I got a Flip video camera!

A few weeks ago I entered a Twitter contest to win a Flip video camera. And you know what? I WON! I got my Flip yesterday and had to try it out on you know who. Here's Matthew's first video.

5 Months Old!

With all the excitement of preparing for the Craft Show and going to the Baby Time Show, I forgot to post Matthew's 5 month photos and stats! It's been a wonderful 5 months. He is so active and smiley and happy. I can't believe I lucked out and got an easy baby who is back on a routine and going to sleep "drowsy but awake". He plays by himself, smiles at everyone we meet, falls asleep on car rides and continues to make huge milestones every day. His new favourite trick is to slap his left hand on whatever it happens to be close to: his leg, the car seat, mommy (ok the mommy trick is not so cute when nursing). He is getting really good at sitting up and can sit unsupported for a few seconds, sometimes longer. Mommy always has to be right there when he's trying to sit because he's still a "tippy canoe". I love my smiley, giggly big boy.

As of Friday, my big boy weighs around 18 lbs and is 28 inches long! Here's his official photo.

Here are two of the cutest photos from our photo shoot at the Baby Time Show.

Busy Mommy!

So today we were all over the place. We were off nice and early to go swimming with our mom group, then drive through for lunch and Mother Goose for some sing song fun. We were quite tired by the time we got home, but somehow I found time to put him to bed and start making some ornaments. I don't know if I'll be expanding my "business", but I sure had fun making ornaments today. I even wrote a tutorial for my blog. They're really easy to make and quick too. I was able to make them during one of Matthew's famous half hour naps!

http://cupofteaphotocards.wordpress.com/

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!