Reminder- going private

Just a reminder that this blog will be going private sometime this week/weekend.  Please send me your email address if you would like to continue reading!

Sandy

I spent some of my morning and most of this evening glued to the TV watching footage from Hurricane/ Tropical Storm/ Noreastern/ Frankenstorm Sandy.  During times when the national news takes over with big stories (Mother Nature, 9-11, Bin Laden's death, DC sniper all come to mind) I'm always taken with all the pictures and videos.  I really had not been paying attention this weekend to anything with Sandy since it was hitting the northeast so I didn't realize what a HUGE storm system this was.  Al Roker was on the Today Show this morning saying it was "once in a lifetime" and "catastrophic" before I really started paying attention.

My mom and I spent the day together and talked at lunch extensively about the storm.  All I can think about and pray over are all the families with pregnant mamas/ brand new babies that are stuck without power.  Since Carter has been born I've prayed for the Gulf to be spared from a major storm system and now my heart is with all of those families on the East Coast being hit by Sandy.

Have you seen this video of the explosion near/at the Con Edison plant?  Wow! (0:18 mark)

Released under Creative Commons License. Please credit: TrillianMedia.

I pulled these pictures off Twitter this evening from various sources and some are just unbelievable.

Not convinced these next two are real, but if they are, CRAZY!!

Flooding in NJ, Ground Zero and lower Manhattan:

This one breaks my heart...the backup generators at NYU failed and the workers manually ventilated patients in the PICU and NICU down 9 flights of stairs and through the rain to get them transported to safety.  Can you imagine?!? Major, MAJOR prayers going to these innocent babies and their poor families during this time. 

Hopefully I don't stay up too late tonight watching the news!

Cousin Love!

Thursday Brooxie Kate spent the day with us and, although overwhelming, we had a blast.  The day went by in a blink, I guess because it took so much longer to get things done with two little ones.  I think lunch alone took about an hour, lol!

Brooks is at such a cute age- I love that we can really talk to each other now and 99% of the time I know what she is saying.  A few things I want to remember:

- she asked for Uncle Matty at least 20 times in a 5 hour period...girl is obsessed
- I'm not looking forward to non-breastmilk diapers G-R-O-S-S
- She was up on our bed and told me "I take a nap with Uncle Matty" and proceeded to go to his side and get under the covers and make a fake snoring sound.  Where does she even come up with this?!? Then she said "Baby Carter take a nap too" so I had to take Carter over there with her.
- In the middle picture she is kissing her babies "night night."  She got every single stuffed animal out, laid them in pairs of 2, covered them all with blankets and kissed them all night night.  Such a sweetie.
- She is obsessed with baby stuff right now.  Laura sent me a picture of her being swaddled like Baby Carter.  She loves his paci, swing, bouncer, bumbo, etc.  And if she couldn't fit in something she put her dolls Harry and BeeBee in them.
- She asked several times to go to "Sophie's house."  Sophie is Sara's dog and Sara lives in the house behind us.
- She legit knows how to FaceTime with Matt on my iPhone without my help at all.  I'm talking unlock, phone icon, his name and the FaceTime button.  No joke.
- She can spell her name, but can't say Mandy so she just calls me "D"

Love that girl! And I especially love that she loves her Baby Carter so much.  :)

Rice Cereal

Carter had his first meeting with rice cereal on Wednesday night.  We waited until Matt got home from work so he could be there and so we had a cameraman, lol!  In the end, he ended up doing the feeding and I manned the camera.

I'll let the pictures do the talking...

We'll keep working on it.

Must Haves: 0-3 Months

This is a little late, but I'm counting it as on-time since he's still wearing 0-3 clothes.  :)

There are so many things you need right away when you have a baby (diapers, car seat, blankets, etc) so these are the specific things I liked and want to make sure I have for numero dos:

1) Rock-n-Play

source

This is my NUMBER ONE recommendation for all expectant mamas.  We literally would not have survived, especially with the reflux, without our Rock-n-Play.  Originally I had Carter in the Arm's Reach Co-Sleeper since I wanted something compact beside the bed, but once the reflux hit he needed to be on an incline.  Enter the RnP.  It cradles their little bodies perfectly so I think he feels like he's in our arms.  If he starts rustling in the night I can reach over and rock him a little and he will usually go right back to sleep.  And it folds flat so we can easily take it everywhere.  Even after my c-section I could pick it up, with him inside, and move it from room to room with no problem.  Worth every penny!

