Packing Away the Pink Christmas

Farewell pink and white Christmas tree. You were splendid. Normally I am a bit melancholy while packing away Christmas decorations. This year, the new year holds so much promise and excitement. Hello 2012!

Merry Christmas!

This is the message of Christmas: We are never alone."
~ Taylor Caldwell (1900-1985), English novelist.
 Our Christmas card photo.


My parent's Christmas card photo.


And, a month later, one chubby elf.
 

Wishing you a joyful Christmas! 

Tummy Time Fun

Our beautiful girl is one month old. Here she is having a wonderful time at her check up. She is now officially 9lbs 7oz which is just over two pounds more than she weighed at birth. We are so proud! And, since I am breastfeeding I am pretty dang proud of myself too. For real.

Anyway, while I was pregnant I started a "pin board" on Baby Activities.  Today we came up with an activity that I actually consider blog/pin worthy. While at the doctors we discovered that Marilee loves the crinkly paper on the exam table. So, we decided to recreate that fun at home with some parchment paper. It worked great. The waxy side was actually a little bit "grippy" on the bench and the paper side was slippery enough for some good play time. Now she had two parents inches from her on this padded bench. Otherwise, I would definitely do this on the carpet.

If I waited to post this until I had a chance to edit that rough ending out, it would never get posted. Warning this video contains delicious baby toes.

My Awesome C- Section

11-19                                                               12- 2

My mom just left on Tuesday, so for the first time in two weeks I have had lots of alone time to think about my birth story. For a while there I was too busy with the happiness, the nursing and the laundry to be reflective. I want my story to be out there because it is really hard to find C-section birth stories online.

Here is my birth story. It's an awesome, happy, mostly painless c-section story.

My official due date was Dec.2, but because of all my other surgeries I was scheduled for a c-section on 11-22-11. We were so excited about the date because it is a palindrome and we are nerds. On Sunday 11-20 we made plans to go to Ojai (small quaint town 1 hour away) for a sweet "last day as a couple" date. We were both a little nervous about going so far away, but Ojai is a really special place to us. It's where we have gone following every miscarriage for some peace. It's sacred Indian land and I swear it is the most peaceful place I have ever been. Anyway, Sunday night I went to bed and Baby Z was doing flips upside down and sideways. She was so active! Cliff asked, "Is there anyway she can bust out?"
"No!" I reassured him.

Well, at about 1:00 am I sat up in the middle of a dream and said, " I have to pee." That's when I felt and heard a pop and was flooded. I told Cliff, " I have either REALLY peed myself or we are having a baby!
So much fluid! Gross! Anyway, I called my doctor who was fast asleep and didn't know who I was. He told me to go to the hospital and wait until my contractions were so many minutes apart when he would come in to catch the baby. I didn't bother correcting him because when I got to the hospital I figured the nurses would set him straight, which they did.

At the hospital they hooked me up to monitors and we tried to sleep. Well, that's a joke because hospitals and sleep are incompatible. Eventually I started having contractions and although I was only 2 cm dialated they were less than a minute apart. They weren't too painful, but I did have to breath through them. Cliff had not yet been to sleep, so he was desperately trying to catch a nap. I decided to have an epidural so that I would be able to sleep. I thought Cliff might sleep better if he knew I was pain free. After all, I was having surgery anyway, there would be drugs so why be a hero?

Well, the epidural didn't work at. all. But try to convince people of that! Not too easy. Finally the anesthesiologist was poking me with a toothpick and asking what it felt like. "Um, it feels like being poked with a toothpick."

At about 6 am my primary OBGYN showed up. He ordered a spinal and friends it was MAGIC!!! Loved it! A warm blanket of mercy!

Soon my other doctor showed up. I was so filled with joy. Here were my two docotors, who've held my hand in some very dark times, there to deliver my baby. It meant so much to me that they both could be there for something good too. It was very celebratory. We joked and laughed and before long they announced that her head was delivered.

I asked if she would cry and they said, "soon." Just then came the shriek of all shrieks. Glass shattering! Whew! She was loud! God love her! This baby has always kicked just when I was panicked that she had been still too long and here she was shouting, "here I am" so I would have no doubts about her lung health.

So there she was, born 7:10 on 11-21-11, just about 24 hours before her scheduled arrival. She gets that from me. I am often the first one at a party. Even when I try to be late, I am often early. And, clearly she doesn't care about pallendromes.

Cliff followed the baby around getting cleaned up and getting some pictures. I was fixed up and taken to recovery.  I nursed her there for the first time and we spent the day just gazing at Marilee. That first night Cliff had to go home to get some sleep. I was quite relieved that my night nurse, Theresa, was a lactation specialist. She was with me throughout the night and I owe any breastfeeding success to her. She taught me about nursing while lying down, how to do "kangaroo care." I was able to nurse and doze throughout the night. In the morning, I actually felt pretty accomplished.

