In the Last 2 months and 20 days...

Babies born: 1

Loads of laundry done: 623

Minutes spent discussing frequency/color/texture/odor of baby's poop: 64

Minutes spent changing diapers: 1,080

Minutes spent exclaiming over naked baby's delicious thighs/tummy/toesies/smiles/rolls instead of changing diapers: 745

Minutes spent exclaiming over baby's knuckle dimples/elbow dimples/knee dimples/cheek dimples: 150

Minutes spent discreetly sniffing baby's hair/ears/neck: 289

Number of kiss attacks mercilessly inflicted on baby: 156

Pictures taken: 2,918

Number of times we've been on time to events and appointments: 1

Late-night, sleep-deprived impulse/panicked online purchases made for baby: 4

Tears shed because of hormones/utter exhaustion/fears of raising a reasonable human being/general panic about state of house/life/body: 825

Dinner dates taken: 2

Meals eaten with one hand and in 5 minutes or less: 39

Regrets: 0

{worth it}

A Beautiful Blur

Yesterday was my first Mother's Day.  I was overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support from the beautiful women in my life, mothers and not.  If becoming a mother has made me anything, it has made me thankful.  During the first few weeks of Theo's life, I would find myself in the rare, quiet moments in the middle of the night or day with such a full heart that I would send up fervent, little prayers of thankfulness for my healthy, little son; for my dear, dear husband; for the love of our families; and for the special privilege of being a woman and a mother.  I love it all so much.  It's not that childcare isn't monotonous or gross sometimes because it definitely is but there's so much love in being a mother.  Sucking snot of his nose has proven to be a tremendously rewarding and gratifying experience, something I would not have believed myself capable of even days before he was born.  Waking up refreshed (?) after two hours of sleep (?!) and waiting for Theo as he begins to stir in his bassinet makes me feel like bursting and when (if) he goes back to sleep full, clean and content, an hour later, I can hardly fall back asleep for sheer happiness.  That's not say there aren't times when I wouldn't wake up to Theo's crying if it weren't for Ryan prodding me in the back and whispering, "Hey, wake up, mama bear" or red-faced screaming fits that set my nerves on edge and make me grit my teeth but these first 5 weeks have been like watching the night skies in time-lapse photography, a beautiful, awesome, humbling blur.

Life with a Bump

Ryan: Is that going to fit?

Me: Excuse me?

Ryan: I said, is that going to fit?

Me: Of course it will fit!  It won't button, if that's what you mean, but it fits.

Ryan: ....that is what I meant.

I got a new sweater.

This Week (24)

{morning commute} 

{I win}

I karate-chopped my glucose test and then went out and bought two loaves of bread and ordered dessert when Ryan took me out to eat the following night.  TAKE THAT, NON-DIABETES.  Hope you enjoyed that pizookie, Zebs.

I had my first run in with sciatica the other night when I tried to to stretch out my left leg while half asleep and felt a blow torch running down the side of my thigh.  I leaped out of bed like a scalded cat ... er, leaped adroitly and with as much alacrity as I could with an extra 20 lbs hanging off my front, and stretched my back a few different ways and thus avoided some serious midnight drama because OWIE.

The swimsuit I ordered for our upcoming trip to Hawaii fits!! Huzzah.  Is there any uglier word pair in the English language than "maternity swimsuit"? No.

I have been so touched by how sweet and considerate all of the dads in my life have been.  I work with a lot of men anyways, but those who are fathers and grandfathers have been so kind and interested in me and my baby.  I walked into a meeting where all the chairs were taken and immediately 3 of my male coworkers stood up to offer me theirs.

My nosebleeds are starting to wind down a little bit.  Only one this week!  Having a nasty cold really exacerbated things there for a while.

But The Hormones...they are making themselves known.  I got choked up this week watching a marketing video for one of our CPR training devices, seeing a random cell phone commercial and seeing a still from the Lion King of baby Simba with his parents. Wah!

In other news, my exciting weekend plans include cooking a whole head of cabbage to eat by myself since the other third of this family doesn't like cruciferous anything and cleaning the house.

{I win again!}

17 Weeks Until Baby Time

That's a bit more than a few extra pieces of Thanksgiving pie in there.  It's our own little turkey. (Code name: Zebedee Ebeneezer).  He's a friendly, easy-going little chap already and I can't complain about the last 23 weeks at all.  Of course I'm excited for his birthday in April but I'd like the next 17 weeks to streeeetttcch out as long as possible so that somehow, miraculously, we can get a whole bunch of important life stuff done.  Mostly like buy a house.  And choose a name.  And become ideal versions of ourselves who eat enough broccoli and vacuum at least once a week and don't wait until the gas light comes on.  But if none of those things happen, that's fine too, and we'll still have our baby boy and be happy.