War Eagle Baby

Emily December 10, 2010
[0] comments

Mommy Lesson #21

“Easton is undefeated as an Auburn fan.”

- Clay Osburne

When Easton was born 3.5 weeks early, my response was concern about his low birthweight. Clay’s response was, “I guess he’s ready to watch Auburn football.”

And he has.

Easton has not missed a single game this year. He and Clay watch the game together, discuss strategy, and work on saying, “War Eagle!” But the most important tradition on game day has been Easton’s outfit. Clay is convinced that Easton is good luck since Auburn has never lost a game since he has been on this earth. It’s also good luck that Easton be dressed in his Auburn onesie because I tried to dress him in something else on two different occassions and Auburn fell behind.

Of course, Clay insisted that I change him at halftime.

Then, Auburn won.

So, needless to say, Easton will be SQUEEZING into that same onesie in January, even though it will probably be too small by then. Anything for the team.

War Eagle!

(If you look closely at the following pictures, it looks like Easton is saying, “War Eagle, Hey!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Game Day with Babies

Emily November 9, 2010
[2] comments

Mommy Lesson #13

“Oh good. Let’s stay at the house.”

Gina McClanahan

It was Saturday. Alabama was playing LSU. Auburn was a strong favorite over UTC. The sun was shining; birds, chirping; leaving, falling. For the Osburnes and McClanahans, the possibilities were endless. But since we both have babies under six months of age… of course, we decided to stay at home. It was wonderful!

I never realized how relaxing it can be to just stay in and enjoy the company of family and friends until Easton got here. Why would we go to all the trouble of lugging diaper bags, strollers, and car seats to a restaurant when we can eat grilled chicken and cooked sausage as the guys throw the football in the backyard and the girls snap pictures of cute babies while snuggling under an electric blanket?

Here are some Game Day Necessities for Saturdays with Babies…

1.  Start with a few cuddly babies…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 2. Clothe them with college gear from head to toe (preferably Auburn attire)…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Put men in charge of the meat and cheese…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Throw in some chocolate and pistachios.

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Mix a warm drink (like Percolator Punch which contains cranberry juice, pineapple juice, and water which is run through cloves, cinnamon sticks, and brown sugar)…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. Turn on the game. Sit back, relax, and spend the afternoon brainwashing your child to love your team and despise all others. Also, whenever your family members look away, brainwash their babies, too. I like to teach Marcus to say “War Eagle” when his parents leave the room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Any suggestions for weekend activities with babies?

Also, feel free to share game day recipes or brainwashing methods you’ve learned :)

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Baby Paparazzi

Emily November 4, 2010
[5] comments

Mommy Lesson #11

“Keep the camera ready 24/7 for cute baby pictures!”

- Emily Osburne

Easton is only eleven weeks old and he already has his own paparazzi. Between his mom, dad, grandmother, and great grandmother, he has yet to live a day without having his picture taken. We can’t help it, though. Look at those kissable lips, those pinchable cheeks, those precious little toes. Plus, he seems to look different every single day.

Even with all this photography, I can’t believe I waited until he was nine weeks old to have his first professional photos done. Karyn Smith has a home studio in McDonough, and I have to shamelessly endorse her. She did a great job capturing Easton’s expressions, his skin tone, and his sweet features.  There are a lot of photographers I like, but Karyn is the kind of photographer who really focuses on the person rather than the background or a specific location. She has a studio at her house that makes parents and babies feel very comfortable, so if you are trying to find someone to take pics for Christmas cards, she is great!

I do have one question, though. How often did you have professional pictures taken of your children? Tammy Gilreath recommends buying a package that allows you to have pictures made every three months for the first year of life. The benefit of a package is a better rate, but the drawback is that you have to use the same photographer.

Any advice?

Here are some pictures Karyn took:

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Easton’s Sweet Noises

Emily November 1, 2010
[2] comments

Mommy Lesson #10

Babies are bits of stardust, blown from the hand of God.

