adding to the noise

7 weeks (yesterday)

so no new photo because... i haven't uploaded the photos from yesterday (and they're lousy because i've been incredibly busy and didn't have the time to take some good ones....) but i have a different treat for you and maybe it's just a treat because she's my daughter and i think she's the cutest thing there ever was... but check this out:

madelyn, the changing table, and the elephant. from Breanne Crawford on Vimeo.

she likes: her lullabies for baby cd, laying in her cosleeper next to her momma and talking

she dislikes: no real new dislikes this week.

she's been: to trenton several times to see her cousins, to garage sales, all over the place to pick up freecycle stuff, to mommy's work to see mommy's friends

7 weeks... she is really starting to develop more of a personality. this morning between feedings she was laying on her changing table and smiling and laughing and talking like crazy to me. so freaking cute. what a lucky momma i am :)

6 weeks.

my baby girl is 6 weeks old. jeesh. i cannot IMAGINE going back to work next week. i am so grateful that i am able to stay home a bit longer. if it weren't for the dang health insurance, i'd stay home for a full year. i feel like she's really starting to grow this week and develop a personality (a non-sleeping one at that lol). in the picture above, she's in the same dress i wore almost 24 years ago. i have to find a picture of it to compare... just haven't had the time!

she likes: the toys above her changing table. she laughs and smiles and plays with them. it's terribly cute and if i ever get a minute to figure out the video camera that i got for mother's day, i will video it. football hold to help with her gas. her binky (more and more and more every day)

she dislikes: going on the carousel, especially when she's hungry. really, doing anything when she's hungry. sleeping apart from her momma. when her mother walks away from her.

she's been: to trenton twice to see her cousins, to garage sales and scored a whole bunch of greatness including a beautiful shelf for her room, to two different malls (and was VERY good!), to the doctors for the really bad rash on her face (bad eczema, ugh!), sleeping a little bit longer (saying this while knocking on wood) at least one time during the night, smiling and talking a whole heck of a lot

documenting.

it's funny. this whole having a kid thing. now's the time in most people's opinions that i should be scrapping a lot. i've been scrapping since i was like 12 years old and people always asked me what the heck i scrapped about since i had no kids.... now i've got the kid... and no time to scrap! LOL!!!

but i still find it incredibly important to document this whole thing.... here's just a few ways i do it...

- pregnancy documentation: when i was pregnant, i documented all my thoughts/feelings/emotions/etc in this little book that the amazing melissa sent me. seriously... could i be any cuter?? i also included copies of all the ultrasound photos (i have no idea what im going to do with the originals, but i would have felt bad putting a hole through them!) this book is almost all done. needs a few more photos added and the original thing i wrote when i first found out she was pregnant printed out.

- day to day documentation: i got this beautiful journal from my good friend, Christina, at my baby shower. Christina knows how important it is to me to document things. i write in this as often as i can remember to and have the chance to. normally i have to hide out in the bathroom to do it (tmi?) because it's one of the few places i can get a free minute.

- her baby book: i searched long and hard for the perfect baby book. in the end, i didn't find it. but i did settle for this and fill it out as often as i remember to..i use a lot of the other forms of documentation to fill out some of the answers and it's amazing how quickly i have forgotten some of the answers! dang!

- blogging: i update on her every week and plan on continuing that as long as i can remember to. i plan on printing them out and adding them to her scrapbook. easy peasy documentation of her life.

and finally...

-scrapbooking: yes. i DO plan on scrapbooking. but i also plan on using the pebbles share and tell albums that have room for just photos.... YES good. they are fabulous. i just used one for the family album i've been meaning to put together for ages and i love it. if you're going to use them, i suggest buying them from home shopping network because that's the cheapest place i found (i did my research. gotta pinch the pennies around here) and it's super quick shipping. 

this babe's prob. gonna know more about her life than she ever wanted to know ;) ha.

overwhelming.

i can barely remember a time when i didn't smell like spit up....
when i didn't have a baby attached to me like an extra appendage.

i can barely fathom what it would be like to have the luxury of a full night of sleep...
or to take a shower without worrying if there was someone screaming for me.

i can't figure out how there are people who are able to use restrooms in public...
because frankly, a stroller does not fit into those tiny stalls.

i don't remember being fully rested, feeling great
or what i looked like without all the stretch marks and the new, weird body
(despite being under what i weighed before i got pregnant)

i don't remember the last time my to-do list was so long....
(and it's only a mental one because i do not have the time to write one down)
and things were rarely crossed off of it.

i have never in my life had to do so much laundry....
and had to use so much stain-treating power for the poop and puke all over everything.

i don't remember what it's like to go shopping just for me...
or leave the house without making sure that i have enough stuff for the babe.