2) aden + anais Muslin Swaddle Blankets

source

These are the BEST blankets!  These days Carter spends a lot of time chewing on them, but they are the perfect swaddle blanket.  The material makes it easy to keep tucked in and not unravel, folds flat for the diaper bag, and they are lightweight enough that they won't get too hot (important for summer babies.)  We would swaddle Carter in one of these, and then put him inside the Summer Swaddle Me and he never broke out of his swaddle.  They are a bit $$$ but sold everywhere so easy to add to your registry. 

3) Summer Swaddle Me

source

Again, use these and the aden + anais blankets and you've got yourself the world's best swaddle.  Carter still sleeps in his and he's 4.5 months!  :)

4) Zipper sleepers

source

I don't think Carter wore anything BUT a zipper sleeper his first month of life.  All it took was one night waking to nurse every 2 hours dealing with one million snaps for me to go out and buy all new sleepers...ones with zippers!  Seriously, why do they make these with snaps at all?!? I like the Just One You by Carter's brand at Target.  They seem to fit Carter the best and feel the softest.  

5) Glider

source

I bought this glider for the nursery thinking I would use it all the time, but I honestly use this one (pictured) that my sister leant me more.  We put it in the living room and this is where I nurse Carter 99% of the time.  I wish I had one for every room in my house!  

Side note- I HATED this thing while I was pregnant, it hurt my back so badly.  Now it's my favorite chair, even when I'm not holding Carter.  

6) Swing

source

It took a few tries before we found a swing Carter would use, but now this is apart of our daily life.  Carter takes his morning nap in this swing every morning and will hang out in it even while awake.  He loves looking in the mirror above his head and watching the birdies on the mobile.  I use the water sound on the sound machine part and he sleeps so soundly.  I like that you can turn the seat because Carter prefers to swing "front-to-back" and not "side-to-side" if that makes sense.  

7) Baby K'Tan

source

I saw this recommended on another blog while I was pregnant, so even though I had never heard of it I added it to my registry.  I'm so glad I did because it was the only way I got anything done when Carter was itty-bitty!  I liked the idea of wearing Carter, but wanted something that felt really snug and secure.  The K'Tan was perfect for that!  It's not a long piece of fabric so it's super easy to carry with you and get on and off.  There's several different ways to wear it, depending on baby's size.  It's sized according to mom, so keep that in mind before you order one.  

8) Gas drops
There are several brands of gas drops, but just look for the main ingredient simethicone.  We used the Target or HEB brand most of the time.  A lot of people say they don't work, but I think they made a difference for Carter.  He's so very gassy and these drops help take the big gas bubbles and make them small gas bubbles so they can pass it easier.  We kept a bottle in the diaper bag, nursery, nightstand, car, etc

There are so many other things I loved (our Orbit stroller!!) but these are the ones that come to mind when I think of the "extras" that I really liked the first few months.  :)

Favorite Fingers

I've noticed a trend lately...

People keep telling me that he's teething, so I guess chewing on his fingers makes sense.  I just can't get over that it's always the right hand, never the left hand.  Too funny!  I guess those just taste better on that hand, lol.  Maybe he will be right-handed??  And when he gets really excited he can get all 5 fingers in there!

One Year Later

October 23, 2011

This is what we woke up to one year ago today.  It was a Sunday (I think) and Matt was home, so we were together when we found out (versus waiting for a phone call from the doctor).  I literally walked into the living room where he was and showed him the stick, nothing fancy.  (I went all out the first time we were pregnant so decided to go a different direction this time.)  It was one of the tests with pink lines and he told me it was negative because the second line was so light.  So I went and took the digital one shown above and took it back out to him.  It was such a sweet moment, followed quickly by 35 weeks of prayer that things would be okay.  We didn't get blood confirmation for two more days after I took this test.

October 23, 2012

No second-guessing this face!  Love him!!

