Daisy

The Final Countdown

June 7, 2013

Tonight family begins arriving in town for Gracie’s baptism on Sunday. I’m looking forward to the day and celebration and for her to wear my baptismal dress but in the interim we are in a final push to get the last of the boxes out, the artwork hung and homes for all of the annoying things that never fit anywhere quite right. For instance, everyone has that one huge chili/pasta pot that doesn’t fit in the cabinets. At our old house we kept it in the hall closet (what? we kept gloves in there) but I was hoping for a slightly more logical location this time around. That said…you’ll probably find my extra large chili pot in the hall closet sometime tonight.

Other conundrums include B and I’s old cd (that is compact disc for all you young whippersnappers) collections, the assortment of mismatched paper eating products I have and last few pieces of art that we can’t find a home for on the wall. Oh and the two sets of barstools that we own, which is great since this house doesn’t have a breakfast bar.

Oh and I have to figure out how to make it look like my child has more toys than my dog, or at least make it look like my dog doesn’t have AN ENTIRE LAUNDRY BASKET of toys, so what I’m saying is: anyone know of a dog that needs some toys? My spoiled hound has plenty to spare.

Dear Gracie (Month Four)

June 5, 2013

By Daisy

Dear Gracie

As with all the others the past month has been a whirlwind. In the midst of all your growing and sleeping and learning we moved, you got your very own room and you even started sleeping in it. You handled the move like a champ- due in large part to all the grandparents and friends that came to spend time with you while your Dad and I packed boxes and helped the movers. Moving – you were not impressed:

We also celebrated my very first Mother’s Day, and let me just say, you did a fantastic job picking out my gift (you slept in until 8 am!) and your Dad did an even better job helping us celebrate. He made breakfast, took us out furniture shopping (although we came home empty handed) and made my favorite dinner that evening. You were fairly unsure of the whole thing, but hung in there good naturedly.

You continue to grow at a rate that amazes me- I can’t wait for your doctor’s appointment next week to find out how much you weigh (a little over 13 pounds is my guess) and you are now solidly wearing 0-3 month clothes but still in size 1 diapers. You have taken to break dancing during diaper changes (unless of course you are hungry, and then my little lady, YOU SCREAM BLOODY MURDER THE ENTIRE TIME) which is adorable but also means I have to go in with a solid plan of action to get the job done between your moves. It is better than hating them though, so I’ll take it.

You have also discovered toys which is pretty fun to watch. I read an article about the top toys for the first year and while I had many of them, I decided to add some soft blocks to your collection and you are obsessed. This paved the way for playtime with Sophie the Giraffe, the world’s most expensive chew toy. You are also really happy to have fabric in your hands- a swaddling blanket, a bib, a burp cloth. A two pack of Aden & Anais “issies” have been ordered so you can carry around something a little more your own size. This is the face we get when you are happy and have a blanket in your hand:

You also rolled over for the first time this month (front to back) but of course you didn’t do it for your parents, you saved that move for Gigi. I was working in the other room when suddenly my Mom started yelling loudly and I ran in just in time to catch your second roll. After ending up facing upward you looked around like “Well…how did THIS happen?” and you’ve given a few repeat performances since then, but none for the video camera.

As I mentioned we moved this past month, which was awful (moves always are) and messy and dusty, but now it means I’ve gotten to work on your room and that makes me so very happy. Your Grandpa and Grandma put together your crib while you napped and every night I work a little bit more to make it a special place for you. Your Dad and Gigi have helped me a lot, and right now we are waiting on the paint to dry on a few items, your second curtain panel to arrive and we have to pick up hardware to hang up your book sling. I have a little sneak peek of the room now, but it is still a work in progress. I hope to be done soon.

Since you now have your own room and you sleep so well (knock on the wood of a thousand trees) we’ve been putting you down at night in your crib. I miss hearing your little snuffles and reaching over to touch you during the night, but I know it is where you should be. I will admit to sneaking over the creaky hardwood floors to watch you sleep on a regular basis though. We put you down in your sleep sack, turn on your Twilight Turtle and your white noise and off you go into dream land. We have slowly weaned you from the swaddle and you now sleep with your hands over your head, as though you spend all night celebrating victory.

We also celebrated my 30th birthday this month (your Dad loves May – Mother’s Day, my birthday and both of his parent’s birthdays!) and you wore smocking for the first time. It was actually a dress of mine when I was a little girl and you looked adorable in it, even if you didn’t feel like smiling for the camera. Please ignore the art-less wall and Mama’s crazy eyes…. we went out just a few days after the move and I had just gotten dressed out of boxes. (Sidenote: Smocking is a funny thing…..it is decidedly Southern and bit of a love/hate topic in Mom-World. Most of your current smocked wardrobe was mine, which I think just goes to show that it is a timeless fashion statement for the under 2 crowd. But if you ever want to start a Mom debate and breastfeeding, circumcision, cry it out and vaccines are “been there done that” take a stance on smocking to see the claws come out….)

