take your daughter to work day

Bella is at work with her Dad!

Matt had to work on Sunday in Galveston so Bella and I decided to tag along (the dogs came too). We thought we would see the boat then go spend the rest of the day on the beach...but we ended up spending 7 hours on Pier 41! Duchess finally fell asleep in the car after being told to shush several times (she barked at anything that moved and lots of things move). Penny became the company mascot (temporarily) because she was so cute and friendly while watching everyone work. Bella and I took lots of trips up and down the piers in our jog stroller. We loved seeing the boats! We zig-zagged through the maze of windmill parts too! Below is a picture of Matt's boat with a big metal cactus ready to be loaded.

bluebonnets

We had a crazy time getting pictures of everyone in the bluebonnets. Here are our attempts:Penny seems to be mocking us by sticking her tongue out.
Bella really is awake but the sun was too bright to open her eyes. She really did have a hat but you couldn't see her at all with it on so we took it off temporarily.
Duchess is telling Penny the secret to a long-life! Remember, Duchess is 16 years old!!
Penny and Duchess on the lap of their favorite friend.
Here we're all looking a different direction. Great, huh?
Penny needed a hug.
It was windy!

worked out

Here's Bella all worn out after her work out with her dad. Notice Penny in the background (bored) and Duchess making laps around the kitchen (senile).

It was a pretty good day because Bella had a babysitter for 4 hours, even though she slept 3.5 of those hours. Then, Matt came home early because lightning struck and le lost power at work. We went for a relaxing evening walk. Everyone, including the dogs, enjoyed it. Yeah!

a smile?

I think it's a smile. I also think she's smiling because it's her grandma's birthday! Happy Birthday!

sun

Bella inherited a bunch of clothes (and a pair of sunglasses) from Camilla. Thank you!

Bayou Bend - Family Day

Here's Bella at 5 weeks. So peaceful and cute when she's asleep! She definitely got Matt's head!
People keep telling us she's thin and going to be tall. We hope so!
So...she was much happier in her carrier - we figured that out quickly. To get out of the house, we went to Bayou Bend's Family Day. There were all kinds of crafts for kids - tye dye t-shirts, peace sign making, love beads, etc. There was also a band that Bella enjoyed. Matt and I packed some cheese, crackers and snacks. We had a great time people-watching and seeing all the azalea's in bloom. It was a perfect weather day! (except a little too sunny for Matt)

a jog stroller

Friends from UH came by to visit last week and brought a jog stroller! Thank You! The pavement around here has so many cracks and bumps that our little stroller is too bouncey for Bella. This large-wheeled stroller is perfect for our neighborhood and going for walks on the trail. (Matt made us stand in the sun so we're both squinty.)

just the 3 of us

Here we are in John & Ashley's backyard. It was St. Patrick's Day and Bella was almost 5 weeks old. Penny just loves playing with Lucy so we often have dog dates.

date night

Carmen offered to babysit so Matt and I took advantage and went to the Rainbow Lodge for appetizers and wine. It was a perfect evening! I must admit that I was quite crabby before Carmen arrived. I had not showered and had dried baby spit-up on both shoulders. Rainbow Lodge is very close to our house and has a beautiful deck with landscaping that shows off the sunset. Matt and I shared a bottle of wine and tried each others appetizers. I ate foie gras, bison and blue crab and half a bottle of malbec wine from Argentina. Delicious!

Carmen is a coworker and friend of mine who always brings Bella the cutest little outfits! It was so thoughtful of her to offer to babysit. She is our first real babysitter (besides my mom). Carmen was wonderful and Bella was just fine with her. A couple of weeks ago, I lost my wits and drove to UH to get out of the house because Bella was crying and crying. Carmen immediately picked up Bella and calmed her down. She was (and is) such a life-saver! Thank you Carmen! Bella is in good hands with you!

After my 2 glasses of wine, we tried out the milk screen test to see if my expressed milk had signs of alcohol. Unfortunately, 2 hours after drinking 2 glasses of wine, my milk showed a dark beige color (meaning it contained over .02% alcohol) so I get to pump and dump while Matt feeds the stored milk.

getting out of the house

I met my friends at Mission Burrito for lunch. It was such a great, wonderful and relaxing lunch! It was worth every bit of preparation and aftermath.

Here's what it's like to get out of the house with a newborn:

3:30 - 4:30 wake up to feed*
4:30 - 6:30 sleep
6:30 - 7:30 wake up again to feed
7:30 - 8:30 brush teeth, take vitamins, eat eggos, change diaper, say bye to dad, give Bella a bath
8:30 - 9:30 feed
9:30 - 10:30 take shower, try on clothes to find something that fits, sort/start laundry
10:30 - 11:15 feed
11:15 - 11:45 dry hair, put on lipstick, change diaper
11:45 - 12:15 feed (again just to make sure she's full and comfortable)
12:15 pack up to leave and drive to lunch
12:30 LUNCH!!

