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Archive for the ‘Missing My Baby’ Category

Where did our BABY Go?

Posted in Missing My Baby, Uncategorized, tagged , , on January 18, 2013| 3 Comments »

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Princess Bella is 19 months old.. Time Flies!

I know, I know it has been a VERY long time since I have written. I made a NYE resolution last year to be more consistent with my writing.. and well, that went the way of MOST NYE resolutions.. Ditched shortly after New Years (probably why my loving hubby says he never makes them). I’ve let “life get in the way”. I have been having so much fun bringing up this nugget of love, that I simply abandoned my writing to be in-the-moment.

But, what’s crazy is what has happened in the short course of 1 year.  Somehow my little blob that only ate, pooped and slept became this whole, fully functional human – with a larger than life attitude and an opinion.  WTF?  No one warned me these things would happen so quickly!

Bella is now 19 months old and the following are some of the amazing things she has accomplished already:  goes to school, climbs stairs and goes down slides at the playground (sometimes head first), has friends, swims, counts to 10, spells, met (and hated) Mickey Mouse, punches the dog in the nose, unlocks and swipes applications on “her” iPad, eats real food in real restaurants, opens doors, recognizes characters on TV and calls them by name, colors and paints, blows kisses – my personal favorite, fakes a Southern accent (hiiii maaaama!), squeals with delight at the sight of strawberries, rips toys out of the hands of innocent children if she wants them, steals watermelon from the plates of others, says “bless you” if someone sneezes and screams “bye bye” or “hiiii” to anyone and everyone no matter if they are coming or going.  AWESOME, right?  Ok, a couple we will have to work on…

I’m no expert, but I would say she is a child genius!  In addition to being smart (and incredibly adorable and photogenic), she is also TALL.  Which is why some people may be missing how genius-y she actually is, because they must think she is like 2 or 3.  Duh.

I would like this whole “advancing” thing to slow down.  This is our only time to this parenthood rodeo.  I don’t want to blink and all the sudden she’s leaving for college.  I am absolutely loving every day with my baby.  It brings new words, new adventures.  I love smelling her skin and holding her in my arms until she falls asleep at night.  Everyone says that it just keeps getting better, but I find that so hard to believe.  It really is so incredibly perfect exactly how it is right now.  Except for the toes she put in my mouth the other night while I was asleep…  Actually, that’s kinda perfect too!

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3 Men and a Baby

Posted in Juggling it All, Missing My Baby on December 14, 2011| 2 Comments »

Another business trip. Another few nights away from the family. I feel so bad. Not because I don’t think Keith can handle her, not because I worry about whether or not she will be ok, but because I know handling a 6-month old on your own for THREE DAYS is hard work! Keith is absolutely the BEST father ever. And Bella adores him. So, I feel very comforted to know the two of them are hanging out having fun while I am in Atlanta.

3 Men and a Baby: Pizza, Beer, Football!

I arranged for our nanny to stay a few hours late each day, so daddy could wrap up his work day before being on baby duty. And my father is in town from North Carolina, so he came to sleep over one of the nights to help Keith out. It was so cute… they packed up Bella, picked up my stepfather and the 3 men took Bella out for pizza, beer and Monday Night Football. A girl couldn’t ask for three better dates than that!

I felt like I was with them, at least virtually. I got pictures texted to me of Bella drinking root beer, chewing on an IPhone and then later, in the bathtub. Everyone had an awesome time and the grandfathers got some quality time with their Princess.

Then, the next night, my mom stopped in to make sure all was in order at my house. You never could tell this is an only-grandchild, could you?

It makes me feel very comfortable going away knowing that my precious jewel is in such caring, capable hands. But, I cannot WAIT to get home tomorrow night. I have been craving some slobbery baby kisses!! And a big bear hug and kiss from Keith. Nothing compares to the feeling of either of those!!

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Why am I awake ?

Posted in Firsts, Juggling it All, Missing My Baby on October 19, 2011| 1 Comment »

At least someone was able to sleep.

This was my first night away from Bella since the day she was born.  If I thought having her sleep in her own room all the way down the hall was difficult for me, this topped that tenfold!  However, I was somewhat excited for a long, uninterrupted night of sleep, of which I have been deprived for months.

I travelled to Atlanta yesterday afternoon.  I recently took on a new, exciting role at work and I came to meet with my new team.  Part social and teambuilding, but mostly WORK.  Last night, we all went to dinner and then bowling.  I had planned to duck out after dinner and go nitey nite EARLY – hello snorefest!  Plus, I suck at bowling.  But, the “right” thing for me to do was hang with my new team.  So, I bowled.  I scored a whopping 95, but it was a really fun time and good distraction from missing my family. 

Keith, who had Bella on HIS OWN for the first time, gave me periodic progress reports and texted me this picture.  How he was able to text me, hold the baby, hold the remote and eat with just two hands is amazing.  Talented man – That’s why I married him!  He, however, did not marry me for my bowling prowess!  Confirmation of what I already knew:  Keith and Bella are a wonderful team… They ordered pizza, watched hockey, took a bath and went to sleep – all uneventful daddy/daughter time.  Such a good girl!  And at 5:00am, I got another text saying she was still sleeping.  Simply amazing.

