Thank you to everyone for their sweet congratulations and well wishes. I’m approximately nine weeks along and deep in morning sickness territory. Ugh! How did I forget how much this is not fun?

Better question - how did I WORK through this last time?

Its all I can do to drag myself around the house, chase Owen (he’s VERY mobile, but not walking quite yet), and fall back into bed. I am alive still. Barely.

Well it might not be that bad, but sometimes it feels like it.

I have my first doctor’s appointment on Friday! I hope you all are well. I’m going to go sleep again.

I’m terrible at keeping secrets. I suppose I just like everyone knowing all my business! Well, except I don’t.

Anyway, today Owen is eleven months old. And Lord willing in nine months or so he’ll be a big brother.

That’s right, I’m pregnant again. About five weeks along. I know you’re supposed to wait until you’re ‘out of the danger zone’ to spill the beans, just in case, but I only managed to make it to seven weeks with Owen before I told everyone. And almost all of my family already knows (sorry brothers, I am telling you on Friday, so, don’t be sad). Don’t worry, they don’t read this.

Or if they do, they hide it well. I suppose I’ll find out soon enough if the irate phone calls start coming in.

So yes! A new little one is on the way, Lord willing. We’re very excited, and opposed to last time when we honestly just wanted a baby and didn’t have a preference boy or girl, this time we want a girl.

But still, healthy baby and healthy mommy are our main goals.

I am back. Sort of.

Things in life are all topsy-turvy, as I’m sure you know, unless you live somewhere that the recession isn’t reaching its filthy little fingers into your paycheck and wallet. If you are, let me know, and we’re moving there.

But on a happier note, Owen turned 10 months old a few days ago, and he is changing so much! Three days ago he pulled himself up to his feet in his playpen for the first time and now he won’t stop trying to stand up everywhere. He’s already bonked his head/face a few times on the coffee table. Ouch!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grdThQ1EKvM]

These videos are of poor quality because I don’t have a video camera, I just have a four year old digital camera.  Hey, its the thought that counts right?  This’ll be short ’cause the baby is crying as I speak.  Er, type.  Anyway, he’s started learning how to laugh!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-O5mOiQEQ0&hl=en&fs=1]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74o_fihR-ec&hl=en&fs=1]

And use his teething toys!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgc0sB6da5o&hl=en&fs=1]

Well, one out of two, anyway.  LOL

I’m a first time mom, I just became a stay-at-home-mom, and this blog is a chronicle of my journey from n00b to expert, as it were. So when it comes to sharing what ‘works for me,’ I’m a little shy. Y’all probably already know everything, so what on earth can I teach you? I was wracking my brain to think up a clever WFMW topic when it came to me.

It doesn’t matter if you’ve already discovered it or not. On the off chance you haven’t, here’s my Wednesday tip! Liquid baby powder! I received two bottles of Huggies Extra-Sensitive Liquid Baby Powder. Unlike regular baby powder, this white goo won’t create a huge cloud of cough inducing dust when you apply it to baby’s soft hiney. Its easy to apply, although it will thoroughly coat your fingers as well as baby’s bottom, and soothes and protects baby from diaper rash. I love it! I like to think that Owen does as well.

Also, when he gets a little older and grabs for the powder bottle, I don’t have to worry about him shaking it all out all over the place. It won’t even leak out - the cap is one of those special, no-leak ones that keeps you from getting a gooey mess all over the top under the cap. Anyone who’s had to face down a bottle of ranch dressing when there’s just a tiny bit left in the bottom, and all that crusty, disgusting, half-dried ooze all over the top and inside of the cap knows what I’m talking about. I love this new no-leak invention. (I first encountered it on a bottle of pancake syrup and I was mystified, and then delighted. My pancakes got soaked with syrup while I tested the no-leakiness of the lid!)

So there you have it - Liquid baby powder definitely works for me!

Sam and his Daddy

I just found out that one of my best friends from high school just had a baby boy, prematurely. Well, in July actually. I ‘keep track’ of him and his family through myspace, but that’s not really accurate as I check myspace approximately five times a year.

Sam was born via c-section on July 16th. He was extremely early (about 9 and a half weeks if my math is correct, so he was born at 30 weeks?) and is still in the NICU, but doing progressively better every day. He is incredibly precious, and his proud papa Frank has put up a blog for Sam - The Sam Experience. It ‘is meant to chronicle the adventures of Sam as he gets better, comes home and grows up.’

My prayers are with them, even if I am soooo late to the party. Thankfully, God has been keeping care of them anyway!

I knew things would change when I found out last August that I was expecting my first baby. I didn’t underestimate how much, or think that it would be easy. I knew there would be less Me time and more Us time, but less ‘Us time’ in regards to me and hubby.

