Tomorrow's the big day...

I have been dreading this day for the past three months...

Just as I'm getting used to being home with Alli and my work life feels like a distant memory, I come to realize that my maternity leave is coming to an end. The thought of waking up at 5 a.m. and hurrying off to work after being up throughout the night with a hungry baby seems impossible... but this will be my reality as of tomorrow! Hopefully, Alli decides to give us a good night's rest tonight, similar to last night, where she slept from 9pm to 4:45am! After that almost 8 hours, I really do feel refreshed and rested.

Although there are many negative and pouty things I could say about returning to work, (boo hoo for me), I'm trying to stay positive about the whole experience. There's no point in being a negative person... Alli will be able to sense the negativity and tell something's wrong, which can't have a good impact on her! So, I'm trying to think of the positives... like seeing my friends at work again, taking care of sick kiddos and the wonderful way that makes me feel when I know how appreciative they & their parents are, and letting Alli meet other babies her age and experience new things outside of being cooped up in the house with me for the past three months!

So here's to a great start to a new chapter in our lives.. the world of daycare & a working mommy! Just hoping that someday she'll be proud of her nurse mom and know that what I do at work is important too... and makes the time we do get to spend together that much more meaningful! You can't beat only working 3 days a week too.. at least she doesn't have to be in daycare 5 days a week like some kids. See, another positive! I can do this positive thing better than I thought =)


Here's Alli Ru in her scrubs... cheering her mommy on!

Professional Driver - Closed Course.

Don't you just hate that? You're watching a car commercial and the manufacturer is trying to market a vehicle that makes you so envious of its capabilities that you'd trade in your current vehicle for the one they're trying to sell you. Only, you happen to notice the little disclaimer in the corner stating something to the effect of:
"Professional Driver. Closed Course"
"Professional Driver. Do not attempt."
"Professional Driver. In your dreams sucka!"

Let's be honest with ourselves, no one is a professional driver. Either that or the "professionals" don't have to drive to work during rush hour...

I just find it humorous that car makers are trying to showcase what their car can do, but warning you not to do it on your own. Isn't that the point of owning your own car? To do whatever you want in it? I mean, if that new Lexus LX4thousand or whatever can drift its way between 6 other luxury cars, doesn't that mean I can too?

OK, so my point is - follow your gut. If a car commercial looks too good to be true, it probably is. No one is a professional parent either, but there are enough parenting books out there to make you think that someone has figured it out. Well I got news for ya, they don't. They may have figured it out for their own child, but what works for some doesn't work for all. The books will say to put your child to sleep on their back, and you struggle for 6 weeks only to find out that they prefer to sleep on their stomach. The books will say that your child should be eating X ounces of milk by the X month, only to find out that your child has the metabolism of a hummingbird and has to eat every 90 minutes. The books will say that by this age, your child will likely be sleeping X hours per night - only to find out that your child sleeps way less (or more) than that.

Don't get me wrong, parenting books certainly can be helpful - but be sure to take them with a grain of salt. You'd be surprised how well you know your child, and how quickly you'll start using those parenting books as footrests.

So just remember - in real life there is no Professional Driver on a Closed Course, because parenting is just a bunch of amateurs on a wild ride.

What's in a name?

Many of you may not know why Alli's middle name is Ruah, or even how to pronounce it. It's just as it looks.... "roo-uh". Ruah Belle was my great-grandmother on my mom's side, or some of you may understand better as my grandma Lois's mother. We had a tough time deciding between Allison Belle or Allison Ruah, but figured since we're in the south, Alli Belle would be way too southern sounding :o) After all, we are Damn Yankees... Little did we know that 'Alli Ru' would catch on quickly as a cute little nickname, and it seems like Eric & I call her Ru more than anything else! I talked with my grandma the other day and it seems Ruah herself was actually born "Ruey" and changed it to Ruah later on. It's always fascinating to hear fun stories behind family names.

 It's also interesting to note that the Hebrew word for “spirit” is Ruah (meaning breath, air, or wind). Looks like we may have a spirited little girl on our hands!

We had decided if the baby was a girl, that we would use my family name, and a boy, use Eric's. So, I won out this time! But, we had also agreed now after Alli was born that no matter what sex baby M #2 ends up being, we'll still use Eric's family name. So you'll have to wait until that baby comes along to hear the story behind the name for him or her! (and no, this is not leading into a "we're pregnant" announcement! haha, we definitely aren't!)

But speaking of Ru or Roo... she has a lil namesake friend from Winnie the Pooh (which happened to be Dad-E's nickname as a child)...

and, we have decided this may be a cute Halloween costume for next year!

