One Happy Baby

I just couldn't help but post these photos to my blog. I took them quickly in succession and this is what I got. She is just so beautiful. I am so lucky.

Shutter Bug

A friend of mine at work told me about Olan Mills. I vaguely remember them from my childhood. They are that photo company that used to come to my elementary school and take our school pictures. Well they now have locations inside Macy's, Kmart's and a bunch of other stores nationwide. She said they have a whole package for newborns for free and then you can get discounted pics for the remainder of your child's first year so I thought we would check it out. So off to the local Kmart we went and had a whole photo shoot done today. Sophia was fussy all day today and we almost thought it wasn't going to happen but right before it was time to start clicking away, she fell asleep. We took a couple of shots of her asleep and a couple of her awake. She was so cute and so well behaved. We were in and out in a half hour and will pick up the pics in about a week. I look forward to sharing them with all of you once I get them and have them scanned in. I look forward to going back each month and getting a new set of photos done to mark each milestone month during Sophia's first year. They said I can come in as often as I want, no minimum or maximum, no limits on the number of people who take pictures with her so we can get family portraits done as well as get photos done with the grandparents and cousins and I can go to any Olan Mills location nationwide to make it convenient for me. Pretty cool deal for only $20. Now I just need 900 more picture frames and I need bigger walls. Hee, hee.

Visit With The Smith Family

It's been quite a while since I have had a chance to spend some time with my BFF Shana and her husband Grant and daughter Krystina. So we made plans to meet up at the Smith compound and hang for the evening on Wednesday. It was a blast. It started out with me leaving on time. Sophia blew a gasket only 2 blocks from our house. I pulled over and fed her, burped her and then changed her diaper. Wooh! Dude! Not just any diaper. When they say 9 to 14 pounds that's all those things will hold. Sophia managed to stuff 15 pounds in a 9 to 14 pound diaper. Red alert. We had to bag all of her clothes. She destroyed them. Once the crisis was averted, we headed out again. Traffic. Shoot. Now it will take me twice as long to get there. We finally got there and got a chance to visit, catch up and touch base. Sophia got fed again and got lots of love and T.L.C. from the gang. We packed up and then it happened. Yawning in technicolor. Yup, she barfed up all 5 oz. of her bottle all over herself, her p.j.'s, her car seat oh and me!! And not just any barf. Projectile out of her mouth and nose. Poor thing was choking looking up at me as if to say where did that just come from? I got her cleaned up, changed her back into her spare set of clothes, Krystina got Sophia's face cleaned off, Shana got the car seat cleaned and Grant stayed out of the way- the women were on it!!! LOL So once again we got packed up and headed out. So much for an uneventful day. Upon arriving home, Dan cleaned and scrubbed down the car seat, threw all of the clothes including my jacket directly into the washing machine and Sophia and I headed into the bathroom- this was one chica who was in desperate need of a bath. Pee Eww! Yucky stinky. Checking the clock it was 11:30pm by this time. Yikes. Off to bed..... well not quite. By this time Sophia was bright eyed and bushy tailed. No sleep for the weary tonight. Wish us good luck.

More Shots....

Well we were back in the Dr.'s office this week. More shots. One in each thigh. Not a happy camper. Sophia got shot in the left thigh and then as she started to cry they whipped her around and gave her a shot in her right thigh. Ouie!!!! And boy did she scream. Crocodile tears like you would not believe. Took about a half hour to calm her down. And then she passed out from exhaustion from crying. Poor thing. Just wait until we get her ears pierced. Yeowie! That one will be a disaster. Yeah! Fun things to look forward to.

Mayim Bialik

Mayim Bialik, better known to many as Blossom from the early 90's hit sitcom series Blossom or most recently Amy Farrah Fowler from the hit sitcom series The Big Bang Theory is not only an accomplished actress but has a PhD in NeuroScience and as of 2012 a published author of a little book I picked up called Beyond the Sling: A Real-Life Guide To Raising Confident Loving Children The Attachment Parenting Way. She recently debuted this book and one of her stops was the Skirball Center in Los Angeles. My girlfriend Nikki and I drove out and caught her appearance. She was funny, entertaining, smart, intelligent and informative. I purchased her book and stayed to meet with her personally and get it autographed. We were able to speak briefly about Sophia. She congratulated Dan and I and gave me some advice on lactose intolerance. She also warned me that many children who have lactose allergies also have Say allergies so to keep an eye on her. I was grateful for the advice and star struck by the opportunity to have the meet and greet. I am reading her book as we speak. I find it comforting. I want to raise Sophia the way I want to raise her. I know that sounds selfish or Diva-esque. I cant explain why I do what I do or why I want to raise her this way. I just know it is comfortable to me. It is refreshing to have a book that validates this and lets me know to keep going with my gut. Because it is the most natural instinctual way.

