Marilyn Monroe and many others would say that diamonds are a girl's best friend (hey, I'm not arguing with that conclusion - I've never seen a girl reject that well-known little blue box). In our household, however, our sweet Lab, Pearl, holds the title of man, woman, AND baby's best friend. Pearl entered our lives on a snowy winter evening (much like our present weather, minus the layers of ice - alas, that is another post for another day) almost three years ago to the day. I can remember Ryan and I driving to pick her up - it was truly love at first sight. There she was all rolly-polly, frolicking with her sisters and brothers...8 pounds of the softest blonde downy fur and cute rolls of fat, with humongous brown eyes. I remember cradling her in my hands as we drove home in the snowy night, this sweet little white furball.
It's hard to believe that our first "baby" is 3 years old now and well....let's just say she weighs significantly more than 8 pounds, which I am achingly reminded of every time she tries to crawl in my lap and lick my face. She's a sweet girl and has calmed down somewhat, though she is very much the puppy at times (case in point - a couple of weeks ago, she threw up three pairs of my underwear in one week). Everyone always asked us how Pearl would adjust to no longer being the baby in our household once Alexandra was born, but she has done fantastic as you can see in some of these photographs I took last weekend. While they don't pay a tremendous amount of attention to one another now, my wish is that my two girls become thick as thieves and the best of friends.
What an incredible day to be an American...what a wonderful event that the world just bore witness to, an event that I was not sure I would see in my lifetime. Today, I joined the rest of the country in watching our 44th President, Barack Obama, take the Presidential oath of office. Watching the festivities unfold on my computer at work through CNN Live, I found myself filled with some regret that I wasn't able to be there in person to witness it. I sat at my desk, transfixed by the images that passed along my screen. I felt chills go up my spine as I watched Obama descend the steps toward the stage, and then to my surprise, found myself shedding a couple of tears as I watched our first African-American president walk side by side with our first female Speaker of the US House of Representatives. It was an emotional day for sure, but my strong reaction even took me by surprise - as Obama took the oath, it was almost like a sigh of relief left my body and it felt as if a weighted load was lifted off of my shoulders that I didn't even know existed.
As I sat in my office with the door shut so I could block out the noise of general office chatter and focus upon Obama's first words after being named President, I found that my thoughts kept turning to my infant daughter. To say I sometimes worry about the world she has been born into is an understatement - I do harbor some fears as to what Alexandra's generation will face. Yet seeing Obama stand there with his two young daughters (who looked so cute in their J Crew coats!), I felt that this man - this caring father - is someone who will help guide our country so that Malia, Sasha, Alexandra, and all of the children of the world will have as many resources and opportunities as possible. Watching today's events, I now know what our parents mean when they say that they will always remember what they were doing when they learned that JFK had been shot. Just like 9/11, I will always remember what I was doing and how I felt when I witnessed Obama's inauguration. As I rocked Alexandra in her room tonight, I told her about the great event that occurred today. I wondered aloud what events will occur in the future that will give her reason to pause and remember where she was and what she was doing when it occurred.
I worry for our young President. I cannot think of any leader in our modern times that has faced a nation with such adversity, such angst, and such trepidation. We are in the midst of two wars, a disabling recession, and huge unemployment rates. I believe even the most fervent Obama supporter would concede that one man cannot do it alone, but I have faith that he has already surrounded himself with an elite team who will help guide him as he leads our country into a new era.
I have never felt so proud to be an American. God Bless America and our new President.
This has to be a record...my fourth post of the evening, can you believe it? This one is more of an administrative issue than anything else. For awhile now, I've been considering whether I should make this blog private. I haven't made a final determination as of yet, but please leave a comment here to let me know if you would like to still have access to my blog if and when I go private.
With the holidays over and a couple of more months of frigid temperatures in sight, there is not much to do most weekday evenings other than snuggle up with a warm blanket and a remote to catch up on some of your favorite guilty pleasures on TV. Unfortunately, the majority of the programming out there these days leaves a lot to be desired. I still continue to tune in to Grey's Anatomy but that show is on its last legs for me (Izzie making out with a ghost - hello?!?!). I think that the only scripted shows I still watch are Grey's, Ugly Betty & Desperate Housewives. However, there have been a couple of things on the TV that have piqued my interest lately:
THE GOLDEN GLOBES
With the new year comes the awards season and a chance to see some talented actors and actresses walk away with Emmys, Oscars and other assorted awards. My favorite has always been the Golden Globes, which aired this past Sunday. I attribute this to the fact that (a) it covers both TV and movies, (b) there is no annoying host telling stupid jokes to fill up air time, and (c) the booze is flowing freely so it makes for some colorful and spontaneous acceptance speeches!
