Top 10 Lessons Learned by a New Mom

10. There is always more laundry to do. If you ever begin to doubt this, a dire laundry situation undoubtedly awaits your discovery.

9. Your parents love you very much. So much that you must have a child of your own to begin to comprehend their love for you.

8. Vitamin A&D ointment doubles excellently as cuticle cream. And you might as well go ahead and rub some in, because it's likely the only manicure you'll get for some time.

7. God's plan for the creation of new life is indescribably perfect. He thought of every last thing!

6. It's not about you anymore. This one is no surprise; the surprise is how wonderful that reality is.

5. Sleep deprivation is a highly effective means of inducing insanity.

4. A baby’s breath always smells sweet. Even in the morning.

3. If you think you’re high maintenance, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. When's the last time you took five times your body weight worth of accoutrements with you to run errands?

2. Your husband is your biggest ally.

1. You’ve been given the most precious gift there is. Cherish every ounce and every second! Corollary: There is no shame in taking 2807 pictures of your child in just over three months.

Red Envelope Day: March 31

On March 31, pro-life advocates around the country will be sending empty red envelopes to the President, each one meant to represent a life lost to abortion. Sadly, I don't believe there is any way that all 50 million children aborted in the United States will be represented, but among those sent will be three from our household--one for each member of our family. I pray that this campaign will help change the President's heart, or at the very least, his politics.

To learn more, go to: www.redenvelopeday.com.

At Last

Remember way back when, when I told you I was going to start sewing (http://familysnodgrass.blogspot.com/2009/01/sew-excited.html)? Well, I knew it might take a while to get started...and it DID! I finally learned how to thread the machine a couple nights ago and got to practicing. A few telephonic sewing lessons from seamstress-extraordinaire Mama later and I produced a floor blanket for Andrew!

He agreed to model it for me.

Perfect for learning how to roll over!

This first project is so far from perfect it's funny, but I'm excited to be learning! Little boy patterns, here I come!

Home Alone

Does anyone out there have a suggestion for a good response to give when I answer the phone and a telemarketer interrupting dinner caller asks to speak to my mom or dad? This happens all the time and I am always caught off guard! I usually stutter out something starting with how my parents don't live with me and ending with an approximation of "I'm the lady of the house." A bit dated, no? How I would love to have a courteous answer at the ready! Any ideas?

The O's Come to Washington

We had such a nice visit last week from my Aunt Cacky and her girls, Claire and Anne Layton!

We visited the Museums of Natural History and American History and saw the founding documents at the National Archives with history buff Anne Layton.

And we all enjoyed a tour of the Old Stone House in Georgetown, followed by a great dinner in our own private room at an Italian restaurant nearby.

Jacob was busy working extra long hours, so we had lots of girl time and baby time. And dined all over Penn Quarter and Chinatown!

With four sets of arms to hold him all week, Andrew was one happy baby!

*Many thanks to Cacky for sharing her photos.

???

Can you guess what I'm doing?

Cooling an angel food cake! I promise this is what the recipe said to do.

My sous chef will vouch for me.

Count Me In!

I’ve joined the coupon craze! By the way, is this really a new craze or has our generation just finally gotten old enough to pay attention to things like clipping coupons? I‘m thinking it’s the latter, perhaps with the addition of the modern twists of virtual coupon clipping and electronic frequent shopper cards making it a bit more fun. Whatever the case, it‘s great and I’m convinced!

I used to think using coupons wasn’t worth the time it took. I never really paid attention to grocery sales (even though I always shopped clothing sales), and feel certain that I unknowingly left behind the freebie-halves of buy one-get one free deals on occasion. I even had some dumb idea that using coupons would just lead you to buy things you didn’t want and that resisting the lure of the coupon was somehow desirous. I had NO IDEA how much could be saved. Several blogging friends, in particular my friend Lindsay at Ole Miss Mom, got me interested. So, over the past couple of months, I’ve been going to online coupon sites like http://www.coupons.com/ and http://www.redplum.com/ and doing some virtual clipping and have been watching sales at the grocery and drug stores. And for the last two Sundays, I’ve bought the Washington Times for its coupon enclosures. I finally accumulated a good supply of coupons and organized them into a mini accordion folder, divided by product type. I read up on couponing tricks, like using a coupon for each of the products in a buy one-get one free deal, stocking up when the price is right, and matching coupons with sales for serious savings.