Mind Your Manners

My Mother always said for me to mind my manners. Please, Thank You, Your Welcome, Sir, Ma'am. You know, the usual. No elbows on the table at dinner and never any spitting ever, no matter what. I intend to teach my daughter these same basics. But I guess I am already too late. She is already burping and passing gas with the best fraternity brothers and now I get to add creating spit bubbles to boot. LOL Yes my daughter spits. Ha, Ha. There is no burp cloth, bib or towel for that matter, that can contain the drool produced by Sophia's over sized spit bubbles. Any bigger and the poor thing might float off. LOL I do have to admit they are adorably cute. And then she smiles mid spit and sucks the bubbles back in. Who wouldn't coo and awe at a kid this cute. What can I say. I am a proud Momma. Even if her only achievement so far has been creating a bubble. Hee, hee! 

T.G.I....... Vanessa & Kris!!!

One of my besties was in town this past weekend celebrating her 40th birthday. We had planned a big dinner at The Sky Room in Long Beach on Friday night to begin the celebratory weekend. One problem, no kids allowed. Ummmmm..... I got one and it is not so easy to get away from her. Sooooooo, Hay Auntie Vanessa do you want to come over and play??? My best friend Vanessa and her fiance Kris came over to hang for a bit and then watch Sophia while we were out for the evening. I have to tell you I was a bit nervous leaving her. Its one thing to leave her with family who know her temperament but it is another thing to leave her with someone who doesn't expect her temper tantrums. But to my surprise she was an angel and didn't even fuss. Thanks Vanessa and Kris. You guys are life savers. We had such a good time at dinner, I really appreciate it. You guys are the best.

Lactose Intolerant (better known in my house as rooty tooty booty)

Yup my daughter is lactose intolerant. Yuck! Babies can be lactose intolerant to breast milk as well as cows milk. Right now we don't know which one she is allergic to. As a result, I have stopped eating and drinking all dairy to prevent her from getting sick. We are also giving her gripe water for her colick and gas, semithicone drops for her colick and colief drops for her lactose intolerance. All herbal, non-medicated. It's really helping. She is less anxious, less gassy, less fussy. She has regular diapers and seems to cry less. She is starting to sleep 4-5 hours at a time. Thank goodness. At least we are on the right track. Hopefully this gets better quickly. Most people say she should grow out of it and be much better by 3 months old.

My House Isn't Clean But At Least The Baby Is!!!!

I dont have any time. My time is no longer my own. It now belongs to my 45 day old daughter. I have learned to multi task with one hand. My house isnt clean but at least the baby is. And I have managed to forget everything: my wallet, my purse, the diaper bag, my keys, my to do list, the mail and even clothing, yes clothing, BUT I HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN THE BABY (yet). LOL I struggle to get enough sleep and I am walking a fine line between the sane and insanity. I am anxious, frustrated, angry, sad, happy, excited and tired all wrapped up in a big pink bow. This baby raisin' thing is hard. Harder than anything I have ever done in my life. I look forward to the 5 minutes or so I get a day to myself but unfortunatetly I waste it on other things like the laundry needing to be done, grocery list being written, house cleaning, dishes, even making meals is a waste of time. Sleep, ahhhh, sleep. So precious. Cant earn it, cant get enough of it. If you waste it you can not get it back. I definitely need more of it. And of course I say that as I write to you at 12:56AM.  lol

Needing A Little Miracle For A Little Miracle

I was born and raised Catholic. I am a God fearin' Christian woman and practice what I preach literally. God is in everything I do and I try to walk a straight path that would be pleasing to my Lord and Saviour. Since God has been taken out of schools, sporting events, work and the government you can be sure that he will not be taken out of my blog!

The Bible teaches "knock and it shall be opened", "ask and you shall recieve". And so here I am. I come before you Lord, I am knocking. Open your door unto your daughter. Here I am asking for you mercy and blessings Lord. Grant me this so I can receive your offerrings. I ask for a miracle, Lord. Not for myself but for my friend Lauren. I ask for healing, strength, patience and health. At 38 weeks pregnant, Lauren gave birth naturally to a 5 pound baby girl. Ashlynn's esophagus was malformed and she had to undergo emergency surgery to attach it properly to her stomach so she could eat leaving her in the NICU for 3 weeks. And while Lauren travels to her baby girl twice a day, she can not hold her or touch her. During this time, one of her lungs collapsed and they could not inflate it. So they did surgery again. Now stable, Ashlynn is in the fight of her life. Lord, why such pain and dispair for your little one? Why so much suffering? I need a little miracle for your little miracle Lord. Please grant me this. Please heal Ashlynn, Lord. Let her go home to her Momma. Let her be not affected by this and let her live a normal healthy life. The children are your special chosen ones. Is Ashlynn any different? And so I come before you today Lord and ask all of these things in Jesus' name.

