I know, I know...I'm a bad blogger!

OK, you would think that since I'm staying at home now that I would have tons of time to update the ol' blog. Not the case. So here is a quick update on what Ramona is doing now.

1. Crawling like crazy

2. Pulling up to standing

3. Waving

4. Clapping

5. Teething (just one for now)

6. Bumping her head on everything

7. Eating solid food? NOPE.

8. Getting spoiled by grandparents

9. Turning nine months old (I know! How did that happen?)

10. And Yelling (This baby is getting very loud.)

I was going to post a video of Ramona showing off all that she can do, but that will have to wait until another time. Sorry! Here is a picture to tide you over.

This is Santa Pope on Christmas morning.

The countdown has begun...

I FINALLY know when my last day at Freescale is, thank goodness! December 3rd is my last day as a career woman and December 4th is my first day as a Stay at Home Mom! We have not ironed out all the details yet. But it looks like we will be able to scrape by with me staying at home and maybe doing a little freelance design work on the side.

Lesson of the day: Getting laid off is not so bad, it's not knowing how much longer I'm going to have to work at the job I've been laid off from that sucks!

Countdown Until Freedom: 3 weeks

It's sinking in...

Yesterday was a hard day. One side of my brain is wondering why I was chosen to be let go and most everyone else gets to stay. While my rational side says, "This was obviously meant to be, something better will come along." I'm just struggling with feeling utterly replaceable.

And to make matters worse, Ramona had a HORRIBLE day yesterday! She scooted herself off our guest bed onto the carpeted floor, flat on her back with a giant THUMP! Luckly that bed is only 2 feet off the ground and not 4 feet off the ground like our other bed in the house. THANK GOD! Poor thing is fine, just got scared. (Me too). And then, last night in my sleepy stupor, I forgot to turn the baby monitor on after a night feeding and she went 6 hours unmonitored. I'm quite sure she woke up and screamed until she fell asleep. Because she does NOT sleep that long peacefully.

Sorry, sweet baby girl, Mama's losing her mind.
:(

Don't get too comfortable!

Doesn't God have a funny way of keeping us on our toes? Chris and I have been very comfortable for the past four years with me being employed at Freescale Semiconductor. Well, things are getting shaken up a bit. I found out yesterday that I will be losing my job due to the falling economy. In fact, they are getting rid of my position all together. We will not know when my last day will be until next week. To be honest, I expected it. Freescale was kind enough to create the position for me, so they can get rid of it just as quickly! So, now Chris and I are in limbo. Our original plan was that he would be staying home until January and then he would (hopefully) be getting a big raise and benefits at his job so that, wait for it....I COULD BE A STAY AT HOME MOM!!! Well, as I kind of expected in the back of my mind, Chris' raise will not be coming as quickly as we would have hoped. BUT, after calling his boss (a wonderful Christian man) and explaining the situation and asking him to pray for us, he is going to try to help us out so that I can stay home. Key word: TRY.

Dear Mandy's brain, please do NOT get your hopes up. This may or may not be what God wants you to do.

So here are a few things I'm worried about:

1. We pulled Ramona out of daycare. So if she has to go back there will be a long waiting list and we may not be able to afford it anyway.

2. Our medical benefits disappear with my job.

3. Should I be actively looking for a job if I'm trying to stay home???

And now for your cuteness fix, how about a rousing game of Where's My Pacifier?

Good bye, for now. I need to go cancel some luxuries. Good bye, sweet Tivo, you have served us well.

Halloween and Big News!

Well, we have big news! Ramona's last day of daycare was wednesday. Chris is going part time until the end of this year, so that he can take care of Ramona and be a stay at home Dad. He will be home with her Monday–Wednesday. And I work from home Thursday and Friday until 2009. This is very exciting for us. We worked with our budget and found a way to pull her out of daycare. This came just at the right time. She was sick for the entire month of October and I actually had to use the phrase "Should that baby be standing on that other baby?" when I dropped her off at daycare a few weeks ago. Not exactly comforting...

And now, I present... Ramona, the baby ballerina!

6:45 p.m. Just before we set out to Trick or Treat

6:55 p.m. Ramona doesn't understand what we are doing.

7:00 p.m. At home with her loot!

By 7:15 p.m. she is asleep and we are eating her candy.

Happy Halloween!

The Pumpkin Patch!

Yesterday we took a trip to Round Rock's Pumpkin Patch. Enjoy our photos!

We've been skunked!

