Some memories

Here are some things I was just remembering. This is March 23rd, the day I gave birth to Amelie. I was actually in labor with her at this point. I made that picture for Amelie in the background of the photo 2 days prior. It is currently hanging in her room

My water broke at exactly 12 pm. Lunchtime. I woke up that morning with extra energy and went to the grocery store thinking to myself..I'd better stock up. And I did. I have a strict $75 grocery spending limit and that day I spent about $115. I left at 7am, got home and took a nap, with the intention of going to my sister's house to hang out with her and 3 week old Samuel. She called me at noon to tell me she was awake and ready for a visit, so I got up from my nap and my water broke. Yikes.

I called her back, told her I would not be able to visit, then called my midwife to tell her I was in labor. Then I called Tyler, told him not to freak out, but that I was in labor. He pretty much freaked out and got home within 15 minutes of me calling him. Looking back, I absolutely loved the whole birthing process. However, I do remember telling Tyler within minutes after Amelie's birth, that I hoped he really enjoyed the experience, because that was the only time it was going to happen. It only took a day for me to change my mind. Amelie's birth was the most amazing/painful/worthwhile/incredible/character building experience that I have ever had. Here we are having some skin to skin contact minutes after she was born.
I loved the midwife that delivered her, Jess Holm. I had a specific idea of the birth that I wanted and she allowed me to have that birth that I desired. I must mention that my good friend Nicole Stecker was my doula, and did an AMAZING job helping me maintain my goals. She's a blogger too. Check her out at: Stecker Famliy. Love her. Perhaps sometime in the future I will share my entire birth story. Here are Sammy and Ami meeting for the first time the day after she was born.



On another note...

I just experiened the digital change on TV. I was watching Late Night with Conan Obrien (who I love) and all of the sudden my TV went fuzzy. I just had to re-scan the channels. I'm just glad I don't have to listen to those lame commercials any more. We were ready for the digital transition months ago when it was supposed to happen in the 1st place.

Off to bed for the night.

No use cryin over spilled milk...and broken glass.

The other day, I think it was Wednesday, I was having a lovely day. Amelie was asleep in the living room, I cleaned the house, I had just finished making a peanut butter and jelly toast sandwich, and I was pouring myself a glass of organic whole milk when...

I dropped the bottle of milk on the floor. (We get milk-man style glass 1/2 gallons of milk, see photo). It was awesome, Amelie woke up screaming, there was milk all over the floor and cupboards, and there were large chunks as well as teeny shards of glass all over the place.

Here is what happened next: I nursed Amelie while eating my toasty sandwich getting crumbs all over the floor. After, I strapped her into her papasan chair and mopped up all the milk with a couple of dish cloths and a rag. I cut myself. I swept up all the big glass shards. I rinsed the milk out of the broom. I vacuumed the area hoping to pick up the last of the tiny shards. Then I mopped. Old school style mopping, not Swiffering because we were out of Swiffer juice. Then I had to get ready to go to work. Boo. I wish I would have taken a photo of the mess. It was worse than the time I spilled a gallon of ranch dressing in the wait station at work.

I had to roll up all the kitchen and some of the living room rugs because of the glass shards. They are still sitting in front of the front door waiting to be shaken out and washed.

**Pause while I nursed, changed a diaper, bathed Amelie, nursed again, and put her to bed. **

Now it is 9pm. Last night she slept for 6 straight hours so I hope she does it again. This could be the begining of a good thing.

Amelie sat in her Bumbo seat for the first time. She was so cute... She wanted out at this point. Look at her little feet. I love 'em!


Abby and Sam came over this afternoon and are still hanging out. It's nice to have company during the day, plus Tyler went fishing until tomorrow so I would have been alone all day and night.

Abby took Sam to a photoshoot this morning. Her wedding photographer, Katrina from Studio Laguna took some super cute photos of Sammy that really show off his personality. You should look at them here.