Getting ready for daycare: Part Two

Going crazy with stress - but trying to be calm about it all at the same time...
There's so much to think about, like:

-What if she runs out of bottles while she's there? I feel like a fool sending her there with 6 bottles or something... but she is a grazer and eats often... Will they put up with that there, or just let her cry?
-What if Eric forgets to pick her up? Now, I know what you're thinking... he's not an awful dad, he wouldn't do that! But it's going to be challenging to remember which days he took her as I don't work a consistent schedule. So, one week he may be taking her Mon, Tues, Fri... the next week Tues, Wed, Thurs... I made him a little calendar to put in his car with bright pink squares on the days he's supposed to get her so he remembers. And, he did a trial run to the daycare this morning, so cute... he is getting prepared!
-And speaking of my work... there's so much that has changed in the past 3 months I've been off. They've opened all 25 beds on our unit, started computer charting & computerized administering of meds... and on top of that, I'll have to find time to pump?!
-What if she gets RSV or an ear infection or some other horrible daycare acquired sickness? Or what if I bring something home from work? Lord knows I see many infectious kids on a daily basis. I can't imagine working with sick kids all day at work, then coming home to take care of my own sick baby all night. Talk about exhausting! Key point: WASH YOUR HANDS! :o)

and lastly, but most importantly,
-What if she cries the whole time at daycare, can they kick her out????

A Night Out

So last night, Eric & I went out to the After Work With Denison event... where DU Alumni gather in different cities all over the country on the same day. For being such a small school, it's crazy to see how active the alumni truly are. Most of you know I did not go there (no nursing school! and WSU gave me a great nursing education I might add!), but I was there just about every weekend for football games or track meets... so I feel like an honorary DU alum =)

Alli got to hang out at the Curry's (her first non-family babysitters!), and I couldn't be happier to have such great friends down here. Ryan & her husband Nicholas just adored Alli, and their kids Bennett & Addison read to her, tried to teach her things, and played with her until they wore her out! We are very thankful to have them in our lives! And it doesn't hurt that they have a boat too (hint hint for this summer!! haha)

We definitely had a great time meeting DU Alum that live in Charleston, and enjoying a night as "just us two" again. It was much needed and appreciated, so, thanks Curry's!!

Alli's 3 Months Old Today!

Where did the time go? Because I know for a fact that we didn't sleep through it... =)
It's truly amazing how time flies... so hard to believe that it's been 3 months since I was in that L&D room... about to give birth to little 7 lb. 2 oz. Allison Ruah Meibers.

In the past 3 months, Alli has gotten really active! Babbling and "talking" a LOT, especially if we talk back like we're carrying on a conversation. She's already got a lot to say, so I think we're in for it when she does start talking! She smiles a lot, giggles (which is adorable!!), and loves to STAND.  We obviously help hold her up, but she'd rather be standing than sitting, laying, anything. While she's standing, she picks up her feet like she's trying to walk, too funny. She loves bath time, and splashes us til we're pretty much soaked too.

Things she does NOT enjoy include:
-Most anything that involves laying on her back, as in, her swing, her carseat... and she'll only sleep on her belly (and don't lecture me about SIDS, I'm a peds nurse, I know), although she is getting a little better, but still prefers her stomach to anything else.
-The pacifier (she does ok at certain times with it, but we've come to the conclussion that we're happy about it now.. just something we won't have to break her of later on!)
-Sleeping through the night (OK, now she's got her moments, but, she still misses me so much that she wants to see my face one or two times a night... well, that's what I'm letting myself believe!)

I'd be interested to know how much she weighs & how long she is... but we don't go back to the doctor's office until the end of Feb. for her 4 month check up & shots. But, at 2 months she was 10 lbs 7 oz. and 25.5 inches long... and we can definitely tell she's growing. She's still in mainly 0-3 mo. clothes but starting to get into some 3-6 mo. ones... and still wearing size 1 diapers. Which, I hope we don't grow out of too soon because we have a TON of this size still left from our baby showers!

Well, here's a pic from her "birth"day, and then one from a few days ago... crazy how much changes in 3 months!!

Happy 3 months lil girl, we love you!!

