Engaged!!!

So for those of you who already know, I am sure you have been watching the blog and waiting for my post on our big news. And for those of you that don't know Elizabeth and Blair are engaged!!! Last week was most exciting. And we in the Irvin household are thrilled to welcome Blair to the family. Michael in particular once said if Elizabeth did not keep Blair, he was. Lucky for all of us Blair wasn't scared off and he proposed on Thursday night. Elizabeth had just gotten home from work and was caught completely off guard. Then he planned for them to go to his parents house and have friends drop by. Elizabeth was completley shocked to see Momma and I walk in the door. She thought we were in Montgomery, but we had driven down that afternoon to surprise her. After the proposal Blair had also planned a trip for the two of them to New Orleans with reservations at Bayona, and Commander's Palace. So it was a great weekend.

Here is a picture from last Thursday night. This was taken at Blair's parents house where we had a bunch of appetizers and champagne to celebrate, as well as a beautiful cake that Mrs. Boyd had made. Below is a picture of the newly engaged Elizabeth and Blair with the newly weds Sarah and Albert.


Below is a picture of RIley and a glowing Aunt Izzy. He is a little upset about Blair steeling his Aunt Izzy away. He spent the whole night screaming! It was by far the worst night of his young life. He has never ever gotten so upset or been so inconsolable. At one point I reported to my Mom that I was quite certain my baby was broken. Not even the owners manual could fix him.


And this final picture is from Friday night when Blair and Elizabeth came to Pensacola before they went on to New Orleans. We had to break out the champagne and celebrate again with my Dad. We also broke out my Grandmother's champagne glasses. At this dinner Elizabeth also announced that it was her year (and Blairs too) and that she would share a bit of the spotlight with Riley too. But Michael and I are out!

Note: For those who don't know ELizabeth is my sister. And the ring is beautiful, the picture does not do it justice!

Hooterrific!

Is this picture not Hootastic? Ok I will stop making up new words by combining them with hoot...but this picture was just made for the blog. Well actually Mrs. Godwin took this picture for Michael and I. She stayed with Riley yesterday and is with him today and so she always tries to take his picture and send it to Michael and I while we are at work and missing him.

Some of you maybe asking why is Riley at home with Etta? Isn't he suppossed to start daycare this week? Well yes he is, but his irresponsible mother thought it would be no big deal to run and grab the blue slip from the Pediatrician and get it to the daycare. Wrong! In order to get a blue slip (the slip that says Riley has had his immunizations) you must put in a request and wait 3 business days! And without it Riley can't go to ECDC. So his Etta was kind enough to come up and keep him while I track this form down. Note to future mothers...get the form a week before your child needs it!

Goddaughter Update!

I am constantly begging Alexa for more Ada pictures. It is absolutly impossible for me to imagine that she is going to be 2 YEARS OLD...in June! I am also begging Alexa and Mel to start a blog...but since they have not yet achieved this I feel the need to share for them. Below is the amusing email I got from Alexa today with a picture of precious Ada.

From: Alexa Bullock

Sent: Monday, March 30, 2009 12:52 PM

This is my kid ( who has no clue I am watching her) painting her toenails with ranch dressing. I am too amused to stop her.

Here is another adorable pictures I recieved of Miss Priss recently!

Because Michael asked me to post...

THis picture is of Riley's favorite thing to do...stand. He gets so excited. He just grins and talks the whole time. Occassionally he sits down briefly, but he stands right back up. And this picture below is just one of my more recent favorites. He was just chatting away, most excited about something when I snapped it!

I will share another cute picture of Riley...who am I kidding all of Riley's pictures are cute!!

Babycenter must be spying on me!

Today Babycenter sent me an email and in it they wrote the following:

"Respond to his needs. Sounds basic, but it's the foundation of raising a secure child. When your baby cries, try to figure out what he needs. A new diaper? More milk? A nap? Sometimes babies just cry and you can't help them, especially when it's bedtime and they're supposed to be sleeping. If there's no reason not to answer his cries, respond promptly, and he'll feel more secure, knowing that you're paying attention to him. "

I think Babycenter saw me in my living room last night looking rather confused. Riley woke up from a brief nap and cried so I thought...dinner? I was wrong and nothing I attempted to do could make him smile...so I just sat with a screaming baby in my lap. This is a very new thing to me, because in general Riley is pretty laid back and he only cries when he is hungry or sleepy, and until this week he has been sleeping through the night. It is an ever changing world!

So stinking cute!

I really just think RIley is the most adorable baby ever so here is just one more picture of his smiling face!

TMI...I supposse.

Sorry but this picture is too funny. Etta took a series of pictures of Riley and had Michael and I both look through the series and guess which face was Riley's "poop" face. We both guessed correctly and so now I will share with you.


