Midnight Madness

what a difference a year makes.

this was lNew Years Eve, 2005. I was pregnant, but didn't know it. Kim was days from giving birth to little William. Amy lived in Montgomery Cove and was a mom to gorgeous little Caroline. Sissy was working for DIY while David was freelancing.

Fast Forward to New Years Eve 2006.

I am a mom! Kim is a mom, lives in L.A., and is expecting baby number 2. Amy moved to a different house AND now has two kiddies - Jackson was born just a few weeks ago. And Sissy now works for HGTV, and David is changing careers.

2006 was certainly one busy year - I can't fathom having that much activity in 2007!

The past year has been phenomenal. Already, I barely remember what life was like before Eileen (except for the sleep part.. THAT I remember!). We are looking forward to what 2007 has to offer. It's jus fascinating watching Eileen grow and change every day. Today she held her bottle and fed herself. It was amazing (and for selfish reasons, I was loving it so I had a free a hand to feed myself!)

We're chilling out at home tonight. We got Thai takeout, we're watching Goldfinger, and just chilling out HOPING to make it to midnight. :)

Happy New Year to all of you.. may you have a healthy and happy one.

;) love, us!

TV or not TV

wow, she's only 14 weeks old and is mesmerized by the TV. We put on a Baby Einstein DVD Monday night to see what she'd do. She just stared at the TV. She and Josh just set up camp (as evidenced by this picture) and watched. Now, on the one hand, I don't want Eileen watching loads of TV. Then again, it IS what I do for a living! I can just hear the argument- 5 years from now- "but MOM, why can't we watch (insert popular show here)? You get to make TV, shouldn't we get to watch it?!"

In the mean time, there are those days when I could use 20-30 minutes to get some things done, so what's the harm in letting Eileen learn to count with Baby Einstein?!

Now, this picture to the left.. oh my! Eileen was chilling out in her swing this morning while Mommy took a shower. When I got out, this is what I saw. She was out cold, sound asleep- and holding onto this little yellow thing with all her might! She stayed that way for at least 20 minutes. Too cute.

She's currently upstairs sleeping in her C R I B. no more bassinet. We moved her up there last week.. we've had some good nights and some bad nights. I am really hoping she's settled into her own room by the time I go back to work in less than one week. I had a hard time getting her down tonight.. mainly b.c I think she's exhausted from all of our errand running today. She's so tired but she refuses to sleep. She likes her vibrating chair, so I put the chair INTO her crib, and she's in the chair in the crib. Josh is paranoid that she'll slide out of it. I, on the other hand, am a firm believer in stick with whatever works! I know she can't sleep that way forever, but for now.. if the vibrating gets her to fall asleep, and the slightly upright position helps her gas and congestion.. then YAY for Mommy and Daddy and let's hope we can get a good night's sleep.

Later Taters! 

Holiday Happies

Ahhh... Dec 26. There's always that sense of mixed emotions.. partially glad all the madness has just about ended, and partially really sad that all the madness has just about ended. All of a sudden, there's just one quick holiday left, and then life returns to routine.

No sleeping in, no sparkling lights, no bubbly drinks and pretty bows. Then again, no insane lines at Target and Kroger. No mile long lines at big intersections. No more huge meals and munching on sausage balls all day long.

We had a fun holiday weekend. Josh got out of work around noon on Friday. We came home and watched movies, read the paper, played with Eileen. We were just lazy! And loved it.

Saturday we ran some errands (which included a very packed Kroger trip) and got takeout for dinner. More Christmas movies.

Sunday, Christmas Eve, we went to Sissy's. Raven and the Littles were over... fun to just hang out. Josh, Eileen, Sissy, David and I went to Mass that night. Eileen was an angel (and she looked the part in this gorgeous dress from Miss Polly!). The church was packed, hot, and I'd say there was a tad of O.D. with the incense. But Eileen just looked around and slept and looked around and slept. Whew.

