Merry Christmas!

Well the season is upon us! Hard to believe. But the presents are all wrapped and the baking is all done and we're just about to settle down to our Christmas dinner of smoked turkey, potato casserole, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, fresh-made rolls and a homemade apple pie. Ahh... tis the season to gain 5 lbs.... or more.

Kevin and I have just made a big purchase - we found an elliptical machine on craigslist (of course) that is going to help me lose the last 16 lbs of Natalie weight. This is all going to have to happen AFTER the New Year though, because I really have NO resolve at the moment - not with all of the yummy things to snack on. =0

Yesterday, December 23rd, Natalie was dedicated at church. It was a special day for all of us as my parents are in town for Christmas and Kevin's family was also able to witness the event. She had a melt-down before we left for church and right after the dedication, but she was as good as gold during the event... great job, Kid!

Natalie is growing up quicker than ever. Looking at pictures of her from the last time my parents were here I realize how little she used to be. Even though she's still little, she's developing right along. Here's a picture of her standing - just using me for balance.

I know next Christmas will be a completely different experience. For starters, the lower half of the Christmas trees will be bare. =)

Kevin and I feel so blessed to be surrounded by family this Christmas. We alternate Thanksgiving and Christmas with each set of parents and instead of going to KC this year for Christmas, my parents and sister offered to come here - so nice! We've had a good time seeking out fried pickles and french onion soup, making shrimp and scallop tortellini, shopping, making Christmas cookies and looking at Christmas lights. I love this time of year!!!

Laundry

You'd never guess that something so small could make so much laundry. But, alas, I've invested in a economy-sized tub of Oxy Clean to keep up with her blow-outs and spit ups. Ahhh... but isn't she just so cute?


The past few days have been busy ones for me. I guess I'm trying to keep up with the pace of my old life and its a bit impossible. Saturday I went scrapbooking for the day with a girlfriend of mine. It was a much needed time to focus on the ever-growing pile of pictures. I'm only a few months behind (knock on wood). After I get caught up, I've promised to go through all of my family's old photos that have been collecting dust in shoe boxes. To my moms credit, she did put SOME in photo albums. But once you get very far behind, its hard to keep up and many have found their home in a shoe box. Its been fun going through them with my family when we get together. Its lots of "remember when...?". Ahhh... which brings me to Christmas traditions. We never really had something we did EVERY single year, but I've always loved Christmas and tried to make it special. For those of you that don't know this about me, I've made it my goal to put a Christmas tree in every single room of the house. I haven't quite gotten there - still collecting trees - but I do have a fair amount of trees throughout the house. I think it makes it so festive. Its too bad that Christmas is only once a year. This year I feel like its come up so fast. I'm not even tired of Christmas songs like I usually am by this time. Maybe its because I can't really get out to shop (a lot of it is online this year) and therefore I haven't been inundated with "Rudolph" and "Jingle Bells". Its so hard to believe that Christmas is only two weeks away... I mean seriously! I haven't even STARTED composing a Christmas letter. Hmmm... Maybe it will be a New Years letter again.
Oh... so back to being busy. Sunday night I had a rather enjoyable girls night out with Kera and Melissa at BoneFish Grill. My pan-Asian salmon was spectacular and I thoroughly enjoyed the pear pomegranate mojito that I sipped on alongside it. Ahhh... being pregnant was great, but right now has many benefits too. =)
Then last night I went to a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) get together and sampled like 10 different homemade soups and breads. So yummy. I have to say that as much as I enjoy it, I, for some reason, still dont feel like I fit in quite yet. Nothing about the group - I just think I still have to remind myself that I'm really somebody's mother now. Ha!

I'll end this ramble with the following picture...which really doesn't require any introduction. Cheers!

Short and Sweet!

Ok... this is going to be short because it's late. However, I realize that we haven't posted any pictures of Natalie in a while and I thought they were a bit overdue. We got a new camera (another GREAT craigslist.org purchase) and have really enjoyed learning how to use it (its a digital SLR). I think it takes better pictures than our other camera (which we'll still use for movies...since its also a camcorder).

Anyway... I'll post more later, but I wanted to get these out there. Enjoy!

WE MADE IT!!

Last week we took our first plane ride with the kid in tow out to good ole Kansas City. She screamed all the way through the Baltimore airport and we were pretty concerned that it was going to be a L...O...N...G flight. Fortunately for us, all that screaming tuckered her right out and she was rather subdued the whole flight. We followed the advice about feeding her on the way up and on the way down so that her ears would pop. Whew... that might be our easiest flight with her ever!



