Picture Perfect

Another month has flown by!  Adeline is two big months old already, which is obviously so so little but I feel like she has the personality of someone I've known a long time. 
She is a very happy baby and seems to have a pretty calm way about her.  She can scream bloody murder and also crack me up everyday, so I think we are pretty much right on track.

People (including myself) always post pictures of their kids that turned out great. The one shot in a series of 50 that makes your child look like a cooing adorable angel.  Here is a fun example to share about what these baby picture taking sessions have included for the Karasek girls...

                              Getting a little help from Mom...looking just like her Dad in this picture...

Starting the slide

Action shot...it looks way worse than it was...

Might as well take a rest...

Hmm, checking things out on the tummy...

And starting over on the other side :)

                                                     Happy 2 months sweet Adeline!!

A Captive Audience

I know we were all wondering how Hobbs would do when baby Adeline joined us at home.  Those of us that know the dog probably thought he would love and protect her, the neighbors probably thought he would eat her. I'm happy to report that after 5 weeks they seem to be ok with each other. 

 The day we brought Adeline home, Hobbs was delighted to see me again (of course).Happy dance around my legs, doggie singing and all.  I had been away at the hospital for days and he probably thought the sister-wife Jennie had replaced me at home!  We brought Adeline in to do introductions afterward and he sniffed her all over and decided all was well.  That was when he probably thought she was a nice visitor to have around...
Soon Hobbs realized that Adeline was here to stay and since I couldn't give him as much lovin and take him on walks myself right after surgery, he was proably a little doggie depressed.  He has definitely realized that he now has to share his coveted space at the center of our universe with this baby. But he followed us into the nursery and laid at my feet every time Adeline and I were up at night and still has to get up from wherever he is when she is doing the purple headed screaming to give her a sniff and make sure she is not in fact being tortured.  He now does a three person sniffing headcount at the door when we come back home from somewhere.  So like the rest of us, he has a new responsibility and is exhausted but happy.
An added bonus for Hobbs, he thinks it's fun that there is a butt here that he is actually allowed to sniff and the first time she pooped in a diaper he ran over like a kid at Christmas to investigate (both the noise and the smell).
Most importantly, Hobbs seems to know that this little nugget is a fragile one and he understands on his own to be very careful around her.  So I head off and leave them alone together all the time--ha, just kidding :) It's tough to know if he is always where she is because he's watching the baby or because I'm usually holding her...take a look at the pictures below and you be the judge!  Little does he know that they will be best buds very soon and she'll start moving in no time, crawling and climbing all over him.

This was the week that we brought her home.  Hobbs usually snoozes on the other side of the bed near the windows, in case he needs to bark some smack to something outside.

 I'll say it again, LOVE this swing. Technically, the swing is in Hobbs old favorite spot to lay in the living room, but we'll give him the sweet dog points for this one too. 

A little tummy time action (she's smiling, probably because she already knows she's actually going to go to sleep instead of wiggle around).This one needs to explaination at all.  He is always keeping an eye on her somehow, and is great to know that he loves Adeline too.

1 Month Birthday

Happy 1 month birthay to Adeline!  I can't believe it's been that long already--it feels like we met her and spent time as a new family in the hospital just yesterday. 

But it has been a month and a big one!  We feel very blessed to have a healthy, happy baby girl. She is growing everyday and most recently started smiling a little more and using her hands to grab on to things.  We know a few things about Adeline so far.  She is like her dad and looves to nap :).  She also loves to snuggle and when her tummy gets the best of her and she's screaming her turning purple head off, some music and dancing in our arms will calm her down ( a little...).  She has the most fun expressions and is always using her hands to tell us something and has a hilarious and extremely cute pooping face.

Adeline and Hobbs seem to be getting along, but more about that for a future post...

We've been so lucky to have family meeting Adeline and helping Ed and I in these first few weeks. We continue to be touched by the thouughtfulness of our friends and family and appreciate all of the little ways they have wished us well.

Things we've learned we can't live without in this house include the baby swing, baby Bjorn (for those times that she will sleep in your arms but her little baby insticts somehow know exactly when you put her down and sound the alarm...) and of course...coffee. 

Here are a few pictures from today...now off to change a diaper!!

What a Deal

Maybe I'm super resourceful.  Maybe I just have way too much time on my hands.  Probably a little bit of both!  Either way I have become quite the bargain shopper. Actually it's borderline hostile frugality but come on, who doesn't love a deal?  I think my thrifty issues actually began as a bride. Valuable lesson...a cake is just a cake by any other name...unless you accidentally call it a wedding cake.  Then it's magically better and costs 30% more.

Call it what we may, I have become very focused on finding deals and thought it might be helpful to share a few findings...