Yesterday we had a lazy morning. Then Sissy and David came over, and Grandma Joyce and Aunt Jaime and Steve. We had loads of munchies, then we headed over to Amy and Paul's for dinner. By that point Eileen wasn't holding up so well, so we didn't stay too long. But the food was fantastic and the company even better.

We're home today 'de-Christmasing.' We ususally wait until New Years is over, but since I go back to work on the 2nd, we figured we'd get it over with today so next weekend we can just hang out with Eileen as much as possible. Again, sad to put away all the fun decorations.. but happy to have some of the clutter put away.

And with that, she's waking from her nap.. so off I go. Later All! 

you know you're a parent when....

-sleeping until 7:45am is considered sleeping very late (which is what Eileen and I did on Sunday morning)

-going to bed past 10pm is considered very late (which is what Josh and I did on Saturday night)

-you actually CHOOSE to get up at 5:45am -even when you don't have to go to work- just so you can actually read the paper and skim some emails before the day has flashed by and it's time for bed!

I'm sure there are a 1000 more things I could write, and another 1000 I will discover in the coming weeks and years. It's worth it tho!


So many things to write about. I don't even know where to begin.

We had a great weekend. Eileen was a charmer the whole time (except when we put this bow in her hair, as evidenced in these pictures!). She really wanted nothing to do with such girliness. She did tolerate the gorgeous monogrammed dress tho (love it Amie!) - she looked all snazzy for church.

Speaking of, she behaved so well at Mass, she just sat in my lap and hung out. We sit up front, so when it's time for communion we have prime
seats for people watching (ahem. I mean praying). Eileen was fascinated. She was mesmerized watching all the people walk by. I swear, she was critiquing what they were wearing. Like Mother like Daughter. ;)

In true Hybrid Family Fashion, after Mass on Saturday evening- an Advent service at that - we went home to celebrate Hannukah and have some yummy Jewish food! Josh made falafel (Ok, that one may be just Middle Eastern), knishes, and Apple Fritters. That's probably more fried food in one night than we eat all year - but oh, it was sooo good. Especially the fritters.

We finally finished the Christmas cards (keep an eye out in your mailboxes)! I love them. (of course, as soon as I got Raven's card - a masterpiece- I wanted to redo my own!) Now I just have some thank you notes to finish up. I finished getting Eileen's paperwork ready for school. She starts two weeks from today. Crazy.

She'll be 13 weeks on Thursday. So when she starts school she'll be just about 15 weeks. I remmeber our friends telling us if we could make it thru the first 12 weeks, we'd be in good shape. So True. She's sleeping thru the night now. Has been for about a week. She's still in her bassinet in our room- but this weekend we'll start the transition to her crib upstairs. It will be strange not to have her right next to me. But it seems like getting her in her crib before she starts school would be a good thing, no? She seems to have outgrown her 'fussy' period. For weeks, between 5p-9p, she would just be so fussy. Nothing we'd do would calm her down. But within the past 2 weeks or so, that seems to have just gone away. She's generally just happy. And that of course makes us happy!

Aunt Sissy is off work this week, hopefully we'll get to hang out a lot. Looking forward to that!

I guess I have covered all the news of late. Happy Tuesday.

 

updated pictures...

More pictures to see if you've got some time to kill (and yes, some of them look all the same. Nana Janet likes me to post all the ones we take!).

here is the link: www.eileenloebner.shutterfly.com

There are two or three new 'albums' posted!

sweetest sound

She laughed!

Eileen laughed for the first time on Saturday night. Words really can't describe how utterly amazing it sounded. She has done it a couple of times since, it's just cool.

She's finding her hands, sometimes she just stares at them. And she'll stare at Mommy and Daddy's hands too. Oh, and she LOVES the Christmas tree. She'd be content to stare at those lights all day long.

We had a fun weekend. Made it downtown to see the ice skaters. And we found a little stand selling funnel cakes.. I swear I smelled it before I saw it. I loooove funnel cakes. That and hot chocolate was just a fun way to get in the holiday spirit.

