4 Months

If you want a new outfit - not just any outfit... a brand new $35 pajama set - all you have to do is wait until the one time your mom doesn't pack an extra outfit when you go shopping and explode in your diaper. You'll get the best results if the nearest store is pretty expensive and only has one (admittedly adorable) option in your size. $35 pajamas are great and all, but they aren't really my...

A Short Letter to Myself

Dear Me,This time last year, you were basically dying. Between the extreme exhaustion of early pregnancy and having to wait almost two months for your first prenatal appointment, you thought that time was not even moving, really, and that your sesame-seed-sized baby would never ever ever arrive. Everything had changed, but nothing had changed. All your dreams came true but they were still kind of...

White Tree

So, I'm looking at the tree we just put up. It's from the first Christmas we ever shared as husband and wife. We lived in a little apartment (actually, a huge one - 900 square feet that was basically all bedroom) in Norman. Justin has a thing for live Christmas trees, so we agreed that I could have whatever tree I wanted until we started getting real ones. Justin's car was broken down, so he walked...

3 Months

What I meant to say was how bizarre it is that I have a 3-month-old baby, a baby who sometimes seems to understand what I'm saying to her. A baby who looks like an angel when she sleeps, a baby who is too smart for her own good. A baby that doesn't know English but talks all the time anyway.What I meant to say is how these last three months have been the best of my life. How I wouldn't change them...

Diaper Changing & Bonding

Changing diapers doesn't sound like a glamorous task. It sounds stinky and dirty. Gross, even.What no one talks about is how intimate it is.Maya loves being changed. She is always happy on the changing table and she talks and laughs and smiles freely while watching you do the dirty work.When I say, "Hey! I think I found an awesome way for you to bond with her!" People just think I'm trying to pass...

She Needs Me (I Need Her)

Baby girl, take it one day at a time...Maya looks up at me and a tear escapes her eye and rolls down the side of her face. I wipe it away as I sing to her. The frown on her face fades a little as her eyes slowly close. If she were able to talk, I'm sure she'd tell me how tired she is and how much she hates it....you can't just grow up overnight...It breaks my heart to see her so upset, to hear her...

Mama's Girl

She's a mama's girl. For now. I'm enjoying every second of it while I can.She looks a lot like her dad.She's discovered her feet and tongue.She watches tv sometimes.At night, she sleeps about six hours, eats, then sleeps another two to four hours before eating again.She is 2 months & 3 days (or 9 weeks & 1 day) today. She weighs 12lbs 9oz, and is 25" long.This face is kind of her signature...

6 Weeks

I'm in bed. I've just coaxed Maya to sleep, and honestly, I'm a little afraid to get up and go pee, even though I really want to, for fear that I'll wake her up. She never cries for no reason, and tonight, the reason is tiredness. Seems like a pretty straightforward solution, to just go to sleep, but not without first letting mama and daddy know how much she hates being tired. Well, me too, little...

1 Month

I didn't do anything special for Maya's one month birthday, but Justin did get me a present "just because". I guess, if you want to give it a reason or justify the fact that I got a gift and not Maya, you could say it's the one month anniversary of me being a mom. Which it is. (Because she was born at the very same moment that I became a mother. What a coincidence!) You could also say, "What one-month-old...

A Birth Story (of Sorts)

I was scheduled to be induced on Monday, August 25 at 12:01am.That did not happen.Maya was born at 41 weeks and a day, on Sunday, August 24 at 10:02pm. She weighed 7lbs 5oz and was 20.5" long.At dinner Saturday night, a stranger said his daughter was due in September and he guessed I was due in October. "No, I'm actually a week overdue today." We all laughed and decided his incorrect guess was a compliment....

HAVE ALL THE BABIES

My baby is almost a month old. I've been a mom for almost a month, though I didn't feel like one at first. I love her so deeply, but I still don't quite understand my feelings for her. I think of how much God loves her, how much He loves me, and I find myself thinking of how limiting the human body is. My little heart grew bigger than I can even measure and it's still not big enough to hold these...

Welcome

Welcome, Maya Blue. We love you forever.Exactly one week ago, I was still pregnant. At 5:30pm, I had just checked into the hospital, dilated to a five and fully effaced. In less than five hours, I would be a mother.The delivery process was amazing. As unreal as it is to have finally met my daughter, it feels like I've known her forever. I feel like a new person, and at the same time, I feel like I've...

40 weeks + a day

There should be a support group for pregnant women who are overdue.My due date was yesterday, and there have been no signs of baby at all, as of now. It goes without saying that she will come eventually. But that's not the issue. I know she'll be here someday, but that's always been true, even long before I was pregnant. It's that she was supposed to have already arrived. I've been pregnant for a...

The Pros of Being Pregnant at 39 & 1/2 Weeks

To be honest, I was sure she'd be born by now. The consistency of all my mom's pregnancies ultimately did nothing to predict, with any accuracy at least, what my experience would be. (I should've seen this coming when I passed my one-hour glucose test.) Here I am, rounding the corner on my due date, and there are zero signs that she's going to be born soon. The most I've got going on is some low menstrual-like...

38 weeks + 2 days

You people have no clue how ready I am to have this baby. I am so done being pregnant, just waiting around. I'm so tired all the time. Feeling her move is still as awesome as ever, probably more so now that she's like a real live borned baby, but what the hay bales do I have to do to make her get out here?!And, apparently, I've gained too much weight since my previous appointment. Problem is that...

Okay, I'm done being pregnant now.

I've been sick all weekend, or I totally would've posted (or even taken) 36-week photos. My car won't start this morning, which is really a blessing because I intended to go to work today even though I'm still feeling sick. (I have a... summer cold? "Pregnancy cold"? Probably the dumbest thing ever invented. Bottom line is that besides not being able to breathe even more than usual and having a stuffy/sneezy/runny...

I've Accomplished Nothing (Unless Napping Counts)

Time left until her due date: 4 weeks & 3 daysThings I haven't done yet:1. Washed her clothes2. Packed my hospital bag3. Installed her car seat4. Sent out thank-you cards5. Had maternity photos taken (Do I really have to?)+ a ton of other stuff that I'm too tired to think about.Justin goes to the gym, I stay home and nap. He folds the laundry while I surf Pinterest. He massages my feet while...

Pregnancy: All Its Glory

The fact that I haven't posted anything since 29 weeks is blowing my mind. That was years ago! I sit here now at 34 weeks and 5 days, which means her due date is barely more than 5 weeks away. Mentally and emotionally, I could not be more ready. Pregnancy is the longest thing I've ever done in my entire life, and I am so ready to finally hold her in my arms and kiss her little face.These days, my...