Tiny Dancer {Three Months}

Look who's 3 months old already!!!

Our little munchkin has been so much fun lately.. she has the sweetest little personality.

She's happiest and most talkative right after she wakes up.

I just can't get enough- she has so much to say and will talk and coo back and forth with me for a long time!

We've been specifically working on "Mama".. why not, right? :)

And her faces.. this little Evie Girl has a million!

Love it.

We've been working on tummy time.. not her favorite, though her neck is very strong!

I think she'll be sitting up on her own very soon!

My sweet little girl finding her toes..

We love you Evie Girl!

Friday Morning Thoughts

1. February is almost over.. February is almost OVER!!!!!!

2. Pumping in the conference room at work is equal parts exhilerating, shameful and just plain weird. All I need to do is schedule a conference all at the same time to really bump it up to that next level.

3. Evie girl finally took two bottles in a row yesterday! WAHOOOO!!!

4. I am trying to decide on a new rug from Pottery Barn. I have some major credits to spend and want a rug for our front living room that I will soon transform into an office/playroom type space. SOON is all relative. Also? Not loving PB's rug choices at the moment. Can we bring back the last few seasons, please??

5. Spring is finally, definitely in the air around here, and it's doing wonders for me!! What is it about the weather that affects my mood so much? I am all energized to get started on about 15 projects around the house, clean everything and get outside!

6. I am soooo behind on my blog reading. Like majorly behind. Like it's the ever-growing pile of laundry that you just want to shut the door on and ignore rather than facing. I need to catch up!

7. National Margarita Day was some time this week. Did you celebrate accordingly? I did not, and am really feeling like I let down America.

8. Just remembered that I missed Modern Family on Wednesday and need to catch it on Hulu. Best.Show.Ever.

9. So far, I am enjoying being back at work and talking to adults and frankly, just getting out of the house. Thankfully, I only go in two days a week, so you can't beat that!

10. A few of you have asked about Evie's nursery.. yes, yes, I fully intend to do a full reveal!! We just recently got the shelves (thanks D&A!), so I need to get those hung. Stay tuned!

Working it Out. In More Ways Than One.

Yesterday was a blur. I think I ran the virtual gauntlet of emotions and I'm still deciding how I came out in the end.

Yesterday was my first day back to work.

Only it wasn't just that.. my first day back... it was also the day after our worst night ever with this sweet little Evie girl.

Even now, thinking back on the night, it doesn't seem too bad. (Hubby would probably beg to differ). Evie was fussy and clingy all day Monday. I thought maybe she was just out of sorts since my mom had been in town this weekend.. maybe the extra stimulation and out of the ordinary routine had taken their toll. I also wondered if the little munchkin was an early bloomer and teething. She has been knawing on her fist for days, drooling, and horror of

horrors- clamping down on mom, if you catch my drift. NOT FUN. We've also been struggling to get her to take a bottle. I introduced it to her at the right time- 4 weeks- but I haven't really been making her take a bottle often enough, and last week she flat out refused to take it. As in, she was pissed. Cue me trolling the aisles of Babies R Us for every bottle that resembles, um, ME. Not exactly my kind of treasure hunt. But we finally worked it out last Friday, and have been working on it all weekend.

I have been thanking the Lord for days, because, what would we do?? After some time searching the internets, I discovered that we could probably feed her with a spoon or a syringe. But can you even imagine?? No thank you.

Finally taking a bottle from Daddy

So back to Monday night.. it was just rough. I would put her to bed, she'd sleep and then be up 20 or 30 minutes later crying and screaming. By around 11:30 things were going from bad to worse and Evie was no longer the only one bawling her eyes out.

No one really tells you how hard it is to watch your child suffer.. the love you'll feel? Yes. But the pain? I mean, I could cry right now just thinking about her sweet little face all scrunched up and red, tears streaming that she should never have to shed. :(

We could tell she was definitely in pain and finally decided to call the doctor. Of course at that time of night, there's just a recording telling you to go to the ER. No thanks. So we did what any other nearly 30 year old couple would do in this situation- called mom. My mother in law, saint that she is, came over and held Evie for a few hours so we could try to get a little sleep. I ended up holding her the rest of the night, propped up in bed.

Needless to say, I wasn't going to make it in to work on time, on my very first day back! Thankfully she woke up cooing and happy, like she usually does. Me? I was still a complete wreck. So I went ahead and took her to the pediatrician, just to check things out and make sure all was well. Of course, it was. She is totally fine. It was probably just that pizza I ate a few nights ago. Bad Mommy.

So I was able to salvage part of the day and head to the office for the afternoon. The highlight of my first "day" back??? Hands down, had to be kicking the company accountant out of her office for 20 minutes so I could pump. Yep. Our NORMAL designated area (THE SMALL CONFERNECE ROOM) was in use. I mean, really??? What am I going to do, hang a big sign on the door that says Lactation in Progress ???