I've been getting holiday cards over the past few days. Love getting pictures of everyone's kids - love seeing how much they look like their parents! Tuesday I got a card from my college roomate; her daughter is about 6 years old now. Spitting image of her. And then today I got one from a good friend in NYC.. not only does her daughter look JUST LIKE HER, she also could be a J.Crew model. I am waiting for my Shutterfly order to get here so I can get my cards addressed and in the mail! Usually I am way on top of the cards... this year, well, I have one heck of an excuse.

We got Eileen her BUMBO chair yesterday. She's not quite ready for it.. she needs to be able to hold her head up completely,... just about there. This chair (I have NO clue why it's called a bumbo) is just this sturdy foam thing. It props her up, lets her learn how to sit up. You can see it in the picture here where she's in front of the tree (in her adorable hat from Beanie!). She likes it.. sitting is a whole new phenomenon for her.
She's getting better at tummy time. She holds her head up for long stretches of time. It's amazing the changes we see in just a few weeks.
Josh is heading to Birmingham tomorrow for a day trip. I'm heading to my department Holiday Bowling event. Then it'll be just about time for another weekend.

I head back to work in just over two weeks. I'm looking forward to it- but will miss the Little Lady so much. I'm trying to make my brain get back to work mode. I feel like my head is mush!


Not much else going on... I'll catch up with you all later! 

BBBRRRRRRRRRR!

Wow, it's FREEZING here. I think the temp this morning was 15, with a wind chill of 4! (THANK YOU Zane for taking Josh to work while Eileen and I cuddled in the warm house!). Even Gracie wants nothing to do with going outside.

I'm sitting here making the most of my last couple of weeks before I go back to work. I've got the Christmas music playing and the fire going (yes, I'll hate life when I get that bill. but like I said, it's FREEZING). I'm working on the holiday letter, but wanted to take a quick break to post a little note. I'm thinking I've got another hour before Eileen wakes up.

Hit the gym this morning (yay! I'm down another jeans size!) and the Aunt Sissy came over and brought lunch. Eileen was somewhat awake when she got here, so at least Aunt Sissy got to see her a little bit!
The week has flown by. Doctors and dentist appointments for Josh and I. One night Josh & his boss took a client to the UT basketball game; the Vols beat University of Memphis. Never in my lifetime did I think THAT would happen! Running errands, going to the gym. Just everyday stuff, but going by at mach speed.

I love Christmas. Always have. Decorations & lights, re-connecting with friends and family, the songs & movies... all of it. Love it even more now that Eileen is here. It's like I get to relive being a kid - doing all the fun stuff with her (OK, so she's only 11 weeks old right now, but eventually.....).

We're hoping to go see some Christmas lights this weekend. But since Eileen gets mad after more than 15 minutes in the car, I really don't know how successful THAT little venture will be. Also hoping to go walk around downtown to see the ice skating rink and all the holiday decorations. Of course, if it stays this cold, well.. I just don't know! And at some point we'll make some holiday cookies and maybe sausage balls. YUM. (and there goes that jean size mentioned earlier!).

I haven't had to deal with any shopping madness. This year we just aren't doing gifts for anyone. Hope that doesn't sound terribly Grinch-y! With a new baby, and me on unpaid maternity leave, well.. it's either the mortgage payment or gifts! We are buying for the angels on the church tree- for that we will make room in our budget. Really, it makes us see how blessed we are. Neither Josh nor I NEED anything.. there's a laundry list of things we want... but certainly nothing we can't live without. Eileen has loads of clothes and toys; she certainly doesn't need anything (and of course she's far to young to realize that Santa is out there!). And our families are healthy and happy. What more can was ask for?

And it's Uncle David's bday tomorrow! We'll go visit him and bring him a little birthday treat. And Angela & Jason are coming in from Memphis; can't wait for them to get to meet Eileen.

Not much else to tell. Glad it's Friday. We're cozying up tonight with pizza, wine, and Christmas Vacation (we certainly can't let the season pass without watchig it at least one time!).

