Update on Us

I think I might need to rename my blog to "Ripley's Chat" instead, seeing as how the blog is all about her now! But since our lives now revolve around her, it's hard not to have my blog be consumed by Ripley pic's and stories, especially since she's so darn cute!

So a little about us these days: I'm continuing to stay home with Ripley, so that's my main "job" and in addition to that, I'll be doing some at home telemarketing. Thankfully it's all inbound calls, so I won't have to do any cold calling, which I would hate. Instead, I take calls from people who want to place orders for products they usually saw on an infomercial. Definitely not my dream job, but it's super flexible, which is what I need. I get to make my own schedule and am able to do so using 30 min. incruments, which is great. I haven't started yet, but just finished all the training, so now I'm able to take calls. The only downfall is all the rebuttals you have to go thru with each call. They call to order a knife set and you have to get them to buy the wood holder to go with it, but it doesn't stop there, oh no, you also have to try and get them to buy the flatware set and a magazine subscription too. Lol. Oh well, hopefully I'll get used to it and not too many people will hang up on me.

As for Matt, he just made 2 years at EA. Can you believe we've been out here for 2 years? Time goes by so fast! Things are going well there. Madden '08 is coming out tomorrow, which he worked on and it's already getting great reviews. He also just recently updated his website with new work, so you can check that out at: www.goofslapper.com/demaray/digital.html If you click on "traditional" you can see some of the leather work he's been doing lately, which is a somewhat new hobby of his. He made a seat for his motorcycle and a pillow for his Dad. He has also made a wallet and belts too, but aren't pictured. Pretty cool stuff.

That's all for now. xoxo

A few of her favorite things...

Here's Ripley and her new favorite toy, it's a teething cloth. She loves to eat it.

And here she is with her favorite pair of yellow shoes she got as a gift, along with her "Wicked" onsie. Doesn't she look like a little Leprechaun?

And here's Ripley with her friends Kylie & Hunter at Gymboree class.

I like to kick, stretch and kick!

Ripley is 3 and half months now! She loves to kick, because she's 50! Well, ok, she's not 50, she's 3 and half months like I just said, but if you ever watch Saturday Night Live (Molly Shannon), you know what I'm talking about. Moving right along, she does love to kick and she's always moving around - trying to lift up her butt and when you hold her up, she loves to stand like a big girl. She is also sitting up with assistance from her little chair or pillows on the couch. And she's still talking away. Last night she was having her own little conversation, having a blast by herself. It was really cute.

R is for RIPLEY

Here are a few pic's of the letters we made to hang in Ripley's nursery. Instead of buying them, Matt picked a different font and cut them out himself. His Dad helped him sand them and I picked out the colors and helped with the pattern. They turned out great!

Another Great Visit

Matt's Dad & Pam came to visit after Lauren was here. We had such a great time together, I was sad to see them go. Ripley absolutely loved Grandpa Russ & Grandma Pam! She kept laughing & smiling and doing her baby talk to them, it was adorable. During their visit Matt & Russ worked on their "projects" as usual. This time it was attaching a gutter to the front of our house, just a small one to keep the rain from splashing all over our front walk way. I think it took about 18 trips to Home Depot until they finally finished the project. Why does that always happen? You never get everything you need in just one trip. Such a scam. So needless to say, the gutter looks awesome - very professional. They did a great job. Now we're just waiting to see it in action - no rain since they left.

Another project they worked on is cutting out the letters of Ripley's name. I've been wanting to make her name out of wood and paint the letters to hang up in her room. We decided to do them on our own, rather than buy the letters already made. Matt picked out a font and cut them out himself and Russ helped him sand them. Now we're in the painting phase, so I'll be sure to post some pics of those when they're done.

Ok, what else? We talked a lot about our dreadful lawn and how to improve it with Pam since she's an expert on that stuff. Question: Why must the lawn here be so high maintenance? And why did we buy a house with such a big yard? Ugh! So Pam helped us out by filling up 2 pots we bought for the front walkway with some flowers that look awesome. Thanks Pam!

So besides the projects, we managed to do some shopping, hit a few restaurants and even go to a botantical garden nearby, which was very cool, but unfortunately our visit was cut short due to rain. So we'll have to go back next time they're in town. Along with going to Cold Stone! : ) Love & miss you both!! xoxo

So in Love...

