I have spent the last eighteen months of my life preparing to love and then loving a little person. My flesh and blood. These are the things that stand out about me (some important and heavy and some not at all):

1. I never knew I could love someone so much. Hudson is the joy of my life.

2. I sleep with one eye and one ear completely focused on him. I’m awake after the slightest peep– even when we’re away from him.

3. I miss a lot of the things we used to do before he arrived. Spontaneous trips to the movies or sleeping until 10:00 a.m. on a Saturday stand out the most.

4. I still love pop culture, reality TV, scripted TV, books, music, and clothes.

5. Lately, I’ve tried to watch less and less reality TV. Because I just become obsessed and stressed about it. Why should I let other people’s lives stress me out?

6. I’m constantly thinking about what is best for Hudson and what we can do to make his life better.

huge belly– the day before induction

7. I love my husband more than I ever have. It is such an incredible feeling to go through this process with your best friend.

8. I cannot imagine loving another child as much as I love Hudson.

9. I won’t have to know what that’s like for a while!

10. I want Hudson to be at least 2 years old before there’s another baby. And I want to lose 20 pounds and enjoy being 20 pounds lighter before I even think about gaining 40 pounds of pregnancy weight.

11. I’ve tried to stay the “same old Erin” with a baby as I was before I had a baby. I think this is completely impossible. I can’t go for a night out and just let loose and relax. I’m thinking about my child.

12. But I like to think that I’m still fun.

13. Pregnancy and breast feeding make your hair grow a mile a minute!

14. I appreciate my girlfriends more than ever. There are so many opportunities to make this statement in your life, but when you have kids, your life is about someone else and much less about you. Your girlfriends will always make it about you when so many others make it about the baby. I realize I may sound selfish by saying this, but it’s true. It is so nice to have girls to talk with– and you talk the same way you did with them with a baby as you did when you were 20 years old and staying up until 2 a.m.

15. I can do anything! Your parents always tell you that you can do anything you put your mind to, but it’s true. I am a wimp and I birthed a 9 lb 6 oz baby. I take care of him all day long. I experienced 2.5 months of sleepless nights. I did all of that! I can do anything!

16. “You can fight a bear for a little while.” This is something my grandfather always said to my mom and then she said it to me. It’s so true. You can go through some hard stuff as long as you know it won’t last forever. Sleepless nights don’t last forever. Pain from a tough delivery doesn’t last forever. Feelings of “what am I doing” fade and you become the most knowledgeable person about your child. Mothers know exactly what I’m talking about.

17. This motherhood road that I’m walking down and feeling my way through, is the most exciting, most challenging, and most rewarding thing I’ve ever done.

I get a lot of emails asking what I think about certain baby products and asking what we used for bottles, baby spoons, or strollers. Here are the answers to all of your baby product questions! I’m also going to do another post about the nursery and where we got a lot of those items and a post about baby clothes, for everyone that has asked.

(Disclaimer: I was not paid to promote any of these products and haven’t received any free baby items in exchange for this post.)

And for those that aren’t interested in baby gear, here’s a picture of my beautiful boy! He was dedicated to the Lord at church on Sunday in a very sweet baby dedication service. There were 42 babies dedicated!

Necessities

Boogie Wipes- These things are amazing. I first found them at Nordstrom, but they also sell them in the first aid section at Babies ‘R Us. I like to buy the ones with saline in them. They are so soft on little runny noses, but they don’t just wipe the nose. They also help stop the runny nose problem with the saline.

Halo Sleep Sack- We stopped swaddling Hudson when he was 4 months old and grew out of the blankets, then grew out of the Woombie. We switched to a Halo Sleep Sack so he could be covered and warm, but still have his arms free. The blanket is like a little sleeping bag and it can’t get tangled up around his face. It’s safe and it helps me to rest easier at night.

Packin Smart- These little goodies are containers that hold your baby’s snacks when you’re on the go. Your baby won’t be eating little puffs or yogurt melts until they’re 7-9 months old, but the Packin Smart is a great way to bring snacks in the diaper bag.

