She also loves to smile in her sleep (I think she inherited Brad's crooked smile :).
spinach and artichoke pan pizza
3 days ago
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Sweet Dreams
Today Ella is 3 weeks old and to celebrate she had a little bit of a rough morning this morning. It took her 2 hours to remember how to eat and finally fall asleep. But, it's all worth it to see how peaceful she looks when she's asleep. She loves to have her arms above her head or her hands close to her facce when she sleeps.
She also loves to smile in her sleep (I think she inherited Brad's crooked smile :).
She also loves to smile in her sleep (I think she inherited Brad's crooked smile :).
Monday, February 23, 2009
We're Not in Phoenix Anymore
Ever since we moved to northern Idaho a year ago, I continue to be amused at how different it is from life in the big city. I love it, and thought I'd make a list of some of the funnier differences. This is my " you know you're in Idaho when..." list:
1. You go to the one gym in town to play racquet ball and all the guys are sitting around drinking cans of Kokanee beer outside the courts between games.
2. It's perfectly acceptable to take your baby to the bar (even if it's a party with all guys).
3. You see a dead deer on the side of the road on the way back from skiing and your friend goes back with his pickup to take it home for dinner.
4. You are asked at the hospital if you have electricity and running water to take the baby home to.
5. Your co-worker builds cannons as a hobby and shoots them off in the parking lot at work for fun.
6. EVERYONE carries a gun just about everywhere. They talked about banning them at the library but someone complained that it was unconstitutional so they are still allowed.
These are just the amusing stories, I also have a list of stories about how you'll wind up friends with the checkers at the places you shop and how it's very likely you'll run into someone you know every time you go out and how people will go out of their way to help a perfect stranger. It's very different from Phoenix, but I like it.
1. You go to the one gym in town to play racquet ball and all the guys are sitting around drinking cans of Kokanee beer outside the courts between games.
2. It's perfectly acceptable to take your baby to the bar (even if it's a party with all guys).
3. You see a dead deer on the side of the road on the way back from skiing and your friend goes back with his pickup to take it home for dinner.
4. You are asked at the hospital if you have electricity and running water to take the baby home to.
5. Your co-worker builds cannons as a hobby and shoots them off in the parking lot at work for fun.
6. EVERYONE carries a gun just about everywhere. They talked about banning them at the library but someone complained that it was unconstitutional so they are still allowed.
These are just the amusing stories, I also have a list of stories about how you'll wind up friends with the checkers at the places you shop and how it's very likely you'll run into someone you know every time you go out and how people will go out of their way to help a perfect stranger. It's very different from Phoenix, but I like it.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Where Does It Go
Before I had Ella, I always wondered what makes moms so busy at home and no one has ever been able to explain it to me. Now that I'm on the other side, I also find myself busy but accomplishing nothing in particular. Of my waking time, I think about 1/3 of it is spent feeding her and putting her to sleep. Hopefully that will improve in the coming weeks and months though. Another 1/3 is spent cleaning up and doing laundry. I had no idea what a mess babies make. I feel like both of us are constantly covered in milk, spit up and poop or pee.
I have a story that illustrates this point. The night before her one week birthday, she lost her belly button cord. So, the next day I decided to take an herbal bath with her to celebrate. Everything was going great and she really enjoyed it, so much in fact that she decided to poop in the water. I was home alone since my mom had left that morning and Brad's mom hadn't arrived yet. So, I drained the water and rinsed her off, and by that time she was crying pretty good. I had no idea what to do as I stood in the middle of the bathroom, covered in poopy water with a crying baby and milk streaming half way across the room. I ended up calling Brad and he came home for lunch and watched her while I cleaned up. I decided I won't be taking any more baths with her while I'm home alone.
I think incidents like this are what take up most of my time. Hopefully, I'll figure out how to prevent stuff like this now that I know what she's capable of :)
I have a story that illustrates this point. The night before her one week birthday, she lost her belly button cord. So, the next day I decided to take an herbal bath with her to celebrate. Everything was going great and she really enjoyed it, so much in fact that she decided to poop in the water. I was home alone since my mom had left that morning and Brad's mom hadn't arrived yet. So, I drained the water and rinsed her off, and by that time she was crying pretty good. I had no idea what to do as I stood in the middle of the bathroom, covered in poopy water with a crying baby and milk streaming half way across the room. I ended up calling Brad and he came home for lunch and watched her while I cleaned up. I decided I won't be taking any more baths with her while I'm home alone.
I think incidents like this are what take up most of my time. Hopefully, I'll figure out how to prevent stuff like this now that I know what she's capable of :)
Friday, February 20, 2009
Expectations
For the past 15 years or so, I've been hearing people's thoughts on what parenthood is like so I had managed to form some idea in my head of what to expect. For the most part it's been pretty close although there have been a few surprises and I'm sure there will be more to come.
