What does one do in those long weeks before a baby comes? The weeks where Mommy doesn't want to cook, clean, or do anything else other than Have This Baby.
We went to the mall and tried on funny hats about three days before Lexi was born. We walked a lot at the park, and took long naps. We went to story time at Barnes and Noble, and we wandered the toy aisles at Target.
We took pictures, ate out a lot more than usual, and waited. And we waited. And we waited.
What do you do when you need to kill time?
Funny Hats
Randomness
Someone has slept through the nights three times in a row. This makes me very happy, for I can not function without sleep. I feel normal again, and that's a really nice feeling. I'm hoping she keeps it up.
I find Etsy mesmerizing. I want to buy some cute prints for my girls room and can't decide between these two shops:
or
Today our big plans involve making strawberry shortcake for dessert and finishing one load of white laundry.
It's amazing to me how this most recent pregnancy changed me into someone totally different. Everything I normally love doing I found repulsive or annoying (blogging, photography, coffee...) Perhaps it was a mixture of the pregnancy, being away from home, and not seeing the sun for what seemed like months on end, that left me feeling like an alien to myself. The moment, and I mean the very moment, she was born I felt like ME again.
Has that ever happened to anyone else?
Food Rules
I just finished reading a new book (on my new Kindle!) called Food Rules. Written by Michael Pollan, who was also involved in the making of Food Inc., a documentary I loved watching.
The book Food Rules is small, a quick read, but full of good advice, or rules, concerning what to eat, when to eat, how much to eat, etc.
Some of my favorite rules were:
Rule Number 1 : Eat Food. (Hint: Hot Pockets are not real food.)
Rule Number 7: Avoid food products containing ingredients that a third-grader cannot pronounce.
Rule Number 11: Avoid foods that are advertised on television. (Ever seen a TV ad for fresh broccoli? I haven't)
Rule Number 18: Don't ingest foods made in places where everyone is required to wear a surgical cap.
Rule Number 44: Pay more, eat less.
It was a good read full of common sense and has re-energized me in regards to what I cook for my family. The first few weeks after having a baby are always hectic and now that the dust is (kind of) starting to settle, I'm finding myself back in the kitchen doing what I love. Using my head to think about what I should feed my family, and then using my hands to make it.
One more thing, see that cool glass milk bottle in the picture above? It is filled with organic chocolate milk that we purchased (splurged on) from Whole Foods. My favorite grocery store. In. The. World.
I love that place.
Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches.
Homemade chocolate chip cookies, and chocolate chip ice cream from Cold Stone makes one mean ice cream sandwich.
They were so satisfying on beautiful spring day here in Florida. The sun was shining, we ate outside with friends, Lexi fell asleep in my arms as the breeze floated by. These made the perfect dessert to end a perfect day.
From Where I sit
1. A sleeping baby
2. A blurry pile of diapers waiting to be folded
3. A coloring two year old
4. A four year old climbing into the closet
A regular day here.
My 3 Girls
If Lexi is not sleeping, she's eating. If she's not eating, she' s having her diaper changed. And in the few short minutes that she's awake, fed and changed, she is being held by her two older sisters.
The love her to pieces, and like to go on and on and on about her chubby cheeks, tiny toes and squishy ears.
We think it's fun having three pretty little girls, but Daddy is worried about having three pretty teenagers.
Sigh.
It will be here before we know it.
E for effort
I am trying to blog. I finally have ideas, and pictures.
I also have a newborn. And with each newborn I'm always amazed at how time consuming those first few weeks are. The nursing, the diapers, the laundry (Oh! The laundry!!), and did I mention the almost non-stop nursing? Or the laundry?
I'm tired, and busy and happy.
Maybe in a few weeks things will settle down...or maybe not seeing as that we have to move internationally, and then move nationally. And there will still be nursing and laundry.
So, I blog when I can.
Can you believe how cute the cloth diapers are? Ladybugs and daisies on the diapers...I love it! It makes the mundane chore of diapers and laundry a little more pretty and fun.
Till next time...
Baby Day Muffins
Orange Oatmeal Muffins
1 cup of oats
1/2 cup of orange juice
1/2 cup of boiling water
1/2 cup of butter
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/3 cup of white sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup of flour
1 tsp. of baking powder
1 tsp. of baking soda
3/4 tsp. of salt
1/4 tsp. of cinnamon
1 tsp. of vanilla
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In small bowl, soak oatmeal in orange juice and boiling water for fifteen minutes. Meanwhile, in large bowl cream butter and sugars. Beat in the eggs and oatmeal mixture. In separate bowl blend flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Stir into batter. Pour into greased muffin tins, bake for 20 minutes.
