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.