...

She weighed in at 10 lbs 9 oz today, but we're not sure how accurate that is considering she hasn't pooped in 3 and half days. (I had to laugh thinking my sister and a friend have popped out 10lb babies at birth) She ranked right at 50% percentile on her growth charts. She also got her first shots which made her scream but not for too long.

Yesterday I went to the botanical gardens with Stacy. I didn't know about their new childrens section - it was awesome. They butterfly area is now a huge inside building that looks like a mini rainforest. I've been in bigger and better, but hey, for huntsville this was a definite improvement. Yesterday was the first nice sunny day we've had in a while, so it was packed with moms and strollers.

In an attempt to get more efficient, and since I don't blog much anymore, here are some quick notes of whats been going on...

Tornado sirens again! I think we've had 5 in 4 weeks. Makes it hard to crouch down in the closet with a pillow for protection, but this last one did hit close to home. Speaking of - that may have been the first time I saw middle class white people with all their teeth interviewed for the news.

Rain again! Everything is very green around here.

Happy baby starting to come out. Allison is smiling more. It really makes this whole baby thing easier when you have a cute face smiling back at you. I have a friend that had a baby a few days ago, and I do remember the crazy hormones, both of us crying, sleep deprivation, etc, but it's fading everything she smiles back at me. That smile has actually caused me to cry so I guess the hormones haven't quite gone back to normal :)

My inlaws are already planning their move here. It maybe as early as next year. Our big ground rule was not in a 5 mile radius. Seriously though, they are wonderful grandparents so I'm excited.

My latest addiction is the show Las Vegas. Yes it's an old one, but daytime tv sucks, so I'm thankful for TNT. Hey, it's not as bad as an addition to Days of Lives.

I've never done as much laundry as I have been. At about 6 weeks I packed up the preemie and newborn outfits. We'll find out how much she weighs on Wednesday. We're still not sure of a hair color. The most hair she has is a dark brown ring towards the neck - like her daddy.

I miss surfing the internet. Now it seems I respond to an email or two, check facebook and someone starts crying. For instance, I started this 6 hours ago.

I feel a little guilty for not blogging lately but I'm about to feel stupid for some rambling, but here's what's been happening.
Taking care of a baby this age is not really hard, just time consuming. I feel guilty for letting her cry, so there is usually something to do every hour, feed, change, talk to, whatever. She's still a sleepy baby overall and most cries can be fixed with something. Though, late in the afternoon is when she gets fussy - about the time Jeff gets home. Then he gets to hear all the farts she's been building up all day - how appropriate - they get to fart together :)

Life at home is boring. I wish I had more friends that were available during the day. oh well, just more time for bonding with her. She's getting heavier and cuter every day. I still can't tell what her hair is going to do, stay dark or fall out and grow back light. At least her eyelashes are growing. She's smiling more, which I love, though I think it's just her using new facial muscles.

I think I'll try to focus the rest of my time off with establishing a routine. It's still difficult right now since I just feed her on demand. And if I have a rough night with her and she goes for another nap at 9 am, than it's really tempting to take a nap too. I noticed I feel better when I exercise in the morning, so I'm trying to use the Wii Fit more. I've sat Allison in front of the noisy treadmill a few times with mixed results on her reaction. I've taken the stroller out around the neighborhood, but I really need to order a handle bar extender because I can't walk to fast without kicking it. (Damn products made for short people)

I haven't been out that much just because I don't want to breastfeed in public. We did go to Panoply this weekend (Huntsville's big art fest). We got there early before it got too hot. I like checking out the art market. I did buy my first piece of art glass. I've always loved art glass but never had the money to become a collector, so I'm starting small. This artist's collection was inspired by Utah's Arches National Park. We haven't been there, but we did have the anniversary trip to Zion Utah, so it made me love the bowl even more.

Now if the weather will cooperate I'll call up Stacy for a trip the Botanical gardens and some cute photos.

So it only took 6 weeks, but all the baby announcements are finally mailed :)

Yesterday I took her by my work to show her off. So many people just love babies, even people I didnt know at work wanted to hold her. I find this odd. I love my child and I definitely think my nephews and niece are cuter that most kids, but strangers kids are just strangers kids. I can never see me going gaga over just any baby. But either way, people are friendlier to you when you are holding a baby so that's cool.
I'm still getting in the groove of this mom thing. At home life is pretty boring, just eating, sleeping and changing diapers. Allison is still usually a lazy eater. Meaning she'll eat, fall asleep and if I dont wake her up to eat more, she'll eat every hour. My nipples can't handle that. I'm still open to suggestions on how to keep her awake while eating. She's definitely packing on some weight though. She has a cute budda belly and some new wrinkle folds. She's a little more alert at looking at stuff but not quite grabbing it, or grabbing things with intention. Oh, and she's definitely spoiled by being held alot. I'm not ready to hear her scream too long. Speaking of, someone is waking up.

