A Very Busy Weekend for a Baby!

So we had a pretty crazy weekend.

We started on Friday night with our first real night out, aside from Robby and Meghan's wedding.

Whitney came over to care for Miss G, and I wore some regular jeans that did not have a stretchy panel in the front.

I'm not sorry to see the maternity gear go, and since I've rarely left the house in the last month, I haven't really worn a lot of real clothes yet.

It was truly cause for celebration.

I washed my hair and wore regular lady clothes.

T was thrilled.  

He fed G before we departed...

and boy did we rock Massachusetts Avenue.

From 6:30-9:15p.m.

We started with cocktails and a cheese platter at our beloved Ball and Biscuit bar, where T lasted approximately 11.9 minutes before showing our 22 year old  waitress a photo of our baby on his Blackberry.

I was actually a tad embarrassed.

We are officially those people.

"Look at our baby!"

"Isn't she cute?"

"We haven't been anywhere but Target and the pediatrician in a month!"

"My wife can only have one drink because she is still pumping."

We totally cooled up that joint, for sure, and I'm sure they were sad when we left.

They were like, "yeah, bring back that couple with the guy in his cuffed Seven jeans and outdated Blackberry with infant pictures and the chick who is clearly very proud of herself for fitting back into her pre-baby clothes.  Par-tay!"

We then hit up Old Point for some dinner.

Peace out, Mass Ave swaying digital lady.

We gots to go.

It's 9:00.  

On Saturday T's parents and auntie showed up for the baptismal weekend.

We got the cocktails flowing in the kitchen.

Tequila for the hombres and cosmos for the ladies.

G stuck with her usual boob milk, courtesy of one seriously hip mixologist, moi.

On Sunday we celebrated Genevieve's first sacrament, baptism.

Here she gets that oily stuff on her forehead, in the sign of the cross.

Sister Katie and Brother Rob (my actual siblings, not members of the clergy) served as the godparents.

Who wouldn't want these two spiritual shepherds to guide their child in the faith?

Oh, now there I go again with a dose of snark.

They truly are the most caring and generous people I know.

Robby always was, Katie not so much.

20 years ago she may have attempted to murder me a time or two, but we have come full circle and now are thick as thieves.

She is a fabulous mother, wife, sister, daughter and all other roles in the family.

They will make great godparents.

Genevieve wore a special medal of the Virgin de Cuba, a gift from Trinity's grandmother to him when he was a baby.  

 Abby was proud.

She ordered a lovely bib for G that said

God Bless Genevieve

in pink embroidery.

She had it rush delivered to the house in time for Sunday.

She called us on Friday inquiring about its arrival.

Trinity confirmed that we had it.

Her query, "But does it say, God Bless Genevieve?"

He replied, "no it says, Satan be Damned."

Oh, that husband of mine.

My Uncle Kent and Aunt Cindi enjoyed the baptism.

One side of the familia.

Our dear family friends and photographers, Kurtis and Jennifer, came to the church to take photos for Jane's 2012 Christmas card.  Don't mess with Jane and her Christmas card picture.

We were supposed to get it at the wedding 2 weeks ago, but T and I totally snagged all of the plans by not getting our infant to the reception site in time.

That was not well received by mother.  

Alas, alternate plans were made, and K&J came to the rescue.

Everyone look at my baby!

My Uncle Kent snapped this one, which I think truly captures the spirit of my family-

a bunch of derelicts.

On Monday the celebration continued and Robby was sworn in as a member of the Indiana Bar Association.

We celebrated with lunch at the Columbia Club, where Genevieve dined in the Crystal Terrace ballroom, where her parents had their wedding reception two years ago.

Robby said we should have named her Crystal in honor of that room where we had the party of our lives.

Yes, Crystal.

Definitely one of my favorite names.

I apologize if your name is Crystal.

Attorneys at the swearing in-

Uncle Kent, Dad, Robby, and Pat, Rob's pal and groomsman with the fabulous hair.

Seriously, commercial-worthy.

I find Pat to be precious and tell him nearly every time I see him.

I'm sure he thinks of me as Robby's creepy sister.

Congratulations to all of my family this weekend.

One member a newly minted attorney and one a baptized baby of the Lord.

Yippee!

1 Month!

I did it!

I have kept Li'l Bunny Fou Fou alive for a whole month.

Kudos to me!

Actually, I had lots of help in the form of her father, my parents and Trinity's parents.

My friends Whitney, Marinda, Megan, Jamie and Nicole have talked me off of the ledge numerous times about the perils of motherhood.

It truly takes a village.

And I'm the Village Idiot.

That being said, I pulled out my sassy camera and channeled my mother, the crazy Mamarazzi.