Barretto

They warned me this would happen. They told me I would never hear a more wonderful sound in all my life. Everyone said it would be glorious… and it is! Easton is cooing! It’s not that loud or continuous yet, but it’s just enough to keep Mom, Clay, and me on the edge of our seats. If we place him in his little Tummy Time Play Yard, he is most likely to make those precious sounds. But sometimes he will mimick our “Oohs” and “Aahs” when we hold him in just the right position, after taking a bottle, in the middle of the day, when the sun is positioned exactly 27 degrees West of the house… if we get all those variables just right – he MIGHT actually make some noises in our arms.

And we never tire of trying to get him to do it.

On Thursday, I held Easton while Mom tried all her magic tricks. She got very close to his face. She smiled and laughed and held his hands. She stuck out her tongue and touched his cheek… Nothing. So I confidently said, “Let me try.” I mixed a brilliant concoction of chin tickling and high pitched “Ga” sounds. I even used a German accent for some reason, and still… Nothing.

Hearing Easton coo is kind of like seeing the Loch Ness Monster or Bigfoot. There are doubts to its existence, but after trying and trying, I caught a few little sounds on tape!

Check out this video of Easton Cooing :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Great Debate: How to Position a Baby While Sleeping

Emily September 23, 2010
[16] comments

Mommy Lesson #7

“Like turtles, these babies do not like to be on their backs.”

Bryan Vartabedian, M.D.

I thought SEC football fans were loyal to their teams, but I have discovered fans who will cheer louder and defend their group even more fervently than an Alabama Crimson Tide Season Ticket Holder or a Georgia Bulldawg Fanatic. It’s the sleep position fans. Every mother must join a team or at least affiliate with one. She joins when she answers the question, “How are you sleeping your baby?”

You might believe there are only two sides to a baby, and thus you can only have two choices, but no! There are, in fact, more than two sides to any sleep position argument. I have discovered ten teams any Mom is welcome to join when she makes the crucial decision about how to position her baby in the crib (or bassinet, swing, pack & play, or vibrating seat).

Team 1: The Overeducated - These Mommies work strictly by the book… every book. They swaddle their babies, lie them on their backs, use an incline, also include a sleep positioner (and a pacifier, noise machine, and mittens), and employ the help of the video monitor along with the Angel Care monitor, just in case. They would never use a bumper pad, and they shun extra blankets.

Team 2: Old Schoolers – These Moms look in the mirror and think, “Look at me. I am truly a work of art. My mom must have done a perfect job raising me. She did such a good job that I want to make sure my baby turns out to be as strong and cute and down right precious as me. My mom positioned me on my tummy, so that is how my baby will sleep.”

Team 3: The Rebels – These women listen to the advice of their mother-in-law and place their baby on the exact opposite side of whatever she recommends.

Team 4: On the Fencers - For the truly confused Mom, who can’t commit to any team, she can join the group of women who place their babies on their backs at night and tummies during the day.

Team 5: Teacher’s Pets – This is the woman who listens to her doctor’s advice at all cost. She proudly walks into her pediatrician’s office and reports that she sleeps her baby on his back, even though he hates it. He wakes up at all hours and cries. He tries to roll over. He flails his arms in the air, but she never relents. She gets an ‘A’ in sleep positioning.

Team 6: The Apologizers – When asked how they position their babies, these women look around the room to see who is listening. They sigh and shake their heads. They tell their sob story that always has the same ending. In a whisper she says, as if admitting she has been drinking Starbucks everyday of her pregnancy, “I tried to sleep her on her back, but now… gasp… she is a stomach sleeper. I feel terrible.”

Team 7: The Sleep Walkers – These poor women are so exhausted that they sleep walk to the crib and roll their bundle of misery into whatever position he can find. Every mom has been on this team at one point or another.

Team 8: The Blissfully Ignorant – This person has one single friend or relative who tells her how to do everything. These two friends registered together and they talk on the phone everyday. This Mom has no idea that there is such a debate filling the blogs and books because she happily accepts advice from only one person in the world. These moms are the least confused, but none of them will ever see this blog post.

Team 9: The Googlers – Opposite of Team 8, this group of moms type the following question into the Google Search Engine: “How should I position my baby in the crib?”  FYI, this is the first link that appears when asking the Almighty Google that question: http://www.babiesonline.com/articles/health/babycribsafety.asp

Team 10: The Perfect Moms – Ha ha! This team doesn’t exist. We are all just doing the best we can with the contradictory  information we are given.