• Politics aside, thanks to the Affordable Care Act I am the proud owner of a free new breast pump of my choosing.  I called our health insurance provider to see if any portion of my purchase would be covered and learned that we (and most everyone else) are eligible to receive a pump without cost. This was a big one--pass it on!
• It turns out you can't buy many baby items in-store and are forced to purchase online. ( I'll defer my rant on the ridiculousness of this for another time)  This triggers my biggest nemesis--shipping and handling.  I found a great website, Diapers.com, that has many online retailer and manufacturer coupons in addition to free shipping and handling and waived sales tax.  By triple dipping, I was able to save $70 on just one item!  I read that they actually sell diapers at cost too, but since I have yet to change an actual diaper, don't feel qualified to advise on this one. :)
• Buying maternity clothes--I read a great idea to buy maternity clothes early when they are on sale in the off season, so I did.  Bad bad idea for me and my sweet tooth.  Turns out that you can't just assume that you'll remain your regular size and buy your standard because maternity clothes are so much bigger.  It's a little depressing and that 's all I'm going to say about that.

On a random note, our Keurig recently died.  This is a borderline crisis in our house.  After calling directly I was told that they would send me a new one for half the price.  When I escalated the issue by graciously pointing out my dissatisfaction that $149 only gets you only a little over a year of product life, I received a call back the next day that we were being sent a new Keurig for free. Interestingly they made me send back a small part of my broken one which felt a little like a weird ransom situation, but I was still pleased with the outcome and learned that it's always worth making the call!

In the end we think we have all that we need for this baby, at least for now. It's been very fun to learn about the best baby products, and to receive the great advice we have from many about what you will need but haven't thought of, and what you think you will use but actually won't.

It was pretty clear to Ed and I, the UPS guy, and the entire neighborhood when my nesting phase began and we came home to find this loot delivered to our doorstep.

Happy shopping!!

All About Hobbs...

And as we all know, it really is all about Hobbs here.  So Ed and I have often wondered how it will go when the baby arrives.  We followed all of the recommendations to assemble the baby gear and let the dog check it out.  Well ours has showed absolutely no interest in any of it, even the extreme snug-a-bunny baby swing we've had whirling, playing music, and buzzing around in the living room as a test drive.  No, Hobbs still prefers chasing the vacuum around over any baby contraption that is in this house.  If anything he looks at me with a "what the heck are you doing" expression when I insist on pushing the stroller around inside or shake rattles in his face to get a reaction.  Coincidentally, Ed is usually looking at me the same way :)

One thing is for sure though--this dog has figured out that something is definitely up.  He's naturally a herder so he would never hang out by himself and if Ed and I are in different rooms Hobbs strategically finds the best vantage point to lay down and keep an eye on it all.  But now he has left Ed to the wolves and is glued to my side. I love it.  When I take a bath, I come out to find him like this staring at the door from the bed.

When I can't sleep and get up in the night to hit the couch and watch TV, he forsakes his LL Bean memory foam doggie bed and follows me down to lay on the floor beside me.  When I head down the hall to the bathroom, he actually follows me in (with my sense of urgency these days, this just means that sometimes we're in there together) and if I shoo him out he's waiting outside the door for me. 

Sometimes he just sits and barks at me, and since I credit him as a doggie genius, I assume that this is some sort of Lassie moment and I'm about to go into labor.  Then he will walk away and plop a toy in front of me and I realize I've been duped and he was just trying to talk me into playing with him.

I can't wait to meet our daughter and to bring her home to this giant loveable fur ball.  We're convinced they will be BFF's.  Whatever the future holds, Ed and I know that long before marriage and babies, we became a family with Hobbs.

Counting Down...

Ok, so it's been awhile since my last and very first post.  But hey, we have been busy here learning about parenthood and preparing for all things baby.

Because we are  new to our future jobs as Mom and Dad, I decided it would be a great idea for us to take advantage of almost all of the classes offered at our local hospital.  Ed was thrilled, right?  Since I do have an amazing husband, he was on-board and we're both happy to have peace of mind.

First, birthing class.  Not only did we learn about the stages of labor and practice breathing as well as have some awkward moments assuming the positions in a room full of strangers, this is the place where I got my legitimate pregnant lady street cred from my husband.  Ed has been very supportive, but after he learned that my body was not only growing a baby, but actually generated new parts such as a placenta and would have a serious job of getting her out, I was home free!  Lots of visual aids too, most of them scary, but this one was a favorite.  Ed shines in situations like this and observed that according to the picture, I've been in orange Phase 3 since April.  This made me laugh and brought me down to Phase 1. :)

We also completed parenting classes where we learned bathing, diapering, pooping and CPR.  If I had a picture of the swaddled 1985 Kool Aid color haired Cabbage Patch doll that we brought to use, I'd post that for entertainment.  As proof that our age is becoming a norm for having first-time babies, we were one of 3 couples in class with the same one...  Thankfully we were out shamed by the couple that resorted to bringing a giant stuffed monkey...a comforting sign that couples without kids do not have a surplus of life-sized baby dolls around the house.

So we are feeling set and even more ready to go.  I have a feeling that in just about 3 weeks, we'll learn what every other parent already knows,  that we have a lot more to learn but will somehow figure it all out!

24 Weeks Along and Counting...!

Welcome to my first attempt to blog for our friends and family to be a part of our adventures along the way.  In our home away from home, this seemed like a great way to share and stay connected as Ed and I figure out our new gig as first time parents!

Here is a picture of Baby Girl Karasek from our 20 week ultrasound.  I can see by this over the shoulder pose that she takes after her mom already!