*This is the recipe of muffins I made while waiting for contractions to start with Lexi's labor. It seemed to do the trick, I was in active labor by the time they came out of the oven. Maybe it will work for some of you expectant mothers out there! ;)
Happy Birthday to Me
Today is my birthday...I'm 25 years young!Brian bought me something I've been wanting for a while, an Amazon Kindle.
I was hesitant when I first heard about it, I need the feel of a book in my hands. I also assumed that the screen would glare like a computer, iPod, or TV. Not at all relaxing like a good book right before bed.
But then I saw one, I held one, and there was no glare. It looks like a book. It's lightweight, and it opens up a world of possibilities for me.
I love to read, which in Paraguay means that we pay a lot of money to ship down heavy books.
Now, with my new toy I have thousands of inexpensive books at my fingertips.
I'm currently reading Emma by Jane Austen (a free Kindle book!) and loving the Kindle.
To all you readers, what do you think? Would you want a Kindle? Or do you need the smell and feel of real paper?
Cloth Diapers
Guess who is wearing cloth diapers?
A friend of mine has been very generous in making me so many diaper covers, prefolds, and fitted diapers. I'm having fun learning how to use them, but Brian is still scared of them.
They look stinking cute, they're so soft, and I haven't found much of a difference between the cloth and disposable as far as leaking goes. I guess I do have to change the cloth a little more frequently, but are babies supposed to be in one diaper for more than five hours? I think not.
So far my opinion on cloth diapers is that while it's not quite as convenient as disposable, there is some planning required, I like it better.
Similar to the reason why I make my own bread, not because it's more convenient, but because it just tastes better. While it takes a little more time and preparation the taste and health benefits are worth it.
There's something satisfying to me about prepping the diapers and taking that little bit of extra time to make sure my baby is as comfy cozy as possible.
(Also, I found out that disposables have some sort of chemical in them that turns pee into gel. The health nut in me finds that very creepy.)
I like them, Lexi likes them, it's working for us.
The thousands of dollars I will save over our childrearing years is just a bonus.
All about Lexi
She likes to sleep.
She likes to eat.
She has squishy cheeks.
She wears cloth diapers, which are so cute on her, I can't stand it.
She finds her older sisters fascinating.
She thinks Mommy is very nice.
She likes to sleep on Daddy's chest.
She has peach fuzz for hair.
She wears pajamas all the time.
She has chubby eyelids and has a hard time opening her eyes. It's cute.
I would write more, but I'm off to do more important things.
Like stare at my baby.
(Who, by the way, is over a week old. Waaaaaaaaaaah!!!)
The Birth Story of Lexi
My water broke at 1:30 am on Friday, the 26th of February.
There were no contractions, just nervous energy so I did the only rational thing.
I cleaned the kitchen and made muffins. I walked up and down the hallway, I crawled, I prayed, I watched Food Network.
Then at 4:30 a strong contraction brought me to my knees. Literally. To my knees, in the kitchen staring at the kitchen floor and wondering how it got so dirty.
I woke up Brian and we worked through some contractions together.
Then I asked for my Mommy.
I had a feeling this labor was going to be intense and it was. Hard contractions that started off without a warning, peaked twice and left me begging for mercy.
I was so hungry and demanded pancakes during transition. I decided to wait to till after the baby was born because I wanted to enjoy the pancakes. So, my stomach rumbled throughout transition and that made me angry. I don't like being hungry, and when I want pancakes, I want them NOW.
Things started to slow down and I was getting very frustrated so it was recomended to me that I move around, which I did and it helped.
I needed to push shortly after, and push I did. Two pushes, or was it one and half? It happened so fast and there she was. In to the arms of my Dad, (wonder if Brian will forgive him for catching the baby? He wanted to have that honor again.)
Why homebirth? Why natural childbirth?
For me, it's all because of this moment...
When they are messy and screaming and in my arms, my head is clear and I realize that I did it!
It makes me feel like a Queen.
(A really tired queen, but a queen none the less!)
I held her, we cleaned her up, and then my Dad made me a huge stack of chocolate chip pancakes with maple syrup.
Way better than hospital food.
I'm always grateful for my jungle upbringing. Thinking about my Yekuana friends in the jungle who birth in mud huts with smoky fires around them gives me strength to get through the hardest parts of labor. If they can do it, I can do it.
And I did.
Week One
The first week was full of snuggles, counting fingers, toes and how many times she open and closed her eyes. We gave her lots of love, cuddles and whispered sweet nothings into her tiny ears. Week Two will probably be full of the same things.
Lexi Joy has lots of Little Mommies who tickle, hold, snuggle, cuddle, and squeeze her. Big Mommy (though I'm not really that big...) gets nervous but knows that all the loving does little Lexi loads of good.
She eats like a champ, smells amazing, and we're just so glad she's part of our busy little world.
In fact, how did we ever live without her?
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