Armed with my coupons and having scoured the store circulars and company coupon policies, I did three serious couponing trips last week: CVS, Babies R Us, and Safeway. At CVS, my total before coupons and Extra Care Bucks (ECBs), but already taking into account the sales, was $48-something. After, it was $5.99 and I received $7 in ECBs to use next time! Pretty good, huh? I even made $1.01 on one product because I had a $2 off coupon and it was being offered for $2.99 with $2 ECBs back! And I got two other products completely free!

Inspired by that trip, I hit Babies R Us. There, I took $15 right off the top of my total with coupons for diapers and detergent. That’s real money!

I then headed to Safeway for groceries, where it took me two hours to match up all my coupons with the sales to get the best possible deal. In DC, a long shopping trip is a real problem because the grocery store only gives shoppers 90 minutes of free parking in the underground deck. After that, the rate is $18/ hour! Obviously, that would eat into one’s coupon savings rather quickly. But it all turned out ok because the coupons took $28 off my total and I spoke to the assistant manager about the parking and he told me I could keep my garage receipt and they’d give me a credit on my order next time. So, as Jacob says when he finds a good deal, lunch is on my genius! :)

Better late than never, right? I can already tell that couponing is going to help us tremendously in being good stewards of our resources. And it’s so nice to have a way to help out in the budget realm, all while Andrew sits on my lap or in my shopping cart!

Andrew at 3 Months

Happy 3 months, baby boy! What a joy you are!

Andrew is growing like crazy. Last week, we put away all his newborn and 0-3 months clothes because he was about to kick through the feet of the sleepers. So now he is in all 3-6 months clothes. Sniff, sniff. But that round tummy makes me so happy! Since we don't have another checkup until next month, I don't know Andrew's current weight, but I think I'll get Jacob to help me weigh him down in the gym this weekend and I'll post an update.

Although Andrew has been sleeping pretty well at night for a while now, we kept finding that he would start grunting around 5 am and turning his head from side to side, over and over again. He could go on for a long time like that in the bassinette, all while keeping his eyes closed. So while he seemed to be sleeping through the night, his parents certainly weren't. We finally figured out that this early morning grunting routine was not just a personality quirk; he was hungry! So now, I give him a seventh feeding when the grunting starts and he goes right back to sleep until his first feeding of the day, around 8 am. Much better for everyone! He's doing so well holding his head up, and loves to "walk" in our laps, which looks a lot like he's doing a baby stairstepper.

So far, no rolling over and very little interest in toys or books. But he loves looking at people and flirting up a storm.

And his newest thing is lots and lots of talking--coos and gurgles and squeals galore! He's just getting to be more fun every day!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

A little leprechaun told me to send you wishes for a happy day! Celebrate the Saint who spread Christianity to Ireland!


Did you remember your green???

Splash Time

Andrew has recently gotten the hang of splashing around in the bathtub. It's so much fun to watch him actually play.

Click to see for yourself!

Jamie's Here!

We have sweet Jamie visiting for a few days and are having the best time!

Yesterday we went out to lunch and dinner, took a long walk around the Mall, and saw a movie (with Andrew in the sling!). That's a pretty fun Wednesday!

First Laugh

Andrew and I went to story hour* with the Junior League Moms Club today and the little guy gave his first real laugh! And then loads more chuckles! No, it wasn't in response to the story. It wasn't even in response to me. It was all for the nanny of some of the other children! She just leaned over and started talking to him and he was all giggles. I've been trying all afternoon to get a repeat performance, but no luck. I guess she really is good with children!

* I do realize Andrew is a bit young for story hour, but he loved watching all the children. He was bouncing all over the place, trying to take off after them. Plus, his mama enjoyed a little daytime conversation!