*Bella is a slow-eater. It really does take about 45 minutes to an hour to feed...20 minutes one side, burp, 20+ minutes on the other side. If I restrict to 10-15 minutes per side, she screams afterward because she's still hungry or I have to feed her again in an hour. She doesn't always fall asleep (just sometimes), she just takes her time. Breath, breath, suck, suck, suck, suck, breath, breath, pause... breath, suck, suck, suck, suck, suck, suck, suck, suck, breath, breath and it goes on... Who knows if this is "normal" or not. Maybe I should consult a lactation specialist? Maybe Bella is just going through a phase or a growth spurt?

Fortunately my parents were still in town so they read stories to Bella while I was in the shower. Ordinarily, she'd be in her swing screaming until I was finished. Whenever I was doing something for myself, they'd hold and entertain Bella. Having them around helped tremendously!! Bella is so much happier when they're here!

We lunched for a long time! Bella slept for the first 2 hours then got hungry. My friends were encouraging of me breastfeeding in public... so I did! It was a first! It's still pretty awkward for me but we survived.

On the drive home, Bella spit up all over her clothes and screamed because she was hungry again. We arrived home at 4 pm and she nursed for an hour and a half. She was fussy after wards and we rocked until dad got home at 6 pm. Whew! What a day! When dad gets home, he fixes dinner and Bella and I feed at 6:30, 8:30 and 10:30. We all fall asleep around 11:30 or midnight.

[Note: No nap for me so we can't keep up this kind of schedule everyday. Usually I forgo the shower and Bella doesn't get a bath so we can take a good morning nap to recover.]

Everyone says it gets easier so we're definitely waiting for that to happen!

advice from a kid

Bella and I went to Costco today to take advantage of our membership and to buy some diapers (13 cents per diaper). While shopping we ran into a family (mom is a professor at UH, kids go to Poe so we're uniquely connected). The advise given to me about Bella from the middle child was to "let her be free!" Great advice! Matt and I'll keep that in mind later in Bella's life.

not pinched

Bella and Grandma were dressed in green for St. Patrick's Day!

By the way, Bella is 1/4 Irish, 1/4 Lithuanian, 3/8 German and 1/8 Bohemian!

Aunt Anne and Uncle Ralph

Thank you Aunt Anne and Uncle Ralph! Bellatrix now has her very own bank account to collect all her money!

$$cha-ching$$

Baptized

Bella & Jack were baptized on March 5th, 2009 at Trinity Lutheran Church. It was a family cermony officiated by Pastor Patterson.

Bella also lost her belly button on this same day! We were at the doctor's office weighing in (btw, she's 8 lbs., 6 oz.) when I discovered it was missing. I took off her outfit and walked her to the scale. When I laid her down I panicked and started searching all around for the nub. The nurses helped me look and then... I looked down to find it stuck to my dress - Yuck! The top part was dry, blue and interesting, but the bottom was yellow-green and gooey...and obviously, very sticky.

Grandpa Joe and Tutu Carol

Bella's other Grandparents came into town to see Bella for the first time. They have been talking about this visit and planning for months. Throughout Laura's pregnancy, they collected clothes and other gifts from Carol's daughters and grandchildren back in Virginia and North Carolina. Thank You!

Penny turned on all her charm and Carol just loved Penny!
We walked down to Cedar Creek for lunch one day.
We went out to dinner at Tila's too!

Awesome Jack

Here's Matt's cousin, Jack - He's awesome!

too much?

Uncle John has them both! Is it too much? No! He can handle 2 babies at once. Pretty sweet, huh?

What the heck?

Look at this cute expression! She's thinking, "What the heck just happen to me? Where am I and who is holding me??" Well, she just got baptized and she's in a church being held by Jack's Grandma Pam.

Grandpa Joe and Tutu (Grandma Carol)

Grandpa Joe and Grandma Carol (we're calling her "Tutu" because that's Hawaiian for Grandmother) have arrived! Bella is so happy to meet her other grandparents!
We're enjoying BBQ after Jack & Bella's Baptism! More details to follow...

a ladybug

Here goes to show you that the cuter the outfit, the more she'll cry.

cord

I think Bella's belly button is so interesting and cool-looking! We're just waiting for it to fall off so she can take a real bath to get all sudsy and smell more fresh.