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I half assed BlogHer 2013

bfing-at-blogher

When they announced that BlogHer 2013 was going to be in Chicago I knew I had to go. I’d managed to talk myself out of it every other year but the fact that all I had to pay for was the (early bird priced) pass, not even the hotel, took away all my excuses. At the last minute Joel decided to get an expo only pass so he could join me, check out some of the brands, and help me with Wesley. I’m so glad he did.

I prepared for BlogHer by… oh wait, nope, no I didn’t prepare at all. I’ve read about people buying all new wardrobes and meticulously planning every outfit and accessory. Uh… yeah… I not only don’t have the money or time (hello, new mom here) but I’ve never been very good at fashion trends. So I just wore stuff I already had in my closet and meant to repaint my toenails buuuut didn’t even get to that. Did I mention I’m a new mom?

Oh wait, I lied. I did order business cards. A week in advance and had to pay for rush shipping because I totally spaced, but they got ordered and arrived before the conference. Winning.

Joel and I both went to the opening of the expo hall and had a chill evening there wandering around and checking out the booths.

blogher-mommy-love

transformers

The next day was decidedly not chill. Our first mistake was sticking around the expo hall way too late. Wesley did sleep a good amount of the time but Joel and I only got about 3 or 4 hours of sleep. Then we had to wake our sleeping baby.

Never do that.

unhappyboy

We managed to get out the door on time and actually got to the conference early!

Only to find that Wesley had had a massive blow out poop all over the adorable outfit I dressed him in.

Don’t worry, there’s no picture to go with this part of the story. You’re welcome.

Anyway, that ate up all the “early” we had and then some so I showed up to the newbie breakfast late and even then only got to shove food in my mouth really quickly before Wesley needed me to walk him around. He was okay-ish for most of the morning but only if I was pacing with him. Thankfully I have my Maya Wrap so it was hands free feeding.

hands-free-bfing

Unfortunately Wesley’s restlessness and fighting sleep made it pretty impossible for me to network and left me feeling kind of frazzled.

Must. not. let. him. cry.

Anyway, he finally gave in and napped and I got to have some much needed caffeine and sitting down time.

sittingdown

Throughout the whole day Joel’s help was invaluable.

joel-wesley-computer-starbucks

He held Wesley as much as Wesley would let him so I got to eat a little and listen to at least part of some sessions without bouncing and pacing.

It was a long day and then, as I was on my way to hear the Voices of the Year keynote, I realized my wallet was missing. We dug the car apart and nothing. So we drove all the way home and dug through the swag bags and found it. Stupid swag.

Wesley was not impressed by our early morning and late night and our night ended looking like this.

saddest-baby

Saddest. baby. ever.

We fell into bed as fast as possible and decided not to force ourselves out of bed the next morning. When you wake a sleeping baby once you don’t make that mistake again if you can help it.

The last day was much, much better. I finally got to meet a few of my favorite online people and sat at the silliest lunch table ever.

lunch

There was a for real spit take, complete with Diet Pepsi out the nose from one person at the table. It was that good.

We also ended the night a lot earlier and things didn’t end in complete meltdown like the previous night.

Overall I’d say I’m glad I went, if only because I would have regretted not going. I do kind of feel like I did BlogHer “wrong.” The sessions were okay but I was distracted during them and only got to sit down through one full one. I also didn’t get nearly the full conference experience by not staying at the hotel and not being able to attend any of the official parties. Plus the fact that I was constantly on edge trying to make sure my baby wasn’t fussing and bothering everyone made it so I wasn’t able to fully engage or have many real conversations with new friends.

I will say that my being on edge was my own thing. Everyone was so friendly about Wesley and I never for a second felt uncomfortable breastfeeding him. I even got a few “you go girls” about it. I really appreciated the encouragement for sure. Still, I wanted to make sure he stayed quiet and didn’t disrupt anyone’s experience.

Next year Wesley will be old enough to be left home with Joel. If I decide to go again that’s the only way I’ll do it. I got a little taste of BlogHer this year but if I ever go again I won’t half ass it. Except for the planning out my entire new wardrobe part because seriously? Ain’t nobody got time for that.

Weekly Wesley: Seventeen

Week17-WEB

Well this week was stressful. But good. And more stressful. And a little more good.

Like I mentioned last week we ended a weekend visit with my dad by having to call an ambulance for him. Frankly it sucked and was stressful and scary. He was never unstable so at no point was I afraid he was going to die immediately but it was still pretty awful. We spent hours in the ER which was actually pretty entertaining. We were in a room that was just divided by a curtain from the other room so we got to hear all the goings on of the people next door. There was a hilarious 80+ year old man with a broken hip who had a strong opinion about everything. Then there was a teenager who was airlifted in with a massive head injury from skateboarding. They finally found what they believed the problem was with my dad and admitted him.

Since we’re so far from the rest of my family out here, Wesley and I were the only ones who were able to be with my dad during the day.

wesley-dad-hospital

Normally when my dad goes in the hospital we only get out to see him once because the round trip of 3-4 hours is a lot to do in a short amount of time. This time Wesley and I got out to see him everyday of the four days he was in there.

wesley-hospital-fun

It was so neat for him to be able to bond with his grandpa a little.