Allison is becoming more alert, following toys and grabbing things, sometimes. But overall its still basic baby stuff. Jeff usually gives her a bottle of formula sometime in the night, so I can sleep for 3 or 4 hours in a row. Well I don't think I've slept 4 hours in a row since she's still noisy.
Some of Jeff's coworkers wives with kids got together in the park next to his office and I met them. (thanks to facebook for catching that). It was a gorgeous day and definitely nice to get out. I also had to call a friend for a drink. The drink wasn't needed as much as girl friend company. Staying at home this long can take away some sanity but I got some of it back. I wish I had more close friends with lil kids - still have 6 weeks off work.
I have my fingers crossed that last week was the last cold week for a while (seems like I've said this before). I can't believe I'm still having to run the heater in April!

Thursday Allison turned 4 weeks old. Not much has changed. She is getting stronger but still has a bobble head. She still grunts loud for unknown reasons but we suspect to push out gas or more. I've nicknamed her little squirt, because a fart usually comes with a little squirt. So far she's still a sleepy and pretty even tempered baby that is not too fussy too often. (I hope I don't have to eat those words soon ) I have a harder time calming her down than Jeff, but I think she mainly associates me with food.
Jeff gave her the first bottle a few nights ago and so far no problems. So now he can give her one in the middle of the night and we can each get at least 4 hours sleep in a row.

Here is a pic of me in my usual position on the couch after feeding her - surrounded by burp cloths and pillows. The spit up levels are increasing and bibs help for some of that. Just last night when I moved her a huge amount of white liquid came POURING out of both nostrils and mouth. I had a quick vision of some sick prank a kid would do with a doll to freak out a little girl. I'm doing more laundry that I ever have because I really don't like that sour milk smell that reeks from the burp cloths or her first outfit of the day.

This is my favorite thing she does. All of a sudden she'll just raise her hand and arm straight up in the air.

The first 3 weeks have flown by like I thought they would. My arms will tell you that Allison is definitely growing. She's also a very noisey baby, grunts snorts, makes a high pitch sound like a car coming to screeching halt and she does these throughout her sleep. So the first 2 weeks we had the bassinette in our room, now it's in the living room just outside our bedroom. Jeff is sleeping better than ever now where I'm still getting up to nurse her every 2-3 hours usually. Breastfeeding did get easier after the 2 week mark. It still hurts initially and then I guess she relaxes and it's better. I have not made it out of the house much because I never know if she's going to eat 3 times in an hour or wait and sleep for 2 hours in between feedings. I'm not ready to be one of those moms that can nurse in public with just a blanket draped over them. And the thought of sitting in a public restroom for 20 to 40 minutes while she eats is not much better. So I think the bottle will get introduced soon.
I'm about to take her to the dr again for her 3rd PKU test. Everyone has said how picky the lab is and yet they still can't get the sample right, it's making me mad.
Jeff's parents are coming back tomorrow, evidently Mimi (Jeff's mom) couldn't wait a whole month to see her :)
I'm still waiting to hear back from a photographer friend to get some good photos to use on a birth announcement.

Our baby girl decided to come a little early. The due date was March 18, but Allison Milena Machamer arrived on March 12 at 2:27, just an hour and half after arriving to the hospital.

Here is the new happy family.

I started the baby blog mostly for my pregnancy. I think I'm going to phase it out and just use this one from now on. And I'm already predicting not as much time to write.

I previously had themachamers.com on our mediacom server, but since it was such a pain to update, I decided to just use my blogger account for the website. I think I update the baby blog more frequently anyway, but I like to keep this one going for a log of all our trips and photos.

Highlights:
3 Trips to Texas
Cruise to Cozumel (with 15 friends)
Work trip to Albuquerque, NM
Beale St Music Festival
Conference Trip to Chicago
Alaskan Cruise with the family
California for a friends wedding
Kayaking and camping
3rd anniversary trip to the Biltmore
Thanksgiving in Florida
Turned 7 months pregnant on Christmas

We had a nice quiet Christmas this year broken up with a few bits of noisiness that I was thankful for. Heather and Chad invited us to their family Christmas Eve gathering that included a big loud family, lots of kids and a dirty santa game that involved alot of shots. (I think I would have been more homesick without being a part of a big family - so thanks!) Very fun night till about 11pm when I was trying to sleep and realized I ate to much and my stomach did not have room for it. Christmas day was back to quiet with just Jeff and I. We got to eat a Honey Baked Ham turkey dinner my dad sent. (yeah, no cooking). I was a bit sad not to see any of my family for Christmas, but so it goes. I guess next year we'll figure out what traveling with a baby is really like.
Friday morning I headed out to Penney's and the mega sale. I finally got some towels and guest sheets. I even picked up a couple baby girl dresses. Then I went to Pier 1 and got wrapping paper for next year.

