Dianthe’s Blog

and what did she do with my baby girl? Monday was Sydney’s birthday - she is now 5 months old - and every month on her birthday, i take her picture in the purple chair with the purple bear - and this month i was able to catch an actual smile- which was a huge accomplishment since the red light on the camera distracts her every time - but i did manage to get this

and i was all proud of myself until ReJana (the best photographer EVA’!!!) sent me this … http://bludoorstudios.com/blog/ - i know that she’s my baby and that i am totally biased - but she is the most gorgeous child - i actually cried real tears when i saw the pictures - i cannot believe that we made her - and she came out of my body!! ReJana was able to capture so much of her personality - and those are just the teasers - i have no idea how i’m ever going to choose - we’re going to need a bigger house with more walls to display all these pictures - and what about baby #2??

anyway, i know this isn’t a real post - it’s totally an AW (Attention Whore) post - but i don’t care - i just had to share!!!

i’m typing this with one hand so this is going to be short - i’m also trying to get Sydney down so i can finish today’s Remix blog (plus she’s fussy!!)

so if you’re a mom, you know that the consistency of poo changes once your baby starts solids - it becomes very runny and messier than is has been - now, normally this wouldn’t be an issue except that Sydney is a little on the “skinny minnie” side and seems to be getting skinnier (even though she’s gaining weight - she’s growing up, not out!)  - anyway, i’m having a hard time getting her diaper to fit tightly around her thighs - most of the time it’s okay because she’s still pretty stationary, but once she starts moving around - we’ve got problems - so … a few minutes ago, we were playing on the bed - i was leaning back against the pillows and she was sitting on my tummy facing me - i grabbed her to raise her up in the air (because it makes her laugh) and suddenly i saw poo dripping from her diaper … all over my nursing tank - so i grab a burp rag, put it under her butt and head for the nursery - i lay her down on the changing table and assess the situation - in the 30 seconds it took me to walk from my room to hers, we have somehow managed to get poo on my leg, her leg, my tank, her house shoes, the burp rag, the outside of the diaper, the changing pad cover and my hand!  i look at Sydney and she is grinning ear to ear - yeah, i’m glad she thinks this is so hilarious!!  fortunately, it only took 2 wipes (thank god for cloth wipes!) and about 5 minutes to get everything cleaned up - but since i didn’t manage to get a shower yesterday, i’m DEFINITELY going to need one today!!

i realize that it’s been almost a month since my last blog - and every single day i say to myself that i’m going to write a new blog - and then every single day, by the time i’ve finally gotten Sydney to sleep and finished my prep work for the next day, it’s about 12 or 1am - and since my alarm goes off at 3am - some things just don’t get done - i’ve actually attempted to write about 5 or 6 different blogs - but i usually doze off while i’m writing them - and then when i come back to start them again, a dozen other things have happened - so i’ve decided that i’m no longer going to feel guilty about not updating - i will try to blog more regularly - and hopefully i’ll be able to do that a couple of times this week because of vacation - but i will no longer feel guilty about it - especially since there are so many other things i could be feeling guilty about - like still not having a baby book - yep, i’m the slacker mom - but i am recording all the important things in a word document for the day that i finally find a baby book and have time to update it - do i get partial credit for that?

so basically, i’m just going to give a random run down of the things that have been going on - and they probably won’t be in any particular order (because it’s 2:55am and i should REALLY be asleep!) - so it’ll just however they pop into my head

so, we’re still co-sleeping - sort of - another one of those things that i’m no longer feeling guilty about - in fact, i’ve actually started to enjoy it - not to the point where i want to do it til she’s 2 - but it’s not the terrible thing that i thought it would be and Sydney is finally starting to sleep in her crib a little bit - about 2 months ago, i decided to say “the hell with it” to pretty much every standard, traditional by-the-book parenting practice out there - sure i’m still scouring the internet for information (because who has time to read the 3 foot stack of parenting books i’ve purchased) and of course i’m still asking for advice - but at the end of the day - i figure i know my baby better than anyone else - i mean she did spend 41 weeks in my womb - and in that time, we got to know each other pretty well - so i’m sticking with that and doing whatever i think is best for her - so back to the co-sleeping - since Vicky started (the new nanny which i’ll get to later), Sydney has been napping in her crib - only just in the morning and usually for about an hour max, but she’s in the crib - now we’ve been trying off and on to get her to go to bed in the crib at night for about 3 months, but she never stays there for more than about 30 minutes - and then i get tired and just put her back in the bed with us - but 2 weeks ago, she slept in her crib all night!! WOO HOO!!! now, i still had to go in there to calm her down a couple of times - and maybe once or twice i had to actually pick her up - but when she finally went down, she slept for about 6 hours - she’s been sleeping through the night for about 3 months (which is GREAT for Kelley and Vicky) so the 6 hours thing wasn’t a big deal - but the fact that she slept in her bed - well that was just amazing - and every since then, we’ve been putting her in the crib every night - most nights she makes it til about 5 or 6am - and then Kelley puts her in the bed bed with him until the nanny comes - and then some nights (like tonight) she just can’t get it together - so i give up and bring her back with us - oh well - i’m over it - i figure she’ll eventually figure it out and since i just can’t being myself to let her cry-it-out, we’ll just stick with this for now

