Because you can only blame pregnancy so long

Well, that time has come. The time where it's beginning to be a stretch to blame my flabbiness on the pregnancy. I mean, I've been not pregnant for almost 6 months now.

I think I've taken that excuse about as far as I can! But, in all honesty, you can't go from this...

to beach body without some effort.

So, a workout started about two weeks ago. And my legs hurt. And my knees hurt. And my entire body hurts, especially when I pick up my increasingly large child. But, boy does it feel good to put my body through difficulty again and to feel myself getting stronger and my endurance growing. I'm starting back running along with some circuit training. I'm tempted to sign up for a 10k at the end of March here in town. But, the route's really hilly, and quite frankly, I'm scared. I think I'll just play it by ear (aka, I'll wuss out and not sign up while pretending that there's still a chance!).

Goodbye preggo body. I won't miss you at all, but I'll be happy to see you again someday nonetheless. Without you, I wouldn't get to kiss on this baby every night...

3 Months (What?!?!)

I can’t believe my baby is three months old. Where on earth does the time go? It seems like just yesterday we were heading to the hospital in the middle of the night and bringing our baby home with clueless looks on our faces! How far we’ve come and how much we’ve learned since then. Now, life is back to a routine. Get up, feed baby, get ready, get baby ready, take baby to daycare, go to work, go home, feed baby, play with baby, wash bottles, make bottles for tomorrow, put baby to sleep, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat… But, that’s ok because I’m the type of person who thrives on routine.

It’s unbelievable how fast babies grow. I find myself sitting there, holding her, and being sad because I know I’m not going to remember all of the little milestones that she reaches each and every week. I’m weird like that. I just know that I’ll turn around and she’ll be five, ten, twenty, working, married, having kids of her own. It hurts my heart to think about it. Because she’ll be old, but what’s even more frightening is I’ll be REALLY old.

She’s doing SO well. She’s sleeping great, which is a tremendous relief! She’s finally starting to eat a little better. She’s a bit of a shrimp. At her 2 month checkup, she was in the 20^th percentile for weight. Neither of her parents are remotely petite, but maybe she will be. Who knows…sometimes I still wonder if they somehow switched her with our real baby at the hospital! From the way my Mom describes me as a young baby, I felt certain that I was gonna get the ultimate payback with a terrible baby. But, I’ve got exactly the opposite. She’s so easy…the type of baby that gives you the wrong impression about what parenthood is usually like.

She’s finally starting to notice the dogs. Charlie loves the baby and is usually trying to find a way to lick her. Now, Payton will smile at Charlie when she licks her hands. It’s really sweet. Champ is a little less interested, but he’s definitely making sure things stay under control and no one sketchy gets near the baby.

Everyone thinks that Payton is a boy. She has so much hair, and I usually have her dressed in green or yellow rather than pink. So, the typical question is “How old is he?”. It makes me laugh because people get so uncomfortable when I tell them it’s a girl…like I’m going to be offended in some way!

She started laughing outloud for the first time a few days ago. I would put the video up if I weren’t mortally opposed to people hearing my annoying baby voice. But, when your kid is laughing for the first time, you’ll do whatever necessary to keep them doing it so that you can get a video.

At the rate I’m going, she’ll be 6 months old before my next blog post…yikes! I’m going to make a big effort to do better. Say some prayers for us. We’re leaving in the morning to spend Thanksgiving in North Carolina. It’s a 6 hour drive, and her longest ride up to this point is an hour and a half. Six hours in the car with an infant, two dogs, and half the house…should be interesting!! With any luck, she’ll sleep most of the way.

The Tuesday that Changed My Life

I’ve always considered Tuesday to be the most unremarkable day of the week. I mean, Monday is known for being the most hated day, Wednesday is hump day, Thursday and Friday are exciting because the weekend is on the way, and Saturday and Sunday are the favorite days since they are the weekend. Poor little Tuesday just seems to get lost in the mix. That was until Tuesday, August 10, 2010 when my sweet daughter was born.

