Author: Kathleen

  • meredith at three months

    She:

    >Has been wearing 0-3 month clothing for awhile now, and is only just now fitting into some 3-6 month.

    >Went to her first wedding! (My brother’s – can’t wait to share photos.)

    >Sort of rolled over once! I wasn’t there, but my mom put her on the bed and she got from her back to her stomach by herself, with her arm caught underneath. Hasn’t happened since.

    >Still hasn’t had anything other than breast milk, despite some recent challenges.

    >Has really discovered her hands! She likes to suck on them, stuff them in her mouth, examine them, and grab grab grab.

    >Will pretty much smile at anyone if they look her in the eyes and smile at her, but I think she recognizes David and me.

    >Had her first belly laugh today, while my mom was watching her. I wish I had been the one to witness it! Can’t wait to hear it, though.

    >Got her picture hung on the wall at daycare with her other baby friends, which made me really happy.

    >Still has all her hair, and it’s almost long enough to pull into a hilarious short ponytail on top of her head.

    >Hates being put in the car seat now, just like she hates getting dressed. Two things David makes me do so that she doesn’t associate him with them. (Not fair.)

    >Still sleeps through the night, and would probably be fine in her crib now, except that I’m not ready to part with her and I don’t know when I will be and that’s just fine.

    >Is a Bumbo-sitting champ, which is awesome for me when I need to get things done.

    I: 

    >Was proud to celebrate my three-year anniversary with David on October 3rd. We went to see my favorite band, Over the Rhine, in concert. They were opening for Lucinda Williams but we left before the main act because it was getting late, and I had to work the next day, and…we’re old and lame, apparently.

    >Have been back at work for almost a month now, and have finally settled into a manageable routine. It doesn’t include as much reading, TV watching, magazine browsing, or Internet as I’d like, but I’m rested most of the time and surviving so I can’t complain too much!

    >Experienced mastitis for the first time, which was AWFUL. More on this to come.

    >Don’t really hate pumping as much as I thought I would, but it irritates my skin, is annoying (all the set-up and cleaning), and is hard to find time to do at work.

    >Am looking forward to (and counting on) the sweet spot when breastfeeding will actually help me lose weight.

    >Have finally discovered the joys of dressing Meredith up in actual outfits rather than just onesies.

    >Looked at pictures of her when she was one month old, and realized how different she already looks. I love her so much now, but I do miss that tiny baby!

    >Find myself getting strangely envious at times when I hear about friends becoming pregnant or seeing my sister-in-law’s expanding belly. I didn’t really enjoy the physical part of pregnancy, but the anticipation was wonderful.

    >Miss Meredith SO MUCH during the day, and even when she’s sleeping! Although I don’t cry anymore when I drop her off at daycare, I still linger there a little longer than I need to every morning.

    My aunt took all these pictures except the first two. I’m so grateful to her!

    For reference:

    No months
    One month
    Two months

  • BlogHer Book Club: Love At First Bark by Julie Klam

    “I had always felt that any dog I took care of would’ve done the same for me if it could, and in fact by rescuing them they filled my heart in such a way that I was rescued right back.” –Julie Klam

    ***

    I’m a dog person through and through. We have three of them, and I’ve talked about them several times here, but I don’t know if I’ve mentioned that they are all rescue animals. My husband got his dog Eddie as a puppy in the shelter, and I got Cleo as a 2-year-old from the same place. Oliver was a stray from the street with a limp that we really shouldn’t have taken on, but then we saw his big eyes and adorable tongue and his obvious need for affection and we couldn’t say no.

    Julie Klam makes me feel better about our crazy dog ways. This truly “short and sweet” memoir about some of her experiences with fostering and rescuing dogs reveals Julie as a kindred spirit in that she has a heart for dogs and will go to extreme lengths to provide them with the best life possible, but she’s no expert on training. Now I don’t feel so bad that our dogs bark at every little thing, pull on their leashes, and don’t always get along with other animals. Also, Julie’s personality really comes through in her writing, and she comes across as funny, down-to-earth, and laid-back; basically, someone I would like to be friends with.

    Julie’s stories are so true in that you’d never realize how much of an influence dogs can have on you and your relationships until you’ve experienced it. Some of my best memories with my husband involve our dogs. Each of the three chapters focuses on one specific dog rescue, but it ends up being about so much more. Whether it’s bringing her and her husband together again, taking a step back from materialism, or learning about true sacrifice, dogs are at the heart of it all.

