A beautiful winter sunrise in DurhamSunday, November 29, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Guest Blogger: Caleb Busbee
This week baby Caleb's Grammie (Grandma Busbee) was in town to visit. Caleb was SO happy she was here and wanted to say a few things On My Pole about his big week. Here's introducing Guest Blogger Caleb Busbee...
This week I found out that my Grammie would be visiting from Orlando. I hadn't seen her since the week I was born, so I was extremely excited!
For our first evening together, we played music on the piano and made lots of noise with my rattle. I like to make Grammie smile.
Then we discovered the joy of bathtime. When I get in the water I really like to splash around and show off.
Grammie, daddy and mommy watched me kick and squeal in the water until I turned into a prune. I DID NOT want to get out.
The next day I watched as my family and some other giant people sat around the kitchen table devouring tons of food. They mentioned turkey and stuffing and things they were thankful for. I believe this day was called Thanksgiving.
Because mommy and Grammie felt guilty for eating so much food on Thanksgiving, they decided to go for a walk in the cold weather to burn some calories. (I don't know what calories are though). They dressed me in this snuggly warm fuzzy suit that was given to me by my friend Lily Grace.
This is my warm and cozy face.
During the walk, mommy and Grammie stopped for such a long time to try and take the perfect photo of the three of us.
I'm not sure how successful they were, but they sure did try.
Over and over again.
Here's me and my mama on our cold winter's evening walk.
Later that evening Daddy suggested we go hunt for the perfect Christmas tree. Once again, I got all dressed up in my warmest attire. Here I look like a lumberjack.
I guess it is the appropriate attire for cutting down trees.
Mommy, Daddy, and Grammie let me stay up late to put up the tree. We listened to loud Christmas music, all of which I slept through.
And after a long, eventful weekend, I must admit I'm plum tuckered out. But boy I had fun!!!! Thanks Grammie for showing me a good time...and for spoiling me rotten!
This week I found out that my Grammie would be visiting from Orlando. I hadn't seen her since the week I was born, so I was extremely excited!
For our first evening together, we played music on the piano and made lots of noise with my rattle. I like to make Grammie smile.
Then we discovered the joy of bathtime. When I get in the water I really like to splash around and show off.
Grammie, daddy and mommy watched me kick and squeal in the water until I turned into a prune. I DID NOT want to get out.
The next day I watched as my family and some other giant people sat around the kitchen table devouring tons of food. They mentioned turkey and stuffing and things they were thankful for. I believe this day was called Thanksgiving.
Because mommy and Grammie felt guilty for eating so much food on Thanksgiving, they decided to go for a walk in the cold weather to burn some calories. (I don't know what calories are though). They dressed me in this snuggly warm fuzzy suit that was given to me by my friend Lily Grace.
This is my warm and cozy face.
During the walk, mommy and Grammie stopped for such a long time to try and take the perfect photo of the three of us.
I'm not sure how successful they were, but they sure did try. 
Over and over again.
Here's me and my mama on our cold winter's evening walk.
Later that evening Daddy suggested we go hunt for the perfect Christmas tree. Once again, I got all dressed up in my warmest attire. Here I look like a lumberjack.
I guess it is the appropriate attire for cutting down trees.
Mommy, Daddy, and Grammie let me stay up late to put up the tree. We listened to loud Christmas music, all of which I slept through.
And after a long, eventful weekend, I must admit I'm plum tuckered out. But boy I had fun!!!! Thanks Grammie for showing me a good time...and for spoiling me rotten!
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Our very own Butterball
Hubby and I have so much to be thankful for this year, among these blessings is our very own 13-lb butterball baby Caleb. We are grateful to get to spend this Thanksgiving with hubby's mom Debbie (known as Grammie now) and some of our closest friends. I am sad to have missed out on time with my big Cuban family, but work schedules and travel with the newborn just weren't making the trip to Morganton very easy.
Grammie and baby Caleb
My blue-eyed boys
Here we are gathered around our new table for our very first Thanksgiving in Durham.
The best pecan pie chef in the world, according to hubby. Unlike hubby, I'm no connoisseur. But I'll agree Grammie's pecan pies are delish!!!
Hubby's turkey – not a Butterball. We got our beautiful bird from Cliff's Meat Market in Carrboro.
Two types of stuffing, courtesy my friend Misty
The Thanksgiving staple, green bean casserole
Hubby's squash casserole, a dish he has made for 411 West on a few occasions.
Hubby's Sweet Potato Souffle. Oh so good, and the reason I like sweet potatoes.
A lovely salad, also provided by Misty.
We also feasted on a glazed ham, a pumpkin pie, and homemade cranberry salad. Everything was absolutely delicious and I was pleased to discover that I do indeed like cranberry salad. In past years, I have always been known as the girl who binge eats canned, jellied cranberry sauce. I ate it with the turkey, I ate it as dessert, I ate it as Thanksgiving leftovers. Jellied, canned cranberry sauce was my favorite part of Thanksgiving, besides time with family.
