I'd like to think that all of my late night renditions of the UNI Fight Song to Charlie provided some good karma for the Panthers today, but they didn't need it. Gotta love the Panthers!
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Pack Your Bags Charlie Boy
We are moving back to Iowa!
Seeing as how every time I've told this story in the last few days, it has averaged around 45 minutes in length, I'll spare you some of the details. I recently accepted an in-house position with Iowa Health Systems in Des Moines and BJ will be the Director of Fundraising for the American Heart Association's Des Moines office. We are both extremely excited about these new opportunities, especially since my position should be pretty working-mom friendly, but also because we will be closer to family and so many friends. Don't get me wrong, we've been incredibly lucky in making some lifelong friends here in Kansas City, which is all the more reason to come back and visit often.
We are moving in less than two weeks, have had our house on the market for just over a week and received a respectable (as respectable as possible in this market) offer last night. We've already signed a 6 month lease in West Des Moines, so we have some time to do a little house hunting. I gave my notice today to my firm and everyone was extremely gracious and nice. With everything that's been going on, BJ and I haven't gotten much sleep and for once, Charlie isn't to blame. Needless to say, its been a whirlwind.
In other big news, Charlie tried rice cereal for the first time the other night and gave it two baby thumbs up. He ate almost 3/4 of a cup the first time. Let's just say that he won't have any problems cleaning his plate.
Seeing as how every time I've told this story in the last few days, it has averaged around 45 minutes in length, I'll spare you some of the details. I recently accepted an in-house position with Iowa Health Systems in Des Moines and BJ will be the Director of Fundraising for the American Heart Association's Des Moines office. We are both extremely excited about these new opportunities, especially since my position should be pretty working-mom friendly, but also because we will be closer to family and so many friends. Don't get me wrong, we've been incredibly lucky in making some lifelong friends here in Kansas City, which is all the more reason to come back and visit often.
We are moving in less than two weeks, have had our house on the market for just over a week and received a respectable (as respectable as possible in this market) offer last night. We've already signed a 6 month lease in West Des Moines, so we have some time to do a little house hunting. I gave my notice today to my firm and everyone was extremely gracious and nice. With everything that's been going on, BJ and I haven't gotten much sleep and for once, Charlie isn't to blame. Needless to say, its been a whirlwind.
In other big news, Charlie tried rice cereal for the first time the other night and gave it two baby thumbs up. He ate almost 3/4 of a cup the first time. Let's just say that he won't have any problems cleaning his plate.
And in honor of St. Patrick's Day - Erin Go Bragh (I have no idea what that means)
The delay with my digital camera continues to taunt me. Frustrated with the lack of any "smiling" photos, I started videotaping random interactions with Charlie. I'll prove that he had a happy childhood if it's the last thing I do. I would attempt to post some clips on the blog, but my voice sounds like a high-pitched elementary aged boy and I don't want to frighten the neighborhood dogs anymore than I need to.
On a final note, having a child has made me ask myself some tough questions. Namely, why in the heck do my hands look like they belong on a 70 year old? Note the picture above with spoon in hand. Seriously, if my face is aging as rapidly as my hands, someone please help.
Well, I'm off to dream of a sold house and botoxed hands.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Rub a Dub Dub
Charlie loves hanging out in his tub!
When he stretches out, his little feet hang over the side, so I think it's time to move to Phase II of the tub. I normally sing a few songs to him as I dry him off and give him a little massage.
Charlie gave me this look of shock after a rendition of "Monkeys Jumpin' On the Bed". He cannot grasp why all 3 monkeys fell and bumped their heads. Or that each time mama had to call the doctor. Couldn't she remember that the monkeys shouldn't be jumping on the bed? I don't know Charlie Boy...one of many questions that I simply cannot answer.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
We Survived and 3 Month Update
Well, we survived the first few days of daycare.
