Christmas Pictures

Can I just state how obnoxious it is that babies can be so super cute in person, but as soon as you press the shutter button on the camera something happens and they stop looking cute.  (or maybe its just my baby)  Seriously, now that MiniM.E. is smiling, all I want to do is capture the adorable-ness.  However, I get this instead:

Not that that's a terrible picture... it's a cute picture of a smiling baby, but it doesn't look ANYTHING like MiniM.E.

So my camera is filled with a lot of bad pictures.  Which, I have to say, made taking a Christmas for Christmas cards very difficult.  

Here are some of the best photos from the first session...   I didn't choose one from this batch for the cards because I decided against the green-striped outfit.  

A good smiling picture!!

I've realized that the best photos are sleeping photos.  Sleeping babies are the best kind of babies for taking photos (and enjoying while being a stay at home mom) so for "Christmas-Card-Photo-Session-Two" we opted for a sleeping MiniM.E.

My Baby is Growing Up...

Before I get to posting about anything substantial, here are some photos from our long weekend:

This is where MiniM.E. sleeps at our house (in the pack-n-play under the changing table thingy so the cats don't accidentally jump on her...) but we couldn't fit it in the car... 

so this is where she slept at my parents' house- why did we spend so much on a pack-n-play?

trying out the new hat

resting up for the big trip

excited to leave... 

enjoying the comfy comforter

unsure about shopping on Black Friday

nice couch...

sleeping in with Daddy

MiniM.E. turned six weeks old on Saturday.  It's funny that when you have a new baby you mark the time first in days, then in weeks, then in months... then in half years... and sometime between kindergarten and fifth grade you just use years.  And eventually you don't want to remember how many years old you are.

But I digress... the point of this post is that MiniM.E. is growing.  She was so tiny when we brought her home and I kind of wanted to keep her that way.  You don't really notice something growing when you see it every day, but I think she just went through some pretty major growth-spurting, because a few days ago when I woke up and carried her down the stairs what used to feel like a Cabbage Patch doll suddenly felt like a bag of bricks.  Not to mention the fact that I'm squeezing my poor baby into clothes that have probably been too small for at least a couple weeks (what? that outfit isn't supposed to look like a spandex jumpsuit?).  But the biggest milestone was switching from newborn diapers to size one.

Looking back, apparently I should have made this switch weeks ago... however, being a new mom, I didn't realize the signs of a diaper being too small... those red marks around her legs- those have always been there, haven't they? and the fact that it's really hard to make the diaper tall enough in the front AND the back... well, she's just getting taller, right?  And maybe that's kind of the case- she's still pretty long and skinny...

While home for Thanksgiving we met up with one of my oldest friends and her 11-week-old.  He'd just moved up to size TWO diapers... which made me think... are MiniM.E.'s diapers too small??

So I decided that once we finished off the size "n"s, I'd move her up to size one.  But every time I changed her I couldn't help noticing that I was squishing my baby into teeny-tiny diapers when she really wasn't so teeny-tiny anymore.  I just didn't want her to get bigger...


To celebrate the last day wearing my favorite jungle outfit, MiniM.E. decided to show off all her new smiles:

...I also snapped a couple more non-smiling photos :

And finally this morning, I packed up all the newborn diapers and all the "spandex jumpsuits" and replaced them with roomy size ones and bigger clothes.  She seems much happier now.

and she fits in the NEW jungle outfit!!

Happy Thanksgiving

This is a few days early, but we're traveling to NH tomorrow evening and the days fly by- especially when you're packing up a baby for her first overnight trip!

I just wanted to post a Happy Thanksgiving!!

Here is MiniM.E.  I think she will be eating fingers rather than turkey on Thursday...

And a super awesome picture- the first real smile we half caught on camera (this was either right before or right after... I took a bazillion pictures in a row but never got the full smile)!  She can't do it on demand yet, but she spends a good hour every night practicing...

My Daily Life Is...

currently not really worth blogging about.  Sorry :(  Plus, to be honest, I hardly have time to check and respond to e-mail, let alone upload photos and write blog posts.  Turns out MiniM.E. doesn't really like to sit and work on the computer...

Not that Molly isn't interesting.  She is the most fascinating human being I've ever spent 24 hours a day with.  However, what I find fascinating and interesting isn't really blog-worthy as there are probably only a total of 2 other people (Dad & Grandma) who would agree with my obsession with everything MiniM.E. does.

Originally, this blog was going to be:
A: A place to post funny stories about being a new mom
B: A place to post recipes that are either awesomely tasty, super easy, or fun for kids
C: A place to post artwork I make for the baby or that we make together

I think (A) might occur once in a while, but for the most part, my days include none of "cooking", "baking" or eating anything other than prepackaged foods and they certainly do not include time for creating artwork (with or without baby) or even thinking of ideas for artwork.

Instead, my days include a lot of
A: Feeding a baby (which sometime soon will lead to a funny story about being a new mom)
B: Changing a baby (again, I'm sure will have a good story at some point)
C: Holding a baby (which makes it hard to do anything else)
D: Watching a baby sleep (and occasionally dozing off)
E: Doing laundry (at least 3 loads a day)
F: A, B & C, in no particular order, repeatedly.

Like I said, while I find A-D fascinating because MiniM.E. is my baby, I'm sure the rest of the world probably doesn't need to read posts about my daily life -- unless of course something awesome, funny, unexpected, or ridiculous happens.

So here are some cute pictures to hold you over for a while.

Once MiniM.E. starts getting into a routine (and maybe napping by herself) I will try to post more photos and hopefully funny stories.  Until then, I'll be feeding, changing, holding, watching, cleaning and not sleeping pretty much full time, so please excuse my lack of posting... eventually, this blog will be all those things I planned... I hope...

