Mom of the Year Award

It was bound to happen, I know. I've been dreading it since the day we brought him home and every time I take him downstairs, I have nightmares about it. Well it finally happened. I fell. With Matthew in my arms. I was so scared. He was so scared. I didn't think he hit his head, just his leg and arm, which seemed to be ok. I checked him over up and down, stripped him down and moved all his limbs to be sure he was still in one piece. He looked normal. We went through 30 minutes of inconsolable crying, another 30 minutes of crying and whining on and off and refusing to nurse and he finally fell asleep on my chest. When he woke up he was hungry. That was a good sign. The rest of the afternoon he didn't seem like himself. He was fussy, but that could be due to the cold he currently has (his second one in his short little life). And then I noticed a red line on his head. Cue the panic, again. He DID hit his head after all. After some more crying, I called Telehealth and the nurse walked me through all the signs and symptoms and we determined that he in fact, was ok. So we're going to watch him carefully over the next two days and wake him up at night to be sure he is able to wake up.

I know. It happens a lot and it's nothing I did wrong. But I still feel like the worst mother in the world. Hearing those cries of pain, seeing the tears fall, watching him shudder and struggle to catch his breath, for a whole hour, was more than I could take. So today, I feel like the worst mom in the world. And hopefully tomorrow, the feeling will pass. As long as my beautiful baby is still ok.

Preparing for a Craft Show.

After much talk with my BFF in NL, I decided to research craft shows in my area. After a few false starts I finally found one. It was calling for Sheridan grads. Hey, I'm a Sheridan grad! The price was right too. Only $15 for one day. I can afford that. So I signed up. It's on November 20 from 9-5 at Jade Gardens and Greenhouses in Milton. I will have tons of ready made cards for sale at discount prices, cd's of ready made cards and order forms for custom designed cards. I'm hoping to sell a few cards on the spot and take some orders and just plain get my name out there. Which reminds me, I have to finish my catalog and make my order forms.

People keep asking me (particularly my mother) whether I've sold any cards. Well ... no. Turns out if you're on Etsy, you need to advertise and post every day for you not to get lost in the tons of cards already out there. So I set up Paypal on my website, though I'm not sure if/how it works. Well, I've officially run out of room on my website and I'm not sure it's worth it to pay for more. I'm on every media outlet I can think of and yet still no hits. Le sigh.

I could always start selling my hats. Yes, I've picked up another hobby. I taught myself how to crochet with a book and Youtube and I already have orders lined up. One seems serious while the others are most likely joking. I have a feeling some kiddos in Germany are getting some hats for Christmas!

4 Months Old!

M is 4 whole months old. Lots of things have changed in the past 4 months. Lots have changed in the past year. In fact, it was a year ago that we were telling my family of our happy news! I still remember my mom saying "Oh I think you gave me the wrong card. This one says grandma on it". No mom, you got the right card! Thanksgiving this year was so much fun, especially for grandma who loves to hog the baby. Mommy doesn't mind at all. We went for a wonderful fall walk and took some pictures.

M is getting so big. He feels like he weighs a ton. He is still rolling back to belly and still hating when he ends up there. He started giggling a few weeks ago. He doesn't do it very often, but when he does it is so cute!

He did better with his shots this time. I think he knew what was coming because he started whimpering when we put him on the exam table. The screaming was sad, but as soon as I picked him up, he stopped and hugged his mommy. He slept for an hour after that! He was weighed on an empty stomach, so I contend he would have been a few ounces heavier had he been fed. But he is still a big boy. He weighed 16 lbs 10 oz and is 26 1/2 inches long. But again, I think the nurse isn't quite as accurate as she should be. She just flicked a pen mark on the paper, not paying attention to the angle of the pen and I think she cut off his height by at least 1/2 an inch. Either way, he is BIG! I know this because approximately half of the 6-7 month olds in his swimming lessons are SMALLER than him!