So, with the complete and utter quiet in my dark hotel room and “heavenly bed,” why can’t I sleep ?  This is MY opportunity to catch up on that coveted sleep I have needed.  But, I have been awake on and off all night.  I miss my people, that’s why.  I love my little nighttime routine with them.  I love listening to her little noises all night long.  I love the little baby kisses and the daddy kisses before bed.  It soothes me.  Thank goodness I will be home tonight for some SLEEP!

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Separation Anxiety – Thanks, Dr. Amy!

Posted in Missing My Baby, Sleeping on October 10, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Today was Bella’s 4 month checkup.  I feel like it’s been so long since we had “Bella Stats” and I really look forward to seeing our baby’s progress.  When I was pregnant, we were checked all the time (they DO that to OLD moms).  When Bella first arrived, we were checked all the time (they DO that to SKINNY, EARLY babies).  I love seeing her grow.  But, we hadn’t been to the doctor since our 2 month visit and I was dying to see how my little chicken was measuring up.  

Dr. Amy asked HOW Bella has been sleeping and proudly, I told her she is “sleeping 8-9 hours each night.” As noted in my previous post, Bella is a good sleeper.  Yes, I brag, because I am actually getting decent nights sleep, too.  However, the only caveat is that her favorite place to sleep is her pink Fisher Price napper, right next to our bed.  It’s small, cozy and it even rocks.  And of course See-Hee The Seahorse can be velcro’d to the side.  We have been trying to wean her of the napper for weeks, (it has a weight limit) to no real avail.  We have several other sleep options in the room, too:  a cute bassinet on my side of the bed and an antique cradle on Keith’s side of the bed (thanks Kimmy!).  Our Master Bedroom looks like the Baby Bedding section in BabiesRUs exploded in it!!

We put Bella in the cradle or the bassinet at the start of a night, but we have yet to really make it through a whole night without slow grunts that turn to little cries and grow to a steady wail.  I admit, I am a softie, I can’t take it, I feel like she’s going to pass out from crying!  I pick her up from her alternate sleeping location, tuck her back into her “happy place” in her napper and Zzzzzzz!  Hard to argue with what works.

I digress…. Back to Dr. Amy.  She then asked us WHERE Bella was sleeping.  But, when I told her about all the locations, she asked why she wasn’t sleeping in her crib.  Well, DUH, Dr. Amy, because it is in the OTHER ROOM.  Really ?  She expects a 4-month old baby to sleep by herself ?  Actually, YES.  She told us we have to start now or it would just get progressively harder.  She said to let her cry, but only for 30 minutes.  Dr. Amy seems to think the transition would only take a couple of days.  But, but, but.. Doesn’t Bella need ME waking up to look at her, to make sure she is breathing, to make sure she isn’t too cold?

I feel like this is a HUGE milestone.  I barely even remember all of the beloved statistics I was looking for at this visit.  My ears were ringing and all I could hear over and over was “the OTHER ROOM”.  I don’t know who is going to have a harder time with this… Bella or ME?  Yes, I admit, it will be me.  Maybe we should wait to try this until next week… Or maybe when Bella’s 12 !

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Going Back to Work

Posted in Missing My Baby on October 4, 2011| 1 Comment »

About 3 weeks ago, my maternity leave ended..  Eeeek !

I had such grand plans for what I was going to do with all my “free time” during those 3 long months off.  Since Keith can work remotely from anywhere, I told him I thought we should spend 1 month in the Keys with our boat and 1 month in the mountains of North Carolina with my dad/stepmother (live there permanently) and my mom/stepfather (summer there).  HAHAHAHA !!!  Apparently no one informed me that none of that is really compatible with a newborn..  Especially a newborn that cries unless she is sleeping. 

So, I made the best of it and became a “crappy tv aficionado”.  I spent countless hours in our house, on the couch, and walking the neighborhood with Bella.  We became BEYOND close and I loved every last-minute… But, the problem is that as soon as I considered her “easy”, those DARN 3 months were almost up.  I was home for the HARD part, the NO SLEEPING PART.  But, now that she is a party girl, going to dinner and for visits to people’s houses, I have to return to the world of the working.  I really think I should lobby for maternity leave to be month 1 and then months 5 and 6.  THE BEST of both worlds, I would think.

But, what I was least prepared for was the separation issues I was going to have as part of going back to work and also how my priorities would have changed.  I am the consummate professional.  The working woman.  The ladder climber.  But, when the day came and I had to put makeup on, blow dry my hair and wear real clothing and go back to my work life, I could do nothing but cry.  That little person who was staring at me with innocent, beautiful eyes has changed my life and my priorities forever.  Now, each day I am excited when our nanny sends me a video of something Bella does.  I long for the text with pictures of her smiling, sitting on her daddy’s lap.  We even do FaceTime, so I can hear her giggle (well, that’s what we call our 3.5 month old’s squeals!!). 

When our nanny told me that Bella rolled over earlier last month, I was ecstatic !  But, then a quick sadness washed over me that I missed that tiny little milestone in her life.  I know I can’t be there for everything, but these early “firsts” are hard to miss. 

I am thrilled that my company allows me to work from home every now and then.  It really helps.  Especially since I have enrolled Bella in Mommy Boot Camp, because I don’t want to miss the next Rollover !

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