Chillin at the Gator Den (slideshow)

With the help of Grandma Terry, we packed up and headed to Gainesville. Millie did great under the circumstanes. She slept most of the way. We stopped for 2 feedings. She seemed to like the car ride. Enjoy the pics!

Gator Game Day

We went to Sidebar today to watch the first Gator game of the season. Millie slept for the first 3 hours of the game and then was awake for the end. She was very responsive and enjoyed all the man-handling of Mat's friends. Enjoy the pictures!

Millie has been pretty fussy in the evenings. It's been since birth and we have been struggling ever since. Grandma Terry got a taste tonight! She starts up around 6 or 7pm and crying about a whole lot of nothing. We haven't figured out what is going on. She eats almost once an hour or 2 and is crying the rest of the time. She takes 15 min cat naps at the most. Could be 1000 things but it's hard to get her calmed down. She is sleeping when we put her for bed but we haven't really figured out what's going on in the evening time. It could be cause she is sleeping so much during the day? Who knows but we will keep troubleshooting!

Heading on our first vacation tomorrow to Florida! We will be there for a week.
We will have to say goodbye to Grandma Terry. She has been wonderful this week! We are sad to see her go!

Millie is trying to smile!

I can't stop thinking that Mat and I made one cute kid! We still look at her and are like, holy crap! We made a human! It's so surreal...still!!

Mat made up these cute "house rules" for Millie.
#1. No crying when your eyes are closed (insinuating sleeping)
#2. No shooting poo or pee at Daddy (or Mommy) when they are trying to change your diaper. She has done this one several times!

I am still amazed at how "easy" breastfeeding is going. So glad about that.

Millie is starting to smile. I haven't been able to catch her on camera yet. It's so quick and I don't know if she knows she is even doing it! I will get one soon I hope.

Millie has fallen in love with the mobile above her changing table. Sometimes we put her there just to entertain her or calm her down if she is crying. She loves watching the monkeys spin around and around. Her eyes follow the monkeys. Today she was cooing at them for like 10 mins.

She is rolling her head left and right to see where certain sounds are coming from. She also follows you around the room with her eyes.

She is growing up so fast!

Today was another lazy day in Atlanta. Mat and I checked out another daycare this morning, Canterbery School. They have an opening so that is promising. It's the last daycare I have on my list to see. We are checking out a couple nanny or nanny-share situations. The ladies went for some errand getting a new coffee maker and other little things. Grandma Terry gave Millie a bath which she seemed to enjoy.

We took Millie to Trader Joes. I took her there a couple days ago and she flipped out. I didn't know what to do so I took her out of the car seat and played with her a bit. That didn't help so I just got her back into her seat and got outta the store ASAP! I figured we would try it again since Grandma Terry would be there. She did great until the end and she had had enough of Trader Joes. So no more trips to Trader Joes for Millie! Guess she doesn't like it!

Millie the Philly

Today Grandma Terry watched Millie so Mat and I could go and see some Daycare centers. We went to Kidzz First and Sheltering Arms. They are both close to our house which is nice. But we had problems with both. We are still figuring out what to do. We have a couple more to see tomorrow and the next day. Hopefully we will make a decision soon. It's a bit stressful since my days are numbered until I go back to work. Things will work out I am sure.


Sounded like Terry and Millie had a fun day of hanging out at home! We got an interested package in the afternoon. A trojan horse of sorts! Check out the pictures! A couple of coworkers also stopped by to meet Millie. I think Millie fell in love with Nicki's British accent! She thought it sounded familiar from Auntie Pavan! We all went to Bhojanic for dinner and Millie was great until the end. I don't think Indian food was her thing. Her diapers should be interesting tomorrow!

Comments

It has come to my attention that my comment feature has been turned off (Thank you Andrea!!)! I don't know how I did that but I turned it back on! Feel free to leave a comment to me, Mat or Millie! Let me know if you would like directions on how to do that!

1 month check up

Today we packed up and headed 1 mile to the doctors office. Dr. D gave Millie a clean bill of health. She is a healthy 8 pounds, 6 oz!!! Can you believe it? We had no idea she had grown that much. But we are excited for her! Her ugly butt rash came back a couple days ago so we have to continue with the ointment. But Dr. D didn't seem to think it was anything serious. We discussed her upcoming immunization shots, I am dreading those for many reasons. We go back at the end of next month!