Hope you all have a happy weekend! Be nice... Santa's watching. 

Misc

I can't believe it's already December 4.. already Christmas season.. that Eileen is going to be 11 weeks old on Thursday.. that I am going to be THIRTY TWO in one more month. It all just seems surreal.

We had yet another busy, but fun, weekend. Saturday morning we went to the pancake breakfast with Santa at Church. Obviously, this was much more for Mommy and Daddy's enjoyment than for Eileen's. We got her picture made with him - as soon as I get it back from the Men's Club I'll post it.

And future boyfriend Miles was also there. He's 13 mos older than Eileen and it is so fun to watch him run around. He loved the blueberry pancakes. He's like a little man. And I love that Momma Nicole gets to learn it all first and then teach me. :)

Then we headed straight to pick iout a Christmas Tree. Definitely a different process this year. Always in the past I've made Josh pull out at least 5-6 trees for me to inspect before I make a choice. This year, I found the Fraser Firs, went to the 6-7 foot section, and picked the first one he held up. Seems like 90% of what we do is on 'borrowed time' - meaning Eileen is in a good mood but I know at any moment she's going to get raging hungry and start screaming like a banshee. Clearly she's inherited my level (or not) of patience. We got the tree and made it home just as the crying began. Whew.

Sunday we ventured into the world of formula. Time to start letting her have that to eat so when she goes to daycare she won't freak out on those poor souls taking care of her! and, it will certainly be nice to be able to feed her when we're out and about and not have to accomplish all chores/errands, etc in three hour windows. Also hoping when we get to evening feedings of formula that she'll sleep thru the night. Although- on Friday night she slept from 8:30pm until 6:45am. We couldn't believe it. That's like normal people sleep patterns. YES! Anyway.. she didn't
love the formula on Sunday, but today she took it just fine. Fingers crossed for continued success.

Loving the cold weather. OK- not really loving the weather- but really loving the outfits I get to put on Eileen. Fuzzy pajamas that make her look like Elmo. Precious Winnie the Pooh sweaters with ears on the hoods (you can sort of see it in one of these outfits). Adorable little velour hoodies and pants. I could eat her up.

OK.. enough rambling... I must get some very late Thank You notes written... get started on a holiday letter .. finish the laundry.. read today's paper (even tho it's 9pm)... go find Josh.. he recently left the room to go make a Gingerbread House.. that makes me nervous!

Whew!

What a week! There was Thanksgiving, Eileen's Baptism, our first trip to a restaurant!, and today was her two month check-up.

Wednesday night Dad and Jean took Josh, Eileen and I out for a bite to eat. We went to Connor's, I swear they have some of the best burgers in town. Eileen did great. She hung out in her carrier for a while, and when she got fussy I held her and she was content to look all around. And I have mastered the art of eating with one hand - even a big juicy burger. Josh and I were LOVING being out to eat and talking to other adults.

Thanksgiving was great.. Sissy did all of the cooking and hosting. It was a gorgeous day.. all the grandparents were there (including honorary Nana Betty and Grandpa Harold, we have 7 grandparents!). Amy, Paul , Caroline and one-week-old Jackson were also there. Holding Jackson -all 7lbs of him- only reminds me of how much Eileen has already grown and changed in 9 short weeks. Mind Boggling.

Then on Saturday we all got together again for Eileen's Baptism. She was perfect. Didn't cry once. In fact, I swear she was POSING for her pictures! She just kept looking at all the cameras and cooing. Perhaps I should investigate modeling agencies.. college fund anyone? :) Uncle David is her Godfather and Aunt Jaime is her Godmother. The adorable bonnet you see in the picture is straight from Ireland.. thanks to my Aunt Marcia.. and she'll use it some day as a hankey on her wedding day. Pretty neat.

When it was over, we went to Italian Market - two restaurants in 4 days! It was nice to have the whole family together again.

