Getting Ready..Not Quite Set...Haven't Gone Yet

Life in our house is going to change again soon. Wesley is getting ready crawl. I know it doesn't really look like it in this picture, but I cannot seem to capture his new skill on film. Everytime I turn the camera on, he lays down and refuses to "perform!"

Wesley's been doing the baby push-up for quite awhile now and he's quite adept at maneuvering side to side. Between that and rolling he's pretty much able to get where he wants to be in a room. He ended up under the coffee table this morning before church. And he can get to whatever book or toy happens to catch his eye. Unfortunately, that's just not going to be good enough for him much longer.

Over the past couple of days Wesley has been perfecting the "tushie in the air" move. It used to be a special nighttime technique, but he has realized that he can do it when he wants. Now if only he could put it together with the push up he'd be on his way. As it stands now, Wesley will do the push up, then lay down, then stick his tushie in the air, then repeat. He has managed to get to his hands and knees once or twice, but it doesn't last long. Scooting backwards must be a little easier because he's great at that - even wedged his legs under a chair.

I don't know how long it takes to go from this stage to actual crawling, but our lives are definitely going to get more active soon. Everyone who knows Wesley says that once he starts going, we are not going to be able to keep up with him and I'm so afraid it's true! Oh well, maybe I'll lose the last bit of baby weight then!

A Little Bit of Chaos

Baby monitors are a wonderful invention. They allow me to sit and type; Duane and Gus (cat) to have some quality time while we both stare at the monitor and wonder why Wesley isn't asleep yet. Wesley has been in bed for half an hour which usually equals contented baby snoring, but for some reason he is just not interested tonight. And before anyone gets all bent out of shape that I'm on the computer while my baby is crying upstairs, Duane just went to check on him!

Anyhow, like I was saying, Wesley has no reason not to be in dreamland now. He's had a very busy day. He didn't sleep real well last night and we woke him up this morning. I know "how rude!" but we needed to get our taxes done and our little deduction was going to stay at Grandma and Grandpa H's while we took care of that.

We have visitors for lunch today and Wesley had to entertain. Grandma W., Aunt Judy, Aunt Melissa and cousins Kierstin and Mark Robert all came over. We haven't seen Grandma W. in nearly a month, because even though she doesn't live that far away it's hard to juggle her schedule, my schedule, and Duane's schedule. We haven't seen Aunt Judy since Christmas and even though we see Aunt Melissa and the cousins every week when they watch Wesley, I barely get to talk to them.

I had a great time with everyone! It's so much fun to watch Melissa's kids and think that someday Wesley will be doing the same things. Kierstin (who is in kindergarten) took some pictures with my digital camera. To be honest, I expected lots of pictures of the floor but she took some great shots of Gus and the best picture that's been taken of me in months! She loves the cats and the two of us showered Sanders with affection for quite awhile. Duane and Mark Robert played on the Hot Wheels web site and had a blast. Duane has a lot of fun with Wesley now, but I know he's looking forward to cars and ball with the little guy in a few years. We really need to make more of an effort to see everyone more often. I don't want another month to go by before we have the chance to get together again. I have fantastic in-laws and spending time with them is always a treat. Having experienced the other end of the spectrum, I know how good I've got it!

In case you are wondering, Duane has returned, the monitor is quiet and the restless wonder is asleep. Sounds like he just needed Daddy to rock him for awhile, which Daddy is always more than happy to do. I love my guys!

Vacation Time!

Well, sort of. I was feeling a wee bit of stress today - lots to do at work and home. I called Duane a couple of times today just to hear his voice and try to relax for a moment. He must of known that I needed something a little extra today. When Wesley and I got home, Duane was wearing a Hawaiian shirt and had a tropical beverage waiting for me. We played with Wesley as we waited for our Hawaiian pizza to be delivered and finished our meal with coconut cookies. Not exactly a day at the beach, but definitely a nice mini vacation - plus there was no sand in Wesley's diaper!

A Typical Day in the Life of a Working New Mom

You may have noticed that I haven't posted any new messages in the last day or so. I've had an exhausting week so far and it's only Wednesday. Some of you may be wondering why I'm so tired, so I thought I'd give you a sneak peak into my life. WARNING: VERY LONG!

5:45 AM - Alarm clock goes off for the first time. Duane hits the snooze button.