If you guessed picture number 4...you are right!

Meme turns 90!

This past weekend we celebrated quite the milestone. Meme, Michael's grandmother turned 90. Her birthday was actually on St. Patrick's Day (what a great day to be born), but we celebrated all weekend long. It was a great weekend because all of the Otts side of Michael's family was together. It was so neat for me, because the only other time I had been with everyone was our wedding, and that was hard for me to keep up with everyone I met. So it was great to actually get to visit with everyone. Riley got to meet two Great Great Uncles and Aunts, how cool is that! Unfortunately these are all the pictures that I got last weekend, but nonetheless here they are.

Here we have Pop and Meme, the birthday girl herself.

This is Sadie and Great Aunt Francis (Etta's sister).

Great Great Aunt Elizabeth, Great Aunt Mary Lee (Another of Etta's sisters), and Great Great Uncle Jim. Anyone who has been through Demopolis heading toward Boligee is familar with Great Great Uncle Jim's handy work...he is the infamous hay bale sculptor.

And here Riley and I are with Pop. Pop is so good with Riley and he refers to Riley as "Tiger", and I just love it! He also makes a cool popping noise with his mouth that Riley really reacts to. Michael, Riley and I are so lucky to have so much wonderful family and this weekend was such a blessing to be able to spend time with such a large group at once.

3 Month Photo Shoot

Sorry it took me forever to post these. But here are Riley's pictures from his 3 month photo shoot. It won't be long before his 4 month photo shoot.

Hails...it's about time!

So I only had to ask Katie about 200 times, but I have finally got some more pictures of Hails. I have not seen a picture of him since he was 4 days old until now. And he is soooo cute! So I thought I would share with ya'll. These were taken a couple of weeks ago so he was just over 3 months at the time. Next week he will be 4 months!

The best thing about work....

Because I am back at work and because Michael and I want to spend time with Riley on the weekends and in the evenings we hired Ruby! Ruby is the best thing ever and she starts today! Ruby has been in housekeeping for 25 years with Marriott and today she is doing a deep cleaning on out house and I am sooooo excited I can hardly stand it! Goodbye fur balls and dust!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

This morning was a terrible morning. It is just impossible to get everything done in only 24 hours. I went to sleep at midnight last night and then I tried to get my day started today at 6 am. Sadly I think I am going to have to get up earlier then that. For someone so small Riley requires an awful lot of energy. It really is amazing. And it is true that you cannot even imagine how your life will change until it changes. Things that used to be a simple task now take twice as long, and planning to leave the house at a certain time is the craziest notion of all! Because Riley is the one in charge. I wonder if I will ever get used to it.

And to make this morning even worse I decided to try to be festive! WHat a mistake. Trying to find a green item that fit in my closet was sad and frustrating. I cannot even begin to tell you how badly I want my body back! Someday...

The worst possible time to be fertile!

You know right after you have a baby they say is the time you are most likely to concieve again. Scary thought. It is totally a mean trick on Mother Nautures part. Anyway, last week I was in so much pain I thought I was getting mastitis. And then he next night I was dizzy and then the next day I caught myself saying, "I am so tired and I haven't been this tired since the first trimester. My Mom responded, "you're not pregnant, are you?" And my answer was, "of course not." What kind of crazy question was that? Then that same day I was still getting a funny flavor in my mouth which I had attributed to sinus issues, and food was just not tasting good and I got a headache (another thing I have not had since the 1st trimester). And then all of a sudden I was completly useless at work because I started to freak out that I was one of the ones that fell outside the 99.9 %.

So when I got home I took a test just to get the crazy thought out of my head, and it was negative. Whew!! Sunday when we got back in town, Michael saw it in the trash can and said that it didn't look negative to him. Knowing that a test cannot be trusted after 10 minutes have passed I assured him it was negative on Friday, but then he was nervous and I got nervous so I took one more test. Well that darn digital test said "Pregnant". Michael could hear me in the bathroom laughing a very strange laugh, which turned to tears. He just looked at me in disbelief while holding Riley and tried to calm me down. After a few minutes of converstion we decided the digital test were crap and I went to the store for the kind I trusted. Whew...relief when that test was negative. But just to cover all of my bases I went to the doctor and had them draw blood and it is official...I am not pregnant and Michael is going to have to sleep in the guest room.

New things!