Jane bought those little decals to put on her shirt for each month.

One would think those would have an adhesive back, no?

No.

So I was juggling a onesied newborn, my camera, a stuffed mouse and some f'in Scotch tape.

I didn't drop her on her noggin.

Score for me.

We went to the pediatrician yesterday to solve a complex problem known as diaper rash.

This is a relatively new affliction that few babies have experienced.

Oh now seriously.  I was just embarrassed as a rookie mother.

Betsy: "It must be like the worst diaper rash you've ever seen, though, right?"

Dr. Phillips:  "No."

Despite my Herculean attempts to keep my daughter clean, she dirties her pants about every 6.9 minutes due to my pumping abilities and the diarrheal affects of breast milk.

Babies are glamorous.

Plus, she eats constantly.

4oz every 3 hours.

She was weighed at the doctor.

At two weeks, she was back to her birthweight, 7lbs, 6 oz.

Yesterday at four weeks, she weighed 9lbs, 12 oz.

Holy sh**.

That's about what I said.

Again, I impressed the pediatrician.

Betsy:  "That can't be right.  Your scale is wrong.  That's impossible."

Dr:  "Well, I haven't taken a class in weights and measurement, but I did go to medical school."

Touche.

I like that guy.

However, I am crazy mother and insisted that the nurse weigh her again on a different scale, then promise not to tell the doctor that I asked her to do it.

They don't think I'm crazy pants at all.

No, they love me.

Abby aka T's mother, sent this hat via Etsy.

She kinda looks like a Fraggle.

Best photo ever.

This will be enlarged to 16x20 and hung over my mantle.

Because I'm just that normal.

Maternity Leave Excitement

Let's see, what do I do?

Well, I wear my baby around a lot.

That's G in the Moby Wrap.  

She loves that thing.

She sleeps so soundly in that, all snuggled next to my heartbeat.  Takes her back to the womb.

Ah, memories.

That was like..uh, 3 weeks ago.

We snuggle as I read the 2nd book in the Ken Follett trilogy of amazingness, Winter of the World.  I seriously love some historical fiction, and this one is about World War II.  It follows the same families that were forever changed in World War I.  I highly recommend these, people.  Do a favor for your brain.

As soundly as she sleeps in that thing, her awakenings are noteworthy.  It is so sad to watch.  She throws her hands up, bugs her eyes out and screams like Whoopi Goldberg when Patrick Swayze jumps out of her body in Ghost.  For reals, it's terrifying. 

I imagine it feels like she is being birthed over and over again when she wakes up from the "womb."

Too bad, Genevieve.

You sleep for 2-3 hours at a time in that magic wrap.

I will endure the wake up.

 We go for walks.

  

We took her for Mexican tonight, where she had her first chip.

Ha!

Li'l Bunny be 3 Weeks Old Today...

My, what a difference 3 weeks makes!

To think, Genevieve was born looking a lot like Aunt Jemima.

That's what mother called her in that ridiculous hospital hat.

Now we look a little bit more like a little person.

A precious person who has my blue eyes and her father's everything else.

Genevieve now has a slew of monikers, including, but not limited to:

Bunny, Lady G, Vivi, Vivi Kate, Muffin, Buggy, Sweet Thang.

Basically I call her whatever enters my mind, and it is usually something I'd like to eat at that current time, such as Cupcake or Biscuit.  It's usually carb related.  I've yet to call her Carrot.

We are doing well at this juncture.

She sleeps well, usually in 4-5 hour stretches, so I can't complain.

I'm working on my friend Jamie's sleep tactics, since her kids request to go to bed.

Right up my alley.

So our schedule is like this-

G goes down with her momma around 9:30/10:00.

Don't worry, no co sleeping, she has a bassinet by my bed.

Up for a bottle around 1 or so, diaper blow out, then I pump like the Bessie udder cow that I am.

I burp her, which rarely works, then change another diaper, as that child's bowels know no bounds.

Kiss, lay down, no talking or eye contact.  I behave like a social moron during the nighttime hours.  I kinda act like I don't know her.  Like I just found her in a basket on my doorstep.  I've read that this type of behavior helps babies know that nighttime is for sleeping only, not playtime.  Don't worry, I interact with her plenty during the daylight hours.  Don't call CPS.

Baby asleep.

Around 4 a.m. rinse, repeat cycle.

8-9 a.m. and we do it again!  Only this time I open blinds and let her know that it's daytime by chirping and singing like I'm Snow White. 

I'm enjoying motherhood.  Lots of bonding.  I feel good and my recovery is going splendidly.  I'm hurting to do some exercise and languish in a bathtub.  Both are post c-section no-nos.  I plan to listen to my doctor and do as I'm told.  

