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!)

Dog Tired

Even Gracie is worn out!

Actually, I think we're pretty lucky as far as newborns and sleep go. We manage to get about 5-6 hours a night of sleep - not continuous, but at least it seems to be a decent amount. But I swear Gracie gets completey annoyed by the 2am feedings and diaper changes!

My one goal yesterday was to take a picture of Miss Eileen in her adorable monogrammed outfit from Aunt Kimmie and her just-as-adorable handmade pom pom hat from Miss Karrie. But she was just fussy all day and I couldn't get a smile out of her! I may just dress her in the outfit again today so I can get a picture before she outgrows the pieces.

Speaking of outgrowing, we went for her 3 week checkup yesterday. She has gained two pounds! and grown an inch! all in the span of 2.5 weeks. She's weighing in at 10lb 3oz (90th percentile), and 21.5 inches (70th percentile). So I no longer feel the need to work out with free weights, I'll just keep lifting Eileen and will soon have nicely sculpted arms!

We're going to a housewarming party later this evening. I am very much looking forward to seeing some friends- it will be fun to interact with adult humans.

Hugs, Kisses and lots of prayers to Nana Betty and Pop Harold, we're relieved the surgery went so well.

Happy Saturday!

Swaddle Me NOT

Little Missy has a mind of her own, and she's just 3 weeks old!

We have one of those "Swaddle Me" blankets, the ones that wrap up the baby like a burrito and you can Velro it shut. It even has a little 'pouch' for the feet.

As you can see by this picture, Eileen wants nothing to do with being contained! I had her wrapped up tight for a morning nap, and this is what I found when I went to check on her. How she kicked out her feet but kept her hands wrapped up, I will never know.
And this is the reaction I got when I took the photo posted above. You'd think after three weeks of constant picture taking that she'd be used to the bright flash of the camera!












Sissy brought me lunch yesterday and then she cuddled with Eileen. She loves to sleep that way, with her
little hands under her chin. Too cute.

Mommy went to the doctor today b.c of some major hip pains. It basically hurts to walk. Not fun. We won't even discuss stairs or getting in and out of the car. Turns out, most likely my hips are so out of place they are causing all the pain. Evidently this is super common. Urgh. So I will have to have some physical therapy. Oh, and losing the pregnancy weight will also help (as if I am not already working like mad to get rid of it all!). I guess that's just more motivation, eh?

It is FREEZING here today. And even tho Eileen has a load of clothes, all of her warm clothes are too big. It's supposed to be warm again this weekend. In the meantime she and I went to Tarjay and Old Navy this morning, and she just was bundled up in a 3x too big sweater. Eh. she'll never know the difference.

I'm off to wash dishes, do laundry, and attempt a nap! 

Designer Duds

Love this outfit on her. I don't know if you can really see it so well, but she looked smashing in it. She owns two 'designer' outfits, this being her Tommy Hilfiger. That Mommy bought at a yard sale. Too cute!

Today our adventure was to Tarjay. The weekly grocery trip. She did great, slept in the car and slept the whole time we were at the store. Then slept another 1.5 hours once we were at home! Mommy took a nap then too.

OK, I'm not sure this will work. I'm posting a link to Shutterfly, but you may have to just copy and paste it to your browser if you want to see the photos. It may take another day of playing around on here to figure out how to make the link clickable from this page!

anyway- here ya go:
www.eileenloebner.shutterfly.com/action

And now we're off to eat dinner! Have a good one.

Fall Fun

Fall is the BEST time of year. If only nasty gray winter didn't come right after it. These past couple of days have been perfect. Sunny, breezy and a tad chilly.

I got my pansies planted (after a whole summer of not being able to 'play in the dirt' - I was in my glory digging up flowers and weeds and getting the fresh flowers in the ground!). Josh planted the mums and got our fall display together in the front yard. This from the two people who used to be such city dwellers in Manhattan. :)

My mom & John left this morning. That was tough. Mom was here almost three weeks. She didn't want to leave Eileen, and Josh and I didn't want them to leave at all. Josh had a blast with John doing handy man things around the house. (And thanks to John our computer is right with the world again). And I sure got used to Mom taking care of baby while I took long showers and napped. This week on our own will prove interesting!

Today was a big day for Eileen. We ventured out to run some errands. We got bourbon, beer, a bale of hay and some gas drops for baby's tummy. How's that for variety!? She did great in the car, and once Mommy and Daddy figured out how to get the carrier attached to the shopping cart (thanks to the very nice lady at Babies R Us), we did pretty well too!

