2 Week Checkup

Today was my 2 week checkup. Dr. W and his nurse are very nice and try not to hurt me if they can help it. I did really good with my statistics. Check 'em out!

Height: 20 1/4" That's the 50 percentile!
Weight: 7 lbs That's the 25 percentile!
Head: 13 3/4" That's the 20 percentile!

I got my Hepatitis.B shot while still in the hospital so I only had to be poked once today for the Newborn Screen. That kind of hurt, but Mommy was holding me and rubbing my back so I didn't cry for long. By the time Dr. W came in, it was almost feeding time again and boy was I hungry. Luckily, Mommy brought a pacifier with her. It's a new kind...MAM or something like that. The nipple is shorter than the other one I have tried a couple times. But it always came out of my mouth because it was too big. This one is just right and it fits perfectly on the new pacifier holder Mom just got in the mail. It even has my initial on it! Now everyone will know that it's mine.

Here I am relaxing after the doctor visit. This is one of Mommy's favorite outfits. It says I love Mommy, I love Daddy all over it. Speaking of outfits....HOLY MOLY...My friend Holden was born April 2008 so we are exactly one year apart. He isn't having any more brothers or sisters so his Mommy gave my Mommy ALL of his clothes for the past year! Mommy took a picture of it all. She still hasn't gone through it yet - I think she's doing that tonight when I take my evening nap. But can you believe it? Holden's Mom Rocks!!

Hopefully I can get this post done before we leave for the pediatrician's (Dr. W) office. I am finding myself to be extremely short on time these days. It is amazing what you can acomplish in 2 hours while the baby is napping though!

I have started to pump. Just to see what I can get out of them, if I can tackle that beast of a machine (not really a beast, just very intimidating), and to practice when I'll have to use it for real. I've been looking at it for few weeks in the box. Dean kept asking me when I was going to bust it out. I was chomping at the bit to purchase it before Miles arrived "just in case" and then looking at the thing, I was scared as hell. Number 1 - I really didn't want to feel like a cow. SERIOUSLY! Not 3 weeks ago we were watching something on Discovery.Channel about dairy farms (Dean likes weird shows, what can I say?). They showed how everything is mechanical and the cow goes into this secluded area - reminded me of a lactation room - but with fences instead of walls so the cows could still be with their friends. WHAT? Anyway, this machine comes up, sucks their milk, analyzes it for hormones and what not. It was crazy what it could accomplish without human intervention....I digress. My machine is not so automated. And with righty being so much bigger than lefty, the double pump thing is killing me. I can't do that one armed hold thing the chick in the manual does. I have to actually hold each one because I have to hold the bottle/shield not only ON the boob, but to hold the boob UP. Yes, they are that big. And no it is not a blessing. I am sure I would have just as many milk duds (as someone so lovingly refers to them) in little boobies, than I would in these beasts. And could the noise be more awful? It might as well be going, "MOO, MOO, MOO, MOO!!!" I've only done it 3 times now but only got a max of 3 oz. That time was out of lefty after Miles ate from that one. (He didn't eat very much that time) but otherwise I have only got 3 oz total from both. Is this normal? How much should I be producing at this point? When he is needing those GIANT 8 oz bottles, how will I ever fill them? **Sorry this boob pumping paragraph was so long!**


Miles has officially "christened" Mommy and Daddy with a pee pee shower! Daddy was changing a diapee in the changing area and heard this (not sure how to spell it) CCCCHHHH. He said he had been thinking of turning on the sprinkers in the backyard and thought it was water spraying the window. Nope! It was Miles spraying the top side of the changing pad! It was arched completely over the top of his head hitting the plastic. The only pee that got on him was a couple drops when he was finished! Mommy got it a completely different way. I was giving him a bath on Saturday. Laying on a couple of towels on the kitchen counter (he's too small for the tub still) and I was concentrating on shampooing his hair since at the time he still had his cord and couldn't be scrubbly bubbly all over. Then I feel this wetness on my face and IN MY MOUTH! I didn't think I turned the kitchen sprayer on...then I looked down just in time to catch a mouthful!! I had left him uncovered and myself open for attack! It was mucho disgusting. But still funny. Daddy had a good laugh at it anyways...


