tame that mane...

...oh little romes,

your hair has gotten a bit out of control.

so, we must..... cut it!
yep. i'm the horrible mom who chose to have your first haircut in the lobby of embassy suites, in omaha...and i didn't even keep a chunk of it.
it's ok, i'll just keep some of it from your second haircut, no biggie, right?
i mean, i can't keep up with all the "you should's" of new mommyhood anyways....
:)

this is my cousin megan, she cut your hair. and she did a fab job. she's cute, ey?
your dad had to make sure we were safe with your wittle ears

grammy abbi got in on the action too!

go meggy go.

romes, you're a champ.

snip snip.

so careful.

admiring the snippies

ta-daa....

thank you cousin megan,

and thank you aunt joan for being our photographer.

and thank you embassy suites for your hospitality :)

romes, you're lookin fly.

as i look back now, i can laugh...

...but at first, it was no laughing matter.

when roman was just a teency weency 8 days old, my sister and her little charlotte were staying with us to help us new parents out :) anyways.......she thought i needed to get out of the house, you know - to get some fresh air. because, after coming home from the hospital, we didn't leave the house much, well come on - a)roman was just days old and b) he was attached to his "light blanket" which needed to be plugged into the wall, because he had jaunice.

but, when he was finally rid of the light blanket, liza was set on me getting out. and i'm glad she was, it is good to get out of the house, but at the time i just wanted to be snuggled up at home....going nowhere :)

so...it was decided, we would head to old navy...because there's an old navy about 3 miles from my house.

then i got overwhelmed.....
i hadn't even put roman in his car seat yet, heck, i didn't even know how to buckle the thing?!?! i never practiced before we went to the hospital, and mr leif is the one who buckled him in before we came home.....and now he was at work, and i had no clue how to buckle my child in his seat. awesome....but. with a few tries, i finally got it figured out and romyroo was safely buckled into his seat.

then i got more overwhelmed.....
i didn't even know how to collapse the stroller, in order to load it in my vehicle. heck, it had been sitting all cute in our front room ready to be used, but i had no idea how to collapse it or open it up....but. with a few tries, i finally got it figure out and halled it outside to the car.

we were off....diaper bag in tow. nipple shield too of course, because just in case we would have to nurse......i needed that shield. romes won't nurse without it.

first, we made a quick stop at a new store across the street from old navy. i hopped out, got the stroller out and opened, removed romes from the car and set his seat in the stroller, and grabbed the diaper bag. change of plans.......since it was just going to be a quick stop, i decided i really didn't need the diaper bag with me, he was sleeping soundly anyways. so - diaper bag was placed back in the car. lock the doors. and go on in to shop!

hummdeeedumm....oh about 20 minutes later we were headed out of the store, slightly disappointed with the lack of cool stuff. but we were off to old navy.

oh CRAP. the car is locked.
my keys are in the diaper bag.
because.....when i originally put the diaper bag in the stroller, i put the keys in the bag. and then when i put the bag back in the car....(like the weird nervous new mom i was)....i forgot to grab the keys......yet still locked the car.

PANNNNNNNNNNIC!

we are 3 miles from home!!!!
i have a new baby who is only a week old!!!
we are locked out of the car!!!!
i'm a horrible mom!!!
i don't have my nipple shield!!!
his only source of life, aka my milk, is locked up in my boobs without that little shield...
i'm a horrible mom!!!
why did i even leave the house anyways!?!?!?!?
panic!!!
breathe.
breathe.
call mr leif.......
walk over to old navy because it's cold outside and mr leif was going to call tripple A. or is it AAA? for me........
browse old navy.
tripple A arrives in 20 minutes.
walk back over to car (seriously we were the weirdos trecking across a giant shopping parking lot, in the cold, with a one year old and a new born, looking like freaks, trying not to get hit)
breathe.
tripple A man unlocks car, and was super nice by the way.

get in the car.
breathe.
drive home and secretly vow to myself never to leave the house again.

though, i did.
you know, i left again, because.........
well........
now i knew how to buckle him in his seat.
now i knew how to collapse and open his stroller.
now i knew to always grab the diaper bag, and heavens, make sure i have the keys.
now i knew to make sure i have a nipple shield at all times.

hehehehehe.
yep, i can laugh about it now.
but at the time??? not sure i had ever been more scared and disappointed in myself......

oh the joys of being a new mom.
all sorts of firsts.........