My parents arrived from FL the next day and we went home that Wed. There have been a few sleepless nights, an engorgement problem, a latch problem and some issues with gas pains. Step by step, one learning at a time, we are finding our way. Overall, Marilee is very easily consoled and very alert.

She's a super duper pooper! Thank goodness for cloth diapers! I don't feel so bad when she poops through three diapers in one changing! So far we are washing diapers every day. It's not so bad since our washer/dryer is right in our apartment. Cliff is especially supportive of cloth diapers which is nice. Even my mom, who thought I was crazy, was pleasantly surprised by the ease of modern cloth diapers.

My recovery has been awesome. I feel great and even fit into my clothes again. Apparently, Marilee was a tapeworm in a former life. I've been on walks most everyday. We have been out to lunch and dinner and Cliff and I have even gone on a movie date. Had to take advantage of Granma's babysitting while she was here!


 
I saw this pin today. It says, "The wold may be broken, but hope is not crazy." Amen.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Help me decided:
Which should I nibble on first?

Drumsticks?


Or burrito?


Never mind. Today is a day for feasting, I'll have both!

We are home. We are well. More details to follow.

First Thanksgiving Outfit- Inspired By Pinterest & Project Runway

First Thanksgiving Outfit
Originally uploaded by Jane Little
So, here I am just two days away from "D-Day!" With nothing but tons of time on my hands, I have been trolling Pinterest and watching Project Runway online. It's really kind of crazy. Also, I cleaned out my craft closet last night which inspires me to craft like nothing else.

Looks like we may be home in time for Thanksgiving. There were two adorable Thanksgiving shirts I pinned. However, the images are gone now. I guess people are cracking down on pinning.  I guess I can see why, on the one hand. It can be annoying to be copied. On the other hand, the people who are going to copy are not the same people who are going to buy anyway. Like me for example, I am not going to buy a Thanksgiving outfit because I am going to have a baby in two days and it wouldn't get here in time anyway! LOL.

Also, because I can make it myself in less than three minutes, in the size I need and with scraps I have on hand.

So imagine these cute t-shirts with simple turkeys with ribbon feathers.

I just happened to have this little brown cap that says "Got Candy?" on the back. It is for a photo op with my mom who 1. loves candy and 2. bought stock in Hershey's. I got the hat and matching onesie at the dollar store and all I want out of the outfit is this one picture with grandma.

But, I figure this cap can be reversible since we won't be going anywhere anyway.

The cap is too tiny for ribbon loop feathers and frankly too tiny for embroidered details. So I used snips of ribbon and painted the face on with a toothpick. Then remembering Tim Gunn's rant about glue guns on Project Runway, I decided to glue gun the whole thing together.

I tried to color match to this swaddle blanket I picked up at Goodwill just because it had Thanksgiving colors.

So there you have it a first Thanksgiving outfit.

I can hardly wait!

Due Date- One Week Away! Pink Christmas

With just one week to go, I decided it was now or never for Christmas decorating. I had my heart set on a pink Christmas and fell in love with this pink tree from K-Mart.  However, Cliff wasn't too sure about a pink tree. (I think since all the baby stuff started appearing he has been a bit on pink overload.) The $65 price tag was  more than I wanted to spend. I am sure it will go on deep discount later and I might be tempted to pick one up at that time, but I didn't want to wait.
 
Then one night I was in Target and I browsed through the Matthew Mead Holiday magazine.

Gorgeous! It was just the inspiration I needed. He featured a white feather tree with pale pink tissue paper flowers tucked in the branches. It was then that I knew, I would be very happy with this white tree from Walmart for $25 . I happen to be flush with pink tissue paper from my showers. They were easy to make and fill in the gaps where you can see the pole very well.

I am very happy with it.  
During the 80's and 90's I amassed quite a collection of Cherished Teddy ornaments which are perfect for a pink tree. Cliff's parents picked up this Fisher Price ornament at their factory store. The classic stacking rings were Cliff's first present to me when he was just 4 and I was only a week old. Yes, we go back that far. Actually, I had quite a few pink ornaments. It was so nice to leave the majority of my Christmas decorations behind and do something new.

Then, I hit the jackpot at Goodwill today and found this adorable deer. You know I am out of the blogging habit because I totally forgot to take a before picture. But, you have all seen a realistic looking ceramic animal before. Props to all of you who can spray paint these figurines to perfection. I am far too impatient. My coats were a bit thick and drippy. Hard to tell though because I used semi-gloss paint which is a bit more forgiving. Anyway, I love this pink deer.

Tonight I am working on the mantle. More pictures to come!