Wednesday, April 29, 2009

First Video Uploads!

I am trying to get some good videos of Amelia at her finest, but she seems to stop whatever it is she is doing to stare at the camera usually!

Here is Amelia flashing a few smiles at the camera:


Here is a cute video of her sucking on her hand (she doesn't seem to grasp how to suck her thumb, she prefers her whole hand):


I am hoping that with time I get some more videos on here that are a little more interesting! I know that my mom and Grandma will appreciate these at least...and maybe a few others!
(Grandma, if you are not sure how to watch these, call me or mom. I think you should be able to figure it out though, I hope!)

Bottles...


Well, our darling daughter has already made her first "informed" decision, at 2 months old. She has concluded that she prefers eating from a bottle. I can only assume she came to this decision because it is a lot less work to have dinner from a bottle than straight from mommy.

I am a little disappointed by this turn of events but dealing with it. We still try nursing a few times a day, usually earlier vs. later. Once I am up for the day I have a goal of pumping every 3 to 4 hours, so that is why morning nursing works best for us to attempt (later on she is getting hungry at times when I have just pumped about an hour earlier, therefore I won't have much for her, which does not help our nursing issues). She nurses pretty well overnight, usually, as well as her first feeding or two of the day. After that she gets bottles and I sometimes try nursing her in the evening, before bedtime, and sometimes it works.
Like I said, I am a bit disappointed in this outcome, but I am not ready to give up feeding her breastmilk. Pumping all day is a PAIN, let me tell you! Not only am I spending time feeding her, but then I also have to spend additional time pumping every few hours to keep my supply up! We also continue to supplement her with formula (anywhere from 2-6 or 7 ounces a day, depending on her appetite and what I can pump).

Some babies just prefer the bottle, but I am not convinced that is solely why this happened because she nursed so well in the begininng! I am afraid that we introduced her to a bottle a little early, due to pressures, one of which was the fact that I needed to get back to work :( Since I was off almost 2 weeks prior to her birth, waiting for her to arrive, by the time she was a month old I had missed 6 weeks already! My work definately would have let me stay gone longer, but we needed me to be back, even if it is only 15-20 hours a week.

So, in conclusion, I am going to do my best to continue feeding her breastmilk as long as possible, so she can get the benefits from it as long as possible. Before I had planned on doing it up to around a year, but now I have changed my goal to 6 months and we will see what happens from there. I need to be realistic. Pumping almost exclusively is a LOT of work and I already have a pretty full plate, not to mention I start back at school on May 26th. I am going all summer, 4 days a week for first summer session and only 2 days a week for second and third session. Things are about to get a little crazier around here...

Fussy Baby!

Today when I got home from work, Jason told me it had been a weird night around here... Our ceiling fan in the living room stopped working, then the doorbell mysteriously rang and no one was there. When he got back upstairs the fan was on again and then stopped again not too long after. While all of this is going on, Amelia was fussy and crying. Kind of creepy! I think she just missed her mom...once I got home and picked her up she was a lot better. A few cries here and there, but for the most part content. I took some pictures of her once she calmed down!


She is getting better at tummytime! Jason took this picture this afternoon while I was at work :)


She is getting so BIG already!



She's getting a little belly!


A picture with Mom after she got home from work and Daddy was on the balcony grilling up dinner.

We watched the new Law and Order: SVU tonight, all the while trying to calm a fussy baby girl! She was really upset and it took awhile for her to calm down. She was really tired and it took about an hour for her to give in to her tiredness. She got to bed about an hour or so later then when she normally does!

Tomorrow we hope to get some random things done around here, like hanging the new smoke alarms we bought about 2 or 3 weeks ago!

Friday, April 24, 2009

MAD Baby!

Amelia is still not liking tummytime very much:

Starting out just fine...


...getting mad...


...and she has had it!!!

Amelia was pretty cranky this evening, not enough napping today :( I eventually got her to bed and was able to take and complete my WI Responsible Beverage Server course online and take the final exam (which I passed). Now once Jason gets home, I have to use his computer to print out my course certificate and an application for my "Class D Operator's License" so I can fill that out and turn it tomorrow (the deadline). Speaking of Jason...I hear him in the stairwell, so I am going to publish this and get what I need to print pulled up...

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Like Mother, Like Daughter?

My Dad gets photos of me and Amelia confused.
He scanned one and sent it to me via e-mail...
Here I am in 1985:


And here Amelia is at 3 days old:


I think that you can tell she is my daughter! There are similarities there! You be the judge...
As she gets older I am seeing more and more of Jason in her. Like, for instance, her nose. That is not my nose. I have looked at pictures of me at a few months old and I see him in her with that nose!