Ripley & Evan finally met last week and I believe there might have been a hint of a love connection. More on Evan's part, than on Ripley's, since she's still a little clueless in that department (or is that just an act her Mom taught her?), but I think I caught Evan giving her the googly "I love you" eyes a couple times ; )

Being with Lauren, both of us as Mom's, was such a surreal & fun experience. We had such a great visit. We had Ripley very active too - at the pool (in the shade of course), shopping, eating out - and the best part was, she was soooo good! And guess what? I even breast-fed in public for the first time! Look at me go. Well, don't actually LOOK at me go, but you know what I mean, I've come a long way. That's all I meant. And I'm happy to say, it worked out very well. I'm a pro now. Me & my boobs have been out & about several times since. haha. Hey, the girl's gotta eat!

Ok, so enough about that. Check out the great pic's from Laur's visit. Love & miss you guys!

zzz zz z zzz z

I have wonderful news to share....for the first time ever, Ripley slept a full 8 hours straight! What a beautiful, beautiful thing! And I'm happy to report, since last week she's done it two more times. YAY! I'm so used to only sleeping 3 hours (or less) at a time that I woke up around 3am wondering what was going on. Did I feed her already and was back in bed? If not, was she ok? Apparently, she just needed her beauty sleep and finally for once, her beauty sleep did not consist of only 3 hours : ) Now let's just hope she continues on this path!

2 Months!

Ripley is now 2 months old....and I'm happy to report that she has become much more manageable, yay for us! And she loves to smile, which is so rewarding. Today she had her 2 month doctor appt. which included 4 shots, OUCH! My poor little baby. She was good though, didn't cry for too long. She is now 11 pounds, 9 ounces and 23 inches long. Definitely growing! Here are a few new pics of her. Enjoy!

Little Evan

Evan is 5 months old now. He has gotten so big! I only got the chance to see him once when he was just 2 weeks old, but at the end of June he's taking his first big trip to Florida to visit Aunt Kat and his future wife, Ripley....YAY!

LOST

For all you Lost fans out there...tonight is the season finale! Unfortunately, I can't discuss the show with Matt anymore, since after season 2 he quit the show. I understood his frustration, since I too felt the show started to take a turn for the worse, but I just couldn't quit cold turkey. I stuck with it and now I'm glad I did. It definitely has gotten better.

When we first started to watch the show, it was from the DVD collection, since we got into it late. So once we started to watch the shows on TV it pretty much sucked with all the commercials. Can you believe how many commercials that show runs? And of course right after something big happens. It's frustrating (another reason Matt quit the show). Thankfully we have DV-R (like Tivo thru our cable company), so I never watch the show "live" and always watch it taped and then I'm able to fast fwd all the commercials. What a great invention, I tell ya!

So tonight is the big night. I'm so glad they ran that re-cap episode, because there was sooo much I forgot about. It seems like they are definitely not going to get off the island, otherwise the show would be over, but I am sure there will be a lot of twists & turns. And hopefully it will not disappoint. I would love to re-hash the show and give you my thoughts on what will happen, but there is no time for that since Ripley will be waking up any minute. Enjoy!

Ripley Loves Daddy...

She also loves this vibrating rocker/chair...

Ripley & Red

Ripley has a new friend. Her name is "Red" from the HBO series "Fraggle Rock" which aired in the mid to late 80's. Anyone watch that show?? Uncle Ryan bought her this doll. These pictures crack me up.

Notes from the Underbelly

Does anyone watch this show? I know Lauren does and possibly Michelle?? It might not appeal to all audiences, since the show is about couples in their 30's having kids, but if that grabs your attention at all, I highly suggest checking out the show. Funny stuff. It's on Wednesday nights on ABC. Check it out, if you can.

Our Big Trip Out

We've hit a milestone....Ripley and I ventured out yesterday, just the 2 of us! We went to the grocery store & blockbuster (they're right next to eachother). It was crazy, I felt like I was walking around with a time bomb that could go off at any minute. Thankfully, my list was short and we made it in & out without any explosion. She slept the entire time. I was a nervous wreck, SIGH.

It felt sooo good to be able to get out of the house with her, but at the same time scary too. I mean, what if she cried? Would we be shunned out of Publix (our grocery store)? A place that I have grown to know & love where the checkout people know me by name. We did run into a couple who wanted to look at the "new baby", but thankfully they did not touch her, otherwise it could have gotten ugly.

Stay tuned for our next adventure out, who knows, we may take a risk and go further than 5 minutes away from home. Just maybe.

One Month...

Ripley is one month old today. Wow, how the time has passed! Such a blur. Matt goes back to work tomorrow, which means I'll be flying solo during the day with Ripley. A scary thought! So I thought I would put a little list together below.

Things we've learned about taking care of a newborn in the past month:

1) Don't wake a sleeping baby. Even if she looks so tiny & cute laying there in her bassinet that you become over-whelmed with love and just have to hold her at that very moment. I'm telling you now, resist the urge. If she wanted to be held, she would have let you known.

