life before Romy...and now.

Things I took for granted: peeing uninterrupted; having a telephone conversation uninterrupted; making dinner uninterrupted; sleeping; browsing the internet; posting to my blog...

Romy is in bed...my time to reflect on my day and giggle about the little things, which, in the moment, made me perturbed, but only in the slightest bit. Things that i used to be able to do without worry have now become things to squeeze in my marathon day of caring for our daughter. Getting the mail from the mailbox; folding laundry; eating; feeding the animals; cleaning the house; running to the store (any errands); showering; and tons more. I laugh when i visit the mailbox with infant in hand, when i shower with her in her vibrating chair directly outside the shower curtain so i can keep her entertained with peek-a-boo while i sneak in shaving my legs; while she sits nestled in her swing as I prepare a meal for myself; or place her on her pack-and-play changing station as i make my trip to the bathroom; or juggle her in one arm as I toss wet laundry into the dryer. Every minute of every day I learn how to live while juggling our daughter who cannot live without my help, who would sit unbearably unhappy if I didn't entertain her every minute she begged for my attention. This is my life. 24/7.

I'm not writing about this because it annoys me. No, not at all. I write this because I often reflect on how life used to be and how much, even though chaotic and much more complex, life is so much more meaningful and wonderful and full of happiness; thankfulness and pride. I'm so proud of our family, how we manage to get along in a day of so many stresses and remain close and never forget to remind one another how much we love one another. Our family; me, Ted and Romy is the greatest thing I have ever accomplished. It may not be the best word choice, but it feels like the one thing in my life that has made me proud, like a promotion at work or something, but so much bigger. I love my life. I am madly in love with Ted and our daughter. and i wouldn't change anything at all, not ever. They make life worth living and living full of life!

Rollin Rollin Rollin

Romy can ROLL! Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were the beginning of it all....now she is becoming a pro! Too bad I cannot figure out how to post a video yet....but i haven't captured it on tape yet anyway. She is very proud of herself. No more placing her on the couch or chair while going to the bathroom....

I have now learned that a carpet will be beneficial for the comfort of little ones who spend the majority of the time on the floor... Ted and I will be purchasing an area rug to help Romy's knees. (and ours). She even rolled for her Daddy, when the evening hours are her most tired. She is testing the volume of her voice too. She has begun screeching and fluctuating the tones of her voice - squeeling and cooing uncontrollably.

Mommy wishing Romy a Happy 4 month birthday. I know, i already made a post for her 4 month birthday, but this pic was taken on THE day. Luckily it was warm and we got to wear a sundress! Here are more from that day...

wow - that's big. i just realized you can pick the size of your picture on this blog. how funny. anyway - still looking like daddy!! She is a Daddy's girl... and she loves to be outside. loves the brightness of it all....

here she is with Grandmother, before going outside. I got to plant daylilies while she got to sun herself. not really....she was kept out of the sun.

And today, we went for our walk early because the day was going to get hotter. There is nothing like a walk in the stroller to get our baby sleeping. and when she wakes up...she is all smiles.

Our sweety...endlessly making me smile back and give so many kisses, no one could keep count.

my little yogi

So Bebbie gave Romy her first yoga outfit and she looks absolutely adorable! We even practiced her yoga moves by stretching her legs and arms. she smiles and goos and gaas while i reach her arms above her head and practice the bicycle with her legs.

There is certainly no shortage on cute baby clothes. Romy is starting to grab things and be interested in "things" now. Even when i breastfeed her she looks around as if she is missing something... She is also starting to sit up better and continuing her efforts in rolling over. She is almost there. i must admit, she doesn't give up easily. She is fine playing on her mat for a half hour at a time. She is wonderful sitting on my lap for bits of time. It is so cool to watch her development more of a bond with me. Every day i can see that she recognizes me from further away and knows where i am at all times. well...she'd like to think she does. at least, i notice that it has become an important thing for her to know where i am at all times.

I love being a mom. more than i thought i ever would. i love being the "go to" person. Romy loves me...better yet, she needs me. and i need her just as much...little does she know.

4 month check-up

Romy had her 4 month check-up today. She weighs 15 lbs 15 oz and is 25 3/4 inches long. she is overall pretty much in the 95th percentile in each category. my big Mullins' baby girl! it is interesting that in two months she went from being in the 50th percentile for height and is now in the 95th. we new she grew - but she grew more than i thought!

I decided to dress her in her Halloween costume today. I'm sure it will still fit her come October as it is made to fit up to 18 months of age. it's pretty big... check out my little dragonfly.

The weather has been so warm the past few days. I always am sure to get Romy outdoors for her walk. I like to rant off names of all the flowers, trees and shrubs along the way. What better way for her to get to know the names of them all!? I was always into horticulture, who knows, maybe she will be too. she loves animals...i love animals... It cracks me up to watch her watch Walden. She gets a kick out of him. The first time I heard her laugh out loud, cackling and howling, she was laughing at Walden.

Baby gets kisses. She started to recognize the cats too. Last night she was watching Matilda and then reached out and grabbed her fur (and didn't let go without assistance) while Tilly just looked at her, as if to say.....ouchhhhhhhhh. She loves to watch all the animals. there are lots of them to watch.

cutie patootie. She loves being outside. Nanna got her this hat. It's great to keep the sun out of her eyes. Also, i find it important that any hat contain something to tie it onto her head. great help! I can't wait to be able to work outside and have her watch me in the garden.



