Happy 1st Father's Day

Happy 1st Father's Day to Neil!!!
He is truly the best father.
His father would be proud.
His grandfather would be extremely proud.
I am so blessed, Josephine is blessed.
I have to be honest, when I was pregnant with Josephine, I was a bit nervous. Neil didn't seem to understand the pregnant-lady struggles. He definitely didn't know how to handle my emotional breakdowns. And those happened quite often. I just really didn't know what to expect once she came into the world. Especially not having an ounce of experience with babies... He really impressed me. He just jumped right into fatherhood. I don't even think I made a bottle in the 1st month of her existence. And with our washer & dryer down in the basement - Neil was on laundry duty for about 3 weeks. He hated it, but didn't complain.
As Josephine is getting older, and her personality is starting to come through - Neil is really enjoying this whole parenting thing. He loves making her laugh, and reading to her...it melts my heart to see them together.
What is so amazing? That I can leave for hours at a time and don't have to worry - at all! Since he's off for the summer, it's daddy-daughter time 3 days a week. This last week was his first week doing this...he looked a bit drained at the end of each day...and made a comment like: I really need to thank my mom...those are long days...Uh. Thanks babe...I took that as a compliment to me as well....
Happy Father's Day babe!!!!!! I love you.
This video is from day 2 of him being a daddy: Neil 03-20-11

She's 3 months old...

Josephine Jimza Hartman
3 months old

We don't have any pictures of us as a family - how is that? I need to get on that....and pronto!

DownInTheDumps

I took my usual Tuesday night weights class last night. I've been back at the gym, taking this class, along with one other for about 6 weeks now. I don't feel like I'm getting stronger. I didn't realize what great shape I was in before pregnancy - until now. I knew it would be hard, and continue to be hard - but man. I didn't think it'd be this hard. During the ab section of the class, I was having a heck of a time pulling off the moves. I eventually gave up, and just went back to the basic sit-up. My instructor made it a point to make a comment at the end of class that it takes a really long time to get back to doing such hard moves after a long break from doing it...especially after surgery. She had a c-section herself about 8 years ago, so she must feel my pain. Guaranteed she bounced back a lot faster - she's in incredible shape, and has been at it for like 15 years. But annnnywaaays.
I guess I thought it would easier to jump right back into it. Not to mention I'd like to get back to jogging. Pre-pregnancy, I was doing 3 miles and getting good at it. And it took me a long time to get to that point. I have to start all over again...Ugh.
I'm going to try things a little different this time around. I found this article online, and it provided a guide to follow. For example: Walk 5 mins., jog/run 1 minute - do this for 30 minutes. Once I can do that, walk 4 mins., jog/run 2 mins....and so forth... Seems pretty simple. Eventually I should be able to run the entire 30 minutes, and then progressively get faster. My ultimate goal is 3 miles in 30 minutes. I wonder if I can do this by the end of the year?
Another thing that has me downinthedumps: My mother hasn't met Josephine yet.
No comment on that really.
But you know, at the end of the day - God has blessed me with this amazing little family.
Look...I'm already feeling better. :) Josephine is SOOO fun these days. Talking and smiling. Neil sent me this picture at work today:

Seriously. I died. She looks so cute. And if someone can find me a hat that's infant size, and white - I would greatly appreciate it because this navy blue one isn't going to cut it. It doesn't match anything in her wardrobe! Goodness I love her!!! Wow. Feeling a lot better now.

phew!

I made it through yet another cold winter here in Erie. Why am I blogging about this fact in June you ask? Well, it was literally cold a month ago. I was waiting for the consistency of warm days, and it's finally happened! Yippy! Of course now that the heat is here, I have something to complain about - the humidity. You have no idea what this does to my hair. Thankfully I have found a wonderful product that controls this frizz-chaos: Pureology Super Straight serum. It's amazing! The price? Not so much. I was hunting around on ebay looking for shoes, and I thought to hunt for this stuff...and look! There it was. After great communication with the seller, I found out she had only used it twice, and it didn't work for her - what?! I put a bid in, and WON!!! Yay. I got it for only $10. Okay, and another thing - unlike my husband, mr. i don't sweat, I sweat. With this humid/thick air, it's like no mercy. I have no escape. At least in CA, you can hide under a tree, and there's usually always a breeze.


Okay. Why am I complaining? This is stupid. There's no snow on the ground, and it's above 50 degrees. Shut.Up.

Jos is giggling. Good grief it's the cutest thing! And talking. When I read books to her, she talks back - I'm like, pay attention missy...she just comes back at me with a smile. Adorable.
And she's growing out of her clothes!!! Ahhhh, I need to do more shopping! She's fitting perfectly in 3 month sizes, and I'm pretty sure next week they won't fit. Well...3 month onesies & sleepers. Her 0-3 month pants still don't fit around her waist. It's hot, she doesn't need to be in pants - I know. She does have some adorable dresses that are so close to fitting her! Yay!
She's almost rolling over. She's kind of been at this stage for awhile, mainly because she likes to sleep on her side. It's so cute watching her get comfortable. When it's nap time, she always prefers her crib where she can talk to her friends that float above her in the mobile. Love her!

Tomorrow is Neil's last day of work for the summer. I'm bringing Josie in to show her off to his co-workers. Of course, Neil doesn't understand the chaos/infatuation of a new baby. When I brought this up to him, he was like "why?" I said, just inform the ladies in the office that I'm thinking about it, and you see their reaction. Of course, I was right. They are so excited. Us women and babies. Don't men understand?

Don't have any new pictures of Jos. I'll post them when I take more.
Next week the Q's are coming into town. I can't explain just how excited we are! Having good friends meet Jos is so fun. I can't wait.