As you can see, the day of errands wore Daddy out. Gracie stands guard over Eileen (actually she's still trying to figure out this whole baby thing, but she's been quite patient and sweet about it all).

I really will get links to Shutterfly loaded up, but right now we're all heading out for a walk and then to get some dinner before the UT/UGA game gets going.

Have a good one!

 

Pictures, Finally!

This was me two weeks ago today, hard to believe my tummy was that big. Of course, Eileen did weigh in at 8lb 8 oz, so I guess it makes sense.

Now she's here and she already looks completely different than she did when she was born. I can't believe how fast the time is flying by already.

Right now, she pretty much sleeps all day and then likes to party it up at night. Not so fun for Mommy and Daddy (esp Daddy who has to work every day!).

My mom is here thru the end of this week, Josh and I are getting spoiled rotten. She's been cooking every day, and helping me with laundry and cleaning. And she volunteers to change every diaper! I certainly don't argue with that.


We still can't get our computer and camera synced up, so in the mean time Josh burned the pics to CD at work and then loaded em up for me at home. I am slowly but surely getting the pics cleaned up and online. I'll post links to shutterfly where you can view more pics if you want to!

It may take a day or two. It boggles my mind, all she does is eat, sleep and poop, but somehow those activities take up my whole day and my time at the computer is limited to 15 minute batches. So picture posting is little by little.

I hope I posted these pictures right. They probably don't look the way I want them to, but at least there's finally something for you to look at.

OK, I'm off to get Josh from work. Check in later for updated pictures! 

giving up

Well, I thought the computer was fixed. We do have internet access, but our machine isn't recognizing any of the USB ports. No printer, no camera, nothing. So I can't post any pictures. Hopefully in the next few weeks we'll get it up and running.

Not much else to say for now. Have a good week.

FRIED COMPUTER!

Of all weeks, the day after we got home from the hospital with the newest family member, our computer died. After a couple of days getting a new hard drive and new operating system, we're back in touch with the world!

It's late, so I'm not going to write much now. Just wanted to say hi to all and let you knwo that we have NOT fallen off the face of the Earth.

Eileen was born a week ago today. Sept 21, at 6:22pm. She was 8lb 8oz, 20.5 inches long. We love every inch of her! We're all doing well. Not much sleep at night, but that's to be expected I guess! My mom has been here a week and will stay with us thru the end of next week, thank God. I don't even have any pictures to post right now bc without a computer, I haven't been able to get the pics uploaded!

I plan to spend time tomorrow getting some pictures out, responding to a load of emails, and updating the blog! I'll get some pics on here as well.

Thanks for all of your well wishes. So glad to be back on line!

Good Night and Good Luck (to us!)

Having a scheduled delivery definitely brings on very strange feelings. It doesn't appear Eileen will make an entrance on her own. She's got about 12 hours until the doctors get me going on some drugs that will force her out!

Waking up this morning knowing this will be the last day of life as we know it. Josh went to work as usual. I hung out here and ran some errands. Mom and I went for pedicures (hey- it's the last day I can use the "I can't reach my feet!" excuse!). We had lunch and then cleaned (again!). Took a nap. Then I went and got Josh and the day was sort of over. Right now he's mowing the lawn, I just did some laundry. Nothing very exciting or unusual, but all the same completely different. We'll have some dinner, go to bed, and be up bright and early to go to the hospital.

All that being said, I'm not nervous (at least not yet). Just waiting. I think it won't really seem real until we're actually home on Saturday with Eileen. I'm guessing even in the hospital it will seem surreal b.c it's not home, b.c there are loads of nurses to help change diapers and put her to sleep in a nursery, b.c there's a cafeteria to make our food, b.c there's someone to do the laundry. I'll probably re-read this post on Saturday or Sunday and it will seem like a stranger wrote it.

We took a picture of me today with my giant belly. I'll post it in a couple of days when we can get some pics of Eileen posted too. If I can't get my butt to the computer, I'll make sure Josh or Shannon gets something posted.

In the meantime, have a great rest of the week. Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers and well wishes. Josh and I (& Eileen!) appreciate it more than you know.

I'll be back in a couple of days!

Heavy Lifting

She's still not here.. but the latest on her weight is that she's about 8lbs 14oz! Good Heavens! We will have an instant toddler on our hands. All Mommy has to say is she's quite happy there are some powerful drugs out there to aid in delivery.

