Fashion Flashback

I couldn't believe it when I stumbled upon these BabyLegs (also known as 'legwarmers') on-line. As a child who grew up in the 80's, I just had to have a few pairs for Claire. I think that she looks absolutely adorable. Art hates them...so much that he took her out of them when he got home from work last night. His excuse was that it didn't seem like she was comfortable in them - I'm not buying it. What do you think??

looks pretty content to me

with all that movement, she just might be a dancer

my inspiration for the rainbow pair (me on my 4th birthday)

a blessing, a curse, and then another blessing

At first I was hesitant to use it. Would it interfere with breastfeeding? Would she be one of those kids walking around at 4 years old with it hanging out of her mouth? Did she really need it? Could I soothe her without it?

My hesitation only lasted a few short days. It was our last night in the hospital and we had dropped Claire off at the nursery in hopes of getting a few hours of sleep before we went home the next day. One of the nurses promptly brought her back to our room about 30 minutes after we dropped her off, indicating that they couldn't get her to stop crying. Art & I looked at eachother - are you kidding us? You think we are going to be able to get her to stop?!?! So, we bounced her, we shushed her, we fed her, we swayed her...nothing worked. She was still screaming. We were desperate. I remembered then that I had packed a few pacifiers in one of our bags. We pulled one of them out, inserted it in her screaming mouth, and she stopped. It was like magic. Why didn't we think of it sooner?!?!

I don't think that we would have survived those first 6 weeks without it. Often times it was the only thing that would soothe her enough to fall asleep. But like many good things, it didn't last. During the middle of the night, Claire started to wake up and was unable to put herself back to sleep without it in her mouth. It got to the point where we were getting up 5-6 times/night just to put the pacifier back in her mouth. It was ridiculous and we were exhausted. This was not going to be sustainable long-term.

Fortunately for us, Claire then discovered her fingers...a new soothing device!! Therefore, we eliminated the pacifier for naps and bedtime about a week ago. We now leave one of her hands peeking out of her swaddle, so she can use her fingers as a soothing device. The difference this has made as been AMAZING. Most nights she is able to self-soothe and we only have to get up once to feed her.

Now we just have to worry about her sucking her fingers when she walks off to kindergarten some day! Oh well, if it means more sleep now, that is the risk we are willing to take.

Weekend Update

We had a great weekend with beautiful weather (I know, pretty sad when 35 degrees is beautiful). Saturday afternoon we were able to sneak in a stroller ride before Pete & Emily came over for Broder's take out, delicious wine and great conversation. We can't wait until June when they welcome their new baby and Claire gains a new playmate. Only 15 weeks to go!Sunday we made a trip to the MOA for some stroller pushing and shopping. After wearing $10 shirts from Target for much of my maternity leave, I decided I was in desperate need of a fashion update. After a successful trip, we spent the afternoon relaxing as a family and playing with Claire.

Sunny Day Photo Shoot

A sunny day photo shoot with Claire to show off some of her homemade gifts.

Note the adorable handknit sweater my friend Leanne's mom made - thanks Naomi!

The beautiful homemade quilt is from my friend Katie's mom - thanks Jan!

Fancy Feet

As weird as it may sound, I really enjoy my daughter's feet.

I love the way she smiles when I play "this little piggy" with them.

I love the way her face lights up when I kiss the bottom of them.

I love them with no socks at all, but also love dressing them up with these great socks from Trumpette.

Just wait until they are big enough to fit in shoes!!

A Case of the Mondays

I should have known it was going to be a rough day when I turned on the television this morning and saw that it was 0 degrees outside...are you kidding me??? I thought we were done with the sub-zero temperatures. The morning continued to get worse when Art discovered that he could not locate his keys. After a good 45 minutes of looking with no keys in sight he took my car, leaving me housebound for the day. I was only planning to go to Target, but was so looking forward to it. To top things off, Claire is a major grump today. I thought we were getting somewhere with putting her down for naps. It had gotten to the point where we could put her down and she would go to sleep in a matter of minutes. Sometimes she would resist, but we would still only have to endure a maximum of 5 minutes of crying. Not today...I spent a good 50 minutes trying to get her down this afternoon. It's like she knows it's a Monday, and hates it as much as I do.

So today, the only things getting me by are:

DIET COKE BRAND NEW RUNNING SHOES (I'm up to 4 miles!)

MY BEAUTIFUL CLAIRE

(even when she is a grump, she manages to brighten my day)

.

I am so thankful that tomorrow is Tuesday.

All in the Family

We had a weekend filled with lots of family time.

Saturday night G & G Busse came over for pizza and to play with Claire.

Claire sports hair bow for first time

Cuddle-time with Grandma Sunday afternoon we headed up to G & G Boylan's for lunch. Katie, Steve & Sam were there, as well as Kristine & Meghan.

Claire & Sam (friends already) 3 weeks makes a big difference Sam - look at those eyes! Big Cousin Meghan

bet you can't fit your fist in your mouth...

Reality

I made several realizations yesterday...