We both read several baby books while pregnant. We have adopted a couple of theories/options/philosophies from each and they are working quite well. From Happiest.Baby.On.The.Block, we are doing the 5 S's - Swaddling, Side/Stomach, Shhh, Swinging, Sucking. Technically we only use the swaddle/shhh combo for nighttime sleep and the shhh/swing combo for naps. It is amazing. He will go from screaming to sleeping in minutes! We are also using the E.A.S.Y. method from Baby.Whisperer. Eat, Activity, Sleep, You. He eats, we play with him or by himself, bath or diapee change (keeping him awake is key), then sleep, then time for You/Mommy/Daddy. That method is driving our schedule. And speaking of schedule we are trying the PDF from On.Becoming.BabyWise. PDF - Parent Directed Feeding, versus letting the child determine when eating time is. This is working perfectly with the EASY method above. With PDF, the book says that you create the metabolism habits of your baby. This makes them wake at their scheduled feeding time. At first I thought - yeah right. But we were previously having to wake him up for his nighttime feedings and for the past 2 nights he has woken up on his own - at the exact times we would be waking him. It is awesome!

Finished just in time....I have 7 minutes to pee, get my shoes on, get Miles in his seat so we can go! Talk to you soon!

Miles Updates

2 Posts in less than 30 minutes...with a baby no less. But he is taking a nap and I am using my shower time to catch you guys up on Baby Miles Land!

Colo.strum was not enough for our little man. Over 2 days, we ended up giving him 3 of those 2 oz. bottles of formula the nursery gives you. He was hungry, hungry! I felt bad that I didn't have enough to feed the little booger, but it was just because Mom's milk hadn't come in yet.

Speaking of milk, it did finally come in Tuesday afternoon. Boy was Miles happy about that! I didn't even realize it was in (I don't get that let-down, tingly feeling I read about in 100 books) so imagine my surprise when he finally pulled off the booby and he had milk all over his face! He has been munching ever since! And btw, Mom LOVES Lano.lin!! He was getting a bad latch on righty because it is significantly larger than lefty so I think it was hard for him to get his mouth situated right. I finally corrected that problem, but by that time righty was TORE UP. Lano.lin to the rescue. That stuff is awesome!

When Miles was 5 days old - he rolled from his back to his tummy! While on his tummy, he pushed up and held his head up! Then proceeded to roll BACK onto his back! ON DAY 5!!! Can you believe it? I think we have ourselves a little overachiever! He has been holding his head up every time we put him on his tummy too!

Miles' billirubin level was 8.5 at the hospital. While this isn't high or even in the low risk category, it is at the high end of the normal range. (shouldn't this still be considered normal then?? whatever) so we had to visit the pediatrician on Wednesday. When Dr. W saw his results and checked him out he couldn't figure out why we needed to come in. Miles didn't have jaundice on his skin, just a little in the whites of his eyes. But Dr. W said that when babies are jaundiced, the jaundice starts at their eyes, works its way down the body, and ends in the eyes again. Since the level was so low and it was just in his eyes, he said this meant he was on the tail end of it - so no worries. Everything else checked out just perfect - like my son!! ;0) I also got congested a few days before going to the hospital. It has not gone away yet and I asked Dr. W what I could do about it that wouldn't affect Miles, and he said "suck it up" (Seriously - he did!) because any kind of decongestant would help dry me up, but it would also dry up the milk supply. Miles would not like Mommy if that happened. Anyone know of a baby friendly, milk friendly solution to congestion - bring it on!

