The newest toy...

… does anyone want to rent Albert? He will be your child's best friend and will keep him/her entertained for a whole lot longer than an overpriced toy ever would do!

Untitled from Lindsey Fox on Vimeo.

Allergic to me?

Neither David or I have allergies. So naturally I would think Hadley wouldn't have any either. Except David pretends to be allergic to snow when we go skiing. And I am allergic to David during football season. God, I hope Hadley is not a football fan and WE can win the television battle during the falls.

Anyways, Hadley has been getting red dots everywhere on her body. They are not bumpy, just red. She doesn't itch them, they are not exzema-like patches, nor does she have a fever. Just random red dots on her body. Frequently. Well as frequent as I am around her.

I told her 76-year-old caretaker that I thought it might be heat rash. She said she hadn't seen that in 30 years. And this woman is usually dead-on about children. So I crossed heat rash off the list. I googled everything you can about red dots on infants, and none of her symptoms (red dots when mother is around) matched any of the results.

This girl honestly breaks out in these red dots when I, yes me her MOTHER, am around.

Could she really be allergic to me? Do I really stress her out that much?

My mom is trying to convince me that it is because of my perfume. That'd be great and all if I wore perfume. But I don't. Then she tried to convince me that it was something in her car seat and that I should throw it in the wash. That'd be fine and all too if I left her in her car seat all day. But I do let her out every once in awhile. And still the red dots are there.

When another person, or Albert, is near her the red dots fade away. NO JOKE. I STRESS MY NINE-MONTH OLD BABY OUT.

But I tell you all what, if it's nothing medically wrong with her, this little girl better get use to mama. Otherwise, when she's a teenager she is going to be a mess because I am not changing a thing.

Gettin' Busy

Well, life has picked up in our house again. I am almost two weeks into the school year, and Hadley is three weeks into everything. While getting ready for work last week I walked into the kitchen to find this… I'm still not sure how to put this back on the fridge.

That same morning Albert was barking an abnormal amount of times and I found this… She was in the dog food when I found her.

Thank goodness David is helping out this school year. I don't think I would be to work on time if it was not for him.

We got a floater!

Not that kind. Gross!

Floater from Lindsey Fox on Vimeo.

Hadley can now float. As you can see she does not enjoy floating. However, I would recommend this program because 1.) the number one death for kids under the age of four is drowning (that's what they told me to get me in the door, so it must be true), 2.) as a parent I learned my child is not as helpless as she seems, and 3.) it's good for you to get your heart rate up sometime during the day, just don't mention that it was anxiety that brought it up.

I promise no more videos for a bit. I can blame this one on Hadley's grandparents in Utah because they've asked me about it for a week now. I don't think they can stand being away from their little girl. And I'm not talking about me.

Random

Wouldn't you love to go to bed with this beast every night?

Saturday Night Movie

For your Saturday night viewing pleasure we have Hadley attempting to crawl.

Because I know you all were just itching to see this.

Crawling, kinda. from Lindsey Fox on Vimeo.

Do milestones really matter?

I think my baby pretends to be an immobile, helpless human being. Really. She secretly knows that she can get anything by laying on the floor and screaming. Then her mom will come to her rescue and do whatever it is that is sooo urgent.

I know this because I caught her drinking from her sippy cup. The same sippey cup that she refuses to hold. The same sippy cup that she won't suck from. And the same sippy cup that leaks all over her and makes her sticky because she will not hold or suck from it.

Yes, she was drinking from it and was caught in the act. Hadley has not figured out that I can see her in the back seat of the car. She is STILL reverse facing (another milestone she missed too, I'm sure) and the mirror attached to her seat lets me see her. I peeked at her and you better believe she was holding up that sticky cup and sucking from it like a pro.

Once we got home I handed it to her and wouldn't you know, she was back to her helpless ways.

This girl is smart. All you moms can have your baby milestones! Hadley has missed a lot of them because she is actually very smart. She knows she gets more done for her when she misses all her marks.

This article that points out that babies are not as innocent as they pretend to be really hit home for me.

Safety Lessons

I think parents might need therapy after sending a child to a swimming safety program at 7 months old. I sweat bullets the entire 10 minutes, but I am told to stay strong otherwise Hadley will figure out that I am worried…

I might be hearing from Hadley's grandmothers soon.

What's in your garage?

I found a couple of garage sales while I was out and about on Saturday. I've never been to a garage sale, but I figured the nicer the neighborhood probably meant the nicer the items for sale. Boy was I wrong.