The doctor planned to induce me on Tuesday morning at 7:00 a.m., but the baby had other plans. My water broke at 10:30 on Monday night, and after laboring through the night, she was born at 9:23 on Tuesday morning. Now, Tuesday is the day that I get to say, she’s 2 weeks old, 4 weeks old, 6 weeks, old, etc. And, this past Tuesday, she was just that…6 weeks old. It’s so hard to believe! In one way, it seems like she’s been around forever, but in another, I can’t imagine that it’s been 6 weeks since she came into this world!

Motherhood is both the easiest and the most difficult thing that I’ve ever done! It’s amazing how easily the nurturing aspect of motherhood comes. Taking care of her is just so natural to me, and I’ve never been a particularly nurturing person. Thankfully, we’re through the worst part of having a newborn baby. We’ve been through the process of getting her days and nights straightened out. That was tough! And, we’ve figured out what gives her gas, which bottles she prefers, which diapers fit best, how to dress her, how she likes to be bathed and cuddled, etc. There’s a lot to figure out! Don’t get me wrong, I’m still a nervous wreck half the time. I still wake up in the middle of the night and go to her cradle to be sure she’s still breathing…I wonder when that goes away – when I’ll no longer worry that she’s just going to suddenly stop breathing. The love that you feel for a child is so great that it’s frightening!

In the last couple of weeks, she’s starting smiling in response to us, and let me just say, having her smile at me is the most rewarding thing that I’ve ever experienced. That makes all the annoyance and pain of pregnancy, labor & delivery, and sleepless nights with a crying baby fade away. She’s changing so much from day to day and week to week. It’s just amazing to watch her grow and change, and I consider being her mother to be the greatest privilege of my life.

Friday and Saturday nights are much different than they used to be! Now they’re filled with bottle feeding, diaper changing, rocking, and playing with a baby. I guess I’ve entered a new phase in my life. And, as worried as I was, I don’t miss the old way one bit - ok, I might miss it just a tiny bit. But, this new phase is much more rewarding. And, my kid is pretty cool if I do say so myself, so partying with her on the weekends is just fine by me!

The dogs are adjusting well. At first, they just ignored her, but now they are really interested in her. They’re constantly smelling her or licking her hands and feet (we won’t let them lick her face or they would lick that too!). When they come in from outside, the first thing that they do is find the baby and check on her. It’s really sweet. And, they’re very protective. They’re a lot more growly now with anyone who drops by that they don’t know. So, we’re all settling into babyhood well. The dogs and I have both enjoyed Maternity leave. They’ve gotten spoiled with having me home during the day, and I’ve gotten spoiled with being around all three of my babies all day everyday. I’m dreading going back to work in a couple of weeks, but I know it must happen. So, we may as well get on with it!

In other news, today is my 6^th Anniversary. There won’t be much excitement with a newborn baby, but we’ll enjoy a nice evening at home with the whole family. Sometimes I can’t believe that I’ve been married almost 6 years, and I’m someone’s mother. Where does the time go?? I still feel like I’ve been out of high school for just a couple of years although it’s been well more than a couple! So, to make a short story really long, life is good, baby is good, Motherhood is good, dogs are good. We are truly blessed!

Brand New Baby Girl

Dealing with our jaundice issues

Sweet Baby Face

Keep away from my baby

Mom said not to lay too close

Sectional Sofas provide the perfect corner for a photo op (And, yes, the blue line means she has a wet diaper, but I really needed to get this shot first!)

Daddy and Me in our Blue (I love these two!!)

Waiting...

Well, for the past couple of weeks, I've just been waiting on the baby to decide she's ready to come into this world. And, I've been about to lose my mind. Today, I found out that they'll induce me tomorrow morning, which has really got me thinking and a little nervous. Something that has never seemed all that real to me (despite the enormous belly) is suddenly very real. Today, I'm just another 30 year old career woman with all your typical worries and stresses in life, but tomorrow, I'll be someone's mother. So much responsibility, and it makes all the other responsibilities seem so unimportant.

I can't wait to meet my little girl and make certain that she's healthy. We elected not to do the genetic testing, which I still think was the right decision. But, on the eve of her birth, I'm anxious to see that she's healthy. I'm already weepy, so I'm also a little anxious about this whole post-partum thing. Hopefully, I won't have the baby blues too badly.