We had our first mini outing on Friday. We needed to pick up the prize for the baby guessing game (see below - Steph C if you are reading and want to be surprised, don't look at the last pic!) and Mommy needed some nursing bras. I had a couple of nursing tank tops, but those puppies weren't cutting it. The weight was a little much for that flimsy material!!! We went to Barnes.n.Noble and Mother.hood.

Baby Miles' umbilical cord fell off Saturday night during a Daddy Diapee change. I was glad to see it go because it got in the way of the diaper, but I am also sad. That was the last piece tying Miles to Mom. :0( I still have it, though I'm not sure what to do with it. Our neighbors came over last night and she is Hispanic. She kept her kids' cords. That's kind of creepy because its basically dead tissue from inside her body, right? Her mom told her to bury it. Apparently that's a Mexican tradition? Kind of like planting a tree when a baby is born, but instead you plant the cord??? WEIRD. What did you guys do with yours?

Miles and Maddie are becoming fast friends. She is also quite the Mommy Doggy to him. Plus the paw print onesie is perfect!!

Look Ma! No more cord!

And here's the prize for the baby guessing game. A CD by his namesake. And what a perfect album Daddy had picked (before we got to the store) Miles Smiles!!

And before you ask....had Peanut been a girl the name would have been Marley Ladine. Marley because we liked it (before the movie was released ;0) ) and Ladine was Dean's mom's middle name. The prize for that would have been the Marley & Me movie...

The Birth Story...

Even though I wasn't on any pain meds to make me loopy, there were pieces of the delivery day that were missing from my memory. Just because things were so crazy and I was a little bit excited about other things!

So we went to the hospital on Thursday, the 16th to turn in our 24 hour urine collection. Dr. S made it sound like we were just taking it to the lab and waiting on the results. We knew if we failed we would be induced the next day. We didn't know they were going to take blood and put me on BP and fetal monitors while the tests were being conducted. We got to the lab at 5:00. About 7:15 the nurse came in to say that we failed the test. The last time I failed it was by 1 point, this time it was by 20. Since I was already "term," there was no reason why we couldn't go ahead with an induction. So the nurse said we would be admitted to the hospital, spend the night and be induced around 8:00 Friday morning. She started my IV and put in Cervi.dril to soften my cervix. Apparently L&D was busy that night because she said we wouldn't be taken up until 10:30 or 11:00. This also meant no dinner for Kimbo. No food since lunch time.....GRRR...

We started making our phone calls. I had made a "call bracket" for Dean so he wouldn't have to call so many people. Well, since we weren't going through what we thought we would, you know rushing to the hospital after my water broke at 3 AM....Dean broke the rules and started calling and texting people not on his list. Then both of our phones started blowing up with congrats and questions about when Friday things would get going...

We got a room in L&D around 10:00 and attempted to get a little sleep in before the big day. Dean had a lovely night on a fold out chair-bed. He was wishing we had opted for that $500 a night suite with the full size bed for the Dad!! At 7:40 AM, Dr. S took out the Cerva.dril and broke my water. At 8:10, they started the Mag.nesium Sulf.ate in my IV to keep my BP in check and 10 minutes later I got a finger oxygen sensor and Pito.cin was started. I really didn't know I was having contractions. I just thought I was cramping really bad. Those continued for a few hours and then I started getting bottom pressure, to quote my nurse. After a few of these, it was time for the epi.dural. This was around 10:00. The Pito.cin was stopped for the epi to be inserted and was turned on afterwards. Around 12:00, my nurse (patients on a Mag drip get a 1-for-1 nurse) went on her lunch break and I got a sub. The sub was older and more informative - at least she told me more about what was going on. Dr. S doesn't like to check the cervix very many times after the water is broken due to infection. But around 12:45 I told her that the pressure was getting much stronger and I think that the baby is ready to come out. She again reminded me about Dr. S not wanting to check often and that I was scheduled for a check at 1:30. I told her that I didn't think I wanted to wait another 45 minutes, so she agreed to check then. Good thing, I was already 9 cm! She then says, "How do I get a hold of your husband?" because around he same time he had gone to lunch with my family. I said I can get a hold of him. So I sent him a text message that said "9 cm. Lunch is over." Apparently it was a scramble of everyone to get back upstairs because they thought the baby was coming right then!

