Photo Blog

Somebody give hand me some lipstick - STAT!

Yeah, I couldn't believe it either.

She smelled as good as she looks!

Three Martinis, please

Remember my post about a playdate for Ella? The picture that I used was from the cover of a book called The Three Martini Playdate: A Practical Guide to Happy Parenting. I had never heard of this book before but the image came up when I was searching for something pertaining to a playdate and it made me laugh so steal it I did.

Little did I know that Niki would be so observant and actually order the book for her favorite new mommies, Andrea and I! I got it in the mail last week and have had some good laughs reading it. I think when I'm done I will pass it on for Karen (queen of the playdate) to read :)

A little exerpt that made me laugh:

"One wasn't required to transport the little children hither and thither, here to T-ball practice, there to a 'playdate', may the chipper mommy who coined that particular term forever rot in a hell of eternally colicky babies."

Pure genius, right?

So Far...

Sleep? - Yes, please

Breastfeeding - One of nature's most natural things does not come naturally

Pregnancy weight - gone (ta da!)

Pre-pregnancy jeans - hell yeah, I'm wearing them

(If it sounds like I'm bragging on those last two, I am ;P )

# of days w/o a shower - Z.E.R.O. Nevah!

Kick ass afternoon of TV - TBS. Yes, Dear, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, King of Queens, Seinfeld, Friends and Just Shoot Me. I'm in love.

Treat du jour - Rick Krispie Treats

Swelling - All gone. My feet and calves are back to their recognizable form

Withdrawal from the Internet - Much worse than I imagined it would be

Need for some semblance of a routine - great/huge/enormous

Times I almost cried over spilled milk - One. One too many.

Times cried for no good reason - Who knows? But that Thanksgiving card really touched me, OK?

Goodbye to nearly clear complexion - Hello to not so much

Last reminders that I recently had surgery - laughing, coughing and sneezing

Ashley looks like - Her sister, and how!

A few words for my genetics - You're getting docked a day's pay for sleeping on the job (name that movie, anyone?)

Fingers nicked in first attempt at trimming nails - 3. 3 on one hand. Thank goodness Ashley didn't cry or I would have too.

Who is ready for another one? - Get back to me on that.

Who is feeling her heart burst with a true understanding of the meaning of Thanksgiving? - Yes ma'am, I am.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Another Quickie

In an effort for this not to be the Ashley channel (all Ashley, all the time!) here are some pics of Ella. I still plan on writing up the big Ashley post, mind you, but no time for that now. Maybe by the time she is a month old? Two months?

OMG, I just thought of something. If the blog will no longer be the Ella channel, nor will it be just the Ashley channel, then it will be the Ashley and Ella channel or A&E! Gosh, I'm so witty it hurts!

Gazing out the window at the hospital.

Princess Ella and her Super Dog, Miss Mags

OK, just one of little baby Ashley, sleeping in the sun

Semi Post

I have made it back to blog land, but unfortunately it's very temporary. We don't have a computer at home so posting requires a bit of an effort!

The real quick rundown so far is that all is well. Ashley had to stay at the hospital a few extra days to bask in the glow of artificial light since she had a touch of jaundice. We were able to go home on Saturday and since then have been trying to settle in and adjust to the new way of life. I am doing really, really well. A lot better than I remember at this stage of the game last time, actually! Oh, and the feet? They have begun to subside! Real shoes for me again! I'm pumped.

The only pictures I have at my disposal this very minute are from the hospital still, but I'll post them anyway. I don't know how different they are from the other ones, but you can't say I didn't try!

Hopefully I will be able to post a 'real' post soon, as well as grab some photos where Ashley isn't all bundled up and you can actually see her! (One thing to look forward to is a shot of her toes! Remember Angie telling me that Ella has my toes? Yep, Ashley too! Too a greater extent, I'm afraid...)

This we pre 'get that awful hat off of my precious little girl!'.

Lots of lovin' from her big sister.

Angie, Mallory and the McClure girls.

Welcome

After much anticipation, I am very proud to announce the arrival of Miss Ashley Kate McClure!!

The stats: 11/6 at 7:42 am, 7lbs. 15 oz., 20 in.

Lots and lots of dark hair!

Ella is as proud and smitten as can be.

I will give you the full rundown later, I promise! (Right now we are still in the hospital and hope to leave Friday at lunch.)

Thank you for all of your wonderful thoughts as we embark on this great adventure again... We are truly, truly lucky!

