Quick, overdue update

Thought I'd take a minute (that I don't have) to write - for me, for you, for the sake of writing. I need a break from trying to focus on my work.

SINCE I LAST POSTED with real words, sentences, paragraphs....

• Vi: Vi is almost 5 months old - able to roll around some, sit up some, stand up with help, and full - FULL - of smiles. She's still not "sleeping through the night," which, by definition, is a 5-hour stretch, but sometimes she'll do 4. (Those are nice nights for Mommy.) I'm actually not sure if it counts as sleeping if she starts grunting in her sleep, I take her out of bed, feed her, put her back into her bed, and she remains mostly asleep throughout the process...If that DOES count as sleeping, then she sleeps from 8-5 most nights, eating every 2 hours. (Yup, I'm tired.)
• Dan: Dan has developed a new passion for business-process and motivational information. He's listening to Zig Zigler and Jim Roan, reading "Unstuck," along with a Macroeconomics text and a marketing book. He's also reading a biography on Napoleon, that book "The World Without Us," and a guide to gas engines. ALL FOR FUN. He is reading ALL THE TIME lately, which I think is really cool. This is partly due to the low-volume aspect of this activity, and partly due to the fact that we cancelled cable. I'm not sure we'll turn the TV on again until American Idol starts up. (Okay...I just took what seemed to be an intellectual revolution and ruined it by admitting that we're AI junkies. We can't help it-sorry.) Back to Dan. He's still working very hard, his store is going through some major changes, he is being motivated heavily by his boss to succeed, and he's feeling pretty capable and positive. He continues to amaze me with his skills at his job, as well as his instincts at fatherhood. Dan's such an amazing dad to our little Vi, and I've never seen a grown man become such a puddle of sweetness before. *sigh*
• Me: I left my job, re-joining my step-father's bookkeeping and accounting firm as a Senior Consultant. I provide bookkeeping and consulting services to a widely varied clientele in Maine, performing an also-widely varied set of services. I get to keep my some-at-home and some-away-from-home schedule, which is key. I'm working about 30 hours a week right now, trying to increase that bit by bit. Vi is up and alert and in need of play-time more every day, so we will probably be needing a "mother's helper" on my at-home days. All in all, it's really nice to be back at my old job, doing what I love, and being able to keep my family life as my #1 priority.

Other stuff:

• We celebrated Thanksgiving with the Cape Elizabeth contingent for the first half of the day, and the Cumberland gang the second half.
• Random family news: Jasper is back at sea, somewhere in the Pacific. Jamie is back from Italy. JD and Steph are moving back to New England. Tim and Amy got a bird.
• We bought a video camera and started filming Vi as she grows and changes.
• We have emptied & re-filled her bureau with larger clothes, since she keeps gettin taller! She's wearing 9-month outfits already.
• We put up a beautiful Christmas tree in the back of the kitchen, and watched Vi become all wide-eyed at the pretty lights.
• We've been enjoying the incredibly snowy December!
• Christmas - we did our usual thing, spreading ourselves rather thinly and paying for it in energy. To Cape Elizabeth, to Cumberland, to South Portland on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Vi was a bit fussy for Christmas Eve in CE, but slept through most of the evening in Cumbie. Christmas Day she was a wonder-baby--happy, cooing, laughing, napping amongst us, and just being cute-cute-cute. She was especially funny with my sister, snickering and hunching over to giggle as they played. Her cousing-the-dog Lucy really liked her, and she got to see all of her aunts & uncs and most of her grandparents. She even got to meet her great-grandfather, Popps, who is 92. Dan drove to & from NY to pick him up on Sunday, and is bringing him home (right now). Everyone was so generous with gifts for Vi. She has so many new clothes now! They are so adorable, too. Plus, she has quite a few new toys. My sister brought home boxes of hand-me-downs and toys for her, so her bureau is full, her toy box is full, AND we still have to go through the brand-new clothes she received yesterday. She's a very fortunate little girl.

Things are good, as you can see. We're all very tired, but I can honestly say that I'm happier than I've ever been in my life. And this whole "motherhood" thing is so much better than I expected.

Oh, and 12 days until Birthday. :-)

New pictures

New pictures!



http://picasaweb.google.com/linzwalsh/December82007

Vegas Pix

Here are some pictures from our trip to Las Vegas:

http://picasaweb.google.com/linzwalsh/November_Vegas

The quality is not that great, but you'll get the idea.

Home again, home again! Jiggety-jig!

We made it home safely today. Having made the longer (against the headwinds) trip TO Nevada on Monday made the slightly shorter (with the headwinds, no delays, less of a layover) trip back HOME! to MAINE! even easier. Vi was, once again, Wonder Baby on the plane - hardly any fussing at all, lots of giggles, and plenty of compliments from the other passengers. Dan and I were remarking on how we feel so accomplished, successful-so CAPABLE, after making this trip. Like, we flew across the country with an infant without killing each other; therfore, we can do ANYTHING.

