby food sure looks alot different then what I remember. It used to be little round glass jars and now it comes in little rectangular plastic containers. The good thing is they are resealable and you can refrigerate them for up to 3 days. Being that we are trying "food" a little bit at a time, Joey will be munching on this one tomorrow also.

Adventures with rice cereal

At Joey's 4 month checkup the Dr. said we could start trying rice cereal as an introduction to solids and when he gets closer to 6 months to start some of the solids. We have been working on eating rice cereal for a few weeks now. At first Joey was not so sure about the whole sitting in the high chair thing. He is quite the wiggle worm, so he thinks its funny when I try to put him in there to move his feet. On the first try we got a few bites in. He was still trying to push it out with his tongue and made the funniest faces when he was attempting to "eat". Each night he eats a little bit more and now he opens his mouth for me when he sees the spoon. He loves sitting in his high chair now too. So this week I think we are going to attempt carrots as our "first food".

Mommy's all-star

I love baseball. Yep. it is probably my favorite sport. I always remember watching baseball on TV growing up. I even went to a few Atlanta Braves games with my Dad. I remember the stadium being so big... but maybe it was because I was "little". I played softball in middle school and high school. It was so much fun. It is such a classy sport... well if you can call a sport classy. The uniforms are usually nice and neat. No crazy colors or logos (for the most part). It has tradition.

Baseball is the one sport that my hubby and I can agree on. We are both Yankees fans. I'm not sure when I became a "Yankee fan", I know when I was little I watched the Braves, but some where along the way I started watching the Yankees. I think its the pinstripes... they do have a great looking uniform. :) But they have some great players. I was so excited last year when they won the World Series. I even wrote in Joey's baby book. So one day he can say "the yankees were World Series champs when I was born!" that and it snowed! (It never snows in Hilton Head, SC) but that's a whole other story.

So tonight Joey watched part of the All star game with us. I'm not sure what he really sees when he looks at the TV, but he sure seemed interested. I have never been to a Yankee game, well i have never been to New York for that matter. So I hope that the love of baseball and our 1st Yankee game is something me and my little all-star can share. :)

5 months old

Its hard to believe that this time last year I was pregnant. In my first trimester, sick, starting to show (but really just looked like I ate to many donuts for breakfast), pregnant. at that point I didn't even know if it was a boy or girl, so I had a millions thoughts going through my mind. from what color eyes and hair, to how to decorate the room, to "will I make it through this??" The beginning is rough... there is so much going on mentally physically and emotionally, you are on a roller coaster for a little while.

Fast forward 1 year...

Joey turned 5 months old today. As I write this he is lying here next to me making noises and moving all around. This kid is going to run before he walks. He doesn't stop... talking... kicking... grabbing things... He rolls over and is almost sitting up. He can hold onto things and almost hold his own bottle. He amazes me everyday with something he does.

It is amazing how fast he grows and how smart he is. Just 5 months ago he was this little guy who I held in my arms and seemed so small. I look at newborn clothes now and think "was he really this small?" OK. so he was never really "small". 8lbs. 12 oz. at birth is not small. :) But now that he weighs in a little over 16 lbs. he was "small". Wow. In 5 months he has doubled in size. I wonder where we will be at 10 months?

5 months ago...

Joey's first vacation!

The first year of a baby's life is filled with "firsts". Even though all of these things your baby will probably do a million times, there is something special about capturing those first moments. Joey is 4 1/2 months old now and we have had so many fun firsts. This past weekend we had a bunch of "firsts". Not only did we have our first vacation with a 5 hours drive to Florida to go see Nana, but he also got to experience the beach and the pool for the first time.

We left on Friday morning... days, yes days before this I was doing laundry and packing Joey's things. Being this was the first time we have gone out of town with him, i really wasn't sure how much or even what to take. So I started with the obvious... diapers, wipes, formula, etc. That was easy. you can never have to much of any of that. But when I went to try to figure what clothes to bring... well... I think I went a little overboard. He is going through this phase right now where he is drooling like crazy (I'm pretty sure he is teething) so we go through a bunch of bibs everyday. Sometimes is so much he gets the tops of his shirts wet (which he hates) so we end up changing that to. So I packed a bunch of bibs, a bunch of onesies and some other stuff. needless to say we had more stuff for the kid than for ourselves. lol.

The trip started out well. He had his toys in the back and then took a nap. We stopped in Darien, GA to change and feed him and walked around for a little bit at the outlets there. I wanted to get him out of the car seat. Then we got back on the road. We stopped at the Florida visitors center and got out and stretched again. And of course did the obligitory photo in front of the "Welcome to Florida" sign. We were probably about half way there and he just started crying like he was saying "I'm over being in this car, get me out!" I couldn't blame him... I was tired of being in the car myself. I ended up jumping in the back seat, making him a bottle and feeding him as we were driving. he went back to sleep and was fine until we got there. We got checked in, had dinner and he was so tired I laid him down on the bed and he was out. Little itty bitty guy in the king size bed was too funny.

