Happiest Baby On the Block

I read the book "Happiest Baby on the Block" early on in my pregnancy and remember feeling so great after reading it. It made me feel a lot better about becoming a parent. Well then Grady was born and I forgot all about the book. Now I am going back to the book so I can actually apply the 5 S's properly because I think it will work! One of the S's is sucking so I guess I have to learn to like the binky a little :). I am going to be more open to using the pacifier however he will not be using it passed 3/4 months! I decided I needed a refresher on the 5 S's and applying them because night time has been awful the last two nights! Last night was a little better then the night before but oh my I just can't take many more bad nights! I can't tell if it was just a growth spurt or something else but Monday night was a nightmare! He just would not sleep and seemed to just want to eat the entire night! Neither of us got any sleep and that led Chris and I to become very frustrated and just snap at one another. Last night he was up every hour which is a little better but it was still awful! I feel like he takes one step forward and two steps back! He was doing so well and peacefully sleeping for two or three hours and then all of the sudden on Monday night he decided to not sleep at all! Then last night I could not get him to go to sleep until 11:30 and he was up every hour! I am hoping that if I apply the 5 S's things will go much more smoothly at night. The 5 S's are swaddling, side/stomach sleeping, swinging, shooshing, and sucking. Although maybe it was just a growth spurt? I hate not knowing what the problem is it just makes me feel like an awful parent.

Oktoberfest 08'

GRADY'S 1ST OKTOBERFEST!





It has become a tradition for us to attend Oktoberfest in Cincinnati every year. Five years ago Chris and I had our first date at Oktoberfest and so we have attended Oktoberfest every year since. Five years ago I had no clue the night of Oktoberfest was going to an end in a date. I did not realize I was on a date so it kind of marks our first unofficial date. I had recently moved back to Cincy and was trying to meet new people. I called up one of my new friends to see if they were going to go to Oktoberfest. As it turns out they were on their way out of town but told me that Chris was going and that I should call him. So I called Chris to see what he was doing. I was working that day so I could not go until a little later in the evening. Chris told me to meet him at his place when I was ready. What I did not realize at the time was that he had already been down at oktoberfest with his friends and left them to come meet me. I thought he was just heading down there the same as me. Then when we got there we met up with all of his friends. I'm thinking this whole time that I am just meeting new people mean while chris is all excited and nervous about me being there. I found that out later as well from his friends. The night goes on forever and we head to a couple of bars after Oktoberfest. At the last bar I was suddenly aware that his friends were no longer around and it was just me and Chris. It was weird because I remember actually feeling like uh oh, "did this just become a date?" Or was it a date all along and I just did not realize it? Either way it did end up being a date because we have not stopped dating each other since! Funny to think that I had no clue on Oktoberfest 5 years ago that I was going to end up marrying Chris who I was just beginning to know! Now we are taking our son to Oktoberfest! Crazy! Although Grady is too young to fully enjoy Oktoberfest I do believe he had a good time and that the outing was a success! I can't wait to tell him the importance of attending Oktoberfest.

I HATE THE BINKY!

We are trying so hard to not use the binky but realize sometimes it is just a necessary evil when in public, in the car, or when I just need to get something done around the house. I hate the binky because I just think there are better ways to calm a baby then just immediately shoving a binky in it's mouth. I hate the binky because they get addicted to it and before you know it the binky has taken over everyone's life! I see it all the time where parents are just held captive by the damn binky! All day they are picking it up off the ground and putting it back into the baby's mouth. All day they run around flustered searching for the nearest binky. This is no way to live people! It's time to make a stand and take your life back from the damn pacifier! I can see how parents get addicted to it too because it is just the quickest fix to a crying baby. I will admitt that it does come in handy upon occaison but we are trying really hard to only use it when absolutley necessary. I do not want our lives to be dictated by the binky. I HATE THE BINKY!

Grady Christopher - Boppy Chair

Saying goodbye to the belly

This was the last belly picture taken before delivering Grady. This might be a weird thing to say but sometimes I actually miss my pregnancy. I was getting so uncomfortable and could not wait for the pregnancy to be over but now that it is all over with I sort of miss it. Perhaps this is called phantom belly pains? I have to keep reminding myself that I am no longer pregnant and can do things again like sleep on my back. Even though I slightly miss my belly I am very anxious and excited to hit the gym hard and get my original form back! I think the recovery is worse then anything because I really just want my body back! I either want to be pregnant or have my original body but this in between pregnancy body has got to go I do not like it! Chris laughs at me because I claim every stage I am going through is the worst part. For example I thought at the beginning when I just looked like I put on some weight and did not look prego was the worst part. Then I thought having to sleep on my side was the worst part, and then the back aches and calf cramps were the worst part. The end of my pregnancy was the worst, and those contractions were the worst! Really though I truly think recovering is the worst part!