(Not that we will. We're pretty beat.)

We had the best Welcome Home ever. My mother picked us up at the airport, and my stepfather was at our house cooking us dinner. They helped us unload the car, change the baby, get settled; they fed us, did the dishes, then left. It was great. Coming home to a warm house, lit-up, with a fresh-cooked meal aroma floating through the house, and having two extra sets of hands to help us come home.

Plus, Riley was full of H&K (Hugs and Kisses) for both of us. When Vi saw him, she smiled so widely, and kicked her feet. THAT was cool. Apparently she knows Riley and enjoys his silliness and stinky kisses.

Right now, she is swaddled up (albeit in her smoky-smelling swaddle blanket), in her swing, sighing as she sleeps quite soundly.

We had a great time in Vegas. It was so nice to get away, especially to a warmer place, just as the weather here is turning frigid.

But it is always, always nice to come home to Maine. We live here by choice, and every time we go somewhere else, we reaffirm that choice. Maine is simply the BEST place to live, and we are so glad to be home.

Vegas, Baby!

That's right, we're in Vegas, baby! Dan won a trip at work, and we extended our stay a bit to visit with his sister and her family. It's a total trip meeting her - she and Dan are so similar; I feel like I've known her for a long time.
The mountains are beautiful.
The casinos are smoky.
The food is delicious.

Most importantly - to me - Vi was a Wonder Baby on the plane. Nursed on the way up and the way down - no fussing.

That's all for now.

Busy, busy, busy.

I just wanted to take minute - while I have one - to actually WRITE on this thing. This blog started out as a way to communicate to my loved ones about this wonderful, amazing, huge thing that was happening to Dan and me - the beginning of our family. Lately, there have been fewer and fewer stories posted...mostly just lame captions for the pictures. And today, I feel the need to write, just for the sake of writing.

A few things are contributing to that. You might have noticed that the posting dropped off when Vi was born, then took another dive when I went back to work. I can't describe how busy I have been for the last three months...only those who have been through it can truly understand. It's not just working 30-plus hours a week. It's not just feeding, changing, swaddling, putting to sleep a miniature person. It's not just doing laundry, dishes, sanitizing bottles, sweeping up new-animal-sized furballs from the floor. It's not just trying to find some time to sit quietly with my husband to look at each other - really, truly look at each other in the eyes and remember how this all got started, let alone hear about each other's day. It's so much more than that. It's the most exhausting and rewarding experience I've ever had.

Now, don't get me wrong. I don't actually DO all of those things I just listed! I think about them, though. I have always had a constant "To Do" list running through my head. Maybe it's some sort of anxiety disorder, maybe I'm just domestically ambitious. Who knows. Things that Must Be Done - dishes, laundry, grocery shopping - get done by Dan and/or me. Sometimes by both of us, but that's usually not a good scenario. It's less like teamwork than a battle of wits. And, since we are both quite sleep-deprived, our wits are in short supply lately.

What's my typical day like? Well, I feel like it starts at night, actually. When I finally climb in bed, the work begins. Vi is still up frequently at night (not an invitation for sleep-training advice, thank you very much), needing to eat. She'll usually sleep four hours for the first stretch, the first hour of which I most often spend getting ready for bed - brushing teeth, washing face, taking vitamins, loading the dishwasher. Then I get in bed and sleep for about 3 hours until I hear her stirring in the bassinet next to our bed.

Sidenote: This is the same bassinet I slept in as a baby. I think that' so cool.

She'll eat for about 20 minutes, without truly waking up. Back to the bassinet she goes, and I try to fall back asleep. This is usually 1 or 2 am. She'll be up again by 4 am, hungry. I'll feed her again (or elbow Dan until he gets up and gives her a bottle). She stirs around 5, then 6. I'll usually bring her into bed at this point, and just let her eat and sleep as she pleases, snuggled up next to me, side-lying. Now, I'm trying to sleep at this point, but it is impossible to get any real recuperative sleep with someone nibbling on your person, and mumbling the whole time. "Mmm, mmm, mmm," she says. Plus she looks so sweet all snuggled up in bed with me

Dan will usually get up and change her diaper at 6 or 6:30, leaving me in bed for a "power nap." Yes, I get three hours, then two hours, then 20 minutes of sleep a night right now. I had no idea how true sleep deprivation felt before. I used to get an annual bout of insomnia, every January, for about two weeks. That doesn't hold a candle to this. And if it did, I'd blow it out and yell, "Can't you see we're trying to sleep here!!! LIGHTS OUT!!!"