On Saturday we woke up (at 7am... Joey doesn't understand vacation time yet) and got ready to go to the beach. this meant lots of sunscreen and his new monkey swimsuit from Gymboree. Then we lugged the cooler and our bags and towels down to the beach. I guess all of that walking made him sleepy, because he was passed out by the time we got down there.

Once he woke up, he played in the sand and got to put his feet in the ocean for the first time. He wasn't to sure about the water (it was a little cold).
Then we went up to the pool for a little while. i had bought this great turtle floatie thing for him at Target and was excited to try it out. he was not so excited... After that it was time to go to the room and take a nap... all of us. :)
So we learned a lot of things from this first trip as a family of 3. Well... we learn new things everyday being parents. you figure out what works best and what to never try again. You realize that not everything you read while you were pregnant will happen and that it is possible to do stuff with a little one. the biggest thing you learn is that you have to plan things, yet still be flexible. because what baby needs/wants comes first. We have 3 more days of vacation left... then back to work. Joey starts with his new nanny on Friday and his 4 month checkup is in the morning. So a few more "firsts" will be added to the list. It is hard to believe its almost July. Time does fly... even more reason to really enjoy all of the "firsts". :)

Vote for Joey!

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Bath time is now splash time!

Joey has always been a mover and a shaker. He was always moving when I was preggo and even as a newborn he was very alert and loved to move his arms and legs. He is now really learning how to grab his toys and use his hands. He also is trying to hold his own bottle (but somehow always seems to pull it out of his mouth and not be able to get it back in). He is of course rolling over as seen in my previous post and now his favorite thing to do is splashing the water in his whale tub. For the past two days he has been kicking his feet in the water and tonight he figured out how to take his hand and splash. Ok, so maybe it was an accident, but he thought it was hilarious. I think the whale tub may be moving from the kitchen sink to the bathroom otherwise we are going to have one wet kitchen :)

Rolling over

The days of being still are gone for my little guy. He is officially rolling over. both ways... from his back to his front... from his front to his back. There is no keeping this kid still. He has been really good at getting on to his side for a while now. in the past few days he has finally figured out how to get his arm out of the way and get all the way over.

He goes to the Doctor for his 4 month checkup on the 24th of this month. One of the things they check for is to make sure he is strong enough to push himself up. Well no problem there... He loves sitting up already with help, so I'm sure he will be sitting up on his own in no time.

Mama told me.... when I was young

There are many times as a mother you think of things differently. Tonight we were watching American Idol and its down to the final 3. I have been a fan of Crystal Bowersox all season, but tonight I have to say I was completely blown away by Lee Dewyze. Maybe it was because of the song choice... He sang "Simple Man", by Lynard Skynard. I have always liked this song, but tonight when I listened to the lyrics they had more meaning to me. I have a son now and these words are what I would want him to hear. He was waking up from his nap as the song was still on. I picked him up and danced with him in my arms and sang to him. These days there are not to many things on TV that can bring a tear to your eye, but tonight as I held my son in my arms, I did have tears. Not sad tears, but hopeful tears... that my little boy will have an amazing life. And that I can do everything possible to guide him in the right direction. These are the things that every mom would want for her son...

Mama told me when I was young
Come sit beside me, my only son
And listen closely to what I say.
And if you do this
It will help you some sunny day.
Take your time... Don't live too fast,
Troubles will come and they will pass.
Go find a woman and you'll find love,
And don't forget son,
There is someone up above.

And be a simple kind of man.
Be something you love and understand.
Be a simple kind of man.
Won't you do this for me son,
If you can?

My First Mother's Day

There are many things in your life you get to experience for the first time. Today I celebrated my First Mother's day as a Mom (Not that I haven't been a "mom", because of course I have my furbabies... Lexie, Maggie and Annabelle.) But today meant so much more because now understand what it feels like to have a child on Mother's Day. It makes you respect and appreciate all of the Mom's out there.

We went to Savannah today and had lunch with Mom, Dad and Bren. After that we took Joey to meet his Great Grandma Christine for the first time. Grandma is in a nursing home so it has been difficult to take him before now because he was so little. She was so excited to meet him and he smiled and smiled at her.

