Avoiding looking like a mom

I love reading Big Mama's Fashion Friday posts. Today on her blog I stumbled across another blogger who, along with a friend has conducted an excellent research study of the dreaded "Mom Jean."

One of my biggest fears since having Amelia is of looking like a "mom." Ok, that's a little dramatic. My biggest fear is of something happening to my baby. But is it too much to ask to have a baby and still maintain some sense of style? I think not. I don't want to dress like I'm in high school, but I would like to still look my age and be as stylish as I can.

For all of my mom friends, if you have been guilty of wearing the mom-jean, please click here for a post that will change your life. These ladies obviously had some time on their hands. I love that you can see children and a stroller in the background. They drug their kids in the dressing rooms to conduct their jean study to help those of us who want to avoid looking like a mom! I love it. I hope you have a fabulous and fashionable Friday!

Pampers and a People magazine

Last night I did two things I haven't done since Amelia was born. I bought a pack of diapers, and I got to read a People magazine from cover to cover.

First the diapers. How awesome is it that Amelia is 4 months old and this is the first pack of diapers I've had to purchase? We were SO blessed to receive so many diapers at our showers. I actually have 2 packs left and some leftover from a diaper cake, but they are in a bigger size than we need right now, so I finally purchased my first pack. Those things aren't cheap!

We were out of everything around the house, and I had been putting off the needed Wal-Mart run, in hopes that Cliff would be home and could watch Amelia while I went. Or better yet, he could go for me. Yeah, right. He hates going even more than I do. Our boys are out of the tournament, but the girls keep winning, so that means basketball is not over yet for Coach Furr. Thus, I had to do the Wal-Mart thing after work yesterday.

You never know what you're going to get with Amelia when I pick her up at 4:30. Sometimes she is tired and falls asleep on the way home. But more often than not, she is ill and refuses to sleep on the way home, and chooses to scream for the 15 minute drive. I was not looking forward to Wal-Mart, but I had no choice. It wasn't just about my Diet Dr. Pepper; We needed diapers. So I went for it, and my baby was a perfect angel! She fell asleep right before we got there and woke up while I was shopping, but was just sweet and happy the whole time. She fell asleep again as I was checking out, and stayed asleep long enough for me to get home, unload and put most of it away.

She woke up for a bottle and some fussy mama-cuddling, and finally went to back to bed at 8 and stayed asleep. Oh happy day. Don't get me wrong. Amelia sleeps well. She sleeps all night most of the time, but her bedtime is often the same time as mine. Which means no down time for Mama. Now, you won't ever hear me complaining about a lack of rest. As I've mentioned on numerous occasions, I am so thankful for Amelia, and I know I'm lucky that she is a good sleeper. But her late bedtimes have prevented me from my much needed me-time, which used to consist of tub-soaking with a magazine and maybe some toenail painting.

We've been working on getting her to bed earlier, and it has gotten a lot better, but I keep finding other things I need to get done before my own bedtime. But last night when I saw that she was in a good REM state of sleep, I turned on the greatest shower gift of all time and engaged in a fabulous hour-long bath and some celebrity gossip current events.

So, to sum up- a successful trip to Wal-Mart and an hour of relaxation = wonderful day.

4 months!

Can you believe it has been 4 months already? I can't. It seems like no time ago when I couldn't believe she was already 3 months old.

Today we had our 4 month check-up and shots. She is up to 14 pounds, 7 ounces and is 25 inches long. Everything was great, and we are so blessed to have such a healthy baby so far. A runny nose here and there is the worst thing we've had to face, although I'm sure we'll experience our first illness soon. It's just a part of life.

Right now Amelia is going through the sweetest stage. She is very expressive and loves to stare at the people and things around her. Nothing is better than when Cliff or I come in the room and she grins when she sees our faces. She loves to hold onto something soft and snuggly when she's sleepy. Katie took the pic below when we were getting ready to leave to go watch Cliff's teams play in the state championship game.

I had rushed home from work to get ready to leave her with my parents and put her in the crib to hang out while I got our stuff together. By the time I came back to check on her (like 5 minutes later) she had a "lovie" in each hand and had fallen asleep, with bow, shoes and all on! I couldn't have gotten her to do that if I had tried!

