An appropriate compliment to a recently postpartum mother is, "You look great!" If you don't think I look great, you don't need to tell me that.
An inappropriate compliment is, "Considering you just had a baby, you look great!" No. NO. It's a backhanded compliment. Either I look great, or I don't. The fact I recently had a baby is irrelevant.
Another inappropriate compliment is, "You look like you've lost almost all of your baby weight!" Again, NO. I've lost ALL of my baby weight, plus some. My belly is not poochy, and I can comfortably wear clothes that were snug before I got knocked up.
I'm going to remember the people who keep telling me these things and eventually, I'm going to tell them one of the following:
"Considering you're about 20/30/50/200 pounds overweight and eat too much junk, you really look fantastic!"
or
"You look like you've gained weight since I saw you last!"
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Atticus - Two Months
Length: 24" (90%)
Head Circumference: 15.5" (50%)
Diapers: Atticus is still in cloth diapers. No disposables and no diaper rash for this boy!
Sleep: Atticus doesn't like to nap during the day if we are home. He will, reluctantly, if I wear him in the Moby wrap. If we go out and about, he falls asleep as soon as he gets in the carseat, stroller, or wrap. He goes to bed around 9-10 pm. Occasionally, he'll sleep until 6-7 without waking up, but he usually wakes to eat between 3-5 am. He still sleeps swaddled at night on his back.
Eating: He's still exclusively breastfed! No formula for Atticus! :)
Clothes: He wears mostly 3-6 month clothing, but there are a few 0-3 month items that still fit. I believe their days are numbered, though.
Atticus smiles at us constantly. He still loves taking a bath (or shower) with either Michael or me. Elvira the beagle occasionally smells him, but neither of them are impressed with the other. He sat in the Bumbo for the first time this month. The first time was an absolute disaster, but we kept trying, and he loves it now. I have yet to cut his toenails, but his fingernails are now too strong for me to peel them. I am scared of cutting him, so I have resorted to biting his fingernails instead of using clippers. Judge me if you will, but he won't sit still, and I'll wake him up if I try to cut them while he's sleeping.
Monday, May 9, 2011
My Motherhood Must Haves (for the First Two Months)
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| Me wearing Atticus in a Moby Wrap |
Words cannot describe how much I love the Moby Wrap. I have two: a black one, and the one I'm wearing in the above picture. I was so intimidated by it, but I watched youtube video after youtube video on the many ways to tie it, and I practiced with a Cabbage Patch Doll. Atticus loves being in it, and I love the freedom of being able to carry around my baby while still having two free hands. It's so convenient for boating (duh), grocery shopping (because you're technically not supposed to put the car seat on top of the buggy anyway), and cleaning the house. The max weight it will accommodate is 35 lbs., so hopefully we have at least a couple more months before Atticus tops that. :)
3) Summer Slim & Clear Digital Audio Monitor
Because we cloth diaper, we are kind of limited in the diaper rash goop we can use. Apparently, creams like Desitin and A&D will cause cloth diapers to repel urine instead of soak it up. We don't want that, so I'm all stocked up in this balm. Cloth diapers have never given Atticus diaper rash, but the few times that I ran out of clean diapers and put him in disposables for a few hours, he got it pretty much immediately. This balm cleared it up immediately. I have been putting a small amount on him before he goes to bed because I no longer change his diaper in the middle of the night if he wakes up. He's going 8-10 hours in one cloth diaper with no rash. I have used about 25% of one jar, and we've been using it for about 6 weeks, so it lasts a long time. It also smells really good and can be put on cuts and scrapes as an ointment. I love multi-purpose products!