AMEN

Cancer Update

Good news. The Dr. has decided to up my cancer check up from June to the end of March. This is much better since we will be able to check everything out sooner rather than later. This puts Dan's and my heart at ease since we were concerned as to what may be going on inside and since they didnt want to take immediate action who knows what it would have looked like in another 3 or so months. Now we just have to keep our eyes out on Sophia's mole. They have concerns that if it changes color or shape in could be cancerous and need to be removed.

Shots...Ouie!!!

This week was Sophia's 6 week check up and it was a doosy. It was her vaccination appointment. She needed 6 vaccines. 5 shots 1 oral. At least 1 of the shots had 3 vaccines combined. we decided to spread these shots out over a 3 week period so she didn't have to get all of them all at once. She didn't mind the oral vaccine which I am sure was nice and sugary for her. The shot on the other hand was totally different. Daddy took point on this one. The nurse gave it to her in her left thigh. She yelped and started to cry and then Daddy grabbed her and started holding and rocking her. She calmed down immediately and then just whimpered but she was all right. Wow what a trooper. I had expected her to scream her head off for hours after. No such luck, thank goodness. Now we have a repeat in 2 weeks. Wish us luck.

1 Successful Night & A Busy day

Well, I made it through the first night on duty all by myself. Sophia was a complete angel no problems what so ever. And today was even better. I got up, got ready, got Sophia ready and got out the door. We went to the gas station to get gas, we got the car washed, we went to Walgreens then CVS then Walmart. We picked up lunch, came home and had an appointment with Chris from Tender Impressions. Chris takes your child's foot or hand print and turns it into a work of art for your nursery room wall. We chose the hula girl. Chris put green paint on Sophia's foot, made an impression on paper (for the hula skirt) and she is going to cut out scrapbook pieces to create her body, hair, tank top and lei and flower in her hair and put it all together and frame it for us. How cool is that. What a wonderful "welcome to the world" gift from our friends Brad and Nikki. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I cant thank you enough. How awesome is this going to be to hang from our wall and show her later on down the line. Cant wait to get the finished product.

After that, we watched Spongebob and ICarly together, went through magazines, started dinner, worked on her baby book, worked on her photo album, cleaned the house and then Daddy came home. Phew. Ever feel like Super woman???? I sure did today and was so glad to get sooooo much done. Now lets see how tonight goes and whether or not I can have a repeat tomorrow.

Man Your Battle Stations It's Baby Duty Time

Dan is re-certing this weekend for life guarding. This is a requirement each year in order for him to lifeguard for the city or the county each summer. That means 2 days of back to back drills, swimming and classroom time. It also means 6am wake ups on both Saturday and Sunday. That doesn't bode well for a household currently being held hostage sleep wise by a colicky baby of only 38 days. So I am officially on baby duty both nights by myself. Yup, you heard it, BY MYSELF!!! No reinforcements whatsoever. Yikes. This could get messy quickly. For all of you who are squeamish, look away now, avert your eyes, don't look don't look. LOL I am up to the task and those of you who know me, know that I am a type A personality, so of course I am overly prepared to take on this task. Hee, Hee. I have a make shift changing station set up in the living room on the ottoman. I have snacks and water bottles prepared for me on the coffee table. I have extra sheets and blankets set up on the couch for me to crash if I need to. The night lights are on, the bedroom door is closed up tight for Daddy and I am waiting for the early morning infomercials to come on so I can order products I don't need that don't work. LOL We got this in the bag. Slam Dunk!!!!

Baby Explosion!!!!!

I have some congratulating to do. My sister Cindy had her baby a week ago. Please help me welcome to the world my nephew little Roy Lee Thurman.

My friend Lauren had her baby Saturday. Please help me welcome Ashlynn Rylee Lozon. We are praying for you little momma that you heal up quick and mommy gets to take you home from the hospital soon.

And my best friend from high school Shannon had her son a week ago. Please help me welcome the newest member to the Kolbjornsen family.

Naps... What are those????