So Riley seems to do everything right as he should. Every week I read in the book the new things he will be learning developmentally and he is always doing them. It is so strange how all babies seem to do things at the same time. Riley as you have seen is some photos I have posted can sit up when propped against something. He has very good control over his neck now. He loves to squirm his way up you when you lay him on your chest on his stomach. He has begun to talk a bunch. Last week he was talking my Mom's ear off on Thursday night, right about the time that he was suppossed to be calming down and going to sleep. Then on Friday afternoon in Brewton he was in the middle of one of those chatty sessions when his grandmother Etta starting acting silly and he laughed for the first time! Michael has been able to get a giggle out of him the past two days as well. It is the most amazing thing to watch him learning all of these new things. But the thing Riley seems to love most of all is standing. If you hold him up and he is in the mood, (which is almost all of the time) he stands. He wobbles so you can't let go, but he gets so tickled with himself when he stands. It is so much fun to watch him get so excited. But when he wants to stand and you set him down, he gets very unhappy. So he is requiring more attention at times. He has also begun to recognize us and if you leave his eyesight he gets upset, so even though he is not yet mobile and moving, you cannot stray too far because he wants to see you. His language has changed into more vowels sounds as well and he has recently been able to soothe himself to sleep without any assistance from us.

Work :( ...and the real world Part II

SO being back at work has presented me with new challenges. You cannot imagine the things that you get used to during pregnancy. And this post comes with a warning...there may be too much information in here, so stop reading if you don't want to know. Feeding Riley ...

Sorry now I am back, I had to take a pump break. In order to continue feeding Riley I must pump every 3 hours. Thank goodness I have my own office with a door and not a cubicle! To any of my pregnant friends I say invest in the best pump you can buy. If you are going to stick with breast feeding you will be attached to it a minimum of twice a day if not more...it is worth every penny! And if I were to do it again I would get the hands free model. Think of it this way if you get the hands free model and you spend $379.00 and you use it for 38 days worth of feedings then it has paid for itself, because you would likely spend 380 on 38 days worth of formula.

My friend Angela, was nice enough to send me calender appointments that remind me to pump...it is so easy to forget. But it is so bad to forget too because as soon as you do you will decrease your supply, and then you have to start supplementing with formula (which costs $$). But I will also tell you that breastfeeding may have some added expense...I have never been so hungry in my life. It is pitiful, I was never this hungry when I was pregnant! How is the postpartum diet supposed to work when I am STARVING all the time. They say you burn 500 calories a day feeding, but how many calories am I eating? And I am concerned about making sure I eat enough to keep up my supply and diet at the same time...but I am only half way through the pregnancy weight and must lose the other half and then some.

So for others who will be returning to work...let me tell you about some of the funny things I have learned. First getting dressed for work is the saddest thing ever. Pre pregnancy clothes don't fit yet, and even if I can fit into my pants at some point, until I am done nursing I will not be wearing any of my old button down shirts. The worst part is that you old clothes don't fit and a lot of your maternity clothes look ridiculous on you. A lot of them are made to stretch over your pregnant stomach, so now that the baby bump is gone those pieces hug the remaining postpartum bump. Therefore I look more pregnant than people who are 3 months pregnant.

Next topic: REAL PANTS. One day this week I wore real pants...you know the ones with a zipper and a button. Some of you may laugh but for the last 8 months of my life I have been wearing pants with a big elastic band. Now don't get excited for me, I bought these pants when I was like 4 months pregnant so I was not getting into skinny clothes or anything. So at work I ran to the bathroom the other day in my real pants and I went to pull them down...and they didn't budge. Why you ask? Because I did not unbutton them on my first attempt. It had been 8 months since I had had to do anything other then pull down and fight elastic over my large body.

Topic Two: NURSING CLOTHES. I do not really own a ton of nursing clothes...lets be honest I spent most of maternity leave in yoga pants and pj's. I think nursing clothes are for those productive SAHM's who have the ability to shower and dress themselves everyday and put on make up and take care of the house and take care of their husband and take care of an infant, you know the super moms that make it look easy. Well I have proved not to be one of those Moms thus far, and therefore I do not really own a lot of nursing clothes. But when you go back to work and you are trying to dress appropriate for the office (pjs aren't going to cut it, and I tried to dress my yoga pants up, but you just really can't wear heals with them) you need clothes that you can easily pump in. The other day I wore a dress to work. As soon as it was time to pump I realized my mistake. I do have a door to my office and no one can see what I am doing, but the idea of me sitting with a pump is horrifying enough on its own, throw a dress into the mix and now you have to picture a girl in her office hooked up like a cow, wearing spanx and a nursing bra. Sorry I know it is an unnecessary visual, good luck erasing it from your memory, but I warned you this was a TMI post.

Topic Three: MILK.

See my emails below:

From: Carolyn Dwyer

Sent: Thursday, March 12, 2009 10:52

Subject: Spring Cleaning!