And today we had her 2month check up. She weighed in at just under 13lbs (95th %) and 23inches (75th %). Clearly she's growing just fine! She got three shots - and she barely cried. I couldn't believe it. I was completely prepared for huge screams. She cried when she got the shots. Almost as soon as Josh and I picked her up, she was just fine. May she always be so laid back. So far no fever or reaction to the shots.. we'll see how she fares tomorrow. She did get some super sparkly fun band-aids!

And, I have been released from Physical Therapy! YAY! I have been running regularly for the past two weeks. Whew. There were some days I really felt like I'd never be able to move faster than a snail again.

OK, here's the link to recent pics. There are several recent albums posted. I promise to not take so long with another posting!

www.eileenloebner.shutterfly.com 

helloooo...

Hello! i can't believe it's been over a week since I have made an entry! Time is flying by, I can't believe it.

Thanksgiving is less than a week away.. Eileen is 8 weeks and one day old.. My parents will be here next week..a good friend just had a baby boy yesterday... another friend's son turns 5 this weekend...so much happening!

Eileen is doing great.. and so are Mommy and Daddy. She's sleeping for several hours at a time, she's (almost) figured out night and day.. we can usually figure out what her cries mean.. she's already wearing 3-6 mos old clothes! She's so long, she has to wear the bigger stuff.

And I FINALLY made it back to the gym this week. After about 5 weeks of Physical Therapy, my hips/pelvis seem to be back to normal. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love to run- and twice this week I was able to run! Granted, it was at a fraction of the speed and length of time of which I was capable Pre-Eileen. I didn't care. After months of being hugely pregnant and barely being able to walk.. running on that treadmill had me just about floating out of the gym. And they have a daycare.. and Eileen did fantastic hanging out with the folks there. Whew.

Well.. I'm heading out soon to a baby shower for another friend who's pregnant... have a happy weekend all! 

I am an American...

and it truly is a privelege to vote. Tonight it was an exercise in patience. Major Patience.

First of all, it was raining cats and dogs. Second, Knoxville has some of the dimmest streetlights I have ever seen. And third, the parking lots of the polling stations had no lights whatsoever.

So the rain - I just made sure the umbrella was in the car. But when it rains in Knoxville and it's dark, it's just bad. It is bizarre, the streets are so dark- I swear, growing up in Memphis the streets were all lit up like daytime, but not here. And I don't know what it IS about these streetlights, but not only do they seem to make it darker, they also somehow manage to make the streets as reflective as a mirror, which makes driving just terrifying. Lines on the road? You can't see them at all. We were to vote at a local middle school, and that parking lot had NO lights. Now, doesn't it seem like a SCHOOL of all places should be well lit? I mean, isn't that where we want the kids to be safe? And what was weirder, there was a row of bales of HAY in the middle of the lot! Not a clue what purpose that served.

So, we finally GET to the school.. only to find out we've come to the wrong school. We find this out AFTER we've already unloaded the stroller and baby and Erin went to park in the rain. So we load everything back up and go down the little (dark) access road to the correct school. While we are driving on what SHOULD be a road, we find that all of the lazy people in town have parked on the side of the road, making it impossible for two cars to fit on the street. Somebody up there WAS looking out for us tho; we were just milineters away from hitting a side mirror on an illegally parked minivan when I realized how tight it was and stopped our car. Whew.

Once we finally got inside, we did get good news. The line for OUR district was the shortest of all. So we didn't need to wait too long to get to the voting booths! We voted on the new electronic machines and finally were on our way home. At that point we decided it was a frozen pizza night.

All that being said, the polling stations were packed - which was nice to see. Even on the dark dreary night the lines were out the doors. Good.

(note: I realize that our little 'hurdles' are exactly that- Little. I realize this little rant probably sounds pretty petty. I'm just venting. I recognize there are people in the Middle East who literally risk their lives in order to get out and vote. I realize a little rain and darkness is nothing compared to what those folks face.)

Perhaps I'll put my voter's voice to some good and petition the county commission for some improved street lighting...

(oh, and Eileen managed to make it through the whole event without even a whimper! she's such a trouper.)