Of course, the real reason I tune in for these award shows is to salivate over the beautiful dresses and jewels on the red carpet, and wonder out loud as to what some were thinking (don't these people have generously paid stylists as part of their Hollywood entourage??). In my personal opinion, here's the good, the bad and the ugly from this year's Globes:
THE WINNERS:
Eva Longoria
Eva Mendes (yes, the bow might be considered a tad big, but I thought she pulled it off and the necklace was out of this world)
Evan Rachel Wood (remind me again why this talented actress would date Marilyn Manson??)
Isla Fisher (LOVE her, can't wait to see her in Confessions of a Shopaholic)
Olivia Wilde (okay, this last one might be a bit controversial - some entertainment blogs thought this looked too much like a prom dress, but I thought the color was striking on her)
THE LOSERS:
Drew Barrymore (the dress was okay, but what was up with that hair? It looked like her stylist was going for Marilyn Monroe but it ended up more on the verge of a hairstyle you would have seen in the 80's on "Dallas" or "Falcon Crest")
Cameron Diaz (no one thing in particular, just not crazy about the dress. Plus, when you are the highest paid actress in Hollywood, there is absolutely no excuse for not getting your roots done before a red carpet event!)
Renee Zellweger (This last one hurts - I have loved Zellweger since she portrayed Bridget Jones and she generally looks so fashionable in Carolina Herrera, but there was no way to describe this other than Morticia Adams meets Elvira)
THE BACHELOR
Yes, I will admit that I still watch the Bachelor, in spite of the following obvious reasons NOT to tune in: (1) The most annoying - and overused - six words in reality television: "The Most Exciting Rose Ceremony Ever"; (2) The great, and often ridiculous, lengths these women go to in order to impress the Bachelor; (3) That very annoying reality host, Chris Harrison; (4) The constant catty fighting amongst the women; (5) The obligatory slow motion replay of the Bachelor taking his shirt off by the pool and the women practically salivating at the sight of his chest while cheesy music plays in the background; and, lest we forget, (6) The show's stellar matrimonial success rate.
In spite of all of the above, I continue to tune in - probably because I liked the current Bachelor, Jason, so much from the last season of The Bachelorette (speaking of which, I cannot believe Deanna comes back on this season of The Bachelor and makes a play for Jason!).
As of right now, I think I am rooting for Jillian, the interior designer from Canada (whom I like in spite of her corny way of catching Jason's attention on the first night - telling him you can tell alot about a guy based upon the condiments he puts on his hot dog. What the hell does that mean?!?!):
Or Melissa, the cute and down to earth former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader:
THE BIGGEST LOSER
I am also tuning in on Tuesday nights to watch the latest edition of The Biggest Loser. It's really incredible to watch the transformations that these contestants go through, both physically and emotionally. I would love to have Bob or Jillian whip my butt into shape. I used to think Bob was such a softie, very zen and into his yoga, but last night he let a contestant completely have it, dropping the "f bomb" (censored, of course) like crazy!:
I stumbled upon this article recently about the "100 Southern Foods You Absolutely, Positively Must Try Before You Die" and thought it was worth sharing. Besides being known for our hospitality and good manners, we Southerners are known for our delectable food. Of course, it is not the healthiest dining fare (Paula Deen, I am talking to you....) and you might have to make a few adjustments to your belt, but darned if it isn't warm-your-belly, melt-on-your-tongue, hit-the-spot-comfort-food. I was happy to see the Kentucky Hot Brown (though not the one that originated at The Brown Hotel) make the cut, though I think that Kern's Kentucky Derby pie should have also made it onto the list. Check it out and see if you find any of your favorites!
Yes, it is the middle of January and I am waiting until now to finally post some pictures of our Christmas! I'd love to say that I have been just so incredibly busy and that is why I haven't gotten around to posting pictures yet, but that wouldn't be the truth - the real reason is that I am a total slacker! (Though in my defense, there is always some level of rushing and stress that goes with being a working professional and a mom to an 8 month old).
We had a wonderful first Christmas with Alexandra - very low key, just the way we wanted it! We knew that she could probably get overwhelmed by all the activity very easily, so we arranged it where it would just be our immediate little family Christmas morning. My parents came by that afternoon to eat lunch with us and open some more gifts. We also got a chance to see my grandmother and uncle the following day.
