(BUMP--Baby BUMP That is--Shelly Exactly One Year Ago Today...Memories...) )this had better work emily rose!

so, emily thinks maeve is taking her sweet ol' time in order to afford me the time to take one last baby in belly picture--so i took it bright and early this morning so that she may come tonight, if she so chooses =-) i honestly think belly pictures are horrifying (for me, although i LOVE to see someone else's!) so now that the horror is over, the truly disturbing event known as "childbirth" may take place!
not much planned today--i think we'll go to granny and pop-pop's to do some laundry and pick up some groceries...
urgh, everytime i get groceries i think, "this will be the last time i get groceries before she comes!" and then it isn't....but hey, maybe this will be it! i know, i'm obsessing, but 9...ahem, 10 months is a long time to wait (i have been pregnant LITERALLY ALL YEARRRRRRRRRRRRRRR).

i'm embarking on a...

letter writing campaign...keep reading over the next 2 weeks and you'll see what i mean...(look at me being all mysterious, ha!).
a picture of pirate amelie and china doll maeve

a rose by any other name...

as i'm writing this post i'm listening to christmas music--specifically kenny rogers and dolly parton christmas. i LOVE this cd...it was introduced to me by my grandma rose and i listen to it religiously every christmas since she made me a tape of it when i was 12! this cd makes me happy except for today when it makes me sad because today was my grandma's birthday and tomorrow is the anniversary of her death. grandma rose always knew how to make me feel special and we always had fun and i miss her very much! some random things that remind me of/characterized grandma:

* she always wore pants--she was a hard worker and did everything herself and was NEVER lazy
* she loved taking me to shop at goodwill--i learned to love clothes, shopping and thrift stores from her
* she lived on a farm and got run over by a horse
* she was a beauty pageant winner
* her favorite place to eat was a truck stop which made awesome thick vanilla milk shakes
* she had red hair until it turned dark brown as she aged
* she listened to her music WAYYYY too loud and always embarrassed me by blaring country music (which i NOW love)
* grandma had a flask hidden in every room and her car--drinking is bad--it robbed me and our family of more time with her
* she had an awesome sock collection
* her basement was like a clothing warehouse...seriously
* grandma gave me my first (only) sip of beer...i was like 6...ha!
* she gave me my first car
* she had 6 children--including a set of twins
* grandma was irish
* her father was so sweet that when she misbehaved he asked her to spank him as her punishment (he was already hurt enough by the fact that she did something wrong--this made her feel VERY guilty!--i won't try this with amelie!).
* grandma had 4 sisters
* she smoked a pipe, drank and cursed like a sailor--i learned some very interesting phrases from her while doing projects around the house
* we had a special code that we ended phone conversations with--i love you so much!--when i was little she would tell me she loved me so much it hurt her (it was a song) and it would make me cry b/c i didn't want her to hurt so that became our sign off when we talked on the phone!

there's more that come to mind but i'll stop for now. some of those things don't "sound" like great things when i read this list but they made grandma rose who she was and i loved her no matter how spicy she chose to be. i miss you grandma and i can't wait to see you in heaven! i love you so much!

smusherella and shelly

i love my little smusherella...even when she's awake from 3:30-4:30 a.m..

pros and cons

pros of having a newborn
i have done the following things all before 7 a.m.
1. blogged
2. gotten dressed with full makeup and hair
3. gotten groceries
4. taken care of groceries
5. exercised
6. decorated the christmas tree and my house
7. made the bed

cons of having a newborn
1. when was the last time i showered?
2. i can't remember the last time i have slept longer than 3.5 hours in a row.
3. what's my name again?

my beautiful girls (and yes maeve looks a little gangsta' in her hoddie)

things i'm thankful for in no particular order

* Jesus and His loving Father who turned His back on Him to save me
* my beautiful and healthy girls
* my handsome husband and his invention--"12 days of thanksgiving" where i get a present each day (i.e. on the 2nd day two types of flowers etc.)
* nap time
* all my new jersey in-laws
* paper towels and a working vacuum
* all my blogging friends
* my new phone
* thanksmas/christgiving this week in ny with my family! woo hoo!

a perfect storm

why is it that the first time you use your huge double stroller with your 2 children the following happen:
* it's raining
* you don't have all the components to hook the car seat on properly for your infant
* the baby wakes up
* the toddler throws a temper tantrum
* you can't get the stupid thing to unfold while you're standing in a mud puddle ankle deep and your pants are soaked and falling down and your hair is flat and in your eyes...
* and you can't get the seats to recline properly so your poor toddler is sitting up at a 90 degree angle....

so you power through and get inside and do what you have to do and then when you come back out to your car and get ready to load in all the children a man decides he needs your space b/c it's 2 spaces closer to the door than the other available spaces so you, being still unfamiliar with your stroller have to take care of the following in 5 minutes so as not to make said man wait:

* unhook impossibly latched infant car seat
* jostle infant into screaming fit
* latch infant into car in backseat (also note the lock on the back door that leads to the infant base doesn't work so you have to reach in from the front passenger to unlock it but you can't get a good grip b/c it was raining before so your hands are wet from touching the car...
* get baby in while toddler starts to scream and stroller starts strolling down the parking lot without you
* unload wet crying toddler who wants their juice which is buried inside your industrial diaper bag for mother's of two...
* come back to the stroller, put all the seats to their upright positions and try to remember the tricky combination of latches and levers to pull in order to fold stroller
* open your trunk and life 500 pound stroller to place inside only to remember that stroller doesn't fit in your trunk...
* haul it to the front seat which you must clear of huge diaperbag and smash your $200 stroller inside and kick the bottom wheels with your feet when they decide to stop budging
* run to the other side of the car and jump in (on the huge diaper bag that there is no longer room for inside of the car)
* get out and put diaper bag in the trunk
* get back in car with screaming babies
* back out slowly as you can't see out any window of the car as they are blocked by babies, stroller and car seats
* wave to the man with appropriate finger for making you rush through your first experience putting away "the beast" which is the new name for your slightly less fabulous stroller now that's it's been squished in the front seat after a rain storm.

the end!

phone home? not without my cell...

today was a blur--i think it has something to do with my late night rave with maeve--her chosen awake time of the day was from 9:30 p.m.--1:15 a.m....every minute that clicked by past 11 pm was killing me! what a longgggg night! thank goodness that the networks now provide all their shows online so i spent some time catching up on them and a little more time on facebook's neverending movie quiz--very entertaining. maeve is currently storing up energy for another late night date as i type...i probably should go take a nap!

here is a picture of my new phone which i am anxiously awaiting...i'm really not a phone person but i miss miss miss my little cell--R.I.P. i'm excited to meet my new pink phone which should arrive in a few days! woo!

the only other exciting tidbit is that today i sold all my maternity clothes on ebay. goodbye forgiving waistbands and extra long big belly covering shirts--it's time to downsize if you know what i mean...now i've got some incentive (i.e. no clothes!) to losing some of maeve's leftovers...

weber women

yay for friday!

so excited today is friday--can't wait to have my husband back for the weekend! thank goodness for my mother in law who has wrangled my little amelie while i'm glued to the couch with maeve! bravo!
some things i've learned this week
1. i will never be able to get enough of that newborn smell....maeve is absolutely delicious, i am so thankful for her!
2. i have gone through a disturbing amount of wipes these past two weeks--two in diapers = many trips to target for supplies!
3. keep sippy cups away from your cell phone
4. the mailman/ups man will always come during nap time and ring the doorbell
5. amelie is obsessed with barbie...i don't understand it
6. yes, you can be too tired to blog...i'm done
yawn
stretch
narcolepsy

a dime a dozen

12 things
1* after a rash of horrible haircuts/hair experiences that involved a salon and too much money i decided to cut and color my own hair last night. how did i do? i don't see styling in my future, ha!

2* maeve slept well last night in her new bed--we got one of those little co sleeper beds because the pack and play just doesn't seem close enough for those 3 am wake up calls (not to mention the wake up calls at 11, 12, 1, 2 and so on...) the irony of this is that she slept so well in it--3 hour stretches at a turn that i didn't even need to be close for wake up calls--best $40 ever spent.

3* amelie loved this little bed and tried to "sleep" in it last night. she kept saying, "baby sister's bed is cute mommy!" and then she folded herself inside of it and screamed again and again, "i'm too big! i'm too big!" it was pretty cute so we let her pretend to sleep in it for a little while before bed.

4* oh crap, maeve just barfed on me...

5* ok, maeve is asleep now b2b (back to blogging..)

6* oops, that's amelie's door opening...


7* here is a smushy face picture of me and maeve since i haven't taken any yet. btw, it's super hard to take a smushy face picture with a newborn....yikes

8* ok, i guess maeve wasn't really asleep

9* i'm going to TRY to do some scrapbooking with a good friend from my working days (it's a wonder i can even remember being a productive professional!). we'll see how scrapbooking with 2 children goes =-)

10* i know what you're thinking, YES i can blog and breastfeed at the same time, i am just that talented...ha!

11* my cell phone had a run in with a sippy cup yesterday and is now completely stone cold dead and i am disconnected from the world (and by world i mean the only 2 people who call me--my mother and husband).

12* i think my sarah and her family are going to visit me today (yay!)...i wish i could tell them that my cell is broken but since every number i need is programmed into my cell phone and written nowhere therefore, i'm going to have to learn to do one of the following:
a. smoke signals
b. telegraph machine
c. telegram
d. skywrite


bonus blog tidbit
**13 bumbo seats have been recalled--this really just involves getting a new label because the seats shouldn't be used on an elevated surface....well duh!

cupcake queen

you can tell that daddy picked out this cupcake for amelie--mama would never pick out something with frosting THAT RED! yikes! luckily she is an expert cupcake eater and the mess stayed on her tray...

it's going to be a long day! steven has dress rehearsal for his broadway show tonight...this is the longest week of the year in the weber household--we miss him!

darnit

* my stinkin' awesome stroller doesn't fit in my slightly less awesome car.