Burp Cloths- I love 3 Marthas and Swaddle Designs burp cloths. I also bought a big pack of cloth diapers and my mom sewed borders onto them for us to use as burp cloths.’

Bottles- Dr. Browns

Baby Spoons- Gerber

Saline Spray- Little Noses misting spray. It clears my baby boy right up when his nose is stopped up.

Toys

Fisher Price Little Superstar Sing-Along Stage- This toy lights up, sings, plays music so you can sing along, and it has a mirror. Hudson really loves it.

Fisher Price Little Superstar 2-in-1 Singing Band Walker- This is a lot like the Sing-Along Stage, but it’s a walker. Hudson can either sit and play or he can stand and walk behind it.

Evenflo Jump and Go (until 7 months)- He loved this thing until he was just too big to use it anymore. We started using it around 4 months and then he really learned to jump around 6 months. It was so much fun to just sit there and watch him bounce for half an hour!

Evenflo Exercauser (until 7 months)- We started using this at 4 months and he loved it immediately. He always liked being in it, but when he started sitting up he stopped tolerating being confined.

Vullie Sophie la Girafe- We still love Sophie. Hudson has four teeth now and he’s working on two more, so Sophie gets a lot of use!

Entertainment

Baby Einstein DVDs- These people are genius. The creators of Baby Einstein need a medal from mommies everywhere. Hudson sees the little Baby Einstein caterpillar and he goes nuts! Then he is mesmerized. I have videos for 3 months, 6 months, and 9 months. And each one just gets a little more advanced. Love them.

Praise Baby CDs- I don’t love the Praise Baby DVDs. They just don’t hold his attention. I love the music, but Hudson doesn’t stop to watch the DVD. But he will calm down in the car as soon as he hears Praise Baby playing.

Travel and Gear

Graco Pack ‘n Play- Now we use the Pack ‘n Play as a play pen and it is great. When I need to get dressed in the morning, Hudson hangs out in the pack ‘n play in my room and entertains himself so I can get myself together. We also travel with it and use it as a crib when we’re on the road. Such a great investment.

Stroller- We are still loving our BOB Stroller Strides stroller so much. You hardly have to push the thing. It is such a smooth ride and we absolutely love taking it with us. Even though it has been recalled, we like using our MacLaren Triumph stroller for quick trips or when we fly. So far, we haven’t chopped our fingers off.

I think the biggest concern is always whether your baby will like a certain toy or not or if you’ll spend tons of money on something that never gets used. We have had things that have bombed out at our house, but the items listed above are our favorites.

Please let me know if you have any questions and I’ll be happy to answer them.

I’m amazed every day by his new little activities and milestones. He masters something and moves on to the next thing. He is constantly into everything and pushes the boundaries as only a little boy can when his mommy is wrapped around his finger. He is crawling everywhere, pulling up on everything, and successfully transferring from piece of furniture to another piece of furniture. Holding him back is no longer an option!

I am not wishing for him to walk at all. I know he’ll do it in his own time and we encourage him all the time. But I know that once he starts walking, it’s over. He’s off and I can’t stop him! He’s already so adventurous and constantly toppling over or bonking his head on something. He got his first shiner yesterday on the chair leg. We keep asking if there’s any way he can wear a helmet. But he rarely cries when he falls and when he does cry, we know that it must have hurt really bad.

He loves meeting new people and he especially loves seeing friends that he recognizes. He is so enthusiastic and gets his little legs moving when he sees something he’s excited about. He screams with excitement when I start a Baby Einstein video. He starts hollering if I fix him a bottle. Hudson is still a little sad when I drop him off at the nursery, but not because he doesn’t love the nursery. He just doesn’t want his mommy to leave.

He loves music. He absolutely loves to bounce and dance. He hears music and immediately bobs up and down. It’s all that jamming I did when I was pregnant with him.

The doctor wanted him to have 32 ounces of formula every day until he turned 9 months old. She told us to hold off on three meals per day until his 9 month birthday, too. So now that he’s 9 months, we’ll be starting the stage 3 foods and gradually introducing table food. We’ve been having breakfast and supper at the high chair and now we’ll add lunch to it. He is such a great eater and I’m so thankful for that.