The sad thing in all of this is that a couple of days before Christmas, Alexandra came down with a very stuffy nose and hacking cough. I knew we were in for it when I was greeted to a chorus of sniffles and coughs when I dropped Alexandra off at daycare at the beginning of the week. By Christmas day, the poor little dear looked as bad as she sounded - her little eyes were red and glassy and her little cute as a button nose was red from constant wiping as it had become an endless fountain of snot. (Sorry for the gross description, but it accurately describes it!). At first I was just going to write it off as a pretty bad cold, but my gut kept telling me it was something more. Just in case, I made an appointment with the pediatrician for the day after Christmas. There is something to be said for a mother's instinct - I found out, unfortunately, that my gut was right because we learned that Alexandra had both her first ear infection and RSV (respiratory synctial virus, a highly contagious virus in the winter months that strikes a lot of children under the age of 2). The doctor prescribed us antibiotics for the ear infection but told us there was not much we could do for the RSV other than use a cool mist humidifier and saline drops in Alexandra's nose - we were just going to have to wait it out, and much to our chagrin, were told that the symptoms could last a minimum two weeks. Ugh....Needless to say, it was a very rough two weeks. As a parent (particularly a first time parent), there is nothing that makes you feel as helpless as when your baby is sick and cannot communicate to you what hurts or how you can make it better.
Despite the fact that Alexandra was sick, she was a trooper on Christmas day. Here are some photos of our sweet girl opening presents for the first time, playing with some of her new toys, and hanging out with my parents:
We also had an opportunity to visit Ryan's family in western Kentucky for the holidays, spending the weekend after New Year's in Paducah. Alexandra was feeling much better by that point, and did much better than I had hoped for with the long trip. You can see from the pictures how much fun she had opening more presents (check out the gorgeous toy box, a gift from her Nana and Papa that is already stuffed to the brim) and spending time with her paternal grandparents, great-grandmother and her cousins, Olivia & John Michael.
The good news is that Alexandra seems to be back to her normal happy self, and hopefully she won't get another cold for at least a week or two! I know it sounds crazy, but that's what it is like during cold and flu season in a daycare setting!
I can't believe that Alexandra turned 8 months old a week and a half ago - it's such a cliche, but time really does fly. Next thing we know, we will be planning her first birthday party!! She's such a sweetheart - everyone we encounter tells us what a happy little girl she is, and we couldn't agree more. Sure, her napping is still across the board (she has been sleeping through the night for awhile now, thank goodness!) and we're still riding some of the highs and lows of the exciting roller coaster that is first time parenthood. However, I think that it is safe to say that Ryan and I are head over heels in love with our little girl - it is so rewarding to see such a lovely little personality developing everyday! She is getting better at sitting and rolling all over the place - I imagine crawling will be coming up any day now. She is a great eater and has loved almost everything she has eaten, except pears and avocado. I am making her baby food, and that has allowed us a little more room to experiment - for instance, she loves mango! She is fascinated by her little hands and has been using them to make noises with her mouth. Speaking of her mouth, Alexandra is developing into quite the little chatterbox (no comment on where she gets that from!). She loves to make noises and is saying "ma" and "da", though she doesn't seem to associate either sound with mommy or daddy just yet.
Our little family is truly blessed - we hope that all of you had a wonderful holiday season as well and we wish you a happy 2009!
Suffice it to say, I am thoroughly embarrassed by the lack of posting on here over the past couple of weeks. Christmas was a blur, what with Alexandra being sick over the holidays (poor little thing, her first ear infection AND RSV at the same time, it stunk) and traveling to see our families. I promise I will post some pictures of the kiddo's first Christmas on here very soon.
I think you will recall my wee obsession with baby clothes. It's hard not to have a little addiction to these too cute clothes, especially when you have a little girl. However, it is rare that I put Alexandra in frilly dresses - sometimes, it is just too much effort, plus she doesn't seem very comfortable. (Don't get me wrong, I still put her in them on occasion - like for Christmas - they just don't last long!). Most moms will tell you that the best clothes for babies are plain old onesies - they are soft, comfortable, and most importantly, easy to don off and on for diaper changes and the occasional blow out. I'm always on a quest to find some cute onesies, and I stumbled upon some today while checking out one of my daily blog reads, cool mom picks. Today these two fashionable moms profiled the cutest company, bambina mia. The girls over at cool mom picks loved the Mr. T onesie:
Very cute, good for a laugh, and I appreciate the nod to the 80's classic, but a couple other onesies/hoodies jumped out at me:
Who doesn't remember Wonder Bread?
This one's too cute - resembles a "Mom" tattoo and I have a partial preference for the anchor (my sorority's symbol):
This hoodie is perfect and so appropriate for her future golf outings with her dad:
And for those with twins, check out these well-known pairings:
A working mom, learning to balance the demands of my career as an attorney with friends, family,and the loves of my life - my sweet husband, my darling daughter and my adorable baby boy.
