Welcome, Baby Charlie!

"I'm Charlie!  I'm here!  I love to sleep and cry!"

Hi Cuties,
I am pleased to introduce baby Charlie James.  Charlie was born on February 15th and our lives haven't been the same since.  Taking care of this baby is a 24 hour job and the hardest I've ever had by far.  We've had time for nothing else (so much for my secondary plans of launching a business during my maternity leave.  taking a shower seems like a more realistic pipe dream.)  We are so in love with this little guy and it's a good thing he's so cute because he is a handful!
So much to overshare with you all in the coming weeks, including the requisite "birth story" and all the accompanying gore, lots of breast talk, dirty diapers and more!   Get excited.
Until then, here are a few shots from week 1.


Week 1 Highlights:
The Good:  baby cuddles, Charlie's surprise spiky hair (so cute), Charlie napping like a little frog on our chests, finally eating cold cuts again (whoo hoo, turkey sandwich)
The Bad:  labor (ow, yes, it hurt way more than I thought it would), sleep? who needs sleep?, having to change Charlie's diaper in the middle of lactation class where he of course peed all over the floor 
The Ugly:  breastfeeding, it's not pretty or fun so far, but we'll save that story for another day.


More to come...
xo,
C

somehow we don't have enough newborn clothing to fit this little 6 pounder, but these train overalls are looking pretty sharp

how cute is james's meet the baby outfit?

Charlie loves watching Teen Mom with mommy

yawn? nope that's charlie rooting around for the breast.  don't worry,once he finds it he loses interest. 

Charlie meets his aunt and uncle!

view from the hospital room

going home from the hospital.  charlie is so tiny in his car seat! 

charlie and aunt lyss 

charlie loves his striped hats!

Valentine's Day Date

we finally have a restaurant down the street.  thank goodness, since walking is not my strong suit right now.

how sweet is my little valentine?

i want wine

chocolate all around!

and flowers for the lady

Hi Cuties,
Happy Valentine's Day!  Well, it's Valentine's Day and no baby yet!  But things are happening, things are happening.  The mister and I had a very nice night.  We went out for one last dinner, just the two of us.  We had to go at 5:30 since we didn't have a reservation, but it was nice to get out for a little.  And then we came home and had chocolate and heart-shaped Carvel cake and we watched When Harry Met Sally.  The perfect night, simple and sweet.  Hope you are all having a great day!
xo,
C

Waiting for Baby

this was the only snow that actually materialized.  nice view of my football trophies! 

the mister went out and got us donuts on saturday morning.  yum!

there is the mister working on a special surprise to go with crock pot sloppy joes...

twice baked potatoes!  In other news, I gained 2 more pounds this weekend.

Hi Cuties,
We had a nice quiet weekend here, you know, just waiting.  I really had a feeling that the baby was going to come this weekend, and I finally thought I was seeing some signs.  But nope, still waiting.  There is something about waiting for the single most important yet physically painful experience of your life to begin that I really can't put into words.  Let's just say it is a weird feeling.  Anxiety-ridden, emotional, yet infuriatingly boring.  I know at some point, things are definitely going to happen, but sometimes it doesn't feel that way.  And the mister is definitely starting to go stir crazy.  His capacity for sitting around is vastly lower than mine plus he is not nine months pregnant.   I know we should enjoy these last few days of peace, which is what I am trying to do, but it's hard!
xo,
C

Fajita Leftovers

Tonight the mister made us a fabulous leftover fajita feast.  It was my idea.  We had steak on Sunday, and chicken last night and tonight we (he) used the leftovers to make fajitas.  He even used the leftover corn to make pico de gallo.  The only thing that was not homemade was the guacamole.  Does anyone else have a very hard time finding ripe avocados at the supermarket?  Our supermarket either has a whole bin of overripe avocados or a whole bin of avocados that are about a week away from ripening.  There seems to be no happy medium nor rhyme or reason to this (one time we discovered a bin of unripened in the morning, only to return later that day to a bin of soft and mushy.  No, we do not spend all day at the supermarket.  Sometimes we forget things!)  Would love to have toasted the successful meal with a big 'ol margarita, but maybe next time...
xo,
C

The Final Monday, Monday

Hi Cuties,
Today was the first day of my last week at work before maternity leave.  I had butterflies in my stomach the whole day just because I am so nervous to go into labor.  Even right now, I am sitting on a towel on the couch while watching TV just in case.  I suspect everyone thinks I am crazy but I can't decide if I agree or not.  It is such a weird feeling to be leaving work for a few months and on the brink of something so completely different.  Definitely the biggest change in my life in the last 12 years or so and now that I am starting to feel better my excitement is really kicking in again.  It is hard to abandon projects that I am in the middle of and plan for things that I know I won't be a part of, but at this point there is nothing I can do but relinquish control and know that once I am back from maternity leave, everything will probably be completely different (or completely the same, ha, who are we kidding)  I guess time will tell.
xo,
C

Babies "R" Us Coupons and Other Fun Moments from the Weekend

pancakes!  first try had some problems...

but second try was all good.

view from nursery window.  so brooklyn, right?