Mommy got a needle too. When the doctor asked how mommy was, I told him the truth. I am EXHAUSTED! Some days it's hard to get out of bed, and many days I'm afraid to take him for a walk in case I don't make it back. I try to eat well, but I'm sure I could eat better. It doesn't seem to help much. I have zero energy. I know having a baby at home full time is tiring, but this doesn't feel normal. It may have something to do with my SAD that is now coming on full force, or maybe my hemoglobin is low. So the doctor took some blood to check it out. Hopefully we'll have answers soon and mommy will be feeling more energetic before too long.

3 Months!?!?!?

How did we get here? And how did I forget to post his 3 month stats? Oy. He's getting sooooo big. He as always loves to look around at everything, but now he's looking more carefully at his toys and even trying to grab them. He's rolling over back to front more often and still getting very upset when he's successful as he HATES being on his tummy. And we're getting busier. We joined a mommy group and trying to do meet ups once a week or so, we have Infant Mother Goose and start swimming lessons next week. Busy busy busy. Of course mommy is still pretty lazy. She still doesn't keep an immaculate house and her cooking certainly isn't improving, but hey, my baby is happy and healthy.

So here is my best uneducated guess at how much he weighs and how tall he is:

Weight: 15 lbs!!!

Height: 26 inches!!!

He is a big baby boy! Sure there are bigger, but he's MY big baby boy and I l

ove him to pieces. Here's his 3 month picture.

See, I told you he was big!

I'm on Etsy!

I finally got my act together and got my Esty store set up. So I now have a blog, a webstite, a facebook group and an Etsy store. I don't know if all this will translate into making money, but I can hope right? I'm still trying to figure out this Etsy thing though. I think I just need to spend more time surfing the site.

So needless to say, we've been busy this week. I've made a blog, website, facebook group, and Etsy store, joined a mommy group and gone to a playdate already. Today we have another meetup to attend. We're going to the farmer's market! Hopefully we can get some nice fruits there so mommy can keep up her energy. Apparently I haven't been eating very well because I've been very dizzy, weak and nauseous for quite a while. I'm hoping some better eating habits and some exercise will help with that.

Matthew is doing great. I can't believe he'll be 3 months on Sunday! He likes to play and is rolling from his back to his front. He still isn't fond of tummy time, but he's getting better. He stopped sleeping through the night and started waking up more than just the once. Though today he slept from 10 until 5:30, so maybe he was just going through a growth spurt? I can't wait to take his 3 month photo on Sunday. We'll probably do our family portrait for the Christmas card then too! I already measured and weighed him, though I'm sure the weight won't be accurate because I guestimated his weight on my own scale. Oh well, close enough right?

Cards, Websites and Blogs

Well I've been convinced. I'm setting up an online store to sell my vast supply of photo cards I've been making "just for fun". It's been a hard slog, but I think we're nearly set up. I have most of my wares uploaded to my website and am slowly working on my blog. Soon, I'll have an Etsy store to sell my products and from there, who knows what will happen.

So between feeding my hungry monster and playing with him, I take his nap times to play around on my website and blog, and soon, my facebook page too. So much for "sleep when the baby sleeps".

So stay tuned for website updates, visit often and tell your friends.

http://cupofteaphotocards.webs.com/

http://cupofteaphotocards.wordpress.com/

2 Month Check Up

M had his 2 month check up yesterday. He did fantastic! He weighs 13 lbs 8 oz and is 24 3/4 inches long. He's such a big boy! He's getting better neck control and he's cooing and gooing and gahing at me. Sooooo cute. He also got his shots yesterday. That wasn't so fun. I think that was the highest and loudest I've ever heard him scream. But once I picked him up and held him, he calmed right down.

He's also getting in a pretty good routine now. I can predict when he wants to sleep and when he wants to eat and when it's time to play. It's nice because it means breaks for me! He's a good baby. He sleeps a lot and he loves to play. Sure he has fussy times, but overall, he's a doll. He has even slept through the night a few times. Last night it was 11:30-7!!! The night before was 10:30-7:30! What a good boy. I love my little boy. Look how cute he is. Here he is at 2 months!