Naps, they are over rated. Haven't had many of them, come to think about it have probably had about 4 the entire time I was pregnant leading up through until present day. I am one of those people who once they are up, they are up. I just can't seem to sleep during daylight hours. I also have a hard time falling asleep at night when I go to bed as well. I usually stare at the ceiling until I am tired enough and if that doesn't work, I usually read or play video games in the dark until I get tired and then it is easy at that point in time to pass out. I wish it were different. I am soooo tired all the time now. I definitely could use one. I keep getting reminded to sleep when the baby sleeps. Well, unfortunately it would take me the entire time the baby was sleeping to get to sleep and then by the time I am sleeping, she would be waking up. So much for that idea. So I use my time wisely and use that time to multi task. Do the dishes, clean the house, do laundry, write my blog, check emails, etc. That's just how things go around here. Now if Sophia could just sleep through the night mommy could get some real ZZZZZZ's. Here's to hoping it happens soon.

Big City Moms L.A.'s Largest Baby Expo

I went to the coolest baby shower on Monday night. It was called Big City Moms L.A.'s Largest Baby Expo. It was held at the Skirball Center in L.A. in the Sepulveda Pass. It was a beautiful event with a ton of vendors and spokespeople from all the major baby companies including seminars with celebrity moms like Ali Landry and Jessica Alba. It was fantastic. They fed us dinner: we had sliders, spring rolls, egg rolls, vegetable trays, fruit trays, cheese and cracker trays and they were busy serving up Mock-tails. All of your favorite alcoholic drinks just minus the alcohol (I know, I know, where's the alcohol right.....come on, remember this was for pregnant women and nursing moms)

I attended seminars by working moms (how to make the transition back to work), Pediatricians (baby's communication sans the talking) and Lactation coaches (breastfeeding and how to do it right). I got to speak with industry experts on car seats, carriers, breastfeeding, colic, lactose intolerance, baby food, making your own baby food, going green in your house for baby and just being green in general. It was such a God send. Just what I needed to answer all of my burning questions and current concerns. What a relief.

And that wasn't even the half of it. There were freebies galore and a swag bag at the end of the night. So here is what I walked away with: a Brittax baby carrier plus extender to re size the carrier to fit baby up to toddler hood, a boppy style pillow that included a vibrator to gently rock baby to sleep, clothes, burp cloths, sippy cups, food storage containers, full size containers of baby body wash, shampoo, lotion, baby oil, household cleaner, green dish soap, baby wipes, pacifier wipes, green house cleaning wipes, bibs, baby utensils, crib toys, teethers, baby's 1st dish set, rattles, pull toys, mobile toys, blankets, bath towels, beanies and caps, pacifiers, diapers, all different kinds of baby medicines both medicated and organic and herbal, bottles, formula, water bottles, diaper bag,..... there is just too much to list. Then to that add all of the small individual samples, coupons, free photo sessions and all of the creams, nursing pads, ointments, breast milk storage bags, body lotion, bath salts, candy, granola bars, prenatal vitamins and vitamin supplements they provided for the mommies as well, my entire back seat was full. It was a totally awesome night. Not only did I get a few hours off from the baby and some sanity time to myself, I got a ton of free stuff. No complaints here that's for sure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Surprise........It's Date Night!!!

I received a wonderful gift this past Saturday night. My mother in law and father in law surprised Dan and I with tickets to Sushi Fest at their favorite sushi restaurant while we were in Northern California. It was a special event night with a band, all you can eat everything on the menu, beers and sake and raffles with prizes. And this included the in laws babysitting for us to boot!!! Wow!!! How surprised was I am how bad Dan and I both needed this.

We were dropped off at the restaurant and the band was already playing. The sushi chefs were chopping and cooking a mile a minute and the beer was flowing. They even imported a sake barrel which they opened the traditional ceremonial way by cracking it open with wooden mallets. The ambiance was great. It was definitely loud with the band but it was awesome. I wouldn' t have taken it any other way. The baby was taken care of and I was out with my other baby, life was good!

I ate my body weight in sushi as this was the first time I had had sushi since the pregnancy and delivery. I even went so far as to have a beer.....Kiran of course. It was great to get away, to sit and talk and enjoy each others company and be adults even if it was just for a few hours. And what was even more cool..... it was one of those sushi restaurants with the moat in the middle surrounding the sushi chefs table and it had the boats in it delivering our food. I JUST LOVE THAT!!! (insert sheepish childlike grin here- it doesn't take much to make me happy LOL)

All in all it was a good night and the baby was good for Gammie and Poppa too! Ahhhhhhhh. A little sigh of relief and a tid bit of relaxation. Just what he Dr. ordered.