the nanny!!! her name is Vicky and i LOVE her - i knew from the beginning, i wanted to hire a nanny - for several different reasons - the man reason being my schedule - i leave for work at 4am and Kelley leaves somewhere between 7 and 9am - i’m home most days by noon and it just didn’t make sense to put Sydney in daycare for a couple of hours a day - plus, most places won’t take babies part-time - and with Kelley traveling occasionally - i wouldn’t be able to drop Sydney off at 4am - but also, after being at home with her for 10 weeks, i really wanted to continue that one-on-one interaction for her - she is used to having undivided attention - and while that may turn her into an ultra demanding baby diva, i’m okay with it - ha-ha-ha!!! anyway, the last requirement was that i wanted someone who was Spanish speaking - most of you know that my mom is Mexican and i have a Spanish degree (that goes about 98% unused - thanks Daddy!!), so it’s really important to me that my kids grow up bilingual - so when i first went back to work , we found someone that we liked a lot - but after a few weeks, she was having some health issues that left her unable to continue with us - i was really bummed because we liked her a lot and she and Sydney really clicked but it just didn’t work out - so for about 2 weeks, i had Sydney in an in-home facility - and while it was nice, it just wasn’t my ideal situation - enter Vicky - she is EXACTLY what i was looking for - someone who was married, a little older with teenage kids - looking for part time work and speaks Spanish - YAY!!! Vicky is married and has a 15 year old son - she has 10 years of nanny experience and she’s Columbian (and a U.S citizen) - she and Sydney get along very well - she does light housekeeping - she does all of Sydney’s laundry (even the diapers!) she is just wonderful!! she only speaks Spanish to Sydney and reads to he rin Spanish - they go on walks every day and listen to music - they go outside and play - Vicky rarely turns on the TV (which is better than me!) - she’s just fantastic - so on the nanny front, we are set!

Sydney - talk about a hilarious child - she is her mother’s daughter - to the core - she is pretty much just as i predicted she would be - extremely active, stubborn, super social, a total night owl, a tad bit dramatic - i can’t imagine where she gets any of that from but she’s still a really good baby - she’s impatient like her mom, and grumpy when she’s tired or hungry (like her mom) - but i’ve finally gotten a pretty good grasp of what’s wrong when she’s fussy -now it’s just a matter of fixing it!!

so i’ve turned into one of those moms - the crazy, crunchy, go-with-the flow moms except i’m way more diva than granola!! after Sydney’s 2 months shots, i decided to go with the alternative vaccination schedule - not because i believe there is a link between vaccinations and autism (or anything else) - but after her 2 month shots, i swear she slept for almost 3 full days - it was very odd and she just wasn’t herself - it was more than just fussiness- she was groggy and lethargic - and i expected that, but not for 3 days - so when we went in for the 4 month shots, i took my handy Dr. Sears vaccine book along and told our pediatrician that we wanted to spread her shots apart - fortunately, he is extremely supportive of my diva crunchiness and said okay - 2 shots, less than a minute of crying and a 45 minute nap later - Sydney was back to her old self - we didn’t even have to do Tylenol - she was happy and in a good mood and i was a happy mom

cloth diapering - yeah, i’m officially addicted - while in the long run, my love for cloth diapers may not turn out to be quite as cost effective, i’m not filling land fills with diapers that aren’t biodegradable and Sydney’s cute little tail isn’t being exposed to yucky chemicals - plus, the cloth diapers are just so dang cute! we started off with Kissaluv Size 0s (KL0s) and used Prorap covers - those lasted us til abut the 2 month mark - then we moved into the pockets - right now we have a combination of Bum Genius (1.0s, 2.0s and 3.0s), Swaddlebees and Blueberrys - i have also fallen madly in love with Minky - and thanks to the great Kellie Rasberry, i will be trying Rump-A-Rooz minky in just a few days - i cannot wait until they get here!!

hmmm - what else? oh, we pierced Sydney’s ears - so freaking cute - Kelley had been on me about when we were going to pierce her ears and i knew i wanted to do it sooner than later, but with everything going on, it just got pushed by the wayside - but we finally got it together and pierced them weeks ago - we found a place that specializes in piercing babies and she does it with a needle, not a gun - i was a little weary at first - but Sydney took it like a champ - she barely even cried - it took about 10 minutes and she hasn’t touched her ears since then!

