Santaland

When I was growing up, I went to visit Ms. B every fall. I'd stand up tall while she measured me, as her and my mom discussed the details of a beautiful dress that would soon be mine. She'd sew for several weeks and once my holiday dress was finished, the first place I wore it was to visit Santa.

We went to the same mall each year to see the same Santa Claus. He was really impressive-- beautiful suit, real beard, straight out of Miracle on 34th Street (my favorite Christmas movie!). Now that I'm older, the thing I appreciate the most about him was that he was unbelievably jolly. How many children sat on his lap each day? Yet, he always treated my brother and I as if we were the only children in the world. I remember him asking us what we wanted for Christmas and he listened with such earnest. To me, he was the REAL Santa Claus.

Last year, not long after I found out I was pregnant, I went to Strasburg and found the perfect red & white striped knit Christmas outfit and I imagined taking our baby (no idea if it would be a boy or a girl) for the first holiday picture. And although our baby would be too small to remember, I wanted the experience to be special.

We took Liam for his first visit with Santa yesterday, and it wasn't exactly how I remember it or what I had imagined. Cute background, great suit, real beard--but Santa had no Christmas spirit. He never asked Liam what he wanted, didn't say Merry Christmas... He didn't even say hello to us. Crumpet popped Liam onto his lap, we snapped a few pics and that was it.

It doesn't matter so much this year, because Liam doesn't understand... but we understood. Maybe Santa thought that it wasn't worth the effort with an infant? I was disappointed in him none-the-less. I'm so hopeful that when Liam is older, his future visits with Santa inspire him to believe, just like mine did.

We did end up with a sweet pic of Liam with Santa...it was just too bad his attitude was ho-ho-ho-rrible. However, a photo with no tears equals an overall successful first Christmas pic.

(He'll save those for next year when, I'm sure, Santa will scare the hell out of him.)

Etsy Strikes Again: Trimming the Tree Edition

It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving has passed and Christmas is approaching. Santa's been busy picking out the perfect presents for a little boy who has been very good this year. (You know, the one who will be more interested in the celing fan than any gift I purchase.)

In a few weeks, Rob, Liam and I will pick out a beautiful frasier fir that will fill our house with the scent of pine and the spirit of Christmas. I love the few weeks before Christmas where we sit in front of the fire at night and look at the tree and the gifts multiplying beneath it. I love having personalized decorations around the house. Last year, I made a tree skirt out of some of my favorite fabric and this year, I need to get around to making our matching stockings. (Liam's babylegs are the only thing I've sewn since he was born and I really miss it!)

For our tree, we started out with packages of store bought ornaments, but over the years, Rob and I have tried to pick up Christmas ornaments on trips we've taken, places we've lived and things that represent us so that the tree has ornaments that actually mean something to us. Some of my favorites include a small silver bell that matches our Vera Wang silverware with 2008 engraved on the back (the year we got married) and a tiny sweet grass basket (that reminds us of home-- Charleston, SC). We also love the red balls with green polka dots with an R (Rob), S (Stef), C (Chloe) and a T (Tate-- the is the first year Tate's ornament will be here without him. We miss him SO much.) on them. We need to find an L to add Liam to the bunch! I've been looking for a new ornament to represent our little addition, but I've hated every "Baby's First Christmas" ornament that I've seen.

Until I stumbled upon lemons with a pea. How simple but adorable is this?!

Ours will be green with red writing and it will say "little baby Liam" on the front. The back will have his full name, birthday, weight & length on it.

I couldn't get out of Robin's etsy store without adding this to my cart as well:

(Ours will have our names and wedding date.)

I'll definitely post pictures of the ornaments when they arrive, of the tree once it's up and of the stockings once they're made. Liam's not taking substantial naps most days, so this may have to a be a project to tackle on a day that he's hanging out with his Marmi--right after a much needed solo trip to the grocery store! (Exciting, I know.)

Thankful

We have so many things to be thankful for this year, but the biggest one, of course, is little Liam.

Happy Thanksgiving, from our little turkey to you!

I wish I could say that I made Liam's outfit, however, who has time for applique these days? I did make Liam's orange babylegs from a pair of white knee socks, a box of Rit dye, 5 minutes at my sewing machine & this tutorial. Changed my life!

Letters to Liam, 2 months

My Little Liam,

Not a day goes by that I don’t think about the moment that you tumbled out of my belly and into my arms. The feeling of seeing you for the first time was amazing and exhilarating—I can hardly describe it, but I feel it and my eyes fill with tears as I’m overwhelmed with the memory of the best day of my life. And now, it seems that every day with you is more incredible than the last. I can hardly believe the little person that you are turning into… each day I see more of the little boy you will become.

We just had your 2 month checkup. You’ve grown two inches (23 ½ inches) and gained a little over two pounds (9lbs 12oz) since you were born-- You’re a long and lean little guy! You got four shots and I cried more than you did.

You are laughing, cooing and communicating-- We sit around and watch you for hours, so amused with how you are developing. The best part of my day is seeing you smile and hearing you “talk” to me. You’ve started to move around a lot and I know you’ll be rolling over soon. You twist and turn but just haven’t figured out how to make it over your arm yet, but you’ll get there.

