Girlie's Third Month

This month, she is happy to give big, gummy grins when we talk to her, smile at her, change her diaper, and especially when she first wakes in the mornings. She is making lots of new sounds and loves to hold little "conversations" with us. She is such a good baby! She only cries for feeding, when her diaper needs changing, or when she's tired. Though I might add, she really hates a wet diaper. She is a delight to take to different places. After spending the day at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens with her Daddy's Uncle Fred and Aunt Lee, Uncle Fred commented that even her cry is polite. She also did an excellent job at her first Braves baseball game! On Mother's Day this month, she met many of her Daddy's family, including her Great-Gramma. Her Aunt Shannon also came for a short visit near the end of the month. She is always so curious on our walks. They always end up putting her to sleep, but when she's awake, she is all eyes! She is still sleeping well. She's even found her thumb and can soothe herself to sleep (depending on her level of sleepiness) or back to sleep.

She found her thumb!

She's using those lips to make all kinds of fun noises!

Long legs!

So Expressive!

Girlie's Second Month

She smiled at us early this month. She also amazed us by sleeping through the night starting about halfway through the month. Her new sounds are like little squawks-a step away from a cry-but definitely communicative in a different way. She had a long conversation with her cousin, using those little squawks, while he made his big 5 month old boy noises. It was very cute! Her Aunt Erin and her friend, Sean, came for a long weekend to visit her earlier in the month. She has definitely stolen her Aunt Erin's heart! Her Gramma and David came to spend the weekend with her later in the month. She's the only girl out of 5 grand babies, so she currently holds that special spot on her Daddy's side of the family. She has grown more responsive and interactive. We love waking up in the mornings, propping her up on a pillow, and listening to all she has to say. We are often delighted to be greeted with her beautiful smile.

See How Our Garden Grows

The benefits of having a mild to nonexistent winter can be found in the garden. Though I'm sad we never were able to see our house blanketed by snow, I'm grateful that I am able to walk around the garden with our daughter.
The snapdragons I planted in the fall are prolific in their blooms. The pansies are still full of colorful blooms. The irises, which didn't bloom at all last year, are flourishing.

Girlie's First Month

Well, we have come through our first month together as a family with a newborn. Girlie is a delight, and we fall in love with her more and more each day. We are learning all the subtle nuances of parenting as well as all of her little cues. We've experienced many of our "firsts" (first car ride, first night home, first day home, first doctor's appointment, first sponge bath, first exploded diaper, first family outing, etc.) and have learned something from all of them. Here's to many more firsts with our beautiful first child, celebrating her first month of life!

The Beginnings of a Smile

Doctor Marathon Day

This Wednesday, I had an echocardiogram, a cardiologist appointment, an OB appointment, and an ultrasound to check on how well Girlie and I were progressing through the pregnancy. Fortunately, we were able to schedule all four of these appointments at the same hospital on the same day, which saved us from driving downtown several days this week. All the appointments went well. My heart looks much the same as it did at the beginning of pregnancy. Girlie weighs over 5lbs and is doing well. I'm doing well pregnancy wise. We were rewarded with a week of no doctor appointments. Yay! I'm still tired from our doctor marathon on Wednesday.
Here are three ultrasound pictures for you viewing pleasure:

Profile

Look at that cute little baby cheek!