Wednesday marked my return to work and Charlie's first day of daycare. I had been crying off and on for the last week, but somehow managed to save some tears for the remainder of the week. I was doing pretty well on the first day until one of the teachers asked me a question and then I couldn't answer her. More tears ensued and finally BJ said "we just need to go." I then stood at my car and cried, looking longingly at the front door of the daycare. At that point BJ said "you need to get in your car and go to work, but you have got to stop crying first, otherwise you will get into an accident." It wasn't a pretty cry either. It was the kind of cry that results in snot coming out of your nose and sliding down the back of your throat. The kind of cry that results in a headache for the remainder of the day. More tears were produced at work and sometime around mid-morning, my co-workers realized that they should stop asking me how Charlie was doing. One co-worker was even sensitive enough to tell me that their daughter sat in the corner at their daycare and sobbed everyday for hours. Gee, just the mental image I wanted. Needless to say, I call numerous times throughout the day to check on him and so far he seems to be adjusting just fine. Thankfully, there were less tears on Thursday and even less on Friday. At this rate, I hope to be completely tear-free in time for his first day of kindergarten.
The biggest bummer about daycare is that he came home with the sniffles on Friday night, which developed into a full blown cold on Saturday. When I dropped Charlie off on Friday, a little girl (who shall only be referred to as Sick Girl for my purporses) came strolling over to his car seat, nose running and all. I leaned down with the biggest smile on my face and said, "Good morning Sick Girl, why don't you go see what James is doing?"...politely redirecting her and her cold germs elsewhere. Sadly, it appears that my attempt at avoiding the germs was short-lived. So far Charlie has been fever-free, but it looks like I might be keeping him at home with me tomorrow.
Wednesday was a big day for another reason - Charlie turned three months old. We snapped his picture after daycare, so he looks pretty exhausted. I thought that the "Ruff Day" outfit for his first day at daycare was fitting, particularly for me.
Wednesday marked my return to work and Charlie's first day of daycare. I had been crying off and on for the last week, but somehow managed to save some tears for the remainder of the week. I was doing pretty well on the first day until one of the teachers asked me a question and then I couldn't answer her. More tears ensued and finally BJ said "we just need to go." I then stood at my car and cried, looking longingly at the front door of the daycare. At that point BJ said "you need to get in your car and go to work, but you have got to stop crying first, otherwise you will get into an accident." It wasn't a pretty cry either. It was the kind of cry that results in snot coming out of your nose and sliding down the back of your throat. The kind of cry that results in a headache for the remainder of the day. More tears were produced at work and sometime around mid-morning, my co-workers realized that they should stop asking me how Charlie was doing. One co-worker was even sensitive enough to tell me that their daughter sat in the corner at their daycare and sobbed everyday for hours. Gee, just the mental image I wanted. Needless to say, I call numerous times throughout the day to check on him and so far he seems to be adjusting just fine. Thankfully, there were less tears on Thursday and even less on Friday. At this rate, I hope to be completely tear-free in time for his first day of kindergarten.
The biggest bummer about daycare is that he came home with the sniffles on Friday night, which developed into a full blown cold on Saturday. When I dropped Charlie off on Friday, a little girl (who shall only be referred to as Sick Girl for my purporses) came strolling over to his car seat, nose running and all. I leaned down with the biggest smile on my face and said, "Good morning Sick Girl, why don't you go see what James is doing?"...politely redirecting her and her cold germs elsewhere. Sadly, it appears that my attempt at avoiding the germs was short-lived. So far Charlie has been fever-free, but it looks like I might be keeping him at home with me tomorrow.
Wednesday was a big day for another reason - Charlie turned three months old. We snapped his picture after daycare, so he looks pretty exhausted. I thought that the "Ruff Day" outfit for his first day at daycare was fitting, particularly for me.
Charlie weighed 13lbs, 14 oz. at his appointment this week, so he continues his "heavy baby" status. Despite seeing any photo evidence, he is giving huge smiles, babbling when we sing or talk to him, and may have even let out a giggle yesterday. I was pretty tired, so I'm not sure if he actually giggled when I was talking to him, or if it was my inner dialogue. I'm going with a giggle from Charlie.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
The Best Part of Waking Up...
is not Folgers in my cup, but seeing this little face in his crib every morning.
We usually hear him babbling around 7:30 and when we walk in, we are greeted with huge smiles. There is usually a very messy surprise waiting for us in his diaper too. What a stinker, both literally and figureatively.