To what team do you belong? Can you think of another team I should add to the list?

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Doody Tales

Emily September 21, 2010
[16] comments

Mommy Lesson #6

“Body temperature can be as low as 97 degrees in the morning and 100 degrees at night.”

I thought I had bought a sufficient number of contraptions to avoid this. I have a pacifier that will take a baby’s temperature. I have an ear thermometer. And of course, I have my hand that can easily feel Easton’s forehead to see if he is hot.

But no.

According to the book, Baby 411, that will not suffice.

You know what I had to do. With a little Vasaline and a rectal baby thermometer, I found out that Easton had a tidbit of temperature tonight, but not enough to call the doctor. The funny thing was…checking it wasn’t bad at all. Oddly enough, Easton didn’t seem to mind and I was too concerned about him to worry about my squeemish stomach.

Throughout the past five weeks, I have done more gross stuff than I dare to recount. I have changed diapers with green poop; forgotten a Pee Pee Tee Pee and you know what happens then, wiped spit up off my face, and of course… done it all in the middle of the night.

Before Easton got here, my biggest fears about babies revolved around sleep deprivation and gross stuff. I would hear moms say, “If only I could get four hours of uninterrupted sleep…” or “This is the trash can for poo poo diapers,” or “Little Johnny’s pee pee is like a missle.” My mission was to avoid all of this as much as possible.

But a crazy thing has happened lately. I find myself really excited about really gross stuff. I say things like:

“That was a good burp!”

“Oh, I hope you feel better after tooting.”

“Let it out, honey.”

 ”Did we forget to pack the wipes in the diaper bag? Oh well.”

“Clay, listen to what happened when I was changing Easton’s diaper.”

Is love just stronger than the doody smell? Is it possible that motherly affection trumps all fear? So far, I would have to answer yes. Did you have any fears or uneasiness that melted in the face of your little angel?

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Sweet Sounds of Home

Emily September 12, 2010
[16] comments

Mommy Lesson #5

“There’s no place like home.”

Dorothy, The Wizard of Oz

After spending three weeks in Florida, waiting for ICPC approval, I am happy to announce that Easton, Clay, and I are home together at last. Right now, Easton is sleeping in his crib and I hear the sound of my own washing machine. I see the golfers driving by on our golf  course and of course, I am eating Cocoa Pebbles out of my own cheap bowls from Garden Ridge.

Life is good.

I think my favorite thing about being home, though, has been the sounds of friends and family holding Easton and loving on him. I never knew how much I would love to hear someone say, “Your baby is so cute.”

Whether they mean it or not, those words are actually better than:

- “I love your outfit.”

- “Have you lost weight?”

-”You overpaid on your escrow account, and we are mailing you a check for the difference.”

-”No school! Snow day!”

When we are not showing off our little man, Clay and I spend most of our time at home staring at Easton and watching him do the most amazingly cute things like 1.) Yawn  2.) Hiccup  3.) Stretch  4.) Sigh.  Who knew that such simple things could blow our minds? I probably say, “Look at his face,” twenty times a day. I think our favorite thing he does right now is sneeze. I know that sounds weird, but he usually sneezes three times and then ends with a huge sigh of relief. It cracks me up. Clay will turn off the TV to hear the sneezes and then we both laugh.

Easton is our greatest entertainment. He is filling our home with the sweet sounds of baby.

How did your little baby entertain you? Did he or she have any cute expressions or habits that you will never forget?

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Top Ten Necessities for Infants

Emily August 29, 2010
[20] comments

Mommy Lesson #4

“If evolution really works, how come
mothers only have two hands?”
Ed Dussault

Before Easton came along, my trips to Babies R Us elicited two emotions: shock and disbelief. “How could people be so vulnerable?” I thought. “There is no way a little baby needs all of this stuff. I bet he really only needs a stroller, bed, diapers, and lots of love.”

Wrong.

He needs so much more.