So here is to breaking with tradition!!!! Thank you to all those who made this a wonderful, memorable Thanksgiving holiday!
Grammie and baby Caleb
My blue-eyed boys
Here we are gathered around our new table for our very first Thanksgiving in Durham.
The best pecan pie chef in the world, according to hubby. Unlike hubby, I'm no connoisseur. But I'll agree Grammie's pecan pies are delish!!!
Hubby's turkey – not a Butterball. We got our beautiful bird from Cliff's Meat Market in Carrboro. 
Two types of stuffing, courtesy my friend Misty
The Thanksgiving staple, green bean casserole
Hubby's squash casserole, a dish he has made for 411 West on a few occasions.
Hubby's Sweet Potato Souffle. Oh so good, and the reason I like sweet potatoes.
A lovely salad, also provided by Misty.We also feasted on a glazed ham, a pumpkin pie, and homemade cranberry salad. Everything was absolutely delicious and I was pleased to discover that I do indeed like cranberry salad. In past years, I have always been known as the girl who binge eats canned, jellied cranberry sauce. I ate it with the turkey, I ate it as dessert, I ate it as Thanksgiving leftovers. Jellied, canned cranberry sauce was my favorite part of Thanksgiving, besides time with family.
So here is to breaking with tradition!!!! Thank you to all those who made this a wonderful, memorable Thanksgiving holiday!
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Selling out
This is what I saw today on sale at A Southern Season in Chapel Hill. I am a little in disbelief that a college has its own scent. I mean, did they not make enough money off the tuition my parents paid for me to go there? Now they are selling fragrances.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Got milk?
The following is a tale of breastfeeding. All male readers of my blog, you are dismissed and will not be penalized for not reading this post.
As a stay-at-home mother for the past 3 months, it has been my full time job to produce milk, meet the baby’s current hunger needs, and extract and manage milk reserves for when I go back to work (which if you’ve forgotten is this MONDAY).
I was fortunate that I was able to produce lots and lots of milk; many breastfeeding mothers have the opposite dilemma on their hands. After each feeding of baby Caleb I would use my breast pump to extract another 4 or 5 ounces of milk for storage; I had done this since our first week home from the hospital. Sure it doubled the time of our feeding sessions and caused much more work than was necessary, but I was delighted to be saving milk for baby Caleb.
Well it had gotten to the point where I was running out of space in our deep freezer to store the precious frozen bags of milk. Aside from the storage issue, I was also in a good deal of physical pain. I was producing so much milk that I was causing my breasts to be constantly engorged and highly susceptible to clogged milk ducts, which were excruciatingly painful for me.
After assessing the milk in the freezer and realizing that I had enough to feed a baby for 2 and 1/2 months, I finally convinced my crazy, overeager self that I had enough milk stored up and that it was time to decrease my milk supply. It took a month of breast milk management, of adjusting the laws of supply and demand, but eventually my supply dwindled down to perfectly meet baby Caleb’s needs. I was no longer overproducing milk – what a relief!
So isn’t it ironic that all of my hard work would go to ruin just a few days before returning to the job and just after decreasing my supply, rendering it impossible to store any extra milk.
I walked out to the freezer yesterday evening to assess my stockpile. Friends had joked that I should document my absurd surplus of milk for posterity. I opened the freezer door, camera in hand. The door, I noticed, opened a little too easily and perhaps was left opened overnight just a crack.
There in front of my face was one of my biggest fears realized – a freezer full of freezer burn and melting bags of milk. I was in disbelief. Then panic set in. Then the tears came flooding forth.
The rule is that once frozen breast milk has been thawed, it is only usable for 24 hours. It cannot be refrozen and must be gotten rid of. I spent my final Thursday evening before returning to work pouring 370 bags of breast milk down the kitchen sink. It was about 1,850 ounces of healthy, rich, nourishing liquid gold down the drain. It would have fed a baby for 2 months.
I was able to salvage about 70 bags of milk, bags that showed no signs of defrosting.
I’m sure this story has bored most of you to no end (and I’m certain I lost a lot of readers at the first sentence). But for anyone who has had the pleasure of breastfeeding, I bet you feel my pain.
Contents of deep freezer, before removing any milk.
I had to act quickly if I wanted to salvage any of the milk. I was launching bags of milk into this giant cooler and giant tupperware container – anything that appeared even remotely thawed. I knew I needed to empty the freezer quickly, so that whatever milk was still frozen would be kept frozen more efficiently.
And here's what is left, 4 shoeboxes full of milk. It is about 70 bags. Honestly, I should be happy with that. Some people aren't even blessed enough to collect that much milk.
As a stay-at-home mother for the past 3 months, it has been my full time job to produce milk, meet the baby’s current hunger needs, and extract and manage milk reserves for when I go back to work (which if you’ve forgotten is this MONDAY).
