Happy new Year!!

I can't believe in just a few short hours, it will be 2008. I have had an amazing 2007 with being gifted a beautiful new baby and I know it will only get better. I'm also sad that after tomorrow, my next 2 day weekend will be Memorial day. Because I own a business we only close on major holidays so for the next 5 months, it's 6 day work weeks for me.

So what's you new year's resolution?

1.For me, it's to be more productive with my time.
2.To make sure my family and friends know, really know, that I love them.
3.To be more organized and clean.
4.Maybe, not be so mean to my MIL, maybe..
5.Of course, lose weight. breastfeeding is like running a marathon cuz I am always starving.
6.To extend the love and patience I have for Elle to my husband. and maybe the dog and possibly the cats, but no guarantee there.
7.Learn how to cook Indian food, especially mattar paneer.
8.Share my knowledge and post How-to's on sewing (any requests?).

Tomorrow will be 2008, tomorrow Elle turns 6 month old, tomorrow this new mom will start a new fresh year full of love, happiness, great fortune, and good health with the best gift of all, my sweet baby, husband, family and all the new amazing friends that I've made this year.

I love my friends

I have this wonderful friend who is beyond generous. Not only does she always pay for dinner even though I hate it when she does it and usually end up arguing at the restaurant but she always buys my gifts all the time. Now that I have Elle, we are getting gifts left and right. I own a dry cleaners so all I can offer her is free dry cleaning but that doesn't even compare to all of her generosity. Plus when I was pregnant and my husband was working on our house, she let me move in for a couple of months to get away from the dust and fumes. While I was staying with her she did my laundry and bought groceries and even made my bed. I am really bad at gift giving esp to her cuz she is just too happy with any old thing and I always get stumped on what to get her because I want it to be meaningful and I usually end up getting her nothing cuz I just can't think of it.

I really need to repay her for all her generosity, love, and support not because of just the gifts, but for just being who she is to me. She really outdid herself this Christmas and even though it's late, I really need to do something for her.

I don't have many friends but the ones I do have mean the world to me. In their own individual ways, they all give me so much. I don't know what I would do without them and even though I haven't been hanging out with them much since having Elle, I need to show them all how much they mean to me. I feel so guilty that I am so bad about showing them just how much I love and appreciate them in my life.

I love you P, K, R, and J!! I am blessed to be apart of your lives and forever grateful!!

Ouch!

Just when I thought I was in the clear with biting baby, she struck again. 2 days went by without a nibble on my nipple and I was thinking it but dared not say a word. I knew as soon as I shared the news, I would pay for it. and I was right. I told A-man this morning on how she hadn't bitten me in a couple of days. We thought my reactions and/or actions got through to her and she didn't want to hurt poor, loving mommy. Boy was I wrong. I picked her up, with my guards down, and "chomp"! "Ahhhhhh", that hurts! But she just smiles, probably thinking it is only a game. "but mom, your nipples are so much more squissier than those stupid teethers, and you make really funny noises when I bite it"

So back to the drawing board, back to screaming, pushing her face and teeth away, and smooshing her face into my boob. Did you know that that is the recommended solution to biting while nursing by the La Leche League? I was pretty stunned to be told, just smash your baby's face into your breast so they can't breathe and therefore will release their jaws" Seriously?? That crap doesn't work. I've done it but Elle just chomps down harder until she really can't breathe which is much more painful to watch than the biting.

My throbbing nipples and I bid you a good night.

Trade secrets

I decided to start posting instructions on how to alter clothes. I am a tailor/stitcher by profession and I love to find instructions on something that I can't do so I want to return the favor. I'm going to start out by showing how to make original hems on jeans. Many dry cleaners will charge upwards of $30 (maybe more in some parts of the country) and with the increase in the price in jeans, that's a whole lotta money on pants.

The secret to reheming jeans is to take your time, make sure all the stitches are clean and use same color thread.

Start out by always washing and drying your jeans because they can shrink.


First mark the length on the jeans with chalk (preferably), but pen will do if you don't have chalk because it will be hidden anyways. The mark will indicate the bottom length of the pants. I would always wear shoes to make sure the length will fall where you want it to fall with shoes (heels) on.


Take the stitch out of the original hem. Make sure you remove all threads as you take out the stitch. I am a professional and therefore can use razors without cutting the pant to shreds so be careful what you use to rip the seam open.



Cut at the marked location.







Cut 1/4 inch above the stitch line.








Hold it inverted over the vertical seam, making sure that both the vertical seams are lined up perfectly.







Sew just above the stitch line, very close, as close to it as you can get without sewing on top of it.









Flip it over and tuck in.














Sew on top of the originial stitch line.
















Voila! You're done. This is how the finished product should look, like the original, duh!















This is how the inside should look.

Feel free to ask any questions!

