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.

Well, Guess Who is a Mother? Me!!!!

Well, I did it.  I have a baby.  Oh, and she's perfect.  

To prepare, T put in her car seat.

Guess how many advanced degrees it takes to get one of those in the car?

Well, we don't have doctorates, but at least a Master's degree is necessary.

A GED clearly wouldn't cut it.  

Safety engineering was sufficient training after a few minutes of effort!

We slept fairly well the night before and took the final bump picture at 5 a.m. on Friday. 

30 lbs of extra female, ready to roll.  

And boom!

9:30 a.m.

Sweet Trinity meets Genevieve Kate for the first time. 

7 lbs, 6 oz.

21 inches long.

A long skinny noodle, not unlike her father.

Her legs are colt like.

No Polish thighs inherited from her Brunhilda mother, at least not yet.

Here we are, back in our room several hours later.

She was bright eyed and bushy tailed.

Thank you, Morroccanoil.

Thanks to you, my hair held up fairly nicely for all of the work I did.

Which was, by the way, nothing.

Love this happy photo.

All has gone perfectly swimmingly.

The I.V. nurse tried to kill me, I swear.

It was an ugly scene.

Other than that, we've been great. 

She's rather pretty.

Genevieve Kate's information is super important.  I would put this on a trapper keeper if it was 1991 and she was in 7th grade.

Likes:  her hands, her own tongue, dance parties with her father, my boobs and equality for all.

Dislikes:  loud noises, bright lights and Fidel Castro.

Just kidding.  

Mother, your blogging and humor makes me yawn.

You're not as funny as you think. 

She wore her UT gear to watch her daddy coach the Volunteers.

More pictures of visitors and updates to come!

We are truly blessed!

Nursery and kitty wrestling

Hey lady with new camera.  

Watch me launch a self indulgent kitty attack!

Nothing is more ferocious than the Kashmir lean!

All 6.8lbs of her leaning against your leg.

It's lethal.

 Here she goes with the chin squish to the hand.

and she rounds it out with a double rubdown of both the chest and back area.

And SCENE.

Peace out, Jerks.

That's about the extent of interaction that we get.

Good thing we're having a kid.

Cats kinda blow.

Nursery is set up.

We have the glider, Boppy, changing table and dresser and a lovely stink collector in the corner. 

Here you can see the entire room.  

I'm not jazzed about the twin/daybed in there, but T wants another bed in the house since we lost a bedroom when we made one of our 3 into a nursery.

This could help somehow help with guests, he says.

If you come to visit, you get to sleep with our infant.

Lucky you.