By four o'clock, the sleep deprivation was definitely starting to kick in. That's about the time my MIL calls to say that Evie is refusing to take a second bottle. Oh dear Lord. Thankfully my job is very flexible and I could jet right out of there to feed my baby. The only problem? Work is a solid 20 minutes away from home. And during rush hour? You can count on 35-40 minutes of drive time. So it's not like I can plan to come home for lunch or any time our little stinker starts holding out for the real thing. Sigh... the work continues.

Evie and her Grandy

And yes- my daughter has an array grumpy faces in her arsenal. But I promise she's a happy girl! :)

L-O-V-E

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Has cupid hit you with his little arrow???

Are you wearing pink or red?

This sweet little girl is my valentine this year! Along with her Daddy...

We never go out to dinner on Valentine's Day.. neither of us wants to fight the crowds or try to eat a nice meal when the possibility for obnoxious PDA at the next table is so rampant. No thanks. SO, tonight I will be attempting to make The Pioneer Woman's Chicken-Fried Steak!

I know, right??? Total shocker. Not my first choice, but I know the hubster will love it.

IF I can pull it off. :)

Hope you have a sweet sweet day!

I'm off to frost some delicious chocolate fudge cupcakes!!

Blizzard Tales

Just a few things running through my mind on Day 3 of BLIZZARD TWENTY ELEVEN:

1. A 9 week old baby + 14 inches of snow = this lady ain't been out of the house since Sunday. Except to shovel some snow. Would you believe me if I said I hadn't showered since then, either????????????? I KID!

2. Yesterday I discovered that Cox On Demand has a Fitness channel with free workouts! Aerobics, dance videos, yoga and pilates! I am so excited!! But do you think I've done a single one since my discovery??? NOPE. Also, despite this little discovery, Cox is still dead to me. Hate, hate them and their monopoly on my cable channels.

3. During my shoveling shift today, I spotted a (not-so) sneaky little bird hop into our garage. GRREEAAATT. I went to investigate and try and shoo him out, to no avail. I went back to shoveling and when I spotted him again, decided I needed to get serious and get him out of dodge. That's when I discovered his little unfortunate friend... Yep. His DEAD bff lay frozen next to the lawnmower. I guess the live one is nothing if not loyal. So as you can imagine, I shut the garage door and went inside for some hot chocolate. Dead birds falls squarely onto the Hubby's responsibility list. It was in our vows.

4. The meteorweatherpeople are telling me that we might get more snow tonight and tomorrow. Hip. Hip. Hooray.

5. My dad and step-mom are suposed to be coming down for a visit this weekend.. not sure now if that's going to happen now, since the roads are still pretty bad. :(

The End.

White Out

Well, for once the local meteorologists had it right. We did, in fact, wake up to a blizzard

yesterday morning.. and we definitely got the full 14 inches of snow they predicted! Score one for the Weather Girl. Al Gore, however, is losing miserably...

This isn't actually Evie's first snow, but I was too lazy to get a picture of the quick dusting we got a few weeks ago, and besides, this is REAL snow. I mean, you could seriously catch some wind if you tried to sled down a few of the snow drifts around our house.

So like any good mother, I dressed up my baby in a cute little snuggly bear outfit and sent her out into 5 degree weather for a photo opt with dad. I was too disheveled and still in my pajamas to be included. Plus, asking hubby to take a few pictures after asking him to be in a few pics is one favor too many when a camera is involved. I think I chose wisely.

She actually looks like she's loving it!

My dog, on the other hand, was experiencing his worst nightmare. When we first got up yesterday morning, he refused to go out the doggy door, so I literally had to toss him out the back door so that he would use the bathroom. An hour or so later and all puppy dog tracks and yellow snow are covered in another foot of snow. So we knew it would be a challenge to get him to go again. Yeeeaaaaaahhhhh. Not happening. Hubby even shoveled off the back patio and he still refused. Prickly fella. Finally around 7pm last night, after we had just given up, I heard a rustle at the doggie door and saw him poking his nose through to come back inside. He had

gone out! And we didn't even notice!

I also decided that a snow day was a great day to get back into the project swing of things.

So I started knitting a little dress for Evie!

We're looking forward to another snow day today, and are soooo excited that hubby gets to stay home with us again! I just wish Evie was a little bit older so we could go out and make snow angels and go sledding!

Next up: shoveling the driveway while the hubs is on Daddy Duty. ;)

Another Review!

CSN has asked me to do another product review! Honestly, I had not heard of all the CSN stores and sites before I started blogging, and now I feel like I see them everywhere! They have everything under the sun- from rugs to swingsets to baby gear and cookware. If you're on the hunt for something, chances are they have some great options!

I can't wait to choose another great product to review. The first time around, I chose the J.J. Cole Bundle Me for Evie's carseat. We LOVE it! I had heard good things about it and am so glad we got one, especially with the cold weather we've been having!

I'll keep you posted on what I choose this time! I'm thinking I may have to pick something out for me this time... :)