Privacy and respect

I'm not sure if I should be angry or hurt. A-man told me he read this blog. I didn't tell him that I had a blog but I guess he found out, How? Does he look at browser history to see "where" I've been? Why? That's probably the only way he found out. I don't think I've written anything here that he doesn't know already but it bothered me that he can't respect my privacy. I don't hide anything from him. I get irrationally annoyed at the slightest of things. I know this about myself but I can't help it. As long as it doesn't hurt anyone who cares. I don't filter anything that I say to him cuz well, he's my husband, what's the point of hiding or not being able to speak your mind and be completely comfortable? I didn't keep this blog from him to make it a secret, I honestly thought he just wouldn't care or he would make fun of me for going mainstream. but now he knows and I just feel like he took away a piece of me that was mine, all mine. I'm trying to use this as a release for any pent up anger, dilemmas, concerns, stresses and the like so hopefully I don't take it out on him. I hope to continue to do so and it's getting more and more comfortable sharing here even though it may or may not be read by someone I do or do not want to see. I hope the release will help shed away some of my issues so I can focus on what's important, my family and our health.

No more drama

For those of you that are on NMD, I have officially signed out, permanantly and will not be going back. There were a few rotten apples that I did not get along with from the beginning and it always bothered me that I was apart of the board even though those people were the main few people. I kept going back because of the 95% of all the other wonderful woman on the board but I just can't take it anymore. I decided to start the new year without any negativity in my life and being criticized on NMD by people that I dont' even know nor like is not something I need in my life.

I hope we can still keep in touch through this blog, myspace, and emails. I'm really going to miss seeing all the pictures of your beautiful babies growing and learning about your daily ins and outs but I will try to keep up with your blogs if you have them or keep in touch through myspace. Please let me know your email, blog address, or myspace account if I don't have it already. Love you all.

Home sweet home

Ella and I came home on the afternoon flight yesterday. Being Christmas eve, there weren't that many people in the airport and the flight wasn't full, although there was an abundant number of people flying with children. I used to gasp at the possibility of flying with loud, screaming, annoying children but now I am one of those people that other people will look at and worry, "I hope I dont' have to sit next to them". oh well, that is life now and I wouldn't have it any other way.

We got to our seats with no delay in our flight time and got into a window seat shortly before an older couple sat next to us. They were really friendly and told me that they were admiring my beautiful baby from afar and oohed and aahhed over her. They were as sweet as can be but holding a 20+ pound baby in those tiny cramped airplane seat was not the most ideal of places to be in. As soon as the doors closed in the plane, I flagged down an attendant and asked her ever so nicely if there were 2 seats empty that we could moved to. I felt bad for my sweet neighbors but I"m sure they were as happy for us to move. The attendant went up and down the aisle and told me to move to row 13. I held Elle close and scooted over into the aisle and headed to row 13. We didn't just have 2 seats, we had 3! The whole row was empty! I was more than thrilled to have elbow room, leg room, and whole lotta room. Besides a few squeals and yelps, Elle, slept through the entire 3 hour flight. My mom had a separate flight coming back home so I had asked her to take my luggage incase my flight was delayed and/or incase it was just too much "luggage" to carry everything on my own so when the flight landed, I was ready to just leave.

Unfortunately for my parents, as I type this, they are on their 4th hour of waiting for their delayed flight. They opted to come back today instead of yesterday. I should say, I opted to come yesterday instead of today with them in order to be with A-man for Elle's first Christmas. I now know never to fly again during the holidays.

Overall the visit was nice. I had stayed with my mom in a hotel the first 3 nights and then at my sister's house the 2nd 3 nights and although it was stressfull having a sleepy baby that was interupted constantly, I loved being with my sister and nephews. Things got a lot better once my mom went off to Scottsdales to play golf with her friends. I love that woman but we don't agree on anything, not one thing, so the bulk of the stress was being with her 24 hours a days for 3 days.

During the trip, I was an abusive mom. On the way to Phoenix, I bumped my sweet baby's head with the armrest on the seat. (look at the red spot on her forehead) During one car ride, I had zipped up her chest
, and on the flight back, I pulled out the seat belt that was caught in the seat and it hit her elbow. All incidents were accidental and resulted in major tears and a broken heart from baby and mommy, respectively. The worst of it was the chest incident but thank God it didn't bleed and the redness is fading fast. I will never forget it and I guess I have learned to take my time and be extra careful.

All in all, it was great to see everyone and see how they were living. They have a great house in a great neighborhood full of parks and walkways. The weather was beyond perfect and I ate way too much.

Here's a picture of the happy cousins.

Let me out!

I want to go home.
I want to be home.
I want a place where Ella can sleep during the day without people walking in and out of the room.
I want people to understand that I have an infant and sometimes we just need to be napping instead of being out and about.
I want to be far, far away from three 6 and 7 year old children.
I want them to stop screaming and running around so my baby can sleep uninterupted.
I want to be able to change my flight without having to pay a penalty.
I want to cry, long and hard.

I don't think any of these things will be possible anytime in the near future but I can at least want them.