He has completely mastered the challenging task of picking up little Gerber Puffs and Yogurt Melts and putting them in his mouth. It’s his new favorite thing to do. I know he’ll love adding table food to his diet.

I’m sure you’ve all seen that he has 4 teeth now, but his 5th has already popped through. He is working on one more bottom teeth, and the next two top teeth are right there. I’m so excited because this means he’ll be able to cut his meat with his teeth and I won’t be as worried about giving him chunky food.

He says “da-da-da-da” but we can’t tell that he’s saying “da-da” in response to seeing his Daddy. He does, however, say “ba-ba” when he sees his bottle. Pretty sure he knows exactly what he’s saying there. The boy clearly doesn’t miss a meal.

At 9 months old, Hudson weighs 25 lbs and measures 30 inches long. He’s no longer above the 98th percentile. Now he’s in the 95th and 96th percentiles. I guess that crawling is causing him to plateau a little bit. He’s just burning calories left and right!

He’s still such an amazing sleeper, and for that we are so blessed. He goes to bed at 7 p.m. and wakes up at 7 a.m. He takes two naps (sometimes three) every day for about an hour a piece.

He recognizes the word “no” and isn’t sure he likes it. Sometimes he’ll hear it and stop whatever he’s doing, but then goes back to it a couple of seconds later. I’ll say “no” again and he’ll stop. He’s just seeing how far he can go. Then we’ve had the tantrums. I’ll say no and he won’t touch anymore. And he never touches, but I keep saying no, and then he just falls apart. It’s so hard being a baby.

He’s such a happy, funny, little boy and we’re just so excited about each new day and each new milestone. I cannot believe how quickly time flies. I know I said that already, but during those early days when I just cried and cried because I was overwhelmed, tired, and just full of love? Those days will be over so quickly and the really fun days of playing with your crawling, jumping, wiggle worm are just around the corner.

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

My picks for best dressed:

Rachel McAdams in Elie Saab

Love the silhouette and the print in muted colors. Her hair color is fantastic (though she can pull off every hair color) and it is the perfect cool blonde for the cool blues in the dress. Bravo!

Elizabeth Banks in Versace

I’m not a huge fan of hers, but I love this color, again, and think it looks amazing with her hair and eye colors. The fit is impeccable and so flattering on her.

Vera Farmiga in Marchesa

The color. The ruffles. The lines moving in all the right places.

Cameron Diaz in Oscar de la Renta

So I love this gown. As in I want to wear it now. I love her hair, makeup, and nails. But? I don’t think it looks very “Cameron Diaz.” But I love it.

I need to get to work on my Netflix queue and add some of these films. I’ve seen a handful of the nominees, but with a baby, it’s hard to just spend an entire Saturday at the movies.

The John Hughes tribute was wonderful. I grew up on these movies (as most kids did) and I’m so happy that he got a proper tribute from so many of the youngsters that he made famous. Those are the movies that you sit around and watch over and over again with your friends.

Who topped your best dressed list? What were the highlights of last night’s show for you?

We made plans to go last Tuesday. We got up, drove across town to The Little Gym and when we were about a mile away, I heard Hudson throwing up. In his car seat. So I stopped the car, cleaned him up as best I could, and we drove home to finish cleaning up and rest off the bug. The bug lasted a couple of days and was pretty awful, but he’s all better now.

So this past Tuesday we were even more excited to finally get to the Bugs class at Little Gym!

Hudson was a little worried when we first walked in. He kept looking back at me to make sure I wasn’t leaving him, but after about 10 minutes, he realized that I was right next to him and we were just going to play! He had such a good time and ended up screaming (with excitement) the entire time. He has started bobbing and bouncing to music. The mats in the gym are a great way to just let the kids play and romp.

If there’s a class in your area, I highly recommend going. We had been working on patty cake and clapping hands. Hudson is fascinated when I do it, but always leaves his hands in tight fists when I try to help him do it. Now he’s clapping his hands! Not often, but he does it.

He has also officially mastered the act of grabbing his Gerber Yogurt Melts and putting them in his mouth. It’s so exciting! (Yes, I’m a mother and I find little things exciting.)