LB's and Inches...

By way of seriously high tech methods, Josh and I have some updates on Eileen's stats:

weight = 12 lbs
length= 23 inches
age = 6wks, 3 days.

Just over two weeks ago, she only weighed 10 lbs and was 21.5 inches. I've no idea what the normal rate of weight/height gain is, but she certainly seems to be growing at a fast pace!

(oh, and if you're wondering, the high tech methods were a tape measure, and Josh on the scale WITH Eileen and without. See, those college educations paid off!)

Last night we attempted to go to dinner at Aunt Sissy's house with some friends. We learned that we need to have earlier nights out when little Missy goes with us! We got there a bit late - it still takes us a while to get ourselves out the door. Right around 9pm, Eileen got hungry. I figured I'd just go upstairs and feed her, and that then she'd fall asleep just like she does at home. WRONG.

I don't know if it was just b.c she was super tired, or if it was b.c she wasn't in her normal surroundings, but she would NOT eat. Nor would she stop screaming. She was just so upset- we've never seen her that way. It was just heartbreaking. At that point we knew it was time to head home (which certainly bummed me out- I was SO having fun with the other adults). She cried most of the way home, and as soon as we got here she was just fine. Ate a large meal and then slept for 6 hours.

On the one hand- we were thrilled she was OK and that she slept for so long. On the other hand, perhaps I need to visit more people and make a point to feed her in different surroundings. And we're making progress with the bottle too, which will help. Slowly but surely we're figuring these things out.

She's definitely interacting with us now.. note the smile above! Josh took some videos today of her with his phone, and captured more smiles. If I can figure out how to load those up, I will get them on here for all to see!

In the meantime, here's a link to some new pics.. note there are two recent albums, both dated 11/5.. enjoy!
http://eileenloebner.shutterfly.com/action/?a=8IZt27Foyat4Y

maybe next year!

We didn't make it out to Trick Or Treat for Eileen's first Halloween... she decided she was hungry at the prime Trick or Treat hour.. and there is no arguing with this child when she wants to eat. By the time she was done, it was raining. Oh Well. She's not even 6 weeks old yet, so I'm betting she won't notice she missed it.

In the year or so we've been in this house, the number of kids on our street has doubled. We had lots of little ones at the door - too cute. I am amazed they actually come UP to the door- Gracie barked like a maniac at everone who came within 15 feet of th house.

Despite the increased number of goblins, we still had loads of candy left. I promptly sent Josh to work with it this morning (OK, I did pull out one last Mini Twix for me). I am working so hard to shed the baby weight, the last thing I need is all that chocolate calling my name all day! 

Around Town..

It's like summer here today. Ok, not THAT warm, but at least its in the 70s. A nice treat before it gets chilly again this weekend.

Pretty quiet weekend here.. LOVED that extra hour of sleep we got on Saturday night. I do need to learn to start Tivo-ing the Night Games. I fell asleep at 9pm on Saturday, missing most of the Beating of Spurrier. On the plus side, I am awake early enough on Sunday mornings these days to catch the college ball highlight show on ESPN at 7am.

We went to Kroger and Babies R Us and Tar-jay. Oh, and we went back to church for the first time since Eileen was born. She was great, slept the whole time. Maybe she liked all the music and singing.

We sat in the back where all the other People With Children sit. Normally, we sit right up front so Josh can see everything. I used to hate it, but now I like it and I certainly pay more attention. Well, the back of the church is quite chaotic. We're hoping Eileen's good behavior holds so we can return to the front (but I'll make sure we're on the aisle in case I need to make a fast getaway!)

Not too much else to tell. She'll be 6 weeks old this Thursday, I can't believe that much time has passed. Not sure how much she weighs, I'm guessing at LEAST 11lbs. And as you can see, it doesn't appear she will be vertically challenged!

Working Girl

Whew. I'm sure most of you will think I'm nuts, but I must say - at least after yesterday- I can't wait to go back to work! (now quick, someone go check on Johanna. She is probably doing back flips in her office :)).