first ear

second ear

the finished product!!!

we’ve started solid foods - AAAARRGGHHHH!!! i was SO not prepared for that - at her 4 month appointment, the pedi said we could start solids - i told him that i wanted to wait until 6 months because she’s been doing so well just being breastfed and he said that was fine - so i was a little freaked out that a week and a half later, my child is reaching for my food and opening her mouth when she sees food - i decided to skip cereal altogether and we started with banana - that went well so we moved on to avocado - she liked that, so this week we tried sweet potato - i can see now that we have a champion eater on our hands - i’m still going back and forth on the solids because i still want breast milk to be her main source of nutrition- but there is no doubt that she was ready for solids - so i’m still trying to find a good balance - in the meantime, Sydney has quickly dwindled through my hefty stash of milk - she’s eating anywhere between 12-20 ounces in the morning with Vicky - so i’m trying to rebuild a stash this week while i’m on vacation -no bottles for her this week!

mmmm - bananas!!!

avocado!!!

i can do it myself mom!!!

guess what else - we have teeth! well, one tooth - she’s been doing that pre-teething drooling thing for about 2 months, so i knew it was coming - but Friday i stuck my pinky in her mouth when i couldn’t find a paci and i felt an actual tooth - i know that second one isn’t far behind - and i was shocked, but she was hardly fussy at all - i could tell she was a little uncomfortable - but she must have a high pain tolerance like her mom, because she just chews on her hand and she’s fine - and speaking of hand chewing, Sydney is trying to suck her thumb - UGH!!! is there anything more annoying - i don’t know what to do other than to replace her thumb with the paci - i can’t tell if it’s because she’s teething or what, but i do think it will be easier to take away her paci than her thumb - so paci it is!!!

let’s see - what else? oh, i think she’ll be crawling soon - i’m SO not prepared for that - she can already scooch pretty good and she can sit up by herself for a few minutes before she falls over - when they say it goes by - they aren’t kidding - i just keep thinking, didn’t i just have this kid?? it’s unbelievable - she’s just so wonderful and fantastic - and i want to eat her up cause she’s so dang yummy - everyone said it would be great, but i had no idea!!!

um, hello - who said you could sit up at 18 weeks??

Sydney and Cienna - cutest freaking cousins EVER!!!!

it’s 12:15am - and for once, Sydney went to sleep before midnight - i have been trying to write this blog for almost 2 weeks - and i promised myself that i would write one today come hell or high water - but there are never enough hours in the day - Sydney had her 4 month appointment today - then i had a few errands to run - by the time we got home, Sydney was wide awake - and fortunately, she was in a really good mood - so we played for a while and then she ate - she took a short nap, which gave me just enough time to eat dinner - then she was up again - we played some more and then we both took a short nap - she ate again and we played some more and then i put her down for the night - since she was asleep, i had to clean the kitchen, get her bottles ready for tomorrow, fold and put away her laundry and get all of her diapers and wipes put away - i also had to figure out what i’m going to wear in the morning because if i wait until the morning, i’ll be late - and i have an appointment tomorrow afternoon, so i can’t just throw on something crazy - i need to look presentable - i also need to get a head start on the liners for tomorrow morning - welcome to my world people - did i mention that i have to get up at 3am and leave the house at 4am - this is why i haven’t posted a blog in almost a month

my baby is 4 months old - how did this happen??  i can’t believe that 4 months ago i was pushing this baby out of my body - and now she’s like mini me - she is full of personality and just like her mama - she’s moody and quite the diva - very definitive about what she wants and what she doesn’t - and when she wants something, she wants it now - i have no idea where she gets that from!  she’s 25″ long and weighs 14 pounds and 10 ounces - how crazy is that - she’s almost to the point where she’s heavy!!  Sydney has tons of personality and she loves to laugh - she wakes up happy (she did NOT get that from me) and she smiles when she sees me - she is so strong - she’s gotten to the point where she really hates to sit down - she wants to stand all of the time - which isn’t a beating for me at all - sure Sydney - mommy doesn’t have anything else to do but hold you in an upright position so that you can stand up - i never thought i’d be wishing for her to crawl, but dang - get moving already little girl - she rolled over last week for the very first time and i caught it on video - well sort of - we never really did tummy time because she hated it with a passion - but now that she can hold her head up and do the mini push up, she’ll tolerate it for about 5-10 minutes - so the other day i put her on her playmat so i could clean up in her room and the minute i put her down, she rolled over - so i ran to get the camera and put her on her tummy again and started to get the camera out - and before i could even open th case, she rolled over again - UGH!!  so this time i waited until i got the camera out, put it on video mode and then put her on her tummy - then i waited, and waited and waited - it took almost 6 minutes before she decided to roll over again - in fact, she moved 180 degrees before she actually rolled over - just ornery!  i told mom when she was still in my tummy that this would not be a child who performed on command - and i was right - but she finally did it and i caught it on camera - and fortunately, i was able to figure out the whole Windows Movie Maker thing and cut it down to 23 seconds!!