At first glance I saw a weed eater and a big box of books. Perfect, I thought. I hate paying full price for books. And David has been wanting a gas weed eater to take care of our weed filled ditch on the side of our house for awhile now.

I parked my car while another lady was pulling up to the sale. She jumped out of her car as if it were a race. I thought it was strange but I let it go. I walked to the bin of books - all romance novels. Not just romance novels, but novels with heavy nudity on the cover. I was embarrassed that I even walked over to the box of porn books. I couldn't imagine how the sellers felt. So I walked over to the table of junk. Snow globes from all over the country, a playboy bunny ice tray, a used ceiling fan, used dish towels, and a lampshade shaped like a leg were all found on this table of junk. And that lady that raced me when I arrived would grab everything I touched or even looked at. I wanted to say "You can have the playboy bunny ice tray".

Finally I asked the seller if there was something wrong with the weed eater. He walked over to it as if it was the first time he looked at it and said the gas bubble thing was cracked, but he'd still sale it to me for $5. Sure, buddy. I'll buy your trash for $5.

I went to another sale in the same neighborhood and found just as much random crap as the first sale. I began to think garage sales tell a lot about a family. I wonder what our garage sale would tell about us? I don't think I want to find out.

I lost.

She won.

After a week of overstimulation, a lack of naps, being spoiled, and getting her way with her Grandparents in Salt Lake City, Hadley had a melt down. On the plane. For two hours.

When we landed in ATL she kept turning herself over in her carrier. She screamed when I put her on her back. So, yes, I walked through the busiest airport in the United States just like the pictures above. I did get several evil eyes, but I also got many "Oh she's so cute!". Yeah, join us on our next flight and we'll see what you think.

Baby Food

So, bottles have been easy. Formula, water, warm, feed, wash. Then repeat. And repeat again five times before bedtime. A very mindless routine.

Now that the midget is moving into the first stage of real food, I feel like I am entering pregnancy again. Your baby can eat this, but not eat that. Only certain foods in moderation. Be sure to get a lot of this vitamin but not too much of this other one. Oh, and watch out for processed and surgery foods.

My resolution has been her bottle when she wants it, and mashed up bananas and avocados with cereal a few times a day for a month now. She has loved it! Your baby will too!

Until… well she revolted today during our afternoon snack of bananas - a fit that made her wheeze. I thought she was hyperventilating and calling 911 crossed my mind. I've never seen her do THAT before.

After the two of us calmed down and a few hours later I pulled out the dreaded avocado mixture again and she began to fuss. I realized maybe she needed a break from the old routine.

So gave her bottle and I let her suck on my apple core.

Apple Core from Lindsey Fox on Vimeo.

An old habit has returned

Good or bad, we all have 'em... habits. Talking too much. Tardiness. Biting your nails. Eating a certain food (peanut butter for me). Facebooking, tweeting, blogging, or should we just call it "Interneting". Exercising. On, and on, and on. What's yours?

Some habits will drive you nutty whereas others make you feel good. Many habits come and go. But it's those that have come and gone and came back again that begin to, well like it or not, define a person.

A habit, good and bad, of mine is running. I love it. But at the same time, I HATE IT.

Now I've had my glory days of running. I consider my high school and short lived college career as glorious (even if I was DFL on my college team). And the two marathons following college (one, btw, only a minute from qualifying for Boston) were the highlights of my running career. And just like that, I was done.

But have you ever had old habits pop up periodically? Like smoking, for example. Now I don't smoke but the trend seems to be that a person can quit cold turkey, and then a social situation or a stressful situation presents itself and the old smoking habit arises again. Or another example would be dieting. We all know how that goes.

I have occasionally ran 5k's and 10k's in the past five years with a lot of competitive spirit, but by no means do I have competitive speed anymore. BUT I DEFIANTLY SWORE OFF MARATHONS. Nope, I would never care to do one again. Absolutely not. Done cold turkey.

But just like smoking, a situation has arisen and I'M IN! How could you pass up an invite to the New York City Marathon? Kelli, I really appreciate what you've done to get me in, but god I'm out of shape.

However there is something to say about the feeling you get at 7:00 am and you've just completed a ten mile run. And your furry running partner is foaming at the mouth because the humidity is 110% and he looks as if to say "WTHJH" (what the hell just happened)?

I do hope this old habit sticks around for a bit.

Our newest challenge...

The sipppy cup! Any suggestions?

