Movin' On Up
If you had the opportunity to live anywhere in the U.S.(yes just in the U.S.) where would it be? I'll go first: Boulder Colorado
posted by Kathryn @ 5:18 PM
10 comments
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
My So Called Life
A list of things that need to be done today:
Mop house
fold 2 baskets of clothes
do rest of laundry
clean master bathroom
dishes
clean and straighten kitchen
pick up living room
get babysitter for next monday (Sigor Ros, baby!)
upload Ellis vids for CanaMa
A list of things that will probably get done today:
feed Ellis apprx 500 times at an hour a stretch (1/2 hour feeding 1/2 burping)
change Ellis apprx 400 times
CanaMa has been gone for a week and a half and while I'm happy for her that she gets to live in the place of her dreams, the 12 year old in me was screaming at the top of her lungs and grabbing onto her ankles while on the way to the airport. "It's not faaaaaiiiiirrrr!!!! Why does she have to leave!!!!! Why can't she just live here again!!!!!" For that and other reasons which I will tell you about as soon as I can we're seriously considering putting our house on the market and Kent is looking for a job closer to Canada preferably northern Washington state. So there are big changes ahead one way or another.
Because she was such a big help for such a long time in many ways I'm just now finding out what it's like to stay home with the baby. It's been challenging. I need to figure out my sling so that I can carry him around the house with me. I think that will help a lot. As it is I'm lugging the bouncer around the house every time I need to do something in another room. The last two nights have been rough ones. I've been up since 4:30 this morning and now that he's finally sleeping I feel like I'm obligated to use this time to get things done (you know like take a shower, eat breakfast, and finally freaking blog). I'm thinking I'll need to just carve out 1/2 hour or so a day to blog and read others. I'm going a little insane without that daily outlet.
Tomorow Ellis will be 6 weeks old which means that I am finally allowed to excersize and lift things heaviear than the baby. I'd like to take advantage of my newfound freedom and get out of the house at least once a day. This idea is seriously hampered by the fact that hardly any of my clothes are suitable for public consumption. It's been three weeks since I got my pre-preggo jeans to close and since that time I have not lost any more of my tummy.
Shit- feeding time...more later. Forgive all the spelling errors and bad grammer no time for checking.
Mop house
fold 2 baskets of clothes
do rest of laundry
clean master bathroom
dishes
clean and straighten kitchen
pick up living room
get babysitter for next monday (Sigor Ros, baby!)
upload Ellis vids for CanaMa
A list of things that will probably get done today:
feed Ellis apprx 500 times at an hour a stretch (1/2 hour feeding 1/2 burping)
change Ellis apprx 400 times
CanaMa has been gone for a week and a half and while I'm happy for her that she gets to live in the place of her dreams, the 12 year old in me was screaming at the top of her lungs and grabbing onto her ankles while on the way to the airport. "It's not faaaaaiiiiirrrr!!!! Why does she have to leave!!!!! Why can't she just live here again!!!!!" For that and other reasons which I will tell you about as soon as I can we're seriously considering putting our house on the market and Kent is looking for a job closer to Canada preferably northern Washington state. So there are big changes ahead one way or another.
Because she was such a big help for such a long time in many ways I'm just now finding out what it's like to stay home with the baby. It's been challenging. I need to figure out my sling so that I can carry him around the house with me. I think that will help a lot. As it is I'm lugging the bouncer around the house every time I need to do something in another room. The last two nights have been rough ones. I've been up since 4:30 this morning and now that he's finally sleeping I feel like I'm obligated to use this time to get things done (you know like take a shower, eat breakfast, and finally freaking blog). I'm thinking I'll need to just carve out 1/2 hour or so a day to blog and read others. I'm going a little insane without that daily outlet.
Tomorow Ellis will be 6 weeks old which means that I am finally allowed to excersize and lift things heaviear than the baby. I'd like to take advantage of my newfound freedom and get out of the house at least once a day. This idea is seriously hampered by the fact that hardly any of my clothes are suitable for public consumption. It's been three weeks since I got my pre-preggo jeans to close and since that time I have not lost any more of my tummy.
Shit- feeding time...more later. Forgive all the spelling errors and bad grammer no time for checking.
posted by Kathryn @ 12:50 PM
8 comments
Monday, February 13, 2006
How To Make My Heart Burst Into A Million Pieces
Put your most prized possession, the Kong you don't let ANYONE near including your mom and dad, into the crook of your new baby brothers neck while he's sleeping and snuggle up next to him for a nap.
posted by Kathryn @ 9:09 PM
6 comments
Friday, February 10, 2006
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Crybaby
Yesterday CanaMa and I went to the crybaby matinee at the Angelika Film Center. Having easy access to great movies is something that we gave up when we moved to the 'burbs. We used to check out a movie at the Angelika at least a couple times a month. Now all we get is the usual crap and we go just for the movie experience instead of an artistic experience which we love so much. But a crybaby matinee is worth the drive.
