tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195836932009-07-05T19:30:51.510-07:00Hub-D and I, outnumbered by Chebbles, Gigi, and Baby C...Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.comBlogger1181125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-55952505252334137402009-07-05T19:27:00.000-07:002009-07-05T19:30:51.520-07:00

I sing this song every single day while I peel butterfly stickers off of my skin, sort out My Little Ponies and step on those awful tiny "claw" hairclips. I love how Carol Burnett just belts it out.I used to think she was SO MEAN, and now I totally, totally get it.

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-51187199205370834632009-07-05T15:16:00.000-07:002009-07-05T15:20:00.602-07:00

You knew Gigi loved Ronald Reagan, but seriously, she is SO PATRIOTIC.Hub-D tried to point out that the crown doesn't really "go" with July 4, since the whole holiday is about thwarting royalty, but she wasn't having any of it.

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-22667795597558406482009-07-02T12:20:00.001-07:002009-07-02T12:23:19.289-07:00

I finally know why I've been feeling so awful in the last few days, why I couldn't rouse myself from the chair, why every single joint in my body -- plus my incision -- ached incessantly.I have mastitis! Duh.I called Dr. W.'s office when the aching became terrible yesterday and I started spiking a fever, asking if it could be a side-effect of recovery from my C-section. The nurse was VERY NICE as

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-52462320474946335262009-06-30T19:54:00.000-07:002009-06-30T20:01:21.646-07:00

We're all done. We've just had it. Each one of us had a certain amount of energy, and we spent it all in the month of June.July, I'm so sorry, I've got nothing for you.Tonight, every single one of the females in this household blew up simultaneously. Thank goodness Hub-D wasn't affected by the group swoon, and he held and smooched each one of us back into reasonable functionality.But I bailed on

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-33045738072330504922009-06-29T18:46:00.001-07:002009-06-29T18:49:25.151-07:00

Sixteen months, of course!Gigi loved Darth Vader a LOT and would cheer and raise her arms when he was on the screen.I think she'd make a good Yoda for Halloween, yes?

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-43904077367110778902009-06-28T12:44:00.000-07:002009-06-28T12:47:58.455-07:00

This song perfectly encapsulates Baby C's view of life. She just doesn't want to miss any of the action... she and I could stare at each other all day and all night. But then no one would get any sleep, which would be fine by her.It's particularly tough for her to go to sleep at bedtime. It's as though she knows that for the next 12 hours, other than pitch dark feedings, there will be no sisters,

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-14439187698031184452009-06-27T11:34:00.000-07:002009-06-27T16:15:26.456-07:00

Does anyone else remember this episode of Laverne & Shirley? It was possibly the GREATEST moment of comedic television. (The low being a tie between the sitcom episodes where Benson's mother dies and where Edith Bunker dies. Come on people, what was with the death themes in sitcoms? Anyway...)The premise: Squiggy's Uncle Lazlo dies, leaving him a restaurant, which Lenny and Squiggy rename "Dead

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-63965739657474127502009-06-27T09:03:00.001-07:002009-06-27T09:04:04.824-07:00

Now that I'm writing for the Healthy Living part of the site, I think it's especially helpful to have direct links to the stories.This is Part One of Baby C's birth!

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-80067370047295574902009-06-25T11:14:00.000-07:002009-06-25T11:26:50.970-07:00

I love the residual effects of Chebbles' first year of "big girl" preschool. She has a fascination with outer space now. This is her drawing of something that is "sort of like a quasar." You know. Sort of.In other news, Baby C is still stuffy as all get-out. And she's gassy too. It's just the nature of being an infant who emanates from our own gassy loins -- you spend the first few months of life

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-36690527066211720252009-06-24T11:31:00.000-07:002009-06-24T11:35:08.635-07:00

Thank goodness we were already at our deductible this year. I just got the bill for Baby C and my stay at the hospital: $9863.67 for her, and $38,303.68 for me.I've got to hand it to HealthNet, they live up to their word, covering all these expenses after my wrists polished off the deductible in March.And in other news, I'm going to continue writing for Health.com! I'm so excited. They're moving

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-66952918147107840052009-06-21T18:36:00.000-07:002009-06-21T20:22:29.463-07:00

It's our annual excuse to take a picture of our family together. Remember last year? (Bad hair! Sleepless nights!)I just love this picture because it's so... us. And Baby C looks like me, if only because we're both squinting. As for Gigi's face, she found an abandoned chocolate chip cookie outside the auditorium, and now that I'm a mother of three with no standards (sanitary, disciplinary,

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-16352747205688834462009-06-19T10:55:00.001-07:002009-06-19T10:57:25.627-07:00

I asked Gigi WHY in the world she didn't adhere to the guidelines I'd specifically hung over Baby C's swing. And she alleged that she "can't read."Typhoid Gigi.But seriously, these signs? So first-time mom.

