I'll take a large crib with a side of sleep, please. Oh, and a Big Gulp Coffee

THE CRIB...

Oh, how I hate to admit this, but here it goes...Gigi has not slept all the way through the night in her crib.  I know, I know, please don't judge me.  Gigi is not the problem though, I AM!  I will put her in the crib and she will go to sleep without crying just fine at her last feeding, then I am SOOOOOOO sleepy when she wakes up, I go get her, take her to my room, feed her, then put her in the nap nanny.  I try to talk sense to my sleep walking self to go put her back in her crib, but the next thing I know I am swaddling her and placing her in her Nap Nanny.  I hate myself for ever having her sleep in my room.  Really, I do.  I love her and want to spend every waking second with her, key word WAKING, but not every sleeping second.  I know this is not healthy for either one of us.  But I am too tired to try to fix it right now.  I have been so sleep at work today that I, without a doubt, have consumed 60 ounces of caffeine.  If I would have done that in my pre-Gigi days I would not have slept for three months.  Maybe four!  But my post-Gigi days are different; I can't get enough of that bean!  And all the while my teeth are turning yellow.  Oy! (In my old Jewish lady from Long Island voice) What's a single mom to do?

While constructing this blog, I just came up with a solution to this problem....don't feed her in my room, feed her in HER room.  DUH!  See, the lack of sleep does affect your brain.  I will let you know how tonight goes.  Sweet dreams.

WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO WAKE UP TO EVERY MORNING...



Muffin top sans the pants

How can a 14 week old have a muffin top without any clothes on?  I just don't understand it.  But at the same time, I LOVE IT.  GM(Grandmama Monster) is worried about "the fat cells forming!!!!"  (eye rolls) 

BIG weekend in DFW and my child is perfect...

Aunt Ash and Aunt Kristin

I really hate to be one of those parents that say their child is perfect out loud, but I REALLY do have a perfect little girl.  She may have dark brown hair and bushy eyebrows, but other than that she is really perfect.  :) The 5 of us (3 dogs, 2 humans) went to see Grandmama Monster (NO, Gigi will not call her that, but my mom has called herself that for 15 years and it has stuck) on Thursday night to take a nice, long weekend for Lily Elaine's shower on Sunday.  I picked her up from daycare and we left around 6 for the big city.  She slept the entire way and when we arrived her grandmother did not even acknowledge my presence.  She met us at the street ready to see her grandchild, opened the backdoor, got her out of the car, whisked Gigi inside, got her out of the carseat, and plopped her in her lap on the bed.  She did all of this without saying a word to me!  Go figure.  I unloaded the car...by myself!

On Friday I went to mom's office to have lunch.  This experience will need it’s own post, so I will spare you the details right now (typical Cheryl story I am still recovering from).  We ended up staying at the office for four hours.  Yes, you heard me, four hours.  But, Gigi was SO good. Maybe Gigi will be a businesswoman since she liked the office so much. We did have to take a lunch break for her in the bathroom, and then we were back at entertaining the office.  She smiled and bobbed that head.  She was so good while I was a hungry, nervous wreck! 

We did not have the best of nights on Friday, but we had big plans on Saturday, so we pushed through.  I blame the lack of sleep on Grandmama Monster.  She, of course, slept like baby, a big, snoring baby.  Again, go figure.

Saturday we got Gigi all dolled up for a big day in BIG D.  We went to Waverly's first birthday party, shopping and then had dinner with Aunt Kristin, Uncle Dean, Aunt Ash and Grandmama Monster.  Again, G was great.  She didn't cry at the party, at the mall or the restaurant.  We trekked back to FW around 7, took a bath and relaxed at home. G's favorite time is taking a bath and playing in a diaper and socks before bedtime.  We videoed her making funny faces and then would play them for her (see pic).  Such a happy girl!

Then on Sunday we went to Lily's shower.  Gigi got to wear an outfit that I have been dying for her to wear, but didn't have a place to wear it.  It was from Mallory and has her name embroidered in pink.  So precious.  My mother said it looked too summery, but as it was 81 degrees, I went with it.  Good thing, because the air conditioner had gone out at the shower! 

It was so nice to see everyone at the shower.  Gigi got passed around like a bowl of mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving dinner, but she didn't mind one bit.  She was so happy and good the whole time and everyone commented on it.  Heidi was there with her 5 week old, Preston, (and Gigi's future boyfriend and Fightin' Texas Aggie Class of 2034 classmate) who was also a little angel.  Heidi and I got to swap new mom stories and laugh about what we had gotten ourselves in to.  :)

First time in the Bumbo!

When I got home last night my neighbor was walking with her 6 month old, Nanette, and came in to visit for a minute.  We were talking about when she put Nanette in her Bumbo because I couldn't wait for Gigi to sit in her orange one and she said around 3 months.  I was so excited to hear this exciting news.  She and her little girl left and I rushed to Gigi's room to break out her Bumbo.  She has been holding her head up really well the last couple of days and getting stronger every minute, so I am so excited to get to use some new toy!  She LOVED it!!!  She was laughing and looking all around.  Every once in a while she would have a little "whiplash" moment, but she never seemed to mind.  LeAnn came over after work and I had Gigi all propped up for her when she walked in the door and Aunt LeLe's jaw hit the floor!  She said, "Is she driving already, too?"  hahaha!  Needless to say, this was so exciting to see her first progression into sitting up.  Yay, Gigi!  You will be doing it all by yourself in NO time. 