As glad as I am that I was able to be there for my dad it was pretty draining for all of us.

nap-shannigans

More so for us than Wesley, apparently.

The very next day after he was released was the beginning of BlogHer 2013,

blogher-wesley-mommy

and that was the rest of our week. It will get it’s own post because this one is about Wesley but it was fun and completely exhausting.

Other milestones:

  • Mister Dude finally wore his first pair of shoes. Baby shoes kill me. Dead.

baby-shoes

  • Mirror baby is more fascinating than ever. It is Joel’s go-to when Wesley is upset and I’m not available. Works 9 out of 10 times.

mirror-baby

  • Wesley finally sat happily in the stroller. It was only for about ten minutes but it felt like a big deal.

stroller-happy

And finally, as promised I have video of Wesley laughing. This isn’t the first time he laughed but it’s pretty freaking adorable, if I say so myself.

Nothing better.

Oh hey BlogHer 2013

So that BlogHer thing is today. And since it’s in Chicago I pretty much had to buy a ticket. I mean, it’s in my home town, all I have to do is drive in every morning. I feel like I might be missing out on a bit of the “full” experience by not flying in and staying in a hotel. But honestly, I have an almost 4 month old baby and no one wants to room with that. Not if they like sleep I mean.

Anyway, if I meet you at BlogHer, Hi! I’m Abigail.

profile

You’ll find me wandering around with my firstborn son, Wesley.

Wesley is our rainbow baby. We lost our first pregnancy March 2012. While it was an early loss and we went on to have our little guy it helped to shape who I am.

Wesley was born on Easter Sunday (ten days late, stinker) this year. I haven’t gotten to publishing his birth story yet, blogging with a baby is more difficult than I expected. I do weekly updates about the little guy that I call Weekly Wesley.

I’m a flight attendant but am not currently flying because I’m on furlough. I don’t mind the time off though because it means I get to spend it with my brand new little guy. It’s where my screen names (and my blog name) SkyWaitress comes from. You’ll find me by that name on Twitter and Instagram.

So I guess that’s me in a nutshell. I’m hoping this conference really inspires me to find a way to hit my stride with blogging with a baby who never really likes to be put down. Feel free to say hi or to ask to hold my little guy. He’s a cuddle bug and I don’t mind sharing at all.

Weekly Wesley: Sixteen

Week16

This past week started with the best sound I’ve ever heard in my life. Wesley’s first laugh.

first-laugh

There is video but it’s long and not edited so it will have to wait. Trust me though, it’s the Best. Sound. Ever.

The next day we picked up a weekly visit to my grandparents’ house that we hadn’t been doing since Wesley arrived.

grandma!

It was so good to see them and have dinner and watch a movie. I love that they live so close so we try to take advantage of that as much as we can.

Then this weekend we had my dad over.

grandpa

It was nice to let Wesley bond with him a bit. Unfortunately it ended in a trip to the hospital for my dad so that was sad. He’s stable and he’ll be okay I think. I just wish he was healthy and back to  his old self.

Other milestones:

  • Wesley has decided that I can’t make him do tummy time. Nearly every time I put him down on his tummy he rolls over a minute later. Silly kiddo.

tummy-time

And just a couple of my favorite photos from the week.

morning-smiles

This is what I wake up to every morning. Lately I open my eyes and he’s just staring up at me smiling. Melts my heart every single time.

beautiful-boy

I know I might be biased but I think I have the most beautiful little boy in the world.

Weekly Wesley: Fifteen

Week15

We got good news this week. We had another appointment with the pediatrician and Wesley gained 9 ounces in two weeks. It’s just slightly under the expected 1 ounce per day but it’s not so little that they’re concerned. He’s just a tiny, healthy peanut. Yay!

Other than that this week was pretty relaxed. We went over to my brother’s house at the end of the week and had a cookout.

lake-day

We watched my nephews and my grandma in the lake but decided Wesley is a bit too young to participate in the swimming himself.

lake cuddles

We had a nice time visiting with everyone and relaxing though.

We needed the relaxation after the car ride over there. Poor guy has decided that he hates the car and sometimes me singing to him works. But other times the only way he’ll stop screaming his ever loving brains out is if we stop the car completely and he has a calming nursing session.

car-nursing

I love the nursing but it’s pretty frustrating that it takes two to three times as long to get anywhere lately.

In other news, toes are still extremely fascinating.

toes

As are books all of the sudden.

books

You think he’s trying to tell me something?

hand-over-face

I don’t take too many pictures. Hush.

mirror-baby

This is how Joel calms Wesley down when I’m away. I think his favorite person might be mirror baby.

mamaroo-smiles

And last photo, just because his smile is the best in the whole world.

Weekly Wesley: Fourteen

Week14

This past week mister dude turned three months old. I already published the official photo but here are a few outtakes.

close-up

Funny faced close up.

sad

It took us a couple tries to actually get the shot because little man was not a happy camper.

3months-phoebe

A boy and his dog.

Another big thing this week was we celebrated the Fourth of July!