Morning is tag-team with the babe. Between the two of us, the animals get fed and let out, breakfast and coffee gets made (decaf for me), we both get a shower (on my public days...on my work-at-home days I might smell a bit, but my office-mate doesn't seem to mind), our bags get packed (I look like a pack animal most days - laptop, lunch bag, briefcase, breast pump), Vi gets fed again, another diaper change, and out the door for one of us.

We're very fortunate that our work schedules allow the last part of that run-on sentence: "one of us." Vi is either with me, Dan, or Grammy every day. I work 20 hours in-office (MWF), 10 hours at home (T, TH). Dan has Mondays off, so I work a long day. Wednesdays we each work a half day and literally tag-team. When I get home at 1, Vi needs to eat, Dan has made me lunch, we do the "when did she last poop-pee-eat-sleep" run-down, then tag, I'm it...wait, don't forget to kiss me good-bye. We do try to not forget that step; it's an important one. Fridays Grammy comes to the house and works from our kitchen table while taking care of Vi.

How cool is that? I wish I had the chance to hang out with my grandmother every week. I got to talk to my paternal grandmother at least once a week, which was so nice. I'll put some stories about her up eventually. After all, Vi is her namesake. (That's right - Vi is named after her, therefore Vi is my grandmother's namesake. It's not backwards. Look it up.)

On my three in-office days, I drive to work, listening to music, singing along, usually in a hurry because it took longer than expected to get out of the house. I get the mail, then head into the office to work as a bookkeeper-marketing director-technical consultant. I really enjoy what I do, especially the bookkeeping piece. It's a nice, small company, and I like the people with whom I work. Still, it's hard to leave Vi to go there. I can't imagine how hard it is for women who hate their jobs to leave their children in child-care. I'm very fortunate to have the ability to work from home some, to have Vi with family the rest of the time.

On my at-home days, I work about 5 or 6 hours over a 7-hour stretch, breaking to take care of Vi. We usually have a doctor's appointment or somewhere to be in the afternoon, and if we don't we'll take a nice long walk together after I'm all done with work. IT IS DELIGHTFUL. My breaks aren't interruptions of my work, they are welcome moments of time spent, just my daughter and me.

Well, she's waking up, in need of some Mama time, and I've probably bored you enough. Just know that I would love to be telling you all of her funny stories, all of the cool things she's doing every day. I'll try to find more time to do that in the future! I hope I can, because she is very sweet and funny and ever-changing.

Matchy-matchy...

...and Way Too Cute. (In my unbiased opinion.)

3 Months Old on Halloween

Vi turned 3 months yesterday! I can hardly believe that much time has gone by. It's now been a year since this whole thing got started.

Our little flower girl at the "Blossoming Little Monsters" party. Some of the girls from the new mothers' class (Blossoming Newborns) got together with the babes last night. We left (one of us was melting down) before the group photo. Hopefully I'll get a copy so I can post it.

Child #2

(He's an angel)

Child # 1

(No explanation needed, especially if you've ever been graced by Mitten's charm)

Am I done yet? Please?

Naked baby, bustin' out of her swaddle.

Nothin' like a little naked time followed by a snuggly swaddle to calm a fussy baby.

Vi dressed up as a cat for Halloween.
Pretty convincing costume, eh?

Okay, it's Mitten, Child #1, wearing some of Vi's summer clothes that she never got to wear. She out-grew so many outfits, plus it got colder, earlier than I expected. I couldn't bear to put all of the unworn outfits (hand-me-downs included) without seeing how cute one of my daughters looked in them.

Tummy time!

Bright eyes. So sweet.

She's been laughing a lot lately, especially in the morning. How is it possible that I gave birth to a morning person?!? I think Dan must be sneaking her caffeine.

The big news in our world is that we're going to Las Vegas! Dan won a sales contest at work, and gets to represent his district on a mostly-leisure trip next week. It's a trip for two, so I finally get to visit Sin City! Vi is coming with us, as a good luck charm. We're staying at the Monte Carlo for the company portion of the trip, then crashing at Dan's sister's house in the area. This will - believe it or not - be the first time she and I have met!

We're hoping that Vi will bring us luck, and we'll be able to turn our $20 gambling budget into enough money to be stay-at-home parents.

Or, at least, enough to buy more diapers.

Columbus Day Weekend

Dan and I had the rare 3-day weekend together. Since he works Tuesday - Saturday, and I normally work Monday - Friday, in order to even have a 2-day weekend together it requires quite a bit of scheduling. He managed to get Saturday off, and today was a holiday for my company. We agreed that a trip to Eustis was in order.