I also took some close-ups of her "large and in charge" cheeks and triple chins.  I think she may pop if she doesn't grow an inch or two longer soon.



It's been a hectic three months...but I'm back!

I have had so much to blog about and so little time...parenthood hit sooner than I had anticipated.  I won't bore you with details of the past 92 days, but I will hit the important events:

11/21/2010- I joined my church and went into labor (3 weeks and 3 days early).
11/22/2010- Georgiann Elizabeth Halla was born at 9:28 a.m.  She was 6 pounds, 3 ounces and 18 inches long with a head full if dark brown hair! 

That about sums up the most important events since I blogged last!  LOL! 

She is quite perfect if I do say so myself!  All and all we have made wonderful adjustments and I am so proud to be this child's mother.  I am taking a vow that I am going to be a good blogging mother like I intended when I started this journey.

Let the journey begin, again...

35 weeks...and counting

This has been a week and a half...with only five more weeks to go!  I went to the doctor on Monday for my weekly check up and GiGi had dropped and I had begun dilating. I was so excited that I stayed up way too late and probably over did it.  Then on Wednesday morning I thought my water broke, but it turned out to be a false alarm.  Thanks goodness, because she does need to stay for two more weeks...at least. On Monday night, I ate so many jalapenos and have started to take the stairs every day at work to get this labor rollin', though.  I can't help it that I am DYING for her to get here.   

When I went to the doctor on Wednesday morning to see if my water had broken, I had gained FOUR pounds since MONDAY!  I told my mother on Monday night that I thought I was looking puffy and sure enough by Wednesday it was four extra pounds of fluid!  This was the largest weight gain I have had the entire time.  As of Monday I had gained a total of eleven pounds...now making it a total of fifteen!  I am not so crazy after all.  It is interesting to see how well I know my body. 

Everything went went well at the doctor's office and she gave me some medication and told me to take it easy.  We will see how much more weight will be added next Monday.  Scary!


Since I was not feeling well last night, Big Terry came over to bring GiGi her first ornament and take me to dinner.  We went to my favorite place, Olive Street Bistro, and then I took him for Strawn's Coconut Cream Pie.  He likes that type of pie more than I do, if you can imagine.  They were closing, so they gave us the remains of a pie they were going to throw out, so now I have 1/3 of a fresh pie lurking in my refrigerator.  Maybe I can see where the extra pounds are coming from now...

Work...
One of the ladies at the office has started a supper list of people that will provide dinner for us when the baby arrives for two weeks.  This was so touching!  It is so nice to be surrounded by so many giving people.  And, I can't wait to see/eat all of the recipes!!!  I know Cheryl will be waiting for some boudin to show up!

Also, they are starting an office pool to see when GiGi will arrive, how much she will weigh and how long she will be!  It is called, "Hallawood Squares."  Isn't that precious!?! It will be interesting to see who will be the lucky winner(s).  Stay tuned...

Day 239...41 days to go

This has been a pretty eventful week as far as growth is concerned.  I am noticeably bigger on Friday than I was on Monday!  Even a fellow co-worker commented about the difference.  I have not weighed all week because I am afraid of what the scale will say!  GiGi is definitely running out of room and only kicks me in the ribs ten times a day instead of one hundred!  And she has had the hiccups for the past two nights.  Maybe this is a sign that she is long and lean like a supermodel!  I do hope she gets here soon to find out.

I have already decorated for the holidays.  I wanted to get the most out of this holiday season and I wanted to make sure that everything was up in case I went into labor early.  On Wednesday night I decorated my front door and Thursday night began decorating my tree.  I am still debating whether to decorate the second tree in my dining room.  I want it to look like a winter wonderland when she comes home.  My mother and I decorated a small tree with pink lights for her nursery and LeAnn got her cupcake ornaments for it....how perfect is that!?!  I love decorating for the holiday season, but it is especially meaningful this year since we will have the most precious gift of all to share it with.  Also, mom got her the cutest Rudolph the red nosed reindeer beenie for her new born picutures.  I can't wait to put it on her! 

My mother helped me sort and put up the rest of the clothes, blankets, burp clothes, etc. this past weekend.  Everything is in its place and ready for her arrival.  There is literally not one thing left to do.  I am so thankful that I started to prepare everything early and have not procrastinated all of the organizing so I could enjoy the last weeks before she arrives...and rest.  She really is one very lucky little girl and I feel so blessed to have had so much help from my family and friends. 

I am going to a baby shower for a girl I went to high school with this weekend.  She is due on November 20th.  I have been fascinated with other women and their growing bellies since the beginning.  None of my really close friends have been pregnant, except for Laura who has quadruplets, and I never experienced my mother being pregnant since I was the youngest, so this has been a whole new experience for me.   Lindsay says there will be several expenctant mothers at the shower, so this should really be fun to see.  I don't know why I am so interested in other people's pregnancies since I am not normally a very curious person, but it is very intriguing to me how each person’s body responds differently to this process.  I have been extremely healthy and feel very fortunate for that.  I always thought I was going to be a miserable pregnant person who gains fifty pounds, but that has proven to be farthest from the truth.  Thank goodness! 

I have a doctor's appointment on Monday and then begin going every week after that to see if I have begun to dilate.  I am so anxious to hear if this process has begun because this will tell if she may come early or not.  All I want is for her to be healthy, but I am definitely ready for this part to be over and the fun to begin...and for life to be about her! 

More pictures to follow...