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| Summer Slim & Clear Digital Monitor |
We don't co-sleep. We don't even co-room. Since Atticus came home from the hospital, he has slept in his room, in his crib. (Well, except for the firs two nights when he slept in the pack and play, and I slept on the couch right next to it. I was afraid I wouldn't hear him. How naive of me.) Michael and I sleep with our bedroom door closed, as does Atticus. I needed a monitor that had a wide range of volume levels, two receivers, and wasn't cheesy/baby looking. I know some parents may prefer one of those video monitors or the one that tells you if the baby stops moving, but I knew if I had one of those, I'd obsess over him. If I wake up in the middle of the night to go pee, I don't go check on Atticus if he wasn't what woke me up. Oh, the horror! A mom who doesn't check on her baby! He might smell me or hear me and wake up. I'd prefer he get sound sleep and wake up when he's ready. I know very well that "something" could happen to him, but we practice safe sleeping habits, so if "something" happens to him, it's not going to be prevented by my constant checking on him in the middle of the night. Anyway, this monitor is perfect. I have the thingy in his room across the room from him so that it won't pick up his little sighs and grunts. I have one monitor on my night stand that I keep on level 1, and the other is in the den on max volume. I can hear it over the TV, over the mixer in the kitchen, or throughout the house if I'm cleaning downstairs.
Michael and I are swaddle challenged. We could NOT figure out how to wrap a blanket around Atticus without him escaping it five minutes later. These SwaddleMe contraptions have been a life saver. Atticus sleeps so much deeper/longer when he's swaddled, and the little Houdini can't get out of these bad boys.
Yes, we cloth diaper. That doesn't gross me out at all. Cloth wipes? Give me the creeps. We were very fortunate to be gifted many kinds of baby wipes, but these are HANDS DOWN my favorite. They are fragrance free and SO thick. All the vitamins I'm still taking for breastfeeding cause my fingernails to grow like weeds. My nails don't cut through these wipes like they do some of the cheap ones.
All Boat Review/Blessing of the Fleet 2011
Each spring, Michael and I make it a priority to attend our club's All Boat Review and Chickamauga Lake's Blessing of the Fleet parade. The All Boat Review is a formal brunch before the parade. Because of the tornadoes this year and lack of power in the clubhouse for a couple of days, they scrapped the formal attire and caterer and went with a nice, home cooked breakfast. Michael does enjoy the tradition of having to wear white pants, a white button-up, and blue blazer, but I know his feelings weren't hurt that he got to wear green jeans and a pocket t-shirt this year!
The Blessing of the Fleet is when all the marinas on Chickamauga Lake meet by the dam, form a circle, and get blessed for boating season I'm not sure how long it's been going on, but Michael remembers going with his parents as a kid, so we try to keep up the tradition. Unfortunately, our boat was out of commission for this year's blessing. Michael had one of our transmissions rebuilt, and he was in the middle of installing it, so we went on our friend John's boat, the Aqua Duck. If you want to get technical, we invited ourselves. :) We had a very nice time, have been blessed for the year, and look forward to our first boating season with our son.
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| Our family's first All Boat Revew - notice Michael is still wearing his captain's hat. |
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| Atticus and Michael aboard the Aqua Duck |
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| Atticus and Mommy! |
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| Aboard the Aqua Duck |
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| Atticus still followed the dress code (is there one for babies?), even though the festivities were no longer a formal occasion. |
Monday, May 2, 2011
Where I Was on April 27, 2011
Last Wednesday, my mom called to wake me up. Atticus had slept very well the night before, and after mealtime at 7ish, he went back to sleep. Score! I went back to bed too. The phone rang about 8:30, and mom told me that I should get up to watch the weather because bad storms were coming our way. Freaking great. I was in a tornado as a kid, and I usually get pretty scared if my area is under a warning.
I grabbed Atticus, went to pee, and put on some clothes. Then I changed clothes, because if my house blew away, I wanted to be wearing my favorite stuff so I would still have it. Vanity? Oh, yes. I may be the Queen of Vanity.
It occurred to me that if my house blew away, I might need diapers and stuff, so I stuffed Atticus' L.L. Bean backpack until it would barely zip. There were a couple diapers in there, but it was mostly full of his cute clothes. My priorities are dead-on.
