Hoping to win custom art from Modern Bird Studios – custom art with soul!!

Admittedly, I haven't posted in awhile, but I'm hoping to win a contest online and this is one of the entries for me to potentially win. Keep your fingers and toes crossed for me!!

Jill's blog is really funny, so I hope you'll check it out. She puts motherhood into a perspective where you're laughing with her at things you'd never seen the humor in before. Here is the link to her site (and the contest post)-

http://babyrabies.com/2010/02/09/modern-bird-studios-custom-art-with-soul/

Santa & the Cook's Children's Toy Drive

We went to a toy drive on December 13th sponosred by Coltom and his mom Katie. The drive benefitted Cook Children’s Medical Center. Sheri took a photo with Santa (and so did mommy!)


Jessica, Leah, Sheri and me at the Toy Drive with Santa!

Halloween 2009

Here are a few pics from our friends Rhi and Ike's Halloween Party!

YAY! (Tooth Appearing)

The top of one of Sheri's teeth has finally broken through her gums! DH was worried she'd end up toothless forever, LOL! On a random side note, she keeps trying to loan me her teether this morning- not my idea of a good snack!!

Aunt Jen's Visit

Sheri finally got to meet her 'auntie' Jen who lives in Philly!!

Sheri Waves/Happy Fourth of July!!

Sheri started waving on Independence Day!! Leave it to little miss to wait until she has an audience to demonstrate new skills!!

Sheri Drives the Grocery Cart

Here is Sheridan's first experience 'driving' the car on the front of the grocery cart. She's working on her learner's permit ;) They have new carts where there's a t.v. in the car now. Guess we'll have to try that one next time!

Uncle Tee got married this weekend!

Sheri's Uncle Tee (my big brother) has officially tied the knot!! I was a bridesmaid in the wedding party. Sheri wore a pretty pale green dress to coordinate with the wedding colors (she's got fantastic taste!)

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Sheri is hooked on Baby Signing Time!

Whenever we start up a Baby Signing Time DVD, Sheri is enthralled. It actually shocked me, as she doesn't watch many shows with so much interest. It's still pretty early on, so she's not trying to sign yet, but I can't wait until she does. It will be a wonderful way for us to communicate before she learns how to talk. The DVDs keep her captivated long enough for me to pump or start dinner. Rachel Acevedo-Coleman and the rest of the Signing Time crew have no clue how indebted I am to them!!

Happy Easter!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Sheridan's First Park Playdate

Sheri loved spending time at the park today. She and I met up at Legacy Park in Arlington with another lady from our Dallas moms board and I think the little girls had a blast! Sheridan konked out before we even left the park. She played until she passed out (literally!) I can't wait for more fun at the park this weekend with an even bigger group of D/FW moms!

Click on the photo to open the slideshow!!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Hey, mom- stop kissing me! I'm not Irish!!

There Once Was a Baby Who Never Napped After Noon...

Such could make the beginings of an interesting story, if that story weren't my current predicament and said 'baby' wasn't my child. Sheri is now what's called a 'supported sitter' (meaning she's not quite sitting up on her own yet.) Unfortunately for us, it also means that she doesn't want to lay down most of the time. She's discovered the world is a lot larger than she realized; filled with intrigue and wonders yet to be discovered by her drool-covered fists. Ever the independant child, she's always on the go, ready to flit from exersaucer to playmat to simply lying on her back, chewing on her rattle and kicking her plump little legs.

You would think I'd be ecstatic about her rapidly advancing mobility, but the disappearing afternoon nap gives me even less time to get things on my mental 'To Do' list accomplished. The better part of the morning is generally shot, by the time I get Sheri up for the day, dressed, fed and through a quick round of playtome before her morning nap, I'm already behind schedule. They say sleep when baby sleeps, but that rarely pans out in our house. Sheri's naptimes are used to eat, pump, take Sasha out, wash bottles, attempt to clean something around the house, search for a job, squeeze in my turn on Scrabble Beta, fix dinner, rinse and repeat.

As you might have noticed, the length of my general list far exceeds the amount of time my Munchkin now devotes to daytime sleep. As we speak, she's been up for nearly 3 hours and is currently kicking and cooing at the ceiling fan. Where has naptime gone? Will it ever return, bringing back with it the semblance of actually accomplishing tasks during the second half of my day? She used to get in four naps when she was with my mom during the day. Is being at home really so different? Why do we only manage one long morning nap, an afternoon nap and little to no more sleep until bedtime?


Today's 'To Do' List

1. Help dad with Sunday School Organizational Chart before noon bulletin deadline.

2. Look for and apply for at least 2 jobs.

3. Contact former employer about certificate to switch over to AJ's insurance AGAIN (this will be call #5.)

4. Make the bed.

5. Put away Sheri's folded clothes.

6. Cook dinner.

7. Feed Sasha/take for her afternoon walk.

8. Get the mail.

9. Pump at least 4 times; aim for 5-6 to boost supply.

10. Create brochure for church men's month ministry outreach.

11. Get Sheridan down for another nap.

So far, I've accomplished 1, half of 9 and I'm working on #10. 5-8 probably won't be done until AJ gets home. Number 11 was just accomplished after numerous attempts, a bottle, playing, patting, pleading and praying. Number 4 is now a joke. 2 and 3 will carry over to tomorrow. There's always tomorrow, right?

Happy Hearts Day!!

Sure, Valentine's Day is one of the 'Hallmark Holidays' that's geared far more towards capital generation than anything, but I'm still a sucker for romance! Here's Sheri playing with a bear at Nana's on Valentine's Day. Happy Hearts Day!!

New Year's Baby!

Sheridan (and AJ almost) rang in the New Year fast asleep. I woke Daddy up so he wouldn't miss the ball dropping on t.v. and we toasted with sparkling cider. Happy New Year!!