6:05 AM - Actually roll out of bed and head to the shower

6:20 AM - Emerge from shower. Wesley is still sleeping so I have the rare opportunity to blow
dry my hair - coworkers will be stunned!

6:35 AM - Get dressed for work. Hear Wesley stirring, so go into nursery to find him lying on his stomach with his tushie in the air. Greeted with a great big "Good Morning" smile
from the boy.

6:40 AM - After a changing Wesley's diaper I make him a bottle. He proceeds to play with it and maybe eats 3 ounces.

6:50 AM - Say goodbye to Duane as he heads out the door.

7:00 AM - Give up on the bottle. Put Wesley in his bouncy chair and pull it into the kitchen so I
can see him while I finish my hair and makeup in the little bathroom.

7:10 AM - Take Wesley upstairs to get dressed. Find he has a wet diaper already. Change diaper and put cute outfit on him. Discover cute outfit (like every other outfit I've put him in
this week) is too short. Decide he's stuck wearing high-waters today.

7:20 AM - Put Wesley on floor with a ton of toys while I pack his diaper bag with everything he
needs for the day. Also pack my work bag.

7:35 AM - Put Wesley in his exersaucer in the kitchen so I can run both bags out to the car and
scrape the windows.

7:38 AM - Return to find Wesley grunting. Change diaper once again.

7:45 AM - Throw a mini bagel in the toaster and start to get Wesley's coat on him.

7:48 AM - Realize I forgot to make coffee and hope I have time to stop at Starbucks.

7:49 AM - Discover I can't find Wesley's stuffed lion. Grab his "BearBun" instead and say a
prayer of thankfulness that he is too little to really care about the switch.

7:50 AM - Load Wesley into the car. Inadvertently poke him in the face. Wesley cries. Feel
guilty.

7:55 AM - Pull out of the driveway and use the 15 minute drive to Grandma and Grandpa H's
house to obsess about what I need to do at home. Feel guilty because I pop in a book
on tape instead of listen to child-friendly music. Eat breakfast at the "Cafe Hyundai"

8:10 AM - Arrive at Grandma and Grandpa H's. Reverse the loading into the car process (minus the poke in the face)

8:20 AM - Have a minor guilt trip when Grandpa H. jokes that it's awfully nice of us to keep
Wesley overnight for Grandma

8:30 AM - Head to Starbucks

8:45 AM - Take first sip of my super yuppie drink "tall, non-fat, sugar-free, vanilla latte, extra
hot." Can practically feel the caffeine taking hold. Head to ATM at bank one block
away.

8:50 AM - Arrive at work to "start" my day.

9:54 AM - Prepare for first meeting of day. Debate the pros and cons of lunch with coworkers
verses running to Target on my lunch hour.

11:15 AM - Reserve brand new non-drooled on board books for Wesley

11:30 AM - Decide to have lunch with coworkers. Call to check on Wesley.

12:00 Noon - caffeine wore off. Try to stay awake and decide to shelve books.

2:15 PM - Back from lunch with coworkers. Now feel even more drowsy from big meal.

3:05 PM - Try not to panic about email just received about BIG meeting next week with lots of
work that will need done in short amount of time.

3:16 PM - Realize that I will not last until 5:00 without additional caffeine. Hit the pop machine.

3:30 PM - Call to check on Wesley

4:15 PM - Breathe a huge sigh of relief that my second meeting of the day has been postponed
until tomorrow. Continue to work at my desk.

5:00 PM - Short day today. Leave to go pick up Wesley

5:05 PM - Arrive at Grandma and Grandpa H's. Find that Wesley had a leaky diaper and is
wearing his spare outfit which is (surprise) too short!

5:20 PM - Load Wesley back into the car to head home.

5:35 PM - Made great time home! Pass the baby to Duane and put dinner in the oven.

5:45 PM - Glance at newspaper, then start looking for dessert recipes for family lunch this
weekend.

6:00 PM - Duane feeds Wesley

6:20 PM - Duane and I get to eat while Wesley chews on a spoon in his exersaucer.

6:27 PM - Wesley cries in exersaucer. Move him to jumper so we can finish dinner

6:28 PM - Wesley cries.

6:29 PM - Stops crying and starts bouncing.

6:39 PM - Done in the jumper. Duane and I begin our nightly hour of heavy duty playtime with
Wesley to keep the "7:00 Crankies" away.

7:45 PM - Put Wesley in his jammies while Duane gets a bottle ready

7:50 PM - Return to the nursery to discover one of the cats puked on the rug. Scrub the rug
while Duane feeds Wesley.

