All dressed up!

Here's Valerie in her Thanksgiving dress. Her hair keeps growing and growing and she's got her Daddy's GREAT sleeping gene, so far.

Things are going well, Paul's almost on his long December break from Grad school. Can't wait!!! And, I have a super-nasty head cold. Ouch. My goal is to NOT give it to Valerie.

Very Inspiring Message

This came from my brother-in-law, Rob via email. I watched it with Valerie. It's one of those things that sort of shakes you to the core. It was so good, I decided to bookmark it and the next time I feel BAD, I am going to watch it. As I have learned, this life is NOT a dress rehearsal... have fun and laugh everyday. I think I'm pretty darn good at this even when I am a bit on the grump side... but it is so, so true and we really do have a choice, every minute of every day. In fact, just today, I had a free half hour and decided to run up to Whole Foods to get a vitamin that I needed, I got all the way there and did not have my wallet. I was slightly annoyed, called Paul and thought about it while talking to Paul... I had 2 choices... get totally ticked off and let it ruin my time out OR realize that it was a gorgeous day and stop at Starbucks for my favorite pumpkin spice latte. Since I had $3.69 in my emergency change bucket, I went to Starbucks and thoroughly enjoyed the weather and my latte! How's that! Any who, here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

Hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

Am I nuts??? And a freak tornado in the Lansing area...

No pictures yet... but we just adopted 2 new 8 week old kittens today - a boy and a girl. The boy's name will probably be Bill or Ned. No idea on the girl's name yet. They are FULL of energy... wish me luck, I think I am crazy, but they needed homes and I really missed not having a pet in my life. Apparently, these kittens were delivered accidentally with some bales of hay to a Vet that my friend Kate works with over at the UW animal hospital. The foster family lived right around here, so we all got to see them and felt that it was the right situation. So, they are brother and sister and got separated from the Mother.

And, on a freaky note... my Mom's neighborhood got hit with a tornado - there's lots of huge trees that caused a lot of damage and her chimney got a bit torn up. Thankfully, she was at my sister's house watching my nieces and nephew at the time. I am so glad she was safe and just can't believe that a tornado came through her neighborhood!

That's about it for the updates... Valerie's geting HUGE, but she still loves her sleep and if she doesn't get her naps, we are in for rough times!!! The feedings have been rocky (again), but breastfeeding is going much better now, I think. I finally saw a specialist Doctor around here who helped me out so much.

The Baptism

Here she is at her baptism on Sunday. It was so great to see everyone. Valerie did great for the actual ceremony, but we've learned that she does NOT like loud music. We were in the cry (or in Val's case, SCREAM) room until the actual baptism took place. It was tough for me as it took a looong time to get her calmed down and on top of that she was exhausted. The day ended up very nice and the food was delicious... Thank you to everyone for ALL the help.

My first smile on camera!

Here we are in Michigan (while at Anne & Larry's wedding weekend) and Grammie Dorothy got me on camera! Yep, I couldn't believe it... my Mom got Val to smile and then got it on camera. The smiling's still a little sporadic, but starting to be more and more daily. She likes to smile at the ceiling fan quite a bit these days too.

She IS HERE!

Here's Valerie! She loves to sleep and eat and be wrapped very tightly in her swaddle or her carseat. She doesn't mind tummy time or her baths. She makes us laugh on a daily basis.

Well, I did everything I could to prepare to be a Mom and there was still more I needed to do, go figure. I'm trying to be very relaxed about everything for the most part, but I have my moments of frustration. It is very EXHAUSTING, but in a good way. At the 3AM or 4AM feedings, I just remind myself that this is just a season in my life right now and to thoroughly enjoy it, so I do.

Okay, really ready... NOW

Okay everyone, I am sooo-ooo ready for this (I think). I just got the last energy burst (I think) and cleaned out 2 closets. 5 pair of shoes are off to Goodwill along with 5 of Paul's old coats. Paul and I are going to Woodman's for grocery shopping tonight because I am very worried about our cereal quantities. I have definitely dropped and have experienced lots of pressure and weird contractions, especially today.

I'd like to apologize in advance for not being a better hostess when people stop by to visit after mini is born. I have a feeling that I am going to be a bit out of sorts but I have no idea how this is all going to work.

Amee - Thanks for the encouraging words this evening. It was great talking with you. Mel - Thanks for the phone call today and for setting up the family baby pool!! Julie - I am hoping that you're right about the July 14th date. I am doing A LOT of walking right now and eating spicy foods!