Romy loves standing. she hasn't quite sat up on her own yet, but she loves standing more than sitting anyway. If you hold her just a little, she pretty much can hold herself up. For this reason, i bought her shoes. I got her some tiny Keds sneakers. These have really proven to help her get more of a grasp on the ground when she is in her jumper. Also, any shoes, not just Keds are great for this purpose. It's keeping them on her feet that is the challenging part.

more pics

She quats, she poops. she grunts with this too. too bad you can't hear that. funny.

and she still loves bath time...

yep, i love my fingers. taste like chocolate.

and some day i will be able to sit up on this couch all by myself.

Finding Time to Blog!

Ok, between the array of stuff I do in the course of a day, I have been so lame as to slack off on my blog. Why? Well, in the course of a day - I find about 1-2 hours of free time, depending on the length of Romy's nap. During these bouts of down time I find myself, vacuuming, grocery shopping, checking emails, applying for jobs, making phone calls, dusting, cleaning the bathrooms, picking up after the cats....the list goes on. Days fly by and leave me wondering what it is that I am left with in order to remind me to enjoy every moment i have with Romy. I do....but it's a race against time to get stuff done that needs to be done. So, i'm done making excuses. Here I am....and Romy is nearly 4 months old.



To date, i am guessing she is almost 16 lbs. she has indeed gotten taller too, i'll guess 24.5". She goes for her four mth check up this week so i'll find out for sure. When I take her out and people ask me how old she is, they are almost always astonished when I tell them how young she is. She dwarfs the five month old girls in her Library Story time group. I'm told she is a Mullins' girl. big. so be it. she is gorgeous nonetheless.


Romy is getting good at holding her head up and is almost ready to roll over.


















She is constantly figuring new and interesting things to do with her lips. See the fish face? loves it. Spending time on her tummy gets aggravating as she gets irritated when she cannot go the direction she wants to go. With a little help from mommy, a push off from the feet proves she can go an inch with success....i really don't want her too mobile yet. still need to baby proof the house!




Fingers. all of them. in the mouth. all the time. the way this child naws at her fingers you would think she is teething. no sign of teeth here, but we insist on getting them all in the mouth all hours of the day.





We laugh, we smile, we crack up sometimes. Romy is a happy girl. She loves play time and becomes pretty demanding of my attention. I must say, i am a sucker for it too. I think of it this way...some day i will be starving for her affection and she won't have time for me. I'm sucking it all up now.















Romy has started to make lots of noise. ok, so she is talking. we thought something was wrong. i found out yesterday why she is mimicking noises. i know babies mimic so i've read that you should talk to your baby, not make odd goos and gaas to them. they need to learn their annunciations. that's what i do. mommmmmm, mommmmmma, daaaaaaaaaa, dada. Romy started to eeeeeeeee, aahhhhhhhh, cooooooooo, gaaaaaaaaaaaa and i listened as grandmother made nonsense noises to her on her playmat yesterday. i said, what are you teaching her? ok - killer mom instinct kicking in. talk to the baby - don't make weird noises. we want her to talk. yikes. i'm mean. well, i was nice about it. maybe i read too much. i believe some things i read.











Ahh, the Baby Bjorn. now, i'm borrowing this from a friend but i will not have another baby without purchasing one of these. brilliant! she LOVES it! she wants to see everything! she kicks her legs and is so excited when she even sees me getting it ready for her. Of course, it wasn't the warmest day and my neighbors probably thought i was nuts, but we walked around and she loved it. i love it too. I put her in there to do my shopping - she is starting to not like sitting in her car seat all the time, so this is a big help. she's heavy and i'm certain this is why my back is killing me, but it's worth it to keep her smiling.






feet, toes, hands, skin, cheeks...you want to capture it all so that you can remind them when they are bigger how tiny they once were. i love her feet. i love the softness of her skin. i love her smell, all except when we have huge blow outs. i will digress for a moment into the crap faze - there will be craps, so big and powerful that even the greatest of all diapers will not hold up to its enormousness. clothes will need changing. several times, perhaps. i laugh. she laughs. Daddy laughs. it's funny. sometimes one bath leads to another bath. i carry a change of clothes wherever we go. i go prepared. i think of large craps. these are the things that encompass my thoughts upon leaving the house. boobs, check. change of clothes, check. diapers a plenty, check.



Daycare. it's out there and now she has to go. Hopefully (pros and cons there) I will be going to work soon and she has to go to daycare. i'm looking forward to it because i know she will skyrocket with her learning as she is exposed to other children. I'm not looking forward to it because i LOVE our time together. absence makes the heart grow fonder...she will learn to love me more when i am not always there for her. ugh...it is as hard as they say it is. it will always be hard saying goodbye (for now) to your child. how could it not be.






i'll enjoy watching her play for now, with me, alone. i'll capture these past four months and remember them to be the greatest, yet most trying times of my life....and i'll be sure to tell her about them later - that they are the most significant, wonderful, captivating times i could ever have dreampt of.