8:00 PM - Night-Night Wesley.

This is the time when I blog, sometimes pack the diaper bag, read, talk to Duane, watch TV, and try to stay awake until 10:00 or so, just so I don't sound too pathetic. Probably won't make it tonight. I'll let you in on another secret though. Being a Mommy is so worth it!!! I wouldn't trade Wesley's smiles, babbles, slobbery kisses, or even cries for anything in the world!

Winter Weekend

For the first time in quite a while, it has actually felt like winter in our neck of the woods. No snow, but it's been very cold the past couple of days. We've pretty been lazy this weekend and it has been wonderful!!!

We did venture out yesterday to take Wesley to COSI. They have an area that is just for infants - Kindergarten aged kids that is very cool. Kate and I checked it out last week with Colin and Wesley and the boys had a blast. I conned Duane into going yesterday. It was super crowded because a) it's the weekend b) it's a cold weekend c) there's a Harley Davidson event going on across the street and lots of the Harley families also went to COSI. We still had a good time though. Wesley has two favorite things there. The first is the water table. Basically it's a big table with a 1/4 inch of water and lots of toys. It has seats built in so the little guys like Wesley can sit and splash and chew on toys. He must have sat there for 20 minutes!

Wesley also really likes the mirrors. In the kids space they have a pillar with three large mirrors hanging on it low enough for babies to see. One is just a square mirror, framed with padding; one is framed with padding to look circular; one looks more like a honeycomb. Maybe my kid is a bit narcissistic, but he could've looked at himself for a very long time. Every time we switched mirrors and saw himself, he'd grin at his reflection.

We've pretty much been in hibernation today. Wesley let us sleep until 8:00! I had my favorite winter breakfast of cinnamon toast and hot chocolate (yum!) Other than that we've just been playing, napping and watching TV. I'm not sure what Wesley thinks about having Duane and I at his beck and call all day long without us going anywhere, but we think it's been a little slice of heaven. What a great weekend not to work!

Is Trouble Brewing?

Grandma H. gave Wesley a brand new food today. He LOVED it!!! He couldn't get enough of it! I'm a little worried though, the brand new food was prunes.

Warning

This is what happens when you give your baby a bath and don't let his hair completely dry before you put him to bed. Meet Foghorn Wesley! Add a breakfast of peaches and the new wave look is complete

Big Shoes to Fill

I'd like to publicly thank my mother-in-law for raising such an amazing son! Duane is so thoughtful and romantic. I pray that Wesley turns out like his father. If he does, he'll make some woman very very lucky one day.

Duane has made it his personal mission in life to make sure I never have another bad Valentine's Day. Each year I am certain he can't top the year before and each year he does. I was prepared for this year to be kind of average at best. I couldn't get the day off work and since it's my night to work, I had planned on not seeing Duane at all until 9:30. However, Duane had other plans.

Yesterday Duane told me that he left work early because things were slow and that he'd go pick up Wesley so I wouldn't have too. When I got home after work, I walked into a quiet house and the most DELICIOUS smells coming from the kitchen. Duane had arranged for Wesley to spend the night at Grandma and Grandpa H.'s house, so we could celebrate Valentine's Day early. He spent the afternoon cooking an incredible dinner of flank steak stuffed with spinach and feta, Parmesan asparagus, potato and shitake mushroom gratin, and double chocolate mocha trifle. It was soooooo good! Dinner at some expensive restaurant couldn't have tasted any better. Oh, did I forget to mention the candlelight and vase of roses on the table?

We didn't really get to sleep in and relax this morning because Sanders' face puffed up again this week. He had to be at the vet's office between 7:30 - 8:30 this morning. We dropped him off and then went out to breakfast. After breakfast we spent the morning shopping where ever I wanted to go. I am almost embarrassed to admit that we spent a good two hours at Target, but I don't get to really look around at stores anymore because I always have the boy with me. We also went to this great furniture/funky gift store. It's incredibly girly - exactly the way I'd have my house if I lived alone - but Duane is always a good sport about going there. Then we ate lunch at our favorite vegetarian restaurant/bakery before I went to work.

As if I wasn't spoiled enough, Duane kidnapped my car while I was working and gave it a "Big D. Special." That means it was washed, vacuumed, armor all-ed, windex-ed and had an oil change. I can't tell you how much the ol' Hyundai needed that! It felt so good to drive home from work in a clean car.