We sat down in the den to watch the weather about 8:45. The local weather guy was on TV instead of Good Morning, America. I knew it wasn't a good sign if they were interrupting broadcasting to tell me to hide in the basement. WE DON'T HAVE A BASEMENT. OR INTERIOR ROOMS!
Of freaking course there was a tornado warning for my county. More specifically, there was a tornado coming for the town I love in. Just when they were giving me the details on when/how/why/amigoingtolive, the power went out. ShitI'mgoingtoshitmypantsrightnow. !!!!!!!!!!!
I called Elvira the beagle, put her screaming butt (never a good sign -- she's a very docile dog) on a leash, grabbed my screaming baby, my Louis Vuitton purse (there I go again with the priorities.... birth certificates, wedding photos, my great-grandmother's recipe box? Nope.), and the L.L. Bean bag, and walked downstairs to the garage.
Our house is split-level, and Michael has told me numerous times that if there is ever inclement weather, I should go to a certain corner because it's the most underground.
So where did I go? I sat down on the steps. Because it's probably not a real tornado.
Elvira was screaming. Atticus was screaming. Debris started flying by outside the garage door windows. Like, BIG debris. Big tree limbs and garbage cans and like, wind. I could SEE the wind. Did I move to the "safe spot?" Nope. I just sat there and cried. I cursed myself because my vanity and materialistic side had shown itself again, and I didn't want to lose all of the sentimental and important belongings upstairs.
And then it was over. No more wind. No more rain. It was like nothing had happened.
I collected my calm baby and calm dog and walked outside to survey the damage. There was debris all over my yard, and some shingles on the roof were messed up. Trees were down in every direction I looked. I walked down the driveway so I could look down the street and saw a tree that had previously been standing upright.
It was leaning. Toward Atticus' room. In a big time kind of way. No way in Hell were we going to stay home for the next storm if a tree was going to fall on my son's room.
So we packed up our stuff and went to the mall.
We tried to anyway. It usually takes about 10 minutes to get to the nearest mall, but because of all the down trees and damage, it took me over an hour. One street over in my neighborhood was destroyed. So many houses were covered in trees, and most houses are no longer livable.
I ate a chocolate chip double doozie at the cookie store, decided that nothing I could buy would take my mind off the tree that was about to fall on my house, and left the mall for refuge at Buddy and Kim's boat. Thankfully, Kim was home, and she had the generator running because the power was out at the club. We watched the weather and prepared for Round 2. It was only a windy thunderstorm, but I had a feeling the leaning tree would no longer be leaning. I rushed home as soon as the storm was over praying that the hole in my house would be small.
It was a miracle. The tree missed the house by inches. It did, however, absolutely squish the lawnmower. Oh well.
I went back to Buddy and Kim's to keep watching the weather. We waited out and survived Round 3, Round 4, and Round 5. About 8:30 pm, Michael and I decided that because we had a 7 week old baby, we would be better off at his mom's house for the night. She had power when we left, but sometime during the drive to her house, it went out.
I was terrified to go to sleep because it was still storming outside, and we had no way to know if another round was coming our way. When I woke the next morning, birds were chirping. Thank God. It was over.
I found out via the news on my iPhone that Trenton, Apison, and Ringgold, among others, had been completely destroyed. I cried when I saw pictures. It's been 5 days, and the thought of the destruction the many tornadoes did still makes my stomach churn.
The tornado that went through my neighborhood was rated an EF1. Our surrounding areas had 15 tornadoes ranging from EF0 to EF4.
We are still without power at our house, and the power company has told us they are unsure when it will be restored. It is very frustrating, but I am trying to remain positive because my family, my home, and my belongings are still in tact. Many, many others were not so fortunate.
I believe, "Where were you on April 27, 2011?" will be a question that is asked many times in the future, and I don't want to forget where I was or how I felt.
I grabbed Atticus, went to pee, and put on some clothes. Then I changed clothes, because if my house blew away, I wanted to be wearing my favorite stuff so I would still have it. Vanity? Oh, yes. I may be the Queen of Vanity.