During our stay out in Kansas, little Natalie got a cold. It was actually the first night out there. She's never been sick before, so I got rather beside myself and was calling our pediatrician and local pediatricians to see what they recommended. We decided to wait to take her in to the doctor and just give her saline drops to see if we could make her feel better. She did a lot of sleeping in her carseat, but all in all seemed to make out all right. In the course of her sickness, though, she managed to pass along her lovely symptoms to both Kevin and me. Kev got it worse than I did. Ah well what would the first official sickness be without it being a family affair? Now THAT'S one for the scrapbook (first booger!).

We had a terrific time in KC with all of the relatives. My grandparents (Mommo and Poppo) were there to see Natalie for the first time and my sister and uncle also made it. We ate a Thanksgiving meal and celebrated my grandmother and sister's birthday's. All in all it was a fabulous time and difficult to leave. I'm definitely wishing we were a little bit closer to my family right now. It would be nice if it were a bit more manageable driving distance (20+ hours is a bit much). We could just opt to get rid of all of the states in between... who needs Kentucky and West Virginia anyway???



Can't wait to see the fam again at Christmas.

Happy 2 Months, Kid.

Well, it's crazy but I'm already feeling like we've lost a few opportunities with her. "What?!?!" you ask. She IS only 2 months old after all. Well the procrastinator that I am, I didnt get a foot print when she was just born for my scrapbook. Granted her little foot is still just that... little, but not as little as it was.

And then there's the feeling of holding her when she WAS just 5 lbs. Perhaps it was that I was just constantly tired when she was that size, but I'm having trouble remembering now and that makes me sad. Yes, she probably hasn't hit 10 lbs yet, but its different now. Good, mind you, but different.

I've found myself over the years wishing that we could take snapshots of moments (favorite vacations, extended hugs with loved ones, snuggling with a new baby) and put them in a box to be enjoyed later. This would be kind of like a picture album, but I would want to capture the feeling that all my senses are experiencing. Unfortunately I'm just not that good at remembering all of those things myself. It seems like memories become muted representations of what I was truly feeling during those special times. And I KNOW there have been times when I've thought "I want to remember this moment forever" and I can't remember where I was or why it was significant anymore.

If it weren't for the whole Big Brother thing, I think it would be interesting if life were kind of like that movie Final Cut. Now I'm not all that good at remembering whether movies have scandalous scenes in them so don't go watching it with your kids because I'm blogging about it. But the gist is that its the future and you can get a microchip planted in your kids brain if you're rich to record everything that they see. Then when they die some person takes the contents of the chip and makes a movie about them to be seen at there funeral. Ok, I'd like to see the movie before my funeral, but I think it would be a REALLY interesting concept. How many memories of mine have I altered in my head because I was affected a little negatively by someone or something? How many events have I forgotten? And how many memories have I simply made up? (Yeah, I didn't know that contrived memories existed until a few years ago.)

Anyway... this is getting long. I guess I just wish in some ways that I remembered more. I guess it makes me good at living in the moment, but I think there's a lot of benefit to remembering details about the past.

Well, what's a "Happy 2 Month" blog without a picture? Here's a two month picture in the bath. We were supposed to do pictures at Penneys that day but we rescheduled for her 3 month birthday. She LOVES the bath, by the way, and can be calmed instantly by half submerging her in the warm water in the sink. She wont be small enough to take baths in this sink much longer. I'm filing all the memories away about it that I can!

Hallelujah!!!

Natalie is officially 8 weeks old today and last night she slept a whopping 8 hours straight! Granted, she was in the swing the entire time, but hey... who cares?
She seems to be out of most of the preemie things she had. Thanks to all who helped clothe her in these first couple months of life. It really seems like its gone by fast, yet it seems like she's been here longer than two short months.

Things she likes to do: grunt (she's really good at that), smile (although she still makes you work for them), sleep (she really does sleep a lot more than I expected), eat (she's a S_____ after all) and poo (she's quite accomplished and I keep oxy spray next to the hamper just because of her). =)

Here's a few pictures taken today...



So we're traveling with her soon... and I have to admit I'm a little nervous. Taking a newborn with you anywhere seems to be like planning to emigrate to a foreign country. You want to take everything with you "just in case". However, in striving to be somewhat low maintenance, we are trying to be reasonable about what we pack in a flight across the country. Staples (like swings, bouncy seats and pack n plays) are all out. And the little angel in the pictures above COULD just turn into the devil child that you loathe to be seated near on a long flight. I can just imagine people near us on the flight glancing over at us as our child wails uncontrollably. My dad just told us that Southwest has recently changed their policy about pre-boarding passengers. Great... just when I get around to having a kid is when they decide to cut out the special privileges. Just my luck. Ah well... I'm sure it wont be as bad as I'm envisioning it.