Top Ten Things I Love About Pregnancy

10. Experiencing My Body's Many Changes
Pregnancy has been a special time to embrace my womanhood and motherhood and the body I have during this new phase of life. Body issues are so difficult to deal with, despite their apparent normalcy in our society. However, pregnancy has helped me to accept my body and all of these changes. No, I don't like the numbers on the scale ever increasing, but it's part of pregnancy and easier to accept. The acne, perspiration, stretch marks, etc. are all part of this wonderful event of creating a life. It's the most difficult favorite, but it's also pretty awesome, especially considering long term consequences like my state of mind. Hopefully, this little bit of acceptance and love that I am able to give to my growing, changing body will somehow positively effect Girlie's outlook on her body down the road.
9. Moodiness Is Understood
People readily expect and accept my emotions. At times, I have been horrified by my behavior, but, thankfully, people have gracefully accepted my apologies. Their acceptance of my moodiness has helped me to accept it. This acceptance has allowed me to be more aware of when emotions are coming. Now, I'm able to say things like, "I feel the need to cry and I don't know why." I've also been able to do things like take a nap or eat a snack to help ward off an emotional outburst. My, how I've grown. :)
8. Taking a Nap Everyday
I am one of those people that enjoys a nap. I tend to keep myself pretty busy and appreciate the times I can stop and rest. Also, my body will force a nap on me if necessary via migraines. Our pets are also very persuasive in the napping arena. Being pregnant makes napping all the more easy. I am tired more easily and a nap is seen as natural, necessary, healthy. Applying guilt or shame to being "so lazy" are a waste of energy, because naps have become necessary to avoid walking about like a zombie in the middle of the day. It's much healthier to look forward to my little daily naps and spending time cuddling with Benny and Jak.
7. Natural Lessons in Self-Care
I think it is so interesting that nature has it's own way of training a mother to take care of herself before her child is born. In the womb, Girlie doesn't eat when I eat; she eats when she needs to and takes whatever nutrients she needs. That means it's my job to supply my body with the nutrients I need. She doesn't need me to think about her in order to grow; she's doing that all by herself. It's amazing how the most important thing I do right now is taking care of myself. The better I eat, rest, relax, etc.; the healthier she will be. I think the same will apply once she is born. The better I take care of myself and meet my needs, the more I have to offer her as a mother.
6. Our Bradley Childbirth Classes
We are taking Bradley Childbirth classes to prepare ourselves for birth with the hope that we can have a natural childbirth, though compromises will likely be made due to my heart condition. We are learning so much about what to expect and how to be ready for it. It has been nice to step away from the drama around labor and birth that is so inherent in the media. We've been working together to train our bodies, minds, and emotions for this athletic event, including emergency situations. These classes have definitely brought us closer as a couple and given us more confidence that we will be able handle what is to come to the best of our abilities.
5. Imagining Who She Will Be
Will she have hair when she's born? Neither of us really had much, but they have already seen hair in an ultrasound. What color will it be? What color will her eyes be? Who will she look like? What will her personality be like? If she does any imitation of us, she'll be bossy and busy. All of her movements also indicate a busy baby. What kinds of things will she like? How will she get along with her cousins, especially N, who will be only about 4 months older? What kinds of things will she dream about? What will her ambitions be? How cute is she going to look in such-and-such outfit or when she makes a certain face? It's fun to imagine all the possibilities. It so exciting that soon some of these questions will be answered, and we will be here to support her as she changes and grows and becomes the person she is truly meant to be. I think just watching her grow is going to be fascinating, which is probably the school psychologist and teacher in me. The mother in me just wants to love her for who she is and do all I can to foster her growth and development.
4. The Love and Support of Family and Friends
We both feel so blessed during this time in our lives. So many people obviously love and support us, and we can so easily feel that emanating from them as they offer help, blessings, and enthusiasm during this time of great change in our lives.
3. Bonding With My Husband
Robert and I have known and loved each other since we were 16 years old. We haven't be a couple that entire time, but we have been through a lot together. This experience is somehow different, somehow more. We are planning for a huge change. We, of course, want the very best for our daughter. We are also so, so happy to be so close to welcoming her into our lives. With all this planning, wishing, learning, and experiencing her growing into an actual human being, how could we not be closer as a couple? It can be difficult, but it is a most beautiful time and a major milestone in our relationship and marriage.
2. Taking Baths
You would think this is kind of random in the ordering of things, especially with the sentiment involved in the previous three favorites. However, I just can't express how nice it is to slip into a nice warm tub with a good book and have so much weight (physically and metaphorically) lifted as soon as I'm in the water. Robert and I have decided that these nightly baths are crucial to my health right now. I get to literally, let go for a while and feel relaxed and ready for bed.
1. Feeling Her Move
I couldn't wait for it to happen. Robert and I would lie still for long stretches of time asking each other, "Was that her?" When I was sure it was her movements, I would stay in bed a little longer each morning just so I could feel those little movements a little longer. Even though her movements are bigger and more obvious now, I still love to sit and just experience them. Robert says he can always tell when she starts moving because of the way my face glows. It is truly a surreal experience to feel my daughter actually moving inside my body. Amazing!

Saying Goodbye to Our Alby Cat

Remembering Albert
He was my first cat, and such a delight. He loved to sit in my lap while I read, worked on curricula, or napped. We were devastated to see him go. Here are a few pictures from the early days.

September, 2006

Alby and Little Jak, October 2006

 

January, 2007

Our First Yule In Our New House

Last year was a big year for us: lots of changes and more "firsts" that all culminated in celebrating our first Yule in our very own house! Like 2010, when we celebrated our first Yule as a married couple, we bought a Fraser Fir tree from Whole Foods. We decided to put it in our upstairs nook, where we could see it outside and enjoy its fragrance wafting through the whole house.

Exterior View of Yule Tree

Interior View of Yule Tree

We had many new ornaments to decorate the tree with this year.

Knitted cap ornaments from Robert's maternal grandmother.

My Flower Fairy Collection

We were also fortunate to be able to decorate with Robert's late maternal grandmother's Santa collection.

Christmas Eve day, we spent with Robert's side of our family. We had lots of fun with our nephews and all the grown ups. I prepared a fruit platter, to complement his sister's wonderful brunch of homemade waffles, scrambled eggs,  and sausage.

Yummy Brunch!

Their dog, Mattie, in deep thought

Christmas night, Robert and I went out to the movies to see New Year's Eve. We returned home to some very cute and hungry animals.

Albert and Jak on the stairs, waiting to be fed and given much attention since we went to the movies without them.

We're enjoying an after movie snack of holiday ham. Benny and Jak wanted us to share.

Albert being cute.

It was the Tenth Day of Christmas that we finally built a fire in our new fire place. It was so cozy, especially with the decorations still on the mantel.

Benny enjoying the fire after a cold walk outside.

So Cozy!

Yay! Our first fire in our very own fireplace!