Baby is four months old now, and yes, things are so different than they were a year ago. Wonderfully different, mostly. Sure, the diapers and the spitting up I could do without. Really. I didn’t think babies could spit up that much! But then I’d be doing away with all the smiles and ‘happy legs’ and burbling that Owen is doing right now. He talks a lot these days, which is great fun.

I can’t go anywhere by myself now, unless Hubby watches the baby. Technically I can’t go anywhere, as my car is not quite drivable to the standards that Hubby wants for his wife and son. I feel a little trapped at times, but I keep reminding myself that ‘this too shall pass.’ It is only temporary.

I can’t take a nap whenever I want - only when baby is sleeping! Except when baby is sleeping its time to shower, vacuum, or eat… or sit outside in the sun with a book and without worrying about baby’s sensitive skin.

I can’t really type when baby is awake. If I’m holding him, one-handed ‘pecking’ at the keyboard is slow and difficult, especially with my ergonomic keyboard (which I love, normally). I like to spend time on the computer, and he really cramps my style! Unless I blog/surf/whatever while he’s napping. When I should be doing other things. Like right now. Ahem. Anyway…

My body, which wasn’t the best to start with a year ago, is… different. I hope Owen appreciates what I went through for him. More on this in another post.

Sometimes I run out of things to babble to Owen about. I’ve begun narrating what I’m doing to him, which is fascinating to a baby, but the adults in my life are starting to think I’m crazy when I do it to them. Especially when I’m talking about myself in the third person. “Mommy is getting the lasagna out of the oven…gotta be careful ’cause its hot!” Yeah. I’m cool.

These things aren’t ‘bad,’ mind you, just slight inconveniences. I wouldn’t trade Owen for any of them.

If I did trade him I’d miss out on his first giggles, which I’m pretty sure are right around the corner.

I’d miss him pumping his little legs like he’s ready to take on the Tour de France if only I’d get him a tiny bike and hold him upright.

I’d miss seeing hubby making faces at him, and cuddling him. Talk about melting, there’s nothing better than a father making much of his son. Or daughter, I suppose, but we only have the one.

I’d miss Owen’s ready smiles and grabby hands as he learns how to put everything into his mouth.

So while being a mom carries a price, I’m not complaining. I may not be a perfect mother, but I’m learning and doing my best. And I suppose that’s all I can do.

(p.s. join the Blog Train!)

Owen and Me

I had my first mommy heart attack last night.

I was nursing Owen for the last time of the day, and he started choking. He does this every once in a while, and although I don’t know if thats normal or not, I assume it is. After all, he’s sometimes snoozing and eating at the same time, and so the occasional drop of milk going down the wrong way might be expected. Or maybe it isn’t normal. Regardless, this time was different.

I sat him up immediately, as I usually do, and instead of recovering right away (as he usually does), Owen continued to make choking noises. Then he stopped making choking noises, but didn’t look like he was breathing. I could have been wrong, its hard to tell with his ’sitting up’ position looking more like a C than an L, but my heart attack was already in full swing so we’ll never know for sure.

I tilted him forward and hit him on the back, twice. I’m not certified for CPR anymore, and my class was about five years ago, so I don’t really remember what the procedure is for the baby Heimlich. This course of action, however, felt right.

So, I pound his back, and then lay him back a little to gauge if he was breathing or not. He was. He was also giving me the “what happened to dinner??” look. I sighed with relief, started shaking as all that adrenaline my body had just put into play suddenly had nowhere to go, and lay him back in my arms again.

He looked up at me, smiled…

… and farted.

Then to add insult to injury, he yawned.

This was probably only the first of many mommy heart attacks that I’m going to have, and it wasn’t any fun at all. What have been some of your most memorable M-H-A moments? Leave me a comment about it!  Oh, and lets keep it to heart attacks with happy endings, I don’t think I’m ready to read about any other kind!  Yikes!

Oh, and that picture is Owen and me at the San Diego Zoo, looking at the flamingos. Its not really relevant, but it is one of the few pictures of me on vacation that I actually like.

We went to the San Diego Zoo today!  I’ll post more about it when I get home and can go through my pictures, but Owen was pretty good during the one and a half hour drive there and back.  He was even okay at the zoo itself.  It was his first time to use a stroller, so there was a bit of a learning curve… okay so he had to be carried most of the time, but while he was being carried he was fine.  It was just rough on my arms!  I’m sure Daddy would say that it wasn’t hard at all to carry him around.  They were so cute in their baseball hats.

Anyway, Owen slept like an angel on the way back to my sister’s house from the zoo, and when he wasn’t sleeping he was happy/not crying.  Thank God!