Cartoon of the Week

It's so fitting how true this is. When I was pregnant, we couldn't wait til Alli got here. First of all, to find out if she was a boy or girl... and what a surprise! A beautiful little girl =) We were just so excited to play with her, love on her, and just plain be around her! And now that she's here, I definitely do love every minute with her, but just knowing that we'll never be "just us two" again, kind of makes me miss those moments. Literally like Dad-E's story from the previous post... the world doesn't revolve around us anymore! Coming from a girl who was an only child, and even an only grand child for years, it's hard to come to terms with the fact that it's not all about me anymore!! But, I've definitely grown up a lot, knowing there is a little girl who depends on us to raise her right, give her all the love in the world, and be there for her every single day for the rest of her life... and that makes me happier than anything.

My, how things have changed...

OK, so I felt bad about posting a big long rant about a subject completely unrelated to this blog, so I'm here for a double-dip today. If Mommy B and I hadn't come up with such a catchy title to our blog, the title of this post would have been a close second.

Even though Mommy B was extremely hungry when I finally got home from the grocery, Alli Ru had other plans. She was so tired that we had to give her a bath and put her to bed right away or she was going to make our night miserable. So even though dinner was ready (even if it was just pizza), up to the whale tub we went... lifeguard dog present and accounted for. We gave Alli her much needed (and wanted) bath, and proceeded into the nursery to get her to sleep. However, it's hard to get a baby to fall asleep on you when your stomach is growling so bad it sounds like a small animal is being smothered off in the woods.

So, I was a good sport and served up the pizza while Mommy B rocked the little angel to sleep. There we sat, pizza by night-light. It's a far cry from fine dining by candle light, but my how things have changed...

Getting ready for daycare: Part One

So I've been stocking up so we hopefully have a good supply of frozen milk for lil Ru going to daycare starting next Monday. We took inventory last night, re-organized it all in the freezer... and we have about 140 oz. saved up!! It sounds like a lot, and probably feels like a lot to Eric when he's trying to get food out of the freezer for dinner and gets attacked by all the breast milk baggies falling all over the place, but it really only amounts to about 46 3 oz. bottles.

Still sounds like a lot? She'll need probably 6-7 bottles a day while I'm gone during my 12 hour work day... possibly more... so, that amounts to about 6 days worth of bottles.

OK, all of that sounded like a math word problem, ya know, if the mom has 140 oz of breast milk stored, and the baby eats 3 oz per feeding, how many bottles will be needed for a 12 hour work day? Haha, I think I did my math right, but correct me if I'm wrong... I'm running on short "naps" which I still refer to as my sleep during the night. =)

Aside

I'm going to assume that everyone reading this blog has achieved at least a high school education, so hopefully you all (not y'all) know what an 'aside' is. Wikipedia defines it as "a dramatic device in which a character speaks to the audience." In other words, I get to talk to you directly without disturbing the overall continuity of the blog. In other words, I'm going to talk about something completely unrelated to my previous posts. Some may call it a rant...

For those of you that don't know us well enough already, I'm going to let you in on a little-known secret of our household. Mommy B and I are avid football fans. We'll watch just about any football game on TV - high school, college (any division) and Pro. We both have our favorite Pro teams (even though they both stunk this year) but root for THE Ohio State University Buckeyes when in season. Even though neither of us went there, it beats rooting for the Akron Zips.

Being a Cincinnati native, I'm forced to be a Bengals fan. As painful as they are to watch, they have flashes of greatness. They're not the worst team in Pro football, just the most disappointing. This weekend, our franchise quarterback (Carson Palmer) told our owner (Mike Brown) that he wanted to be traded to another team or else he would retire. And you know what? It could be the best bomb he ever threw.

Nothing calls attention to a dysfunctional marriage more than someone wanting out. We’ve had Corey Dillon, Carl Pickens, Chad OchoCinco at times, Darnay Scott, Rudy Johnson, even T.O., who tweeted his displeasure this year. But it’s different with Carson. He’s the face of the franchise, the voice of reason, Brown’s handpicked shining star. The Foundation. And now the Foundation wants out. Wants to be anywhere else BUT here. If he goes, it’s back to rebuilding mode. Again. And we know what that’s like.

How can you blame him? He’s stuck in Pro football’s Siberia. All the best players here get tired of the losing sooner or later. The rough season and lack of a strong shake-up had to be the final straw. By announcing the trade demand during the playoff game, ESPN gave the story national attention. And that, my friends, is golden. For all of us. The only thing Mike Brown hates worse than losing money is criticism.

If I were Carson, I'd tell everyone that I'm coming back. Then, announce my retirement the day after the draft.

On a side note... my daughter is pretty cute :)

Pretty Girl

This was right before the tears came... and they didn't stop... haha

Kind of smiley one... definitely has Dad-E's eyes!!

Family photo... Eric has his fist ready to fight off the boys =)

Baby feet!

