His 'n Her Towels

4 Months - Baby You're A Firework

 

Dear Della Plum

You turned 4 months old on 6.28.11. It's been a whole month since then (you're actually 5 months today).  I'm not chronically late for everything. Honest. I just like to take my time writing this monthly letter to you. I want to make sure I get the details of the entire month going forward.

 

 
 
The month started off with a bang, it was your first Fourth of July! We went up north for a mini-vacation and I have to say, vacations agree with you. You were so good. You went swimming, then napped. Boating, then napped. Hammocking, then napped. You are a baby of leisure, that’s for sure.

 

 
 

You even slept through the fireworks. At home, I can't put a feather in a hat without waking you up, but you can sleep through a night of deafening fireworks, obnoxious trumpet-playing clowns, and God Bless America on repeat?

 

 

 

Unfortunately, when we got back you came down with another cold. At first I thought you were just allergic to not vacationing, but I was wrong. It was, in fact, ANOTHER cold. This cold was a little better than the last, but it still warranted a trip to the doctor.

 

Della, you were baptized on July 10th. It was such a special day as we stood before God and asked him to watch over you. You were beautiful in white, surrounded by all the people who love you. We couldn't help but envision you on your wedding day, and we are thankful that we get to experience life with you from now to then. I am so blessed to have you in my life and I thank God everyday, multiple, multiple times a day.

After your baptism we had brunch and cake at our home. You received a lot of nice gifts that day, The Bible, a gorgeous musical globe with a cross in the middle, delphiniums (the flower), and even a purple tricycle ...so that you can bike with Jesus?

God Bless Delphine is all I have to say. 

 

Here is what else you've been up to:

-At your 4 month checkup you were 12lbs 10oz, and 23 inches. 25 percentile for weight and 10th percentile for height. You are one short plum.

-You laugh! Your first real laugh was at your Uncle Jason. He asked, "What is so funny?" and you laughed and laughed at him. You don't laugh too often, but when you do, it. melts. hearts.

-Currently your favorite song is Moves Like Della (Jagger) by Maroon5. You find it hilarious when I sing it to you.

-You started laughing, but STOPPED talking, almost completely. It is the oddest thing. You used to "coo" so much we thought you might be part pigeon, but since you turned 4 months old you haven't said a peep. I wish you would start talking to me again. It's way too early for you to figure out how to give me the silent treatment.

-When I drop you off at the babysitters you have begun to stick your bottom lip way out and you get a little sad and teary-eyed. I think you've figured out what's happening. You don't stay sad for long, and some days you don't even notice I’m gone. Still, it secretly makes me feel good if you cry when I leave. You'll learn this one day, but crazy women like me need someone to miss them when they are gone.

-When Dad picks you up from daycare you get really excited to see him. You start fervently flapping your legs and arms in hopes to swim through the air to get to him. You always smile the biggest at him. And when he’s talking grownup talk to others, you patiently wait, smiling up at him until he notices you.

-We took a trip to the URgency room this month. Dad noticed that the tip of your tongue was black. I’m not a baby expert, but I don’t think baby’s tongues are supposed to be black. We called the nurse and she suggested the UR. It turned out it was just a bruise, but seriously. Could it be anymore obvious we are first timers?

-You sit! You do not rollover, nor do you have any interest in rolling. But you can sit up now. Good job Plum!

-Size 3-6 month clothes. Size 2 diapers. Naps are still inconsistent, and you will be swaddled for 18 more years.

There’s so much to say about you this month. I could go on and on about how you like to eat books, how you recognize people you love, how you will leave your mouth open so that Bixby can lick inside it (Gross!),  and how you are so proud of yourself when you sit in a high chair at the dinner table with us. Each week you keep adding more stuff for us to talk about. You are one captivating subject, and I love being your mom!

 

 

Love you always,

Mom

Our Wedding: The Location, The Church, The Dress

Monday marked the two year anniversary of when Carl and I said our sweaty "I Do's". This blog was supposed to chronicle our journey to the altar, but instead it came down with a severe case of babyitis. Babyitis takes over your life, leaving you bleary-eyed, itchy, and certifiably insane. Trust me. I’ve been rolling around on baby blankets trying to get my scent to rub off on them, because someone told me it would help the baby sleep. Now my body is covered in rug burns, and the baby still cries when we try to make her nap.  See, certifiable.

Before this blog succumbs to babyitis completely, I might try to get some wedding details down. Since that is where it all began anyway.

 

 

The Location: Vernazza, Italy

Vernazza is one of the five towns in the Cinque Terre region in Italy. It is a tiny fishing village on the Italian Rivera.