one of the other things we’ve been dealing with is child care - it is so hard to find someone to watch your child - when i first started back to work, a friend of my mom’s was keeping Sydney but she was having some health issues and was no longer able to keep her - i was really bummed about that because she really loved Sydney and Sydney liked her too - but her health was more important - so for the next 2 weeks, i found a really nice woman who has an in home daycare that was close to our house - and that worked for the interim - but i really wanted someone who could come and stay with Sydney at the house - she is so used to having that one on one attention and i’m not ready to give that up - last week was rough because my grandparents kept her - it was a huge help but they live about 30 minutes in the opposite direction from me and from work, so i had to take her at the crack of dawn - but they all had a great time - i don’t know who had more fun - Sydney or GiGi and PawPaw - but i know they kicked it!!  but we finally found another nanny and she started this week and i’m hoping that things work out - she has excellent references and she speaks Spanish which was really important to me - Sydney really seems to like her, so i’m keeping my fingers crossed - the last thing i want to do is go on the nanny hunt yet again!!

i had to go back to work - and there still aren’t enough hours in the day - my new position is much more time consuming than the phones - but in a good way - and Kidd has some hella cool stuff planned for me, so i’ve been working on that - then add that whole being a mom thing - plus i’m still doing weddings - and i have 2 more things that i’m thinking of adding to the mix - i know, i’m seriously nuts!! and i know i’ve been seriously slacking on the blog thing - and i’m really trying to do better - at least in my head - starting this week, i’m going to try to post every day - but it’ll probably be really short and kind of random - but i gotta start somewhere right??

so in all of the baby and back to work madness, i failed to mention that my sister PASSED THE BAR!!!!!! i am so freaking proud i can’t even stand it - when she called to tell me i immediately started crying - she has been studying since January 2nd - she took 2 different bar prep classes and studied like it was a full time job - and then, last weekend (Mother’s Day weekend), we all trekked out to Houston for her law school graduation - and now that she’s graduated and passed the bar, she’s looking for a job - so if you know of a an opening for a big time attorney,let me know - she’s willing to go anywhere in Texas!!

that’s my baby sister - big time law school graduate!

Dad and Stacie - both graduates of Thurgood Marshall School of Law - can you tell it’s a little humid in Houston???

so the trip to Houston was Sydney’s first road trip - and she was like the perfect child - we drove to Houston with mom and surprisingly, she slept the ENTIRE way - this is a child who ha sbeen known to scream the minute i get the car seat in the car - but she slept the entire 4 hours drive - i prepared a bottle and everything - and she didn’t even need it! i was SHOCKED!! then at the graduation ceremony, she was perfect - no crying, no fussy pants - we went to dinner afterwards, she was wonderful - we got back to the hotel, she went right to sleep - we went to breakfast - no fussing - we went to Stacie’s - perfection - we went shopping and i carried her in the sling - greatness - she was like the most perfect child ever!! even at the airport, she was in a good mood and way cooperative with mommy - and good thing too, because those TSA morons were no help at all!! see, it was just me and Sydney because Kelley stayed home - and we flew Southwest which was greatness, as always - but the TSA people - not so much - so we flew home Saturday afternoon and there was hardly anyone at the airport - when we got ready to go through security, there was NO ONE in the line - no one in front of us and no one behind us - and since i had Sydney, i went through Southwest’s new family friendly security line - so everything should have been easy-peasy right? so here i go with Sydney in her carrier, me carrying my purse, my small carry on rolling suitcase and the diaper bag - the first problem is when i handed TSA jerk #1 my boarding pass - i have the carrier on my left hand, my purse on my right shoulder and i’m pulling the suitcase (which has the diaper bag wrapped around the handle) with my right hand - the TSA guy is sitting on his stool at the entry way and he asks for my boarding pass and reaches his hand out - i hand it to him but there’s still about 5 or 6 inches between us - now hear i am with my load - do you think MR. Lazy TSA could step one foot off of his stool to reach the 6 inches to my boarding pass?? of course not - instead he just stood there looking at me - i stood there just long enough for me to contemplate going off on him but quickly decided it wasn’t worth my time or effort and moved the extra 6 inches and went on about my business - then i get to the machines - of course i have to put everything in a tray, pull out my 2 baggies (one with toiletries and one with baby meds) and push everything down the line because it’s not like there’s a conveyor belt - oh yeah, and i still have to take Sydney out of the carrier and push the handle down and flip it over to send it through the x-ray machine - do you think the 4 TSA agents who are 10 feet away chatting away could be bothered to offer their assistance - yeah, right - they didn’t even skip a beat but they did stand there and watch while i struggled to get everything together - and they didn’t forget to remind me to take off my flip flops - you know the ones with the 1/8 inch sole that might me hiding some dangerous weapon - yeah, thanks for all of your help … JERKS!!! but i did manage to make it to the gate with no help (even though several very nice people offered) and the Southwest flight attendants and other passengers were very patient as i got situated on the plane - and thankfully Sydney was awesome - she got fussy a couple of times, but as soon as i took her out of the seat and held her, she was great - i’ve heard that it’s super easy to fly with a baby but that once they hit toddler age, not so much - so i’m thinking once she hits walking age, she’ll be staying at mom’s until she’s about 5 or 6 - that doesn’t make me a bad mom does it???