BUGS and INSECTS and SPIDERS

My residing state of Georgia has its good points - the average temp is about 85 degrees, its people are courteous, its luscious shrubbery is abundant, and of course these southerners fry just about anything. Oh, and boiled peanuts (I can't get enough of those salt laden pieces of mush).

But Georgia also has a few bad points - the average humidity is like 100%, its people are top of the list in the nation for obesity rates (probably due to that yummy fried chicken, fried pickles, fried Twinkies, fried, fried, fried...), and its luscious shrubbery brings with its great beauty big BUGS and INSECTS and SPIDERS and BUGS and INSECTS and SPIDERS and... Seriously, cockroaches the size of your middle finger... in our house... with a baby.

When we first bought our charming 1940's BUG and INSECT and SPIDER infested home, we weren't aware of the BUGS and INSECTS and SPIDERS that resided in the swamps of South Georgia. Older homes = more BUGS and INSECTS and SPIDERS. Oh, and the bigger the trees the more, you guessed it, BUGS and INSECTS and SPIDERS.

So when I woke up with a bite from an obviously HUGE and DEADLY spider, I got a little worried. But I tried to play tough guy; even taking the dog and baby out for a run in the morning. But as the day progressed, I quickly thought I was dying a slow death from the HUGE and DEADLY venom that was in my body. I convinced myself I couldn't even eat. Too sick, going to die.

So after a night of no sleep due to watching for spiders that were going to get Hadley, and to the fact that my leg felt like it was going to fall off, I convinced myself to go see a doctor bright and early in the morning.

"So did ya get a meskeeder bite?"

This was no mosquito bite. "Really? Could a mosquito cause this much pain?"

"Either that or an ingrown hair. It looks like you just shaved your legs."

I knew I wasn't going to win with this guy, so I didn't tell him what I had dreamed up in my mind.

"In all my 20 years of practice I have NEVER seen a spider bite...." Never is a very strong word, and I doubt anyone who uses it.

He gave me a shot on my butt, handed me some antibiotics, and told me to come back if the ingrown hair gets worse.

Yes, I will be back to show him his FIRST spider bite in all his 20 years of practice.

Here is a roach I cleaned up just TODAY. They are always dead and they flip themselves over. Our monthly extermination does not keep the roaches from coming in our house, it just kills them once they are in our home. Lovely. Don't you want to live in the swamp lands?

On another note, little miss Hadley has been sleeping for 12 hours most nights and has been for about a month! This happened thanks to a wonderful book recommendation by my friend Holly called Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child.

No stories needed.

I'll give you two guesses.

Who is the pacifier thief? I'll bet four out of five of you (I picked-up a reader recently) got it correct. Damn dog.

Our toddler dog has eaten eight pacifiers in the last month. 12 onesies. ALL of the burp cloths. One bottle. Six pairs of my undies. And two full loaves of bread. This dog puts Marley to shame. HOW IS HE STILL ALIVE?

Next question: What will Hadley's first word be? Now this one is tricky so I'll bet nobody got this one. Sarah. Not mom, dad, no, Albert, or anything else you'd expect. But Sarah.

Why Sarah, you might ask. Because Sarah takes wonderful care of Hadley while we are at work. And Hadley grins the second she sees this super woman. Sometimes I feel like Hadley would rather stay with Sarah than come home with mom.

I feel great about being at work because Hadley is in great hands all day long. She has three other infants in her "class". The two-year-olds frequent the infant room and they love to visit Had-d-ley. They think her name is Had-d-ley in a box, not Hadley Fox. Silly kids.

Back in the classroom...

Well, I am back at work. And, naturally, my six-year-olds are very curious about babies now -- where they come from, how they're made, and today's topic: how babies get out of their mom's bellies.

"Mrs. Fox, how did your baby get out of your belly?" I quickly told this student to ask her parent when she gets home.

Then another student chimed in and said "they just fall out." When I heard this I decided to keep my mouth shut and let the students converse for a bit (I needed some humor).

I heard one student say the mom's belly is cut open, and another one say that it was like going to the bathroom.

But then one boy, who has seen a lot in his life, said "the mom pushes the baby through her belly button."

It's these conversations that make being back to work a little bit easier.

I'm sorry.

I think the real story is not my apology to all moms, it's that I am actually posting within one week.

So you know how going into parenting you thought you would do things different? Like letting your children only watch educational TV, or making sure your child gets some sort of “educational” time with you each day. Or how about keeping a log and photobook of the many milestones your child hits. And this one WAS a must of mine—not looking like a typical mom (hair in pony, sweats, t-shirt, roots showing, etc.).