3 weeks until my 6 week postpartum check when I will hopefully get a free pass to resume all of my normal activities.

And we'll stick with one baby for now, thanks.

2 weeks old and a Pimp Cup

During week 2 of G's life things got exciting.  

Abby and Papi came from Tennessee for a long visit.

Abby is short for Abuela, Spanish for grandmother. Papi is short for awesome.

Pat took us to the pediatrician, where she expressed serious concerns about Genevieve's lack of burping.

The doctor said that some babies don't burp so much, and that we weren't to thump on her back extensively trying to get her to do so.

Worries alleviated!

She spent most of the four days laying in Eddie's lap. 

Pat and Eddie are night owls, so when Genevieve reared up, I just scooted her out to them in the living room.

It was divine!

She has done a lot of sleeping and eating.  

Of course, she looks just like her father.

After Robeghan's wedding weekend, YaYa came back with us for several days.

We went to the California Pizza Kitchen for lunch.  

Genevieve had a bottle of boob milk

and a cobb salad.

On Wednesday, we made our maiden voyage to Nordstrom.

We lunched in the ladies' lounge.  

YaYa and I met Tim and Jamie for our lunch at Cafe Patachou.

Tim took a few whiffs of Vivi's head.

He likes to smell babies.

He mentioned he was relieved that his own baby daddy days are over.

Charlotte is 5 and Liam is almost 3.

No more newborn sleepless nights for T and J.

J is not so sure.

She loves a baby.

Speaking of Tim, we met up to return the Lovey Cup that he lifted from the Country Club trophy case at Robeghan's reception.

It seems Tim thought it rather funny to pluck it from the trophy case on his way to the after party.

It made its rounds.  

Court took a sip from the Pimp cup.

Then Jamie took a whirl.

Jodi was in on the action.

Jamie gets another swig.

The trophy thief shares with Showtime.

Then Curt, and finally

best man Casey.

Ah the things one misses when one has a new baby.

No champion style beverage consumption for us.

More wedding photos soon!

We've Been Busy!

Things have been crazy.

T's parents spent four days with us.  Pat and Eddie helped us so much.  Genevieve is steadily growing and gaining weight.  

Rob and Meg were joined in wedded bliss last night.

Here's a sneak peek.

Nothing like pumping and then pouring oneself back into a bridesmaid dress!

Lady G stayed at home with two babysitters.  My dear friend Whitney took the 3-8 p.m. shift.  Then Meg took her from 8-11 p.m.  

I felt pretty secure having my principal keep her and then a doctor.  They know a lot about babies.

Genevieve cooperated, thank goodness.

T and I lived it up during our first night out after our baby.

I also sent out birth announcements.  

This is short and not that funny, but I wanted to update my loyal followers.

Marty Anne, I'm talking to you.

Shelli, you too.

Speaking of Marty Anne, she had the best text ever to my sister, Katie, who lives in the smallest town in Tennessee.

It went something like this-

"Katie, since you got out of this one horse town for the weekend, go ahead and get those brows done."

What a subtle way to tell her she has a unibrow.

Love it.

Week 1

We came home from the hospital after 4 nights, due to a little jaunt with jaundice.

My baby was yellow.  

Not good.

She had to stay under the incredibly bright lights, like she was in a tanning bed.

I assured her that she wasn't Carol Ann, so she need not stay away from the light.

We loaded up and were scared out of our minds to take her home.

Thank God Jane was there, although I don't have any pictures of her with the baby.

Yaya was a God send.

She has talked me off the ledge numerous times since Tuesday afternoon.  It seems newborns are challenging.

And by challenging, I mean, cry your eyes out and pull out your own hair trying to figure out what's wrong with your baby challenging.  

Marinda came to visit.

We had our first trip to the pediatrician.

Starbucks was needed.

Those are two sleep deprived, aged parents, right there.

Look at our tired eyes.

Pitiful.

Cankles are gone.

I'm quite thrilled about that.

Mom got out her camera and took a few photos.

Our regular ridiculousness has now been full of baby ridiculousness.

On Thursday evening, Robeghan came over for some delicious dinner prepared for us by YaYa.

Robby grabbed Trinity's iPad and started to google something.  Trinity's history came up.

Robby started laughing hysterically.

His recent searches were as follows:

my little lamb swing

baby hiccups

constipation post pregnancy

breast feeding

college football rankings

jaundice cause

how to swaddle a baby

Bose radio

my baby jumps at loud noises

We are hanging in there after one full week with our daughter, who is beyond precious to us.

T's mom comes this week!

I can't wait for more help.