Foto Friday

Wow that is a lame title.

"Yeah, I'm awesome."

Baby E feels the news is
best literally consumed.



Double chin...crazy hair...what's not to love?

Stay-at-Home Mom

This is both easier and harder than I thought it would be. I have lots of time to read now. But it's never really my time - I'm ready to jump up at the slightest cry from the nursery, if only to creep to the door and listen, hoping Baby E will drift back off to sleep. I read as I nurse her, which can be anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, but half the time she seems to want me to hold her close to me, which takes both hands.

I have time to cook now, which I love, love, love. That was one of the things I hated about my job - I came home so tired, too tired to cook. Yesterday I made blueberry muffins, and halfway through Baby E started crying. "Ten more minutes is all I need!" I called out to her. She was in her bouncy seat on the kitchen table. I scooped the batter into the muffin tin, turned to look at her. She had fallen asleep. (Dh woke her up 15 minutes later by giving her an "I'm home" kiss. He'll never make that mistake again! Ha ha)

Our house is neater, not necessarily cleaner. Ha ha What can I say? Um...this is only my second week on my own! I'm still getting my footing! Ha. The reality is, having a SUPER clean house is not really high on my priority list, and fortunately it's even lower on Dh's. He's way more thrilled about dinner on the table. I'd much rather peruse Atlantic Monthly or National Review (thanks, public library!) than make sure my entryway is immaculately swept. But I do keep a clean kitchen. That, I am pretty anal about.

I really am on call 24/7. I had kind of figured before she was born that's how it would be, but I couldn't really conceptualize what that meant. There's no, "I'm taking lunch now, see ya in an hour, Baby E." Sometimes lunch doesn't happen for me until 3 pm, and that's just how it is. (Of course it's different on the weekends, because Dh helps me - I'm just talking about weekdays here.) There's no guaranteed break, when I can be absolutely sure of twenty uninterrupted minutes. I get twenty minutes or more all the time, but it's completely erratic. This is why I often find myself counting down until Dh gets home from work, because then I know I can really take some time. Not because I don't enjoy this.

I love being home with the baby. I am so grateful for this opportunity. Every time Baby E smiles at me, ah, I don't even have the words for this. I'm not some skilled writer. I love it. It's a completely overwhelming feeling. She has started trying to talk, started cooing, and it's so freaking adorable, and sweet. My favorite thing right now is when she smiles at me, to get me to smile at her. I'm sitting here grinning like an idiot just thinking about it.

Dh is jealous, he misses her, doesn't get to spend much time with her. He works until 7:30 pm and gets home just in time to put her to bed. She smiles at me so much, and coos, and she doesn't do that so much for him. I'm sad that it's that way, but I am the one at home with her, so I can't say it doesn't make perfect sense. I know he kind of wishes we could keep her up late, so he could see her, but um no! Because I am the one on night duty. Which I have to admit usually goes quite well since she only gets up once a night now. Her longest night stretch is usually 7 hours. God knows that I don't do so well with little sleep, so He took pity on me and sent me an easy baby. :)

I'm in My Underwear Yet Still Sweating

Baby E, normally a well-behaved baby, fussed off and on from 1-8 pm. Rude. I'm not complaining! But it is rude, you have to admit. It meant I got nothing done today. But since it was 99 degrees, my main goal for today was: Sit in Front of Portable Air Conditioner That Thank Goodness We Bought Just Before Baby E Arrived. Now that I think about, I actually accomplished today's goal. ALL afternoon. So yay me.

I brought Baby E in to the office this morning. It was weird to be back there. Nothing had changed. All "my" files were still in place on the shelves where I had stacked them. Kevin told me he realized I really was working all those hours I sat at that ugly desk. Which was nice to hear. I did not feel the need to inform him that I only mostly worked and sometimes was actually checking people's blogs. Ha ha



Baby E actually slept this way for like 10 minutes. Maybe she was dreaming she was an airplane. (And Dh looks like he's sporting a creepy mustache, but I swear he's not. It's the lighting. Or something. But that is a Goonies t-shirt.)

We had planned on going camping tonight. Psych! Or however you spell it. It is too freakin hot. I pictured myself nursing Baby E in the horrible heat and her fussing at 4 a.m. and all the other people in their tents cursing the retards who decided to take their infant camping. When Dh got home from work, I told him, "There is no way I'm camping with fussy Baby E when it is this freakin' hot!!!!" I live in western Oregon, people. I don't do heat.

Last night I dreamt that I had to help everyone in India, and I was very frustrated because as you know there are over a billion people in India, and the first day I only helped five.

