Hollon's First Job

On Sunday, Hollon had her first job - photographer's model. A local photographer who lives in our neighborhood needed a newborn between 5-10 days old to model in some pictures she was taking of props that vendors had sent her. In exchange, we'd get to keep 5 of the images for ourselves. Free professional photos of my child? Sign me up! I'll sell my kid out! The photo shoot was scheduled for Sunday at the photographer's studio. 

We'd been given instructions on what to do with the baby leading up to the shoot, so that she would be in a "sleep coma" for the pictures. I should have known anytime I mess with my kids schedules or keep them awake thinking they'll sleep later never works out. We kept Hollon awake for the 2 hours before the appointment, got to the studio at 2:00 for me to give Hollon a nice long feeding. Now to wait for her to fall in her sleep coma. She didn't.

The photographer wanted me to bring Jake along for some sibling shots, so we shot those first and just had Hollon awake in them. Jake took the instructions well, but God bless his smile. It was all over the place. Sometimes it was a goofy smile, other times a very forced smile and sometimes just plain out weird. Then the photographer wanted some with Jake's shirt off. Which made me nervous because I wasn't prepared for my kids to be in an Abercrombie ad. But I went with it.These pictures are either going to be very cool or very awkward. 

Then came time for Hollon's solo modeling. Still, not asleep. 

Part of the problem was Hollon was unclothed most of the time, which she hates. Those little wraps they had her in were not making her happy. So she scream cried. And clawed her face. Perfect. Not only is my child not in a sleep coma or even a mild sleep, but now she has red scratches all over her face. She looks like Edward Scissorhands held her.

Finally after 3 hours, 2 more feedings and tons of walking, rocking & shushing, Hollon was asleep. It wasn't a deep sleep, but at least she was asleep. But every time the photographer would try to pose her, Hollon would wake up. I felt so bad. I knew the photographer wasn't getting the shots she needed, but what do you do? The photographer was so sweet and kept saying that she was getting tons of great shots, but I'm pretty sure my red splotchy scratched up baby screaming wearing the props wasn't the photograph she was going for.

The icing on the cake? Hollon pooped on every single prop. I'm not kidding. Both wraps she wore. Pooped on. Every blanket she laid on. Pooped on. Again, the photographer was sweet and she said that all babies poop on something of hers. But I'm sure they don't poop on EVERY.SINGLE.PROP. Every time I turned around, Hollon was pooping on something else. 

Finally around 7:00 we called it a day.  The proofs should be ready in a few weeks.Oh bless what these proofs are going to look like. I'm pretty sure that was Hollon's first and last modeling job.

Hollon Elizabeth - 2 Weeks

I'm getting better. Only 1 day late this week!

Two Week Old Recap:

Ups: When she smiles. Even if it is just because she just passed gas or pooped, I love her sweet little smile. Another highlight was one night I had changed Hollon into her pajamas and then went to check on Jake who was already asleep in his bed. I was holding Hollon as I was kissing Jake goodnight. And I just felt so incredibly blessed. I feel so lucky to be the mother of these 2 precious children who I love with all my heart. 

Downs: Going to pick brother up from school. The first day we went, she was great. I fed her right before we left and she slept the whole way. The following 2 days have been the opposite. I still fed her right before we left, but both days she cried screamed the entire way there. She does not have a soft gentle cry. It is a blood curdling scream. We've got to get this figured out. (To make it even more fun, on Tuesday, not only did Hollon scream the entire way to pick Jake up from school, but then once I picked Jake up from school, he asked if we could go to the library. I had to tell him no, because we can't take Hollon out in public yet. Which caused him to cry. So Hollon is screaming & Jake is crying telling me how mean I am. Fun times.)

Sleep: Hollon is still in the pack-n-play in our room. She sleeps the best in a gown and then swaddled in the miracle blanket. One night, I got worried because I was scared she was too hot. So I took off the swaddle blank, which caused her to wake up 30 minutes later. So then I put her on a onesie & swaddled her. The onesie made it too easy for her to get out of the swaddle and she proceeded to wake up every hour. Needless to say, it was a long night. So we are back to gowns & swaddling and are just blasting our air conditioner. 

Eat: I feel like we took a little bit of a step back this week in the eating department. Hollon tends to fall asleep during eating. You have to go through a whole process to wake her back up and get her to finish eating. She would love to eat for just 10 minutes, every hour. I had to break the news to her that wasn't happening. Another issue is she has started spitting up. So she & I go through a few outfit changes each day. I'm trying to watch what I eat to make sure that's not causing her to spit up. I'm also trying to balance, giving her time to eat so I'm not rushing her, but avoiding an hour & half feeding time period. 

Play: My best friend Stephanie gave us a little white lamb lovee, which was our first gift after finding out we were having a girl. Right now, the lovee is big enough to be a little blanket for Hollon when she is sitting in the bouncer or swing, but she really does like it. It's super soft & she loves to grab onto it. 