Sydney Jane’s first flight - my first flight was on Southwest also - but i was 5 years old!!

i cried watching Kimora Lee Simmons “Life in the Fab Lane” - her daughters have naturally curly hair - and in preparation for the Baby Phat fashion show, she let the 8 year old get her hair blown out - Kimora cried because she felt like her daughter was growing up - are you kidding me - i cried before Kimora did - i’m talking hands-over-my-mouth-tears-streaming-down-my-face crying - which i’m assuming that Sydney will one day have just like her mom - and i am nowhere near prepared for her to grow up - she’s already 3 months old - she weighs almost 13 pounds - how did we get here? i’m SO not prepared for this - i mean, just look at this picture - this child is well on her way to grown!!

she’s got her model pose already - like mother like daughter!!!!

embarassing mom story of the week - so no matter how often i file Sydney’s nails, they are still as sharp as Freddy Krueger’s - and when she gets tired, she tends to grab at her face - so every once in a while, she’ll end up with a scratch or two - and before you suggest mittens, just know that Houdini has a way of removing anything, mittens, socks, hairbows … anyway - i read somewhere that breastmilk is like a natural Neosporin - and i’ve tried it - whenever she gets a little scratch, i just rub a little breastmilk on it and it heals right up - like in a day - so, the other day she has a scratch so i’m gonna just whip out the boob and give her a little milk, right - but instead of getting a small drop of milk when i squeeze my boob, i get a Windex like stream right to the face - um, yeah - welcome to motherhood!!

well, technically she is - but she’s a far cry (no pun intended) from the baby she was 3 months ago - it’s crazy that exactly 3 months ago today i brought a baby into this world - one day she was in my belly and the next day she was in my arms expecting me to take care of her every need - it’s hard to believe that she was ever inside me - she’s almost 3 inches longer and 5 pounds heavier than when she was born - and every day i’m amazed that she’s mine - being a mom is so freaking cool!

3 months old!!!

no more bobblehead - Sydney is holding her head up all on her own - she’s actually been doing it for about 2 1/2 weeks - but now she has full control and can turn her head to follow you - i guess it’s time to get the Bumbo chair so that she can learn to sit up - if i prop her up in the Boppy, she can sit up alone for about 3 seconds before she slumps over - and she smiles when she sees me - what a great feeling that is!! she’s laughing now - it’s the funniest thing - and she can reach for her paci now - sometimes she can push it back in her mouth if it starts to fall out but if it completely falls out, it’s over - she still hasn’t figured out how to put it in her mouth

i think we’re finally making some headway on the sleep thing - I’M not getting any sleep, but Sydney is on something that closely resembles a schedule, so i guess we’ll go with it - i decided to just ignore about 90% of everything that i’ve read and everything i’ve been told and just trust my instincts and follow Sydney’s cues - and what do you know - it actually worked - Sydney’s been sleeping in 6-8 hour stretches for at least a month - sometimes she’ll take a quick feeding in there, but if she does it’s more of a comfort feed and she goes back to sleep almost immediately - anyway, the problem has been what time she goes to sleep - it’s usually somewhere close to midnight which is great for Kelley and the nanny - because she usually sleeps til 7 or 8am - it sucks for me because i have to get up at 3am - and Starbucks isn’t open at 4am when i leave for the studio - ugh! and what’s worse, she is not a great napper - we might get a 2-3 nap from her twice a week, but for the most part, she’s a power napper - she gets that from me - in fact - all of her sleeping habits she gets from me - she is a night person, she needs very little sleep to function and when she is really sleepy, she is GRUMPY!!! she’s like mini-me! the other night, she went to sleep early (10:30pm) and then woke up at 5:30am - poor Kelley - he’s one of those people that needs 8 hours a night - sucks to be him!! oh yeah, did i mention she’s still sleeping with us? whatev …