Tick Tock

So tomorrow is the day...

Of course I have about a million things that I want to get done running through my head, making little mental lists for myself. Who knows if I will remember everything? Or if it even matters, really? Things like housework will get done eventually, whether it's before Ashley gets here or not, so I'm not too concerned.

What I have been giving even more thought to recently is the fact that our lives are about to change. Forever. I have tried to take a few moments to soak up the family dynamic that we have grown so accustomed to, realizing that it will never be the same.

To that end, I searched online for some quotes regarding change. I found two that I thought were especially appropriate:

Charles DuBois: "The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become."

Heraclitus: "You cannot step twice into the same river, for other waters are continually flowing in."

Exactly.

(Eeee! The next time I log in I will have my baby in my arms! See you then!)

Ikea

Marisa sent me this and it is so funny! An Ikea commercial that makes you look twice... :)

Click Here!

Tidy up!

Halloween

Ella got her trick or treat on with Miss Mallory in Angie and Scott's neighborhood. It proved to be a very interesting night... maybe Halloween brings out the crazy in people? Or maybe it was the beer that David and Scott were drinking as they (and I) were escorting the girls from door to door?

Hmmm... whichever it was brought Scott wearing a fuzzy halo and a liquored up neighbor lady yelling across the street at a dark and seemingly empty house to 'shut. your dog. up!'. In all fairness, the dog in their backyard was barking nonstop, but what the hell?! (She ended up marching herself over to pound on the door, still yelling, but to no avail because surprise! they weren't home.)

The girls scored some serious loot, which both dads promptly coveted. Actually, Mal and E both traded their take of candy (minus a few select pieces) for the movie The Jungle Book because 'too much candy is not good for you'. See what smart parents we are! Now David and Scott can rot their teeth out.

Prima Ballerina

Maybe I was a little heavy handed with the make up? Oh, who cares!

Miss Mallory and Ella - BFF

The torn open box with 3 ice creams in it that one lady gave E to give to the parents.

That's very nice and all, but wtf?!

Catch Up

In my absence from the blog I have missed two very important events!

Happy 1 year anniversary to Marisa and Rusty on Oct. 21st! They celebrated in style by taking a quick trip to the Cayman Islands. They had a great time and enjoyed a few Cay Brews (island beer). Maybe too many Cay Brews?!

Remember a year ago?!

ALSO,

Congratulations to Andria, from Andria's Random Thoughts, and her family on the addition of baby Wyatt! He arrived last Wednesday to one very happy family and a proud big sister. Mama Andria was my wonderful pregnancy buddy this time around and I couldn't be happier for her and the fam!

Big sis Dellaina and baby Wyatt

10/31

Happy Halloween!

Last night we carved pumpkins (actually, David did the carving, Ella and I were the guts getter-outters). I already have a pumpkin in my lap so I was excused from carving duties!

E picked out the difficult pattern for her daddy to carve!

I was sweet and chose the easy one!

Advise Me

My dear, dear blog readers. Never did I expect the response that I got from my bitch fest post about my feet. Quite passionate about the subject, aren't y'all?! I have learned my lesson to keep my mouth shut and keyboard silent when it comes to pregnancy moans and groans! No matter what the comments were, I enjoyed reading them and seeing what everyone had to say. To that end, I thought I would try to elicit more comments from you.

So I'm going to ask for your advice. If you are a mother, hit me with your best motherly wisdom. I'm about to undertake a newborn and a (soon to be) four year old! Tell me something that I don't know and will help me enormously. If you are not a mother, lay down some real sage advice that may help me in life in general. I'm thinking along the lines of 'don't eat yellow snow'. Even if it doesn't help me in life, at least it will make me laugh!

Here's some of my own: 'Be particular' (which is good for things that range from what you are going to eat next to choosing a husband) and 'They make more of 'em every day' (in regards to breaking something, etc) - from The Sweet Potato Queens Book of Love.

Go.

M I A

Lest any of you worry, I am still here, very pregnant.

The blog has been quiet lately and I apologize. I don't know if it's because my brain has been so saturated with baby thoughts that I can't generate a coherent post? Or possibly it's because I am furiously trying to prepare my desk for someone to step in in my absence? Or, more likely, I am so damn focused on getting done with this biology experiement that I can hardly think of anything else.

Whatever the reason, I will try my best to keep up. I only have one week to go!

All Bran

Watch this commercial and pay close attention. I got such a laugh out of this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwX8MzOKOzI

All I can say is, you have got to be shitting me!