(like tonight, i was holding romes. he was naky. and he peed all over my shirt. then it dripped down my leg, onto my socks, and made a cute little puddle on the kitchen floor. but. i didn't care. heck, i just kept smooching his cheeks, thinking 'oh next he'll probably poop', oh well')

i've got my toms...

...do you have yours?

while searching for tiny toms for my baby romes, i found the CUTEST little grey ones

tiny toms for babyroman.

that would totally match my mommy grey ones,

if only mr leif would allow me to spend the mula on shoes for romedog. hmmmm......

anyways....maybe this will help, if he sees what happens, when i purchase a pair of matching toms for little romes, look who else gets a pair...........

doesn't that just make you wanna drop everything here, and go to a third world country and bring them stuff?

i wanna.

just a glimpse...

...of THE father's love.

tell you more? ok.

the love that you have for your child....
you know, a mother's love...a father's love...

i'm convinced, God gives us children so that we might get just a glimpse of HIS love for us. we can't fathom it, but when you try to put into words how much you love your own child, it makes you wonder if it's kinda like God's love for us.

last week was roman's 2 month dr. appointment.
2 months? yep went fast.
2 months? yep, means shots.

and, if you are my facebook friend, you'll know i was fretting over the whole 'shots' thing about 20 minutes before it was go-time.

knowing that in a matter of minutes, your child will be blasted with a needle, multiple times? yikes.
knowing that in a matter of minutes, your child will be enduring pain that you could actually prevent (by running from the docs office, running far far away)

can you imagine the sacrifice our FATHER made for us. knowing his son was born, to later die and save us. knowing his son would endure pain. knowing that he could, in fact, prevent it, but wouldn't.......

roman's little shots were nothing compared to the pain that HE endured.

but i have a glimpse of understanding now.
and you know what?
it makes this christmas a little more special.

andbytheway...
roman did fabulous with the shots.
and i must say, i didn't do too bad either (musta been that sale on grace at costco, remember that? well, i'm stockin' up)

Snuggles with momma after my 2month doctor appointment........

95th percentile - in height and weight!!!!
13 pounds. 11 ounces!!
24 inches long!

bring on the chunky baby!!
momma loves th sqishies :)

moms, aka jugglers.

...did you know that i love being a mom? yep. it's the best thing ever.

and bytheway...i got a compliment in the post office earlier this week:

"wow! you are a natural" - sweet lady behind me

i guess i was showin some stellar mom moves, because i was..........
...writing on a package with my right hand,
...while holding a giant stack of envelopes and two packages with my left hand/arm,
...while scooting up in the line,
...while roman was in his seat on the floor below me,
...while rocking his carseat with my left foot,
...while saying "shhh. roman, it's ok, we're almost done",
...while he wasn't even crying, i was just trying to be, um, pro-active.

and you know what?
mom's don't even think about how they will do all those things at once.
they just do them, because there is no choice.

i mean, you can't just ask some random to watch your baby while in the post office line.
i mean, you can't leave your baby in the car. duh.
i mean, you can't write on your packages before you get to the post office, well maybe i shoulda.
i mean, you can't just bring a cute bag, to put the envelopes and packages in, so your left hand/arm would be free, well maybe i shoulda.

oh whattheheck. not a biggee.....it's just the life of a mom.
and i'll embrace it.

it's just practice for later.
how do others do it with 2...3...5...kids??? oh we shall see.
we shall see.

when you pray the wrong prayer...