Good Times

I know I probably should say anything as it will probably jinx us, but she slept 5.5 hours last night straight! Woot! My mom was in town the past few nights and I REALLY appreciated having someone get up one of the shifts at night (it has been averaging 2-3 times per night). But last night she only got up once. Could we be turning over a new leaf?

My mom and I had a good time together the past few days. We reminisced about me living at home and how we used to both enjoy being on the go. We're really very much alike in that respect. I was always interested in going with her to the grocery store or to the mall or wherever needed to go. So last night on the way to the airport we had a little time to kill so we hit up this big mall a few miles away. It was the plan to run in and find a few cold weather things for Natalie - as lots of the things she has that fit are short-sleeved. We ran in the mall and hit up Osh Kosh and the Children's Place outlets and then with an hour till her flight left hauled butt down the mall to the Auntie Annes for a pretzel and some lemonade. Then it was a mad dash back to the airport where she arrived only 40 minutes before her plane took off. In case any of you are wondering...YES I have missed a plane before. Two of them actually. One on a business trip. Ouch. Ah, but we made it. Ha! The queens of cutting it close and trying to cram TOO MUCH into too little time have done it again. It keeps things exciting.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

I'd just like to take this moment and say, Happy 55th Birthday, DAD. Having you as a Dad constantly makes me proud. I love you and think you're the best Dad a girl could ask for. XOXO

Diets Stink

So lately we've been on this diet. I still have about 23 lbs to lose and Kevin put on a little sympathy weight with me during the pregnancy. My appetite has definitely gone down, but I'm annoyed that I can't seem to lose weight as fast as I put it on. I think I gained 7lbs in the span of a week and a half at one point in my pregnancy.

Anyway... with a kid now I dont have a lot of time to work out so we've just been trying to eat well. Kev's old boss lost more than 100 lbs on this diet (lean meats, fruits and veggies mostly) but none of it has been "quick" to fix for dinner, etc. Tonight we're having chicken and frozen peas. Not sure HOW its being prepared, but that's what's for dinner. The frustrating thing about all this is that I was fairly proactive before Natalie arrived and made dinners for such a time as this so that we'd have quick meals we could just throw in the oven and warm up. However, they're things like baked spaghetti and beef enchiladas and they didn't quite make the diet cut. Anybody have any alternatives to chicken and frozen peas? Because that's what I think we're having for dinner. *sigh*

Out With Obsession...

My kitchen floor is dirty... and I dont know when I'm going to clean it. To be honest though, its not even on my list. My ironing board has been in the middle of our living room for 4 days now and the shower curtain really could use washed or tossed because it's turning colors. I think I've turned a new corner for me. Who know's if I'll go back to the obsessive list-making, die-hard clean freak that I had turned into pre-baby, but I realize right now that I could literally be busy round-the-clock with chores and it's really not worth it. I'm taking a break from my obsessive self and it feels good!

Back to Work

Well yesterday I went back to work full-time. Despite how difficult it was to be away from her all day, it really was quite smooth. Thanks to all who were praying for me. Please continue to pray for me, as I continue to work full-time,
that the Lord would direct us and reveal what His will is for us. This is a tough one.

Natalie came down with an eye infection over the weekend. How do you know when your child has an eye infection? You go to pick your darling baby up out of her crib to discover Ugly green gook crusted to her eye. Ahh... lovely. The doctor phoned in some antibiotic drops for us to start on Saturday morning and told us it was probably a blocked tear duct. When I got the prescription filled the pharmacist told me that this medication was not recommended for children under 10
months old. This had both Kevin and me really concerned so we decided to wait. By Sunday the gook still hadn't gone away so I called the doctor again to ask about it. I'm sure he was probably annoyed that I questioned his judgement,
but he was very gracious and assured me that they use this stuff all the time in young babies. Well, come to find out her infection was also VERY contagious. Lovely. Just the day before I had wiped her eye and then rubbed my watery eyes
right away. Kevin opted to stay home with her yesterday since she couldn't be at the sitter's. That made my first day back to work a little easier since I could go home for lunch and see her - but it was still hard. Thank goodness I have a good sitter who I trust. That DOES help.

A lot of people ask how she's been sleeping and the answer is...it depends on the day. Sunday night she slept 2.5 hour intervals. I think the Chinese used to torture their POW's by not letting them sleep longer than 90 minutes at a time - close. It made them go C*R*A*Z*Y. That's how I felt yesterday. But then last night she slept like a baby... hmmm, that phrase doesn't make sense to me now. Anyway, she slept from 10:30 to 3 and then from 330 to 6. I felt like a new woman this morning! Amazing that I get excited about a 4.5 hour stretch of sleep like that, but I do.

