oh the woods

We went on a much needed hike this weekend - got the hell out of Dodge, so to speak. It was a blast for the whole family. Well, at least we know that we and the dog liked it, and I assume Miss Stella had fun in the fresh air.

She's under there somewhere!

Scupper the Mountain Goat

PB&J break

The view

Aimee's Bistro - always open, and available for take out

One tired pup

So big!

Today Miss Stella Ruth is 2 months old! Has it really been that long?

Steve, Stella and I went to the hospital last night to visit friends who just had a baby on the 13th (congrats Stephanie and Paul!) Little Hayes was so tiny compared to beefy Stella... and as I was rocking her last night during our bedtime routine, Steve whispered - wow, was she really that small once? Has it really been two months? I guess we do need to relish every moment.

And it hit us - so thank you little Hayes - for making us discover the joy of witnessing our daughter grow and change right before our eyes. Thank you for reminding us that even though we've been crabby with no sleep, are frustrated that she cries and we don't know why, that we've threatened her once to take her to the nearest firehouse (okay, really, it was in jest), that we really have had an amazing two months with our little girl.

Miss Stella - April 17, 2 am, 2 1/2 hours old
Miss Stella, June 13, 8:30pm, just shy of two months.

The joy of motherhood

Not that I really wanted to share this photo - but Steve thought it was funny.
This is what someone looks like when they went to bed at 10pm, got up at midnight, got up at 2:30, got up at 4am, got up at 6am, tried to go back to sleep while Dad tried to fed the baby, lay in bed awake for 45 minutes while said baby cried because she won't take a bottle, and finally, at 7am, got up, fed said baby, and cried and cried because said baby won't take a bottle or sleep for more than 2 hours at a stretch at night.

ah joy.

Goth Baby

So lucky for us, Stella has already gone through her Goth phase...

Seriously though... Stella and I have both been battling thrush - a common breastfeeding yeast infection (her in her mouth, me in my boobs - yah real fun) and finally, after 4 weeks of the prescription stuff not working, we tried an old remedy called Gentian violet - which stains the tongue - duh - violet. Neeedless to say, she looked pretty funny....
unfortunately, the thrush still isn't gone. ah well. but now at least we know what to do one year for Halloween?

I'm so cute

in my little dress that "Auntie" Ali gave me...

everyone say 'awww'

who me? cute?

no really, are you talking about me?

oh stop, you're too much.

and the energy is coming from where?

So last night was a bad sleep night for everyone - except maybe Scupper. No nap this morning, not really a nap this afternoon.

and yet, here I am - Scupper is asleep (he played at the park most of the day with the dog walker - I had to splurge and get him out of the house), Steve is passed out on the couch, Stella is passed out (finally, after an hour episode of crankiness), and what do I do, instead of sleeping too?

Make this. Blueberry brunch cake. It's so damn tasty - I've made it a bunch of times, so if blueberries are cheap at your local grocer, I highly recommend it. Cooking made me feel like a normal person again... probably b/c dinner was reheated soup that I had frozen before Stella was born. It's weird how much I miss cooking. I haven't made homemade bread in two months and it's killing me. Maybe later in the week I'll do a day-long Julia Child French bread... b/c hey, what else do I have to do?

But you didn't come to the blog to read about me - so here are my two new favorite pics of my favorite babies...

An in action shot of Scupper with his frisbee that he completely tore apart. So much for frisbee, but he had a great time ripping it up.

Stella's new glamour shot pose. Isn't she fabulous? ;)

Oh - and for those of you that felt sorry for the little one who was taking her baths in a roasting pan, she now has graduated to the big girl tub because her legs are so long, she doesn't fit in the pan anymore. Here was last night's try at a bath. Mind the big old lady in the picture.

A good night for bodily fluids

Tonight may have been a record -

i woke up at 4am in a puddle of my own breastmilk (and sadly, we just changed the sheets and washed the mattress pad and everything...)

Stella pooped on my hand while changing her.

Then she spit up curdled milk on my chest when i picked her up.

Nice.