Not sure if I can owe the success of these recent milestones to Little Gym, but I definitely think it helped. In his class, we worked on flexibility and stretching, forward and backward rolls, playing with balls and bubbles, and just socializing with other children. We’re already excited for next week.

This is his instructor, Mrs. Emily. She was lots of fun and was obviously a cheerleader in a former life!

]]> http://blueeyedbride.com/2010/03/04/the-littlest-gymnast/feed/ 33 http://blueeyedbride.com/2010/03/03/a-bloggers-right-to-privacy/ http://blueeyedbride.com/2010/03/03/a-bloggers-right-to-privacy/#comments Wed, 03 Mar 2010 04:43:28 +0000 Blue-Eyed Bride http://blueeyedbride.com/?p=1847 I have been tossing around the idea of writing this post for a few days, but a few of my favorite blogs have gone on hiatus as a result of something like this, so I’ve decided to come out with it.

I don’t like to blog about blogging. I like to blog about my life. But a big part of my life has become blogging, the blog community, friends I’ve made in real life as a result of blogging, you get the point.

When I first started blogging, I was writing and never knew if anyone (other than me) would read it. I knew my parents would check it if I told them about it. But I was mostly writing about wedding plans and my life leading up to the wedding. The URL to my former blog was both of our last names at blogspot dot com. The name of the blog was “Erin and Todd.” If you Googled my name, the first thing to come up was that blog. So I’ve never been anonymous.

A few months after I started blogging, people I didn’t know started to read. This thought had never crossed my mind. I just thought we’d have a little couple blog and then a little family blog as our family grew. The readers that I had never met before started to become my friends and the blog grew and grew into something I never imagined. I’m not saying my blog is huge, but I’m saying I’ve come in contact with so many people across the country (and some on the other side of the world) from this and that just blows my mind.

But while there are many strangers that read, there are also a lot of people I know in real life that read. There are a lot of people I know in real life that read my blog. But I don’t know that they read my blog until some time later. I get a random email every so often from an old friend or acquaintance and I hear they’ve been reading my blog for months.

Times like this sometimes make me wish I’d thought about the future of blogging in the beginning and originally created an anonymous blog. I’ve never been able to vent about things that are very personal to me, or complain about a job. I’m not sure how much of that I would do if I wasn’t anonymous, but I am very careful about the things that I say.

I feel like I’ve been really candid about my life in the last year– I gave honest thoughts about pregnancy (and how I don’t love being pregnant) and about having lots of difficulty with labor and delivery and the aftermath. But other than the occasional, “Hudson is really fussy today” you will never hear me say a negative word about my child. I don’t think that makes me dishonest. And I don’t think that means that I look fake or that my life looks like a perfect cake walk. He’s my son and someday he’ll be able to read. I don’t need to vent about my family to the world. I don’t care if other bloggers do it, but these are decisions I’ve made.

I have mentioned that I had difficulty healing after Hudson was born. But just because I’m a blogger, I don’t think I’m required to disclose the full details of those events. I’ve said that if you email me and want to know, I will tell you what happened. But I don’t need my whole town knowing my business– much less all of the interwebs.

As bloggers, and blog readers, we all have a right to decide what we’ll share and what we won’t share. Some blogs are centered around a specific topic. Mine happens to be a hodge podge of my life and things that I’m thinking and things that I’m liking. I choose to keep some parts of our life private. There need to be some things that are sacred only to my family.

cartoon via here

It’s also important to know that many of my “real life friends” don’t know everything there is to know either. Even though I’m a blogger and put my life out there, I am still a private person. Believe it or not.

I feel like there is a standard that has been set for bloggers (by other bloggers, maybe) to provide full disclosure. Where someone vacations, what someone purchases, where someone lives, what their kids wear, what they eat, their political views, the size of their diamond, how they choose to give birth, what they name their child… none of these things are a reason to hound on someone. At the risk of sounding extremely cheesy, I want to point out that bloggers are people, too, and there is a person behind your computer screen that wrote the words that you read. And it is that person’s right to decide what they want to share and what they don’t want to share.