Last night I went into Ramona's room and was overpowered by the smell of skunk. When I went into the living room to tell Chris, it was wafting in there too. I can only assume that a skunk was making his way around our house and spraying like crazy. Who knew a skunk took walks in the suburbs! So all last night (every time our air conditioner turned on) the skunk smell came back. Well, I guess I got used to it, because when I got back in the car after dropping off Ramona at daycare, my car reeked of skunk! Which means I most-likely smell like a giant skunk too! (My friends at work assure me that I smell fine, but I'm not sure I totally believe them.) Anyway, Chris has purchased the strongest bottle of Febreeze on the market. But, that is no guarantee that we won't still smell like the Skunk Family tomorrow. I'm giving Ramona an extra bath tonight.

The Pink Eye

Ramona has got "The Pink Eye". How did she get it? At daycare, of course! During the 5 seconds we were there for picture day. Dang daycare! I swear Ramona is sick every week with something new from stupid daycare. And still I pay THEM for this! Here ya go, Daycare, let me give you ten thousand dollars a year to infect my kid, just so I can turn around and pay a copay at the doctor's office twice a month. Thank you, Daycare, you're a HUGE help!

Dr. Ferber, I think I love you. (Picture Update)

Picture Update!

Ramona in her pink Alamo hat that Grandpa gave her.

Sitting in her high chair reading her Noah's Ark book.

.................................................................................................................

Sorry it's been so long since my last update. But a lot has happened!
1. Ramona is sitting up like a pro.
2. We are trying (unsuccessfully) to start her on solid foods...She hates rice cereal. I dont mean she dislikes it...she HATES it. And shows us how much by cringing and gagging and blowing it out of the spoon before it hits her mouth. I think I'm going to try mixing it with fruit or buying a different kind. She's six and a half months old now, she's a grown up baby who wants solid food! One of the daycare workers told me today that every time Ramona sees other babies eating solid food she yells at them as if to say, "Hey you stingy baby, did you bring enough for the class?"
3. And last but NOT least. We are teaching her how to put herself asleep! And get this...it's working!!! We are using the Ferber Method, which basically lets the baby cry it out while the parents go into reassure the baby in timed intervals. Here's how the first couple of nights went:
First night, it took 30 minutes. Not too shabby, but certainly not fun.
Second night, it took TWO MINUTES! WHAT?!? Maybe this Ferber guy isnt a complete moron.
Third night, it took (no lie) thirty seconds. She was asleep before I even got the baby monitor turned on. Now, not all of the nights since then have gone quite so well, but it hasnt been bad at all.

I have a bunch of adorable pictures I need to post, but I will have to do that at another time. Just to give you a little teaser, Ramona is wearing a tiny pink hat in alot of them. She looks great in hats. Also, tomorrow is picture day at her daycare, so as soon as I get those proofs, I'll post those too. See ya!

Cool babies wear their headbands to the side!

It's been awhile since I have posted a Ramona update, so I thought I would take some time to catch you up. Here's what we have been working on since our last posting:

1. Sitting up/balancing on her booty. This is a tricky game, because at any moment she could do a nose dive into the carpet. But she is doing pretty well. She looks so cute propped up on the couch.

2. Sleeping through the night (Round 2). You might have known that just 1 month ago, Ramona was sleeping 11 hours at night. ELEVEN HOURS!! It was awesome. She kept this up for several months. Yes, we were "those parents". We would smile and shrug when other parents would ask us how we managed to get our 3 month old to sleep that long. "What a good baby!" they would say. And then out of no where, she started waking up one and two times a night. So, at five months old she is sleeping 6-8 hours at night. Not too bad.

Side Note: I read my baby bible (Baby 411) and it turns out we are doing everything wrong sleep wise. Here's the checklist:

- Lay her down while is still awake, but almost sleeping. (She Cries...Loudly)

- Don't give her a pacifier because she will wake up crying if it's gone. (Whoops we do that too!)

- Don't let her fall asleep for the night while feeding. (But that's how she goes to sleep!)

- Don't feed her during the night, offer her a pacifier first. A five month old can go 6 hours with out eating at night. (What?!? Doesn't that conflict with a previous rule? And eating will put her back to sleep, I've got work in the morning!)

RANT: And since I mentioned work, how the heck can all these Mom's afford to stay home? Even with rising gas prices and paying $825 a month for daycare, I still can't afford to quit working and stay home. That's crazy! It's like paying rent for a separate baby apartment. I've run the budget and cut out EVERYTHING... Tivo, Netflix, gym membership, cable, the cat. And we still come up short. Somebody please email me your budget and how you afford to live on a single income. Because I would love to stop paying someone to raise my baby. Rant over.

On a lighter note, here are some pictures!