2) When changing her diaper, have a diaper underneath at all times, because often she likes to pee and most of the time this happens on the new clean diaper you just put underneath her bum (or worse, all over her onsie). Ripley loves to do this to Mommy. How come she can't she do this to the dirty diaper?

3) Yellow mustard seedy poop is a good thing.

4) When taking your babies' temp in the bum, always remember this procedure may induce her to poop all over you, so again have a diaper underneath ready to catch her little gift to you.

5) Rethink taking your baby for her first walk in the stroller on a sunny day. She will not like this one bit and will force you to turn around and go back inside just after leaving the driveway. Better luck in the evening!

6) Music is key. Play it often. I recommend the following: Norah Jones, Dixie Chicks, Mary J. Blige, Dave Matthews & some classical tunes.

7) Coffee is your best friend.

8) White noise also helps. The hair dryer can be a lifesavor. Or get yourself a sound machine, it's more convenient, portable & you don't have to hold it at 3 in the morning while sweating.

9) A smile in the first weeks usually means poop or gas, but it still melts your heart.

10 ) Taking care of a newborn is one of the hardest things I've done and at the same time, one of the best things. Ripley is perfect. We are truly blessed.

So much love for the Slow Cooker...

Matt & I got a slow cooker as a gift for our wedding, I believe I registered for it, but up until about a week ago, we never used it. I kept saying we should start using it and wanted to get a cookbook for it, but just never did until last week when Matt's Mom was here. During her stay, the 3 of us went thru the book and picked out 2 recipes to make while she was here. Both turned out amazing! Matt suggested we throw out our stove.

It's so easy, which is key now that little Ripley is here. I know many of you are probably already aware of the power of the crockpot, I realize I'm a little late on this, but maybe you're in need for some new recipes. If so, the book is by Sandra Lee and called Semi-homemade Slow Cooker Recipes. So far our favorite recipe has been the Cranberry BBQ Pulled Pork (page 55), good stuff!

Happy Mother's Day!

Wow, today is my first Mother's Day. It feels so surreal. I'm a Mom and celebrating Mother's day, crazy stuff! This weekend Ryan came to visit and last night Matt took me out to dinner for Mother's Day while Ryan took care of Ripley. It was great for the 2 of us to be able to get out like that, since we haven't had a chance to do so since Ripley was born. Thanks Ryan!

Hope all the Mom's have a wonderful day today!

We loved our hospital choice...

A little late on this post, but I didn't want to leave it out...our experience at Winter Park Memorial Hospital was wonderful. Matt & I were so happy with our choice to give birth there. Every nurse we had was great, a huge help, never in a rush and so happy to help. Carla was our labor & delivery nurse, who we loved! We felt so lucky to have such great care. The outdated atmoshphere wasn't even a factor, which we suspected. And...we lucked out and got a bigger recovery room, a suite, even. Still not huge, but definitely bigger than the standard "sardine" type rooms, so that was nice. Matt's fold out bed/chair he slept on was probably the only downfall of our experience there, definitely not very comfortable, but thankfully it was for only 2 nights. He survived : )

2 Weeks

Well, we have managed to survive 2 weeks of newborn madness! People aren't joking when they tell you it's not easy. Thankfully, breastfeeding is going a lot better, so that's a big help. All the technical aspects are working, but I still have to deal with the constant demand of it all. She eats every 2-3 hours, so Mom isn't getting too much done around the house these days! Thankfully Matt has been home with me, I don't know what I would do without him! He's been a lifesavor. He has 2 more weeks off from work, so hopefully I'll have a good handle on things by the time he goes back to work and I'm flying solo with Ripley.

Left - in her new boppy lounger her Aunt Michelle got her. She loves this!

Right - chilling out in her swing. She loves the tropical, Jamaican type music it plays. It makes Mommy want a margarita though!

Thank You

Having a baby, means you get spoiled. Family & friends really show their love for you at a time like this. We feel so blessed. Some of our friends have brought over food this week, which has been such a huge help! Us not having to cook when we're occupied with Ripley and functioning on little sleep is a great relief. Especially since the food was soooo good! Kate & Chris brought over lasagna, soup & cornbread and our friend Leah brought over a massive chicken pot pie and sugar cookies. What a better way to refuel than some home cooking? Thank you!!

Another thanks goes out to all of our family & friends who have visited and brought over or mailed us gifts for Ripley. We have gotten so many girly outfits, I'm in Heaven! Now she just has to grow a bit so she can fit into them : ) We have also received books for her, which is great, since we don't have many and we're all about reading to her at an early age. So fun!

Thanks again, we love you guys!