I have been trying to find time to get caught up on this story. Heard some NPR coverage yesterday and have briefly perused a blog or two. The power of Mother Nature is so amazing and scary. Read an interesting blog about mangroves that used to exist on the coastline, but have all but been torn down due to development and industry. Supposedly, they would have provided protection from some of this. How much against a 10m wave I don’t know…..

Read another blog saying that in addition to helping all those who were affected - we should strive to improve them. I am completely on board with that one. Let’s look long-term and not just seek short-term solutions. We need to stablize the situation and then look for ways to really help.

114,000 dead so far…. It reinforces for me a notion my friend Jackie shared with me: that it is arrogant to think that we humans can save the earth….all we can do is treat her well and not abuse all she has given us. As Jackie said, when she is tired of us - she will get rid of us. Dec. 26th is a strong reminder just how magnificent the power of nature is and just how vunerable humans are.

See Tyler at 1 Month! Click on Tyler’s album above to check out the photos!!

So today I drove to a friend’s house to drop off some food….took the Forester. Chris had The Killers CD in the car. Since the baby wasn’t in the car, I blasted the radio and drove like a maniac down Shoal Creek (it is a turbo engine after all). It was SOO fun! I felt like I was breaking some rules and letting loose…. It is like yes, I am becoming a mommy - but Alyssa is still there too. And every once in a while I have to get a little crazy and feel a little sexy, ya know?

Of couse, I get home to a frazzled Daddy to find that Tyler was screaming his head off the whole time. He is going through a growth spurt, so although he had nursed but an hour and a half before - he was hungry again. That really short-circuited my high.

Hung around with my very cosmopolitan sister in-law…actually both of my sister in-laws are very stylish. Made me want to find time to take care of myself so I don’t look so tired and frazzled myself all the time. Hard to feel sexy when ya think you look like crap.

Thankfully, my parents will be here lots over the next couple of weeks. I am hoping to start building more of a routine with Tyler and build in time to get a few little things done here and there.

This baby thing has such an affect on your marriage! No one writes books about how to work that out. Our perfect little dynamic has been turned on its ear. As I said, we were on auto-pilot, so it was time to stir the pot and we have. Slowly, things will rebalance and we will figure out how to have lives and a marriage while raising a child. I know people do this every day, but people also get divorced every day. Many a marraiges crumble when a baby arrives - we are working on it and just trying to be open and honest about how we feel…when we are frustrated and how we can work together as a team to help each other. If I could write halfway decent, I would love to do a book on keeping your marriage strong while surviving a baby. Unfortunately (or fortunately), I can’t write and have no medical training or any other schooling in that area….hmmm, that didn’t stop Dr. Phil now did it? (Is he REALLY a doctor?)

Man - I don’t know what it is - but I feel good! I am on a little high right now. I guess I just had a really good day with Tyler. Dunno - but it has been a long while since I have been on such a high - such a good feeling. Bruce Springsteen’s “Tunnel of Love” is on the radio - great song!

Just had to blog about it. Having a baby takes a lot out of you. I thought at 3 weeks we were out of the woods, but now at 6 weeks I want to say that. It really does get easier…(thank God!!)

He is such a cutie…starting to smile and do really cute things! Probably also happy because I got the work thing figured out. I am taking off 2 more weeks in Jan and then going back part-time starting at 15 hours a week working my way to full-time which may only be 30 hours. I just feel like i have all the flexibility I need..

oops - he is up - have to go

Well, we surived the party cicuit! We were exhausted and so was Tyler (he was way overstimulated - 12 hours, 3 houses, 2 cities). Things are going well here - I only have 12 Christmas cards to go. Unfortunately I will run out of cards and stationary…guess I will have to reload at the grocery store. So after Christmas, I guess we will be onto the thank you countdown!! Those are piling up now..I think I have about 15 of those to write. No complaints though - we appreciate everyone’s generosity in helping up stock up on all the things you need for a growing baby.

Had a nice day yesterday with nmy friend Susan whose baby is 2.5 weeks old. It was here husband’s 1st day back to work and her 1st day alone with the baby. She hung out with me on my 1st day alone and I returned the favor. We chatted and took the babies for a walk. We totally relate to each other right now, so it is nice.

Looking forward to the holidays and new year. Chris will be off a week for the holidays and once we hit the new Year, Tyler will be 8 weeks old. We should start seeing more interaction from him and he should start gravitating towards some kind of schedule.

With the holidays over, I should alsol be able to start up some kind of regular schedule finding time to cook, keep up with the housework and make it to the gym. I shoulg get the OK to exercise this week and can’t wait to return to the gym with a trainer. It will be a good outlet for me.

Take care and have a good day!

Well, Tyler went to his first party tonight. It was a lovely cocktail party at our friends Katherine and Steve’s. Katherine makes the most wonderful hors d’eurves. Tyler pretty much slept through our visit although he fussed a bit towards the end. We were timing everything based on his last feeding and it worked out well.

This weekend will be many firsts for Tyler - tomorrow is his first road trip. We are going to San Antonio for the annual family Christmas party (my Mom’s side of the family). This is a big deal for Tyler and his parents - last thing we want his a hungry baby on I-35, so our departure will be based on his last feeding as well.

I had to by gifts for an exchange we usually do and found the coolest thing at Zinger Harware. (Very cool old fashion hardware / general merchant store near us) It was a line of duct tape accessories!! So for the man’s gift, I got a duct tape wallet!! It is seriously made out of duct tape. I think it will go over really well with the men in my family!

Well - at last count I have 75 Christmas cards done…25 to go!! And cross your fingers I don’t run out of cards..it is going to be close!

Here are my latest Tyler anecdotes:

- I cannot tell you how many times this kid has peed on us to date. I just can’t get it through my head that he is a boy and dangerous!! I try to cover it up when I remember, but he squirms and manages to get free usually just in time to aim!!

- He is such a glutton at the boob!! He will eat and eat, spit up more and then want to eat again!! I describe him has a drunken bar patron saying to the bartender (with a slur), “C’mon barkeep, just one more. One more. I’ll keep in down I promise!!” When he is finally done, he usually passes out in a food coma.

- He also likes to barhop. There are times when I guess what is on tap is not what he wants. He fusses until I take him “next door”!!

- He likes to toy with mommy’s boob. When he is done, he will pull away from mommy with the boob still in his mouth and let it go like a rubber band! Ouch Tyler!!

- When you latch a baby on, you want them to open their mouth wide and then place the boob in their mouth. You will sometimes put the nipple on their bottom lip to encourage this. You want to keep control of when he gets the boob to make sure the latch is good so you don’t get sore nipples. Well, Tyler likes to tease me. He will act nonchalant about the nipple being near his mouth and may lick it a time or two. Before I know it, he will just suck my boob into his mouth {slurp} sometimes causing me to lurch forward!! He is so sneaky!!!