By then the regular nurse was back and with her on one knee and Dean on the other, I pushed through 4 rounds of 3 pushes - maybe 15 minutes. They said they could see the head and then the nurse yelled, "Stop!" I was like HUH? No more pushing. WHAT? WHY? Well Dr. S needs to actually deliver your baby. Oh OK then...let me just squeeze my thighs together to keep this little guy inside! WTF???

So the nurse makes "the call" and suddenly I feel like I'm the star on a movie set. Like 15 people come in with carts and equipment galore to get things setup. Dr. S came in and I pushed for about 10 more minutes and he was on his way out. The cord got wrapped around his neck while she was turning him so she had to cut it - fortunately for Dean - he didn't. Then the nurse who's closest to me says "one more push" so I did. Well Dr. S had apparently said to stop pushing because she was getting something situated and wasn't expecting my last push. Dean said just like THAT - there he was - like a rocket out of the hoo-hoo!!! LOL

7.5 lbs and 19 3/4 inches of pure love. He is so gorgeous - I know that's not what you say about little boys - but he truly is! Big blue eyes (hopefully they stay that way) and the cutest little button nose!

Antepartum (vs. Postpartum) rooms were full. There were 2 ladies who were also on a Mag drip that were waiting on stretchers after their c-sections for a room, so we hung out in L&D for a while. We were finally moved about 8:15 and had a couple more visitors before 9. We roomed in with him the first night. It was so crazy. I still couldn't believe I had a little baby of my very own!

Here are a couple of pics. This first one is his Week 1 pic. I am going to take a pic every week with his monkey so you can see how much he is growing! Watch for a new photo album over there ---------> with the weekly pics!

Miles and Mom taking a much needed nap on the couch!

Miles.Monroe

As you all have probably figured out by now, we've been a little tied up since last Thursday...

Miles Monroe was born on Friday, April 17th at 3:49 PM. He weighed 7.5 pounds and was 19 3/4 inches long. I promise a birth story soon, but for now here are some pics to get you by!

He is so good and so sweet and I love him to pieces already!

P.S. The Baby Game winner was Stephanie C!

So we failed the pee

So we failed the pee test. Will be induced tomorrow @ 7 AM! Peanut is coming soon!

The Final Belly Pic?

Here's the 39 week belly pic, both of Mommy-To-Be and Parents-To-Be. He was too embarrassed to do a bare belly pic! It looks like my belly is poking him, it is sticking out so far!

We will know in just a few short hours if Peanut will make his debut tomorrow or if he will continue baking in my oven until he is good and ready to show his face. But man.....do I want to meet him...or her...SO BAD!!!

I will try to remember to text in a message tonight saying if we are being admitted or not. But I guess if you don't hear from me for a few days, you'll know why. OhMyGoodness, I can't believe this is finally happening!

39 Weeks

The 39 Week Belly Comparison....

Could it be the Final Belly Pic E.V.E.R.?

39 Week Update

So we are back from the OB's office for the 39 week appointment. Let me start by saying that the little sore throat I started getting yesterday progressed overnight and now I sound like a frog. My throat is itchy and scratchy so I've been coughing and sneezing. I got about 2 hours of sleep last night because of the coughing... I took some Tyle.nol Cold N Sinus before going to bed.

