How to make a doctor's visit less horrible.

I didn't really know much about infant doctor visits before. What I knew was that sometimes, they are exciting. You get to find out hight and weight, see you baby on that little baby scale and go home and record the details in your baby book. And then sometimes, there's shots. And anxious parents. And crying babies. Etc.

Now, after my many visits (three) and extensive knowledge, I think this check list will make those doctor's visits less horrible during the horrible moments and get us in and out as quickly as possible.

- Try to get into a room as fast as possible, so you don't wait with your child next to the sneezy gross sick person in the waiting room. And once you are in that room, make sure they don't forget that you're waiting in there.

- Strip baby down to clean diaper before the nurse or doctor enters the room. Don't waste time doing this after the doctor gets into the room. Baby will need a clean diaper at the start to get an accurate weight. Bring a blanket to wrap baby in while you wait.

- Get the diaper changing gear out and organized on the patient table. At our first visit, we went through six diapers in one hour. We didn't expect any of them and had to dig around in the diaper bag each time. Don't waste time!!

- Even if you don't think you need a pacifier, bring a freakin' pacifier.

- Make a list of your questions. I keep mine in the reminders app on my iPhone, so when I think of something, I add it to the list right then. Spend your time on the questions!

- If both parents are at the visit, one parent checks out while the other parent takes baby to the car.

- Feed baby right before you leave the house.

- Wear a nursing shirt or dress and a nursing bra if breast feeding. Or take a bottle. Sometimes these things last so long that it's time for baby to eat again while you are there, or you can nurse to comfort baby after shots during the ten minute waiting time. See if you can feed baby in the room before you leave.

- The first set of shots was hard to watch, but not as hard as I thought it would be (again) based on what I've heard from other people or seen on TV. We brought a favorite toy that sings, thinking it would comfort Charlie during the shots, but he didn't even notice it.

- Take a snack and a drink. Take a snack and a drink!! If your partner is attending as well, but doesn't think he/she will need a snack and a drink, bring them a snack and a drink anyway.

I'm sure there is more, but you know, I haven't figured that part out yet. I do know that the less time I spend wasting time, the more time I can spend on questions.

Birthday Blast

When you turn thirty, your birthday should last three days. And you should take lots of pictures. I got to three days, but with no pictures. Not one.

Actually, I take that back. I took this one.

Play time after nursing. 

And this one.

I hope he never stops cuddling.

I did actually go out with friends. My friend Ashley gave me a wine glass with my age on it. It's bedazzled. I'm going to call it my pimp cup.

Charlie spent his first whole night away from us, which felt weird but not as crazy as you might think based on how people describe it. I only wanted to call at midnight, 5 am and 8 am. This is when I had to get up and pump so my boobs didn't explode.

My parents came to town, we spent the day swimming with family and friends and their kiddos. And Sunday has been very relaxing - read: I'm still wearing PJs at 6:37 pm.

It wasn't a balls to the wall trip to Cancun, but it was a pretty nice birthday.

Cousin Lovin'

Charlie has some wonderful cousins to grow up with.

Cousin Nicholas to play with...

Cousin Will (in orange) to play with and to look up to...

And (2nd) cousin Hannah to babysit! 

Jenna, Hannah's sister, was there too, but she didn't sit still long enough for a picture.

The first two photos were taken on Mother's Day and the third was taken on Father's Day. Isn't it crazy how fast they grow? I'm not ready for this much growing. 

Charlie, I'm going to need you to back up a little bit.

Preston's First Fathers Day

We're spending the morning with Mimi and BB, Preston's parents, as well as Preston's grandparents. So Pres went to get them Father's Day cards this morning. (We have come to think of this as not procrastinating, but scheduling.)When Preston got home, he handed me a card and said, "This is what you're giving me for Father's Day. I think it describes our relationship perfectly."

Baby Slang

There is some baby slang that you probably already know, like passie for pacifier. But Pres and I have developed our own little lingo. These are some of my favorites.

Tartar sauce - diaper rash cream. Some of it comes in little packets, similar to fast food ketchup packets. And it's white.

Enchilada sauce - poop

Does he have eyes? - is he awake?

Pirate eye - only one eye is open. When he has pirate eye, you have to say "Arrr!"

Wanna get a boobie? - time to nurse

Pajama jammy jam time - bed time. There is a song that I made up to go along with it. It's pretty much awesome.

Blowout - big poop

Carseat blowout - really messy big poop

A just in case - burp cloth or cloth diaper in hand or nearby, just in case of a blowout or spit up or drool or something we haven't experienced yet.

A cover - cloth diaper solely dedicated to blocking pee during a diaper change. This must be a cloth diaper, wash clothes and burp clothes are too thin and will result in an uninhibited stream of pee in your face.

Are you melting? - im uncomfortable with the amount of sun on my baby's skin, cover him with a blanket right now please and lets get inside before I freak out.

I've read that... - I think you're doing that wrong

- with love from my phone