Another Busy Day :)

Jason's mom and her parents came to Milwaukee today. We had a lunch of pizza from Classic Slice and then took them over to the East Side (where we used to live and currently both work) and showed them around. We started out by taking alook at the theatre that I work at and then picked a few things up from Whole Foods and then took a walk and showed them where our first apartment was.
After the walk we went to Jason's work, Balzac, so that his grandparents could see where he currently works (for the next couple of weeks at least). While we were there I had my first beer in eleven months. The doctor told me that if I had one, on a full stomach, it would not affect my milk much at all and Amelia would be fine. As someone who has always enjoyed the taste of beer, it was nice to have one today.
Here are some pictures from today, as well as one of us as a family at the art museum (last Saturday) since they are now on my computer!






Dinner for Amelia at Botanas!

Tomorrow Jason's family will be coming back over in the morning to visit some more. Jason works at 6, a little later than normal!
Once Amelia is asleep tomorrow night, I have to take my WI Responsible Beverage server's course so that I can apply for my bartender's license. My work is eventually getting alcohol and all employees need to be licensed bartenders since there are many times when we will be the only ones around and serving.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Activities All Day!

Today we had quite a busy day full of activities. We started the day out by giving Amelia a bath. Then we left for her first visit to the Milwaukee Art Museum for the Jan Lievens exhibit. We also went into the permanent collections for awhile. Here are some pictures from our museum visit:


With the first piece of art I ever wrote a paper about for college (Head of a Noble Woman, 91 CE).


Already a Warhol fan, like her Mom.

There is a section of the museum called "Sensory Overload" and it is full of bold colors and sounds etc. Here we are in front of a huge TV display:



This is a close up of one of the paintings that kept Amelia's gaze longest (part of "Sensory Overload").

I also had a few pictures of the three of us in front of the museum, but they didn't upload to the computer for some reason.

After the museum we had lunch and then Jason went to work. My parents and I took Amelia on a walk around the neighborhood.


All cozy in her stroller!

After our walk we went down the street for dinner and when we got home Amelia ate and had a bedtime story. We read her new book that she got at the art museum today, "When Pigasso Met Mootisse". Here is a picture of story time. I look like I am "fake" reading when in fact I am laughing as I read (the story amused me):


Now Amelia is in bed and my parents are about ready to turn in so I will likely take this opportunity to pick this place up!

Excitement

Thursday night we decided that it was a good night to move the grill up onto the balcony and use it! Jason decided to let Morrison go out with him since Morrison is always wanting to get outside and explore. I have never been keen on the idea but I wasn't around when he let him out. Well, exactly what I feared would happen happened. The cat decided to leave our home and venture across the rooftops...and did not want to come back. We would call him, he'd wander over, look at us and roll around (it seems the shingles felt good to a cat!) and then he would walk away again. Once he decided to walk along the neighbor's house on the far side, in the gutters where we couldn't see him, Jason had to go get him:




We have been having a rough couple of days with Amelia. She has been very difficult to figure out (more than usual). Thursday morning she cried non-stop for hours and then was fine for most of the rest of the day. And tonight, now, she has been up over an hour. She has eaten, had two diaper changes and yet she still cries. She will almost fall asleep but as soon as you try and put her in her crib she wakes and cries. Maybe she just wants to be with Mommy and Daddy? I think that she is finally down though :) I got on here instead of getting myself comfortable in bed, just in case she wasn't ready to sleep yet!

Here she is in a little pink suit, ready to go!


Not much else is new around here. My parents got here tonight and tomorrow the plan is to go to the art museum. My Dad has heard and read a lot about the current exhibit, Jan Lievens, and would like to see it before it ends next weekend. Should be a fun day. Hopefully Amelia decides to be a happy baby all day so we can get out of the house on time and enjoy the museum!

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Lazy Day

Today we are having somewhat of a lazy day. We spent the morning in bed watching "Home Improvement" re-runs while Amelia ate then napped, repeat.
Yesterday we ran our errands, went to Target, the grocery store and decided to splurge for a Subway lunch since all footlongs are $5! We got our little girl dressed up like a ladybug for our day of errands:



Today I had a little trouble getting her into her pink gown and it cracked me up because she just had this look on her face, like, come on Mom, just put my clothes on already!


Once we finally got things in order she looked so pretty:


Now Amelia is having a little nap while I watch "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "Friends" re-runs on TV. Later we are expecting a visit from Brittany possibly! All in all it has been a lazy day.

Also, it is now official, all of our cats have taken interest in Amelia's baby "gear". The other day I caught Morrison in her bouncer 3 times in a row! Every time I went into the kitchen, there he was, napping in her bouncer:

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Easter Sunday

This morning I worked all of 2 hours, headed home, saw Jason for about 10 minutes and he left for work. I then spent the afternoon feeding Amelia and getting us ready for church. We made it on time even :) Her Easter dress is beautiful. She looked like a little lady tonight! (thanks Kim!)