5 generations. Ramona and I are looking the

wrong way, because there are two cameras.

He's Baaaack! (UPDATED)

Sooo, does anyone want an adorable orange cat? Pumpkin is full of personality, but Chris and I do not have time to pay attention to him with a newborn in the house. It is better for him and us if he finds another family that will love him and give him the attention he deserves. Here are his selling points:
1. He's the fuzziest.
2. He's litter box trained and outdoor trained.
3. He has thumbs/mittens. (polydactyl)
4. VERY affectionate
5. He's independent. All he wants is to play outdoors.
6. He's fixed.
7. He's handsome, all your neighbors will envy you.
8. He alerts you if there are bugs in the house. He was a lifesaver when we had roaches!
9. You can leave him with a pile of food and go out of town with out worrying about him. But he also travels well!
10. He comes with all his own stuff. No need to buy anything!

You may be asking yourself, "If he's so great, why are they getting rid of him?" Good Question! It breaks my heart to give him away, we have had him for 4 years. But with Ramona learning to crawl soon and playing on the floor/eating the carpet. I can't take any chances with germs. Honestly it freaks me out. And Pumpkin feels abandoned, because he used to be the baby. If Ramona was a few years older, then it would be fine. But I can't time travel, nor would I want to. So if anyone is interested in an awesome cat, please check out the craigs list posting below and let us know if you would like to meet him.

http://austin.craigslist.org/pet/811264038.html

UPDATE: It looks like Lt. Pumpkin will remain in the family. My parents have offered to take him into their home until my brother finds an apartment. Then, hopefully, my brother can officially adopt him. Watch out, ladies, soon there will be two handsome devils livin' it up in their very own bachelor pad! When I told Pumpkin about this new plan, he told me (with his eyes) that he was excited about moving back to San Antonio. But, nevertheless he was very hurt because he obviously had no idea we were trying to give him away on Craig's List. And with that, he left the room to take a 12 hour nap. Thanks, Mom, Dad and Mark!

She Rolls!!

She's done it! Ramona has rolled over and let me capture it on film! She rolled over for the first time a few days ago but refused to do it again in front of the camera. She's not a circus monkey for heaven's sake! So I now have 15 movies of her almost rolling over and one movie of her rolling over completely in the poorest quality a digital camera has ever filmed. See for your self below, it looks like I filmed it 20 years ago. (Don't panic, Dad, I didn't film it with your fancy video camera. I used my digital camera.) The video is not too long, but she doesn't roll over until the very end. But she doesn't disappoint. While you are waiting for the main event, you get to see her grab her toes and make various baby noises.

I couldn't get the video to upload, so I put it on YouTube. Enjoy!

YouTube - Roll Baby Roll!

Farewell Lt. Pumpkin

Lt. Pumpkin, our cat, moved out tonight. It has been inevitable ever since Ramona was born. He is not a fan of Ramona. He especially hates it when she cries and interrupts his nap. But don't worry about Pumpkin, he has moved in with our friends, Austin and Kirsten. (Thank you so much, by the way!) So, are you wondering what the final straw was? MICE! I guess Pumpkin has been feeling a little ignored lately, so he started bringing home gifts. LIVE gifts and setting them loose in the house. Now, I previously mentioned that Chris was out of town. So who had to catch and get rid of the mice? ME! That is so not in my job description. Here's how it went down:

Mouse #1 (6:00 a.m.)—I chase him around the house, following closely behind Pumpkin, and finally corner the little guy behind the toilet. Then as quickly as possible I trap him in a Christmas popcorn tin and set him free out side near the neighbor's yard. I quickly throw on some clothes and take the baby to Wal-mart to buy 16 glue traps.

Mouse #2 (4:30 a.m.)—Pumpkin has a mouse cornered behind the kitchen trash can, which is where I placed one of the glue traps. So the mouse is stuck and PISSED. Long story short, we have a mouse dying a slow death in our outside trash can. I felt bad putting him in there, but what was I supposed to do!?! Maybe he chewed himself free.

And then, of course, Pumpkin hobbled into my room a couple hours later with a glue trap stuck to his leg. So, I put him in the outside trash can too...Just kidding. I pulled it off and sent him on his way.

He remembers when he was our baby.

So handsome!

Lt. Pumpkin, you will be missed.

Water Baby

Well, Ramona visited the pool for the first time this weekend! Here's how it went:

1. She arrives at the pool wearing the tiniest swimsuit I have ever seen.

2. We put her in the water...and she hates it!

3. We get in trouble for bringing a camera to a public pool.

4. She gets sunscreen in her eye.

5. She gets a heat rash.

6. She cries.

7. We leave.

This all added up to a grand total of 20 minutes. But doesn't she look cute!

