The 4th of July!

Jake had a very nice first 4th of July. We watched the fireworks, as we do every year, from the best view in all of New York: the waterfront backyard of Mema Peggy and Aunt Barb's house. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. From the moment I met Ralph, he told me about what a special place it is, and I've enjoyed every 4th of July there since we've been a couple. The town shoots the fireworks off the beach directly across Mamaroneck Harbor from their backyard. It is truly the most spectacular view, with the fireworks exploding overhead and the lights reflections dancing in the water. My descriptions can't do it justice, and I was way too occupied to take a picture. Maybe next year. We told Jake the fireworks were in honor of him. :) He wasn't scared at all, but watched the fireworks with big wide eyes and blinked a bit. Ruthie enjoyed the fireworks and the festivities also, and made lots of friends. Her cousin Piper was there, as well as lots of little kids to run around with. I feel so lucky that Jake will get to enjoy many 4th of July celebrations to come in that backyard. It is truly a special special place.

Jake's Baptism

We had Jake baptised at Ralph's home church, Most Holy Trinity in Mamaroneck New York over the weekend. We had a nice time, with just our immediate family attending. My brother Danny was Jake's godfather and Ralph's sister Laura was godmother.

It was probably a good idea that we had such a small ceremony, as apparently Jake was still contagous with this horrible stomach bug. My mom, dad, brother and my mother-in-law all got sick, and all had to miss the 4th of July. Ralph and I felt so bad, since we thought Jake was over it, and assumed since we were all feeling better that we were no longer contagous.

I will be adding a picture that my father took of the ceremony later.

3 months old, WELCOME TO THE NEW BLOG!

If you are reading this, it means you have been keeping up with our blog. And for that, I want to thank you! I have enjoyed posting my little ramblings and adventures over the last year as I was pregnant with Jake, and when we welcomed him to our family. Hopefully, you have enjoyed reading them.

One thing I didn't love about the previous version of the blog was that no one was able to post comments (assuming anyone cared to do so). So I am happy to announce the new & improved baby blog, with all kinds of technological advances, including comments. Some of you may have seen the in-between site, which didn't wor out so well. I am sorry about the bouncing around, but I am happy here at Blogger.

Well, it is time for me to go to bed, since I am finally over this hellish stomach bug that Jake brought home and we are back to work tomorrow. Everyone have a wonderful 4th of July (I'll be back with lots of pictures), and thanks again for reading.

-Kelly

Unlucky week 13 - Everyone gets sick (Warning: GROSS post)

We had figured that Jake would get a few more colds and sniffles while he was in day care, and that he would have to build up his immunity...but we never expected what hit us. Almost as soon as Jake came home from daycare on tuesday night, he began throwing up. Over and over. First, it was just formula, then clear liquid, then bright yellow bile. (I warned you.) We called the doctor that night, and told her that he didn't have a temperature, but described the other symptoms. She said it might just be a nervous reaction to the change in his routine and the new people at daycare. She suggested giving him a small amount of water, which luckily he kept down all night. Our poor little guy was so good through all of this - he didn't cry even once, he was just sort of sad and tired and lethargic. The next morning, he had two very loose dirty diapers. (You don't HAVE to read this!) It also looked like there was a slight amount of blood in his diapers, which had me REALLY worried. This is the first time our little guy has ever been sick, so we felt so sad and hopeless. I had to go to work that morning, even though I was NOT feeling good myself. My stomach was very mad at me. Ralph took Jake to the doctor, who said that the diaper manufacturers put something in the crystals of the diaper that turn red when a baby wets and is dehydrated. I though, "Why couldn't they make it BLUE??!! Why RED??!" Anyway, the doc said she sees it all the time. She weighed Jake (14 pounds, 6 ounces!) and checked him over in every which way, and said he was perfectly fine except for a stomach bug.

I was relieved to hear this news, but unfortunately, my situation was getting worse. Whatever was in my body wanted out - whichever way it thought was quickest. When I found myself vomiting violently at work, I decided enough is enough. I went home and spent the rest of the day and night in bed, either freezing to death with chills, or boiling hot and sweating through my clothes with a fever. It felt like the flu, with aches and pains all over. HORRIBLE. I don't wish this on anyone, and I feel so bad that my baby boy had tho go through this. As of this morning, I still felt terrible, and realized I couldn't make it to work, and Jake couldn't go to daycare. Jake woke up at 5 am this morning, and Ralph went to change him since I was still feeling sick. But now Ralph was feeling nauseous too. He managed to get Jake changed, but then all hell broke loose. Ralph spent the morning vomiting up anything he tried to take to keep hydrated. So now he is upstairs, with a fever of 101.6 (he beat my 100.3) hoping morning will come soon. This seems to be about a 30-hour virus. So Jake is pretty much well again, I am almost recovered (still no appetite - maybe this isn't that bad afterall?), and Ralph is in the worst of it. We really hope to be recovered by this weekend, since we are going to New York for Jake's (very small) Christening and the 4th of July.

First days of daycare

Jake (in a swing) on the nanny-cam

I knew for a while that this was going to be a pretty stressful week. We were going to be out of town over the weekend, and coming back late Sunday night (very, very late). I had to be at work Monday morning for my first full week of work (since March!), and more importantly, I had to send Jake off to his first day of daycare. On top of that, Ralph was going to be out of town for business, so all of the household resonsibilities were going to fall on me: dishes, bottles, feedings, laundry, dog-walking, poop-scooping, diapering, etc, etc, etc. Monday morning came WAAAY too fast, and waaay too early. I rushed around the house in a frenzy trying to remember everything that I needed for his first day: plenty of bottles, formula, diapers, change of clothes, diaper wipes, etc. Everything had to be labeled with his name, and I pulled out the trusty label-maker to do its job! :). Needless to say, I forgot something (besides my sanity), and when I got there I realized Jake's crib had no sheet and no blanket. Ugh. Luckily, they were kind enough to find one for him and use that. I stopped by at lunchtime to check on him (he was fine, sleeping the day away in his crib), and besides not really eating a whole lot, they said he did just fine.

Today, I was able to logon to the daycare's website and watch the "nanny cam" - it's really only a still picture that updates every 15 seconds, but it still makes me feel better. I can barely make out which baby is which on the website, but I was able to pick out my little boy. Paranoid new mom that I am, I stopped by the daycare TWICE today, and both times he was awake, unharmed, and doing just fine. Since the daycare is just across the street from my office park, I can run over anytime, which is great...sortof.

12 weeks old; Jake goes for a swim!

We were in New York over the weekend for Laura's graduation, and also for a wedding. We got to spend some time up at Aunt Joanne & Uncle Lace's place in Connecticut, whichis always fun. They have a pool, and so we decided to take Jake for his first swim! (We also decided to find out if Ruthie-dog can swim. She can, but she doesn't like it!)

11 weeks old; Kelly's first day back to work

Whoever had the bright idea that a women should have only a six-week maternity leave should be strung up by their toes and tortured. In my experience, you only seem to start to get the hang of motherhood around six weeks. At six weeks, your baby is just barely getting on some sort of routine. At six weeks, you've just begun to get about five or six hours of sleep in a row. At six weeks, your brain is just about returning to functionality. At six weeks, you are in no way, shape or form ready to leave your child. Granted, there are times at six weeks that you might want a short break from your child, but I really don't think six weeks is a good time to go back to work. That being said, my employer was gracious enough to allow me to come back to work when I felt ready. I was certainly missing my paycheck, and I was somewhat getting the urge to want to work again, and I desperately wanted some adult conversation.