Our blogs are our personal scrapbooks in this age of technology and maybe we just want to point out the highlights so we remember them someday when we’re looking back. Maybe the really bad stuff will never leave our minds so it’s just not great to put it in writing.

Most bloggers, though, blog for themselves. Not for the readers. And sometimes bloggers answer questions from readers and address comments from readers. But for the most part, it’s about whatever they want to talk about.

Here’s my point… we all need to take it easy on people that blog. It’s much easier to blog when no one is reading. It’s hard to put it all out there, so it’s nice to know that you can keep some part of your life to yourself and deal with things in your own way. It’s not secretive, but it’s sacred. There are families and loved ones to protect. Private conversations to have and keep private. Keeping parts of your life private doesn’t make you phony or pretentious. It’s just a choice. And it usually is a choice based on the people we love in our daily lives.

I love sharing my life on this blog. The community has been so wonderful and supportive. I just hate seeing people torn down and lose the joy in blogging.

Here’s to everyone finding the joy in blogging!

My dear friend, and sponsor of Blue-Eyed Bride, Ashley Brooke has created some adorable Easter cards to send out to your loved ones. You can choose from the cross or the two more personalized designs. I’ll be sending out the design with the cross on them. So cute!

SHOP HERE for the cards.

Cross in Bloom

Hello Spring

Pastel Heaven (can be personalized with your hair color, hair length, and skin color)

Hair and skin color options

Pray for Cohen

My dear friend Megan of In This Wonderful Life is expecting a precious baby boy.

(Megan in the grey sweater, me next to her, Mrs. Preppy- holding Baby M, and Megan from Tales of the Trees)

But so far, things with Cohen haven’t been going as they’ve dreamed they would. Please go here and read Cohen’s story and add them all to your prayer list. Amazing things happen when God’s people come together to pray. You can also grab the “praying for Cohen” button from the sidebar of her blog.

Today is Todd’s 30th birthday. To him, it doesn’t feel any different to be turning 30 and to no longer be 29, but it is a remarkable day for him.

Because 30 years ago today, the most important person in my life was born. And two years later, I was born and our lives moved forward to bring us to the point where we would meet.

Most of you don’t know Todd, but I want everyone to know that he truly is the kindest, smartest, wittiest, and most patient man I know. He has always been able to make me laugh and his quick wit never ceases to leave me amazed and saying, “how did he come up with that so quickly?”

His love for his family is the kind that you’d want any guy to use a model and his work ethic is admirable. Now, for the past 8 months, Todd has been an incredible father to our precious son.

Todd is a great example of what a loving husband and father should be. He is respectful to everyone he comes in contact with and loves his son unconditionally.

In fact, two nights ago, he got to show how unconditionally he loves his son when Hudson got sick when I was at choir practice and Todd had to clean it up all by himself. That’s a job for a mommy, but I was so proud of him for handling it.

But look at these two. Are they not the spitting image of each other? (It’s okay for some of you to say he looks just like me! Even though we know that’s not true.)

I’m so thankful to have such a great partner and best friend to walk with through life.

We celebrated on Tuesday night by going to the Jimmy Buffett concert and we’ll be celebrating tonight with dinner at Mr. Friendly’s and dessert at Garibaldi Cafe (almond basket- yes!).

We’re meeting Todd’s parents and grandmother for lunch today, so he’ll be surrounded by love all day long. Happy 30th, TC!

Thank you all so much for the amazing comments on yesterday’s post. I realize that I’m not alone, and no matter what big life events we’re looking forward to, we’ve all struggled with contentment issues.

Today’s post is a little lighter.

For years, I had a huge 5 inch binder that we filled with wedding inspiration. Things that I liked from Martha Stewart Weddings and InStyle Weddings starting in 1999 and going until 2008. I tore out my favorite ideas, gowns, shoes, flowers, cakes, stationery, put each page in a page protector and filed it in my binder. I still have the binder, but I don’t take it out and look at it nearly as often.

These days, I keep a home inspiration binder. I print off and tear things out of Elle Decor, Domino (still missing Domino), and Southern Living and file it away by room categories in a 5 inch notebook. I’ve posted some of my favorite dream rooms and ideas before, here’s the house I’m currently coveting.