We dressed Sammy and Ami in their matching I heart Minneapolis onsies today to take some photos. They weren't really cooperating. When Sam was happy Ami was crying and vice versa. Grandma Tracy took a bunch but I haven't seen them yet. I'll post some up when she gets back from the cabin and uploads them. For now, here are some that I took.



Amelie is just a little peanut next to Sam. Our plan was to hold them while they were standing to see the difference in their size, but that didn't work out today.

I still don't want to talk about the house we might buy, but we have signed so many papers, gotten plenty of bids on all the work that has to be done, and even went to Home Depot to research appliances, cupboards, flooring ect.. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I want to put up some photos but I'm going to wait until it is officially ours.

I decided I need to jump start my weight loss so I'm going with my aunt to a boot camp class. I'm a little nervous about it, but she's pretty into it so I hope it kicks my ass in a good way. I did a dorky ab workout video 2 days ago and I'm a little bit sore from it, but then I made Tyler go to the Dairy Queen yesterday. I always get the same thing, a small chocolate covered cherry Blizzard. Whenever I decide to try something new I regret it and wish I was eating those chunks of chocolate and cherry flavored topping. I'm so contradictory. At least I stopped eating donut holes by the handfull.

All I have for today is the photo of Little Ami. It's from the other day, but super cute nonetheless.

Some thoughts.

These last three days have just gone by in a bluuuuur. Seems like all I have been doing is signing papers, trying to calm Amelie down, and not sleeping. We think she has a cold and thats what has been making her so fussy the last few days. We went over to the house we are trying to buy during the inspection on Wednesday, and I ended up having to leave becuase she was just crying inconsolably. I bet the neighbors hate us already. I met one of them walking by and he told me that there are a bunch of kids on the street. Great, built in friends! Here is a photo of her on Wednesday during the short time that she was happy. Thanks for the Rainbow Brite legwarmers Grammy.



The house is in such a great neighborhood and is pretty much everything we have been looking for. It is a fixer-upper so besides signing papers and consoling Ami, I have been searching the internet for design ideas and garden plans. I really want to talk more about it but I'm still weary of jixing myself so I will wait. I'm just really really excited about the prospect of fixing this place up and making it our own.

I worked last night, it wasn't the slowest night I have ever worked, but it was damn close. I ended up closing early becuase there was no one in the bar and the band quit playing around midnight. The only patrons, were actually employees. I really wanted to work tonight and picked up a bartending shift, but then Amelie cried so much all day Tyler ended up working the shift. He was afraid to be home with her alone for three nights in a row (I also work tomorrow night). Well, he wasn't so much afraid, as he preferred to have me home with her because she definitely prefers nursing over the bottle. Sometimes trying to feed her a bottle can send her into a frenzy that lasts for hours (ie: Mother's Day)

We did a large load of cloth diaper laundry last night and dried them outside in the sun today. I must say that the sun is magic for removing those poo stains. I literally blinded myself when I went out to get them they...were so white and stain free. When I came in I had to feel my way down the hallway and into her nursery. Seriously.

I have been procrastinating about getting ready for our garage sale. We have all the tables and tons of stuff to sell and the pens and masking tape to mark it all, but man I hate doing it. Organizing everything and marking it sucks. Then my fingers smell like masking tape and Sharpie Markers and I'm crabby and my back hurts from sitting funny. The motivating factor is that last year we made over $1000 at our garage sale. I know right?! We live in a great location and didn't even have to advertise. The runners, walkers, and bikers just run/walk/bike right up to our sale...even in the pouring rain.

Now, I am going to enjoy a sleeping baby, a Surly Coffee Bender (mmmmm...) and about half a pan of Rice Crispie Bars that I just made. My secret is adding slightly more butter and and a tiny bit more cereal than the recipe calls for. I guess it's not a secret any more. Rice Crispie Bars and Angel Food cake are my favorite desserts. And Tiramisu. I like the sweet delicious yellowness of the first two, and Tiramisu is just good. So good. As good as Thin Mint Cookies and spoonfulls of Hersheys Chocolate Syrup...not that I would do that. I love dessert.