    Over the past several months, as I’ve given birth to and learned to care for my new baby, my dogs have been somewhat neglected. After reading Love At First Bark I’ve redoubled my efforts to give them extra snuggles and to reassure them that I still love them as much as ever. After all, we are their whole world.

    Read more reviews and join the discussion about your experience with animal rescue over at the BlogHer book club.

    ***

    Disclosure: I was compensated for this BlogHer Book Club review but all opinions expressed are my own.

  • How My Husband Plays With the Baby

    The other night while I was taking a shower and my husband was in charge of Meredith, he found the video camera. We thought it was broken, and had recently just discovered that it only needed new batteries. (We are really smart. And actually, HE is the one that realized that plugging the camera in with the USB wouldn’t recharge the rechargeable batteries, which is what I was trying to do.) Anyway, the video camera was basically a new toy. And left alone with it, this is what happened.

    That was David’s “Meredith” voice.

    Metallica makes a lovely lullaby, don’t you think?

  • meredith’s nursery

    I’m finally ready to share the nursery pictures! It took me awhile to get it “finished,” and then I took these pictures weeks ago when I was still on maternity leave, but due to computer issues I’ve just now been able to get them posted.

    I’m not any kind of designer, but I like Meredith’s room and I feel very happy when I spend time there with her. I didn’t have a plan going in, but as it turned out the colors are mostly pink, green, and brown with an earthy kind of element. We were definitely on a budget, and there are a few more things I’d like to add, but overall it’s pretty much done. For now.

    Here we have the rocking chair that belonged to my father from when he was a bachelor. It’s maybe not the prettiest piece of furniture, but it is well-made and comfortable. Hung over it is a blanket made by my husband’s grandmother, who we call Gigi (great-grandmother).

    The curtains are these from Target. Also from Target are the lamp/lampshade and the little clock.

    I made these fabric circles myself and it was really easy. Just pick out some fabric, cut it, tighten it into an embroidery hoop, then glue the edges down. I used Sobo craft & fabric glue.

    I cross stitched this little guy for Meredith while I was pregnant WITH carpal tunnel syndrome, so I’m kinda proud of it. I bought the pattern from the Etsy seller Sewingseed and customized the lettering myself.

    The bookshelf is the Expedit from IKEA. The baskets are from Crate & Barrel. The picture frame was a gift, and that’s an iHome that glows different colors.

    I don’t know why this picture turned out so terrible! But there’s Meredith’s teddy bear that Gigi also made for her and who appears in her monthly pictures. With him are also the sum total of all the children’s books we own. (This must be remedied, which is why I’ve created a massive wish list for her for Christmas and birthdays!) In the basket on the right is where extra toiletries and baby medication is kept for now.

    In the bottom basket are accessories like hats and bows. I need to figure out a better way to store these. On the right are my pregnancy & parenting books. The little box stores a super adorable height tracker that I still need to hang up, given to me by one of my best friends.

    Her crib is the Gulliver from IKEA. We didn’t go with any crib bedding, and I love the simplicity of it. (Also, she hasn’t used her crib yet.) The blanket hung over the side is made by my best friend Becca, and it kind of served as the inspiration for the whole nursery.

    Marlena made the mobile, which I was so happy about! I had almost given up on getting a mobile at all, because I didn’t like the ones you can find in stores and the handmade ones were too expensive. I wasn’t about to make one myself, and then Marlena came over one day with this to give to me, and it even has fabric to match the blanket!

    This is Gyffy. My youngest brother brought him to the hospital as a birthday gift for Meredith. He actually thought she’d be able to play with him a little bit right away, but we had to explain that she won’t be interested for a little while. :) But my nephews love him and bring him out every time they come over! I think he’s adorable, so he’s got himself a permanent spot in the nursery.

    These are three prints of Charleston, SC that we bought when we were visiting my aunt and uncle when I was seven months pregnant. Good memories.

    We replaced the doors to the closet with curtains for easy access. I just put up a tension rod and some simple white curtains from Target. They are a little bit long but hemming them is so not a priority. On the back of the door I hung two Command hooks for Meredith’s hooded towels.

    The closet already had these built-in shelves when we moved in. Usually we leave the curtains open, so this is what that corner looks like most of the time.

    To the left of the shelves in the closet there is a bar for hanging (tiny, adorable) clothes.

    On the very top shelf I put things we don’t need, aren’t using, or need to return. Next comes all her stuffed animals that she’s not interested in yet.