And in case you're wondering, both teams lost. What a waste of a night to leave my baby! But I know my parents enjoyed her, and I'm sure she had a good time. Below is a photo of Coach Furr in action.

This week, they are playing in the regional tournament, and then if they don't advance to nationals, the season will finally be over and we will have Daddy at home again!

Answered Prayer

Last year at this time I had just found out I was pregnant with Amelia. What a wonderful year we have had! After my miscarriage in October 2007, Cliff and I were scared to be too excited too early about the pregnancy. We spent a lot of time praying for peace from God. I won't lie and say we weren't super worried for most of the first trimester, but we did finally get a feeling of peace that our precious baby would be ok.

It's been fun to look back at when I first started blogging and re-living all the excitement of my pregnancy. I was so blessed to have a perfect pregnancy. I have so many friends who had trouble getting pregnant, and difficult pregnancies, but everything went so smoothly for me. I was even thankful for my morning sickness! (Still having trouble giving thanks for those stretch marks, though- let's just be honest)

The photo above is of a print that hangs in Amelia's nursery. I spent a lot of time reading the Bible after my miscarriage and I always loved reading Hannah's story in 1 Samuel. She was the only one of her friends who didn't have children. People in those days considered it a reflection on the character of the woman if she wasn't able to bare a child, and she was even tortured by another woman for her infertility. Hannah's heartfelt prayer for a child and subsequent thanksgiving for being blessed with Samuel is a must-read for anyone who has gone through the difficulty of infertility or miscarriage. Actually, it's a must-read for any parent. The verse on our canvas is a popular one for baby items and is displayed in a lot of nurseries, but I wonder if everyone really knows the story of Hannah and why she was so thankful for her child.

I chose this verse for her room because I never want to forget that Amelia is an answered prayer, and I want her to know that she is a blessing from God. Next Sunday we will publicly display our gratitude for our sweet baby girl at her dedication service at church. I look forward to sharing lots of photos with you.

As I write, I am holding my fussy girl in my lap. We all took a long nap this afternoon and she doesn't want to go to bed tonight. No matter how hard it is to be a parent sometimes, I will always be thankful that I prayed for this child and the Lord has granted what I asked of Him.

Happy Birthday, Mommy!

I'm pulling a Neisha with my all-at-once approach to posting, but I have to do it while I have the time.

My birthday was Tuesday, and my thoughtful baby gave me this adorable card.

She had a little help from Aunt Katie. I cannot look at this without laughing! I had a great birthday. Having Amelia in our lives just makes every day more special.

Aunt Katie and Amelia's Valentine's date

Katie is busy at work, I'm sure enlightening the minds of her precious special-ed students. I don't know if they're being precious today or not. I'm just giving them the benefit of the doubt.

I'm copying the content of an email she sent me with photos of her night with Amelia while Cliff and I went out for Valentine's. I think they had a good time.

From Katie:
Our night consisted of:
-lots of talking/telling secrets/playing on the couch
-playing on the floor

She was so into looking at everything and then eating it.

-back to the couch for more playing/eating toys

-repeatedly trying to roll over and falling asleep MID-ROLL-getting pj's on without ever waking up Ok, now it's me again. (Angela)

Ha, I love these! I love photos that tell a story. As you can see, she spent some time in just her diaper. She just loves not having clothes on. Look how she fell asleep gripping the blanket from trying to roll over. Poor baby just wore herself out!

Thanks for babysitting, Katie! We had a great night out, and I love getting to see what my baby did while we were gone. Mama, can you please begin taking photos of everything Amelia does while you have her? It really makes me feel better about leaving her. I wonder if I can request that from Ms. Stacy at daycare...

You can't eat my hand!

I was able to capture Cliff making Amelia laugh on video last week. She was trying to eat his hand, and when he said 'you can't eat my hand' and tickled her, she thought it was hilarious. So what's any dad to do, but repeat said phrase and tickle her over and over.

It's hard to hear her cute laugh over Cliff, but it's there. Best sound ever. The laugh, not Cliff being goofy.