Christmas Day!

Well I think the look on Conor's face when he's sitting on Aaron's lap sums it all up. He received (from his mom) a onesie that reads, "Poop is my business. Business is good." You may recognize some of the gifts from baby showers and such in the picture I call "Loot;" I figured I could re-wrap them and give them to the boy again for Christmas and he wouldn't know the difference (Sh! Don't tell him!) It is this creative thriftiness that enables me to stay at home and work for no pay but endless benefits!

We match!

Both mom and baby have footed pajamas! You know you love it!

Photo outakes

As promised, here are a few of the photos that were just not quite right for this year's Christmas photo...

And the winner is...

It took 90 photos to get this one we chose for Christmas cards-Aaron nearly killed me! We tried to get ourselves and Haley in the shot with a timer and funny hats and it was just too much! Stay tuned for outakes of the photos that almost made it and ones that might get us in trouble with Social Services for trying to dress up and pose a child this young!

Ten Weeks Old

Nine Weeks Old

Isn't tongue rolling genetic?

What makes it all worth it...

While none of the books I've read list this as a significant milestone, I am convinced it is. Today, my son laughed and smiled at his own farts for 10 minutes. He is indeed, becoming a man.

We're getting ready!

Christmas Song

These are the lyrics to my favorite Christmas song:

Montgomery Gentry - Merry Christmas From The Family lyrics

Mom got drunk and Dad got drunk
At our Christmas party
We were drinkin' champagne punch
And homemade eggnog
Little sister brought her new boyfriend
He was a Mexican
We didn't know what to think of him
Til he sang Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad

Brother Ken brought his kids with him
The three from his first wife Lynn
And the two identical twins
From his second wife Mary Nell
Of course he brought his new wife Kaye
Who talks all about AA
Chain smokin' while the stereo plays
Noel, Noel, The first Noel

Carve the turkey turn the ball game on
Mix Margaritas when the eggnog's gone
Send somebody to the Quik-Pak store
We need some ice and an extension cord
A can of bean dip and some Diet Rite
A box of pampers , some Marlboro Lights
Hallelujah everybody say cheese
Merry Christmas from the family

Fran and Rita drove from Harlingen
I can't remember how I'm kin to them
But when they tried to plug their motor home in
They blew our christmas lights
Cousin David knew just what went wrong
So we all waited out on our front lawn
He threw the breaker and the lights came on
And we sang Silent Night
Oh Silent Night o' holy night

Carve the turkey turn the ballgame on
Mix Bloody Marys cause we all want one
Send somebody to the Stop 'n Go
We need some celery and a can of fake snow
A bag of lemons and some Diet Sprite
A box of midol, some Salem Lights
Hallelujah everybody say cheese
Merry Christmas from the family

...and after!

Before...

One of Aaron's co-workers' wives was due a month before I was, (all in all there were five police babies born in less than 4 weeks) so here are the before and after shots. My shirt reads, "Does this baby make me look fat?"

More tales

I suppose you expected me to post a picture of the baby dressed as a turkey for Thanksgiving? Maybe next year!

A few strange things I've noticed...Target is advertising a large, remote controlled tarantula as a toy for Christmas-what the heck? This is the stuff nightmares are made of. Carnation is making hot chocolate with added caffeine, as much as a cup of coffee-I thought cocoa was supposed to be soothing.

Three new mom mistakes I've made this week: pulled the stroller and didn't set the brake, picked up the car seat, turned around to see the stroller rolling through the parking lot, thank goodness the baby wasn't in it!. Put a new hat on Conor while he was in his car seat, drove for 15 minutes, went to get him out and saw the hat had slipped all the way down his face and was under his chin. I was sure he'd suffocated and died. Thankfully it was breathable. But my favorite was when I was trying to hold him and eat lunch at the same time. I looked down and noticed pizza crust in his hair and thought that was funny, until he looked up at me with a piece of POTATO CHIP STUCK TO HIS EYEBALL! I was sure he'd go blind because of me. How are you supposed to get that off? I sat frozen, not knowing what to do, I think he eventually blinked it out. The only thing that makes me feel any better is Aaron's obsession with cleaning the cheese (dead skin?) out of the child's armpits.

I'm King of the World!

And still...

My "You Might Be a Redneck" calendar had the following recently: You might be a redneck if...you're familiar with Copenhagen but have never heard of Denmark." Hilarious!

Conor turned 7 weeks this past Sunday. He is so close to being able to get his thumb in his mouth. Today he stuck his entire fist in there several times. Of course, he also punches himself in the face and head several times a day with failed attempts. I've also noticed that if he's sleeping on my shoulder and he startles he's now strong enough to push off with his feet and launch himself straight away from my body to test my catching reflexes-sneaky bugger!