There are no roads, or car traffic in Vernazza. Just a beach, boats, sunbathing rocks, gelato, and plenty of fantastic things to eat. The perfect quaint Italian town, where the locals speak little English, and everyone knows you (if you stay long enough).

 

 

 

 

The thing to do, besides drink wine from the local vineyard, is to hike between the five towns. It is gorgeous! My favorite place on earth.

 

 

 

 

 

The Church: Santa Margherita d'Antiochia

One of the main reasons we chose to get married in Vernazza was the church. It was built in 1318 right on the sea. The church looks like it is coming out of the rocks and water, and when we were standing at the altar we had the most beautiful views. We didn’t need any decorations, the views did it all for us.

 

 

 

 

The inside of the church was gorgeous as well. Typically, when you see one old church, you’ve seen them all…but this one definitely stole my heart.

 

 

 

 The Dress:

Three things I needed when searching for a dress: one that would fit with the venue, one that had sleeves, and one that was easily transportable. We were informed that the ladies shoulders should be covered during the ceremony, so I went looking for a dress with sleeves, that wasn’t completely modern and awkward against our traditional Italian Catholic ceremony, and that we could drag across all of Europe. I think this dress fit all my criteria pretty well.  

 

 

My Super Grown-up Married Life

I’ve always had this vision that when I finally got married I would morph all power-ranger-like into a mature person. I’ve been married for 58 days and I’m not sure that has happened yet. Even with the fact that I still manage to spill something on my shirt every single day, I think my bullet points below, detailing what we’ve been up to since marriage has commenced, will further disprove that theory completely.

My super grown-up married life thus far:

· I’ve finished reading the Twilight series. Overall I LOVED it. I did have some reservations about the book, mainly the awful foreshadowing …. And then there’s Bella. Poor, poor agnst ridden Bella. I thought the author was trying WAAAAY too hard to make Bella relatable to her audience. I mean, what teen-aged girl, or mid-twenties professional married woman, reading this book isn’t clumsy and pale? And what clumsy pale girl (or mid-twenties professional adult woman who has a super sexy retirement plan and discounted insurance because she’s a safe driver), doesn’t wish that everyone around her thought she was an extremely stunning and special person, so that she could then pretend like she didn’t notice OR even care what people thought about her? And what girl doesn’t yearn to be beautiful, and have a beautiful man to fall madly in love with her? Make that two beautiful men, who are totally obsessed with her, have jealous, but endearing,  tendencies, and are her undeniable soul mate (regardless if they have a soul or not.)

I also think the author went a little overboard with the whole:

“I’m not good enough for you, you are way too good for me.”

“NO, I’m not good enough for YOU, you’re too good for ME.”

 “But I’m plain”

“You're beautiful.  I'm the one without a soul”

“Well, I’m pale and fall down a lot.”

“And I want to suck your blood.”

That routine got a little old after awhile. BUT, other than that, I loved reading the books and went through the seven stages of grief and loss when I was finished. I was so sad it was over. So sad that I  FORCED Carl to start reading the books, just so I could talk to him about them, and ask him every day what part he is on. – What happened next? Oh yeah, that’s a good part. And then what happened? Ooh, don’t you just hate him??

· Carl and I went to a corn maze last weekend. We took our dog Coya with and let her off her leash to run around the maze. We chose the more challenging maze that should have taken an hour to complete. Let me give you a piece of advice if you ever feel like going through a corn maze and happen to bring your pooch: DO NOT LET YOUR DOG LEAD THE WAY.  

Coya started running through the maze with her nose to the ground, taking lefts and rights with such precision, like she absolutely without a doubt knew the way out. She had us convinced that she was some kind of dog-prodigy   and was going to lead us out of this harvest hell in record timing. And then the corn maze people would be so amazed that they would call the newspaper people to report what an amazing feat our little whiz dog had accomplished. And we would be famous.

We have A LOT of faith in our Coya. Maybe a little too much faith; I think sometimes we forget how much she likes to eat her own vomit and chase flies head first into the drywall.

Thirty minutes later we came to the conclusion that maybe Coya wasn’t trying to find our way out of the maze. Maybe she was on the scent of a squirrel. Or maybe she had gotten into grandma's medicine closet again. Either way she didn’t know what the heck she was doing and we were lost.

I spent thirty minutes of my life on Saturday following around my dog, who may or may not have been high, through a corn maze, certain that she could successfully navigate us to the exit! This is my married life.

· For Carl and mine’s 30-day anniversary I made him take me to Buffalo Wild Wings where we ate 30 wings in honor of each day we have been married.  For our 60 day anniversary I’m determined to finish 60 wings. Carl doesn’t think it’s possible. I guess he’s not as committed to this marriage as I am.