...nothing happens.

well actually, we aren't in charge of what happens anyways.
but, still, when you don't pray for the right thing, it doesn't happen.
does that even make sense?
oh, heck, it doesn't really even make sense to me.
so, i should probably just move on with this post...

lately, been praying for the wrong thing,
asking God to please make me a stay-at-home-mom, and ASAP.
although there have been a few options come across our minds...in all reality, i must finish the school year. i must return to school and complete the year. i enroll in my last semester of grad school, and complete my ineternship, so i can graduate in may. i must finish what i started. a sense of completion.
all the while, feeling as if i'm choosing the 450 students over my baby......
all the while, scheeming that i never want to go back to work again anways, so why finish my degree.....
all the while, wondering why i'll be paying someone else to smooch on my baby for 9 hours, 4 days a week, when that's my job.....
but?
like i said, i've been praying the wrong prayer.

clearly, God has me in this place to finish the year. to finish my degree. to entrust my baby to two friends from church.
why am i praying for something else, when all i need to do is pray for the GRACE to enure the semester. and the clear eyes to see His plan for our family in the next year.

big things are brewing for us leif's :)
we are considering lots of different options in order that i can stay home with rome. (that rhymed. totally nice) as well as the other 3-4 kids we want to have. yep, it's gonna be a full house here folks. or maybe a full townhouse, or heck even an appartment for a while....we'll see what GOD has in store.
and,
for now?
i'll just pray for the grace to get through the semester.
it's where HE has me.
it's in HIS plan. (not mine, but his.........just gotta remember that.)

anyways, did you know you could stare at a baby for hours upon hours?
yep.
you can.
i do it daily.

well, cheers to getting neck-deep in prayer.
i'm gonna need it.
grace to get through the next 5 months.
grace to get through the first week back.
grace to be able to drop my baby off and go to work the first day.
grace for one day at a time.
if only grace was on sale at costco, i'd buy me a bulk pack for sure.

isn't he cute?
i know, every mother is biased of their own offspring.
but, no one said you can't publicly proclaim your addoration of them.

and because i'm still obsessed with the first song on my music player:

some of my favorite lyrics....

"though hast not left me, though i oft left thee..."
"i need thy presence, every passing hour..."
"what but thy grace, can foil the tempter's power..."
"through cloud and sunshine, abide with me..."
"shine through the gloom, point me to the skies..."

abide with me.

a pre-baby confession...

...you know, back when i "had all the time in the world"

well, back then i would browse ohdeedoh, a lot.

i would save pictures and links for inspiration.

inspirational decorating tips, diy projects, recipes, etc.....

and this morning, i checked on my old friend, the doh, and found this:

click on picture to take YOU to the recipe :)

how cute, ey?!

yeah, i'm gonna try it.

you should too!

"seriously, mom..."

"...enough with the camera." - littleRome

"but roman, i just want to capture every funny face you make" - me

"but, mom, seriously, it's killin me."

"...and, you're still snapping.

awesome."

"....yes, roman, i'm still snapping.

even if you stick your tongue out.

i'm gonna snap.

matter of fact, the sillier you get, the more i snap.

k? k."

"alright, fine, here's a little more normal pose, now will you stop?"

"oh what da heck, i'll even give you a smile."

"yep, i can get cheesy too."

"ahhhh MOM!!!!!!!!

stop the madness. seriously mom!!!

i mean, are you going to do this when i go to prom too?

please..........say no........"

"prom???? what!?!?!?"

"oh, i'm kidding mom, i love you the most, don't worry, i won't ever go to prom........or get a girlfriend.......or get married.

i'm yours forever."