The surprise arrival of Grady Christopher!

Wednesday 8-20-08 started out like any other day nothing seemed different about it. At 5:45pm I headed off to my yoga class. It wasn't until the near end of yoga class where my day suddenly became anything but ordinary. I felt a small leak and thought it was strange so I went to the bathroom expecting something more to happen. Nothing happened so I went back to finish the class. Then I leaked something again and it was more so I decided something is definitely going on and I should probably go home. I called Chris and told him that my water may or may not have broke. I just did not think it could be my water because I still had a month left of pregnancy! However I knew that it had to be it because what else in the heck was going on with my body? We called the Dr. when I got home and explained to her what was going on. She said more then likely it is nothing probably a false alarm but we should go on to the hospital anyway and get checked out.
When we got to the triage room we repeated to them what was going and they too were skeptical. So I was really in the mind set that this was nothing and I was going to be sent home. I was going to be all embarrassed because Grady probably had just put pressure on my bladder and I had peed myself. However Just as they were about to check things out a lot more fluid came out! Then suddenly everyone's attitude had changed and the Dr. said yeah you are probably not going home without a baby. What?!! Chris and I were in total shock! The Fern test then confirmed the Dr.'s statement we were indeed going to be headed up to the labor room. It was funny because the nurse asked me if I was having any contractions and I said no. Then she hooked me up to the monitor and said well you are having one right now. Ha I just did not feel them early on but don't worry I felt them later!
I was 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced when we entered the labor delivery room. My goal was to get to 5cm dilated before getting the epidural since the epidural would slow things way day. Things were moving along slow until I had a cervical exam again. The exam kicked things into gear and I almost got to 5cm before I just could not take it anymore. The epidural went in at around 4 1/2 cm dilated and it was a much needed relief. Ah the epidural was so great, I was able to then take a little nap. It really did slow thing down though so at around 9 in morning they decided it was time to get things going and they induced me with pictocin. close to 12 they had me sit up to get Grady to drop on his own. Then at little after noon I began to push and wow it happened so quick! Grady was out at 12:11! I think it was only seven minutes of pushing. I couldn't feel a thing because of the drugs so really the pushing was not bad at all for me. I had a love hate relationship with the epidural. Loved not feeling those contractions or the actual birth but hated not feeling my legs and feeling noxious. I almost cried at one point because I hated the drugs it just scares me to have heavy legs with no feeling.
Originally when we took the hospital tour and heard about the option of watching the birth with a mirror both Chris and I flinched and thought eeww no. However I totally changed my mind once in the moment. I wanted to see everything! Seeing him being born and then having them put him in my arms was the most amazing thing I have ever done! Chris and I both weeped immediately. There just are not enough words to describe the beautiful moment it truly is! I finally get it! I finally understand what I had been hearing about for so long, I finally get the LOVE OF A MOTHER! There is absolutely nothing like it .

It's time Katie knew what she started

If my memory serves me correctly it was Katie Surgala who gave me a little stuffed bear dressed as a bunny for some ZTA function in which she had picked my name to give a gift to. Little did she know that I found the bear absolutely hysterical! It just cracked me up that the bear thought it was a bunny, "Silly bear you are not a bunny." I do not go in search of these bears dressed as other animals but when I happen to come across one I just have to have it because it just makes me laugh! Well when Chris discovered that I thought it was so funny to see bears dressed as other animals he started coming home with them. He found it amusing that I thought it was so funny. So really it is Chris who has made the collection what it is today. I have a bear dressed as a bunny, cat, frog, duck, cow, raccoon, cheetah, lobster (my personal fav), and butterfly. Chris came home with a couple of them dressed as different human characters such as a pilot and a student. I then had to explain that it is only funny if the bear is dressed as another animal. Naturally this humor transferred over to our pug. When we first got him I ran out and found things to dress him and laughed as I took pictures. Poor little fella was tortured. I stopped doing it because he really gets depressed when I put an outfit on him. Grady has no clue what he is in for! We already picked out a monkey suit to dress him in for Halloween! Hey we all have those things that just make us laugh, call me weird but it is just too funny for me to see a stuffed bear, pet, or baby dressed as another animal.