pictures!...and I'm already sore!

Today was such a fun family day!  We had a lazy morning and then got our act together and went to visit with Mandy and Bella.  Mandy and I have been very close friends for about 11 years now.  She is a personal trainer and budding photographer.  Check out her blog, Fitness and Family, here, and her photography blog here.  She took some gorgeous pictures of our family today!  I'm so excited because besides these, the ONLY picture I have of all three of us I am about 7 hours post partum and wearing a hospital gown.  Not. Cute. Here are a few sneak peaks!

I am so impressed with these.  It is so fun to be friends with Mandy!  After the photoshoot, Mandy kicked my butt in her home gym and I'm already sore.  Max got Staci down for a nap and played with Bella while we worked out.  I'm not really sure what they were doing, but they MUST have been having fun with all of the running back and forth we heard above us.  It sounded like they were competing to see who could run to the other side of the living room faster!

Mandy was also nice enough to take some artzy phartzy photos of Anastasia breastfeeding.  I wanted a few shots to remember this special time by.  Don't worry, I won't be posting these online!  I feel so blessed to have made it through the rough patches in the beginning and to have fallen into an enjoyable breastfeeding relationship with my daughter.  She is such a good baby, and I feel so lucky to be her mom!

A response to Earth 2100

On June 2, 2009 ABC aired a special TV broadcast of 'Earth 2100'.  It was a 2 hour special following the life of Lucy, a little girl born in 2009.  I felt a strong connection with Lucy because my own daughter, Anastasia, was born in April of this year.  Also narrated by Lucy, I found myself in tears for much of the time while I was watching because of all the hardships Lucy endures.  Her family abandons their suburban home to move to the city because gas prices are too high for them to afford to live so far away from their jobs.  Instead of selling their home, they must abandon it because no one is buying homes in the suburbs.  I live in the suburbs!  They move into a tiny apartment, and Lucy doesn't understand why they must leave there big, comfortable home. 

I watched this a couple of months ago, so I can't remember all of the details.  In a nutshell, it becomes progressively more difficult for Lucy to live life the way we do now.  Out of necessity, coastal cities came up with the technology to transform salt water into fresh water.  Buildings are repurposed to use all available space as gardens for growing food.  Transportation is refined so the use of fossil fuels is no longer needed, because what's left is far too expensive for a normal family to afford. In the end, the polar ice caps melt and NYC (where she has ended up as a nurse, in her 'golden' years) is flooded--very reminiscent of Katrina.  She somehow makes it out of the city alive and spends the rest of her days with her daughter in a commune type place. 

I was shocked to my core!  I realize it is an extremists point of view, but I urge each and every one of you, especially if you are parents, to watch this documentary.  It's frightening that we are within a century of what could be the end of civilization as we know it. 

That being said, I truly believe that what we think about, we bring about.  If we continue to desire forward, to invent the technology for completely renewable resources and that have little to no impact on our environment, our planet can begin to heal itself. 

So, did YOU reduce, reuse, and recycle today?

First post, a letter to our daughter

Dear Anastasia,
You are four months and 23 days old today! My life has changed so much since you joined us. I love you to the moon and back. You bring me endless joy. You always have a giant, dimpled smile to share. You are still stingy with your laughs, but when you share them, I can’t help but laugh, too! It is just so gorgeous to hear! You tend to prefer a 2-2.5 hour schedule during the day. It usually goes something like this:

7:30: wake up! Diaper change, nurse, play
8:30: nap for ~40 minutes
9:15: wake up, nurse, diaper change, play
11:15: nap
12:00 wake up, nurse, diaper change, play
1:30: nap
2:15: wake up, nurse, diaper change, play
4:00: nap
4:45: wake up, nurse, diaper change, play
6:15: I try to put you down for a nap, you refuse and kick your legs and scream in your crib
7:00: nurse, bath, get ready for bed
7:45: finally fall asleep after much coaxing from Mommy and Daddy
8:30: wake up to nurse
9:30: finally fall back asleep for the night!
1:30: wake up to nurse
4:30: wake up to nurse

Gosh, no wonder mommy is so tired! You just started reaching for things a few weeks ago, and now you have it down pat. When I place a toy within your grasp, you skillfully reach with both hands, grab it, and bring it to your mouth. You are at the stage where everything you can get goes to your mouth! Some people think you are teething; I, however, think you are just learning and experiencing new things. The teeth will come later; much later, mommy hopes!

You have been rolling over from back to front for about 6 weeks now. Some days I can’t set you down before you’ve rolled over, and others you don’t roll over a single time! Also, when you do roll over, you lie there on your stomach for a few minutes very proud of your accomplishment and mobility. Then, you get upset because you don’t want to be on your stomach anymore and don’t want to flip back over on your own! You have done it a couple of times, but haven’t quite figured it all out on your own yet. You prefer to have me flip you over instead.

You love to ‘talk’ to us. Sometimes it’s just vowels strung together, and others it’s more like a scream—not an upset scream though! Of course you have those on occasion, but Mommy tries to keep those to a minimum.

You are wearing size 3-6 month clothes
You are trying to learn to blow raspberries, and have gotten it a few times
You L-O-V-E your doorway jumper.
You are on the middle size of your one-size diapers
You have been exclusively breastfed
You LOVE bath time
You are enchanted by our animals, Shania and Rascal and love to grab their fur!
You are really fond of your little red dinosaur that Aunt Liz gave you
You are still spitting up a LOT.
Some of your favorite games include the washing machine, tigger, peekaboo, and grabbing my hair or cloth. And the back of my arm. Ouch!