I love the weird looks i get from grown men when they realize that Weston is being treated by Dr. Mandy, our Chiropractor, same as me. And the reaction to the fact that she has been treating since he was one week old is priceless!

Newest picture, and other things

Today, Paisley's mom Jeramie finally sent me a picture of my niece. I haven't had a single picture or seen her since she was under the blue lights last Saturday. Suffice it to say, I'm not happy about the lack in communication, but it is nice to see her beautiful face. Isn't her onesie adorable? My sister makes them. This one is still too big (we were expecting her to be a bit bigger.) Seriously though, Shannon makes the cutest onesies, all personalized for the baby or family. (She even hand drew the Paisley pattern.) If you have a baby shower coming up and want a personalized gift, let me know... Shannon is for sale! :) My favorite, ironically, isn't one of Paisley's, Shannon made one for her friend Esther. Esther's maiden name is Starr. So Shannon made baby Annabelle one that read "I'm A Starr!" and decorated it with stars. It was adorable and personal. Funny though, she never made Weston one... I guess boys are harder than girls.

Speaking of Weston, he is feeling much better and has been at daycare the last 2 days. A huge relief for me. I hate it when he is sick. I have been enjoying the weather here in Iowa... 83 degrees today. I had lunch with the girls outside the back of our warehouse. I even worked on my bracelet for the big Anniversary Party this weekend. It's almost done. I would say that i am going to hang outside tonight or tomorrow when it's supposed to be 85 or so... but I have to finish a painting for the happy couple (Scott's Aunt Linda and Uncle Byron). They've been married 40 years this Sunday, and they do not have a large copy of their wedding picture. So I am repainting it. :0 We'll see how the finished product is. I have a feeling I am not sleeping tonight. It needs to be dry before we get in the car for Sioux City tomorrow.

Arg. Ok... back to work. I'll hopefully have big pictures of the party after the weekend.

the weekend, etc

We went to Clinton Friday. We raced from Des Moines and headed to the hospital to visit Paisley. As we rolled into Clinton at 9:07pm... we were a little dejected. Visit hours ended at 9pm. (Visiting hours? What is this, 1975? Des Moines doesn't have visiting hours!) So we headed to the Home Base to visit the parents and Aunt Linda and Uncle Dave. Which meant that Weston turned into a performing Monkey as he showed everyone that he could crawl, and pull himself up to standing.
On Saturday, we headed up to the hospital to meet little Princess Paisley. She was incredibly Jaundiced so the doctors had her under the Sun Lamps (which look like a mini tanning bed.) It was creepy and scary and very warm. I don't think I have ever held such a small baby! She wasn't holding down food at that point, so she only weighed 5.5 pounds! After lugging a 19lb Weston around, she felt like a paper clip!

(Funny note, Jeramie gave birth Thursday morning. She was released Saturday morning, but was given a room since her daughter was not being released. She left at 830 am to have a cigarette, after claiming to quit. She did not come back until around 1. She left again in the afternoon and again in the evening. My brother only left Paisley once... to get clean clothes when Jeramie did not bring any back for him. I don't care. It's weird. I would never have left my baby at the hospital when they had a room available for me.)

We visited for a while, left for a while, grabbed lunch and then headed back. It was about 80 degrees in that room. And climbing. We hung out for a while, held little Paisley again when the lamp was turned off and the room was cooling down, flipped Weston around, but we left around 430. Weston needed to rest and cool off. Our plan was to visit again on Sunday before we headed back to Des Moines. But we didn't get to.

After 2 days under the lights, Paisley was well enough to be released. And Nathan said that they were stopping by in an hour. But they didn't. Suffice it to say, there was a lot of DRAMA. And it was Jeramie's fault. I do not trust her behavior. I do not trust her with my niece. I do not trust her to not lie to my brother. I do not trust her period. She is a manipulative, greedy woman who blames her mental sickness for everything she does. Or as she told my mom yesterday, She was in a "grouchy or bitchy mood Sunday." (Right... grouch = domestic violence against the supposed father of your new daughter while driving that newborn baby home.)

So, I have not held my "niece" while she was healthy. I only saw her twice in 2 days time. We left Clinton when it became clear that Jeramie was not going to let us see our niece again that weekend. Weston was kind of iffy... not very hungry, kind of warm. By 7pm, he was running a 102.7 fever. It was crazy hot. Jason and Rachel stopped by for a visit... A new Walker for Weston! He like it at first, but he's not that interested when he's sick. I took him to the doctor yesterday. His fever was 103. He has Acute Pharyngitis. Basically a super swollen, sore throat and high-grade fever for days. Great. He's super cuddly when he is sick. My favorite Aunt in the whole world (my Aunt Linda) came in from Cedar Rapids to take care of him today and tomorrow if necessary. Thank goodness for her. At least I can work. I used the little sick time I had yesterday to leave at 130pm to take him to the doctor. Ugh. Fevers scare me.

Who knew?

Who knew that Nathan could make something so beautiful?

She is changing so much every hour! I can't wait to meet my beautiful Paisley.
(She's only 16 hours or so old here.)

New Hair

I got my hair cut last Friday. And it is a huge change. But I've gotten a lot of positive feedback. So... here is the evolution of my hair in the past year. I think there have been some great changes.

January 2008. scrunching for curls... tried and true (ish) for years.

Same hair I guess. Maybe this was the easiest thing to do while pregnant. This is 7/28/2009 - my last day of work before Weston arrived.

After wearing my hair in a ponytail most of my maternity leave, I started straightening it. This was early October 2008. It was such a change that my Dad didn't even recognize me when I met him for lunch.

I chopped my hair off October 25, 2008. I needed a change. Problem was... I didn't keep the cut current. I just let it grow out and started scrunching again. Mainly though, I flipped the ends out all over and would poof the front or rocker ponytail it.

I cut my hair again April 9th, 2009. I needed a change, and it was either get bangs or shave my head. I was going for 1985 or a little Zoey Deschanel. Left was Monday, 4/13/09 and right is today. It's kind of Rocker chic. I love it in a ponytail. The bangs really help. they are a little on the long side, but i absolutely love them. I'm still getting used to my straightener, but hey - a change is a change.
Goodness I've had some bad hair this last year.

She's Here!!!

I’m an Aunt!!! (of a baby! Can you really count 2 adult women, inherited through marriage, older than myself as nieces? Nieces are supposed to be spoiled and played with.)
Paisley Annemarie Damon arrived this morning at 4:49 am. She’s 6lb, 1oz. and 20” long. And she apparently has dark hair.

Definitely has her mother’s nose. I wonder where the Damon cheeks went? They were in the last ultrasound….
Mother and baby are doing great. And my brother, Nathan, says he’s tired. Haha. To which I replied, “It’s only the beginning. You will never sleep again.”

We're headed to see her tomorrow. To cuddle up in that new baby softness that only lasts 4 or 5 days at most.

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Update: at 7 hours old... she's already had diaper changes and said goodbye to her lunch. but she's so cute!

News from Clinton! Paisley is on her way. 3 cm down and 3 mins apart! My brother wants me there, but none of us can get out of work until Friday. That part sucks. I wish i could be there to welcome my 1st niece into the world.