We started putting her in size 1 diapers a couple weeks ago, but they’re still a tad loose. Just like when the newborn diapers were initially loose.

I think we’ve got the breastfeeding down, but she still does this funny thing where she grunts the entire time she’s eating. It gets pretty annoying especially in the middle of the night when I just want her to finish her business and go back to bed. She does it when we bottle feed too, but not as bad. I wonder if it has to do with her congestion and breathing.

Unfortunately she’s still sleeping in the swing. I’ve tried several times to have her nap in her crib or pack and play and she’ll wake up screaming after about 5-10 minutes. I’m hoping between week 6 and 8 we can transition her out of the swing. It will be tough. If i can get her to nap successfully, then maybe we can put her in the crib at night. Although she does have her fussy periods during the afternoon where she can’t really get into a deep sleep, so maybe we just try this routine at night. She’ll sleep for 10-20 minutes during the day and wake up fussing, and this usually happens between 2 and 5pm. I’ll eventually swaddle her and put her back in the swing and she’ll sleep until Brian gets home or when she wakes for her evening feeding at 6 or 7. Luckily we don’t have to deal with this at night.

I’ve taken her to the mall a couple times this week. She does so well in the car and carseat. I even got a chance to take her out on a walk earlier in the week with our new jogging stroller. She slept the whole time, but at least she got some sun.

Next week, assuming I get the signoff from the doc, we’ll start on the Baby Boot Camp classes at Stonebriar. I’m excited about getting back into shape. All this laying around is hurting my back and making me feel unproductive. The classes are between 9-10 every morning, so we’ll have to time our feedings around it. The only problem I see is making myself get up. Lately I’ve been sleeping in till Brian leaves for work at 9. The 5/6 am feeding sucks the energy out of me since I usually sleep until 7.

I’m hoping she’ll drop one of the nighttime feedings soon. She’s no longer eating every 2-3 hours, it’s more like 3-5 hours depending on the hour or day.

So far everything is looking good. We’re still spending our days eating, playing and napping (sort-of). If I can get her to nap for longer than 30 minutes, then maybe I can do some actual housework. We still have our Christmas decorations sitting in boxes in the living room and I need to do some laundry, or maybe just sneak in a nap…

Anyhow, here goes 2011. I can’t remember much before this fall…not sure why. I usually can remember the smallest details. I suppose it’s my pregnant brain getting to me.

Goals Planned for this year:
1. Have a baby – We’re getting there. There’s very little indication that this baby is coming in any day now. I suspect that when she’s ready these silly contractions will hit hard and fast. She’s probably already got a little bit of both of our traits. Slow like her dad and hasty and impatient like her mom. We’ll see…

2. Get a new fence – Not even close; however, we’ve got a few quotes back.

3. Refinance House – Done, although I wish we had waited a few more months because the interest rates are even lower. Boo.

Things we did this year:
1. We took a trip to San Francisco back in April. San Francisco was great. Much older than I anticipated and smaller even. The trip was fairly short but we did as much as we could. I think my favorite part was walking across the Golden Gate Bridge and seeing Alcatraz. Unfortunately, we’ll have to return to experience the good food. I just can’t remember anything we had thatwas good, especially real Chinese food. I’d also like to go one of the nearby wineries. Maybe this can be our 2012 trip…

2. We took a trip to Montreal in September to celebrate our 5th year anniversary and Babymoon. We picked Montreal after going back and forth on Hawaii and other beach destinations. Our trip to Montreal started with a 2 day layover in Chicago due to the hurricane that hit the NE area. That’s ok because we got to explore some other great restaurants and neighborhoods in Chicago. As for Montreal, to me it was just another big city. It’s interesting to see the French Canadian culture up there. The main thing I’ll recall is that everyone there smokes and looked very pretty. My favorite part of the trip was just lounging around by the hotel pool everyday and our peaceful walk around Mont Royal. Unfortunately, there weren’t alot of attractions in Montreal, even the art museums were disappointing. At least that’s one city we get to check off our list.

3. We helped my parents move to Dalhart so that they can be under the care of my sister and her family. This occurred literally a week after our Montreal trip. It was a tough decision and they were getting to the point where they could not live by themselves. After being called several times at work and having to rush over to help one of them who’s fallen in the house or losing sleep because I’m terribly worried that something bad will happen over night, I just couldn’t let this continue. They finally gave in and agreed it was time that they can no longer be independent. While it’s a huge relief for myself, I can’t help but feel the burden that’s been put on my sister and her family. But I’m glad she’s ok it.