Now here are the stats:

Weight: +2 lbs from last week
BP: 150/90, after resting 128/86
Belly: 39 1/2 cm
Baby HB: 148
Dilation: still 2 cm, same as last week
Cervix: still soft but closed, same as last week

She was a little concerned about the high BP, but said that the Tyle.nol contains Suda.fed and that can raise your BP so it could be nothing. However, to be on the safe side, I am starting another 24 urine collection immediately. I will take it to the lab at the hospital tomorrow at 5 PM. I will have my BP checked there and wait for the urine test. If it comes back ok (which the other 2 I have done during this pregnancy always have been) then I go home and wait for Peanut to come on his own. If it is abnormal, then I will be admitted to the hospital and they will start an induction Friday morning.

So I could have a baby by the weekend!

Friendship Award & BH!

The always sweet Martha has given me another award! The Friends Award is self explanatory and the rule is to pay it forward to 8 bloggy friends!

So please consider yourselves my dear bloggy friends. I treasure what each of you has to say and it warms my heart to know you are out there thinking of me! So here you are in no particular order....



BrandiH2007
s.e.
PJ
Mel
Ashley
Beautiful Mess
DeLenn
On My Mind 24/7

Also, on the baby front....I think I am finally having some Braxton Hicks contractions. I had thought that it was just Peanut pushing up and out on my belly, but I looked at What to Expect again this morning, as well as a couple of websites, and I think they are BH! So that is kind of exciting I think - one more step, right?

On another note, I started feeling a sore throat coming on last night after dinner. I gargled some salt water, but all throughout the night, I could barely swallow! My throat feels like my tonsils are swollen or something. Dean looked with a flashlight and said they don't look red nor have white patches on them...UGH - I called the doctor and she said I could take Tyle.nol cold-n-sinus and gargle salt water. I have been gargling today and drinking lots of fluids, so we'll see how we fair tonight. If this doesn't get it, I will pick up some cold medicine tomorrow. I definitely don't want to be icky-sicky when Peanut arrives!

Plug Be Gone

I don't really have much to update today, except to say that for my Easter present I lost my mucous plug!

BLECH!

One more step towards Mommyhood though, so WHOOP!

Hoppy Easter!

As promised, here are some pics of my Easter cake. I've been working on parts of it since Tuesday. Since I can't stand for very long now without my back killing me, I did a little all week. I made the flowers and bunny Tuesday, the basket handle Thursday, baked the cakes/made filling/put cake together Friday and decorated the rest today.

As you enjoy Easter lunch and egg hunting with friends and family, please also remember the true reason for Easter....Jesus Lives.

God Bless All of You!

My Socks and Baby Socks

As previously posted, I am participating in Sock It To Me Week hosted by the always lovely Kym.

These are my feetsies displaying the socks I received from Just Me. They are cutie ankle socks with fun spring colors from J. Crew. And just to show how sweet she is, she included 2 pairs of socks for Peanut - one says Love and the others have stripes. TOO CUTE! I love baby socks - they are the cutest thing ever!

When we first realized we were having issues TTC and started seeing an RE, I had no idea what to expect or what we would be going through for the next year and a half. That is when I stumbled upon Stirrup Queen's blog which led me to Kym. I found so many women across the globe either currently going through or already having been through IF. Since none of my friends had IF issues, this was a Godsend to me. I consider this community my real friends just as I do my IRL friends, even though they are "virtual" or "bloggy." I can talk about BFN's or emotional frustrations and there they were, my bloggy friends supporting me - just through comments on the blog - and it made me feel so much better - warm and fuzzy - just like these socks. I hope I have returned the favor to them.

38 Week Appt

Back from the 38 week appointment. Dr. S was working the hospital today so we didn't really have an appointment time. I called in around 8:30 to find out when would be a good time to come in and Dr. S would just walk over from the hospital. She said 9:30 would be good. EEK - I hadn't even showered yet! So a quick shower and off we went.

The nurse paged Dr. S that we were there and to come on over. In the meantime, did her usual.