this is what she looks like EVERY time we take a bath - she’s just not that into it …

a couple of people have asked how the cloth diapering is going - fantastically - Sydney has outgrown her newborn diapers (Kissaluv Size 0s) and we have graduated to the pocket diaper - i have BumGenius’, Swaddlebees and Blueberrys - most of them are solid colors and i have a couple of cute prints - and i’ve discovered the greatness of MINKY!!! how freaking cute are minky diapers? i have more than enough diapers now, so now i’m buying diapers cause they’re so dang cute - pink diapers, purple diapers, diapers with cute prints - having a girl is so much fun!!

how cute is this diaper???

so i’m in the middle of my 3rd week back to work and i won’t lie - it’s been tough - not the actual working - but getting back into a regular schedule - that’s why i’ve been slacking on updating my blog - i used to write it during the show - but now i’m writing the show blog during the show - and once i get home, well i’m otherwise occupied - Sydney is getting better about being alone (she even lays on her back sometimes now) but it’s not for any extended length of time - so i’m still holding her a lot - and she’s picky about the sling - sometimes she loves it, sometimes she’s like “this sucks!!”- she really likes to stand - and of course she can’t really stand, so we spend a lot of time with me holding her in the standing position - i’m telling you, this kid is gonna be running in no time!!! anyway, i’m trying to get back into the swing of things - and because i don’t have nearly enough things on my plate - i’m going to start yet another blog - it won’t be related to the show - it’ll just be about being a mom - part of it is so that i can have a record of all things Sydney - the other part is that somewhere down the line, i’m thinking of writing a book - ambitious, i know - but what the hell - there are worse things than saying, “once i tried to write a book”!

this is usually where Sydney is while i’m attempting to write my blog

last minute addition to my life - Kelley is sad because Mariah Carey married Nick Cannon - i’ve been calling him Sad - Sad Dad - and because Sydney is her mother’s daughter - every time i say “Dad is sad - he’s Sad Dad”, she laughs - having a girl rocks!!! i love having someone on my side!

ok - this story is for MissMandi in the chatroom - i love to talk about punching people in the face - it’s random and i’ve yet to actually punch anyone in the face - but just thinking about it makes me feel better - so my BFF Angie is the go-to chick in her office - not just in her office, but in other offices in her company across the country - and her phone rings all day long with people asking her questions, important and asinine - well one day she was really, really busy and this guy in her office was bugging the crap out of her with stupid questions - and the conversation goes like this:

Mitchell: “Angie, can you …”

Angie: “Mitchell, i’m really busy and i don’t have time to help you”

Mitchell: “i just have a real quick question”

Angie: “Mitchell - i’m going to let you ask your question - and if your question doesn’t have anything to do with me, i’m gonna punch you in the face”

so Mitchell asked the question

Angie looked at him and said, “you’d better start running”

and so, my favorite phrase was born!

the morning came quickly - i now have a new position with the show (which i’ll get to later) and i have to be at the studio at 4:30am instead of 5:30 - this requires me to get up around 3am - so of course Sydney would pick last night as the perfect time to not go to bed until 1:30am - did i mention that she went to bed the night before at 10:30pm? straight rotten - and she is all mine!!

so, in case you missed the first break of the show, i’m no longer on the phones - i have a new bigger and better gig - there’s a lot of behind the scenes stuff that i’ll be working on - but the big thing is that i’ll be writing a daily blog/synopsis of the show - so if you missed something on the show, you can refer to the synopsis to see what you missed - and then of course catch it on the K-Pod - i’ll also be moderating a chat room that will be just about the show - and as i write the blog, i’ll incorporate the listener comments from the chat room - it’s a big change for me and a chance to expand my writing skills, so i’m super excited about it!!

you can just call me Elsie - cause i am producing milk like a big old cow - now don’t get me wrong - i’m not complaining - i know that i’m really fortunate to be able to produce so much milk, especially when i know a lot of women aren’t - but so far today, i have pumped 18 ounces - that doesn’t even include the 3 or 4 times i’ve actually nursed Sydney since i got home - even when i’ve had a beer or eaten oatmeal, i’ve never pumped that much - how crazy is that??  oh, and just an fyi to those who are or will be breastfeeding - this is the greatest website ever - kellymom.com - you will find the answer to every breastfeeding question you’ve ever had!!  oh, and someone asked me about breast pumps - i have the Medela PISA and i LOVE it - it has a battery pack so you can travel with it - and it has bottles and an ice pack so you can pump on the go - up to 20 ounces!  and if you’re freezing milk, get the Lansinoh bags - you can freeze them flat and it takes up a lot less room in your freezer!