Friday afternoon, we drove to Bham to see Jeff's family. We exchanged gifts, and I was excited about the gifts I got (impressed since I didn't really help people for ideas). Then Jeff's parents treated us by going out for an Italian dinner. Very good food, though I missed out on the wine and a couple good appetizers that were not pregnancy friendly. I think I've determined everyplace in Bham is small, crowded and loud, but it was a change from Hsv that is full of mostly chain restaurants. The next morning we had bagels from Panera - again no cooking :)
Saturday we headed back home, so I could meet up with some friends from highschool - a range of people were meeting at Monaco. I kind of forced myself to go since I was not really in a mood to converse with people I only see every few years or not even in 14 years. But I was glad to catch up with a couple people. (hopefully I didn't come across as a snob, but I'm not the best at putting on a false smile) And while they were all drinking I got a big fat ice cream cone (luckily it was a warm night).

I am wondering now if Jeff will go into gadget withdrawal. In the last week or so we've acquired several new gadgets and things he's had to put together or figure out: Garmin GPS (company present), HD video camera, PC tablet (for me), smoker/grill (from his parents), garage code key for door, new computer ram, and something else I'm not remembering now.

Hope everyone had a great holiday.

This past weekend we had Jeff's company Christmas party. He got a new Garmin GPS and I won the door prize - the flowers :)

We also played with the new video camera. I have alot of learning to do. I will say that I love being married to a smart geek that loves new technology. He picks stuff up faster than me, including the editing software. I started trying to film the nursery, but static rooms just aren't exciting. Maybe we'll take it to a party Wednesday or New Years for some action shots.

Last night we got our video camera in so Jeff has a new gadget to play with. I was going to hold off till after the baby came, but I figured now may be best when I may actually have time to learn how to use it and the editing software. I'm open to ideas if anyone has anything that we can go shoot this weekend. (At a minimum I may have to buy some catnip for the kitties and see what happens in our house.) I'm hoping I figure out how to add songs and music over it too. I'm not about to take it to an Adobe Premier level like some friends, but I'd like to know some cool editing stuff. And for those interested we got a Canon Vixia that records in HD.

Yesterday was a little news worthy with the weather. It snowed 4" on the Vegas strip. And North Alabama is finally out of the drought. It does seem like years since we've had so much continuous rain and I'm sick of it. Rain can just bring down your mood. I was thankful to have some girlfriends over last night for a wrapping party to help alleviate some of my gloomy mood from the constant mist. We just sprawled out on the floor and wrapped our own gifts and shared paper. Angie was thankful for the help and I think Heather was glad to have another person writing name tags 'from Santa' since her kids know her handwriting. Yes I took a mental note for future years :)

Now we have Jeff's Christmas party this weekend and then it'll be a slow week at work before Christmas.

I wish I had found this a few weeks ago before all the dirty santa gift exchanges. These soy candles are supposedly better for the environment and air quality than paraffin wax. Scent of a Scandal - has very creative names like: ‘Me So Thorny’, ‘Santa’s Pole’, ‘Hanukkah Bush’, 'Ho Ho Homo' and ‘Challahback Girl’.

Found this cool website:
http://howmanyofme.com/.
There used to be 69 people with my name (maiden name) but now there is only one me in the US. yeah for unique last names :)

Story background:
I work in an old building for a very safety conscious gov't agency. An average of about 4 times a month they will have an asbestos outage at 6pm where no on is allowed in the building till the next morning. (they're doing work in the walls or ceiling and may release some asbestos)
There has been an on-going saga with the ladies bathroom on my floor for about a year. When they couldn't fix the clogged sink, they removed it, busted the tile, and then duck-taped cardboard over the gaping 3 foot+ hole. I've heard the old 50's blue tile is on order - for at least 6 months now. The other day I was fed up with seeing the gross pipes behind the wall, revealed by the loosening duck-tape. I decided to send an email to a new person stressing my concerns of being pregnant and asbestos. Well there were 4 guys working on it this morning. Guess a pregnant lady has more of a voice than the long time employee that has been working the issue for a year. Now I'm still concerned that I've been exposed to some dangerous stuff for so long.

I came across an article that mentioned a few free money tracking/budgeting websites. I decided to try one out (Expensr), so in my down time at work yesterday I went through last months credit card and debit card transactions and put them in (gotta love online banking - have everything at your fingertips). I hope I can keep up with putting in my purchases everyday b/c it is pretty cool to see where the money goes. You also put in your deposits, so it shows you a green or red balance number, then you can break it into categories that shows you a pie chart of where you're spending the most money. So far I'm doing good with a green balance and the biggest chunks going to food, bills and savings. I even got Jeff to start it last night. Again we'll see how long we stay motivated to keep inputting the numbers :)

I saw snow for a few minutes today, but the white ground didn't stay more than another 5 minutes. oh well. It was a bit of a shock after wearing flip flops on the beach all weekend. I do love the beach, but it's not quite as much fun when it's too cold and/or rainy to get in the water. Still, it was a fun family weekend.

I ordered my Christmas cards tonight but I may have accidentally checked for slow shipping, so I'll be sending those out the week before :)