Weight: -1 lb
BP: 120/80
Baby HB: 144

Then Dr. S called saying she had 2 patients she needed to deal with and couldn't make it over right now. She didn't say if these patients were in labor or what so we had no clue how long it would be before she came back. I really wasn't up for waiting there all day long...and Dean had meetings to get to. So the nurse suggested we grab breakfast in the deli downstairs while we wait. I had 1 bite of a breakfast taco, Dean had 3 bites of an egg sandwich when we got the call to come back.

Belly: 39 cm
Cervix: very soft
Dilation: 2 cm

She said the baby could come at any time now and "see you next week unless you have a baby before then." Oh - during the exam when she was checking the cervix she pushed extra hard and then said "want to stir things up a bit?" HUH? Like if she poked him in the head he would come sooner? UH NO was my answer. I'm not QUITE ready yet. The more baking time Peanut gets, the better I will feel.

WHOOP! (SI and MN - these are 2 less cm that I have to be drugged in the hospital to get, so even though you say, "That's all? Don't you have to go to 10?" This is quite a lot!!!) There are lots of women who don't dilate at all before being admitted in the hospital. And just for you SI....here's a pic of 2 cm dilated!! :0)

So HA! Look at me - I'm ahead of the class!

On another note, our financial dude is coming over today. Dean and I both have some money lingering in our TRS accounts (Teacher Retirement Savings) from when we used to work for the state - me for a school district and him for a college (as a janitor when he was IN college - HA!). We are trying to get that moved into our other 401K's or Roths or whatever. We are also going to talk to him about setting up a college fund for Peanut.

Other than that, I need to make my easter basket handle - for the easter basket cake - for Sunday today so it will have time to harden. I already made a little bunny and some flowers. Pics will be posted when the final product is ready!

Hope you all have a great day!

14 Days To Go??

38 weeks :: T - 14 days

April 2008 we were going through IUI #2.
April 2009 we are expecting a baby.

My oh my how the times have changed. Today I am 38 weeks pregnant. Today I have only 14 more days until this baby is coming - or at least due. Seriously? When did we suddenly get down to only double digits in days remaining?

It was August 13, 2008 that we got the call we had been waiting for.

After 683 days...
After 1 year, 10 months, 13 days...
After 16,392 hours ...
After 983,520 minutes...
After 59,011,200 seconds ...

We were pregnant and now in just 2 short weeks, we will have a real baby to hold and love in our very arms. I have so many emotions flowing through me right now. I am excited and nervous and scared and worried and anxious and in shock. The fact that we will responsible for a little tiny person in 14 days (or less) and that he will depend solely on the two of us to feed, bathe, nurture, raise, and love him is so amazing to me. How will I know if I am a good mom? How will I know if I am doing the right thing? How will I know if the baby is happy? I know...in time, these things will come...After you hold the baby, you will know everything you didn't think you knew how to do before...Moms are naturals.... All I really know is that I love this tiny little person so much already and I haven't even met him/her yet.

My heart overfloweth.

Babysitter - CHECK!

So we met the babysitter-to-be today. She's a stay-at-home-mom here in our neighborhood. She has an 18 month old and a 4 year old of her own. I'm glad Dean went because he was surely the chatty Cathy one. He asked most of the questions. She seems to follow our child rearing philosophy and will be flexible with our schedules - van pool, 9/80, etc. The money we offered is what she was looking for and she is very excited.

AS ARE WE!! I am so glad to have gotten this out of the way BEFORE Peanut arrives. WHOOP WHOOP!

37 Week Update & a Crafty Craft

We are back from our 37 week appointment with good news!

* BP: 110/70
* Weight: -1 lb
* Baby HR: 160 - again very active right before she took it. Actually when she started taking it, it was 140 and increased as she measured, so she probably took the high end of it.
* Baby at -3 station
* Soft cervix
* 1 cm dialated!!!!!

That's 1 less cm I have to have drugs to get and/or be waiting in the hospital for! Next check up is Thursday!