A Beautiful Sunday

As we get used to having a baby, we've started doing a few more "normal" things.  MiniM.E. and I have made a few trips to the grocery store and we've been out to see a few people and had some people over.  Still, during the week- for the most part- we stay in.

Not that I don't like sitting in my house all day, every day, trying to recover while constantly feeding or changing a crying baby while still getting a few important things done like laundry (so MiniM.E. has clean clothes since she only has a few outfits that fit her tiny peanut body right now) and dishes (so that I can eat cereal and ice cream- why don't we have enough bowls??).  Seriously though, I love being home with MiniM.E.  I wouldn't have it any other way.  And even though she can be pretty demanding sometimes, every time I look at her my heart melts and I feel like I would do anything for her.  SO... I'm really not complaining.

BUT, it is nice to get out of the house and get some fresh air.

Sunday we decided to walk around downtown- our first big stroller outing!  The weather was gorgeous and MiniM.E. seemed to enjoy being pushed around and shown off to interested strangers.  We even got frozen yogurt (which hopefully MiniM.E. got to enjoy later- how does that work, anyway?).

After our downtown excursion we had a few stops to make in Wilton (the town with all the shopping essentials like Target and Wal-Mart- we'll be making lots of trips there, so it's a good thing MiniM.E. likes riding in the car).  Since we'd already been out for two hours, it meant we had to do an in-car-feeding.

Let me share how my thought process went:

"Wait, where is the burp cloth?  Oh, on my knee.  Check.  And that moisturizing stuff?  Crap.  On the nightstand at home... oh well..."

"Okay, how to I get the baby underneath this feeding cape thing while holding her with one hand?"

"What the ----?  Why did I have to wear a shirt whose material sticks to the material of the feeding cape?  How am I supposed to see the baby?"

"... Come on MiniM.E., I know we're in a strange place, but latch already!"

"I'm too hot... and thirsty... and do you think people driving by can see my boob?  What if they walk next to the car?  Then do you think they could see it?  This stupid cape is in the way!  Maybe I should just take it off... but no, there are cars driving by... why couldn't Target have a bigger parking lot?  Or a special breastfeeding parking lot... or better yet, a special feeding room near the restrooms like at BuyBuyBaby??"

It was a pretty trying experience.  But we got it done, and MiniM.E. was happy and let us run our errands and even rode back in the car without getting too fussy.


Long story short- downtown Saratoga was awesome.  Feeding a baby in the car was not.  And now we have laundry detergent and diapers.

Babies and Cats

So I'm pretty sure when we first brought MiniM.E. home from the hospital the cats thought we were bringing home a cat-eating monster (as seen here).

For a while, they made under the bed their temporary anti-baby camp out.

After a few days, they got curious (and hungry), and would venture into the same room as her.  Of course, since they believed her to be a threat, this involved stealthily "hiding" next to the wall and behind any available item of furniture.

About a week in I think they realized that the thing they believed to be a cat-eating monster really wasn't that much of a threat (the fact that she's smaller than both of them might have had something to do with it...).  Curiosity got the best of them and they started slowly coming closer and closer...

By two weeks, we could bring the cat-eating baby into the room where the cats were sleeping and they stayed.

And now, at almost three weeks, they have become so bold as to sit on our laps WITH the baby.  I think they're really going to like her :)

I just like this picture because it makes MiniM.E. look SO small

**I have to add a photo from last night (Nov. 7)**

And as promised, another cute picture:

Happy Halloween!

Yesterday MiniM.E. and I were pretty excited about Halloween.  Not only do we finally live in a neighborhood that is perfect for trick-or-treaters (no hills, houses spaced close together, lots of houses in one area), but we also had plans to visit the most tricked-out halloween mansion ever!

One of our friends who moved back from Dresden at the same time as us lives right around the corner from one of the most ridiculous houses in Saratoga Springs, the Riggi Mansion.  (You can read more about it here.)  For Halloween, they go all out and decorate with a bazillion pumpkins and on the actual date host a "Halloween Party"- open to the public with free cider and donuts and trick-or-treating for a full sized candy bar and a chance to win a hundred dollars in the wrapper (sounds a little Willy Wonka to me...).

Since it sounded so cool, MiniM.E. and I ventured out for the first time BY OURSELVES (with the exception of the grocery store- which we only did yesterday morning) to meet up with our friends and see the Riggi Halloween.

Once we got dressed in the Halloween outfit (super cute), threw a tantrum about getting in the car seat, made it all the way to our friend's house (15 minute car ride), got out of the car and cried because we were wet, did a diaper change on the couch, got held by someone else, pooped in her arms, had poop all the way up the back (what's with these new up-the-back-poops??), got changed again, cried some more because, well, who knows?, and finally got into the baby-wearing-carrier, we were ready for the Riggi Mansion.

It really was pretty awesome.

This is just the side entrance...

Me and MiniM.E. in front of the side entrance... even though it kind of looks like just a pregnant me...  

Free cider and donuts

The line to trick-or-treat

Us with a costumed Riggi daughter who gave us a full sized candy bar

By the time we walked over, ate our free cider and donuts, and stood in line to trick-or-treat, it was time to walk back and head home because MiniM.E. was going to be hungry since it was past time to eat.  Fortunately, she was fantastic and slept the whole time we were out (nothing like enjoying your first Halloween), but once we got in the car, all hell broke loose and she screamed bloody murder the whole way home (which was a little upsetting for a new mom taking her baby out for the first time by herself).

We made it home and got her fed and she was fine (I'm sure you were all concerned...), and then we enjoyed all the compliments on having such a cute baby as we handed out candy to a ton of trick-or-treaters.

And finally, pictures of MiniM.E. in costume (kind of).