4th-of-july

That meant Joel had a really short week of work so we spent it napping.

nap-time

And cuddling.

cuddles

And going to the drive-in.

drive-in

Other milestones:

  • Wesley actually discovered his foot. It was the most hilarious thing ever. All of the sudden it caught his eye and he could not stop staring at it.

foot!

 

Weekly Wesley: Fourteen

Week14

This past week mister dude turned three months old. I already published the official photo but here are a few outtakes.

close-up

Funny faced close up.

sad

It took us a couple tries to actually get the shot because little man was not a happy camper.

3months-phoebe

A boy and his dog.

Another big thing this week was we celebrated the Fourth of July!

4th-of-july

That meant Joel had a really short week of work so we spent it napping.

nap-time

And cuddling.

cuddles

And going to the drive-in.

drive-in

Other milestones:

  • Wesley actually discovered his foot. It was the most hilarious thing ever. All of the sudden it caught his eye and he could not stop staring at it.

foot!

 

Three Months Old

3-months

Stats coming soon.

Weekly Wesley: Thirteen

13weeksold

This week we had a weight check for Wesley. We were suspicious that he wasn’t gaining weight since all he’s still in newborn sized clothes.

weight-check

Unfortunately we were right and he not only wasn’t gaining weight but he’d lost a few ounces. Luckily our pediatrician is very supportive and since Wesley seems perfectly healthy in every other way he is only mildly concerned right now. Instead of pushing formula right away he recommended we give Wesley olive oil at each feeding.

olive-oil

He was not a fan and we honestly didn’t do it for long since I’m convinced he spat out more than he actually swallowed. It was just torture for all of us. I’m doing everything I can to get my supply up and  we have a check up in about two weeks so we’ll see if the weight loss was just a fluke or if we have to take more serious measures to get him to gain weight.

A more positive milestone this week was Wesley’s first trip to the zoo.

zoo2

It was pretty hot so we mostly tried to stick to indoor exhibits and we didn’t stay that long. We still had a fun time though.

zoo1

zoo4

zoo3

Not sure how much he could really see but he seemed pretty fascinated by the dolphin show for awhile there. It will be so neat to go when he’s older and can really enjoy seeing the animals.

Other milestones:

  • We gave him his first bottle in preparation for my night out. He didn’t like it much, and liked it even less when I was actually out. Poor buddy.

firstbottle

  • I had my first evening away from Wesley. I had a ton of fun at my friend’s bachelorette party, it’s too bad Wesley and Joel didn’t have as good of a time.

bachelorette

  • I noticed Wesley has really been chewing on his shirt and fingers so I gave him his Taggies blanket and he loves it.

taggie

Wesley gets more animated and expressive every day. Here are a few adorable yet gratuitous shots from the week.

silly-faces

So many expressions.

flicking-off

What’s that son?

daddy-smiles

He loves his daddy.

carseat

How can I mind riding in the back with him when I get to look at this sweet face the whole way? Answer: I don’t mind a bit.

grin

Sweetest little grin.

Weekly Wesley: Twelve

12Weeks

After the busyness of last week this week was delightfully low key.

saturday-in-bed

We did a lot of reading and lying around the house cuddling. I also decided to practice Manual mode on our Nikon. I’m ashamed to say I generally shoot on auto… and that’s when I actually pick up the Nikon. I am way too dependent on my iPhone. Bad mommy. Anyway, here are a couple of the shots I got of my gorgeous baby.

_DSC0098

changing-table1

I realized as I was viewing them on my computer that I had the ISO set way too high and I am not great at getting the focus where I want it to be all the time. The focus thing I’m sure is partially my fault and partially because I’m using the crappy kit lens (Who am I kidding? It’s probably all my fault.) I’m pretty happy with the results though and I’m determined to pull out the Nikon at least several times a week. I know future me will appreciate it more than a bunch of crappy instagrams.

In developmental news Wesley is getting better at tummy time all the time.

tummy-time

We get more and more of this ^…

tummy-time-tears

before it turns into this ^. I hate to see him cry like that but I know it’s good for him so I suck it up. Still, baby tears. Oh my heart.

It’s obviously doing some good though because he finally rolled over on purpose.

rolled-over

He was crying and once he got on his back his look of confusion and relief cracked me up.

He’s also really noticing things around him. I can show him toys and he actually looks at them with interest.

toy

He even talks and coos at the mobile on the mamaRoo.

mama-roo-fun

He gets almost as into smiling and talking to that thing as he does with me. My feeling are totally not hurt by that. Ahem.

Other milestones:

  • I found out he love The Battle Hymn of the Republic. Sometimes it’s the only song that calms him down. So random.
  • I also found out that in the car just the sight of my face can calm him a lot. He was beside himself and we couldn’t pull over so I climbed in the back and he almost instantly calmed down just by seeing me and me rubbing his cheek. I kind of feel like a jerk for not discovering this sooner.
  • He turns his head when I call his name. I can also get him to look in a different direction when I snap my fingers.

He is just such a happy baby. Every week he gets more and more interactive and I’m loving every minute.

smiles

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