Phoenix or bust

if the weather holds up, we will be on our way to phoenix in the a.m. there will be lots of new experiences for everyone.
1. this will be the first time i will be traveling with my mommy alone
2. first time going to AZ and
3. first flight for miss Ella

and I am sooo nervous. I will have my boobie ready for take off and I borrowed a cover so no weird old guy will be staring at my pornstar-quality tits. I'll be going with my mom but we'll be coming home by ourselves so I'm extra nervous for that. I'm going to wear her through the airport so I can roll my luggage and my stroller will be folded and carried. I didn't realize how big it was until I got it out of the basement. I had it stored away since I got it from the baby shower cuz it was our next step up stroller since we still just use the snap and go.

I have a ton of shit to do and I'm leaving my house a mess but I hope A-man will clean up this week instead of just parting it up. Asshole, I know he's just going to be sleeping all the time.

well, I may or may not update but I'll just be hanging out with my sister who just moved there in June, thanks sis for moving a month before my first baby was due!

Merry christmas everyone!

Randomness for the week

I belong to this mommy board that I frequent. I'm not sure "belong" is the right word and "frequent" is definitely an understatement. Anywho, something happened recently where most of the real "talkers" have all jumped shipped all at once for some reason, hurt feelings I suppose but the irony here, the real irony is that I thought they all hated me. A-man always laughed at me for hanging out on the board so much cuz I'd tell him that no one would comment on my posts cuz they all hated me, well, "why do you go there everyday??" But apparently they are all mad at each other. I don't know what happened, but after a little investigation, yeah I apparently have way too much time on my hands, I concluded that someone said something on a blog and hurt someone else's feelings. Oh well. I guess I'll never know cuz I was never in the cool crowd but aren't we a little too old for all that bullshit. We're all moms now, we need to be setting a better example for our children, all this cattiness and back talk isn't doing anyone any good.
No one reads my blog so who am I talking to but it feels nice to get it out.

My baby boo napped for 3 hours yesterday, 3 whole hours. as soon as she was "out" I scurried to make this thing for secret santa for a woman for above mentioned board. I was already late so I needed to get it done. I had the gist made already so I had to finish it up! After that was done, I rushed to write more christmas cards. Done! I thought my hands would fall off cuz I'm so used to having to stop doing what I started doing when baby wakes up. Well, she didn't wake up. I got up to pee, drank water, and still happy in dream land. So I ran back into my studio, aka the living room, and made some burp clothes for my store . I got 4 made! when you're a mom with a baby that normally doesn't nap for so long, you'll go crazy checking all the time to see if they are still breathing so that's what I did and as soon as I opened the door, sure enough, she started to get up. But I was happy to have her up. I missed her. I always miss her when she sleeps but always want her to sleep when she's awake and fussy.

Speaking of baby, this was a big week for her, she got two bottom teeth cut early in the week, she "found" her feet, and she rolled over. All in one week! I was so damn excited that she got her teeth cuz that explained all the fussiness and crankiness that she's been showing for the last few weeks but my excitement ended last night when she took a big chomp on my poor wittle nipples! Fucking aye, it hurt! now I feed her cautiously, definitely NOT when she's in a playful mood. She's gotta be ready for business, if you know what I mean.

I don't know what it is

I'm such a downer these days. Elle has been cranky for a while and my new gluten, egg, dairy, peanut, fish, soy free diet doesn't seem to be working. I don't want to work anymore. I'm sick of cleaning my house. I'm tired of cooking. I don't have any relationship with my husband anymore. everything just sucks right now

I will do anything for you dear, anything...

Ella has been extremely cranky lately and I tried the teething remedies, tylenol and everything but nothing has been working. When she was about 4-5 weeks old, she had unconsolable crying fits so someone suggested that maybe she was allergic to dairy in my breast milk so at 6 weeks, I gave up dairy and after 3 days, voila! she stopped crying. But she's always been a little fussy the whole time. being a new mom, i just attributed that to growth and baby stuff. But lately she's been screaming, like someone-is-poking-my-eyes-out screaming. It's deafening and hard to hear on all counts. So since it's not teething, it still is something in the breastmilk that is irritating her which also gives her diaper rash, that's a whole other issue. anyways, I have been giving up some allergens here and there but as of today, I am giving it all up! No dairy, eggs, soy, peanuts, gluten, and fish. I gotta do it drastically so I know whats bothering her. after one week, if she is still cranky as hell, I'll eat normally again but if she's different even slightly, I'll adjust my diet accordingly. I plan on indroducing one item except dairy (cuz I know that bothers her) per week and see it theres any change.

So I went out today to Whole Foods and bought a few items that were free of all things even taste apparently cuz they all taste like crap which you would think should be fat free as well but no, they have plenty fat. Fat should always taste good!!
But it was so nice having a Gluten-free section to browse through. I now need to go to the fruit market and just stock up on fruits. Since a lot of veggies causes gas, I'm kinda not eating a lot of veggies as well until I do some more research on which veggies are ok. I also have to research gluten free foods cuz it shouldn't taste this bad. I know there are thousands of people that are allergic to Gluten and I'm sure they know how to eat well so I just have to spend a little time doing all the googling that I can. now, if I just had more time...