Some pics

Here are some new photos for you all to enjoy...

I put this one just b/c it's the only one that shows all 4 teeth - I know it's early to tell and these are just baby teeth, but I think that Caleb will have the same gap in his top front teeth that Alex and his mom have. It's super cute. I think it will be a gap and not just a little extra baby-tooth room b/c it's pretty big. We'll see what happens. :)


I think that this was a lounge in the house Sunday or Saturday...and a bad hair day apparently.

It's fun to play on Mommy!


Bath-time is a fun time! He likes his duckies - actually he likes anything that is on the rim of the tub!


Funny face! I bet it made you laugh! I think he was splashing his hands on the water on the tub's edge.

Still cooking - Coraline

Ann Marie has just one month left in her pregnancy! And then we get to meet little Miss Coraline!!! I can't wait!

Last week, Alex shot pregnancy photos for Ann Marie and Eddie - here are some of my favorites.











This one is my absolute favorite! It just FEELS like Ann Marie and Eddie to me - this shot makes me happy.

Zoo Day

A quick post while I drink my coffee before getting Caleb up to take him to the school.

I'm so happy to have a 'mommy-post' -- I'm forever jealous of Lourdes' giant clan of mommies and babies that she always hangs out with.

This past Saturday, 8 mommies and babies went to the Zoo. We all met in our breastfeeding group while on maternity leave. Really, I never see or talk to any of them since returning to work, with the exception of my friend Jackie. We were in the same childbirth class for 8 weeks before our little ones came. Hers is Nina Sophia - gorgeous! Caleb was crawling around after her....she's cute, I don't blame him.

Brown Paper Baby

--Edited so that the video isn't set to private any longer...

It's October yet again - my favorite month - not for any other reason other than it is the start of 'Fall'. I get excited about Fall even though my 2 years in Tennessee in college were the only ones where i experienced the season. Here in Miami it is still Fall, though, sans cooler temps or pretty leaves. It is still 90-some-odd degrees and humid. Oh well - I guess Starbucks will have to be solely responsible for meeting my fall expectations with Pumpkin Spice Lattes and pumpkin bread. **sigh**

Alex and I have been - you guessed - crazy busy. I'm tired. Caleb has been sick. He got a cold about 8 weeks ago and it has waxed and waned in intensity over that time. When I think it's almost gone it returns with an ear infection. Last Tuesday I took him to the doctor because he started with raspy coughing fits on Monday night. The good news was that she didn't hear anything in his lungs - she said he is just very, congested and has a bad cold. He also has an ear infection in the right ear - this is his second during the life of this cold. So he is on antibiotics for the ear infection and a prescription decongestant. I just want him to be WELL - no snotty nose, no lingering cough. Apparently, he didn't get the memo that with breastfeeding and organic food that he isn't supposed to get sick. What the heck?

So notwithstanding his illness, Caleb is still happy and on the go - he is officially mobile. Not graceful, but mobile. He is crawling, but we think he will move quickly to walking because when he crawls after a couple of 'steps' he plants his feet down. He just needs to learn to pull himself up before putting his feet down. I walked at 7 1/2 months - so he wouldn't be far behind me.

Video Friday

First a funny one....



Now a serious one....

Trials

Had ANOTHER car accident today. Except this one wasn't my fault. It was in a parking lot. I'm very upset because - despite it not being my fault, I was the one who was ticketed.

Without getting into it too much. Picture one of those lots w/ the angled spaces so you can only drive one way. I backed out of my spot and was in the driving lane, just as I was putting my car in drive a car backed out and basically swiped the corner of my bumper. My car was scratched, his had a dent (BMW, I might add). He got out of the car and apologized that it was his fault, he wasn't looking.

I call the police, they come. We talk to him and the guy comments that he had been looking at the car beside his spot because it was close. Nothing much to comment about here. Officer takes our paperwork, licenses and goes to his car. He comes out, talks to the guy; he comes over to my car, and he has a citation for me. I was shocked. I argued with him some that it wasn't my fault, the guy even said it was his fault. The officer says that is not what he says, he never said that to him. But because the damage is to the back of my car and the side of his car (a dent); that it must be my fault. Since there are conflicting stories and no witnesses, he is basing this on the damage. I argue more, I was the one who even requested a report rather than just exchange information - why would I do that if I had hit him?? Nothing.