Kevin's got a business trip next week and my mom's coming to town to help me out - is she fabulous or what? I can't WAIT to see her.

Tales from Week 5

Well not a LOT has changed around here, but we thought we'd post some pictures for those of you who would like to see. When I think about what I've got to write about, poopy diapers and sleep schedules hardly seem like big headlines, but I guess those of you with kids can appreciate just how momentous those things are at first.

Natalie seems to be growing like a weed and we can actually see the beginning of a few fat rolls starting to sprout. Why is that so cute on babies anyway??

It's been so nice being home, but next week I'll be returning to work full-time. Please pray for us that the transition goes smoothly. I wasn't offered a part-time position at work and its going to be hard doing full-time right now, but who knows what the Lord has up His sleeve. We're still praying.

I got my flu shot yesterday as Natalie is too young to get one this year. I asked the nurse how common it was to feel achy and generally "yuck" after a flu shot and she said it was really rare. Well, do I get a gold star? I officially have felt like crap for the past day now. Hopefully it will pass soon and I'm guess I got it out of the way before next week, but geez. Luckily for me, I'm married to a pretty wonderful guy and he came home from work to watch the kiddo so I could take a much needed nap. I slept 5.5 hours before Kev had to wake me up because he was out of bottles and soothing techniques. Its been a LONG time since I've had that much sleep all in a row and its AMAZING what it does for a person. I feel on top of the world at the moment... I can't wait for her to sleep this much at night!

Oh... speaking of looking forward to more sleep, I ran into this lady at Target yesterday who has a baby about Natalie's age. She's nursing but at night she has been supplementing with 1.5 oz of formula so he'll sleep 5-6 hour stretches. I did the same last night and only got 1.5 hrs of sleep before the next feeding. I DID switch bottle types when I gave it to her, but 1.5 hours? Come on, kid!


Left Pic: Tummy Time (she normally hates it)
Middle Pic: Smile for the camera!
Right Pic: She's balding in front and looks like a friar!

One Month Old

It's hard to believe, but Natalie just celebrated her one month birthday yesterday. It seems like its really gone by fast. She's weighing in at 6lbs 15oz (she's been gaining about .5oz per day). She's STILL not sleeping very long stretches at night (3.5 hours max) but hey... she's only a month old so we'll let it slide. Here are some of the latest pictures of her.

Tired...

So our new little addition has been awake a bit more lately. Hence, no blogging as I try to get used to the mad repetition of wake, feed, burp, diaper, sleep. We've all been doing well, although I (Lauren) could use a little more sleep. Natalie seems very adept at sleeping for 2 hour periods at night and teases us with 3 and 4 hour naps during the day. Ahh... if only I could get her to turn that around. I finally had to move her to her own room yesterday because I was getting no sleep in the wee hours of the morning when she insists on grunting quite contently. Geeks that we are, we set up the web cam in her room complete with night vision so we could peer in on her as she slumbered away. I still didnt get a ton of sleep, but I guess that's normal for a parent of a almost 4 week old.

Anyway... enough about that. A good friend of ours Meggan took some pictures of Natalie at 9 days and did a brilliant job. She's just started her own photography business (www.sweetcaptures.com) and I know she'll be successful. She's very driven and has a good eye when it comes to portraiture. Here are some of the awesome pictures she took:






Oh! Update for any of you that have been following our blog. We got a FANTASTIC letter in the mail two weeks ago and I forgot to mention it here. My credit card has decided to make permanent the conditional credit they gave me for the dresser nightmare (reference this post). PRAISE THE LORD! I love happy endings!!

Diaper Duty Anyone??

So I just got done changing a diaper that leaked out the sides and manifested itself on the pants of a cute little pink number. Hmm... cute no more. =) Not 10 minutes later, new outfit cutely in place, I realize that the entire thing is soaked and the diaper I've just put on her has failed. The new outfit and ME are the lucky recipients of a bunch of infant wetness... Nice.

So I'm soliciting diaper changers.

I know I havent written any all week. Each day I have fabulous intentions to conquer the chores and each day I've been surprised to find how LITTLE I actually accomplish. This is definitely an eye opener for me as I develop a new appreciation for mothers everywhere.

Here's some pictures of Natalie from the past week though... just to catch you all up.


I woke up to find her sleeping like this one morning. We call this one "Undercover Baby".