Unfortunately, there is a very annoying 4 second delay with my digital camera so I have yet to capture one of the aforementioned smiles. We held out buying a digital camera until 2007, apparently not convinced that digital was the wave of the future, so it might be another year before we are technologically caught up and have a camera that actually captures the moments that we would like.
A couple of other random pictures - the first is of Charlie in his bouncy seat in our bathroom. He usually hangs out in there while I shower and get ready for the day, listening to me discuss the importance of hygiene and moisturizing. The second is of Charlie holding his head up earlier today while I was showing him a few books and toys.
Unfortunately, there is a very annoying 4 second delay with my digital camera so I have yet to capture one of the aforementioned smiles. We held out buying a digital camera until 2007, apparently not convinced that digital was the wave of the future, so it might be another year before we are technologically caught up and have a camera that actually captures the moments that we would like.
A couple of other random pictures - the first is of Charlie in his bouncy seat in our bathroom. He usually hangs out in there while I shower and get ready for the day, listening to me discuss the importance of hygiene and moisturizing. The second is of Charlie holding his head up earlier today while I was showing him a few books and toys.
The red-eye reduction tool on my camera continues to taunt me. I've spent Charlie's entire naptime this afternoon trying to remove the red eyes so you can all see his bright blue eyes. Needless to say, a few curse words and 4 Reese's peanut butter eggs later, no luck. I'm beginning to think that BJ was right - maybe they do put crack in the Reese's peanut butter eggs, I'm so addicted.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Delusional
I think I've become delusional (or more delusional) since becoming a mom. We scheduled Charlie's 3-month photos for this afternoon at JCPenney. I spent hours thinking about what outfits he should wear and different poses he should strike, picked out a few clothing options from Baby Gap and meticulously trimmed his nails yesterday just in case they took a close up of his little hands. Long story short, BJ and I looked like fools trying to get him to smile while the JCPenney photo girl, who looked fourteen, kept giving us looks as though she was in physical pain. At one point I told her to start snapping some pictures so we may be blackballed from the JCPenney Photo Studio. Needless to say, there were no wardrobe changes and we were lucky to get one smiling photo.
On Friday my parents stayed with us on their way to Arizona. There were lots of "ooohs" and "aaahhhs" over Charlie. Don't get me wrong - I'm all for encouraging him, but if we keep acting impressed that he smiles and kicks his legs, he may never reach his true potential.
On Friday my parents stayed with us on their way to Arizona. There were lots of "ooohs" and "aaahhhs" over Charlie. Don't get me wrong - I'm all for encouraging him, but if we keep acting impressed that he smiles and kicks his legs, he may never reach his true potential.
You can't tell in this picture, but Charlie's outfit reads "Feed Me" and is very fitting for his personality. I go back to work on Wednesday so I plan to spend the next two days holding Charlie as much as possible and and not thinking about going back to work.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Lint Fairies
One thing that has surprised me a lot about becoming a parent is the amount of lint that I find between Charlie's fingers and toes everyday. Seriously - where does this stuff come from? This would be disgusting and wrong, but I'm pretty sure an entire outfit could have been knitted from all of the lint that I've pulled from Charlie's fingers and toes. Don't worry - I haven't saved any of it.
Each morning I tell Charlie a story about the Lint Fairies that must fly into his room at night, unswaddle him and stuff lint between his fingers and toes. They are busy little fairies. I was reiterating this story to BJ when he looked at Charlie and said, "I think it is time for you to go to daycare and mommy to go back to work." Little does he know that Charlie's already been exposed to stories about the Hiccup Fairies, the Dirty Diaper Fairies, the Gas Fairies, etc. I may have caused Charlie to develop a complex. Oh well, the first of many I'm sure.
Each morning I tell Charlie a story about the Lint Fairies that must fly into his room at night, unswaddle him and stuff lint between his fingers and toes. They are busy little fairies. I was reiterating this story to BJ when he looked at Charlie and said, "I think it is time for you to go to daycare and mommy to go back to work." Little does he know that Charlie's already been exposed to stories about the Hiccup Fairies, the Dirty Diaper Fairies, the Gas Fairies, etc. I may have caused Charlie to develop a complex. Oh well, the first of many I'm sure.
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