Back at home, Alex and I call the police station and speak to a sergeant. I explain how he must not have paid attention to the man SAYING that he wasn't looking - and that they never talked to me alone, he only talked to me alone AFTER already issuing a citation to me. Nothing. Because of the conflicting story, they can only base it on the damage.

I'm SO angry. What kind of person lies like that?! He KNOWS that he hit me, yet he's totally willing to lie and let me get a ticket! Now I'll have to go to a hearing, then court to fight the ticket; waste my time, have to deal with my insurance company. I'm sure they'll raise my premium b/c I just had that accident that actually was my fault - see I can admit it when it's my fault.

Happy Labor Day

Happy Labor Day to everyone...the holiday also known as the Memorial Day, because it seems that no one can remember which one is which. I know that I always get them confused. I'm THRILLED to have a 3-day weekend. Woohoo! We are going to Orlando to visit my brother, Aaron. His birthday is the following weekend, but are going to celebrate it this weekend.

I had the brilliant idea that we should go to the House of Blues at Downtown Disney for dinner on Saturday. That place is SO fun. The theme is very Southern-blues. A lot of New Orleans Creole art and decorations. The food is delicious Southern food - mostly Louisiana style food. They have an awesome jambalaya. Alex and I went there to eat when we went to Disney WAY back when we were dating and we liked it a lot. So I mentioned it to Aaron and he was down with the plan. When I told Alex, he told me that one of our recent brides does promotions for House of Blues and had given us a gift certificate. What are the chances of that?? There isn't even one in Miami! So that is perfect! It could only be better if there is a live band playing blues while we are there!

No post written by me would be complete without a statement as to how busy I am. It's truly unbelievable. I am managing well since I have become a master of multi-tasking. I multi-task almost constantly. The downside to this is that it's hard to give people my full attention - my brain is elsewhere. This is especially true with Alex. I feel badly b/c I often come home and get into 'home multi-tasking mode', which is especially hard to get out of. Then I'm not caring or even very nice b/c I have task-accomplishment on the brain.

QUESTION: why is it so easy to be difficult or not nice to the people we love most? I don't act that way at work with people that I don't love....I am feeling guilty about this. I have apologized to Alex for not being nice, but I know that the only way to really show that I'm sorry is to stop behaving that way...I am praying that I will do that.

I don't have any new pictures of Caleb....I'm sure you're disappointed!

eh, what's up doc?

Carrots......

Random-ness

I have just submitted my first Federal Grant. It is to the Dept. of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA) Outreach Grants. Wherever you live, your state has publicly funded children's health insurance- that's CHIP. In Florida, it's KidCare. We've been working on the proposal for about two and a half weeks, and it's really been a team effort, but I took the lead on crafting and maintaining the proposal. I am very, very, proud of it. For almost five years now, I've worked for a funder - as opposed to a grant-seeking organization. So it was a good mental exercise to sit on the other side and have to write a grant myself. I feel like our proposal is not only well-written, but well crafted and very strategic. I think that it shows how hard we worked to really come up with a project design that is consistent throughout the proposal. We'll hear back from the feds by September 30th. We are requesting $630K (for 2 years) and contributing our $1 million in insurance outreach programs as match to show that our project is sustainable.

Working on that proposal has really consumed my work for the past week, and as a result I've skipped out of other meetings whenever I could to work on it. But now it's done and I'm happy.

A couple of night ago I decided that we needed to make a more concerted effort at having a bedtime routine for Caleb. I know that Emily swears by them. The time at which Caleb was falling asleep was creeping up to almost 10-ish...I know that's not ok. So on Sunday, I gave him a bath at 7-ish, and then took him to his room, put on his pj's and nursed him until he almost fell asleep and then put him in his crib. He woke up some, but I spent about 10 minutes standing there with him and he fell asleep. We've repeated each night now, and tonight it was a little harder, and I had to go in three separate times because he was crying, but he finally fell asleep at a little after 8. I'm determined to get this right. Plus with that late bedtime I just couldn't get anything done. Last week between Caleb staying up and my working so hard on that proposal there was just nothing to eat in my house and it was messy. Three nights we ate at 9:00 just because it was the first chance we had to heat up leftovers or get take out.

This week is World Breastfeeding Week. I love how beautiful breastfeeding is. It's just one MORE thing that shows me how amazing and creative God was in His design for us. It is so good for babies, mommies and our community.