I was fortunate that I was able to produce lots and lots of milk; many breastfeeding mothers have the opposite dilemma on their hands. After each feeding of baby Caleb I would use my breast pump to extract another 4 or 5 ounces of milk for storage; I had done this since our first week home from the hospital. Sure it doubled the time of our feeding sessions and caused much more work than was necessary, but I was delighted to be saving milk for baby Caleb.
Well it had gotten to the point where I was running out of space in our deep freezer to store the precious frozen bags of milk. Aside from the storage issue, I was also in a good deal of physical pain. I was producing so much milk that I was causing my breasts to be constantly engorged and highly susceptible to clogged milk ducts, which were excruciatingly painful for me.
After assessing the milk in the freezer and realizing that I had enough to feed a baby for 2 and 1/2 months, I finally convinced my crazy, overeager self that I had enough milk stored up and that it was time to decrease my milk supply. It took a month of breast milk management, of adjusting the laws of supply and demand, but eventually my supply dwindled down to perfectly meet baby Caleb’s needs. I was no longer overproducing milk – what a relief!
So isn’t it ironic that all of my hard work would go to ruin just a few days before returning to the job and just after decreasing my supply, rendering it impossible to store any extra milk.
I walked out to the freezer yesterday evening to assess my stockpile. Friends had joked that I should document my absurd surplus of milk for posterity. I opened the freezer door, camera in hand. The door, I noticed, opened a little too easily and perhaps was left opened overnight just a crack.
There in front of my face was one of my biggest fears realized – a freezer full of freezer burn and melting bags of milk. I was in disbelief. Then panic set in. Then the tears came flooding forth.
The rule is that once frozen breast milk has been thawed, it is only usable for 24 hours. It cannot be refrozen and must be gotten rid of. I spent my final Thursday evening before returning to work pouring 370 bags of breast milk down the kitchen sink. It was about 1,850 ounces of healthy, rich, nourishing liquid gold down the drain. It would have fed a baby for 2 months.
I was able to salvage about 70 bags of milk, bags that showed no signs of defrosting.
I’m sure this story has bored most of you to no end (and I’m certain I lost a lot of readers at the first sentence). But for anyone who has had the pleasure of breastfeeding, I bet you feel my pain.
Contents of deep freezer, before removing any milk. 
I had to act quickly if I wanted to salvage any of the milk. I was launching bags of milk into this giant cooler and giant tupperware container – anything that appeared even remotely thawed. I knew I needed to empty the freezer quickly, so that whatever milk was still frozen would be kept frozen more efficiently.
And here's what is left, 4 shoeboxes full of milk. It is about 70 bags. Honestly, I should be happy with that. Some people aren't even blessed enough to collect that much milk.Thursday, November 19, 2009
Rock 'n' Roller
After a morning pit stop to Walmart and work, Caleb and I headed home for lunch and for the real day's fun to begin. As part of our Grand Finale Week series of new and exciting activities, we decided to form a three-man Elvis cover band. I acted as band manager in this adventure.
I hired all the artists for the group. Here we have Spencer the Sweet Potato, Caleb the Frontman, and Blue Elephant.
Caleb is by far the most talented of the band's members, no offense to his plush friends.
I am calling this instrument a tambourine, though it is more of a baby rattle/teether/porthole through which to view Caleb's face.
Here Caleb is equipped with his rattle, maraca, and tambourine.
Now the fun begins. The band is jamming to "All Shook Up."
Caleb was super pleased to find out that he was musically inclined.
This was also our first time ever playing with a rattle. Caleb was thrilled with this little instrument.
....as is more evident in the above photo.
Then we discovered Caleb's little tikes grand piano. First he just stared at it.
Then we began playing "Jailhouse Rock." Caleb went to town on the piano keys.
You can imagine how pleased I was that he showed interest in the piano. His mimi, mom, and dad all three played piano growing up (though I REALLY hated practicing).
As if on cue, and as the three-piece band was wrapping up their show with a somber rendition of "Love Me Tender," Caleb put the rattle to his mouth to announce sleepiness. Naptime had arrived.
I hired all the artists for the group. Here we have Spencer the Sweet Potato, Caleb the Frontman, and Blue Elephant.
Caleb is by far the most talented of the band's members, no offense to his plush friends.
I am calling this instrument a tambourine, though it is more of a baby rattle/teether/porthole through which to view Caleb's face.
Here Caleb is equipped with his rattle, maraca, and tambourine.
Now the fun begins. The band is jamming to "All Shook Up."
Caleb was super pleased to find out that he was musically inclined.
This was also our first time ever playing with a rattle. Caleb was thrilled with this little instrument.
....as is more evident in the above photo.
Then we discovered Caleb's little tikes grand piano. First he just stared at it.
Then we began playing "Jailhouse Rock." Caleb went to town on the piano keys.
You can imagine how pleased I was that he showed interest in the piano. His mimi, mom, and dad all three played piano growing up (though I REALLY hated practicing).
As if on cue, and as the three-piece band was wrapping up their show with a somber rendition of "Love Me Tender," Caleb put the rattle to his mouth to announce sleepiness. Naptime had arrived.
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