Hi Everyone,

It is time for some spring cleaning! We have been asked to make our area shine and look extremely professional. Please take a look at your area and work on clearing clutter, straightening things, and making your office look nice and professional. Please have your area cleaned and ready for inspection by COB today!

Carolyn

Being the professional woman that I am I responded:

From: Allison Godwin

Sent: Thursday, March 12, 2009 10:55 AM

To: Carolyn Dwyer

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning!

So pump parts and bottles ½ filled with milk…what do you think?

Allison Godwin

On this same note I must let you know that milk does not dry clear on some blouses, and this should be a consideration when dressing for work...I found out the hard way. I would also like to let you know that if you pump past the fill line the bottle will overflow and get all over you...your desk...the carpet in your office. And one final thing, when leaving the office to attend a meeting after work, you should bring a cooler with you. Otherwise you end up doing what I did, which was emptying out my purse so that I could put all the bags of milk in it and carrying a purse full of milk into my meeting as to keep the milk air conditioned. (Who'd of thought it would be this hot in March?)

And below here is a picture of Riley, since I know most people check this blog to see him and not read my random thoughts.

Boy parts are hard to take care of!

Infants go to the doctor for a 2 week check up, a one month, a two month, and a four month. There is no 3 month, but changing Riley's diaper we noticed something with his circumcision and we had to go to the doctor. Riley was just fine and did not notice anything was wrong, but this was the second time. Anyway the doctor said it was no big deal and all is well. There was one benefit though...he was weighed and we know he weighs 12 lbs. and 8 oz. We will find out how big he has gotten when we go back at 4 months.

Work :(

So I started back to work this week. And as you can see in the above pictures it has been hard on Riley too. Or wait he looks just fine accept for when I am in the picture with him...but that is really Michaels fault because he was the one Riley was looking at when he took those pictures. These pictures are from my lunch break on Monday, my first day back. The day itself was actually not as bad as I thought it would be. I cried over the weekend and cried myself to sleep Sunday night, and other than someone asking me first thing Monday morning if I had cried when I left, I never even thought about tears. I miss Riley some during the day, but I do enjoy putting on real clothes, doing my hair and wearing make up. Going 6 hours without being spit up on is nice. I think in my dream world I would do this job 3-4 days a week and get to be with RIley 3-4 days and my life would be perfect. I am not so sure I would be very good at the life of a SAHM...which absolutly shocks me. But I feel a little bit more like myself now that I am back at work. Now if I can get back into communicating with my friends and family...returning phone calls and being social then I will really be in balance again!

What a Lovely Name

This is a cool website. You can go here and create a logo to go with your name and then youcan order all kinds of fun stuff.

Riley
Meaning "dweller by the rye field". Taken from the surname. A combination of the Old English words "ryge," meaning "rye," and "leah," meaning "clearing" or "meadow".
Alternates: Rylie
Tags: American, calm, gentle, happy

More snow pictures...

Here is Roxy not sure what to make of here new white environment...

Here is Michael's snow woman or maybe more like a snow alien.

Here are to shots of Riley in his other snow suit, in the Bumbo.

This is what was left of our snow woman by 4 pm.

Yes we are still in Montgomery!

Here are the pictures from when we actually ventured outside.

Riley's first Snow!

So if you had asked me last week when Riley would see snow for the first time I would have guessed much later in life, that he would have to take a plane ride to see it, and that it would be the result of a trip his grandparents would invite him on...never in my wildest dreams would I have said when he is 12 weeks old at home in Montgomery, Alabama! But that is exactly what happened.

Sunday morning Michael got up to let the cats out at 6:30, he then said, "Allison I am going to need you to come in here...and I got worried by the tone of his voice thinking it was something serious (but Riley was in the bassinet asleep next to me, so it wasn't him). He repeated himself and I rounded the corner to see snow flakes falling through our front door window...I was shocked...it was alot of fluries and they were falling quickly. So he fixed coffee, I fed Riley and then we all laid in the living room with a fire going and watched the snow fall out the windows. It was a wonderful morning. At 9 I sent Michael out with the camera to get some pictures since it looked like it was slacking...little did I know it was still going to get heavier. Then at 9:15 my Dad called from Big Sky, Montana where he was getting ready to go out skiing to see what the weather was like in Montgomery, and I assume he called my Mom because she called at 9:30 and informed that I had better get her grandson outside for some snow pictures! Meanwhile Michael was so giddy he was calling some of his friends to make sure they were up and witnessing this phenomena. A year ago Michael and I probably would have selpt through the whole storm...our life has certainly changed.

Here are some pictures of Michael and Riley enjoying the fire:
And here Riley is getting into his snow suit for his first snow outing:

Gie Gie made this precious outfit...who knew it would come in such good use in March!