I think I mentioned in my last post that we started feeding Caleb cereals - that boy loves food. I'm so surprised at how good he is at eating from a spoon, it was really surprising to me. He really enjoys it. He seems to like the spelt/barley multigrain cereal a lot, I tasted it - it's not bad, it tastes like cream of wheat (minus all the sugar I would add to cream of wheat) :)

Okee dokee - that's it for me. Alex is at small group, I didn't go b/c I didn't want to disturb our very new bedtime routine. So I'm going to go enjoy me some time laying down and watching tv

Yikes!

Wow - I have been SOOO delinquent about blogging! That is because I am insanely busy!
Here are some updates:

• work is crazy. I get in at 7-ish and don't fool around during the day. I just work. We are preparing for a restructuring and will likely have layoffs. On August 3 the number of staff in my department will more than double - although I will only directly supervise 3 people rather than the 4 that I do now. Two of those will be Team Leaders who will each oversee a team of contract managers. So that will bring new challenges and new scope of programs in my department that I will need to learn. Rather than only administering The Trust's health funding, I will now also oversee the Parenting and Early Childhood Development programs.
• Caleb has been sleeping a lot less. Whereas he used to go to bed at 8:30 and wake up between 2-3, he is now fussing to sleep at 9-ish, waking up again at 11-ish to eat, and again between 4-5. This has been devestating to my sleep as well as to how much I'm able to pump. I've had trouble keeping up w/ this new demand and we've been raiding my freezer store. Our pediatrician noted that he is above development in several areas and thinks he is burning a lot of calories. So....we are starting on solids! At first I was wary, but then saw that it might actually help b/c right now I don't have "unoccupied" stretches of time where I can pump, except at work. Also I spoke to my good friend who's a pediatrician and she eventually agreed after asking me several questions. The other thing is that when Alex and his mom tried out the cereal for the first time yesterday he really liked it and didn't have much trouble eating it. Of course, today when Alex fed him alone...different story - he had to give him an entire bath afterward!
• I had a car accident yesterday. It wasn't serious and we're ok - me, Caleb and the other driver. It was completely my fault and just stupid. I had just left from picking Caleb up from my in-laws. We were stopped at a light and Caleb was fussing in the back. I was looking at him in the rearview mirror, when out of my peripheral vision I saw the cars on either lane beside me driving forward (passing me) - so I stepped (hard) on the gas. However, I slammed into the car in front of me. My first thought was whether Caleb was alright, but then What the heck just happened?? Looking back, I think that since I was really not paying attention and saw cars moving past me - I assumed that I must have been holding things up by not paying attention - when in reality - the lane on my left was a Left-turn lane, and the lane on my right was moving forward b/c people were now able to make right turns because of a lull of passing traffic. And my lane, well it wasn't going anywhere! Thankfully, progressive is great and my car goes into the body shop on Monday.

That's about it - OH YEAH - I put up a new post on our photography blog that has cool pictures of Caleb - enjoy!

Found: A Glimpse of Another's Life

First let me tell you about a website a found a long time ago - Foundmagazine.com is just that - a website where people post pictures of 'found' items. A love note, a doodle, a list of pros/cons, a random thought jotted down - things that make you wish that you knew more about the story behind the found item.

Every once in a rare while I stop by the site. But the other day, while at a conference I 'Found' something that was found.com-worthy.

Last week I was a conference at the Westin Diplomat in Fort Lauderdale. I spent a lot of time in the fancy upscale restrooms while I pumped twice a day there. At the sink one day, I spotted this lying next to the sink on the marble counter:


It made me think the following: How did it get here? Did Jessica or Paul give this to a pregnant woman that they spotted? Did they leave it here hoping that someone would find it and give them their baby? In either situation, but particularly the first, how much courage would it take to ask a pregnant stranger whether she would like to give up the baby she is carrying? I instantly felt for this couple and wished that I knew more about them.

So I Googled them - they live in Indiana. Jessica is a school nurse - which means that she was, in fact, at the conference I was at - the National Assembly for School Based Health Care.

They seem like wonderful people, they mention that they have a strong faith. I hope that they are successful in adopting a baby. I've decided to pray for them, I'm sure that their struggle is hard.