Deer from Miss Lyss.  Our goal is to see how many different kinds of animals we can fit into one nursery.  so far the nursery has a safari/forest/dinosaur/farm/nautical theme.  And wait until you see next week's project!

horse 

giraffe

closet is getting a little crowded.  

pig and hippo. 

toys!

Hi Cuties,
The mister and I spent a relatively quiet weekend together this weekend.  I'm still sick and have been a major baby about it so that's been fun practice for everyone.  After spending most of the week in bed, yesterday I finally ventured out and we took a drive to Target and Babies "R" Us to get some last minute supplies.  Man, I hate Babies "R" Us already and all their coupon nonsense, and I was in no mood for it yesterday.  You basically can't buy anything at Babies "R" Us without a coupon or you are a fool and paying too much, which isn't great for me since I am not much of a coupon person.  I guess part of being a responsible mom is becoming a coupon person (versus paying $20 extra to ship custom organic baby booties from New Zealand.  So cute!) One of the reasons we decided to register at Babies "R" Us in the first place is because you get a coupon to close out your registry a month before your due date.  Well, ours hasn't come yet and the store wasn't super helpful about printing one out for us (even though all my new "friends" on the pregnancy message boards made me believe this would not be a problem.)   Finally we managed to get our hands on a coupon, only to realize the store we were at actually didn't have any of the remaining items on our registry.  We eventually located a few things and decided to just use the coupon anyway but once we got to the checkout register, it didn't work.  Even though the cashier assured us that the 10% was taken off, "it just doesn't show up anywhere on the receipt."  Luckily, I've already learned that coupon follow-through at the register is part of the whole "game" at Babies "R" Us, the final endgame level if you will, so we tirelessly pressed forward on our quest for 10%.   As punishment for our persistence, we then we had to wait in line at customer service for another 15 minutes.  This is usually the part of the Babies "R" Us experience where you start to notice the kids crying and throwing tantrums, tears and snot flying in every direction you look, and you really start to sweat.  The key is not to give in and run screaming from the store - this is just part of the game - all concocted by B "R" U to keep you from your 10%.  (kids don't really cry and stuff, right?)  We waited patiently in line and managed to get our discount refunded to our credit card.  And that is how we got 10% off three items from our registry, including high ticket items such as wipes and baby hangers.  (sadly, I did read online that the registry coupon is actually supposed to be 15%, but I guess you have to choose your battles when dealing with a beast like B "R" U.)  Now we still have about ten items we need on the registry, but no coupon.  Is it possible to have a baby and avoid Babies "R" Us?  I hope so, because I'm pretty much done.  


Anyway, that little expedition pretty much wore me out. By the time we got home, breathing out of my nose at all was no longer an option, so today we took it easy.  The mister made chocolate chip pancakes and we spent the afternoon working on the nursery.  Still hoping to be able to breathe through my nose by the time the baby comes!  Wish me luck!


xo,
C

Sick Daze

Aagh, I am sick over here!  My nose has not stopped running the whole week and I don't think I have ever sneezed so violently.  Plus, I can't breathe.  Hoping the baby waits to make an appearance until I can at least breathe through one nostril again (it's the little things)!  2 weeks to go!

Valentine's Day Dream

Oxford blouse, $40
See by Chloe striped mini skirt, $820
House of Harlow 1960 black bootie, $160
Heart handbag, $48
Gucci jewelry, $1,050
Marc by Marc Jacobs heart jewelry, £50
Dorothy Perkins scarve, $12


Hi Cuties,
What are you wearing out on your Valentine's Day dates?  I know it's wrong, but I kind of love Valentine's Day.  It is just the sweetest holiday.  Yes, I know it is more like the perfect opportunity for us girls to set ourselves up for disappointment, but with realistic expectations and a simple plan, it can be such a nice night.   It's looking like a bit of a wild card for us this year.  For Valentine's Day I would like to have the baby here and my old body back so I can wear this outfit.   And then I would also like a glass of wine and some chocolate.  Thoughts?  (in denial, I know, I know.)
xo,
C