Waaaaaaahhhhh!

It's been a rough day. I had to go to Tyler's office in Eagan to sign some papers. Amelie started crying in the car almost immediately. When I got to my destination, I tried feeding her from the bottle first, then tried nursing her (all in the parking lot). I couldn't bring a screaming baby into that office building so Tyler came out into the parking lot so I could sign the papers. Then she cried all the way home, until about 2 blocks away when she fell asleep.

Let just say, she woke up right away and cried and cried and cried for the rest of the afternoon. I finally got her to nurse, in the bathroom, with the tub water running to calm her down. Then she took a nap in the swing, woke up, and cried some more. Argh, I felt like the worst mom ever today. But we finally got her calmed down, happy and into bed for the night (not without a struggle though.) She's usually a pretty happy baby, and has been sleeping really well lately, so I'm not quite sure what was different today.

I did get an 8.63 mile bike ride in this evening though. It felt great. I know the exact mileage becuase I have a map of the Parkway that tells me. Then I was able to take my first shower of the day. I have been impressed with my ability to take a shower, normally before noon, every single day since I have had a baby.

I ordered my groceries through Coborns Delivers again today. I must say, best idea ever. If you have a baby, you know how much it sucks to go to the grocery store. I mean, I hated going BC (before child), but going now is nearly impossible. I tried running to Target 3 times to pick up an RX and Amelie had a major freak out each time. Imagine spending the time to go through and pick out all the items on my list. Not fun. So I do it online. It's only a $5 delivery fee. My favorite extravagance.

I made some Hummus in the Magic Bullet (as seen on Tv). It didn't take 10 seconds like I thought it would, but it was still pretty good. I added 2 cloves of garlic, onions and some sea salt. My fingers smell all oniony now.

Here is a cute photo I took of her today between crying outbursts... She is holding onto her rattle that Courtney gave her.

I heart Mondays.

I heart Mondays because I never have any commitments. I know I don't have to work until Wednesday or Thursday so I have some guaranteed free time ahead of me. I love staying home and playing with Amelie, commitment free.

I try and send Tyler a new photo of her each day. Here is the photo I sent him today. We were enjoying some tummy time in the Boppy. This evening we were doing more tummy time minus the Boppy and she rolled over like 5 times. I got it on video tape, then called Tyler ( who was in the garage working on a bike) and told him to come in and watch her do it. We are pretty proud. Later, I stepped on the blanket that was laid down under her and it was really wet. She drools a lot.

This morning I tried out a work out video on Netflicks. The best thing about Netflicks is that you can "watch instantly." I found a work out video, connected our lappy to the TV and seconds later I was jumping around the living room to Crunch: Boot Camp. It was an ok video, I figure I will try out a new one each day. It'll be part of my new work out routine.

After the workout video, Amelie and I went for a walk on the parkway. It is about a 3.5 mile walk and she was awake for half the time, and slept for half the time. Then I was able to call my friend Beth who recently emigrated to Chicago from Minneapolis, to catch up. We chatted for a while, I took a shower, then passed out on the couch until Tyler got home from work.

So, I was able to get a decent work out in, talk to a friend, and take a nap today. Plus we ate breakfast for dinner (my favorite) and I'm currently watching The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien and its hilarious. To be honest, being a mom is slightly easier and way more awesome than I thought it would be.

My mom, or the mom-arazzi as we nicknamed her, sent me a bunch of cute/funny photos of Ami and her cousin Sam today. Here is one of Sam that I love. Cute right.

So tired.