There's a lot they don't tell you about breastfeeding either. You have this idea that your child is going to recognize you, gaze at you adoringly, smile up at you (he is just starting to actually smile we think, although he has had man like gas from the very beginning, so it could be that!) but when my son gets near me he starts hooting, breathing heavily, and making "O" shapes with his mouth as if he might actually starve. Touching, really. I'm also not sure what to make of it when he flails, cries, screams, grunts, punches, smacks, slaps, kicks at my armpits, breasts, whatever during nursing, but it has earned him the nickname, "grabbytits." Today he tweaked my nipple so hard I screamed. How can a child with no coordination or clear vision have that kind of accuracy? Of course this same child pecks at Aaron's chest like a chicken when he is hungry as well, so maybe he's just a lucky shot. And yet, sometimes he will caress or point at the breast he is not nursing on as if to say, "You, you're next!"

Skeptical? Quizzical? You Decide!

On Dad During a Rainstorm-yikes!

Got Milk?

What they don't tell you

So I got Aaron a plaque for being a new Dad. It reads "I love you more today than yesterday. Yesterday you really pissed me off." He decided he would buy his own new Dad gift, Call of Duty IV for x-box.

One new experience no one mentioned was doing laundry at 4 am. I mean, hey, we're up anyway, and most everything's got urine or vomit on it (and that's just from me!)

When my mom was here the first week after Conor was born, she asked us if we were going to give him a "diddy bop." We weren't sure if this was some old fashioned way to describe breastfeeding, but it turns out she meant a pacifier. After calling it that for awhile, we're now referring to it as "P. Diddy."

If we sign cards Suellen, Aaron and Conor our initials will spell, "Sac." That's funny. More fitting however, is adding Haley, or Hill, so that we get "CASH."

They don't mention it in the books for new parents. but the same hormone that causes you to go to bed at 11 pm must be the one that causes you to start religiously watching "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy."

Aaron and I've decided that I'm suffering from "postpardum aggression since I'm tired, irritable, and cranky. Although, really, I was like that prepardum too. And if we're really honest, I was like that pre-pregnancy too!

Going Out

The Thinker

Fight the Power!

Parental Musings

When they say "Don't cry over spilt milk" I don't think they mean breastmilk, because it's a lot of work to get that out. Aaron managed to tip one of the bottles over not once, but twice, at 2 in the morning recently and we nearly came to blows! I'll add this and X-box to the list of things that will end up in our divorce papers...hahahahahahahahahaha!

Autumn in the Blue Ridge

To celebrate Conor turing 4 weeks old we drove to Raven's Roost on the Blue Ridge Parkway where we had one of our first dates 12 years ago and got engaged 10 years ago. The foliage is just beautiful this time of year, anyone fancy a visit to the mountains?

Multitasking

Strange Dreams

So I'm not sure if it's sleep deprivation or being new parents, but Aaron and I both have been having strange dreams, Aaron wakes up thinking I am holding the baby in the bed for some reason and I woke up trying to breast feed one of my pillows! Dios Mios!

Haley-arse over tits.

For those of you considering getting a dog, let me just say there is nothing like being welcomed home from a long day by warm, butt flavored kisses!

Two Ghouls

Is it me or does Dad look tired? I should take this opportunity to mention that Aaron has been Superdad, changing honestly all but maybe 3 diapers, jumping up when Conor cries in the middle of the night, fingerfeeding, swaddling, making meals, doing laundry, seeding the yard, doing all the heavy lifting and driving, getting us to doctors' check ups and so on. He is an expert burper and has been taking such wonderful care of both of us that I'm sure he is getting less sleep than either the baby or myself. We'd fall apart without him! He's still home from his shoulder surgery which is healing well, but slowly. What a guy! He brings home the bacon and fries it up in the pan!

Superman!

Ok, here's one with eyes open.

Happy Halloween!

I've been dressing the dog up for years, so of course it only makes sense that this is the natural progression...

Sleepy Time

No such thing as too much sleep...

Sleeps like a baby

Why do folks say "I slept like a baby?" Do they mean they only sleep 2 hours at a time and wake up screaming because they're hungry and they pooped their pants?

The Hill Family

We thought he'd look more like Aaron...but mom loves the blonde hair!

39 Weeks!

No, I didn't tip over!

The neat nursery before the baby arrived!

I know, I know, we've taken forever to add to this and there are so many fun stories to tell, pictures to share, so hopefully we'll get it together now that we've got such a cute baby to photograph!

I'm king of the world!"

Rapunzel, Rapunzel...let down your golden hair!

These little piggies returning from St. Patrick's Day in Dublin.

BALLS!!!!

And you thought she was bad on her soapbox...

Holding on for dear life...three feet off the ground at Giant's Causeway.

Suellen- greek goddess of womanly rage!!

St Patrick's Day parade in Dublin- not very Irish.

FREEEEDDDDOOOOMMMM! Wallace monument in Scotland.

Long Time No Bloggy

Well I've got a lot of catching up to do for nearly the last year, and rest assured there are plenty of photos and wacky stories for you to gobble up. But for now, I'd like to start with some of the goofy pictures we took of ourselves during our year abroad that didn't make it into the first round of photo posts.