A slideshow of pictures from our weekend can be seen here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/linzwalsh/EustisColumbusDayWeekend2007

A preview of the slideshow:

I also put together a slideshow of updated pictures of Vi. She's 10 weeks old tomorrow!! She had her 2-month checkup today. Her height and weight are both in the 75th percentile, and her head has caught up to that level, too. She weighs 11 pounds, 12 ounces, and she is 23 1/2 inches long. She's just about ready to roll over, she is grabbing and holding onto things (time to find a rattle!), and still giggling like a happy baby.

Here is the slideshow:
http://picasaweb.google.com/linzwalsh/VigoliaPix10Weeks


Last weekend Vi got to meet her cousins for the first time. I'll have to put up more pictures from that weekend later, because they were all so cute. Here is one with her cousin Benjamin:


It might be time to change the name of this blog, eh? We'll see...

What's new with Vi?

She found her thumb, started giggling, and is suddenly HUGE!

We weighed her, most recently, at my mom's candy kitchen. So she wouldn't fall off the fudge scale, we put her in a cookie box first. Of course, we didn't get a picture. Duh. We'll re-enact the incident with a camera handy, soon. Anyway, she weighed about 11 pounds!!! She is out-growing her clothes so fast. There are some adorable outfits we were given that she will never wear. There are also some not-adorable ones that she will never wear...!

I took her to an osteopath yesterday for a preventative-care type of evaluation. She had her first OMT (osteopathic manipulation treatment), and did very well. It's all gentle movement, almost like a massage, to see how she is aligned, connected, and all that. It's the same sort of treatment I get for my back and my migraines.

I have now been back to work for three full weeks, and it has, indeed, gotten easier to leave her on the days I work out of the home. The rest of the time, she is with me, going to clients' offices to do bookkeeping, going to doctors' appointments, grocery shopping, and so on. She doesn't usually like being in her car seat - we've tried everything, and every combination of everything. Sometimes she's happy as a clam - giggling, even. Other times, she screams bloody murder when her body touches the seat, I swear. I know where all of the safe places to pull over and nurse/burp/diaper/bounce a baby between Brunswick and Kennebunk. Here is a miracle picture - Vi actually smiling in her car seat:

We've been enjoying the Autumn weather. Sunday we had a picnic at Kettle Cove:

Vi loves bath time:

Some more current pictures:

I posted a slideshow on picasa, at: http://picasaweb.google.com/linzwalsh/VigoliaPix if you'd like to see more pictures.

Oh, and just because Maine is beautiful and everyone we love should live here, I will share some pictures Dan took last week while fishing:

Hi-ho, Hi-ho! It's back to work, I go!

So, yes, I returned to work last week, after the shortest 6 weeks of my life. No, it wasn't long enough, but no amount of time with Vi will ever be long enough. (Except when she's crying; I wish those moments were all more brief for her.) This is why I haven't really had time to post any new pictures. Here are a few my friend Kate took with her NEW! WONDERFUL! CAMERA! at Huston & Company yesterday: Mid-giggle.
She found her thumb! A lot of lip-smacking all over her hand/palm/fingers/fist to get there...every time she looks for it...but Ahh! The sweet relief of finding the thumb.

1-month checkup

Vi had a check-up with her pediatrician today, and it went really well. The trip there in the car was uneventful (which is rare), and the appointment fell right between meals & naps (good job, Mommy). She weight 9 pounds, 9 ounces, and is 22 1/4 inches long! The nurse said she's in the 75th percentile for both weight and height, but the doctor said 60th...not sure which is right, and I don't REALLY care about the percentiles. Her head, however, is in the 25th percentile! It's such a cute little noggin.

One month old!

Vi will be 5 weeks old tomorrow. It's hard to believe an entire month has already passed; it seems like we just got home from the hospital. Somedays, though, it feels like she's always been here, and I can't remember life before her. Even pregnancy is a blur... Here are some new pictures from her 5th week on Earth:

Vi and Riley are getting along great! He loves to sniff her head and lick her toes.

Here she is on the last day of our "Blossoming Newborns" new mommies class.

The official Class Picture! Just look at all the babies... so sweet!

Vi swaddled up in her Jensen Blankies. This is the official "Sleep for 3 hours" setup. We love the Jensens. LOVE THEM.

Vi is so into her mobiles all of a sudden!


Vi is in love with Wally the Green Monster, the Red Sox mascot on her changing-table mobile.
Here she is, smiling up at the mobile! She gets so excited when she hears "Take me out to the ballgame" playing.
Here she is, with her goofy big brother giving her dog-ears. What a clown. :-)
Vi's first trip to Eustis! It took us 2 1/2 hours to get there, and 5 1/2 to get back. Lots of tears.
Here she is, cozy in her sling, with Daddy working on a lean-to sort of wood-pile covering.

Week 2 and 3

At home, week one