Happy Halloween!

Nickie's working so Dill and I went to see my parents, came home and I put her to bed. Not a very exciting day. She'll have her 10/31 fun soon enough. I didn't take trick-or-treaters this year; Dillon's been asleep by 7pm most nights and Tucker (one of our dachshunds) barks whenever someone comes to the door. It was not a combination I wanted to deal with tonight.

I did a photo shoot just for fun this AM. Though I don't want to rush things, I'm looking forward to Dillon being able to sit up on her own for photo reasons. I spend half the time propping her back up (the other half is spent making faces like an idiot, but whatever it takes to get the shot!).

We hope you had a nice Halloween! -Ros

On a Roll!

Dillon is rolling over! Back to front and front to back! Though, when she rolls over on her belly, she seems to forget that she knows how to roll back and gets pretty upset. I've enjoyed watching her flip all night. Every time she does it, she looks so proud. The physical therapist I work with tells me how exceptionally strong Dillon is whenever she sees her. She's blowing past milestone after milestone like it's some sort of competition.

She's also been grabbing at things. She made her first mess by pushing a bag of frozen corn over while hanging out on the counter in her bumbo. She seems to always scope the area to find something to get her moist mitts on to shove in her mouth.

Speaking of moist...what's with the drool? She's been a faucet every waking minute for about a month now. All the cute clothes are for not, since they either get drenched or need to be covered by a huge, unfortunate bib. My only hope of keeping her dry is using a portable suction machine...(a girl can dream, right?)

Here's a pic from last week. Her hair is starting to curl more and is beyond her shoulders in the back. It's getting pretty unruly, but I can't bring myself to cut it yet. Like Nickie says, if you're going to go through an awkard hair phase, it might as well be while you're a baby. -Ros

a little something...

Ros's new hobby... LOVE IT! Just wanted to share.

Happy Conception Day!!!

Dillon is 3 months already. It's amazing how time can feel so fast, yet so slow at the same time. That's how pregnancy felt, daily it felt at a snails pace but when you look at it's entirety it was like a blink of an eye. How amazing that a human being can go from a sperm and egg to a real person in less than 10 months, crazy. Today is the day when Dillon was conceived. It's crazy how we know the exact day, but as a lesbian trying to conceive, you know the exact day of everything.

I've been back to work for a total of 3 shifts already. As sad as it is to leave Dillon for that long, it's nice for her and Ros to have their own bonding time. The transition has been pretty smooth, we were concerned about Dillon taking a bottle as she went on a small bottle strike a couple weeks before my return, but everything is fine now. It's great to have some adult conversation now and then, and to be told how beautiful my daughter is constantly isn't half bad either.

The most stressful part for me returning back to work has been pumping every 2-3 hours. The working world isn't set up for nursing mothers, especially when you are employed in a busy ER. Legally your workplace has to give you the time and a place to pump. The designated place in my hospital is a room on the 5th floor where you are lucky if the people up there can find the key. When you work in a busy ER, you try to find 10-15 minutes here and there to go and pump so your boobs don't explode or cause your milk supply to tank. I do not have the time between patients to mozy on up to the 5th floor and pray they find the key. So I resort (and all the other nursing mothers) to pumping in the bathroom in the back where our locker room is.

Pumping in a restroom is almost as gross as trying to nurse in one. There have been many a time when my chance to pump is right after another persons time to shit. So there I am, sitting in a room that smells like a septic tank, boobs out, milking myself like Bessie the cow. Thank gawd that the nose acclimates to its surroundings quickly or I would probably pass out. Another thing to be grateful for is my new IPhone, so now I can pump while listening to Melissa Ferrick or whatever else strikes me.

I am committed to breastfeeding Dillon for at least a year, and I have been toying with the idea that if we can make it that long that I will let her wean herself after that point. There will be a 2 year maximum to that plan of course because I think it's creepy when a 5 year-old is picking up moms shirt looking for a drink.

Dillon is turning out to be one great baby. The first 6 weeks had to be the hardest of my life with her crying all the time and me probably having a touch of post partum depression. Now she is a joy. She is pretty content most of the time minus being tired or hungry. She is interactive and inquisitive. She can keep herself entertained under her play gym for up to 45 minutes (if I'm lucky) in the morning so I can make myself breakfast. Dillon loves being around and watching other kids play. She is almost rolling over, getting about half way there and then getting stuck on an arm. I am totally cool with waiting for her to do that because once she does it that's it, no more alone time on the couch while I run into the other room for a minute. She's found her hands, which put a kink in our professional photos we did today as she kept on trying to suck on her index finger. We have a bedtime routine. Dillon is usually in her crib between 7-8 after Ros reads her stories and I nurse her, she'll sleep til about 2-3 then nurse and it's back to sleep til 8-9. I know we are very lucky to have such a good night sleeper. Naps are a crap shoot, but the night routine is down so we have 2 happy mamas.