I went back to work on the 15th. It's actually sort of a nice break for me. I can interact with adults, there is plenty of visual stimulation, and I get out of the house for a while. Tyler and I have a nice little arrangement going on, he works a day job, I work a night job, and Amelie doesn't have to go to daycare. Not only does it save us lots of money and stress, we get to spend as much time with her as possible.

The only problem, is that I tend to get home pretty late, and get up pretty early. I worked on Wednesday and Saturday this week and have been trying to catch up on my sleep ever since. I was dragging some serious ass today. I guess naps will have to be mandatory from now on.

Moving on, the unthinkable happened to me today. We were looking for houses again , and one of the homes we looked at was also having an open house. I was wearing a shirt that was rouged on the top and had a flowy bottom. The agent (Randall Walker) showing the home casually
said to me, "I see your family will be growing soon." I could have punched him in the throat. Instead, I replied, "Yeah, we had a baby 2 months ago." Of course, going over the scenario in my head later, I came up with some way better responses to his statement, but by then it was to late. I hope he felt like a really big idiot. That's him on the phone, he reminded me of a child Michael Scott and Dwight Schrutte would create. Thanks for taking me down a peg Randy. Lesson for the day, never make a comment like that unless you are 100% positive that a woman is pregnant.


On the flip side, we did find a house that we really liked. We actually already looked at. In fact, it was one of the first homes we saw. Oddly enough, our landlord is the listing agent...awkward. I hope that turns out to be a good thing. Anyways, we put an offer in but I don't want to talk about it anymore in case I jinx us. We'll be using "The Secret" to help aquire the home. Think what you will, but I swear it works. Ask my friend Kram, or boss Linda, they know.

To end on a good note, here is a family photo of us, it was over Memorial Day weekend up at our cabin. Amelie went fishing for the first time and we are posing with Tyler's first Northern of the season. That one will be going on the brag board in the garage.

Cloth Diapers

First of all, let me explain Pumpkin Butt in two words. Cloth diapers.


Our 9 week 4 day old daughter Amelie (Ah-muh-lee), has a big ole booty in her cloth diapers. It's super cute. Most people don't understand why we would go to the "trouble" of using clothies (as we call them). Here is why...

1. They are cute as hell.
2. We like to save the earth however we can.
3. It reduces her exposure to harmful chemicals found in disposable diapers
4. It's cheaper, you only have to buy the diapers once.
5. They are cute as hell.

To be perfectly honest, we do use disposables sometimes, but only when we are going to be out and about for a while, and it has been happening less and less.

Little Amelie, (or just "Little," as her auntie Abby coined her today) is a spitter-upper, so we already have 1-2 mandatory loads of laundry to do per day, so adding one more load of clothies is no big deal (or, NBD) for us. By the way, "us" is Tyler and I.

We are fiances' of 5 months, yet to set a date for our wedding. NBD. It seems like he is in a bigger hurry to make it official than I am. To be fair, I totally want to marry him, just not with the extra 25 lbs of baby weight that I have yet to lose. I prefer to look back at our wedding photos and think to myself, damn I looked good. (ie: my sister Abby in her wedding photos, see MN Bride Spring/Summer2009


















It probably doesn't help that as I write this I am eating Tostitos and Salsa con Queso (thanks mom.)

And I digress...

Tyler and I are having the time of our life with "little" Amelie. I really consider myself a "stay at home mom" since I really only work about 2 nights per week, and spend most of my time with her. I think I get the best of both worlds, being at home all day, and working some nights.

Amelie is sooo lucky that she has her cousin Samuel (Abby's son) to grow up with. He was born 3 weeks and 1 day before her. This is Sammy visiting Ami in the hospital.
This is Sam and Amelie today...
I will update this blog to keep family and friends in the loop of what is happening in the lives of Amelie and Sam, and on a lesser note...us.

That's all for tonight though. Me and Grandma Tracy took Amelie to the Mall of America tonight to find some summer clothes that actually fit me and Amelie pretty much cried the whole time so I am worn out.

We'll try this again tomorrow.