Beautiful baby!

It's nice to get away from daycare and just RELAX once in a while!

One too many bottles of milk...

She is not sure about this.

"Why on earth would they bring me here?"

Hey There Ramona

I was listening to the radio today and the song "Hey There Delilah" came on for about the zillionth time, so of course I started singing along because I know most of the words. Only this time I was substituting the name Delilah with Ramona, because I thought it was cute. (And if I got good at it, then I could sing it to Ramona later without her judging me when I forget the words.) Anyway, I almost started crying when I listened to some of the lyrics (Bear with me! You might be crying by the end of this blog too!):

"Hey there Ramona, don't you worry about the distance, I'll be there if you get lonely, give this song another listen..."

"A thousand miles seems pretty far, but they've got planes and trains and cars, I'd walk to you if I had no other way..."

"Ramona, I can promise you that by the time we get through the world will never ever be the same and your to blame..."

"Hey there Ramona, you be good and don't you miss me..."

"Oh, it's what you do to me...Oh, it's what you do to me"

These corny lyrics made me cry, BECAUSE Chris is out of town for 2 weeks touring the United States with his band and all I can think about is him singing this song to Ramona!!! NOW reread the lyrics and picture Chris singing it to his baby girl. Try not to cry now, tough guy!!!

Anyway, here are some pictures that I have taken while Chris has been out of town.

Half naked pictures are strictly forbidden

This is one of her new outfits. She went on a baby shopping spree.

Another new outfit. She's the best dressed baby in daycare.

"I LOVE toys!"

How can I get any work done when this face is looking at me???

"Well, what do we have here?"

"You wanna lose a hand? Go ahead, touch this toy again"

Chris, pull yourself together now, you don't your band to see you crying.

We miss you!

The Mother's Room (WARNING: Girl Talk!)

When I'm at work I frequent "The Mother's Room" daily. In fact, I'm there so often that I feel like it should be my new office. It's quite nice! My favorite part is the giant privacy curtain you can pull around your self. However, apparently this is not everyone's favorite part of the room. Many mothers just see no need for the curtain at all. So here is my question... Am I the odd ball for not wanting my coworkers to see me in this particular situation? I don't think so! This is a moment that should only be seen by your husband and maybe your mom. And even they will be shocked the first time they see it. Picture a cow wearing a Madonna-style cone bra. It's unattractive and embarrassing. But who am I to judge other mothers who want to share it with the world?

Moo!

Muffin Top (WARNING: Girl Talk!)

So I have decided to make this blog about me also and any post baby/new mommy stories or questions that I have. I figured, I have some pregnant friends and them might find this interesting. But, who knows, there might not be anyone reading this. And in that case, I'm just using this blog as an outlet for my own entertainment.

Anyway, how many of you know what a muffin top is? Cause I got one, dang it! A muffin top is what magically appears above the waist band of your pre-pregnancy jeans. It's good times! I cant wait for it to go away. Could it have something to do with the 6 cookies I had yesterday? Nah! I don't regret them, they were delicious. My solution to this phenomenon is to go shopping for new shirts that cover the muffin top. There, problem solved!

Dang it, now I want a cookie.

Wait a second... I have hands!

So, this is what the doctor meant when she said, "One day Ramona will stare at her hands like she has never seen them before." Amazing!

Roll Baby Roll!

This is her Red, White and Blue outfit. She wore it until she pooped on it. Happy 4th of July!

Then she drove us home.

Chris and I went into Ramona's room on Sunday to see if she was awake. And this is how we found her, sleeping on her side like a grown up baby! Soon she will be on the move, rolling about the house like a crazy baby.

The End.

Headbands and fingerpaints!

She's really getting good at this smiling thing!

And this is how happy she is in the morning. I wish I was that excited to get up.

This is her first art project. She brought it home from daycare... it's on the fridge.

This is why we don't wear headbands.

Later.

It's been almost 4 months since Ramona entered the world...

Here's what you've missed so far!

Here's a before picture. This is me about a week before I delivered.

And then along came...

Ramona Leigh Chalman. She was born March 22. She was perfect from the very begining. And started trying to hold her head up on the first day!

Yeah, Yeah, I'm her Mom, but that's impressive!

1 month old. Just hangin' on the floor.

2 months old. She's pretty excited about her first car trip.

3 months old. She is smiling and laughing and starting to realize she has hands!

I'm making this blog to keep family and friends updated

on all the major (and not so major) milestones in Ramona's life.