Originally, I had intended to post this picture on found.com - I don't think that I will now. Their journey is too personal to place there, I think. I know that the people who read my blog will appreciate and respect what these people are trying to accomplish - I hope that many of you will take a moment to pray for them.

Happy Father's Day and Other Stuff

Happy Father's Day (way late). We've been super busy lately. It took me approximately 2.5 weeks to be fully booked again with work. By 'booked' I mean, already spending approximately 80% of my work week in meetings and trying to get actual work produced in the 20% of the remainder. I'm happy to be busy at work - helps the day go by really fast!

Both of our families were out of town on Father's Day so it was just us - we went to church and then decided to head to Alex's parents' house to go in their pool because it was SO hot. I think that day it actually broke a temperature record, hitting about 98 degrees. We went in the pool, took Caleb in the pool - we also brought the dogs and after Caleb got out we let Miles loose and he went swimming. They were pooped that night (totally our goal!) Pete was pooped too, but not from swimming he despises swimming and he barks like a madman at people (or Miles) in the pool. Imagine how you would react if you saw someone purposely walk into fire - that's about the same way Pete reacts at seeing us go into the pool. So he was tuckered out from his hysteria.

Here are the pics of my main - he's getting chubby! He really is a happy baby but I think he was really processing this whole water-thing b/c he looks so serious!




I love this face here! So simple - but so expressive!

Done: Week 1

My first week back at work is under my belt. It feels good to be done with it.

• The whole pumping thing went SO well. Really, God is so good at meeting our needs exactly at the time that we need it - as my friend Donna said - not sooner and not later. On Monday I worked a half day, going to work after the La Leche League meeting. I got to work at about 2pm. I pumped once - 3.5 oz. When I picked Caleb up from my Mom's house she told me that she fed him once - 3.5 oz (even though she had 7 prepared)!
  
• My general schedule is such that I pump before leaving for work because Caleb is sleeping so I can't feed him, then I pump twice at work - on days that he was at with my in-laws I pumped in the car on the way there b/c it takes longer to get to their house. So my highest volume day I pumped 17 oz! the most he ever ate was 15 oz while I was at work. I am so pleasantly surprised, relieved and grateful to see that I have plenty of milk despite the past 3 months of worrying because I don't have all of the tell-tale signs of plenty of milk that some other women have.
• The hardest thing about returning to work is being VERY tired. When I was home, it was ok to lose 45 minutes or an hour of sleep because I could sleep until 8 or so when Caleb woke up - but in order to get to work by 7:30 I'm getting up at 5:30 or 6 - the days that I have boot camp I get up 4:45. On a couple of nights last week Caleb woke up at 2:45 or 3, which means I that by the time I got back to sleep - I only had an hour or hour and a half to sleep before getting up.
• This week was my anniversary! Alex and I have been married for four years! how wonderful - I'm going to post some old-school pics for you to enjoy.
• For those of you with kids - my cousin, Dave, in Chattanooga, DJs a Saturday morning radio show - the Saturday Morning Cereal Bowl - it's awesome, funky, rockin kid music. You can listen live on the internet from 8-10.

Rain at Disney...early in our dating life - 2002?
Please no comments about how SKINNY I was here - sheesh.

Later...2003 or 2004? (how about those sideburns??)
June 11, 2005



May 2008 - SeattleMay 2008 - Alaska

A compound word for lots of staples - The Stapletons

So while Lourdes and Jamie were in Miami for Sienna's birthday party, we took the opportunity to shoot some family pictures. What a beautiful little girl and an awesome family!

I really love this one!
So CLEARLY daddy's little girl (and not just b/c she looks just like him!)

So sweet!

Preparing...

So, next week I go back to work. I'm blessed that this is timed perfectly b/c my mom (a teacher) begins summer break tomorrow. My mom will have Caleb M, T, F and Alex's mom on W, Th when she is in town.

I'm nervous about pumping at work. I'm very afraid that somehow my milk supply will suffer. I'm just paranoid about it decreasing. Thankfully, there are three other women pumping at work who are all good friends and have sworn to be there to support me. Although we'll be fighting for the 'pumping' bathroom, it's a private bathroom where my company put in a big comfy easy chair for pumping. I kind of like pumping in my car - I love being alone in my car, it's often where I have my quiet time and good worship - so I think it might also be a good place for pumping.

'Nuff said about that - don't really like talking about it. Please pray for me next week that I don't breakdown at work and please pray for my milk supply.