This week the crybaby movie is a French film starring Daniel Auteuil et Juliette Binoche (hello, perfect much?!). The theatre sets up a changing table for us and keeps the lights up a bit so we can see to breastfeed. I think I was in mommy heaven. There were 6 or 7 babies there all cooing and crying intermittently and NOBODY CARED! Although there were a few people watching who clearly didn't realize what they were getting into, they all politely kept their mouths shut. It was subtitled so no one missed any dialogue. The best part was that for the first time I felt what it is like to be a part of the mom club. Ellis burped loudly and a couple of the other moms turned around and laughed with me. We all asked ages and stages stuff and everyone just seemed happy to be around other women going through some of the same things.
It's definitely going to be a regular thing.
p.s. Hey check this out. I discovered it on another blog. Kinda like flickr for video.
This week the crybaby movie is a French film starring Daniel Auteuil et Juliette Binoche (hello, perfect much?!). The theatre sets up a changing table for us and keeps the lights up a bit so we can see to breastfeed. I think I was in mommy heaven. There were 6 or 7 babies there all cooing and crying intermittently and NOBODY CARED! Although there were a few people watching who clearly didn't realize what they were getting into, they all politely kept their mouths shut. It was subtitled so no one missed any dialogue. The best part was that for the first time I felt what it is like to be a part of the mom club. Ellis burped loudly and a couple of the other moms turned around and laughed with me. We all asked ages and stages stuff and everyone just seemed happy to be around other women going through some of the same things.
It's definitely going to be a regular thing.
p.s. Hey check this out. I discovered it on another blog. Kinda like flickr for video.
posted by Kathryn @ 9:31 PM
8 comments
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
1 Month
Ellis,
On the day you were born your father and I woke up at 4:30am. It wasn't hard since we'd only halfway slept for 3 hours anyway. We grabbed our bags and drove the longest drive of our lives. Neither of us could believe that day was THE day even though we felt as if we had been waiting our whole lives for you. Your father had a countdown on his watch from the first week we found out you were growing inside me. It was a ritual to check it every day even though we knew exactly how long it was until you were due. Your official due date was your Grandmother Geneva's birthday. She would have loved you so much. It makes your father and me sad every day that she's not here to hold you.
Because you were so big, my doctor decided it would be dangerous for me to try to have you naturally, so we had to schedule a c-section to bring you into the world on January 11th 2006. It was very hard for me to make that decision because I knew it would mean that I wouldn't be allowed to hold you right after you were born. But that was the way it had to be and I knew that your father would be right with you for those precious first moments of your life.
We got to the hospital at 6am and I was prepped for surgery. The nurse bruised the hell out of my hand trying to get a vein for the IV. It was still bruised 3 weeks later. Still, nothing could quell my excitement. After being told what to expect during the surgery they wheeled me into the operating room alone. Your father had to wait outside. I think that was the worst part for me. The anesthesiologist put a needle in my back and in 5 minutes I couldn't feel anything below my neck and I couldn't think about anything except that I was about to meet you.
Your father came in the room and told me that they had already started to open me up. I had no idea. It only took 5 minutes for the doctor to tell your dad to peek over the curtain to see your head as it came out. You were still blue and had your umbilical cord wrapped around your neck tightly. This scared your dad to death but as soon as the rest of you came out you turned a perfect shade of pink and screamed and peed your way into the world. I teared up at the sound of your first cry and as they brought you around the curtain for me to look at you I had to blink the tears away. The first thing I said when I saw you for the first time was "He looks just like his dad!" And you still do.
When people talk about seeing their children for the first time they often talk about feeling a rush of love that comes over them. I didn't feel that. What I felt was an instant and intense deepening of love for you that I already had so much of in the core of my being. It was like you had always been with me, just waiting for the right moment to make an appearance. It felt like everything was finally just as it should be.
The doctor sewed and stapled my body back together as you and your dad went on your first big adventure together. You were weighed, measured, tested and bathed and all the while your father was right by your side. He was the first one to hold you and you knew him instantly. Once I was wheeled into the recovery room he kept running back and forth between the two of us making sure we were both OK. After the nurses were finished evaluating you they finally brought you to me and allowed me to hold you and try to feed you. I wish I remember more about what it felt like to hold you for the first time, but I was on a lot of medication and that has stolen many of those first moments. I do remember one of the nurses marching in with a bottle of formula in her hand and railroading your dad and I into making you take it when you didn't latch on to my breast in .5 seconds. Luckily we're both fast learners and by the time we left the hospital 4 days later we were pros.
That first day all I remember doing is staring at you. Drinking you in. I remember how amazing it was that your pinky fingernail was so tiny. I remember how incredible it was that you were already holding your head up for 30 seconds at a time. I remember loving your red hair and blue eyes and your toes and your nose and feeling like I was empty if I wasn't holding you. I remember how I fell even more in love with your dad watching him change your first diaper, and swaddle you and watching how excited he was to finally get to know you.
The first couple of weeks after the surgery were the most wonderful and the most difficult days of my life. I was elated to hold you and care for you, and I was crushed by the pain and humiliation of recovery. Your father is a saint. He took such good care of the both of us during that time. He helped me dress, shower, eat, use the restroom, sleep and walk. He jumped up to comfort you every time you made a peep. And even though it killed me not to be able to do the same, you had what you needed in your dad.