"whewwwww, roman, good. that's more like it."

what do you mean, straight jacket?

oh, you don't know?

well.......little roman falls into the category of

FLAILING BABY.

it's not a bad thing, well kinda, but not really.

you see, his arms and legs are almost constantly moving around, and most of the time it's really out of his control.

he isn't intending to fling his limbs around like a crazy dude, he just does it. we used to think he didn't like to be swaddled, because he would break out of it.

nahhh. he was just wiggling underneath the swaddle, and our swaddle blankets were no match for this tough one.

so.

what do we do?

well, first i talk about my flailing baby with lots of moms, telling them that he wakes himself up all the time and i don't know what to do because he doesn't really mesh well with the basic swaddle........

then, i find one mom who has the secret, ah it's a miracle, literally. and she gave me her secret. its called a miracle blankie. aka - straight jacket.

now, poor roman, we borrowed this miracle blankie from a little girl, so he gets to wear PINK when he sleeps.

but just at night time.

because, as i mentioned in the post prior, his naps can often be swaddle free.......

alright. enough of all that blab.

here's the good stuff.

step one, trap his arms.

yep, each flap goes over his arms and then under his torso, making it only possible to break free if his body is lifted off the flaps. his own weight is trapping him in. sounds freaky?? sounds like something that you wouldN'T want to sleep in??

well, our romedog doesn't mind. infact, as soon as he's all trapped in his miracle blankie, he smiles and is usually pretty relaxed.

it truly is a miracle people.

and in a matter of minutes (most of the time)

he's ready to snooze.

he's now two months...

yep. little roman is defnitely 2 months old.

ahhhhhh. stop i say. stop now!

and i can officially say that last week, when i looked at him, i thought.......'wow, he IS getting big'......and then i screamed, "NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

here's a few little things about my wittle 2 month old......

he doesn't need the swaddle AS much........i mean, we still straight jacket him up at nights, but his naps can often look like this.

he flails and flails less during his naps each day.

but, during play time?

watch OUT! this ones a kicker and an arm swinger......he is such a wigglebewiggler.

he's into stairin' at stuff. whether its the fan. the lights. the wall (yes, the blank, grey wall).........or his little fishies, or ME!!!! he is just lookin and lookin everywhere.

and of course, i think it's the cutest. ever.

he's grabbin' things galore. like shirts. hair. shirts. my bra straps. my hair, ouch. and blankets.

he's really beginning to interact with us.

he is cooing. and googling. (not online, that's just a word i made up)

and he really gets excited when we talk to him, he breathes in and out so fast, like he's runnin a race. he's my little piggy. such a snorter too!

well, he FINALLY can handle a little tummy time.

and did i mention he's smiling up a storm?

yep, he is.

oh roman........i could babble on and on about how you are the cutest thing to walk the face of this earth........(biased? yeah, so.) but. you are beginning to wiggle around in your crib. i can hear you. and i think you've hit a growth spurt (no!!!) because you've been eating every 2 hours today, so i'm sure you ready for round 5!!!

time well spent...

...with grammy abbi.

on saturday, we spent all day doing this:

(shopping, and browsing the mall, and googling over the boots at nordstroms)

oh, and romes loved grammy's scarf. LOVED it.

oh, and i fed romy in von maur and nordstroms, he's quite the highclass nurser these days.

and on sunday, we did this:

rest up.

we were wore out!

all in all, we had the best weekend ever.

thankyou grammy abbi.

come back as soon as you can.

my 6 grateful things. from yesterday and today:

1. a warm house

2. more peppermint stick icecream

3. that mr leif got to go hunting, he loves hunting

4. a really yummy cheeseburger from freddy's

5. roman is smiling. like, all the time

6. that little charlotte is doing better, she's really been through the ringer lately. (oh and for her mom too, shes the bestest)

still grateful...

wow, it's just 10 days into december.....and i'm still going strong.

although, really, the hard part isn't trying to come up with 3 things to be grateful for each day........the hard part is blogging each day.

you might be thinking, oh dear, how hard is it to take care of a baby, you surely find time to blog??

well, it IS in fact time consuming..........because, i just eat his little cheeks, all.day.long.

but my excuse for barely posting today's in the nick of time??
well, my MIL is here.

and we've been out and about all day!

we even went on a walk to get groceries.

don't worry. we bundled up romes.

and now.......on december 10, 2010, i'm grateful for:

1. my two friends from church who are splitting the daycare responsibilities of little romyroo. they are each doing two days a week, and i'll do the 5th day. but the coolest thing? i had them over for a little pre-semester breakfast meeting and we prayed together. we prayed for this next semester. we prayed for their time watching roman. and, as much as i want to get sick over leaving my baby in 3 weeks...........knowing that he will be with two ladies that pray for him, that pray for me.........is powerful and brings so much peace of mind. thank you LORD.