    Here we have her memory box and some extra wipes for daycare. Underneath that is clothes that she’s already outgrown (sob) and a basket and bag of toys.

    The bottom shelf of the closet has extra bottles and tote bags. That’s her hamper to the left. (Please ignore the rip in the carpet. Tearing it up is something our crazy dog does when she gets anxious.)

    Here is her dresser, the Hemnes again from IKEA. I love it; it feels very substantial, comes with cute drawer liners, and has tons of space. It’s also the perfect height to serve as a changing table, which is what that pink pad is for. The bag hanging off one of the knobs contains the most commonly used extra items like diaper cream, baby hair brush, and fingernail clippers. Overall this is the one area that doesn’t quite seem “finished” to me. The wall overhead needs more on it, I think.

    To the right of the dresser you can see our hanging wet bag, which is where the dirty diapers go.

    But I do love what we have on the wall, this beautiful “M” made with handsewn buttons onto a silky pink fabric. I bought it from Etsy seller Letter Perfect Designs. The frame is one I found at Hobby Lobby for 50% off. :)

    Here is our wipes station. I know a wipes warmer is one of those things everyone says you don’t need, but we had one given to us and we use it as a dispenser for disposable wipes and I really, really like it. Even though we have been using cloth wipes (those in the basket) for the past few weeks and are going to stick to that, we still have the warmer out filled with natural wipes for when we have to use a diaper cream + liner. The green bottle is the solution we spray on the cloth wipes, and the clear bottle is hand sanitizer.

    I figured I might as well go all out and show you every detail of the nursery, so here’s what’s inside the dresser drawers! These are the small cloth diapers we’re using right now (Fuzzibunz perfect size) .

    Some more diapers and supplies, plus the mediums that she doesn’t fit in yet. The right top drawer has bibs and socks, plus some baking soda that I sprinkle in the hanging wet bag every so often to keep the smell down.

    The middle left drawer has diaper inserts and sleep sacks (she hasn’t used those yet).

    Middle right drawer contains onesies, pajamas, and a few outfits.

    Bottom left drawer is full of blankets and burp cloths (people like to give you those).

    And the bottom right drawer has Boppy covers, changing pad covers, crib sheets, and miscellaneous baby slings and carriers.

    That’s all of it! Other than the carpet really needing to be replaced, I’m very happy with it. At some point I’ll probably add some more things to the wall above the dresser, too. Anyway, let me know if you have any questions or comments!

  • drive: not really a movie review

    This past weekend my husband and I went on an Actual Date to the movies, just the two of us. When deciding what to see, we went strictly by the description on my Flixster app, since neither of us get out enough to have heard anything about the current movies out. We chose to see Drive, with Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan. It seemed like it’d be a fun action flick, had an 8.4 rating on imdb.com, and over 90% on Rotten Tomatoes. Sounds promising, right?

    The reason this isn’t really a movie review is because I don’t deny that it was very well made, and I’m sure many people will love it and even rave about it. (My brother, for instance, told me that he quite enjoyed it.) But it was NOT what we were expecting, and not something I’d ever like to see again. In fact, I wish I could un-see it. It was dark, depressing, eerie, and violent; the kind of violence that is personal and disturbing. There is a scene where one man shakes the hand of another man who had been his friend, and as he does so he slits his arm with a knife severing the artery. “That’s it, it’s over. There’s no pain,” he says to the dying man, as if it’s some kind of consolation. This murder was committed just because the man knew something incriminating.

    At this scene my stomach turned and I actually began to cry. There were several other similar scenes and it really got to me. My husband told me we could leave, but it was almost over so we stuck it out. It’s not that I can’t handle blood – I’m a nurse. And it’s not that I dislike dark or emotional movies. But I’ve always hated gratuitous violence, and now that I’m a mom it almost makes me sick. This movie did not leave us with any positive feelings or hope.

    Last week David and I attended the viewing of an 18-year-old girl, his boss’s granddaughter, who recently passed away from a brain tumor. That’s my baby, her father said to us. That night I dreamed that Meredith died, and I woke up sobbing uncontrollably. Even when I realized it was a dream, I couldn’t stop because I felt so much fear that something bad will happen to her and I don’t feel like I could survive that. I know it’s not possible or even ultimately best for her, but I want her life to be perfect. I’m hypersensitive to anything evil or bad in the world now, and I don’t need a movie to remind me of it.

    We should have just seen Dolphin Tale.