We just came from the doctor. All is looking good. Plenty of fluids still in there for Eileen, her heartbeat is strong, and clearly she's not hungry. She's in position; in fact the Ultra Sound tech had a hard time getting to measure her head b.c she's so low. We were able to see her face, it's all mashed up bc she's so crowded! And we got a good sot of her toes, pressing hard against my uterine wall. (no digital images this time, so I don't have any pics to post)

My weight and blood pressure are fine, tho physically I am not having much fun. She's sitting so low that my lower back and my right leg are just in pain. Walking (heck, moving at all) is an effort. But hey, I made it all the way to the week of her birth before it got this bad, so I am thankful for that.

We're still on schedule to go in early Thursday morning to get induced! Hopefully once that process starts it won't take long to get her here- cross your fingers! Either way, in about 48 hours we will have a daughter. That is mind boggling.

Not too much else to tell. I'm doing a little work from home and keeping the dog company. ;)

Nada..Nothing.. No News

The stars are evidently NOT aligned in our favor.
Eileen still isn't here.
The Vols lost last night.
(And today I was content to sit and watch Peyton play ball and stupid CBS switched the game to the Buffalo/Miami game. Really. Why did we not get the NFL Ticket on Direct TV?)

So at the moment Josh is digging my 'normal person' clothes out of the attic. Now, I realize it will be several weeks until I can actually WEAR these clothes. I realize for the next few weeks I will be wearing my 'small' maternity clothes (there was a time when the phrase "small maternity clothes" would have sounded completely idiotic. But 5 month maternity clothes compared to 10 month maternity clothes look downright runway model-worthy) if I even get showered and dressed while taking care of a new born. But, you have no idea the sheer joy it brings me to see clothes that have bottons and zippers - and bear NO resemblance to a tent- hanging in my closet. And hey, I'd forgotten half of what I even had- so it's like a huge shopping spree for FREE.

So, another weekend come and gone. We cleaned like crazy. Josh planted new shrubs in the front of the house. We hung out with friends. We know for certain this is our last childless weekend. Very strange indeed. So, we're heading out shortly to pick up some spicy Mexican food (I'm still doing everything I can to get here here before Thursday!).

Hope you've all had a good weekend.

What a difference a day makes...

Six years ago today, Josh and I did not know each other.
Six years ago tomorrow we met in NYC watching, of course, UT Football. (Yes, Mom - as you love to tell everyone, Josh and I met in a bar! but it was through mutual friends!)

So here we are six years later, having moved from Manhattan back here to Knoxvegas. Gotten married, bought a house, got a dog and now any day now we'll have a daughter. Pretty neat.

If Eileen doesn't make it today to share her birthday with her cousins, maybe she'll pick tomorrow. The day would be that much more special.

Happy Friday everyone.

getting there...

Finally! some progress! I have started to dilate, I am just at 1.5 cm, but hey- I'll take it! We're still on track to get induced next Thursday if she doesn't come on her own before then.

I'll still be trying every ol' wives tale in the book to see if we can't get her to come on out. So far I've tried:
-eating eggplant parm
-eating pineapple
-drinking raspberry tea
-walking up and down stairs (our dog thinks I've lost my mind)
-walking around the neighborhood (our neighbors can't believe we still haven't had this child!)
-drinking Karo syrup (Castor Oil is also supposed to work, but I just don't think I can do that)

So, I'll at least continue the walking and the stairs and the tea.. those are the most tolerable of the bunch.

Today at the doctor we got hooked up to the fetal monitor - just to make sure Eileen is doing OK in there. She's fine, her heartbeat is good and strong. Josh was there, and so he'd talk to her. Know what's amazing? When he did talk, her heart rate would shoot up by about 20 beats. Unreal.

So, I'm certainly in a better state of mind knowing that we're moving in the right direction.

If she's not here by the weekend, I'll of course be watching the UT/Florida game.. which will hopefully be quite exciting and I'll yell and scream at the TV (again, the dog thinks I am nuts) - maybe that will just scare Eileen right out!

Stay tuned...

The Nursery

This is her room... it too is ready and waiting! Her closet is stocked and the diaper drawer is overflowing (tho I know that once she DOES get here, it will oh so quickly be emptied). And, if I did this right, there should be a link to more pictures of the nursery. Not very exciting I know, but until she gets here I don't have much else to post! http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8IZt27FoyatnC

And so we wait...

Well, little Eileen was due yesterday. Yet here I sit, at work, still pregnant. And so we wait. She's evidently far too comfy in the womb! Despite feeling insanely large, I am still feeling good.
I'll see the doctor again tomorrow morning, fingers crossed that there's some sign of progress. And if not, I'll work until Friday. Then middle of next week, if Eileen hasn't arrived on her own, we'll be induced! Stay tuned for more updates...