Photo Shoot

Angie made delivery of the profesh photos that she took Ella to and I am really pleased with them! Who knew Wally World could deliver the goods?!

When Angie and I were discussing the photos she made a comment about how I was crazy if I thought Ella looked anything like me. Umm, hello? Doesn't she know that I am volatile and don't want to hear that my genetics played no part in making my beautiful daughter?! Oh, she says, Ella definitely has my toes.

Well, faaaantastic.

Ashley Kate, take note, sweet baby. I'm expecting full genetic dominance! Your father will be insufferable if you take after him too. Toes don't count!

(Good grief I'm bitter!)

M.F.

Here it is. The not so good, the bad and the ugly of being 8 months pregnant. My meat feet.

Nobody ever said that gestation would be a cake walk and I certainly didn't plan for it to be (hope as I might). I have tried my hardest to be positive about the whole deal and sweetly reply to questions of how I'm doing with 'great!' all the while thinking something quite the opposite.

I don't want to be that girl who just bitches and moans about her pregnancy but then things like my swollen feet happen and I just cave into the temptation to complain, complain, complain. So here I am, attempting to use the blog as an outlet to shout my aches and pains at the world, and yet as I type I am nagged by the feeling that I should keep my gripes to a minimum.

'You knew what this was all about when decided to get pregnant' you may say, 'you're not the first person to ever have a baby' and 'the reward will make it all worth it'. True. Very true. And I know that. IknowIknowIknow.

So all I will say is I'M DONE. I'm done with my bulk and general largesse. I'm done with having to roll out of bed instead of sitting up. I'm done with my damn hips aching all the time. I'm done with maternity clothes that are gettting too small as I continue to grow. I'm done with having cankles and club feet. I'm done wondering what little baby Ashley will look like. I'm done wondering how in the world we are going to handle two kids.

Mother Nature, you are a wise yet cruel gal. You bring preggos to their knees, gladly willing to exchange the end of pregnancy with the fatigue of meeting the demands of a brand new baby. Like making a deal with the devil.

Where do I sign?

Prima Ballerina

Yesterday found me in Wal Mart spending a whole load of money (damn Wal Mart!). Of the many things that I bought were pieces of Ella's Halloween costume as a ballerina. I surprised her with them last night and she was immediately in luv. She even asked if she could put it on this morning! I've got plans for the big night of trick or treating that include putting her hair in a bun and maybe even some make up! (I get to play dress up! Yay!)

Getting her poses ready...

Although, I don't know what pose that is!

The mind of a child

David and Ella were sitting outside on our deck the other day just chatting and she came out with something only a kid would. I thought it was cute, of course!

Ella: 'Why did they build our deck?'

David: 'I built our deck, honey.'

Ella: 'Why did you build our deck?'

David: 'So that we could get into the house. Our door is high off the ground

and we needed something to help us get to it.'

Ella: 'Why don't we not have a deck and get some pogo sticks? We can bounce

high to the door.'

David: 'Well, honey, I don't think that would work very well...'

Ella: 'We could have a Daddy pogo stick and a Mama pogo stick and a little kids

pogo stick for me!'

David: 'We could... but I think our deck works pretty good.'

Ella: 'Ok.'

Punchy

David has been doing some leather work lately and Ella really wanted to help. (He makes belts, spur leathers, head stalls, etc. and then tools designs on them. Remember the spur leathers he made Ella for her birthday?!) Last night David got out a piece of scrap leather and let her go to town tooling on it. She had such a good time and was really into it! I was so amazed at her excellent coordination hitting the stamp that I couldn't resist a little video documentation. It's not all that exciting, but check out her mad skillz!

I think that we have the makings for some cheap child labor making belts! Although, with that accuracy, we could set her up with a hammer and some nails! If anyone needs hand crafted leather products or carpentry work, give us a call! :)

Start the Countdown!

Today marks the 4 week mark, y'all! I don't know if I have officially stated that I'm scheduled for my c-section on Nov. 6th? My money (and hopes) are on little Miss Ashley coming earlier than that, but we'll see!

Here is the latest picture I have subjected myself to. It's from last Thursday during our Tough Enough to Wear Pink BBQ. Since then I have gone and gotten my hair all darkened up for the fall (a little darker than I had planned, actually) so don't be surprised when you see me next!

Hmm... anyone remember my comments about Bert? Coming back to haunt me now!!