Starting with pregnancy, it was way better than I expected. I was really lucky and didn't have any morning sickness and never got really uncomfortable at the end (even though I was huge). Overall, I had a really good time being pregnant. As for labor, it's hard to say whether it hurt more or less than I expected because it's really hard to image what it will feel like. Even now, looking back I've already started to forget what it felt like (I'm sure Brad could remind me though). I guess the part I didn't expect was how long the pushing would take. My face looked like I just fought Mike Tyson when I was finished. I also did not expect to need my mother as much as I did. It was so nice to have her at the delivery and to have her help afterward.
As for being a mother, it was not something that hit me all at once. It was really fun to meet her for the first time, but I've grown to love her more and more each day. I think the thing that surprised me most was that I am still the same person. I didn't turn into all the mothers who I've talked to. For now, I'm just me with another person to love and take care of.
The biggest physical thing I didn't expect was how hard breastfeeding is. People tried to warn me, but it was hard to imagine how difficult it could be (both mentally and physically). I had sooo much milk that Ella couldn't keep up which ended up in a breast infection with a 102 deg fever. It's going much better now although she still has a hard time latching on. Sometimes I get frustrated with her for taking so long to figure it out and then she'll let out a big toot and then I feel bad because it was just her tummy that hurt. I guess that's my first lesson she's taught me, you never know what other people are going through.
Lastly, is my expectations about how Brad would react. I kind of figured he would be a little more of a concerned parent than me and that he would try to get out of changing diapers, both of which he has done. I don't mean this in a bad way, but what I didn't expect was how tender and patient he would be. He has been so nice to both of us and hasn't complained at all about the lack of sleep and other inconveniences. I have such a great husband!
Starting with pregnancy, it was way better than I expected. I was really lucky and didn't have any morning sickness and never got really uncomfortable at the end (even though I was huge). Overall, I had a really good time being pregnant. As for labor, it's hard to say whether it hurt more or less than I expected because it's really hard to image what it will feel like. Even now, looking back I've already started to forget what it felt like (I'm sure Brad could remind me though). I guess the part I didn't expect was how long the pushing would take. My face looked like I just fought Mike Tyson when I was finished. I also did not expect to need my mother as much as I did. It was so nice to have her at the delivery and to have her help afterward.
As for being a mother, it was not something that hit me all at once. It was really fun to meet her for the first time, but I've grown to love her more and more each day. I think the thing that surprised me most was that I am still the same person. I didn't turn into all the mothers who I've talked to. For now, I'm just me with another person to love and take care of.
The biggest physical thing I didn't expect was how hard breastfeeding is. People tried to warn me, but it was hard to imagine how difficult it could be (both mentally and physically). I had sooo much milk that Ella couldn't keep up which ended up in a breast infection with a 102 deg fever. It's going much better now although she still has a hard time latching on. Sometimes I get frustrated with her for taking so long to figure it out and then she'll let out a big toot and then I feel bad because it was just her tummy that hurt. I guess that's my first lesson she's taught me, you never know what other people are going through.
Lastly, is my expectations about how Brad would react. I kind of figured he would be a little more of a concerned parent than me and that he would try to get out of changing diapers, both of which he has done. I don't mean this in a bad way, but what I didn't expect was how tender and patient he would be. He has been so nice to both of us and hasn't complained at all about the lack of sleep and other inconveniences. I have such a great husband!
Thursday, February 19, 2009
To Do List
I thought I'd write down everything I'd like to do while I'm off for the next 10 weeks. Maybe making them public will help me accomplish a few of them.
1. Pray and read my Bible every day
2. Relax and hold Ella
3. Read "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand
4. Read "Democracy in America" by Alexis De Tocqueville
5. Read "The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment" by Jeremiah Burrows
6. Consistently update blog
7. Keep up with Ella's baby book
8. Memorize the first 2 chapters of Philippians
9. Make a book summarizing our 2008
10. Finish researching client software for the Crisis Pregnancy Center and make recommendation
11. Find a good arrangement for Ella for when I return to work
12. Organize my socks and underware
13. Make my bed every day (I know, I'm a little old to not make my bed)
1. Pray and read my Bible every day
2. Relax and hold Ella
3. Read "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand
4. Read "Democracy in America" by Alexis De Tocqueville
5. Read "The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment" by Jeremiah Burrows
6. Consistently update blog
7. Keep up with Ella's baby book
8. Memorize the first 2 chapters of Philippians
9. Make a book summarizing our 2008
10. Finish researching client software for the Crisis Pregnancy Center and make recommendation
11. Find a good arrangement for Ella for when I return to work
12. Organize my socks and underware
13. Make my bed every day (I know, I'm a little old to not make my bed)
My First Post
I've been meaning to start a blog for a while now, but have been too scared that I won't keep it up. I figured what better time to start than when I have 12 weeks off of work to take care of little Ella. Plus, if I start writing my thoughts and events down for perfect strangers to read, it must make me a little less crazy than talking to myself. So here goes, I have some ideas of posts I want to write, mainly thoughts about being a new mom and life in Idaho (before I forget them). I promise to post pictures and news too.
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