First Full Week at Home

Last week was our first full week at home with little miss. Some days go smoothly, other days, not so much. We are still getting to know each other, our new schedules and our lack of sleep.

Monday was nice because it was Labor Day, so we were all at home and none of us had to work. We enjoyed the day at home.

Hollon had her first doctor's appointment Tuesday (her 1 week appointment) and since I still couldn't drive, Rob worked from home so he could go with us to the doctor's appointment. Hollon did great & and was already back at her birth weight plus 3 ounces. 

I have to take pictures of her skinny little legs now, because the
way she is eating, they won't be skinny long.

She has long skinny feet!

Picture fail

Better!

Sweet girl sleeping

 Wednesday was my first day at home with Hollon by myself. Plus I started answering a few work emails. I'm trying to ease back into work. And of course we had to take a few pictures.

This was a baby gown of mine as a baby

 I feel like Hollon is thinking, "I look goofy"

I took Hollon's wink as a sign she was enjoying our photo shoot

I was wrong

 Thursday my mom came up to help out. Not only did I appreciate the help, but I really enjoyed the company! It gets lonely those first 4 weeks when you can't leave the house!

This is one of my favorite looks from Hollon.
She makes this face when she thinks she is about to eat.

She is starting to get a few rolls on the legs

Friday it was just Hollon & I again during the day. That night, was rec night at the Pelham High School football game. All of the little kid football teams & cheerleaders got to hang out with the football players and cheerleaders before the game. And they got to run onto the field. I hate that I missed it, but we were not ready to take Hollon out. Robbie & Jake had fun though! 

Pelham Panthers K & 1st grade football team

Saturday, we missed going to the Auburn football game and enjoyed a day of just watching football from home. Robbie went & bought Hollon an Auburn onesie, which she did wear during the Auburn game. I promise it was an accident that I forgot to take a picture! We enjoyed an evening of just sitting out back on the patio watching football. 

Sunday, Hollon had her first job - newborn model for a local photographer. Let's just say, she probably won't be hired back. That ordeal deserves its own blog entry, coming tomorrow. 

Hollon's Nursery

Everyone has a different opinion on what a nursery should look like. Some like them to look modern, some like bright colors, etc... So I figured I might as well decorate the nursery with what I Hollon would like. (Who am I kidding, it's what I like.) I wanted her nursery to be mostly white with some gold accents and pale pink almost white walls with an overall vintage feel. I didn't mind buying some investment pieces, but for things that we'd only use for a year (like bedding), I didn't want to break the budget. In the end, I'm happy with the result, even if it is not a lot of people's taste and I'm even more pleased that it was finished before Hollon was born.

Hollon's Nursery

Looking in from the doorway

Her bed

We used Jake's crib and just painted it antique white
After a ton of research on the safest paint to use on an infant's crib,
we went with Lullaby paints. Expensive, but a great paint.

I drew out the design, and my mother-in-law made the bumper
She did an amazing job and I'm so thankful to her

The white fabric is actually just a $5 white flat sheet from Wal-mart

There was a canopy in Restoration Hardware Baby that I loved
There was no way I was spending $500 on the one from RHB, so I created one for much less
The fabric is the Ikea Vivan curtains hung from conduit spray-painted white hung from the ceiling from chains 

Corner opposite from crib corner

The puppy print hung in my nursery as a baby

I looked for months on Craig's List until I found a wooden rocker that I liked for the price I liked.
We already had so much white in the room, I didn't want to paint it white & I didn't
want to paint it pink. So I went with gold. Robbie thinks it looks like something from
Willy Wonka's. but I liked it.

Again, my super talented mother-in-law made the cushions

Poof that I stalked at Target until it went to clearance, marked down twice.
I was so excited when I got it for the price that I did.
Robbie did not understand my excitement or the extent that I stalked this piece.

Antique cabinet from my great-grandmother's house
We stripped it, painted it and then antiqued it

The top part holds things like onesies, hats, burp cloths.
The bottom part holds her blankets.

Baskets from the Dollar Tree spray painted gold

Corner looking towards the door

Corner looking towards closet

Hollon's going home outfit
Smocked & sewn by Mimi

Baskets that were originally green & purchased at TJ Maxx.
I spray-painted them gold and then gave Robbie the mission of figuring out how to hang them.

Hand-sewn gown that was a gift to my mom from my great-grandmother

Changing table was one of the investment pieces and was a gracious gift from my parents
It is actually an island, as you could use it in the middle of a room, the drawers & doors are on both sides.
It is a piece we'll use from here on out. Either in a bedroom, dining room or living room.

The booties & ring were mine as a baby

The pillow was a gift from my mom to me back when I was little.
The quilt was my mom's when she was a baby.

So far I think Hollon approves of the nursery