Wordless Wednesday

5QF

Thanks Mama M for hosting 5QF! 

:)

1. Did you pass your driver's test on the first try?

I didn't have to take a driving test. I did the home-taught Driver's Ed so my mom had to sign a waiver that I had done x number of practice driving hours, then I had to take a q&a test on a computer at the DMV. And yes, I did pass that the first try.

Confession: I probably should have taken the real driver's ed & test because to this day I still cannot parallel park to save my life. 

2. What is your most embarrassing moment?

Hmm.. that's actually a tough one. I don't have any one moment that was so horrifying that it stuck with me forever. The only thing coming to mind was being "pantsed" my senior year of high school, but I was among a group of friends (not out in the open) and just laughed it off. I mean, there was the moment of shock and OMG my pants are at my ankles but it wasn't traumatizing or anything.

3. What TV show would you like to be on- Oprah, Biggest Loser, or What Not to Wear?

I want to say Oprah, because I love her, but I'm going to go with What Not to Wear. I am not half as bad as most people they have on that show, I'm just stuck in a rut. I wear jeans and a tee shirt every single day. Well, I take that back, sometimes I wear sweats and a tee shirt. My bad. ;)

I could seriously use a wardrobe makeover. I used to be more concerned about appearances - actually getting dressed when I leave the house in something other than scrubby clothes, putting on makeup, and ya know, even brushing my hair [gasp!]. These days I spend far more time getting the CamyBean all dolled up and accessorized than I spend on myself. Heck, if I didn't work every morning (forcing me to shower when I wake up), I'd be lucky to have clean hair on any given day. Ah, motherhood.

4. Would you ever get plastic surgery and what kind?

Abso-freaking-lutely. I have wanted a nose job since I was about 16. I don't see it ever happening though, and thats ok. But now that my boobs have been sacrificed for the sake of feeding my baby, I tell DH at least 39576 times a week that I will be getting a boob job when we are done having kiddos. I will. There is no way I can look at these deflated, sagging, pancake boobs everyday for the rest of my life. I miss having boobs that sit where they're supposed to sit. I miss tank tops. I {will soon} miss bathing suits. Low(ish) cut dresses with hot mama cleavage. I miss looking like the woman I used to look like as opposed the woman fit for a National Geographic late night special. ::sigh:: 

BUT, I am so grateful that I have been able to breastfeed my sweet baby girl all this time. So I will continue to wreak havoc on my girls for the sake of my girl, and I will continue to do so with pride and joy and love. Then, I'll just try to pick up the pieces when we're through.

5. What are your favorite jeans to wear?

American Eagle "Favorite Boyfriend" jeans, have to be the Long length. 

I live in them. I have 3 pairs of the same exact thing. 

No other jeans fit me quite so well. 

Your turn!
Go check out Mama M's post today, 
and follow the instructions to play along!

        

The next Beethoven? {and other fun photos}

Or not. 

That's a little better. 

Her daddy got out the old playmat and the silly girl was all about it.

We put it away way back when because she had exactly zero interest in it. 

Now she loves it!

Until she gets stuck against a pole and can't roll anymore. 

She is really gettin' after that fish! Look at those angry eyes. 

...and she hams it up for the camera...

..right before she gets sick of me clickin' away!

[chubby thighs much? love!]

And this one taken this morning. 

Right before I keeled over and died.

I am so not ready for this stage.

[confession: her daddy helped her stand up]

G'Morning Sunshine!

For the last few weeks, my dear Miss Camy Lou has been sleeping on her belly.
In her younger {preSTTN} days I would try to get the girl to sleep on her belly because I kept hearing about the magical powers of tummy-sleeping.
[Yeah yeah, pass that Mommy of the Year trophy right over. I know.]
Anywho, the girl would have none of it. She wanted absolutely zero to do with her belly.
Suddenly she loves it.
She flops onto her belly when she's playing on the floor, and she flops onto her belly when you lay her in her bed.
There are many pluses to this new way of snoozing.
1. She falls asleep quicker.
My guess is being on her belly eliminates most bedtime distractions - she can't get to her toes, she has less interest in pulling on her blanket, she doesn't flail around like a fish out of water... all good things!
2. She's been taking longer naps!
I don't why being on her belly = longer naps. But it does. And I like it.
3. When she wakes up for the day or from a nap, I am greeted by this:

What's that I hear? Mama?

So happy to see you!

[note the pacifier on her back! um, what? how?]

Are we playing shy here?

So *that* is the scratching I always hear on the monitor,

she's trying to get the dots on her sheets! ha.

I love walking through her door and seeing her cute little head pop up as she scans the room for her Mama. I love seeing the big grin spread across her face when she catches sight of me. I love the way she plays shy for a minute, smiling and turning her head partially away. She is such a happy girl. Such a little lovable bug.
4. One more plus with sleeping this way is that she has really started cuddling her Hiram. It is so adorable the way she snuggles up with it, and just melts my heart. I think she will end up cherishing that bunny as much as my M-girls do!