i have become a cloth diaper freak!!  i love them - i’m really trying not to spend too much money on diapers because part of the appeal is that it’s cheaper than disposables - but there are so many cute ones out there - we started off with Kissaluvs Size 0s - while these are cute diapers - you have to put a cover on them - and they are great newborn diapers because they contain BF poo like no other - we haven’t had any blowouts!! but now that Sydney is getting bigger, she can fit into the really cute diapers - i started building my diaper stash before Sydney was born and since i was sure that Spike was going to be a boy - i didn’t buy any girly diapers - girls can get away with wearing boy colors, but it doesn’t work as well the opposite way - so now, i’m all about the girly diaper!  so far, i have Bum Genius, Swaddlebees and Blueberrys - i ordered some new girly prints of the Blueberry’s over the weekend and they should be here on Thursday - i can’t wait to take pictures of Sydney in them!!  so freaking cute!!  and so easy - i just throw them in the washer and dryer and bam - new diapers - and did you know that the sun will bleach away poop stains??  it’s like magic!!

ok - as promised - new pictures of Sydney

she’s discovered her hands!!!

Sydney in her sling

and it’s back to the grind - though it’s not really fair to call it the grind since i love my job - and as much as i love my baby girl and i miss her like crazy when i’m away from her - i miss the real world - it’s been tough for me because we have no semblance of a schedule - and i’m a girl who likes order and routine - so i’ve missed the news a lot - and while i’ve tried to keep up with my love of celebrity gossip - i just don’t have the time to read all my usual websites - i have to depend on the headlines from my MSN homepage - and the entertainment news segment from my local midday news - of course that’s if i was able to catch the midday news - i’ve also been eating like crap - and since i’m breastfeeding, that’s no bueno - i haven’t been eating enough because my appetite is pretty much gone - i went from eating breakfast every day to not getting a chance to eat until 2 or 3pm - and by that time, i’m either too tired to eat or nothing sounds good - and since i’m not taking in enough calories, my body is retaining all of my fat instead of shedding it - those people who say breastfeeding melts away the pounds - they LIE!!!  i dropped 25 pounds pretty quickly after i had Sydney and then i stalled - so i decided to join Weight Watchers - i signed up online but i was too tired/busy to get to a meeting - so for 3 weeks, i stayed at the same weight - then the one week i decided to have ice cream every day, i lost 5 pounds!!!  see, you do have to eat to lose weight!  anyway, after 2 weeks officially on WW (meaning i’m attending meetings), i’m down another 4.4 pounds - and since i’m having trouble eating all of my points every day (you get a ton of extra points for nursing), i’m pretty excited about the weight loss - after going into delivery at 206 pounds (YIKES!!!), i am currently at 165.2!!  not bad for 10 weeks - i’m 15 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight - 30 pounds away from my wedding day weight and 40 pounds from my ultimate goal weight - what i weighed when i met Kelley!!!  and i am determined to get back to that weight - Kelley’s not too enthused about me being that thin again - but since i’m not losing the weight for him, i’m not that concerned what he thinks - after all, it didn’t stop him from asking me out!!  anyway, i’m sure there will be no shortage of food at the KKITM studios, so once i get back into the swing of things, i’ll be meeting those point totals in no time - and using Flex Points too!

i had my first post-Sydney wedding this weekend and it went fairly well - the wedding part was great but i was away from Sydney all day long - i left home about 2:30pm and the reception wasn’t over until 11pm - that’s a long time to go without nursing - have you ever tried to find time to pump in the middle of a wedding reception?  thank God for my assistant!!  it was almost midnight by the time i got home - and just my luck - it’s the one night Sydney decides to go to sleep at a decent hour - plus, she’s going through a growth spurt - so she slept until 5 or 6am - so needless to say, i pumped a pretty good amount yesterday - with what i’ve built up so far, we’re going to need an additional freezer soon!!

so, i go back to work on the show tomorrow - i’ve already left Sydney for long periods of time, so i’m not too freaked out about that - but this will be the first time i’ve left her with anyone but my mom - we’ve hired someone to come stay with Sydney and i completely trust her - she’s great with Sydney and Sydney seems to like her - but it’s still hard to leave your baby - fortunately, when i leave for work, she’ll be here with Kelley - so that makes it a little easier on me (plus i loaded my iPod with pictures of her - i’m SO a mom!!) - but unfortunately, Monday is our long day - and i probably won’t be home until 1 or 2pm - it’s going to be a VERY long day …

or at least it should be, according to one of my girlfriends - and after this last week, i think she may be right …