                                 Joey and his Great Grandma Christine

The older you get you understand how important family is. Even though Joey is little now, one day he will be able to look back and have all of these wonderful memories that we are creating everyday. Life goes by so fast that sometimes we just have to stop and reflect on what is really important. The little things don't matter and even though there are rough times as long as you have the ones that love you... You can make it through anything.

My favorite boys! You are my world! I love you!

It's not easy

There have been several times I have cried as a mom...  

On the day Joey was born... I cried tears of happiness. 

On some of those first days when I thought I might never sleep again... I cried tears of exhaustion.

On the day he turned a month old... I cried tears of joy.

On the day I went back to work... I cried tears of uncertainty

On the day Joey got his first shots... I cried for a good ten minutes... he cried for about two

Today I cried the tears of a mom. My little boy has a cold. He has a stuffy nose and cough. We took him to the doctor and there is really nothing they can do. But it breaks my heart to see him cough and sneeze. When he cries, I cry... because there is nothing I can do to make his pain go away. I'm sure today will be the first of many times I will want to be able to snap my fingers and make it all better for him. It is probably the most difficult thing about being a parent. You have so much love for your child and want everything to be ok. I have to keep reminding myself... EVERYTHING WILL BE OK.  And it is when I look at this little smile. :)

What day is it?

I woke up Monday morning at 7:15 am to my alarm going. Normally I wake up because Joey is stirring and is about to get up. But on this particular morning the alarm went off. I hit the button and rolled over. Christian said to me " Did you get up with him?" I said "no, you didn't?" He said no. I had to think to myself... What day is this? Maybe I was disoriented because I had just slept a whole 8 hours. I can not tell you the last time I slept that long. Must have been before I was pregnant, because I certainly didn't sleep well during my pregnancy. In the beginning because I had to pee all the time and then as the bump got bigger, there was no getting comfortable.

Anyway, back to Monday...  It was the first night my little guy slept through the night! He slept from 11pm to 7:15am. I was so excited. But somehow during the day I didn't feel as rested as I thought I should. Maybe because I have gotten used to only 5-6 hours of sleep at a time. Either way I was still really happy about my 10 week old sleeping through the night. not only that, but Tuesday and Wednesday night, he slept 7-8 hours. So hopefully this is the start of some longer nights of sleep. :)

No time for that

So I have not sat down to write anything in a week and a half. Boy have I been busy and well... tired. My last post was after my first day back to work after being on maternity leave for 3 months. I was excited to be back and kinda had a new energy. Now a bit later I am not quite as energized and excited to be back. I know I'm still getting into the routine of life with a baby (and I am extremely lucky to have a pretty good little boy) and I really did miss my girls at work... its great to get to see them everyday and catch up on their lives. I have a new boss now who I got to meet this week for the first time and he is fantastic and I already enjoy working for him. BUT... the one thing I did not miss at all was the drama that some people cause for no damn reason. 

Maybe now that I am a mom I have a different outlook on things. I know I do have more patience now and things that at one point in my life may have mattered really don't now. What matters is my little boy, my husband and my family. When you have a child you don't really think about yourself as much, because now everything that you do is for that little smile you get when you get home from work. That little person who depends on you for everything, who's whole world revolves around yours and yours around theirs. You can not be a selfish person. Selfish people seem to be the ones that cause the drama. They can not look past them selves to see that there are more important things in life.

So for those drama causing people out there. They can stay out of my world. This mom has no time for that. What this mom does have time for is wonderful family and friends and the people who love and support me even when I'm having a bad day. 

Back to life, back to reality

It is true that the older you get the quicker that time seems to pass. When I went on maternity leave it felt like it was so far way when I had to go back to work. I remember counting the weeks in my head and think "yay, I still have a while". But the days (of feeding, changing, napping while I could) and nights (of feeding, changing, napping while I could) went by quickly and now its back to work. 

Even though I have been doing my job for over 3 years now, it was still a bit strange to go back to work. It felt almost like the first day of school... where you know you have been to this place before, but you have been off for the summer.  You get to see your friends that you have not seen as much (and of course you all have stories to tell) So much can change in a few months. You have not set an alarm clock in a while and your sleep schedule may be a bit messed up from staying up late ( or in my case staying up late and then getting up to feed the little one). Your a little bit more grown up now and have a new exciting year ahead of you. And even though you know that you have to get back in to your routine, their is something somewhat refreshing to be back. You have a renewed sense of trying to be the best you can be and you tell your self you will do better than you ever have.

So today was my first day of school... err... I mean work :) 

Today was also Joey's first day at "daycare". Yes, mommy did cry. Even though I am so lucky to have him at someone's home and she is great with him, it was hard to leave my little guy. You get used to holding him and making silly faces and taking an afternoon nap together. He was such a little trooper. He was smiling when I left and didn't think twice about me saying goodbye. I guess it one of those many moments in life that I will not want to let him go (literally and figuratively). It's just another one of the many firsts that we will have with him. Another point in time that has passed in the blur of memories I am trying to keep in my head and my heart. 