He's a changed man.

Sleeping baby pics are my fav!

Peanut

This post is for my mother - who wanted to see how big Natalie was next to a set of hot curlers so she could get an idea of her size. My family is coming to visit on the 26th and they've been chomping at the bit to see the little peanut. I've included a 12 inch ruler for the rest of you who dont use hot curlers. =)

Sweet Petunia

We made it to church yesterday - what a feat! It took us 2 hours to get out the door and the cat insisted on barfing on the carpet to make the affair that much more dramatic. =) We were late, but we made it and enjoyed showing her off to everyone. She thought it was so great that she slept the entire time we were there... ha!

Kevin went into work today to take care of some things but will be home with us the rest of the week. We were both surprised to learn last week that he was being promoted (God is SO awesome) to the position of I.T. Manager. Its a timely answer to prayer (indirectly) and just continues to prove how faithful God has been to our family.

Here's some fun pics of Natalie from Saturday night. I kept taking pictures of faces that I thought were really cute only to end up with a completely different shot once the camera got around to snapping the photo. These were some of the most amusing from the batch!

Videos, Videos, Videos!!!

Kevin Here! Here are some video clips from this past week. I hope you all enjoy them :)

NOTE: Don't click on the play sign in the middle of the video windows below... click on the smaller play button on the bottom left of each video... then it will play the video right on this website.



Natalie on the way!



Just Born, 15 minutes ago!




With us only 30 minutes... and under the heat lamp!




Snuggling w/ dad





After first bath at home. What a cutie...



Thanks for watching!!!!

Getting adjusted to life at home...

Lauren here. I have to say I'm rather impressed at how Kevin kept up the blog in my stead the past week. He captured some great moments that all seem a bit of a whirlwind for me now. Its hard to believe that only six days ago we had yet to see Natalie's cute little face...

It's been three days since we came home now and each has been a bit of an adventure. Natalie has seen a home nurse each day. She was diagnosed with jaundice at the hospital and they wanted to keep a close eye on it. We got a bili-blanket (designed to decrease her bilirubin levels) on Thursday and had to keep her on that 24/7 until our pediatrician appointment on Friday. We were REALLY hoping that they were going to let us go off of it on Friday because it was a hassle to hold her and feed her with the blanket attached. She looked a bit like a glow worm when she was all swaddled with the bili-blanket around her. Praise the Lord, though, she's now off the blanket and her jaundice seems to be disappearing. Here's a picture of us on Thursday afternoon (before we got the blanket) doing a little sunbathing (that's also helpful for kicking jaundice to the curb).



One of the effects of jaundice is being a little sleepy. And sleep is one of Natalie's FAVORITE things to do right now. The past two nights I've had to wake her up every four hours to eat and then had to syringe feed her (with an orthodontic syringe) because there was NO WAY she was going to wake up enough to nurse. It's gotten kind of comical as Kevin and I get all excited when she actually opens her eyes. Its a bit of an event for her to be awake - since it's so rare. I imagine we'll have a whole different baby on our hands once the sleepiness goes away. But for now... we rest. =)


One of Natalie's other favorite things is barfing. Well, I guess when they're infants it's called spitting up. But, she's rather talented at it and has sent many an item to the wash in her three short days at home. We gave her a sponge bath yesterday to wash off some of the crusties. Here are some memorable pics from that.




Stay tuned! I have a feeling this is only the beginning!!

Natalie's First Sunrise

Well, Momma and Natalie made it through the night with just a few interruptions. This morning has become a bit rainy but soothing. The poor little peanut is just so tuckered out she doesn't even want to eat! Can you imagine anyone in MY family who doesn't want to eat?!?!? It really must have been a tough day yesterday for her . :)

Here she is, mustering up enough energy to peep an eye to say hello to ya'll out there...


Natalie is a very peaceful little girl so far (of the 24hrs we've known her, hah!) and even when she cries its for good cause. I love the little pipsqueak. :)

She loves to lay on her side, just like her momma... (as seen below)



If ya can't guess, this is a capture of my very first diaper change ever. She can really fill up a diaper, let me tell ya! I made it through....somehow....

My mom came to visit this morning bringing hot breakfast and coffee. Lucky Lauren got a huge breakfast in bed from Food Services. I wish they'd feed the dads!!! Lauren is finally getting a well-deserved shower and I'm not hearing any screaming so I think the pain meds are working well :) Poor girl. :( The nurse just took Natalie's temp and while she had been struggling to regulate her body temperature yesterday, it seems she is on track now at 98.1...yay!!! Now if we can just get her to eat like a big girl...

-Kevin