i don't know how i ever got to spend a day scrapbooking
because now its like a marathon back and forth to the desk and to put a pacifier in a screaming baby
or feed for the millionth time that day.

i have never been so frustrated in my life
for a baby that has terrible gas and can't be soothed
or missing something that i've been wanting to do because i can't with a babe
or not being able to hear my favorite show over her cries
or just not understanding how to make her happy.

but it's all worth it.
all of it.
in the moments that take my breath away.

in the faces she makes
and the way she gets when she's cranky
and the painful looks on her face when she has gas

in how good she is in the car
which is perfect
because her momma loves taking trips.

when she falls asleep on me and wakes up the second i put her down.
she loves her momma (and is a little spoiled).

when she's sleeping and watching me out of the corner of her eye
and the second i walk away
she wakes up....
she loves her momma (and is DEFINITELY a little spoiled).

when she wakes up and i go to put the paci in her mouth
and she looks up at me and smiles
just for me.
she loves her momma.

and her momma loves her.
immensely.
i cannot imagine life without her.
my heart is overwhelmed.

5 weeks (a day late...)

i have good reason to be late this week. yesterday was a crazy day. woke up at 2:30am to a phone call from my brother that my sister-in-law was in labor and by 6am, my mom, madelyn, and i were at the hospital to welcome the new babe. and it's a boy!! welcome to the world, little charlie! my mom and i both got to meet him, but madelyn had to stay in the car (we switched off on the meeting so one of us could stay with madelyn) because she's too little to go to the hospital. but she will get to meet her new cousin tomorrow when we welcome them home. crazy that madelyn is already a big cousin at 5 weeks old.

now onto the beautiful girl.... 5 weeks. 5 weeks. seriously?!

she likes: staring at her chandelier, lights (this is a new one... she used to hate light), cuddling with her momma, staring off into space (seriously... im not sure what she sees but its hilarious), noises like "shhh" and "ohm"

she dislikes: having her face washed, anything going over her head (not a fan of getting changed)

she's been: on lots of errands, down to trenton so mommy could meet her new cousin, a little crankier this week because of gas, i think, visited by one of mommy's good friends, to the park for a walk with mommy and baby Jack, smiling like crazy, to the doctors for her one month checkup, to mommy's doctor for a post-surgery checkup (we're both doing great!)

that's about it for now.... gotta feed a hungry baby!

ps: game on, melissa ;)

bored yet?

(mother's day 2009. madelyn's first caught on film smile)

am i talking too much about the babe? ?

there's really not much else to talk about these days.

the babe is my life. she is my morning. my afternoon. my night. she is with me all day and sleeps right next to me in her cosleeper at night. she is the joy of my days and the frustrations. she is the tears of happiness and the ugly cries of exhaustion. she is the sweet smiles, followed by the incredible gas (and believe me, she's incredibly gassy. ha). she is the cuddler with her head between my chest and her arms wrapped around me. she is the best thing that's ever happened to me. she is the most beautiful girl i have ever seen (with the best wardrobe lol). she is her momma's girl completely. she is the reason for my worry and the reason for my anticipation and excitement. she is my all and my everything.

i am so lucky.

we wish you...

(photo from Madelyn's one month birthday....she partied too much.. obviously, it was exhausting for her. lol)

a very happy mother's day....

how cool to be able to celebrate today. with my daughter. with my mother. i am incredibly, incredibly lucky.

so many of my friends are first-time moms this mother's day. i hope you all enjoy the day with your precious babes.

and i have to wish a VERY special happy mother's day to my second favorite momma in the world (right after my own), Melissa, whose becoming a momma for the second time in the fall to a beautiful little girl...  

happy birthday, baby.

my beautiful baby girl is one month today. one month. holy crap. how the heck did that happen?!?! she's growing up way too quickly and at 10lbs and 22 3/4inches, she seems huge to me!

happy birthday, my love. (and yes, i fully believe in celebrating every month...)

4 weeks.

she loves: swinging in the swing, the sound machine, laying on her changing table

she dislikes: diaper changes, changing outfits, cold hands, tummy time

she's been: to mommy's work, on errands with mommy, hanging around the house for the most part while i recovered from the surgery, to the doctor's for a bad rash

we have her one month appointment on friday with the doctor. i cannot wait to see what she weighs and how tall she is. she seems so much bigger. she's outgrowing some clothes already (including the onesie in the outfit above!)

i wish i could figure out how to photograph her so you could see how blue her eyes are... so pretty!

happy nsd :)

since most of you are here because i scrapbook (or really, used to scrapbook), i figured i'd give a little eye candy in honor of national scrapbook day.... i woke up today actually WANTING to scrap. and then got some beautiful hambly in the mail. obviously, the scrap gods were telling me that it was time...

got two pages done...

(lyrics from Ben Folds)

hope you all had a great NSD and were as inspired as i was!