It occurred to me that if my house blew away, I might need diapers and stuff, so I stuffed Atticus' L.L. Bean backpack until it would barely zip. There were a couple diapers in there, but it was mostly full of his cute clothes. My priorities are dead-on.
We sat down in the den to watch the weather about 8:45. The local weather guy was on TV instead of Good Morning, America. I knew it wasn't a good sign if they were interrupting broadcasting to tell me to hide in the basement. WE DON'T HAVE A BASEMENT. OR INTERIOR ROOMS!
Of freaking course there was a tornado warning for my county. More specifically, there was a tornado coming for the town I love in. Just when they were giving me the details on when/how/why/amigoingtolive, the power went out. ShitI'mgoingtoshitmypantsrightnow. !!!!!!!!!!!
I called Elvira the beagle, put her screaming butt (never a good sign -- she's a very docile dog) on a leash, grabbed my screaming baby, my Louis Vuitton purse (there I go again with the priorities.... birth certificates, wedding photos, my great-grandmother's recipe box? Nope.), and the L.L. Bean bag, and walked downstairs to the garage.
Our house is split-level, and Michael has told me numerous times that if there is ever inclement weather, I should go to a certain corner because it's the most underground.
So where did I go? I sat down on the steps. Because it's probably not a real tornado.
Elvira was screaming. Atticus was screaming. Debris started flying by outside the garage door windows. Like, BIG debris. Big tree limbs and garbage cans and like, wind. I could SEE the wind. Did I move to the "safe spot?" Nope. I just sat there and cried. I cursed myself because my vanity and materialistic side had shown itself again, and I didn't want to lose all of the sentimental and important belongings upstairs.
And then it was over. No more wind. No more rain. It was like nothing had happened.
I collected my calm baby and calm dog and walked outside to survey the damage. There was debris all over my yard, and some shingles on the roof were messed up. Trees were down in every direction I looked. I walked down the driveway so I could look down the street and saw a tree that had previously been standing upright.
It was leaning. Toward Atticus' room. In a big time kind of way. No way in Hell were we going to stay home for the next storm if a tree was going to fall on my son's room.
So we packed up our stuff and went to the mall.
We tried to anyway. It usually takes about 10 minutes to get to the nearest mall, but because of all the down trees and damage, it took me over an hour. One street over in my neighborhood was destroyed. So many houses were covered in trees, and most houses are no longer livable.
I ate a chocolate chip double doozie at the cookie store, decided that nothing I could buy would take my mind off the tree that was about to fall on my house, and left the mall for refuge at Buddy and Kim's boat. Thankfully, Kim was home, and she had the generator running because the power was out at the club. We watched the weather and prepared for Round 2. It was only a windy thunderstorm, but I had a feeling the leaning tree would no longer be leaning. I rushed home as soon as the storm was over praying that the hole in my house would be small.
It was a miracle. The tree missed the house by inches. It did, however, absolutely squish the lawnmower. Oh well.
I went back to Buddy and Kim's to keep watching the weather. We waited out and survived Round 3, Round 4, and Round 5. About 8:30 pm, Michael and I decided that because we had a 7 week old baby, we would be better off at his mom's house for the night. She had power when we left, but sometime during the drive to her house, it went out.
I was terrified to go to sleep because it was still storming outside, and we had no way to know if another round was coming our way. When I woke the next morning, birds were chirping. Thank God. It was over.
I found out via the news on my iPhone that Trenton, Apison, and Ringgold, among others, had been completely destroyed. I cried when I saw pictures. It's been 5 days, and the thought of the destruction the many tornadoes did still makes my stomach churn.
The tornado that went through my neighborhood was rated an EF1. Our surrounding areas had 15 tornadoes ranging from EF0 to EF4.
We are still without power at our house, and the power company has told us they are unsure when it will be restored. It is very frustrating, but I am trying to remain positive because my family, my home, and my belongings are still in tact. Many, many others were not so fortunate.
I believe, "Where were you on April 27, 2011?" will be a question that is asked many times in the future, and I don't want to forget where I was or how I felt.
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