You’ve started loving bath time! I can’t wait until you can hold toys and splash. Every time I put you in that warm water, you are so calm and relaxed—the only part you don’t like is getting out! You also love when I wear you in our wrap—I wrap it around my body and slide you into it. You are so warm and snuggly and content, like being back in the womb. I wear you around the house, out to lunch and shopping. Everyone is amazed at how happy you seem to be, cuddled up to me. I’m happy to have you so close to my heart.

Your second month brought different challenges than your first—in the span of a week, you were diagnosed with both acid reflux and colic. You have the sweetest disposition and are usually a very happy baby, but when you get into one of your spells, your typical go-with-the-flow personality disappears & watch out… On your worst day, you cried over nine hours straight! The good news is, the older you get, the less we see days like this. (The meds we have you on really seem to be helping your reflux— unfortunately, it appears that you’ve inherited Mommy & Poppy’s tummy problems.)

We just celebrated your first Halloween (you were the cutest little football!) and Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner. Santa has already picked out your toys (or so he tells me) and we can’t wait to open them with you, even though you’ll likely be more interested in the ceiling fan (your fav!) than your gifts. We’re having so much fun sharing all of these special days with you and can’t wait to start our own traditions as a family.

You are so precious and you make us so happy… Some days I look at you and think that my heart might burst.

I love you, pumpkin.
Mommy

We're still here!

I just realized that I haven't posted in 9 days...we've been busy!

We're packing the car to head to Nashville to visit family and friends this weekend-- fingers crossed that Liam does well on his first out-of-town trip!

In other news, Liam's hit a growth spurt where he's been eating constantly, we're continuing to battle reflux and colic, Rob's staying super busy with work and grad school and we're preparing for company coming to visit in a few weeks.

Until I can get a real post written, here's a little video that I sent to Rob last night when he was stuck at work until almost midnight. (Please ignore my voice- I sound like an idiot.)

Life never slows down these days, but we're having so much fun!

Announcing...

After waiting to get the proofs back from our newborn photo shoot, then deciding which photo to use, we finally got our birth announcements in the mail!

Here are our other favorite images that we purchased from the session:

It's amazing how much he's already changed in six weeks. I'm so glad that we splurged and had these taken-- he'll stay a tiny baby forever in these photos. We'll definitely use Stephanie Fisher again for Liam's 1st birthday pictures, if not sooner!

The C Word

"Tomorrow will come,

Today will be gone...

And so I put one foot in front of the other,

and just keep walking on."

-Jason Robert Brown, 13

First, a huge thanks to everyone who commented on my meltdown post. It means so much to me that so many people offered their support, advice and love on a week that was quite difficult!

Overall, we're doing better.

Liam started his Zantac last Monday and although it took a few days, I've seen a major change in his demeanor after feedings. He's still spitting up fairly often, but he's no longer arching his back and screaming after he eats. He also hiccups less than he did before. The major change is that he's napping again-- a surefire way to judge that he's feeling better.

While our feeding issues seem to be vastly improving, we noticed that he still seemed to have this unexplained long period of screaming and crying. Being the worrier that I am, I made an appointment with his doctor and took him in on Thursday morning.

I love our pediatrician-- I could write a whole post about how efficient the office is, how much I love that they have a separate newborn waiting room, how great Dr. Farr's bedside manner is (he calls Liam "doodlebug" and other pet names while examining him) and how I never feel rushed when discussing Liam with him. He takes the time to answer questions and discuss any/all of my concerns. I also feel like he goes out of his way to assure parents that they are doing a good job-- something that every sleep deprived, worrying, first time mom needs.

Our appointment included a full exam: weight check (Liam's up to 9.2lbs!!), a look at his ears, nose & mouth and a listen to his tummy and chest. Everything looked great. We talked a bit about where we've seen improvement since starting the Zantac and what problems remain:

• periods of crying/screaming lasting from 2-9 hours
• episodes always starting late afternoon/early evening
• clenched fists
• flushed face
• clammy skin
• legs bunched then extended
• near impossible to comfort

This is not happening every day (in fact the past few days have been great, but tonight looks like it will be a difficult one) but it seems to be happening 3-4 times a week, randomly. As we discussed these symptoms with Dr. Farr, he got a knowing look on his face and I said, "I know, I know. I don't like where this is going." He gave me a sympathetic smile and said the dreaded C word.

"Colic."

So, there's good news and bad news.

The good news is that it typically peaks around 6 weeks, so we're in the middle of the worst of it. The bad news is that it typically lasts until babies are 3-4 months old. The good news is that there's nothing physically wrong Liam. The bad news is that if there's nothing to fix, there's little that we can do to comfort him when he has one of these episodes. We just have to go in to survival mode.

Research over the past few years has suggested that use of a probiotic has improved symptoms of colicky babies by up to 95%! So, he recommended that we use BioGaia Probiotic Drops every day. I've started adding this into Liam's nightly bottle, along with his Vitamin D Drops and he can't taste the difference. We may or may not see a difference in his colic symptoms, but either way they will improve his digestive health, so it's worth a shot (and $40/bottle!).

I know that every parent faces challenges and this is just one of many-- On the difficult days, I remind myself that all I have to do is get through today & that tomorrow will be better. And it's true-- Thankfully, he rarely has two really bad days in a row. I get a chance to recharge and enjoy him before we have another difficult night.

He's growing up so fast-- and while these nights seem so long, I know that soon I'll look back and wonder where the time has gone, wishing I still held such a tiny baby.