We had brunch at our place on New Year's Day. Here's Sheri with her uncle Darrion.

Happy Turkey Day!

Sheridan's First Thanksgiving (at 6 weeks old) No turkey for you this year, sweetie!!

We're Home!

Our homecoming was a pretty smooth event. AJ and Jeremy installed the carseat Saturday- with plenty of time to spare before we left the hospital on Sunday.

Sheridan and Sasha met for the first time and it went pretty well. Acutally, Sasha didn't notice Sheridan was there until Sheri sarted crying over her diaper being wet (at which point Sasha started barking!) They met each other soon after and they've gotten along famously since then; no jealousy at all. Actually, I think Sasha has more patience with Sheridan than she does with us!

Sheri is here! (Our Birth Story)

Here are the details of our labor and delivery: I woke up Friday morning at 2:11 a.m. with what felt like bad cramping with a side of extra pain. Assuming I was finally experiencing the beginnings of 'false labor', I went to the bathroom and felt a bit better for about three minutes. Then the next wave hit. Trying to be considerate (and still believing that I wasn't in labor and would be going to work and my scheduled OB appointment in a few hours), I decided to try resting in the guest bedroom so I wouldn't wake AJ. That worked for about five minutes so I started walking the hallway trying to deal with the pain. Things started feeling worse and for a split second, I thought maybe I'm going into labor after all. So, I woke him up at a little after 3:00 and told him I thought I was having contractions.

He hopped up and started getting dressed and I was telling him not to rush; they weren't five minutes apart yet so it wasn't time to go to the hospital and you were only supposed to call the doctor if they were ten minutes apart. He reasoned that if I'd been having contractions since 2 and I'd had more than six (I'd had three since waking him up and starting this discussion) that I was gretty close to five minutes apart already. So, we started timing the contractions while he called the OB's after-hours number. Dr. White told us to head over to the hospital. I got dressed, AJ walked Sasha (I insisted she go out in case we weren't coming home in an hour or two- but I'm still not believing I'm in labor.) Then, I threw up and it hit me; they mentioned vomiting as a sign of early labor in class- maybe I'm really in labor after all! So we got in the car and sped to the hospital (he's a very cautious speeder though, so it was still okay) I was trying not to sit flat in the seat because the contractions seemed to hurt more that way. We're practicing breathing exercises in the car and AJ is trying to take my focus off the pain (which was only really bad on the stronger contractions.)

We were already preregistered at the hospital, so it didn't take us long to get signed in and moved into a room. There, I changed into a gown and they checked my cervix, finding me fully effaced and dilated to a 3. I told the nurse I wanted to walk to help my labor progress. We did laps around the floor for 30 minutes and then they cheked me again. I was at a 4. We decided on another round of walking. Checked again and I was dilated to a 4 1/2. So, we got the birth ball out and I sat on it while AJ massaged my back. I was so tired, I lay there snoozing on the ball in between the really bad contractions when the resident on call told me that I could get my epidural whenever I wanted. I told her that we learned in class that getting your epidural before a certain point )I believe 7 was the magic number) slowed down labor. After she assured us this wasn't true so long as your contractions were coming in regular intervals, I told them to send over the anesthesiologist. I got a light epidural (because I wanted my body to be able to still tell that I was in labor.) Soon after this, I flet better but the monitoring process began in full (because they won't let you walk around anymore and they give you a catherter after you get your epidural.)

My OB (Dr. Robert White) came in a later and told me I was dilated to a 5 but my contractions had stopped (I wasn't too happy about that because that's why I was trying to hold off in the first place!) Dr. White told me they were going to give me Pitocin to start my contractions again and he warned that we might have to do a C-section if I continued without progressing. I told him that I wasn't going to think about a C-section until we absolutely had to and I also asked if there was an option oher than Pitocin to get my contractions going again. His answer; 'Wait until tomorrow to have the baby'- not an option I was willing to consider! My nurse Teresa (who rocked) assuredly whispered to me that we were going to have this baby naturally; She became someone I'll love for life when she said that. They then inserted an internal monitor to follow my contractions and gave me the Pitocin followed by epinephrine to raise my blood pressure (which dipped a little because of the Pitocin.) Soon after, my membranes ruptured and Teresa and AJ (who was watching the screen to monitor my progress) told me that my contractions were back on track and we'd be having this baby soon. I was feeling pain again so they sent the anesthesiologist back in. I was still numb from the waist down, but I could feel my contractions so he gave me a different drug for the actual pain instead of upping my epi (which wold have been pointless.)

They checked me again and found I was dilated to a 10 but my station was at a 0 and I needed to be close to a 2. They sent for my OB and began to prep for the actual delivery. Delivery went quickly; I was able to feel a little bit of my contractions by then (because the last drug only lasted about 2 hours as the anesthesiologist told me it would) and I was ready for my little girl to be here. The nurse gave me a quick recap lesson on pushing and we got started.

After 38 minutes of pushing, Sheridan Elizabeth made her debut 10 days early on 10/10 at 3:58 p.m. weighing 5 lbs. 13 oz. She had a little meconium in her lungs when she was born so they immediately took her to the warmer to suction her instead of handing her to me like they typically do. AJ followed them over to watch the process and make sure everythng was okay; he didn't get to cut the cord (which he decided he wanted to do while we were going through delivery- that came as a shock) because they had to get her suctioned. She's got a headful of curly black hair and she's adorable; I'm in love!! AJ has handled the bodily fluids of the baby so well (which is shocking for him to be okay with); he told me he's okay with her spitting up on him, pooping and everything else. She peed on him during a diaper change yesterday and he was still fine. We're all doing well.

Surprise Work Baby Shower

Fort Worth Baby Shower