The one and only down side to tummy sleeping is my worry over her smothering herself. She is certainly strong enough to turn her head or move herself away from the bumpers (should she roll up close to them), but I still obsessively check the monitor to see where she's at in her crib and how her head is turned. I have only felt the need to go and move her once, and that was a big mistake. She was just fine, but I was paranoid and ended up waking her up and totally ticking her off in the process.


Quick eczema update: still struggling with the latest flare up. Her face is in really bad shape today, bleeding and oozing. She was up several times last night just rubbing her face with everything she possibly could: her arms, her Hiram, by turning her head on the bed to itch it. It was awful and heartbreaking. We are calling the derm (and possibly the pedi) again tomorrow to see if we can give her some benadryl or anything before bed to help with the discomfort. Hope we can get it under control soon. :(

Mesh Feeder FAIL

Remember when I told ya about Camy's love for the bananas in the mesh feeder?

Well, I screwed up.
See how beautiful her face was that day?

Very little redness. No cracks. No bleeding or oozing. 

Her face was doing GREAT.

I was sure to clean her up as soon as we were done with the mesh feeder, and I thought if I put her medicated ointment on that night all would be well. 

Wrong.
This is how she woke up. 

This was actually one in a series of photos I took for another post (coming soon), but it shows the redness and irritation that returned overnight. She woke up all oozy again. And red and inflammed.

Broke my heart.

This was totally my fault. 

It should have occurred to me that rubbing slimy, slobbery, mushed up banana all over her face for 20-30 minutes would do this. But it didn't. I got caught up in the excitement of trying out a new baby gadget and didn't think it through. I have got to be more careful with Camy and her delicate little self.

We are still battling that flare up, trying to get her cheeks back in check. 

Poor girl.

Stupid Mommy. 

:(

5QF

Thanks again to Mama M for hosting this blog hop! :)

Happy Friday!!!!

1. Have you ever had a celeb sighting?

A random sighting? Sadly, no. 

I have met a couple of [mostly local] celebs at concerts/events, though. 

2. What temperature do you keep your house?

We heat it to 70-72, and cool it to 68-70.

3. Do you notice dust at other peoples homes?

No, I mean, unless its baaaad. 

I am far more critical of my own home, especially when I have company. Doesn't matter how well I think I cleaned before having company, it never fails.. I invite them in then immediately zero in on that little clump of dog hair under the couch (Is it even possible to get all the dang hair up? Ever?), that photo frame I forgot to dust, that kitchen towel I meant to take to the hamper, etc. Little things that guests either don't notice or don't mind really bug me at my home but go totally unnoticed when I'm out and about.

4. What's the worst job you ever had?

"Sales Associate" at a CD store in the mall. I had just turned 16 and haaaaated it. All 9 days of my employment were awful. I quit and vowed to never work with the general public again. I have since worked with children and loved every bit of it. Its definitely been more fun, more rewarding, and much more inspirational.

5. What is your most sentimental possession?

Hmm... that's a tough one! I don't really have any special family heirlooms.. and I can think of lots of things I would cry over should I lose them in a fire or something.

My most sentimental possessions would probably be mementos from my pregnancy and Camy's birth. Or our wedding sand. Or all of our photos. Maybe the pearl necklace my mother gave me on my wedding day. 

Good question!


Go check out Mama M's post today and play along!

Three Things Thursdee :)

I was far too exhausted to think of ten things to post on Tuesday, so instead I'll share with you the three new things we encountered today.

It was a big day 'round the O'House.

1. I spy with my little eye..... something that is.... sharp! 

Okay, well truth be told, first I heard it from my hubby, then I felt it with my finger before finally spying it with my eye.

Its another tooth!!! 

My little one tooth wonder is now a two tooth... um?... Tiger? 

Whatev. There's a second tooth! See it? 

No, not so much huh? 

Well let's do a little croppin' and zoomin'....

There it is!

Right next to the big one on the left.

This one seemed to come through easy-peasy compared to the first. I swear that little booger was not there yesterday, but there it is now.. popping up without warning. :)

Let's hope all the other come through so uneventfully. 

Ha.

2. We all know Camy loves to swing at the park but now the lucky lady can swing at home! We bought this swing a couple weeks ago, but just got around to hanging it. Finally. And what a lovely day to break it in!

3. I was looking for a new distraction tactic to test out on Camy this evening. The ol' *sitting in the high chair with a couple measuring cups* trick is wearing out on her. I remembered we were given a couple of those mesh baby feeder things, and decided to try one out with her. The twins used to love getting frozen fruit chunks in their feeders, but I didn't have time to mess with all that. So, hmmmm... what do we have on hand? Bananas! 

Holy Wow, the girl loved the bananas! 

Her chowing down on banana-mush squeezed through a net bought me enough time to clean the kitchen and eat dinner. Huge accomplishment for the Mama on a night that Dad's at work late!