Our little marshmallow baby, she was definitely a trooper!

Jinx

Ya know during a football game when a running back gets handed the ball and he's running up the middle and the announcer states, "he has had 500 carries without a fumble..." oh and what does he do two seconds later? Fumbles!

Or when a kicker is about to try for a 38 yard field goal for the win, and the announcer states, "he hasn't missed a field goal within 40 yards in over 135 attempts...", then what, the kick is up and it's... NO GOOD! Oh wow, weren't we just mentioning how consistent he is right before the kick!?

It seems the announcers always find these amazing stats and then proceed to jinx it. Well, I think that happened to us this weekend!

Alli was doing pretty good at staying on her schedule of bath, book, feeding & bed by 8:30... up once through the night, then up around 7 AM for the day. Then, she'd take her morning nap around 9, sleep for at least an hour and a half or so, then afternoon nap from 1-3ish. We were doing pretty great!! And Eric & I even had to comment on it last night before bed.... JINX!

She woke up every 3 hours last night, granted, we may have messed with her routine by going out to dinner last night with her and keeping her up a little later than usual, but go figure! We're hoping it was just a fluke, or possibly a growth spurt since she's about the right age, but note to self.. never mention how great things are going, just be happy on the inside and don't jinx it :o)

Get rich quick!

As I stepped out of the shower today and looked in the mirror, I quickly noticed that my physique no longer resembles that of a finely-tuned college athlete. Following the same theme as my last post, life changes quite a bit once you've had a kid. In other words, I don't get the luxury of spending my afternoons in the Blackbaud gym any longer. Instead of punching out at 5pm and hitting the weights for an hour and a half, I come straight home to relieve Mommy B of her Alli-watching duties. By the time we have dinner and get Alli bathed and off to bed, I just want to go bed myself. You know life has changed when you're eyeing your pillow before final Jeopardy comes on. So much for working out any more.

However, Mommy B and I had an idea that we could start marketing right away. It's another one of those get-rich-quick ideas that people talk about all the time. Only this one is marketed towards a specific audience - the brand new parent that doesn't want to turn into a blob immediately after childbirth.

After joking about Mommy B's Popeye arm, we decided that I could create some workout routines to keep you in shape using your baby as the weight! Face-to-face upright rows, curl-don't-hurls, please-don't-blowout squats... even keep-the-pacifier-in wrist & finger stretches. Videos to follow.

This guy has the right idea...

Friday = Happy Hour

All right, all right - before everyone rushes to judgment and assumes that today's post means I'm avoiding my fatherly duties by ditching the wife and child for a few after-work cold ones, allow me to elaborate: Those of you who don't have children (yet) may hear us parent-types utter the following phrase ad nauseum: "Your life completely changes once you have kids." Well, we're not kidding. Even a little bit. Unless you're one of those parents...

Anyway, my definition of Happy Hour has changed dramatically now that Alli Ru has graced the world with her presence. The image of Happy Hour no longer symbolizes the top-button undone, tie partially lowered, dress sleeves rolled halfway up, 'good-thing-I-have-a-koozie-in-my-glovebox', after-work party with co-workers that it once did. Now, it's so much better.

When Friday afternoon rolls around now, all I can think about is dashing home to my GGG (Girls, Girls, Girls for those of you who haven't been following very long) and seeing their smiling faces. Yes, even the dog kinda smiles when I walk in the door. I get so excited when it hits me that I get to spend the next 2 nights and 2 days with the loves of my life. Needless to say, I delete those Happy Hour emails pretty quickly now that I'm a parent.

Now don't get me wrong, I may pop the top of a couple cold ones when I get home... but it's cheaper than a bar and I don't have to drive home afterward. Either way, my vision of Happy Hour definitely has changed - but sometimes change is a good thing.

Eat, Sleep, Poop

Besides being the title of a great book which I definitely recommend reading (by Scott W. Cohen), this is pretty much our daily routine... lets break it down!

Eat:  So Alli has been exclusively breastfed, and growing, so I must be doing something right! We introduced bottles of breast milk when she was around 4 weeks old, and it took us awhile to figure out which bottle type she preferred, but now she is a champ! The past week I have been doing bottles all day to see how much and how often she takes them so we'll know what to pack for daycare. Talk about exhausting! Feeding her, pumping, washing bottles, feeding again, writing it all down... whew. Right now, she's taking about 3 or so oz. every 2 hours still... unless she naps then she can go 3 hours, but she eats quite often. Except at night! Thank goodness :o) Which leads us to...

