Your Questions Answered (FINALLY)

Thanks for all of the great questions!! Here are my answers:

The Cape House asked a few good ones: I'd like to know how you told your parents that you were expecting and if you plan to move back down south. Also, what is your favorite family heirloom or tradition and what's the story there?

All great questions! I'll start with the first one. We found out we were expecting on May 30th (almost exactly a year ago) last year. We had been trying, but we were very lucky and it only took a month. We were both very surprised as we thought it would take much longer. I had mentioned to my parents that we would like to have a baby soon, so they were not entirely surprised. I was actually very nervous when I called to tell my Mom. It's funny, until you are married it is most girls worst nightmares to have to tell their mother they are pregnant. Even though I knew she would be excited, I still had really nervous feeling in my stomach like I was doing something wrong. She was the first person that I told (after my husband of course) and she was beyond excited! I'll never forget that moment. We agreed I was supposed to call back and tell my Dad when he got home, but she couldn't hold it in so he called me a few minutes later to congratulate me.

My favorite family heirloom is probably my Nana's silver. She gave it to me before she died. You can see a picture of it in one of my old posts (look under "weddings" in my achieves)
A's Mom loves silver and she has been great about giving me pieces of my pattern for Birthdays and Christmas. She even gave me the baby spoon in my pattern for Baby J.

Another heirloom on A's side is the baptismal gown that Baby J will wear at his baptism the end of next month. A wore it, his brother wore it, his sister wore it, all 3 of his cousins wore it (including the cousin that will be Baby J's Godfather), so and and so on all the way back to his Great Grandfather. The gown is exquisite and I can't wait to see him in it. It is going to be a very special day...not too much longer!

Courtney from Soloff asked: Random question - but what kind of camera do you use?? I love all your pictures!

Just before Baby J was born, my husband bought us a Cannon Rebel XSI. We LOVE it! He has bought a couple extra lens (including a nice 50mm) and I'm still learning how to work it all, but even an amateur can take great pictures with his camera. We are quite pleased.

Suz asked: When are you planning another NYC blogger meetup?!?!

It's in the works. Our last NYC blogger meetup went so well that we are going to do another one. We tried to do one last week, but it didn't work out. We have quite a few new girls to add to the mix and one of them actually took the reigns at planning. Email me if you want to come. If any other NYC bloggers are interested, let me know and I'll get you hooked up with the details.

Lauren asked: I do have a question for you, actually... I lived in NYC for about 2 1/2 years and moved back South last year when I got engaged. Now married, my husband and I are thinking about moving back up to NYC in the next few years and staying there. What's NYC like from a married with children perspective? I think it would actually be easier to have children in NYC - everything is so easy to get or get to - but I would love to hear firsthand!

You should move now so we can hang out! NYC has its pros and cons. Do I want to raise Baby J closer to family and friends in the South? Of course I do. But, being in the city is what is best for our family right now. When we first moved here I met a few people through Jr. League and A's work, but really not that many. Since Baby J was born, I have met TONS of wonderful new Mommies. I joined a new Mommy discussion group at a local hospital and I was in a group with 20 other new Mommies who also had babies born in Jan, Feb and March. I made some really amazing friends. We meet for lunch, go to Central Park and have play dates at each others apartments. I met one new Mommy from my blog...hi Melissa! There is so much to do with a baby in the city. It is also a very convenient city. If I so chose, I can get my groceries, diapers, dog food and dinner delivered to my apartment. I have multiple grocery stores, drug stores and a fruit stands within steps from my apartment. We stroll everywhere! (I could not live without my Bugaboo!) If you have any other questions, I would be glad to talk to you about it.

Preppy Paper Girl asked: Regarding motherhood, what has been the most unexpected thing that you had had to adjust to that maybe no one mentioned before you had the baby?

Hmmm. That is a tough one. I think that I knew it would be hard to be a Mom, but I don't think you really know how hard until you go through these first few months. It is physically and emotionally exhausting and there are very few breaks. It is the hardest job I have ever had in my life. (And, the most important and rewarding.) Everyone mentions this, but until you go through it, you just don't get it. A positive unexpected is that I knew that I would love my child, but I have never felt this amount of love in my life. The love of a parent is an amazing thing. I had no idea my parents loved me this much. =) This little guys smile brightens my day and oh my God his giggle is the sweetest sound I think I have ever heard. A and I can just stand over his crib and stare at him. He's perfect.

I know you made a list of things for the hospital - would you change any of that?
I actually wrote about that here.

Cee asked: Here is a random question...did Daisy have any trouble adjusting to Baby J?
Sweet Daisy has been a trooper. She has done remarkably well. I think her adjustment is more to having less attention than adjusting to the actual baby. I'm not going to lie, it has been really hard for me to balance spending time with her and the amount of time Baby J requires. For the first few months she would wake up when I would go out to feed Baby J in the living room and would lay down next to my chair. It was so sweet. She gets very upset when he cries and she will come and get me (even if I'm just steps away.) She does understand that Baby J has a lot of fun and fuzzy new toys. She KNOWS they are not hers and she steals them and hides behind chairs with them. (Lisagh, her favorite toy is still the one you made for her!) When she is very angry with me for not paying attention to her she will go and get a diaper or wipe out of the garbage can. Yeah, I know...gross. She loves to give Baby J kisses and he really doesn't seem to mind. He has recently started to grab at her tongue and it is pretty hilarious to see the two of them interacting. He got a big handful of her fur the other day, but she just licked him. =) Sweet Daisy girl.


Third Coast Preppy asked: He's adorable!! How's he sleeping for you?

Thanks TCP. Your little man is precious too! Baby J is sleeping okay. He slept for his first 3 months in his car seat due to choking and acid reflux. When he was in his car seat he slept 7-9 hours straight. He loves it in there! We would normally put him down around 6:30pm-7:30pm and he would wake up after about 3 or so hours. I would feed him and then he would go down again for good at 11:30pm-12:00am and not wake up until between 6:30am-8:30am.

He is now sleeping in his crib (we got a crib wedge and increased his Pepcid dosage per our pediatrician) and things have changed. Since he is older now we are really working on sleep training. We are trying to push his bed time up to 7 or 8pm. Of course, by doing this he is now waking up once in the middle of the night. Last night he went down at 10pm and woke up at 5am and then slept until 10am. The night before he did well and we got him down at 8pm, but he woke up at 4am, then slept until 9am. We're a work in progress, but we are both getting much more sleep than we did the first two months. Those months are tough times for someone who likes their sleep! I'm proud of him for making the change into his crib and I feel confident that if we continue with a routine we'll get back to where we were when he slept in his car seat. He takes 2-3 naps a day, normally one of them is at least two hours, sometimes longer. We still have a lot of work to do on a more consistent schedule. Any tips are certainly welcome!