Ready to go!




The dress without her Pooh cardigan.

This morning she wore her "relaxing/lounging" Easter outfit. It made her shoulders look big and box-like :)


She already had this dirty by the time I got home from work! I washed it by hand insome cold water right away and it came clean (not that she will likely wear it again, lol).

Jason should be home from work soon, so we will have a late Easter dinner together since I have not eaten yet. He says he made some sandwiches at work for us, sounds good, I am starving!

We hope everyone had a nice Easter.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Easter Eggs

This afternoon, before Jason left for work, we made our Easter eggs! My sister sent us an Easter egg kit to ensure that Amelia would not miss out on "making" her first Easter eggs. It was fun doing something that I had not done in about 10+ years.


Everything ready to go...


Amelia was not as ready to go as we were :)


She woke up mid-project and had fun with her bouncer friends.


Our finished eggs!



Amelia with our family's eggs.

Tomorrow I work a short shift in the morning, so Amelia and I have to go to evening service at Epikos. I hope that I can manage to get us ready and out the door on time!

Thursday, April 09, 2009

e-mail

For any of you who e-mail me...
It seems that as of the first of this month my UWM e-mail account has been disabled. It should be working again once I have been re-accepted to UWM and am enrolled in classes (which will hopefully be late next month).
I also have a hotmail account, which most of you know. The address is: sfronczek_6@hotmail.com I just tried to log into it and it says that I don't have an inbox? I was able to see my account, but it randomly says I have no inbox, which is weird because I had one 2 or 3 days ago!
I tried to "get" an inbox but it wasn't cooperating. I tried to create a new account and that is temporarily disabled and I was instructed to "try back later".
So, the point of all of this is as follows: if you were to e-mail me and I don't respond, there is a good chance that I have not recieved an e-mail from you. I am hoping to get all of this sorted out soon!

tummytime!

One things that I frequently skip with Amelia is...tummytime. I know that it is important that we do it every single day, but she just hates it so much. This week I have been better about enforcing tummytime. Here are some pictures from today's attempts:




After Amelia was done with her tummytime, all 3 cats decided to investigate. (I was only able to cath Lucky and Poopy in a picture, Ludo left too soon).

Earlier today Jason was giving Amelia her ounce of formula while I tried to get the kitchen cleaned up. Apparently they were both too tired:


Tonight I am working on getting the spare bedroom cleaned up and then putting files onto the new computer. Amelia is asleep right now but I am not sure that it will last too long (it never seems to this time of day).

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Dell Studio 15

Well, the time finally came...I bought a new computer. My first computer, a Dell Inspiron, was great. Awesome really. I never had a single problem with it, ever, in nearly 5 years. A couple of nights ago the hinge on the right side got all messed up and really messed things up. Every time you opened and closed the computer you would here things cracking and the right side would bow up pretty bad. We tried going to a computer repair place here in MKE, but they said they couldn't fix it :( We then went to Brookfield to visit a Dell store...only to find out that it was no longer there! Apparently Dell no longer has stores, just 800 numbers and online stuff. We decided, after a lot of discussion, that it did not seem worth it to send it in to Dell and have them charge us an arm and a leg to fix a minor problem. This could be just the start of many costly repairs...the computer had had a good, long life...So, we went to Best Buy and I am now the owner of a Dell Studio 15:


This is what it looks like, although mine is in the "midnight blue" color, which is not pictured here. Pretty sleek looking. It is a little too fancy for me...I didn't even know where the power button was... It even has a facial recognition program that I can use instead of a password to get into my computer! Pretty fancy stuff I must say. Thank goodness Best Buy is giving us 18 months to get this sucker paid off, interest free!

I will miss my old computer. My parents got it for me when I started college and I must say, what an excellent choice they made. I never had a single problem with it and I used it every single day, for many hours! Hopefully this Dell can live up to the standard that my first one set.

Amelia behaved EXCELLENTLY while we were out today...and we were gone for almost 8 hours! It was a long day for her. She ate out of bottle most of the day and WOW, what a little piggy! She had about 5 ounces at 3pm and then 6 when we got home around 7 and she just ate a little more. I decided that she was ready for bed and put her in her room and she is sleeping like an angel now! We didn't take any pictures of her today, but it was her first visit to the mall!

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

First "Real" Bath

Tonight we finally gave Amelia her first "real" bath, ie-in her tub! We have been giving her sponge baths up until now. We were both home tonight and had the time to put the bath center together and give her a bath using "night-time" bath soap. She really enjoyed it. I thought that she might get upset because she was wet and probably cold but she seemed to like it! She started to get fussy when we tried taking her out.



She did not like being taken out of her bath!