Sleep: I saw on Dr. Oz yesterday that he had a woman from the audience come up and talk about why she was exhausted all the time. Dr. Oz asked, when was the last time you had a good night's sleep? And she replied, well, I have a four year old, so, it's been about four years. I laughed out loud =) Things have been getting a lot better around here... we have a bedtime routine and she seems to "get it" that it's time to wind down and sleep. Bath around 7:30, PJ's on, read a book, eat, and put in her crib while she's still drowsy but not totally asleep, so she knows how to fall asleep on her own. It's definitely working well... stay tuned to see if it remains this way!!

Poop: Blowouts. That's all I have to comment on the poop department. When she changes outfits 3-4 times a day already, and she's not a teenager who can't decide what to wear to school or to go out in, we're talking blowouts getting outfits verrry dirty. But she smiles and giggles through the whole cleaning up process & the changing of clothes, so she must feel better to have gotten it all out. Good for her, not for mommy who ends up wearing half the poop too.

Lindy Stars

So, my mom's friend Robin recently commented after seeing a picture of Alli that her eyes looked like Lindy Stars.... so of course, I had to google this to see what she was talking about. Once I saw pictures of Lindy Stars, I definitely agreed!! I also found a picture of Alli right when she was about one month old too... still had those Lindy Stars in her eyes... see for yourself!

Alli at one month:

Alli at almost three months:

Lindy Stars!:

Who's going to buy her her first Lindy Star ring to remind her of this?? =)

Girls, Girls, Girls

I think Motley Crue said it best, "Yankee girls ya just can't be beat." Even though I'm confident I landed myself the best corn-fed midwestern lady there is, I'm really excited for Alli Ru to grow up here in the Lowcountry. In fact, my mom (Grandma Meibs) sent me a picture message of the 6 inches of snow that fell in Ohio (just today, I might add) - so naturally I had to send a photo of my own back. I decided to take a picture of the temperature gauge in the Bimmer that read 53 degrees. Grandma M was a little jealous to say the least.

However, it again reminded me of the main reason we moved down here - to rid ourselves of the 5-month eternal gray and cold that are midwest winters. There are many people in the world who have never been to the beach, swam in the ocean, or built a "snowman" out of sand. Thanks to one fateful visit to Chucktown, Alli will get to experience all that and more. I'm pretty excited to watch her take it all in... knowing all along that they'll cancel school in anticipation of snow.

As faithful followers to this blog will find out through my various posts - I'm currently swimming in the proverbial estrogen ocean around here. I get to share 2,100 sq. ft. with my lovely bride, my beautiful daughter, and our female golden retriever Scarlett. Needless to say, I have the privilege of being in touch with my feminine side more than most other men out there. But I can proudly say that I'm loving (almost) every minute of it. What can I say... I'm in love with those girls, girls, girls...

It's a 65 & sunny Chucktown January day!

So, the title of this blog, palm trees, sundresses & damn Yankees would refer to the fact that yes, Eric is outnumbered by the girls & sundresses :) and we are officially damn Yankees since relocating to the south. Here's a little Alli Ru love with her armies out hanging out on the screened in porch, she really loves to be outside. I think it's just a nice change from being cooped up inside with mommy all the time!

Cartoon of the Week

so true, so true!!

Although lately, we have been on a great streak (knock on wood!!) of getting Alli in a routine that will work with our me going back to work/her off to daycare schedule! She goes to bed about 8:30 or 9, and sleeps til 4:30, which will be perfect for me. I can feed her, put her back down for a bit, leave by 6:15, Eric will be up, get ready & take her off to Chesterbrook! It's going to be crazy in the mornings but I'm sure it will get easier and easier. Lots of adjustments to make within these next few weeks.

Popeye Arm!

So I realize maybe I'm holding Alli too much or that I only hold her with my right arm... which is strange because I'm left handed, but I guess it's so I can do other things with my left hand... Anyway, my right arm feels like I work out and lift weights all the time!! Eric got me a massage a few weeks ago, and I wish I was rich enough to get one every week! But for now, I'll settle with being popeye arm, at least one arm will be buff!

Getting Started!

 Well, Eric and I thought it may be a good idea to start a blog, just to update on Alli's life and growing since it's all going by so fast!! That way, we can update on fun things she's doing, our struggles and good times with raising her =), and more... all of which I'm sure my new mom friends and soon to be mom friends will be able to relate to! We're still kind of new to all this, so for now, all we have to say is Happy 12 week birthday lil Alli Ru! Can't believe it's been 12 weeks since I gave birth... seems like just yesterday!