It's been a long time since I've stepped into the unknown, and I'm not sure anything in my life has ever been more unknown than this. Will I be able to balance motherhood and work? Will I still have enough time with my dogs so that they don't feel neglected? Will I still be able to do fun things occasionally? So many things that I'm unsure about, but I'm very excited to find out.

I can't wait to meet my baby and start my new life...it's unlikely that I'll get much sleep tonight. Tomorrow feels like the first day of school. So, here goes nothing...

This Could Require a New Blog Title

Where on earth have I been for the last few months? Well, generally, I’ve been hibernating like I do most winters – eating, sleeping, staying warm, etc… Oh, and growing a baby.

That’s right! Champ and Charlie are getting a little sister who’s going to completely turn their world upside down! But, we’re hoping that they’ll love her in spite of that. She’s due in August, which can’t get here fast enough as far as I’m concerned. We’ve barely hit 90 degrees, and I’m burning up! But, I can’t complain. I’ve had the easiest pregnancy that I could imagine so far. I’m sure that in 3 more months, I’ll be very ready to not share my body with her.

Pregnancy has definitely been interesting for me. To be honest, it took me a little while to warm up to the idea. It wasn’t instant elation for me. Not that I wasn’t excited…just a little stunned. And, then I felt bad because I thought I wasn’t happy enough about it. I’ve had more than a few of those melt down moments where I think, “WHAT HAVE I DONE???? My life is completely over!” But, I know that the instant I hold her for the first time, every one of those thoughts will be forgotten because I will be beginning a new, more fulfilling chapter of life.

So, I guess you could say that I’m apprehensive and excited at the same time about becoming a Mom. Luckily, I have a super helpful and involved partner that will help me get through the stressful times and enjoy the happy times!

She's so active now, and she wakes up every morning at 5:00...an early riser just like her Mom! She either loves boat rides and swings, or she hates them. She really goes nuts in both of those situations. She's definitely gotten big enough to have a major impact on my body. She has a special love for standing on top of my bladder. One second, I feel fine, and the next, I'll swear I'm about to wet my pants. My body is no longer my own! I know we're in for a wild ride, and we absolutely can't wait to meet her!

In other news, we just found out that Charlie has to have knee surgery! Poor baby has a partially torn ligament that's causing some damage to her knee. I've been walking a lot since I found out I'm pregnant and taking the dogs with me. Unfortunately, I think all the extra walking is part of her problem. It's not urgent that the surgery happen immediately, but the doctor thinks she'll need the surgery within the year. The bad part is that the surgery is followed up with several weeks of kennel confinement. We're really not looking forward to it, but we'll be so happy when she's healthy again so that she can walk and play as much as she wants. We'll have to sacrifice on our daughter's education to afford the surgery, but that's ok. The doggies will always be our first children...nothing but the best for them!

One Week of Relaxation

The end of September marked my fifth wedding anniversary, which is just impossible for me to wrap my mind around! Each and every year, as our anniversary approaches, we discuss all the wonderful places that we'd like to go. And, each year, because we discuss such big plans, we decide at the last minute that there's just no time to plan, we probably can't get boarding for the dogs, it's just really not a good time at work, it would be SO expensive, and blah, blah, blah... You get the picture. So, every year since our honeymoon, we've decided to be content with a nice dinner out, but next year, boy oh boy, we're going on the BEST trip ever! And we did that for years 1,2,3,&4. I guess sometime after our last failed trip, we finally realized that we were trying to plan something too big.

This year, we decided to plan a beach trip to our old favorite, Fernandina Beach. I mean, it's only taken five years for me to realize that it's not where you go or how nice the accomodations are (within reason, of course!) but who you spend it with. And, in my case, the company was top notch. We were able to find a house that allowed dogs, so the entire family got to celebrate together...it just wouldn't seem right any other way!