Hopefully Mat and I will be able to go out and look at those other daycare centers tomorrow. If not, we will hire Grandma Terry for a few hours while we get some business done.

Sunday photoshoot

Today was a nice easy Sunday. After lunch with Uncle MO and Fluffy, we did a little photo shoot, see the pictures below. Millie had a great afternoon of lounging around awake. She is so pleasant when she is just hanging out and looking around. She doesn't need to be entertained. She tends to be a little bit more fussy at night, after 7pm or so.
I made some homemade baby wipes which was much easier than I thought it would be. Hopefully the will work and won't get stinky. They sure smell nice right now!
We are getting ready for Grandma Terry's arrival! She will get here on Tuesday evening.



Enjoy the slideshow!

One month old today!

No cake or ice cream but today Millie turned one month old! I am sure by 11 months this might get old but so far it's kinda fun celebrating your one month bithday!

Posh, but too posh?

Millie and I went for a walk this morning. It was a good walk, nice and cool. It's been so nice here in the past couple days. After our walk, Millie and i got ready and headed out for a lunch date with Antoinette and her son Will at 6 Feet Under. She was great until the very end and she had enough so we left. But she zonked out in the car and was nice and pleasant.

After Mat came home we went to interview a inhome daycare provider here in our neighborhood. Megan with Posh Tot Daycare. She is VERY close and seemed truly wonderful. She has a beautiful home that is open and spacious. Mat and I would have no problem leaving Millie there tomorrow if we needed to. Megan was very sweet, open, and honest. However her prices and way out of our price range. So we are going to have to talk about some things, see what we can do. We are going to a couple more daycare centers tomorrow. We will see where we stand after that.

Tonight we went over to Katie and Mikes to watch a movie poolside. We watched Oceans 11, the original. Millie did really well and seemed to enjoy the movie and the music.

Out and about around town

Today was an exciting day!

#1. Millie slept for 7 hours last night!! Woohoo! Maybe Neil and Lila spiked her bottle but she slept and it was really nice to get a full night sleep!

#2. Millie and I got up early to go on this stroller walk with a mom's group at Atlantic Station. Since she slept so long, her feedings were a bit off. I was worried because the walk fell in between her feedings. But she slept right through and we fed after the walk. The walk was less than a mile which made me question why we got up so early. Next time, I don't think there will be a next time. The real next time is going to be a walk around our neighborhood.

#3. We went for our first play date! I met Trish (daughter Kara) and Jen (son Jack) at the breastfeeding meeting I went to last week. Our kiddies are around the same age so we decided to meet up on the off week of the breastfeeding meeting. So today was the first play date! We all met at Jen's house along with Jen's friend Shanna (daughter Katie). It was really fun. The kids didn't do much playing amongst themselves but the mommies had a good time socializing!

That was our day!

Millie hits up CNN for some lovin'

Cuz arrival

The government now recognizes Millie!!! She got a SS card!
Late last night, Neil and Lila arrived to meet Miss Millie. The beat Tropical Storm Fay while on vacation in Vieques and San Juan. They stopped through Atlanta on their way home to Philly. It's been great to see them.


Millie also took her first tour of CNN. She did great and was a happy baby for the most part. I needed to go back to work to do a couple things. Millie needs to be on our insurance and I needed the form to do so. She got to meet most of my fabulous coworkers. It was actually Mat's first time back to CNN since he left in 2003.

Chow this baby!

Good day today! Mat, Millie and I sat around all day. My friend Manashi stopped by to meet Millie. I don't think we hardly moved from the couch but said yes to dinner plans. We met Angel, Amanda and Amanda's sister Victoria for dinner at Chow Baby. It was a great evening and Millie was perfect. We stayed probably a little bit too long so we were late on her feeding. Then we got caught in some traffic from the Falcons game. Millie was not happy and was letting us know it! We thought about pulling into a parking lot feed but just thought we could make it home. She was really really upset and was letting us know that we screwed up. We are still learning Millie!

I haven't been feeling too well but hopefully I will feel better tomorrow. If not, I will call the doctor on Monday.