Monday Musings

• We moved Monkey to his room last night.  Oh my goodness, the tears!  In my head I know it's ridiculous to be crying over the move, but I just can't help but feel like we are so.far.apart.  Ugh! I had not been planning the move, I just decided to do it yesterday afternoon.  He's still in the rock-n-play so I'm sure he doesn't even realize he's not next to me.
• Between Sara, Stephanie & Missy I'm in bridal/baby shower heaven!  I LOVE planning and throwing showers and these girls are keeping my creative wheels spinning.  They are all going to be so fun!
• I'm really looking forward to Real Housewives of Beverly Hills in a few weeks.  I just saw the preview as I'm typing this and got my DVR all set.  So good!
• Speaking of TV, someone suggested Parenthood on my Fall TV post and I've started watching.  It's so good!  I need to go back on Netflix and watch the previous seasons when I have time (ha!)
• Matt came home from work Saturday in time to watch the end of the A&M game.  Afterwards the 4 of us (me, Matt, Carter and Cooper) climbed in bed and all took naps.  It was one of those moments I want to remember forever.  
• I need to do an update post on all the stuff Carter is doing right now.  He hasn't rolled over again since he did it the first time, but he's talking up a storm and just so happy all the time.  He's also started spitting up more, no bueno.  
• I'm really looking forward to Halloween this year!  I'm not one to really go all out on Halloween (I'd much rather decorate for "fall" then Halloween) but it's much more fun now with a little one. We're all going over the Stephanie and Robby's for the night.  I can't wait!
• I had my first sub job last week.  Matt had a dentist appointment so I went in for a 1/2 day on Tuesday morning.  I had really been looking forward to it, but it was so hard being away from my little monkey!  Thank goodness it was just a 1/2 day because I don't think I would have make it a full day.  The good news is that I got to see a lot of my former students, so that was fun.  I have 2 days planned at KJH coming up in a few weeks that I'm going to have to start mentally preparing myself for now that I know what being away all day feels like.  I don't know how Matt does it everyday! 
• We don't have a lot on our calendar this week and I'm really thankful for that.  It will be good to spend some more time at home without a lot of running around to do.
• This is Brooks' face when Uncle Matty wouldn't answer her FaceTime yesterday.  Classic. 

Going Private

I've decided I'm going to try out making the blog private for awhile.  If it doesn't work out I can always come back to being public, but this feels like the best fit for our family right now.

I can invite up to 100 people and you will need a username and password to view the blog.  As long as I have your email address this should be pretty easy.

So please email me amandaleighmcdaniel {at} gmail {dot} com if you would like to continue reading.  This includes family!  Please don't assume that I have your email address and know that you want to be included on the blog list.  And if you aren't family or a follower that's okay too...just me know you are a reader and would like to keep reading!

My goal is to have everything ready to convert over by November 1st.

Reflections of Motherhood and a Parents Prayer

Our church has a Mothers of Young Children group that I've been attending this semester and it's so good.  Food for my soul, y'all.  I had to miss one Friday because Carter was all over the place and I just didn't feel "centered" all week.

We watched this video "Reflections on Motherhood" this morning and there was not a dry eye in the room.  So true!

Everything on that video is exactly what I would go back and tell my pregnant self before Carter came. Love it!

We also received the Parents Prayer that I am going to tape on our bathroom mirror so Matt and I can specifically pray over Carter while we brush our teeth in the morning and at night.  This is great for grandparents, too!

Lord. what do You want for Carter?
Guide me by Your Spirit as I pray for Carter according to Your will.  I release Carter to You so that You can accomplish Your will for his life.  I will not try to live my life over through Carter.  Keep me from binding Carter by my needs, wants, and ambitions for him.  Get me out of Your way, so that You can work the life of Christ in Carter and fill him with Your spirit.  Give me the grace to wait on You, for I know Your timing is perfect.

I especially love the last sentence about waiting on Him.  I feel like the last 4 years of my life have been living that testament...his timing truly is perfect.

Now, off to the football game.  GO TIGERS! 

Homecoming 2012

This past weekend was the Katy Homecoming game against Taylor HS.  This game is always so fun because you inevitably run into former classmates, we typically win, and it's fun looking at all the mums and watching the crowning of the queen at halftime.

Carter's first official homecoming date was with Nancy.  Too bad I forgot to get a picture with the lovebirds.

My favorite Stang came to the game with me! She's such a good sport every year at the KHS vs THS game.  I LOVED getting to love on her sweet baby BOY bump.  :)

This is Mason's "cheese" face, lol

And the best we could do getting a picture of the boys together:

I tried out my zoom lens at this game.  It was nice getting close shots from far away, but will be much better during the day as the flash doesn't work too far.

Pretty cool, huh?  It's quite a bit heavier than my regular lens so I won't be packing it to all of the games.

Halftime fun:

Matt was excited after a pick-6...so glad I was able to snag that picture, just wish the glare wasn't on his face.  He coached most of the second half from the sideline.

Katy won 56-7, which reminds me that I should do a football update soon.  Happy Homecoming!

New favorite pic! Lol!