6 Weeks

Baby E is 6 weeks old today. It is a bittersweet day because it's the last day of Dh's paternity leave. Tomorrow it's back to the grind for him. We are going to miss him very much! He works almost until Baby E's bedtime! Fortunately he is able to come home sometimes for lunch, and only works 4 days a week, so hopefully she won't forget who he is! Ha ha

I have to admit though, I'm kind of excited to officially start as a stay-at-home mom. I'm looking forward to getting into a steady routine with Baby E (I have been trying, but someone (Dh) kept wanting to jaunt around all the time!) And I'm really looking forward to having a cleaner house!

Baby E is Very MAD Daddy is Going Back to Work


As proof that God hears and answers prayers, Baby E has been sleeping 6-7 hours at a stretch at night. She goes down around 9, sleeps until 3 or 4, and then after an early morning meal, sleeps for 3-4 more hours!! And makes her momma sooooo happy! She is getting better at napping and doesn't fight it so much anymore. And better sleep means happy baby!

That smile was hard to capture! She has been smiling at me for about 2 weeks now, and finally FINALLY started smiling at Dh this past week! I'm so glad; I was really hoping she would start smiling before he went back to work. At first I was lucky if I got a smile a day, but she is starting to bust 'em out a lot more often, and I LOVE it!!!!

Baby E Busts Out the Boo-Boo Lip, Which Makes Her Parents Laugh and Then Cuddle Her

Reviews in Brief

I read two books this past month. Yeah, I'm amazing. Ha ha

The Happiest Baby on the Block by Harvery Karp, MD.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. It's geared toward parents of babies with colic (which Baby E does not have), but the 5 S's of calming a baby have proven so incredibly useful. And the new burping technique has saved us countless hours. Since Baby E IS a gassy little girl.

The Husband by Dean Koontz.
Yeah, I know, Dean Koontz. Stop rolling your eyes! I know his writing is horrible and his metaphors make me laugh out loud they are so bad, but the story itself is good. I even got Dh to read this one. He's almost done with it! Try it. You'll like it. And it will only take three days max. I think I read it in four, and hi! I have a new baby, so you have no excuse.

Something New
An enjoyable if retarded chick flick. (Don't most chick flicks fall into this category?)

Oral Fixation Vol. 2 by Shakira.
Didn't get enough questionably rhyming lyrics in Laundry Service? Grab Oral Fixation Vol. 2 to get your fix! Ah, who cares? You don't listen to Shakira sing in English for the lyrics. It's for shaking your booty to!*


*Apparently, my own English is not so hot. Ending a sentence with a preposition. I know better than that.

Bath Time!

I promise that's not cold water we're spraying on her.

4 Weeks

It is simply unacceptable that it has been four weeks since Baby E arrived. Time is going WAY too fast and it makes me grouchy. Or is that due to the lack of sleep??? Yeah. Anyway, Baby E was blessed today and it went quite well. As the proud new mom, I would like to mention that when Dh held her up immediately afterwards (as is the tradition), there was a collective sigh from the congregation. She looked that cute.

My mom made the blessing gown. Yes, MADE it. I have to admit, I didn't know she was so good at sewing; the gown was absolutely beautiful.

Then Baby E had a meltdown in the car on the way home. Thank heaven the church is only 5 minutes away from our house, because I just hate it when she cries and there's nothing I can do to help her, i.e., whenever she cries in the car (which thankfully is not that often).

I am doing pretty well. Much better than last Sunday. That day, we had two guests, and neither was helping much (misunderstanding that was cleared up the very next day), and I was so sick of having people everywhere in my house. And yes, fine, there were definitely some hormones and exhaustion in the mix. So I went into the closet with a pillow and a burp cloth (for the tears) and had a cry. Luckily we have a large walk-in closet so there was plenty of room. Ha ha Dh found me there and insisted on a cuddle, and between the cry and the cuddle, I felt much better.

And now I'm feeling so much better. More confident in my abilities as a mother, better physically, and let's be honest, I'm glad all visitors are gone now. It's nice to have our house to ourselves again. So I can walk around half naked if I so desire! And don't have to nurse Baby E under a blanket! We get so sweaty when I have to do that.

Dh only has two weeks left of his paternity leave. I know, I should shut up because yes, I'm bloody lucky that he could take so much time off. And believe me, I am, because Baby E is shaping up to be a daddy's girl already. He can calm her faster than anyone. Except my boobs. Ha ha And he is an expert swaddler. And seeing him hold her and whisper, "It's okay, Daddy's here," makes me REALLY wish I already had the go-ahead on marital relations!!!!!