As with every month, your Dad and I are in awe that it went by so quickly. You are turning into such a fun baby, full of smiles and noises and snuggles. Morning is still my favorite time with you but overall you are a cheerful, cheerful baby who wants nothing more than to play with her favorite people. You are growing up so quickly and we are trying to enjoy this stage- before we know it you’ll be rolling in all directions, sitting up without help and trying solid food…but for now you are happy to stay in one place, snuggle in deep for a bottle and watch your furry brother from afar. You are our world, and the best times these days are when our whole family (Rhett Butler included) hang out on the couch together, just enjoying the moment.

I can’t wait to see what your future hold baby girl. You can grow up to be anything.

Love,

Mama

Four Months:

13ish pounds, as told to us by the home scale (4 month appointment next week!)

Likes: playmat, snuggling, bath time, your squishy blocks, muslin blankets, riding in the Ergo

Dislikes: not being fed as fast as you might like

Empty Tables

May 30, 2013

By Daisy

Last week we moved, as a family of 3.5 from one end of the city to another. Last night we went back to our old apartment to clean it out one last time. The place where we came home to as newlyweds, fresh from our honeymoon. Where we got a dog, celebrated our first Christmas and made Thanksgiving turkeys. Where we found out we were pregnant, where we timed contractions and brought home our baby girl for the first time. Those walls held and saw a lot of love, laughter and tears. (And pregnancy induced vomiting. Just keeping it real.) As a military kid, I was startled to realize that those walls were the longest I had ever lived in one house, in my life. Ever.

Today, on May 30th, the eve of my 30th birthday I think back to this time last year, about what has happened in the past 365 days. A year ago today I was getting my appendix out…which means that tomorrow is my birthday…which means we were pregnant but didn’t know it….and today, in our new house, surrounded by boxes my daughter rolled over for the first time.

Turning 30. New homes. Babies. Saying goodbye. Appendix scars merged into my one and only stretch mark of pregnancy, forever reminding me of that fateful week in time where everything changed in a few dramatic instances.

My emotions, they are a little raw.

PPPPP

May 20, 2013

By Daisy

As a kid one of my Mom’s favorite phrases was “Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance.”

Forgot your lunch at school? She brought it to you, but not before reminding you that PPPPP.

Didn’t give yourself enough time to study? PPPPP.

Found yourself up against a deadline? PPPPP.

The phrase is drilled into my head and now I’m a planner. Probably (ok fine, yes) overly so, but I function best with a lot of prior planning. The only way my family eats dinner, I make it out the door with everything I need and Gracie gets lots of quality time with Mom and Dad is thanks to a lot of prior planning, preparation and lists. Sorry, lists don’t start with a P, but damn if I don’t rely on them daily.

Anyway. My point is that normally B and I are fairly scheduled out, know what is going on, etc., etc. Until it came to our upcoming move, and in that case we have been driving ourselves and everyone we know crazy.

Where are you moving? Have you found a place? When are you moving? Are you going to ask your parents to come? Do you need help? Have you scheduled movers?

For the past 4 months these questions have been met with hemming, hawing, hand flapping and general avoidance. (See what I did there? Alliteration, but we’ve moved on from the “p” set.) It makes perfect sense then that last week- on Wednesday evening to be exact- we decided to move this Friday. At the time we made that decision we had packed exactly zero boxes and the only “we are moving soon” task I’d completed was boxing up my maternity clothes (all but the yoga pants & 1 pair of maternity jeans because I have some serious jean-woes right now and desperately need to hightail it to the store for pants that don’t make me look like a baggy elephant or like I just traveled through time from 2003). Obviously the boxing of maternity clothes is not going to get us from point A to point B so now we are faced with packing our storage locker + 2 bedroom 2 bath place worth of stuff in a week.

Luckily, this bad boy arrives in the mail tonight:

The movers have been booked (B and I decided about a year ago that we are too old to bribe friends with pizza and beer to help us move, conversely, we are no longer bribe-able) and my fantastic friends (including the lovely Kristabella) have offered to come play with the baby in the evening hours so our hands are free to frantically throw things into box with ~~reckless abandon~~ the utmost of care. We are ordering Gracie’s crib mattress, her dresser is set for pick up at the end of the week and I purchased shower curtains for the new place. My inlaws are coming to help us with the day of the actual move (and by help us I mean hang out with their grandbaby and granddog, don’t worry, we are not making them carry boxes). That and I took Thursday and Friday off of work to make myself a nice little 5 day weekend so hey, come next Tuesday morning, I will have boxes unpacked and artwork hung SO HELP ME. Mostly because then my parents are coming and we have birthdays, weddings and Gracie’s baptism (which includes many great-grandparents, all grandparents and godparents in town). And then? THEN I SLEEP.

We can do this. We…can…do…this.