Congratulations April--please check your email for information on how to claim your prize!
Didn't win, but still looking to score one of these beautiful prints for yourself? Check out Aimee's Rhapsody Photos Etsy shop and enter the code ALLTHINGSGD in the comments section at checkout to get free shipping on your order between now and Friday, November 5th.
***This giveaway is now closed. Thank you to all who entered!***
When Aimee contacted me for a blog giveaway, I checked out her Etsy shop Rhapsody Photos and was instantly in love with her work!
This week one lucky All Things G&D reader will receive a free 11x14 Rhapsody Photos print of your choice! These bright and beautiful prints would look lovely in your home, your workspace (I'll be hanging one in my office at work for a bit of color and fun!), or as a gift for your photography-loving friend!
ENTRY RULES:
To enter this giveaway, check out the Rhapsody Photos collection and comment on this post telling me your favorite one by Friday, October 29th at 11:59pm CDT . Your comment must include an email address to be eligible to win (either through your blogging ID or typed into your comment entry). This giveaway is open to everyone, and only one entry per person allowed. The winner will be chosen by random.org and announced on Saturday, October 30th.
I was updating my blog labels last night and accidentally republished this post from last year as a new post. It has now been fixed, but my apologies to those of you who read it and thought it was current.
For those of you interested in an update, I'm happy to report that I heard from Susan just a couple of months ago and she and her son are doing great!
A friend of mine was due a couple of months after me and prior to having her son she asked for feedback on what those first few weeks were like adjusting to a new baby, as well as any advice that may be helpful to hear. I’m sharing my response to her (written two months after Kate was born) in hopes that it may help other new and expectant moms out there. Good luck!
Kate is 8 weeks old today so it's still really fresh for me (and really I'm still in it). So far I have to admit it's the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. EVER. But at the same time I've never been happier. I pretty much had the "prepare for the worst, hope for the best" mentality. When I was pregnant I'd tell G, "The first year is pretty much going to be sheer hell, but we'll get through it. It'll be like boot camp. And if there are good times, those are just a bonus, but don't expect them." I was also really worried about postpartum depression because depression runs in my family, so I was expecting to not feel connected to Kate and to just all-around feel like crap emotionally.
Well, as you know, things have pretty much turned out the exact opposite of what I'd mentally prepared for! I feel very lucky to say that I did have that overwhelming flood of love for Kate right from the very start. And I still feel it every single day. I really wasn't expecting that.
As far as taking care of Kate--things aren't always all roses, that's for sure. Our first day home she screamed nonstop all day and night. Neither one of us got any sleep, but surprisingly I was oddly calm about it. It didn't rattle me other than to want to comfort her. I didn't get stressed or upset myself about it. I was utterly amazed by how much patience I had with her.
The next day G said something like, "I hope today goes better than yesterday."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"I just hope she doesn't scream and cry as much," he replied, looking like his eyes were going to pop out of his head.
"I'm pretty sure that's normal," I told him. And I totally meant it.
Turns out it was NOT normal, which we found out when we went to our scheduled doctor appointment later that day. Our poor little girl was starving because we weren't taught at the hospital how to use the special bottles she needed and we were feeding her wrong! I can't even get into the pain of that right now, but it just goes to show you how skewed my perception of caring for a new baby was. Maybe it's because of that skewed perception, or maybe it's the emotional first week we had with Kate's feeding issues that put things into perspective for me, but these past eight weeks have been so much better than I ever expected.
Sleep has definitely been the hardest thing for me. For the first few weeks Kate was eating every two hours, and since I had to pump in between her feedings it left very little time for me to get any sleep in. Kate would wake up, I'd feed her, burp her, diaper change, put her back down to sleep, then I'd pump, and if I did absolutely NOTHING else I might get one hour of sleep in before we did it all again. Of course that means no eating, showering, cleaning, prepping bottles for Kate's next feeding, laundry, etc. As I'm sure you can guess, that's just not feasible, so sleep--even just little bits of it--was hard to come by. Luckily Kate's feeding cycles quickly stretched to three hours and that works much much better.