The first, and most depressing, is that I have to go back to work in 3 weeks. I met my boss for coffee yesterday morning and that made it seem so real all of a sudden. Don't get me wrong, the increased adult interaction will be a welcome change (and I only have to go back 4 days/week), but I will miss little Claire so much. Maternity leave really is a cruel thing. Just as your child is getting more antimated and fun, you get to spend less time with them. Maternity leave in the winter is particularly cruel as I will be going back to work just as sub-zero temperatures disappear and the amount of daylight increases. I mean, really, would you want to leave this little face every day?!?!

The second realization I had is that there is no way that I am going to learn all the ins and outs of the digital SLR without taking a class. So, I will be signing up for a few classes within the next few weeks. At least it is a start...

The third realization I had is that I have not started and finished reading a good book for a LONG time. Today I am going to work on the starting part of that.

Finally, the last realization that I had yesterday is that I am truly lucky to have such a supportive husband. He came home from work last night with Broder's take-out and flowers in hand and we had a wonderful evening at home.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Love, Art, Angie & Claire

Morning Exercise

Comfort Food

After several days of chilly temperatures, last night called for some good old comfort food.

Sam Adams Beef Stew

2 lbs boneless beef stew meat, cut into 1.5 inch cubes

1/2 cup flour, divided

2 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

3 tablespoons butter, divided

1 1/2 cups chopped onions

1 1/2 cups cubed carrots

1 tablespoon snipped fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

2 1/2 teaspoons chopped garlic

3 cups beef stock

1 (12 oz) bottle of Sam Adams beer

2 cups cubed red potatoes

1/4 cup water

In a large storage bag, shake beef with 1/4 cup flour, 1 1/2 teaspoon salt and the pepper. Melt butter in large Dutch oven over medium heat. Brown beef; remove. Stir in onion, carrots, thyme, bay leaves and garlic; saute 4 minutes. Stir in beef stock and beer. Reduce heat; simmer, covered until beef is tender (approx. 3 1/2 hours). Add potatoes; simmer, covered, until tender (about 20 minutes). Combine remaining 1/4 cup flour and water until smooth; slowly pour into stew, stirring constantly. Cook over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil; boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove bay leaves. Stir in remaining 1 teaspoon of salt if needed. Enjoy!

Night Away Without Baby

Last Saturday night Art & I had our first overnight away from Claire. We had Art's annual firm dinner/dance and decided to make a night of it by getting a hotel room downtown.

I had visions of a full 10+ hours of sleep, uninterrupted, but was quick to find that my body has adjusted itself to 'mom-mode', waking up every few hours for no reason. While I didn't get the best night of sleep, it was still nice to find some time away to reconnect.

We left Claire with my parents and she did just fine (definitely easier on her than me). We were delighted to see her smiling face on Sunday morning when we got home.

Who does Claire look like?!?!

There's been a lot of discussion about who Claire looks more like - Art or myself - looks like the honors go to Art...

Two Months Old

Claire hit the two month mark yesterday, so we headed to the pediatrician this morning for a check-up and her first shots. She weighed in at 11 lbs 5 oz and 22.5 inches. She got 4 shots in her little legs and didn't enjoy them one bit (neither did I). After a little tylenol and a few tears, she is now fast asleep and seems to be doing fine.

TWITTER

You may have noticed a new section to the right-hand side of our blog page - TWITTER - and may be wondering what it is. Twitter is a fast and easy way to answer the simple question 'what are you doing?'. Now, in addition to blog posts, you may find a little chatter there as well.

Super Tuesday

Art, Jenny and I headed to our caucus tonight and were AMAZED at the voter turnout. We arrived to find a line of HUNDREDS of people waiting to get inside and cast their vote. We braved the cold and after 1.5 hours finally cast our votes.

Tax Deduction

We had high hopes of heading to the mall today, but due to a snowy morning and a congested little Claire we opted to stay home instead. To pass the morning by I decided to get a start on our taxes. Claire and her onsie provided the necessary motivation.

Hobbies - Old and New

Now that Claire is on more of a schedule, I have a little extra time to enjoy a few on my past hobbies and pick up one or two new ones:

OLD: For the past 10 odd years, running has been a part of who I am. I have enjoyed many types of runs over the years - early morning runs, hot and humid runs, runs so cold your eyelashes turn to ice, runs alone and with friends, slow leisurely runs and fast sprints - you get the point...
When I became pregnant 11 months ago, my runs quickly turned to walks for fear that I would somehow hurt the little being inside of me. While I am anxious to feel that same adrenaline rush that running seems to give me, I have realized over the past week that it might be a slow process. Last Friday I jumped on the treadmill for a quick run and after a mere 2 minutes realized that I am incredibly out of shape! The up side is that every workout since has gotten a little easier. Hopefully it won't be long before I am cruising the streets again...


NEW: Before Claire was born, we bought two new cameras - a digital SLR and a compact point-and-shoot camera. Due to intimidation, I have shyed away from the digital SLR until NOW. It is my goal over the final 5 weeks of my maternity leave to figure out how it works (and using the auto focus mode does not count)! I have no excuse as I have a wonderful subject to experiment on.