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-45399274911180794282009-06-18T19:42:00.001-07:002009-06-18T19:45:51.107-07:00

This is Chebbles, discussing how she resents the "Ages 7+" designation on the Connect Four packaging, while Gigi quietly "wins" the game.Today it finally got hot, so I busted out the infant/toddler hot weather gear and spent the afternoon hosing off children in the backyard. Chebbles sang an awesome song to Baby C while she sat enraptured in the bouncy seat. It was about everything she was going

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-61192309826449831622009-06-17T09:31:00.000-07:002009-06-17T09:39:02.984-07:00

"Hi, you don't know me yet, but I'm Chebbles, and I'll be the boss of you."The funny part is how other kids don't seem to mind Chebbles' ministrations, or her dictating the game rules (in which she is the victor 100% of the time). All I ask of Chebbles is that she be kind in these interactions -- to take a pause and ask her friends what THEY would like to do, who THEY would like to be in their

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-67162353907322351182009-06-15T15:15:00.000-07:002009-06-15T20:03:18.137-07:00

Maybe there is something magical about a third baby -- the lack of tension, stress, or new clothing purchases. But we're over the moon in love with Baby C -- no holds barred, every last one of us.Gigi just dug up an old Cabbage Patch Kid pacifier, which had wintered somewhere in our shrubs. She brought it in to Baby C with all due haste, and tried to shove it in her baby sister's mouth. Luckily,

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-51987831157895180632009-06-14T19:41:00.001-07:002009-06-14T20:03:50.210-07:00

I realized, as I clutched Baby C to my side last night for the last few hours of sleep, that I was holding her close for ME, not for her. The scales have tipped in favor of the "indulging the mama" side, versus "baby actually needing human contact."She sleeps long and well in her crib. Now I just have to adjust to that.But cripes, people! Look at that dimple! Look at how this child is filling out

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-90008042673070060242009-06-13T10:46:00.000-07:002009-06-13T10:52:47.863-07:00

Doesn't everyone dress their toddlers in Ronald Reagan T-shirts for Gymboree? Well, they should.The trick to getting enough sleep around here has been to go to bed at, say, 7pm. Sorry Hub-D, I'll see you in about, uh, four months. But Baby C needs to be ministered to 2-3 times every night -- either feeding, or changing a big stinky diaper, or bicycling her tiny little legs to get all her wee

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-64955884392441089582009-06-11T15:05:00.001-07:002009-06-11T15:29:17.741-07:00

I just discovered a bunch of additional pictures from Baby C's birth, and I'm posting them below.The photos begin with the afternoon before her delivery, then with Hub-D and me on the lawn, heading out to one last dinner before heading to the hospital early the next morning.I did NOT post the bloody/graphic photos of Baby C's birth which *I* find fascinating, but I could be the only one. They

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-132765363034931602009-06-10T16:53:00.000-07:002009-06-10T17:00:22.867-07:00

Oh my goodness, the hormones have descended. The smallest thing makes me want to cry. It's not necessarily tears of sadness, but tears of EMOTION. I'm not depressed, I'm just one big hormone of intense feeling.Hub-D rented "Life is Beautiful" from Netflix."I don't think it's even a good idea to have that movie in the HOUSE at this point," I told him.My mom just took Chebbles and Gigi to dance

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-73680638248539911022009-06-08T09:49:00.001-07:002009-06-08T09:49:57.013-07:00

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-22645759717544188292009-06-07T19:20:00.000-07:002009-06-07T19:40:05.450-07:00

Last night Baby C had the gas pains again -- I'm now convinced it's unrelated to diet. But in the middle of the night, I just let her latch onto my right boob and hang out there for hours on end, leading to worse indigestion, gas problems and pains. I just need to seriously tank her up, then let her sleep, I think. (Thanks for the hindmilk suggestion, Holly, that sounds like a winner!)She remains

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-2658309202802722202009-06-06T12:18:00.000-07:002009-06-06T12:25:21.955-07:00

Baby C is definitely an "easy" baby -- no screaming, long sleeping, excellent eating. And the gas situation seems to have been something of a fluke. Now that I've gotten a little more aggressive about burping her, we've had fewer problems that way.It's just the sleep, for me. And the whole "sleep when your baby sleeps" thing is a crock, let's all look that straight in the eye and admit it.

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-77520727559223875362009-06-05T14:44:00.000-07:002009-06-05T14:48:11.835-07:00

We're still alive over here, thanks to tons and tons of beautiful jewelry keeping us glamorous and awake.Also keeping us awake is Baby C's gas. Poor gal had an attack of it last night from about 1am-6am, when a cascade of farts finally relieved the whole household from the pain and agony of her tiny guts.I don't think it's my drinking milk, although I've stopped all dairy, just in case. Does

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-23365067792741110252009-06-03T08:59:00.000-07:002009-06-03T09:02:20.862-07:00

There were mass layoffs in the Mama household this morning -- Baby C, Gigi and most of all Chebbles were all fired before 7am. Sorry, but I can't justify their salaries in this economy -- not when we're getting the whole everyone-wakes-up-around-the-clock behavior. So yes, it was, "Ladies, step into my office."Their severance package was a breakfast out with their visiting grandparents. And once

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-21813960208419160562009-06-01T20:50:00.000-07:002009-06-01T20:57:23.947-07:00

Lady! You have GOT to be kidding me. Another one? You seriously just brought home another one of these things?Has it occured to you to run these things past us, your loyal cats? Those things are loud, they pull our tails, and until instructed otherwise, they eat our food. So no, we don't approve.(But of course both cats were snuggled near our cozy, milky nursling haze by daybreak.)

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com3