2. my pediatrician's office. when i called in this week, wondering if it's ok that roman doesn't want to eat as often.........along with 23 other random questions, they simply answered them. and then reassured me over and over again that i was doing the exact right thing for roman. man. hearing that you are doing the right thing, as a new mom, is powerful. makes you breathe easy.

3. and, of course, roman's second chin. it's most evident when he's concentrating on 'going to the bathroom'.............wanna see?

oh roman. i don't mean to poke fun. it's just that you are turning into SUCH the character. i can't wait to see your personality begin to bloom. you're gonna be CRAZY fun. i know. i already want to ruff you up and throw you into the air..........but then i remember your just itty bitty. and i still need to be gentle. oh squishies. i love you.

oh elf yourself......

and for this.......

i'm grateful for

1. my sissy's baby charlotte

2. my cousin's baby hudson

3. and my baby roman

you know when you have that person...

...that you could laugh for hours upon hours with?

or, perhaps, you'd rather talk about the depths of your heart?

or, maybe, its a few glasses of wine, and you can just let the conversation roll?

well, heidi is my person.

though we don't get to see each other nearly enough........when we do, our hearts connect in the most beautiful way. we can be real, honest, supportive, and silly. and we do it all with honesty and love..........

yep, she's my person. and when we get together, i realize it over and over again.

and now, when she looks at my baby, it melts my heart.........

heidi has the most zest for life imagineable.

this is her jj.
they met, on account of me........hello matchmaker, YES!!!

and it was love at first sight......even though JJ was up on a roof, and heidi was, well, not on the roof.

they were here this past weekend, celebrating their anniversary.

yep, two years ago, she was the most beautiful bride

i miss living with you heidi....... i miss lifeguarding together, having wine together, watching sex and the city together (i remember watching it for the first time with her, thinking it was such a naughty show!!!).......... i miss getting ready to "go out" together...... i miss laughing at jj's clever christmas gifts with you..........and dreaming about our futures, living across the street?!? raising our kids together?!?! maybe someday........ thank you for loving my baby.

i can't wait to love yours someday :)

and......today, december 8, 2010, i'm grateful for:

1. when mr leif comes home from work. he is such a great help. plus, roman smiles at him so much, and thats the bestest.

2. peppermint stick icecream. mr leif takes the babe, i take my bowl. yummmmmo.

3. heidi. she's the bestest ever. and we can laugh for hours togehter.

you have a baby?!............

.........in a brewery??!!

yes. well, a matter-of-fact, we did.

pardon my double chin...it seems as if i've truly plateaud with this whole 'losing the baby weight....' where's that treadmill i need to buy?? must. workout. and. sooooon.

don't worry, romes wasn't the only one.

colette brought her babIES. (yep, she's packin two)

although, hers are still nestled in her warm belly :)

and......he slept. the entire time!

which was good.

i didn't need my 7 week old trying to sneak his first brewsky.

and thanks to my friend amy, she's borrowed out her bjorn.

it's been the perfect replacement, because i left my stroller in nebraska at thanksgiving.

bummmmmmer, dude.

our little family. i love it.

cheers to free beer on a saturday afternoon!

so happy our hubbies had such a great time......i mean, we did too, but there's just something about seeing your husband smile. i love it.

eeeeeeeeek!!!! seriously. her little boys could arrive any day now......

aren't day da cutest!?!

yep.

still sleepin.

and now........today, december 7, 2010, i'm grateful for:

1. colette and quinn. they're always up for a good time......even IF she's totally about to pop :)

2. the children in my neighborhood. they play in my backyard. even on our deck......and ya know, it's fun to have them roamin' around!

3. mr leif. he fixed our only cd player. yep, turns out i just switched the cords to the speakers. silly me.