That is, after all, the reason I have this blog... so that I can remember. :)

 

MaggieBelle's is on Etsy

My store Maggiebelle's is now on Etsy

check it out:

Joey's 1st Easter

Holidays always seemed to mean so much more when we were kids and now that I have a little one of my own it is great to be able to "relive" the excitement of a holiday with him. Now I know that he is only 7 weeks old and he doesn't understand that the Easter Bunny came to see him last night and left a basket full of goodies, but it was still fun for me (the mom) to be excited about the bunny stopping by.

We went to see the Easter Bunny on Thursday at the 
Mall in Hilton Head and got his picture taken. He was very good and not scared of the giant furry bunny holding him (we will see if he is just as good when it comes time to see Santa). I always feel like he is a "big" little guy, not fat, but he is long and already weighs 13 lbs. But when he was in the bunny's arm's he looks so tiny... it was so cute. The photographer  
was great and he will be 
doing the Santa pictures 
to, so we will definitely 
be going back to him 
in December. 
                                                                                                                                                                                                        
Today we went to Savannah to see Mimi and Grandpa. I got him this cute little outfit from Carter's and he had a "baby's 1st Easter" bib. I have found that it is tough to find a big selection for under 6 months, it is mostly sleep/play sets. It was a gorgeous day out and nice to just hang out and relax with the family. We had some yummy food and got to play with Joey's new toys that Mimi got him. She got him this great Tummy time mat. It has a froggy on it (after monkeys and elephants, froggy's are his next favorite thing) .  :)

Being grown up

You know you are an adult when you get excited about buying a new washer and dryer. Well that and we got an AMAZING deal on them at Lowe's. Not that we had planned on going out and spending $1300 today, but when we went to wash some clothes last night and heard the worst screeching noise and the washer smelled like it was burning, we didn't have a choice. Any of you that have children know that doing laundry is pretty much a daily thing, so being with out a wash machine for very long is NOT an option.

After looking online and going to Home Depot and BestBuy, we went to Lowe's and there it was...

The perfect washer on clearance for $599! The others we had looked at were only 4 cu feet, this one was 4.4 cu feet and cheaper!! So of course my first question was "do you have the matching dryer?" We the guy said they had them both brand new in the box, I said "we will take them"!

So not that I need any more credit cards, but they had 6 months no interest, so I applied and got approved. We will pay it off in 6 months. :)

Oh and did I mention free next day delivery and installation?? Yeah... Lowe's rocks.

They say everything happens for a reason and finding a deal like this makes me believe even more. 

Happy Birthday!!

Today is Christian's 30th birthday!! 

Can you forget how to drive?

So I have not driven my car for about 9 weeks now. For the 4 weeks before I had Joey, it was because I couldn't. I was uncomfortable and in pain. Then once I had him, well it was still uncomfortable and I was in pain for a few weeks. That and when I went anywhere it was really only to the doctor and I was always with Christian, so he drove. 

Today I had my 6 week checkup (I can't believe that this Friday it will be six weeks since Joey was born). After we left the doctor, we had to take Christian's truck to get the oil changed. So I needed to follow him in my car to drop the truck off. All of a sudden I thought to myself... I have to drive?? This is weird. Not bad weird, just weird. It was then I realized how long it had been since I drove. I have a 2008 Honda Civic SI. It is stick shift. This is when I thought to myself... Can you forget how to drive?? It's like a bike right? You don't forget right? Don't get me wrong, I LOVE MY CAR, And I have always loved driving... but do I remember how to drive?

The best way I can describe how I felt when I got in the driver seat was the way you feel when you get in a car you have never driven before, for the first time. You have been a passenger in the car. You know how to control the radio and how all the buttons work, but you have not been behind the wheel.

 This is me the when i got my car 2 yrs ago... about to drive it off the lot

So I get in... I of course have to move the seat up (since I'm shorter than my hubby). I put it in first gear and off we go. To make this an even stranger "first drive", it was the first time I had Joey in the backseat as a "passenger". It was strange at first, but it is like riding a bike. You don't forget. and I have to say it felt good to drive again. It just another step to get back to "normal". Well as "normal" as life can be after you have a child. 

We also had another first today. We took Joey inside his first restaurant while we ate. Ok, not like a sit down and get served restaurant... it was Jersey Mike's (they have amazing sandwiches by the way), but still a food establishment. He was an angel of course (he was asleep the whole time). But again, it felt good and "normal".  :)