It is the Southern Living 2009 Idea House in Hemlock Springs, Georgia. To me, it is just the right mix of bold and understated. Formal and livable. Beautiful and comfortable. Relaxing and show-stopping.

Hopefully, our next house will have a formal living room where I will not have a television, but I will have my mother’s baby grand piano. (Thanks, mom!) I’ve always shied away from bold prints, but this room gives me courage. Love it and it’s at the top of the list of room inspiration. I have furniture that I would just recover to achieve this look.

This next room was actually used as the master bedroom in Hemlock Springs, but I would take one of my guest beds and recover the headboard and go for this look. I love having a white, calming, hotel-like guest bedroom, but with two guest bedrooms (until another wee one comes along) we can do this. It’s so beautiful, happy, and serene.

And last, but not least, I want our master bathroom and our dining room to be done in a big, bold, graphic wallpaper. I’ve never been a huge wallpaper fan, but this changes my mind.

There are my current beautiful home obsessions. Any tips on other sources of beautiful homes?

I kind of look at my life like a scrapbook and it needs to have certain pictures in it. Not for anyone else, but for me to feel like I “checked that box.” The scrapbook, in my mind, looks something like this: get a driver’s license, get a car (used, new doesn’t matter), graduate high school, go to college, turn 21, graduate college, go to grad school, finish grad school, start a job, meet “the one”, get engaged, get married, buy a house, have a baby, have another baby, have another baby…. Then what? What do you wait for and wish for next?

When Todd and I were serious and knew that we’d get married someday, I spent so many months waiting and wishing that we’d get engaged. I knew that we would someday and that he loved me and wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. But I became obsessed with getting engaged and having the label to go with it. I think mostly so I could move onto the next exciting thing in my life with him.

Why do I put my life into such big milestones? Why can’t I live each day just for what it is and be happy with where I am right now? This was a recent Bible study topic in our girls study of Priscilla Shirer’s “Can We Talk?”

My current contentment issue is with our house situation. I just kind of feel like we’re waiting and praying and I’m becoming impatient. I don’t know why I want the change so badly. I mean, I know why I want to move, but I need to just wait and see what the Lord wants us to do while I sit back, pray, and enjoy my life.

My other thought that has recently begun creeping into my mind is the thought of having another baby. I’m definitely not ready for another baby, but I’ve always thought that I wanted my kids to be two years apart in age. Hudson will be a year old in June. I’d have to start thinking about getting pregnant soon after that in order to have a second baby by Hudson’s second birthday. It’s not something I really like to think about, so I don’t. But I do feel a little bit of pressure to think about the long run and what the best time frame to have a second child would be. And I have no idea if getting pregnant the second time around would be as easy as it was the first time. I don’t know what’s going to happen to my body after I have surgery in May. The thought of actually being pregnant just makes me tired, but I know that I want the precious reward at the end.

So why am I doing this? Why am I thinking and planning so much rather than just being still and content in my wonderful little life as it is?

After Hudson was born, my mom joked that I needed to take a break from big life events for a while. Actually, she wasn’t joking. Between ages 24 and 27, I got engaged, got married, and had a baby. That’s a lot to handle– and not just for me. It was a lot on the people that love me and helped take care of me, too.

People find their fulfillment through different things. I am a Christian and a child of God and find so much fulfillment from my relationship with Him. And I am very happy with my life. I can’t stress that enough. But I do feel like I’m always waiting for the next thing– and there may not be another “next big thing” for my life. There will be for my son’s life, but I’m hoping to not be one of those moms that lives her child’s life to find her happiness. I will be happy for him, but I don’t want his life events to become my identity.

And there are obviously the people, couples, and families that don’t want some of those milestones to happen in their lives. Not everyone wants kids or wants to get married. But maybe there’s something work-related that you’re waiting for.

Does anyone else do this? Do you feel like you’re constantly waiting for the next big thing to happen? What if there isn’t anything big that happens? Why isn’t the idea of waking up, living your daily life, and going to bed good enough?