I was very pleased with the successful introduction of this new distraction tactic. 

Until I went to clean it. 

What was I thinking? Fresh banana in a mesh feeder? REALLY?! 

I guess there's a reason we stuck to frozen fruits with the twins!

How the heck does one clean slimey, slobbery banana remnants from the creases and crevices of a mesh feeder? 

That may be an impossible task. ::sigh:: Any tips or tricks? Anyone? Anyone?

Had to post this one too.. just because its cute.

{kinda}Wordless Wednesday

Weekend in Photos {phase 1}

We had a fantastic weekend in Houston with my sister, her hubs, and her precious 9 month old, Coop.

Ever since our little ones came along, we have made it a point to visit regularly. We try to get in one visit a month, alternating who travels. It was our turn to drive, and Camy did great on the road!

Friday afternoon we just hung out with the babies at the house. They are so darn cute together! They don't interact much at this point, but they are certainly fascinated by each other. Camy watches every move Coop makes (hopefully taking notes on this whole crawling business!), and Coop lunges for every toy Camy picks up! 

Saturday morning we tagged along for the Mommy and Me Gym Class that Coop is signed up for. 

Its at an actual gym, not a strip-mall franchise type place, and it was awesome!

The group Coop is in is for ages 6-18mos, and the kiddos make their way around the gym trying out a number of different stations. 

There was a big open mat with a few obstacles set up. The coach would help them do little baby somersaults, barrel rolls, help them jump up and down... cute cute. 

There was also a trampoline floor. Great fun for babies AND mommies and daddies! :) The kiddos had a big time just running from one end to the other (or crawling, or being carried by their grown-up bouncing along). There was a station with vertical bars, set up way down low for tiny little people. Love. Some kiddos would hang (with assistance) and swing back and forth. The smaller kiddos (like Coop and Camy) would sorta hang, and the coach would lift them up and down to play peek-a-boo over the bars. 

There was a big pit full of foam blocks - Camy's fave spot!

And there was what they called "the mountain" - a big play structure built into one corner with different climbing courses (big stairs, little stairs, rock wall, ramps), a few different slides, secret crawl-through tunnels, a bridge, and another foam pit. At this station, Camy and I slid down the smallest of the slides and she didn't care for it much, so we decided to just walk around and watch Coop explore. The coach came over and took Camy from me (nicely) and said she would go down the big slide (what I considered to be the slide of death!). As Camy was carried away from me, she locked eyes with me and looked positively scared out of her gourd. They got to the top of the slide, and Camy latched on to that coach like her life depended on it.. and I could see her eyes turn red and start to tear up. I was not okay... I wanted to run up those steps and save her (cuz ya know, she was toooootally in danger!) but I stood there.. and let her slide. And she cried the en-tire way down. Then cried harder once they were at the bottom. Poor little Camy. 

She does not like strangers. Or slides. Or strangers that take her down slides. :(

But we made our way over the the foam pit, and all was right in her world once more. 

Like a bozo, this is when I remembered I had my camera, so we don't have photos of about 90% of the class. Ooops. 

But here are a couple foam pit shots. And I know she doesn't looked thrilled in either of these, but trust me.. she loved it! 

They close out the class by playing with bubbles and singing a song.. this was Camy's first experience with bubbles and she was totally fascinated!! It was awesome to watch her eyes get real big in amazement, and watch her focus in on one of the hundreds of bubbles - following it until it landed on the ground or was popped by another kiddo. 

[Note: After tagging along to this class with V and Coop, I have made up my mind. As soon as Camy is more mobile, we are definitely signing up for a Mommy and Me class. I have looked into gyms around me and didn't have any luck finding infant/toddler classes, so I will be attending free preview classes at Gymboree and The Little Gym soon to choose one of those. :) Can. Not. Wait!!]

Later Saturday afternoon, while Coop napped, Camy was introduced to the dogs. 

They have 3 dogs, but Alex was clearly her favorite.. which was odd seeing as how Alex is easily twice the size of either of our dogs and she freaks her freak around our dogs. But she loooved Alex. 

Proof:

While playing on the couch, I finally managed to catch a shot of her tooth! LOOK! I zoomed in so you could really see it.... 

Seeeee it? YAY!

Saturday evening we decided to take advantage of the perfect weather and let Camy introduce Coop to the joys of a neighborhood park! It was his first time in the swings, and after a little apprehension, he seemed to enjoy it! 

My sister and her hubs have a running joke that Coop is allergic to the sun because anytime you open the blinds or take him outside, he makes this face:

Love it! Eyes squinted, nose crinkled... too cute.

After swinging a while, I put Camy in the same swing as Coop - not as fun as I had imagined, but neither protested. :)

We had such a great time!

I have more photos from Sunday (and another trip to the park) but they are still living on the camera.

So stay tuned for Weekend in Photos - Phase 2.