so because i’m clearly the worst mom in the world, Sydney is still not sleeping in her crib - we try every night but it never lasts for more than 45 minutes - then she’s up and we can’t get her back down - most nights she wakes up within 5-10 minutes of us laying her down no matter where it is - and because i don’t think she’s old enough to cry-it-out yet, we usually start her off in the swing and she falls asleep and stays there until she’s ready to eat - then i put her in bed with me, nurse her sidelying and we both sleep until morning - yes, i’m ruining my child and she’ll probably sleep with us until she’s 10 (NOT!!!) - whatever, i’m over it and it’s not the point of the story

so sometimes Sydney naps in the swing and Thursday was one of those days - she had fallen asleep in my arms 3 different times and every time i put her down, she woke up - so i decided it was swing time - now in the midst of all of this, the painter is here finishing up the outside of the house, it’s becoming increasingly hot (because i’m STILL getting hot flashes) and i just remembered that i have to call DirecTv because the living room tv isn’t working - so i put Sydney in the swing and because i know she’ll be asleep soon, i call DirecTv and head to the living room - after a few minutes i come back to check on her and the swing is barely moving - so i turn it off and back on again, give it a little push and head back into the living room - by this time i’ve finally gotten a real person on the phone - so i’m dealing with the tv and the painter is yelling random info to me - while i’m waiting for the tv receiver to power back up (and meanwhile i’m about to spontaneously combust) i come back to check on Sydney - the swing is still barely moving so i take a closer look - i can hear the motor spinning at it’s regular speed but it’s like something inside isn’t catching - i know it’s not the batteries because i had just replaced them a few days earlier - so me being the genius that i am, decide that maybe i can fix it - so i go get the bouncy chair and bring it in to the bedroom so Sydney can sit in it while i “fix” the swing - i grab the screwdriver and open the motor case and realize i have no idea what the hell i’m doing - no big deal, i’ll just close it back up, right? right … um, yeah - that’s exactly how it went - maybe i’ve mentioned this before, but Sydney hates the bouncy chair - and the entire time i’ve been messing with the swing, she’s been becoming more and more agitated - of course, i’m trying to soothe her with my standard “it’s okay Sydney - mommy just needs a few more minutes” - i swear those will be her first words - i’ll look up one day and she’ll bust out with “just a few more minutes” - anyway, i’m trying to get the swing back together, Sydney is getting fussier and the DirecTv rep wants to be all chatty Cathy telling me that he and his wife have a dog because they’re not ready for kids - thanks for the info dude!!

so i finally get the tv working and i’m still messing with the swing - but by this time, Sydney is D-O-N-E DONE with the bouncy chair - i’m now pleading with her to give mom a few minutes so that i can get the swing back together - but in true i’m-my-mother’s-daughter fashion, she’s not having it - she’s now screaming bloody murder and i still can’t get the swing together - so i rig it together temporarily and turn to get Sydney out of the bouncy chair - the minute i get ger unstrapped and pick her up, the swing comes crashing to the ground - i look over and see this …

yeah - good times!!  so now i have a screaming baby, a broken swing and all i can think is “how am i going to get her to go to sleep tonight?  and oh yeah - have  i mentioned that the swing doesn’t belong to us?  that’s right - the wonderful Mike and ReJana Krause LOANED us the swing - so now i have a broken swing that i HAVE to replace - so i plop Sydney in my lap and start calling every Babies R Us in the vicinity and no one has it - but one store tells me that Toys R Us carries that particular pattern - woo hoo!!  except i call Toys R Us and they don’t have it in stock - so i go to the Graco website - but even they don’t have it in stock - WHY GOD WHY?!?!  i get it, being a mom is hard - i don’t need proof - i believe you!!!  so finally i figure out that i can order a replacement part - and after spending 10 minutes trying to find the serial number on the broken swing, i finally get the part ordered - only to find out that “due to system upgrades”, the part won’t ship for 5 days - ugh.  it’s going to be a long weekend

UPDATE:  ok, so i’ve been a little busy - i actually started writing this blog almost 2 weeks ago - fortunately, the part shipped a few days early and the swing part arrived on a Tuesday - just in time for me to leave Sydney with Daddy while mom went out on an appointment - end result - the swing is a LIFESAVER!!!!

i think i’m over it - i was able to watch the entire episode uninterrupted (Kelley was in class and Sydney was asleep) and i was bored to tears - no one was stellar last night and most of the routines were boring - i felt bad for Marissa - last week they told her to reign in the energy a bit - this week she did and they told her she needed to turn it up - poor thing - i wanted to cry for her - Jason Taylor - still HOT - his dance was a little dull but who cares because he he is freaking HOT!!!  did you see his butt in those dance pants - very nice!  everyone else - don’t really care - if it’s not better next week - i think i’ll be jumping off the bandwagon - but i will be checking in to see Jason !!!