I also remind myself that taking care of Kate is "my job" right now. It's been pretty easy for me to not really care that the house is a disaster and that we're living out of laundry baskets, or any of the other things I'd worry about before Kate was born. She’s the priority right now. When Kate is sleeping, I ask myself, "Okay, now what is the priority?" The answer is always whatever kind of Kate-related thing that needs to be done--prepping bottles for upcoming feedings, making sure she has clean onesies, etc. After that, the priority is sleep. When I lay down to take a nap I just remind myself that "right now sleeping is my job." Maybe I'm just work-oriented, but reminding myself that something is "my job" at that moment helps me focus on only that, and not worry about the other things. Telling myself that sleeping is my job helps me get to sleep instead of thinking about how dirty the bathrooms are or the million other things I could be doing instead of sleeping.
If Kate's sleeping and all taken care of, and I'm feeling fairly well-rested, then (and ONLY then) do I focus on other things--cleaning, cooking, computer time, returning phone calls, etc. Oh yeah--that's another tip: keep your phone on silent unless you're in a position that you want and are able to talk to people. I found that every time my phone rang and I was busy doing something else (like feeding Kate) so I couldn't get to it, I'd stress. So. Not. Worth. It. Just shut your phone off. People understand when you have a newborn that you're not going to be immediately reachable.
Last but not least, G and I make sure to "check in" with each other every day. Our marriage has certainly been put on the back burner over these past few weeks, but we are still focused on keeping that connection. My best advice? Commit to hugging your husband at least once every day. It's amazing what a difference that one hug can make.
Anyone else have some "new parent" advice? I'd love to hear it!
Kate got her first tooth! And her second! Her two bottom teeth have popped through, one right after the other (seen here). Let me tell you, those were not fun weeks.
Kate is doing really well with her finger foods. G and I continue to be amazed with her fine motor skills, although this little girl may be a little too skilled for her own good. Apparently now that she's mastered finger foods she no longer has a use for all the pureed foods her Mom has spent countless hours preparing and freezing for her. All Kate wants to do is feed herself finger foods! I guess I shouldn't have been so quick to prepare so much pureed food for her ahead of time. Lesson learned! She'll still occasionally eat it, and I plan on using it up in other baby food recipes like pancakes and meatballs, so I guess it's not a total loss.
Kate has also mastered her sippy cup. If you remember from her 7 month post, Kate has limited ability to suck so we had to remove the valve from her sippy that makes it spill-proof (and turns it into a regular cup but with a spout). I thought we'd be dealing with spills everywhere for quite some time, but she's been doing a great job. (She likes to chug--wonder where she gets that from...) Here's a video of her drinking and eating, and you may hear her little burp at the end, too!
Pretty much the only thing we allow Kate to watch on TV is a baby signing video--Baby Signing Time--which she loves. So far we have Baby Signing Time Volume1 and Volume 2. They teach basic baby signs set to really cute songs, with real children showing the signs, and a little bit of animation. We've been working on some of the signs with her for a couple of months, and she's just starting to sign "more" and "all done" for us when she eats. She's not consistent with it yet, but it's been so much fun to see her learning, and so helpful for her to be able to tell us what she wants! I can see how this whole dual-communication thing could be life changing.
Kate will now stand holding on to things (like the ottoman) if you put her in that position, and she is just starting to pull herself up to a standing position on her own.
We took Kate to her first Badger football game last month and she did so great! G bought Kate her first Badger gear--a cute pink cheerleader outfit--and Kate clapped and cheered (two new things for her) right along with the fans. It was so much fun!
Kate continues to say "Mama" but no other words yet. She's just starting to make the "G" sound and will babble "Ga-ga-goo-goo" all day long. Poor Greg jokes that she's going to say "Greg" before she says "Dada" but I don't think she'll let him down!
Kate's 8 Month Stats
Bedtime: 6:30pm
Wake Up Time: 6:30am
Naps: 2x/day for a total of 3-4 hours/day
Bottles: She is offered 7.5 oz bottles 4x/day (when she wakes up in the morning, wakes up from her first nap, wakes from her second nap, and before bedtime)
Meals/Solids: Eats breakfast at 7am, lunch between 12-1pm, dinner at 5:30pm
New Foods: Chicken, Green Beans, Black Beans, Broccoli, Zucchini, Toast/Bread, Plums.
Developmental Milestones & "Firsts": Stands with assistance, starting to pull herself up to a standing position, starting to sign, first tooth, first Badger game.
Favorite Toys: Toy telephone, Lamaze Puppytunes Dog, and this Fisher Price barking/bouncing dog, and she still loves her rubber ducky!