Memorial Weekend Fun

Here are some shots of our Memorial day weekend.

On Sunday we went to Sienna's (second) 1st Birthday Party. I think she scared herself! In reality she just woke up from a nap.


Sienna blowing out her candle on her awesome mermaid cake - Lourdes has become so crafty! I think it's funny that the mermaid looks like she's smoking a cigar.


Caleb is enjoying the rays...

Chlorine on the tootsies!
How cute is this guy? I love the hat!

Stupid Internet

I'm So happy that we finally are getting LOTS of rain here in Miami. My yard was looking pretty desperate! However, the storms somehow knocked out our phone/internet. The first storm knocked out our power multiple times, so I'm assuming that has something to do with it. Anyway, we didn't have internet for a couple of days. We didn't have our house phone either, but I don't care about that (thank you cell phones).

Here's what's been 'up' with us.

My best friend Lourdes came into town. This was her first experience with Caleb. I was so pleasantly surprised to see what a big girl Sienna has become! here are some pics (stolen from Lourdes' blog)

You probably can't read it -but his shirt says "no hablo" - too cute (I don't speak - in Spanish for you English speakers). That was the first item of clothing that I bought for him after I found out I was having a boy.



Today Caleb got his first round of vaccinations. he was a very brave boy. he cried at first, like he knew something was up, and screamed when he got the shots. But immediately afterward, I nursed him and he fell asleep while we waited for our nice Dr. to come see us. He is weighing in at 10 lbs 13 oz, and 22 inches long. The nurse measured his head at 17" - the Dr. read it was was like "that has to wrong, that a huge head". To which I said - well we were afraid he would get a big head...because everyone is always telling him how gorgeous he is! It was a mismeasurement - his head is 15" -- just right. We then had to wait out a storm before we could go to the car. Now we're home I gave him some tylenol and he's been sleeping for a bit.

Last week I started a fitness Boot Camp. It simultaneously rocks and kicks my butt. It's at 5:15 am to 6 two days per week. It generally involves lots of running - either on a track or running laps of the stairwell of the gymnasium or laps of the parking garage (yes up all the levels). Lots of squats, lunges, push ups, etc - performed via all kinds of torturing exercises. On the off days, I'm using our Precor elliptical. So hopefully I'll lose the last 5 pounds of my pregnancy weight - PLUS some - like what I gained while trying to get pregnant.

Mother's Day came - and went. It was really nice because our church did Baby Dedication that day. They do it about 3 times per year. It just so happened that we were the only family at the Downtown campus to dedicate a baby. It was very special since it was just us - and because our Campus Pastor, Pete did the dedication- he's a good friend of ours. Also, both of our families and Ann Marie and Eddie were all there to see it - that was really special! Afterward, our families came back to our house for lunch, I had ordered catering from Macaroni Grill - delicious!

That's it - hopefully more coming soon.

awesome photos

I'm cheating in this post...check out the new e-session that Alex posted on his blog. Probably his best yet!!!

Monkey-ing Around

Hello friends,

Wow. I have been VERY delinquent in blogging. Go figure!

Here are updates:

Caleb is doing better with nursing - YAY! Of course, the way I wrote that implies that we had 'problems', which we really didn't. It was just that he is a frequent nurser - and this just caused my life to be a little challenging. By challenging, I mean tied to the couch. I think there is a permanent depression in the seat cushion nearest the end table where my supplies are kept. But he is getting more efficient. Although starting around 6 pm he gets more frequent again. But during the daytime, he will eat and then be able to do other stuff, like look at things, smile, coo, laugh, gaze, etc.

He is beginning to enjoy his little play-mat (see photos below). That is cool, plus it's good b/c I know that those stimulate is little brain to get bigger and stronger!

We are trying to have the happiest baby on the block. Swaddling works! As does, bouncing and shushing. We bought a swing that plays white noise, and that's amazing! I get an extra hour at least of sleep per night in his first (and longest) sleep cycle - which is about 4 hours, from 10:30 or 11-ish to 3-3:30-ish.

Did you see this? someone made an iPhone application called Baby Shaker. That is horrible! Thankfully, Apple has pulled the app and it can't be downloaded any longer.



The Monkey....


Are you looking at me, Monkey?

I see you Monkey...

Oooh!
You can see that little brain working!


This one is a little fuzzy, but look at that smile!