Sorry if I've made anyone out there jealous. I married a wonderful, sweet, romantic and all around amazing man. He opens doors, helps me on with my coat and is a gentleman in every way. He gives to charity, goes to church and loves his family and my family. I pray that Wesley grows up to be the kind of man his Daddy is.

Not the Mama - part 2

Friday nights are a big date night for me and Duane. Just about every Friday that I don't work you can find us out on the town in the evening - that is if you consider going to the grocery store with your 5 month old "out on the town." Anyway, you know how when you go to the grocery store you tend to pass the same people over and over, just in different aisles? Tonight a woman and toddler we had passed several times finally stopped me. I was ready for the familiar "I know you from somewhere. Do you work at the library?" But instead the mom said, "Every time we have passed you tonight my son has called you Mommy!" What's extra funny is that the woman was a dark brunette!

Not the Mama

This morning when I dropped Wesley off at my mom's house, we spent some time in the kitchen talking to my stepdad. Wesley is especially cheery in the morning and always has a big smile for Grandpa H. Today Wesley reached for his grandpa's face and touched his beard, cheeks and nose. Then Wesley turned to me and touched my chin (no beard, I'm happy to say), cheeks and nose. Then he turned back to his grandpa and did the same thing again. It was like he was saying "Hummm...this is different," and comparing our faces. Wesley is very interested in faces in general. At James' baptism the other day Rhonda was holding Wesley and he had one little hand on each of Rhonda's cheeks and was just staring at her and smiling. She said an interest in faces is a sign of intelligence. I've never heard that before, but I'm certainly not going to argue with it!

Little Angels

Quick! Do you know what today is? If you work at the library, you would know that today is officially Screaming Baby Day! I spent my morning working at another location and it turns out that was a lucky thing for me. While I was gone there were two infants who did nothing but scream during their entire visit to the library. The first child totally disrupted a storytime and the mother did not want to leave the room. The second disrupted the rest of the department and left the adult services staff, who were covering the desk, with massive headaches. One of the adult services people was a new hire who was spending her first morning at the children's desk. I'll be amazed and impressed if she returns.

Ironically, today was also the day I received a response from a local restaurant about a complaint I made to their administrative headquarters. Twice I visited the restaurant with Wesley and twice received eye-rolls and long suffering sighs from the servers when they saw I had an infant with me. I was pretty upset by their behavior, but after what I heard today I can understand it even if I can't excuse it.

So what am I going to do the first time Wesley throws a full blown screaming fit in public? Who knows? I know that I'll almost assuredly turn several shades of red, pink and fuschia and wish for the ground to swallow me whole. I hope I keep my head level enough to leave the restaurant/storytime/store until he calms down. I hope I can ignore the pointed stares, eye rolls and sighs from people who will wonder why I can't control my child. I hope I don't try bribery or threats to get Wesley to calm down. Oh, who am I kidding? I am praying that he stays the little angel he is and that it never ever happens! Or at least that it happens when Daddy is with him!

Baby Nibbles

We have finally discovered a sure fire way to make Wesley laugh. Peek-a-boo did not cut it. Babbling and funny faces left him cold. In order to be assured of baby laughs one must nibble on the baby! Wesley goes nuts when you nibble on his ribs and make munching noises. Apparently it's the height of baby comedy and sends him into fits! Zerberts (razzberries) on the tummy come in a close second and will also result in a super smiley baby, but nibbles are the best for full belly laughs! The only problem with baby nibbles is that Wesley seems to think it's appropriate to share his favorite snack as a gesture of thankfulness. His favorite snack? Super slimy baby fingers. Definitely less than appetizing.

Super Sunday

Today was another crazy day in our "relaxing" weekend. Our friends Rusty and Katie had the baptism for their son James today. Duane and I are the godparents so we skipped worship at our church and headed to their church instead. It was a great service, but a little strange. Contempory service at our church is still rather traditional - something I've grumped about on occasion - but at their church it is a rock and roll service complete with wireless microphones and electric guitars. Wesley LOVED the music and smiled nearly the whole time. It was fun for a change, but I've come to realize that our small church is a great fit for us.