* maeve slept in 2 hr. intervals last night--4 would be better but 2 is livable

* when did fall become winter? btw--was it ever fall b/c i think i missed it.

* my husband got me the most beautiful roses today and the yummiest chocolate milk shake last night. i <3 him.

* amelie loves her baby sister--it's pretty much the cutest thing ever.

* i have a small crush on the boy from pushing daisies...he's dreamy.

* i haven't scrapbooked in like 3 months. i'm scared to see how much catching up i have to do! i don't think it's going to happen any time soon...

* i love how newborns live all curled up in a cozy little ball.

* i love how toddlers make fishy faces, give fabulous kisses and learn dance routines like no one's business.

* our heat is finally working--YAY!

sleeping beauty and my stream of consciousness blog

* why doesn't my camera have a "newborn" setting for the flash? there are like 15 different settings and unfortunately they all blind maeve into shutting her eyes before i can get her picture! the best i could do is a "half eye open with my hand over the flash" pose...the other pose is the "i may be a newborn but i occasionally flash gang signs."

* maeve slept pretty well last night--waking up every hour between 9-1 but then switching to 2-3 hour intervals thereafter

* amelie is fighting her nap today--i call it the "daddy special." for some reason she thinks that having daddy home means party time!

* it's still raining...i'm happy for the rain and the cool air coming in my windows but i would really like to get out and take a walk tomorrow with my super cool double stroller...i'm praying for a few hours of sun!

* ok, i think i got amelie to sleep--i had to be the mean mommy and go in there and tell her that daddy was gone and unable to tuck her in! she was crying, "my daddy is goneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee." they are totally bonding now that i'm a full time member of newborn land--it's a good thing--i love to see how happy they make each other!

* steve will be home monday and tuesday morning--yay for family time! he hasn't had any time off except the day i came home and the cardiologist appt. so it will be nice to be together although he is still going into work to have choir/music team practice--such a dedicated teacher!

* ooo...the sun is shining

fin

the thoughts that i've been thinkin'

* my arms look like corpse arms with all of the bruises from the i.v. which had to be re-inserted three times at the hospital...along with where they took blood--it's not pretty.

* if i resemble anyone famous at the moment it's probably dolly parton...nuf said.

* what's the deal with precious newborns sleeping 3 or 4 hour stretches during the day and 1 hour "stretches" at night...i'm LOVING every second of it but am pretty sure this pattern is going to make me veryyyyyyyyy tired =-)
* amelie is a big girl. when did it happen? she's so lovely it makes my heart hurt. this picture is of her "cheese!" face. also included, a picture of the backpack that maeve gifted amelie when we arrived home =)

* maeve is looking more and more like baby amelie did. she is lovely--her rolly little eyes make me smile.

* my mom just left for ny. *sob...it's hard to hold your tears until after your crying mother leaves so that she doesn't feel she's leaving someone who doesn't want her to go. it's so hard to be apart from my family. i'm so thankful for everything i have in south jersey but i can't help but beg the Lord once in a while to let me go home.

* i love the rain and leaves and the fact that it's friday and fall.

party animal

she's a real party animal--can't you tell? after sleeping most of the day away yesterday maeve decided to have an all night rave--as during those pregnant nights--and stay up from 11-3--woo! she's really precious and hasn't really cried at all but with those big newborn eyes staring at you it's hard to put her down and sleep even if she is peaceful! have i told you lately how happy i am? i am ;)

points to ponder
* when will i stop telling myself to do a kick count every time i lay down?

* does amelie realize that the baby is human? she is always asking to "pet" her...

* poor amelie is confused--i keep going to change her diaper since i'm now in "change a million diapers a day newborn mode" and she always looks offended like, "geez ma, you know, i only need like 3 diaper changes a day..."

* has anyone seen my husband? we're on swing shifts and i miss him.

* having other people deliver you dinner is the best kind of pampering--we had the best stuffed shells ever last night thanks to miss mandy

* i slept through House last night, darnit

six to one half a dozen to the other

bullet blogging

* i was hoping to make a big announcement today as i had to visit the dr's two days in a row--they were talking of bringing maeve along soon as my blood pressure was too high yesterday but it came back down today so no news in that department!

* steve stayed home to help me today with amelie--so i officially blame him for my low blood pressure as his presence makes everything much more enjoyable/easier =-)

* i've been a faithful grey's anatomy watcher since it started but have found myself disillusioned with all the drama this season (yes, i know it's a drama--but seriously, why can't anyone be happy for about 5 minutes?)

* tim daly is a surprisingly bad actor--check out this weeks private practice on abc.com if you don't believe me...

* pushing daisies, also on abc is a very enjoyable show--i hope it sticks around--it's very fairy-tale-ish, vivid, original and well written

* i love that abc.com offers it's popular shows full length online--i don't care to watch tv at night so it's nice to be able to catch up on my shows when i have a chance and feel like vegging

* yes, i know it's 60 degrees out but I AM STILL HOT.

* my hospital bag is mocking me--everyday for the last three weeks it has sat in the corner in my bedroom tempting me with dreams of going into labor--all to no avail.

happy friday!