Yes, I am sure people in the olden days survived perfectly without all the modern day gadgets, (like the Little Lamb Seat), but how on earth did they do it? And I have no doubt that frontier women somehow got along without a wipe warmer, but I love using warm wipes on his cute little tooshie. Now, when I go to Babies R Us, I see every product as a great invention by a mother who was in tune to her baby. I also see millionaire mommies on every aisle (how much money do you think the inventor of the Pee Pee Teepee is making these days?) Babies R Us is like a candystore, and I am a kid with some allowance money in my pocket.

Here is my Top Ten List of Necessities for an Infant, but Easton is only two weeks old, so if you are a Mom of an older child, feel free to add to my list!

10. Vibrating Seat- Thank you, Alana Pridemore, for the gift of movement. Because of this little seat, I can move around the house knowing that little Easton is secure and entertained… for about seven minutes. I can talk to him while I make coffee, dry my hair, or write this blog post.

9. Google- What did people do before the Internet and search engines were invented? They probably didn’t freak out every time they looked up “Infant Spit Up” and found that this COULD be the result of a rare but serious heart condition found in less than one percent of all babies.

8. Camera- Mamas are the ultimate paparazzi.

7. Boppy- Before the invention of the boppy, where did women rest their arms and babies rest their bodies during feedings?

6. Sleep Positioner- Thank you, Brooke White… I had no idea Easton would feel so cuddled by one of these little gadgets. It’s like my arms are still there when he rests.

5. Bottle Warmer – At 2:00 AM, no one wants to wait five whole minutes for a bottle.

4. Baby 411 Book – Like the subtitle says, “It contains 500+ pages of useful info about health, sleep, and nutrition. Thank you, Lindsey Ramsey, for the recommendation.

3. Journal- Writing down his feeding times and amounts along with detailed description of his “Big Poopies” and “Small Poopies” is helpful when trying to decide why he might be fussy. It will also be a great resource to embarrass him when I meet his girlfriend in high school.

2. Shirts with Built-in Mittens – These are great for warmth and for reassurance that he is not scratching his eyes out.

1. Other Mothers – Of course, these women are my greatest resource. When I talk to a mother who says, “Don’t worry, every baby has a little bit of acne,” or “I promise you will sleep again one day,” or “Treasure this time – it goes by so quickly,” I feel like everything is alright.

Thank you to each one of you who has given me encouragement or advice. This journey is not complete without you! Let me know if there are any essentials I will be needing soon.

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Sleeping through the Day

Emily August 23, 2010
[24] comments

Mommy Lesson #2

“People who say they sleep like a baby usually don’t have one.”

- Leo J. Burke

 My brief stint in Baby La La Land is over. For the first week, Easton basically ate, slept, and pooped. He fell asleep very easily, and needed little interaction. Even when he interacted with us, he didn’t really understand it. Clay read something that said, “Your baby might squeeze your hand, but not only does he not realize it’s YOUR hand, he probably doesn’t realize it’s HIS hand.”

But now, he is starting to become more aware of his surroundings.

And he is starting to have opinions about it..

- For example, he like MAM pacifiers, and none of the others.
- He hates to be naked.
- He tolerates diaper changes, but only for about thirty seconds.
- He appreciates it when we put booties on his little feet.
- And most importantly, he likes to sleep during the day and stay awake at night.

I know this, and yet, I made a dumb decision last night. Since Clay is at home and Mom and I are in Florida, waiting for the ICPC approval to bring Easton home, I decided that I should do all the feeding and diapering myself. (Insert laughter here). I told Mom that Easton should know who his Mama is (more laughter). So, I read a few chapters in books like Baby 411, The Baby Whisperer Sovle All Your Problems, and The Better Way to Care for Your Baby and I got ready for the night.

I have found a few possible solutions to the night-day mixup in books, but if anyone has advice, I am open to it! Here is what “they” say:

- At night, keep the lights low and the room quiet, even during feedings. (Sure, this sounds nice, but he sleeps wonderfully in daylight and loud music).
- Feed him and place him right back into the crib, barely waking him (That makes me laugh).
- Keep him awake as much as possible during the day (His pitiful little sleepy eyes are hilarious when we try this).

So, it’s time for another night! I’m pumped; I’m psyched; I’m geared up for fun!

 

 

 

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