Terrific Weekend

What a wonderful weekend we had! We were determined to spend as much time outdoors as possible, to take advantage of the unusually warm weather (high 60s, low 70s!).

Saturday started with a 1st birthday party for the twin girls of my friend, Grace.

Doesn't Andrew look grown-up as he heads to his first ever birthday party?


The girls had gotten so big since I last saw them! Here they are dressed in traditional Korean 1st birthday garb, about to blow out the candles!
Very cute, very yummy cakes!

We had such a good time catching up with our friends from my old job!

We spent the rest of the day walking around the Mall and Capitol Hill for miles and miles. We stopped in at the Capitol Visitor Center and the Library of Congress. I wouldn't put either on your short list of things to see in DC, but they were perfectly nice. Neither Jacob nor I could stand to go back indoors at the end of the day, so we extended the day with burgers on the patio of an English pub in our neighborhood. Fun, fun!

On Sunday, immediately after church, we set out for another afternoon outside. We headed back down to the Mall and eventually decided to go visit the White House. We couldn't approach the South Lawn side because Marine One was taking off, but we enjoyed seeing the North side of the Presidential Mansion.

Andrew seemed delighted to be in the fresh air and sunshine all weekend. And Jacob and I loved studying every little expression and movement he made in the stroller--he's such great entertainment!

Andrew Waves Hello

We've gone multimedia, folks! I finally figured out how to upload videos!

Sweet baby.

Test Driving

Or test sleeping, that is.

Since Andrew currently sleeps in a bassinette attached to our bed and since the nursery is also the study and the guest room (how's that for multi-functional?), we'd waited on putting up his crib until a few weeks ago. Now that it's in place, we've been testing it out at a naptime here and there, just to get the little guy used to the idea.

I think he likes it.

His mama, however, is having a very hard time with the idea of him sleeping anywhere but right next to her.
It's just such a nice view!

*By the way, Andrew's crib, which was a very lovely present from my work friends, is a mini crib. I highly recommend a mini crib for anyone with limited space. The dimensions and bedding are the same as those for a porta-crib. Still plenty of room for baby!

The Bigger, the Better

Some of you may know that I love, love, LOVE big hair. Fewer of you may know that my Texan husband shares my love for the big 'do. So imagine my delight when I unwrapped a birthday goodie from him last night and found my very own set of Bumpits Volumizing Hair Inserts!


You may scoff, but I've been pining for Bumpits ever since I saw the infomercial back in mid-December, when I was huge with child and not leaving the sofa very often. So I approached this morning's trial run with great trepidation. What if they didn't work? Would I be back to the "spray and pray" method? Was there no way to escape the teasing brush?

But what a relief! See this flat, boring pony?





Now see the flatness disappear and the pony be taken to greater heights!

The second side's a bit messy, but I'm still a Bumpits beginner. Just give it time...I'm gonna be bumpin' things up around here quite regularly!

The Baptism of Andrew Thomas

This Saturday, Andrew received the Holy Sacrament of Baptism. We were so thankful that lots of our family came to DC to celebrate this wonderful occasion with us!

Getting ready to go to the church. Andrew wore an antique gown and bonnet from his Grandmama Sullivan, which also were worn a few weeks ago by Andrew's cousin, Lily Rose, when she was baptized.

And blue booties from my cousin, Jennifer.

Andrew at the church with his cousin, Katie!Getting in those last few minutes with the pacifier.Andrew did so well, and didn't cry at all during the Baptism. I think it helped that Father Harris very kindly had heated the holy water just a bit!

My brother Brian and sister-in-law Jen are Andrew's godparents. Since Jen couldn't make it to DC this weekend, my sister-in-law Melissa was very sweet to stand in as her proxy.

Andrew's parents and grandparents.

The Snodgrass side of the family.

The Sullivan side of the family.

After the Baptism, Jacob and I had everyone back to our apartment for a luncheon.

After all that partying, Andrew was pure tuckered out. We put him down for a nap and he's pretty much been sleeping ever since!