Well, hmmm. So far these dreams just are not working out for me. Being a stay at home mom for the past nine weeks have been the hardest thing I have ever done. I have gained a whole new respect for ALL parents, but especially for stay at home moms.

Therefore I have a lot of apologizing to do…

First to my mom. Oh, I am sorry for so many things. First, I’m sorry for being such a mean child on so many levels. Specifically about your clothes (you know, the furry cat sweater). I now understand why you rarely updated your wardrobe. Just getting yourself ready is a chore when you have a child, don’t even mention trying to look tasteful. Second, I regret not taking in your wealth of knowledge. You would constantly try to help me with my homework, boyfriends, hairstyles, etc. I think much heartache would have been saved if I would have just listened. Well mom, I think my time is coming. I am in for it.

Next, I’d like to apologize to my dad. As a teenager I wore three outfits a day, no joke. My dad never complained of the amount of laundry I produced, but I can now understand what he was going through because even a two month old produces more laundry than I ever wanted to do.

Now to my friends who have kids. I want to apologize for (secretly) judging you about the amount of kid-friendly plastic crap that invades your homes. Yes, Hadley is only two months old. But our home might as well be a Fisher Price store. Sorry friends. Oh, and an apology for the eyebrow raise while being at your house witnessing the mindless cartoons you let your children watch. I have to admit that I have put my two month old in front of Scooby Doo for a full hour. I too mindlessly watch Scooby Doo for the full hour with a cup of coffee folding the loads of laundry that Hadley produces. Maybe someday Hadley can help me fold the laundry and I can educate her on the importance of only wearing one outfit a day. See, I am still getting my “educational” time in with her.

And finally, a big apology to my husband. Anyone who knows David understands that he is extremely easy going – almost to a fault. I, being a crazy uptight new mother, thought this was going to be a problem. I thought we needed to constantly entertain, take care of, and even hold our new little babe. But David, in his nonchalant even-tempered way, has shown me that my overbearing behavior is not necessary and even aggravates little Hadley. She actually enjoys being independent ... well sometimes (he, he, he).

So I get it now. I was (and sometimes still am) a foolish new parent who thought I had all the answers. Please go ahead and say it: “I told you so”. I deserve it.

If you have a moment - because we have so much spare time in our days- read The Test of Time, an article that claims stay at home moms have about 30 hours of LEISURE time every week... hmmm.

Hadley loves to nap in her Boppy, in the chair, looking at the flowers, with no blanket on her. I know, not safe.

You know it's cold when...

...you have to wear Patagonia in South Georgia.

This darling little number is from my friend Kelli. I honestly never thought Hadley would get a chance to wear it here in the tropics (sorry Kelli). Well, the tropics of South Georgia have reached only 45 degrees in the past two weeks and Hadley has gotten more wear out of this outfit than any sleep and play-thingy in her closet. It is way too cold!!!

On another note, I have to apologize to my four blog readers for I have not posted in a month. Okay, apologies to every mom out there because I thought I was a lot tougher than ALL of you. How the h*** do you have time to update a blog? It's not like I am a super mom teaching Hadley how to read. I am just trying to keep the little dwarf fed. Yes, go ahead and say "you are weak". I deserve it.

So here is my challenge to myself (so I can "toughen up a little, linds" as my dad would say). Another post within one week.

Stay tuned for an apology post where Lindsey admits to being over confident in her parenting abilities. And her large blog following offers her much needed advice...

Hadley is here!

Well, we did it! We are actually parents. Forever. 24/7. WOW.

Hadley arrived after being in labor for six hours on November 23rd at 10:56 A.M. She weighed 6 pounds 13 ounces and was 19 inches long. It was a great labor and we had no problems while at the hospital.

For the last three weeks David and I have been in a fog... several sleepless nights, countless hours of feeding, changing mustard diapers, entertaining family, assuring our other child (Albert) that we still love him, laundry, Christmas preparations, and of course adoring Hadley. We knew life would change but we really had no idea.

For example, since Hadley was born all I wanted was to get a shower before lunch time. Between feeding, laundry, washing bottles, and pumping (yes, that is all) I can not get it done. I don't know what I am going to do when I start back to work. For the first week I think Albert was worse off than David and I. My perky, happy dog was an honest zombie. He was blindsided by this life changing event. And David has never been one to lounge around the house, but he has no problems doing it now as long as his little girl is right next to him.

Our home now feels more like a "home" if that makes sense.

Thank god she is a wonderful baby! No fussiness, healthy as a horse, and very happy.