Enjoy today's slideshow. I took some pictures of Millie and Mat. Our neighbors brought over a lovely gift today. Take a look at the card that our neighbor Linda made us. It's adorable! It's the a picture card that she crated. I love it!

Sidebar turns 5

Today was kinda boring. My one goal was to send out some pictures of Millie to my Grandma Viva and Dona, maybe do some more thank you notes. I did the mailings by noon so I felt I accomplished something! Millie and I then geared up and went for a long walk this morning. It's tough to schedule these walks. You know it's going to take some time and by the time you are ready to go, then you realize that you might not make it back before her next feeding! But we did, just a little late. We walked backwards from the route Mat and I did yesterday. The sidewalks are awful around here and I hadn't even noticed. They actually are nice sidewalks but people used those octagon tiles and they are super bumpy when using a stroller. Millie didn't seem to mind at all. But we ended up walking in the street alot to save poor Millie from getting shaken baby syndrome.

Yes Mom, she was buckled/strapped in every way possible!

After we got back, Siler passed out on the floor, we did a quick feeding and she was asleep again. We both got ready and actually made it out of the house on time, heading to Sidebar for the party. But I didn't get far before I realized that I had forgot her pumped milk bottle and my camera. So I went back for that and then headed to Sidebar for the party.

The party was fun. The company was fabulous. KC and Mark (Amy's parents) were there and they got to meet Millie. Mark happened to be my house when I announced my pregnancy to all my girlfriends. KC was the one who made that darling announcement pictured below. They have gotten Millie lots of cute things! Amanda's sister Victoria is intown and she was there. Angel, Katie and Mike were there too. We took lots of photos that we could use for our facebook pages! Millie was so good despite the loud music. She woke up, ate, then went right back to sleep. I was a little weary about everyone touching Millie so as soon as I got home, I washed off her head and hands. Hopefully she didn't get too germy!

Sling day

I had lots of little things to do today. I had a list and I got about 1/2 of it done. Mat and I went on a long walk this morning. It was hot outside and we are both outta shape. But it was nice to be outside and Siler I know appreciated it.

I got a baby sling, thanks to Grandma Terry. I wanted to try it out. So on our trip to the post office, I put Millie in the sling. It
worked out fine and I didn't have to carry the infant seat which was nice. And i didn't have to get out the stroller, also nice. It worked so well that I thought I would try it out at Target. It was fine until I wanted to try on some clothes. I was looking for something new for Sidebar's anniversary party Friday. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with Millie. I went in the "family dressing room" because I do technically have a family now. I took off the sling and laid it on the seat in the dressing room. Then put Millie on the sling, on the bench. It worked out perfectly and she just continued to sleep like nothing was happening. If only she could have seen her Mommy try and squeeze into clothes that didn't fit her!!! But I did find a shirt that showed off my current assets and purchased it. I overheard people commenting on the tiny baby. And look at the baby. And awwwwwing at her as we walked by in the sling. I think it was a success.

Millie and Mommy

Millie chillin...then cryin

I love this dress

I love this dress. It was a gift from Ellyn Jennings. Hopefully I will get to take a monthly picture of Millie as she grows into the dress. You can read about the dress on the first slide from the slideshow below.


Today was kind of a lazy day. We had a friend from work, Beth, came over to visit which was really nice. Millie and I were supposed to go for a walk with a stroller group but she was tired and I was even more tired. Plus it looked like it was going to rain. So we will try again next week.

Check out Sidebar's website for Millie's debut!!!
www.sidebaratlanta.com

Hanging out with Daddy -- 3 weeks old today!

Do we look the same????








Hmmmmm, what's up with all this back hair??

As soon as Mat got home this morning, Mom and Dad packed up and left us to do this "parenting" thing al alone. Let's see if Mat and I can stand on our own two feet! I think I can pat myself on the back for making it through my first weekend alone. She is eating and growing everyday. It almost seems as if she is doubling in weight! We head to the doctor at the end of this month.

I am going to try and go to a breastfeeding class tomorrow morning. Not because I need the help but I think it would be good to get out of the house and converse with other new mommies. Plus, I have some questions about how much she is eating. How often she is eating. Etc, etc.