It was so nice to relax with Joe and the dogs and reflect on the past five years. We've matured so much over the past several years. It's just hard to imagine that we were that newlywed couple five years ago without a clue! Since then, we've been through the divorce of parents, the death of a parent, and parents moving hours away. It's really been a trying few years, but the hardships have brought us closer together and taught us how to depend on one another. And, I guess when you get right down to it, that's what marriage is about...someone that you can depend on to be on your side no matter what happens.

I must say that the trip was worth the wait. We had an absolute blast. The dogs love the beach, and they haven't been in several years. We so enjoyed watching them play in the ocean. That alone was worth the trip. This trip was the first full week that I've had off work (except for maybe at Christmas one year) since my honeymoon...I don't think I realized that until just now, and I'm completely depressed! So, it took me about 2 or 3 days to just relax and stop worrying about what was going on at work, but come day 4, I was completely relaxed and stress-free. And, it's been equally as hard to get back into the swing of things. All that playing on the beach has made for some tired pups!

Charlie is very TIRED!

Champ chased the tennis ball until he dropped!

I feel so blessed to have a good job, a healthy marriage, dogs that I love, and the means to go on vacation every once in a while!

Just some things I wonder about

1. I have periods of time where I see all kinds of clothing in the road. And, I find this rather perplexing. A random shoe here, a sweatshirt there, a sports cap, etc… Where are these items coming from???? Why are there clothes in the road?? It really bothers me, in case you can’t tell. I, of course, have to develop theories of how the clothes got there. Perhaps these are clothes that were used to commit a crime and the perp is trying to distribute different articles of evidence all over town to avoid being connected to the crime. Maybe that sweatshirt I saw was one of the infamous “hoodies” that I read about in every robbery report. Then, there’s always the possibility that someone put their gym clothes on the roof of their car while unlocking the door, forgot about the clothes, and drove away, distributing articles of their clothing all over town. Maybe some scorned woman was angry with her significant other, sees that he left a pair of shoes in her car and decides on a whim to just chuck them out the window. Maybe someone was driving a convertible and that hat just blew right off their head. I find these thoughts most entertaining on a run. I might see an article of clothing at mile one, and literally, I can occupy my brain thinking about possibilities for the next ten minutes. Anything to get my mind off of the pain! This is just a small peak into the thoughts that are constantly going through my mind…it’s exhausting!

2. Is there a special class that bums take to help them select individuals who might actually give them money? If I’m in a group of people that is approached by a bum, I think 99 out of 100 times, I’ll be the one approached. I guess I must have a look of shear panic on my face that gives it away every time. The last man who approached me told me all about how he didn’t live downtown…he was just downtown visiting his friends. His friends happen to live downtown in some Section 8 housing that is smack-dab in the middle of the restaurants and bars that people frequent in the downtown area. All he wanted was $1.25 to (and I quote) “catch the bus, and get the f&*k out from down here.” His name was Paul, and Paul had obviously been drinking for some time. After further conversation, I was able to determine that he was downtown visiting his friends only because he’d been to see his probation officer earlier in the day, and she wasn’t there. So, he just had to sign his name indicating that he had been there. With a few hours to kill, what else would you do but drive 30 miles to hang out and drink with your friends? I totally understood where Paul was coming from…it really was his probation officer’s fault for not being there. He also gestured wildly when he was talking, and I kept thinking he was going to touch my boobs with one of his wild gestures (he was coming remarkably close!). So, I’m guessing the angle at which I was leaning during our conversation probably made for an interesting view from all of the bystanders.

3. Do gynecologists get together to discuss ways to make the yearly physical more humiliating? I’m not sure if you’re one of the lucky ones who gets an actual gown, but I am not. I get a “blanket” that is essentially made out of Kleenex material to go over me from the waist down, and a separate cloth that is roughly 8”x14” to cover my chest. Not only that, they give no instruction about what’s supposed to go where, so I never know if I’m using the cloths appropriately or if they’re secretly laughing at me after I leave! I feel like they should teach a class on the appropriate use of the cloths. And, if you’re well endowed in the breast department, I know it must be difficult because the chest cloth barely covers me, and I am the opposite of well endowed in that area! I feel like I might as well go fully nude with no covering and avoid the anxiety that comes with trying to cover myself with the inadequate materials provided.