Mom has gone, and it's just me and the kid. Or, the Mom and the Kid.

Man, I don't really feel like a Mom yet. More like the Great Milk-Provider.

Happy Monday, y'all!

Well, I know I'm feeling better-- because I'm bored. Three weeks on Sunday, meaning next week... next week I hope to be a bit more active than I've been.

In an effort to talk about something besides our darling daughter (who is hanging peacefully in her sling as I write this), there's been a whole lot of presidential debates going on in this house. I'm of the opinion that whomever does get elected will be so darn tired from the drawn-out campaigning that they'll collapse of exhaustion or have a heart attack right off the bat. You think we could condense this whole process...it's not like they have a lot to say.

So there! A non-baby thought!

In baby news... she really is very cute. We had a big day Wednesday, with a 2-week appt with the midwives in Memphis and her first visit to her pediatrician in Oxford. She handled both well, thought 1. it sucks watching your baby get a needle poked in their heel and 2. it sucks to watch her cry in her car seat b/c she's hungry, and not be able to feed her because you're late and it's illegal to take her out in the car.

Health-wise though, she's a strong lusty little thing, despite her fine looks...she's over 8 lbs now, which is more impressive when you realize that (like most babies) she lost weight after being born. 14 ounces in 9 days; I'm very proud of my milk.

K.'s still the husband of the year-- such a good-natured man I married, even at five in the morning!

Check it out:

Good Lord, child.

(note time.)

2 weeks in, and we're still here

I drafted a column today. It felt good to do something with my mind; granted, I was writing about the baby, but man alive, I was WRITING, after all.

My start date for my my old jobs is Feb. 1st. It'll be good to get all my balls back in the air, I hope the baby thing gets a bit easier between now and then. Because right now showering, making breakfast, and taking a walk seems like a reasonable list of activities for a full day.

In Annaliese news, we went through a brief spell of discussing how much we could get for her on the baby black market, but then she got cute again, thank Heaven. Nonetheless, it'd be nice to get some sleep at night (and by some, I really do mean some...)

(Regardless of my whining, I'm really very glad that she's been here for 2 whole weeks. I wouldn't go back to two Sundays ago for ANYTHING (right about now was when I was moaning like a dying cow and forcing myself to walk up and down our front porch steps, since "steps are good for getting babies out" and we don't have any INSIDE). )

So happy 2 weeks, kidlet. It'll be neat to see what tricks you pull in the next 14 days.

In the world's greatest role reversal, K. is actually now the one in need of r&r, between caring for me, the dogs, the baby, and starting back at work. hence the lack of posts over at his blog. I'm attempting to take up some of the slack.

We had a fab Sunday (one week! yes!!) and went on our first excursion that was not within spitting distance of the house, so we could listen to our baby girl cry under a bright blue sky.

The dogs were very happy to be somewhere different, as was I-- so much so that we hopped in the car and went a-driving. It's true; cars really do puts babies to sleep. She didn't make a peep.

Oh, and K. shaved his beard....in stages of varying grossness, as he likes to do, by which I mean he emerged from the bathroom sporting this:

But now, thank heaven, he's all cute again:

In Annaliese news, she's doing just fine. She's a great baby, though some sense of circadian rhythm would be much appreciated.... Because we are us, we still mock the baby though:

saturday

every day gets better. we ventured across the way on saturday. super-fun. my first time out since the 6th!





ain't she gorgeous? apparently new babies should spend a lot of time nekiid, but i love stuffing her into her "outside" outfits...

the two faces of annaliese

of course, we think she's darling, even when she's crying...

so.

I had a baby. What have you been doing?

I now know that the smell of milk and baby is heartwrenchingly lovely. That living in the present is the only way to get through this; right now, I can type and reach my juice. Yesterday, I shaved my legs. This afternoon, I ate some gingerbread. These are the small good things that mark my hours, since I am not going to be my old self, bounding around the house unencumbered, ever again, and nor am I yet the sling-wearing mama I hope to someday be.

But progress is being made...Sunday night, I could not sit up. Monday, I could not walk to the bathroom without help. Tuesday, I took a bath. Wednesday, I gained some breast-feeding confidence after a visit from the midwife. And today? Today I walked around the house for a whole ten minutes while Annaliese slept on her own. We're doing good.

Amazing how accurate the term "labor" is, and that's all we'll say about that.

Funny thing:

I am sweating up a STORM. Apparently, it's one of the ways your body gets rid of all the fluid you retain during pregnancy; consequently, my legs, feet, arms, face, etc-- so much thinner than they've been. I hadn't realized.

http://picasaweb.google.com/alexe.pvb/AnnalieseUpdated

for a few pics and video.

so many blessings

Our freezer is full of grass-fed beef and gourmet frozen meals. Roses sit in a vase; "we're sorry you have to wait," said the friends who dropped them off.

The L.P.'s crib has a hand-made crocheted shawl draped around it; next to the bookshelf is a basket full of hand-knit booties, a pair for every day of the week in every color of the rainbow. She has two handmade sweaters, a handmade quilt on its way, and onesie after onesie. She has dresses made by a great-great-grandmother, carefully passed down; a box full of clothes she won't be able to wear for months yet...and so much more.

We've received a child care manual, recommended by a mother of four; a pampering home-care pregnant mama book, an organic baby book, a DVD on communicating with infants. We have boxes of chocolates waiting until after the baby comes, a pot of very rich skin cream, lavender soap, fancy talcum powder, diaper rash cream. We've gotten card after card, call after call, email after email; "I can get you groceries," one friend said. Another recommended a pediatrician and told me not to hesitate to call at two in the morning if I ran into problems.

People tell me they dreamt about us. "She was beautiful," they say, and all I can do is nod and hope that it will be so.

We've gotten support from our families, excitement from the friends that don't have children, wisdom from those who do. Our neighbors, in this small town we've been in for just a year, are beyond kind.

So many good thoughts for one little baby, when babies are born all the time all over the world. I wish that every mama-to-be could have some of the love that surrounds me on all sides.

(yep. K.'s building, inside second floor. Isn't the brick beautiful?)

Who knew?

80% of first-time mothers deliver between 40-42 weeks (Due dates clock in at 40 weeks sharp). 10% go BEYOND 42 weeks.
10% don't make it to the due date.

40 weeks, 5 days, and still waiting.