2012 Goals:
1. Learn how to be a parent.

2. Take the baby on a tour to of Texas (to visit parents, grandparents, great grand-parents).

3. Lose the baby weight and maybe run that half marathon I’ve been wanting to do.

4. Fix/replace that fence.

5. Get Reesey’s cataracts fixed.

6. Replace our kitchen sink.

My dad is still not doing well. In fact, he’s getting worse. I fear that the clock is really ticking on him and I really want to go see him soon…

It’s hard to grasp onto this reality. There’s a part of me that’s truly upset, and a part of me that’s excited because of the baby.

What terrible timing this has all been.

I should get out of the house to avoid thinking about all of this. It’s just too hard to deal with at the moment.

It’s hard to focus on getting excited when my parents are acting unusual. My sister says my dad is really weak and my mom keeps calling me stressing about the smallest things. She’s probably just worried because she can’t be here when I give birth and doesn’t know how else to express herself.

Since I don’t know exactly what shape they are in because I can’t see them, it’s hard for me not to stress. But, I have to have faith that everything will turn out ok, and that my sister is doing what she can to help out. I wish I was there to help her. It’s a huge burden being around elderly parents. The past year has been the roughest yet, I’m not even sure how I pulled through with any sense of sanity.

One thing I need to consider is travelling to see them. It will certainly be a long road trip, but I think we should get out there as soon as we’re allowed so they can meet the baby. Maybe the doctors will have advice on driving with a newborn. 8 hours in the car seems daunting, but it has to be done I guess.

I guess in the meantime, I need to think good thoughts and be thankful that I’ve been truly blessed with everything else in my life.

The one thing I keep re-enforcing with Brian is that we need to maintain good health so that our child doesn’t have to deal with this crap when she’s our age. Hopefully in a few years they’ll have some super pill we can take that will help maintain our youth.

I saw the doctor this morning and it looks like I’m 1cm dilated and the cervix is starting to thin out. Baby is also heads down as she should be. I need to start wearing a wrist brace to keep my carpal tunnel issues stabilized. It’s starting to get painful to do anything with my right hand. Other than that, the appointment was uneventful. We see the doctor again next week.

Our biggest to-do is to pick a pediatrician. Install the carseat and fully pack up my hospital bag. I semi packed one, but I really need to make sure it has everything we need for the baby as well.

I also need to start walking daily so this baby can come in on time.

Secondly, small/local merchants are probably overwhelmed by the level of responses when they offer these kinds of deals.

I was totally impressed with Jenny Leigh Photography’s portfolio. Sooo, when I saw the deal on Living Socials I purchased it immediately. It was the perfect timing with the new baby and all. I sent an email through her contact form about a month ago. Silence. Then I called her a few times. Silence. Sent another email today and no response. As a professional service you get most of your business by word of mouth, and if you don’t respond to inquiries, customers become pissed off or are worried. Especially if they’ve already spent some money in hopes of receiving said services. Ok, it is holiday season and photographers are typically busy around this time. I understand. A simple return message doesn’t take more than 1-2 minutes.

Anyway, I called Living Socials and they told me the merchant was no longer accepting the vouchers and they offered me a refund.

I then went on to her FB page posting my experience and dis-satisfaction. She promptly deleted the message and posted something to the effect that she’s still accepting these vouchers. Whether one party is giving the right info doesn’t matter at this point. Not only am I a pissed off consumer, but I certainly don’t want her services regardless of what is true or not. Photography is sooo personal, and the last thing I want is to work with someone who’s just trying to appease me. How awkward is that.

Thankfully, I have other options to fall back on. There are way too many hungry photographers out there willing to take my business even if it means paying full price for it.

EDIT: Got a call from the folks at Jenny Leigh. They weren’t sure why Living Socials was telling people they were no longer accepting vouchers. Secondly, they checked the call logs and never got a call from me. I called twice. The only correspondence they received was from yesterday’s email. I told them I also put in a contact request via their website back in September. They’re going to look into that issue.
They wanted to mitigate this situation by offering me a free session in the first week of January. I told her I would think about it, but because of the circumstances, it would be too awkward and it’s unlikely that I would take them up on it. Maybe I acted too hasty, but the reason why I got upset is because I was supposedly given the wrong information by Living Socials. Oh well. I am already at the point of seeking out a new photographer, and I don’t want to have to mess with this situation any further.