On Wednesday I am going to try and go for a walk with another mommie group. Maybe we will met some moms/babies that live around this area. It will be nice just to go for a walk. The weather here has been amazing. Mom and I went for a walk last night and it was soooo comfy in the evening. And if you keep moving, then no bug bites!





To see all the pictures, check out the slideshow

Mat and Kenzi baby pictures

Here are some pictures of me when I was a tater tot. The one with Kari, I am 7 months old. The one by myself, I am a chubby 6 weeks old. And the last one is me at 1 year old. Do I look like Millie?


































































I probably don't but she certainly looks like her daddy!! See his baby slideshow here...

birth announcement

A beautiful birth announcement from KC Faessler! This scanned copy does not do it justice. You will just have to come and see it in real life! It's really beautiful! She is so sweet to have made this for Millie. Thank you KC!

Auntie Caroline's pictures

Enjoy Auntie Caroline's pictures from her trip to meet Millie
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2AZMW7Zi3bMncw

Close up photo shoot

Still trying to get out of the house about once a day. Mom and I headed to the mall today for a couple quick returns. Millie came with us and she was great. Mom made a yummy marinera sauce with Mat's tomatoes. It was very good! I am going to miss all of the good cooking! I am going to miss everything about mom and dad! They leave on Monday so I am trying to mental prepare for that.

We took some close ups of Millie this morning that turned out great. Here are some of my favorites and then the slideshow has all the pictures in it.

Photo shoot #2

Here are some of my favorites from today but click on the slideshow to see them all.

Bath Day and lounging on the couch

Today Millie got another bath and she seemed to like it!






Then she spent a lazy afternoon on the couch. Doing what her daddy does best!



































Click here for the slideshow...

Bath Day / Morning on the couch

Monday Check up

Monday was Millie's 2 week check up. We brought the staff left over Millie cake. We thought maybe they would wave the co-pay but it didn't work out. They were still pleased to have some sweets. She had another great time at the doctors office. Other than the temperature rectal check of course. Millie is 7 pounds now so that is great news! Her eyes are working together so the doctor was happy to see that. And she seems to want to roll over or be on her side so maybe a roll-over is in her near future. She has a bit of a yeasty butt so we got some ointment and have been using it daily. It looks much better already.




After she got home, Millie did a little photo shoot with Papa D. He hadn't taken many pictures with her. She seemed to have liked it!

Millie is sleeping well. She gave us a couple great stretches of 5 hours Monday night which was wonderful for Mat and I.

Mat leaves for Vegas this Thursday. I am getting nervous about doing everything on my own but my parents will still be here through the weekend. So hopefully things will still be going smoothly by the time Mat gets back on Sunday.

Goodbye Uncle Dan and Auntie Caroline

Dan and Caroline left today to drive home to NYC. They were gracious enough to drive down from the big city with the cradle. Many of Mat's family members have slept in this special cradle that was made by Mat's Uncle Andy. It fits perfectly in our living room and she sleeps in it while hanging out in the downstairs.

Goodbye to the Tainows

Today we had to say goodbye to the Tainows. We had a great time with everyone and we are so blessed that they got to come and meet Millie. Can't wait to start travelling with Millie! Enjoy the slideshow!

Millie Party Weekend (photos)

What a fabulous weekend! Jon and Terry came into town on Thursday. We had a nice evening of holding and staring at Millie. On Friday the rest of the family arrived. Great Grandma Gilda and Great Grandpa Harold were so excited to get here to meet Millie. We all had a fabulous dinner at Stella. It was Millie's first outing. She handled it well and slept the entire time.

Saturday was the big party. We had lots of family and friends come over to the house for some Millie and grub. Many hadn't met Millie before so there were lots of first timers. She was very happy all day an enjoyed being passed around to everyone. The food was great and the company even better. Thank you to everyone who came over! This little one is very loved by so many!

On Sunday, Kari, Jarrod, Chloe, Courtney and Great Grandma Norris left for Ohio. We had a great week with them and they had a great vacation with us. We were so glad that they got to come down to visit.

The rest of us went to brunch before everyone had to leave, Millie's 2nd outting. She did great again staying awake for most of the brunch. Seems like she likes to go to out for food just like Mat and I.

We have another doctors appointment on Monday so we will see how much Millie has grown!