I still can't get over how little James is. He's like a little feather! Whenever I held him today it was like holding nothing. And he is so sweet. He doesn't really cry - he squeaks. I can't believe Wesley was ever that little. We went to Babies R Us today and bought convertable car seats because his little feet are starting to hang over the end of the infant seat. Of course, I've been in full blown Wemberley mode lately and also wanted his crib mattress lowered just in case he manages to sit up on his own in the next day or two. He is trying so hard! The kid is going to have incredible ab muscles by the time he can manage to pull himself to a sitting position. He's already really strong.

Other than that it was a quiet day. We bought a bunch a junk food to eat during the Super Bowl and are getting ready to indulge in way too much dessert during the second half. i spent part of my evening trying to get a good picture of Sanders to submit to stuffonmycat.com. If you've never seen it, it's exactly what it sounds like. My new quest is to get my kitty on that site. I'm not totally thrilled with the results from today. I'll let you know when we suceeed.

Go Go Baby!

My stepmom jokes that Wesley is going to think he lives in the car because he's in it so much. Today I could almost believe that. Since I am off this weekend I feel like I have to cram a whole bunch of stuff into it and because I also want to spend time with Duane and Wesley, they get dragged along.

We all slept in until about 8:00 this morning. Wesley is a fantastic sleeper most days. A normal night is bed at 8:00, wake up once for a bottle, and go back to sleep until 7:00 or 8:00. Please don't throw rotten veggies at us! We know we are very lucky! Anyhow, we left the house around 10:30 and went to Trader Tots. For those of you who may not know, Trader Tots is a resale baby store like Once Upon a Child. The big difference is that they also buy maternity clothes right there as well. We sold a ton of stuff!

From there we zipped over to Target to look at convertible car seats. Wesley is going to outgrow his infant seat very soon and I want to be prepared. Of course, I forgot my Consumer Reports guide, so we didn't actually buy a seat today, but at least we've got some good ideas. What really stinks is that we'll have to buy two seats and those suckers are not cheap! Oh well, that's life with kids.

We only spent a few minutes at Target before heading over to my hairdresser. I have not been in to see Michael since October (cringe!) and couldn't wait for some "Michael Therapy" I have turned into a ponytail mom and desperately needed a little update to the do. Michael added some layers, but nothing drastic. Wesley and Duane accompanied me and Wesley charmed the socks off of the receptionist. She even sat on the floor to play with him. He was quite the little sweetheart the whole time. Michael couldn't get over how good Wesley was or how much he smiled. Needless to say, Duane and I were pretty proud of the little guy.

Let's see, from there we swung by a Wendy's for a quick bite and then drove over to UA to see my friend Kate at the library there. I miss working with her sooooooo much, but it was great to see her in her new environment. I can tell she is really happy there and has some big plans for the place. She just seemed so relaxed and confident. It was definitely the move she needed to make - even if it meant leaving me (sniff, sniff). She and I made plans to take Wesley and Colin to COSI on Friday. They have an area there just for babies and little kids, so we thought we'd give it a try. Winter has returned to our neck of the woods, so the zoo is out for now. I can't wait for Friday!!! It'll be great to spend more than 15 minutes with Kate.

Our last stop on the grand tour of the city was the grocery store. Duane and I figured we were really pressing our luck by this time since we had been gone for nearly 3 1/2 hours. Once again, Wesley surprised us by being really good. He had to have been tired and hungry, but he barely made a peep. Of course, it didn't hurt that we were speed shopping. Folks probably thought we were on that old game show "Supermarket Sweep."

We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing at home. It was so nice to be inside and cozy with the wet and cold safely on the other side of the windows. Wesley pigged out on his dinner and ate 3/4 a container of green beans, 1/2 a container of squash and an entire container of pears. That's the most I've ever seen him eat at once. Apparently all the Food Network I watch has rubbed off on him. Duane and I had a dinner of comfort food, had playtime with Wesley and now that he's in bed, we're going to watch a movie together. Not a bad Saturday at all.

Visits Galore

YEA! Kate and Colin came by the library last night to visit. I miss working with Kate so much. It was fantastic to see her again. And Colin is so big! I'm used to my little guy, so Colin (at 13 months) is like this giant kid who can do so much. I can't even imagine Wesley at that age.

My aunt Jean came to visit today from Florida. We haven't seen her since Wesley was 1 1/2 months old. Of course, Wesley saw this as a new opportunity to flirt flirt flirt! What a charmer! We all had dinner together which was nice since we won't get too many more opportunities to see her while she's here.

Sorry for the short post. I did actual physical work today at the library (shifted the AV collection twice) and I am pooped!