No, this doesn't mean I've lost the necessary 10-15 pounds it'd take for my new body to fit into my pre-pregnancy clothes. It means I'm finally embracing skinny-legged jeans! I admit I was one helluva hold-out, but I finally picked up a pair and I really like them!
Kate recently had another photo shoot with the wonderful Andrea Elberg, and despite things getting off to a rough start, I'm so thrilled with how the pictures turned out! We originally planned on having Kate's pictures taken outdoors at the UW-Arboretum, but shortly after arriving we were SWARMED by mosquitoes! In less than ten minutes I had over 100 mosquito bites all over my body--even through myjeans! It was absolutely crazy (and ridiculously itchy), but somehow, by the grace of God, Kate didn't get one single bite--I was so grateful for that!
We didn't really have a Plan B in mind, but it quickly turned into going back to my house so I could get out of my clothes and bathe in Caladryl. Once home, we decided to just plop Kate down on the kitchen floor in the same location where her newborn photos were taken, and Andrea snapped away!
When I saw this strand of pearls in another photo shoot Andrea had done, I knew Kate would love them! This is one of my favorite pictures from the day:
Andrea had a turquoise suitcase--one of her props--with her, and I thought it would be fun to include it in Kate's pictures because I loved the color.
After seeing Kate with the turquoise suitcase, it gave me an idea! I ran upstairs and grabbed one of my antique suitcases from the circle room, the tablecloth from the side table in our main guest room, my DIY flower pin, and a pair of heels--threw it all together, sat Kate inside, and Andrea got some really cute shots!
What started out feeling like a day that everything was going wrong, actually turned into a really fun, spontaneous, and adorable (if I do say so myself) photo shoot capturing Kate in all her smiling and sitting-up glory at 7½ months old. Thank you so much Andrea!
(Raise your hand if you didn't see that one coming.)
I won't bore you again with all the details since I already did so here: Operation Oprah and here: Oprah Day!, but I will add a picture my friend Kent took of her TV which clearly shows me and my friend Jill sitting in the audience right smack dab behind Oprah during a clip that aired on her Farewell Season Premiere!
Our episode aired last Wednesday, September 29th, and while Jill and I were once again on TV, it was clear that this time around Oprah only wanted us for our bodies since we were only seen from the neck down.
She's a fickle one, that Oprah.
2. So you're thinking, "What could she possibly have up her sleeve that tops Oprah, riiiiiight?
Well how about THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES??
Yeah, that's right.
I knew the President was in town last week for a speech at the UW-Madison campus, but as I left work that afternoon I was under the impression he was already at his destination so traffic on my way home shouldn't be a problem. As I took John Nolen Drive out of downtown Madison, I was stopped at the last light before getting on the beltline, about 20 cars back from the light, and for some reason when the light turned green no one went. I watched in confusion as the light cycled through from green to yellow to red and back to green...and still no one went.
What in the world is going on? Has there been some kind of an accident that I'm not seeing?
Curious to see how many cars were now lined up behind me, I turned around to find that not only were cars lined up as far as I could see, many of them were in "park" with their drivers standing outside their car doors--right in the middle of the road! Soon people where lining up along the sidewalk, camera in hand, and I realized not only were we not going anywhere anytime soon--but this must be the route the President is taking to get downtown! I put my own car in park, grabbed my iPhone, and joined the crowd of onlookers and parked-in-place commuters excitedly waiting for the President's motorcade.
Here are some pictures from the event!
Here they come!
These guys were in what looked like full body armour. It was a bit intimidating, and I was scared to take their picture, but I figured the kid on the other side of the street waving at them may have softened them up a bit.
Well hello Mr. President. So nice of you to drop by.
3. First Oprah, then The President of the United States...who else could I have possibly seen in September that would top that??
Oh, have you met my new best friend the Dalai Lama?
He says hi.
Okay, okay, I'm totally kidding. I didn't get to see the Dalai Lama in September...but I'm pretty sure he's got me penciled in for October.
I usually list five things loved each month, but Oprah and Obama are big enough to hold their own, so I think I'll stick with just the two of them this time around. Both were pretty amazing, and completely unexpected experiences--I seriously felt like Forrest Gump!
Click on any picture below to find out more about each space and view additional photos. Interested in seeing more pictures of our home? CLICK HERE!
My Pregnancy
Looking for my weekly pregnancy and maternity fashion links? They can now be found in the "My Pregnancy" page which is linked in the header of my blog. Enjoy!
--which she loves. So far we have 