Also - looky at what I made last night. One of the last things that we needed to get (because it was driving me crazy) were those closet dividers for baby's clothes. Unfortunately, BRU only carries them online and being that this is the only thing I need to order from them at the moment, that seems like a waste to pay shipping for one small item. So yesterday afternoon, I searched the internet for some other crafty way to make my own. I came across several good ideas, some cuter than what I did, but I don't have the energy right now to make something crazy complicated - and repeat it 4-5 times, depending on the number of dividers I make.

Anyway, I used the foam door hangers and foam stickers and designed them myself. You know they had to have monkeys on them! It was a cheap, easy project! And I have leftovers to make new ones when the baby gets bigger. I'm so crafty!

Hope you all have a good weekend!

Cardio Check, A Sitter??, And Prego Pics...

Dean's stress test results came back ok. His heart is doing great (he has 2 stents), but his bilirubin was a little elevated. First thing out of doc's mouth "No More Alcohol." WHAT? That's going to be a problem was his response. Apparently the cholesterol medicine he is on causes enzyme issues in the liver and alcohol only adds fuel to the fire. After Dr. Goo.gle today, he now thinks his aspirin also contributes to the bilirubin increase. The cardiologist is going to send the resports to his primary doctor to see if she wants to pursue further enzyme testing to see if something else is going on. He said sometimes this can be genetic, but it could just be from the meds and drinking...

So I think I said the other day when sitter option #1 fell through, that Dean posted an ad on our neighborhood website. We got a hit yesterday. The lady is a stay-at-home-mom with a 4 y/o and a 1.5 y/o looking for some extra moola. Our price was good for her so we are supposed to go meet her on Monday - WHOOP WHOOP! Let's pray this one doesn't bail over the weekend like the other.

Here are some recent pics of Peanut and Peanut Stuff...

This is a terrible pic (Thanks Dean for not waiting for all of us to look and smile) but it shows how excited Grammy and Grampy are about their upcoming grandbaby. Peanut was moving quite a bit last week when we stopped by for a visit. But of course, when they came to feel, he got a little stage fright! They did finally feel it though.


Grandma (via Dad) got us our Baby.Bjorn for Peanut. It was the last major thing we needed. Dad told me that if Grandpa was alive and Grandma was able, they would want to get us something for their great-grandbaby. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa! We love you! Peanut loves you! And the fact that she's sitting up in her chair and smiling just makes me so happy!

The 37 week belly...even with my face this time!

And the "Our Little Monkey" onesie I finally ordered from ebay. It's yellow (I didn't use a flash because the yellow would show as too yellow) We think it's perfect for Peanut's coming home outfit! Nice and fresh and spring time - and MONKEY!

Sock It To Me Week

Did you miss out on the fun of the Sock It to Me Exchange? If you did, there's still a way that you can participate. The 62 bloggers and blog readers who signed up for the exchange about a month ago were assigned sock buddies to send a special pair of socks. The second leg of the Sock It to Me is coming up next week.

During Sock It to Me Week (SITM Week), which is April 6-13, each of the participants will post a picture of the socks they received along with a post about this community provides them warmth, comfort, and support...just like a pair of cozy socks.

If you missed out on the exchange, it's too late to send and receive a pair of socks, but you can still participate in Sock It to Me Week by putting up a post about how this community has been a source of support and "warm and fuzzies" for you.

Here is what all SITM Week participants, both old and new, need to do:

The week of April 6-13 is Sock-It-to-Me Week. Post a picture of your socks (worn or not worn) with a link back to the blogger who sent them to you. The topic of your post should be about what the support of this community means to you and how it has helped and is helping you. It's a week for warm and fuzzies. Like ummm...the socks.

When you post, go back to Kym's blog with a link to your post and Kym will keep a running list of the entries.***If you missed out on the socks and are only putting up a post, please also come back with a link to your SITM post and you will be included on the list.

On April 5, check back here to pick up your Sock It to Me participant award! Everyone who puts up a post gets a badge. Those who participated in the sock exchange part gets an Elite badge. Now don't you feel all special?