Yesterday was challenging. Eileen would NOT go down for a nap, would NOT chill out in her swing. The only way she'd be content was if I was holding her. Heaven forbid Mommy needed to take a restroom break - screaming would commence within seconds of her being out of my hands. Josh was thinking I should call the doctor in case she was sick. But as long as she was being held, she was smiling and cooing and sleeping just fine. Later in the afternoon, I loaded her up into the car and went for a drive hoping she'd pass out in her seat. She fell sound asleep, until we got home. As soon as we pulled into the garage, she was screaming again!

I finally gave up. There were dirty dishes and laundry and plenty of other little messes. I barely ate anything b.c I just couldn't get anything together for myself (thank Heaven for drinkable soups and drinkable yogurts). I finally just cuddled her up and sat down for some quality time with Eileen, Dr. Phil and Oprah.

Hoping for a better day today. Mommy needs to be able to get out and have contact with other humans of the adult variety. It's pretty chilly, but sunny, and I can't stand to be cooped up in the house any more! I did get to go to physical therapy (thanks Aunt Sissy for babysitting) and I'm meeting a friend for lunch.

I have no doubt that when it really is time to go back to work, it will be extremely tough. Especially since we're a one-driver family- I will have some serious scheduling to figure out. I know I'll miss hanging out with Eileen all day. But I also think that being away from her for a bit each day will suit me well. I hope I don't sound like a bad mom, or like I don't completely adore my daughter.

Having some time with friends at work, taking on challenges that don't involve diapers - for me, I think the balance of the two lives will help keep me sane. Stay tuned...

Fall Fesitivities

Who doesn't LOVE Fall?

Here's Miss Thang in her pumpkin costume from Nana Betty. How cute is she? We'll dress her in it again next week and Trick or Treat. Ok, we're only going to the next door neighbor's and the folks across the street- how could we not at least hit two houses with this little angel?
We went to a pumpkin carving party- and it was such fun! Picture a crowd of 30-somethings (after a margartia or two) outside weilding knives and large gourds. Too funny.

Perfect fall day.. sunny, cool and breezy (Oh,and the Vols beat Bama, so that was truly the icing on the cake). And there was to die for Butternut Squash soup and this desert - it was like liquid pumpkin pie with ginger snaps.
Here they are... the works of art. I think there were actually more than this that came along after the picture.

Eileen slept thru most of the chaos. Then she woke and just hung out watching all of us. She's so laid back, let's hope she stays that way.

Happy Sunday.

ps. here's a link to some more pics:
http://eileenloebner.shutterfly.com/action/?a=8IZt27Foyat3G&notag=1

updated link

OK, for some reason the link on the earlier post wasn't working.. so let's try this!

share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8IZt27FoyatpY

bottle battles

Here's Daddy attempting to feed Eileen a bottle. Everytime we give her one, she gets about halfway thru and then chokes and scares us half to death.

On the one hand, I desperately want to get her used to the bottle so I can get some helpo with her (constant!) feeding. On the other hand, the choking is so scary that I will just deal with doing it all myself for another couple of weeks! It did occur to me to try a different bottle, maybe a different 'flow' will make it easier for her to eat.

Here is a link to some new pictures. Ususally I would edit out the blurry and repetitive ones, but these days I can't find those extra few minutes. Oh, and the concrete you see all busted up - that was a slab in our backyard that Josh broke up last weekend. Long story, but at least now you know why we were taking pictures of concrete!

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8IZt27Foyato-

Not much else to tell. I have to go wake Eileen and get her ready to go with me to PT. Urgh... I hate to wake her! Later taters... 

Mystery Bear

REWARD FOR INFO LEADING TO THE ORIGIN OF THIS BEAR!

Did you send us this bear? He arrrived at our house yesterday, but with no note. Eileen would love to write her thank you note - so if you know who sent it, please speak up. He sure is cute!



I'll get some more pics loaded this afternoon (assuming Eileen takes a long nap!)