You are such a different baby now from when we first brought you home. You get cuter every day. You know your father and I, and GP (Grandma Paula) and like to stare at us while we hold you. You noticed your mobile for the first time last week and it mesmerized you. You can tell the difference in my appearance when I have my glasses on and when I don't. Just tonight you recognized that your dad was wearing a hat and would follow it when he took it off and then look back at him as if you were working it all out in your head. You are a really laid back little guy. You mostly cry when you're hungry, gassy or dirty. We haven't yet been faced with a long period of crying when we couldn't calm you down. It's really hard to hear you cry. Some deep primal instinct makes me need to make it better right then. I don't think that will ever go away.
You're usually up twice in the night, sleeping four hours at a stretch. Your dad and I are still trying to get used to waking up. Your GP has been here since you were born to get to know you and to help us out. Nights are her favorite time because when your dad and I just can't stay awake anymore we take you to her and the two of you have a few hours of sleeping and bonding. I think you're going to really miss her when she leaves on Sunday. Your father had to go back to work when you were 2 weeks old. It's hard for him to leave you for so long every day. If we had it our way we'd both stay home with you. Maybe one day we'll be able to do that. Until then, he'll spend as much time with you as possible.
Your sisters (the dauggers) are so great with you. Chloe is your protector. When you cry she's right there to make sure you're OK. When a new person holds you she sits right next to them to make sure they don't hurt you. She even rolls around in your clothes. Bella-dog loves you so much that she has even sacrificed a toy or two just to be near you and give you slobbery kisses on your toes. You were already used to hearing them bark and growl while they play from hearing them when you were inside of me. You don't even flinch when they get crazy.
We learn something new about each other every day, little one. We're still settling into routines and figuring out what works and what doesn't. I love every second I have with you. A lot of people say that their lives are unrecognizable when they have a baby. I think that our lives are still very much the same. You fit into our world so perfectly it's like you were always here.
I love you little man.
Love,
Mom
On the day you were born your father and I woke up at 4:30am. It wasn't hard since we'd only halfway slept for 3 hours anyway. We grabbed our bags and drove the longest drive of our lives. Neither of us could believe that day was THE day even though we felt as if we had been waiting our whole lives for you. Your father had a countdown on his watch from the first week we found out you were growing inside me. It was a ritual to check it every day even though we knew exactly how long it was until you were due. Your official due date was your Grandmother Geneva's birthday. She would have loved you so much. It makes your father and me sad every day that she's not here to hold you.
Because you were so big, my doctor decided it would be dangerous for me to try to have you naturally, so we had to schedule a c-section to bring you into the world on January 11th 2006. It was very hard for me to make that decision because I knew it would mean that I wouldn't be allowed to hold you right after you were born. But that was the way it had to be and I knew that your father would be right with you for those precious first moments of your life.
We got to the hospital at 6am and I was prepped for surgery. The nurse bruised the hell out of my hand trying to get a vein for the IV. It was still bruised 3 weeks later. Still, nothing could quell my excitement. After being told what to expect during the surgery they wheeled me into the operating room alone. Your father had to wait outside. I think that was the worst part for me. The anesthesiologist put a needle in my back and in 5 minutes I couldn't feel anything below my neck and I couldn't think about anything except that I was about to meet you.
Your father came in the room and told me that they had already started to open me up. I had no idea. It only took 5 minutes for the doctor to tell your dad to peek over the curtain to see your head as it came out. You were still blue and had your umbilical cord wrapped around your neck tightly. This scared your dad to death but as soon as the rest of you came out you turned a perfect shade of pink and screamed and peed your way into the world. I teared up at the sound of your first cry and as they brought you around the curtain for me to look at you I had to blink the tears away. The first thing I said when I saw you for the first time was "He looks just like his dad!" And you still do.
When people talk about seeing their children for the first time they often talk about feeling a rush of love that comes over them. I didn't feel that. What I felt was an instant and intense deepening of love for you that I already had so much of in the core of my being. It was like you had always been with me, just waiting for the right moment to make an appearance. It felt like everything was finally just as it should be.
The doctor sewed and stapled my body back together as you and your dad went on your first big adventure together. You were weighed, measured, tested and bathed and all the while your father was right by your side. He was the first one to hold you and you knew him instantly. Once I was wheeled into the recovery room he kept running back and forth between the two of us making sure we were both OK. After the nurses were finished evaluating you they finally brought you to me and allowed me to hold you and try to feed you. I wish I remember more about what it felt like to hold you for the first time, but I was on a lot of medication and that has stolen many of those first moments. I do remember one of the nurses marching in with a bottle of formula in her hand and railroading your dad and I into making you take it when you didn't latch on to my breast in .5 seconds. Luckily we're both fast learners and by the time we left the hospital 4 days later we were pros.
That first day all I remember doing is staring at you. Drinking you in. I remember how amazing it was that your pinky fingernail was so tiny. I remember how incredible it was that you were already holding your head up for 30 seconds at a time. I remember loving your red hair and blue eyes and your toes and your nose and feeling like I was empty if I wasn't holding you. I remember how I fell even more in love with your dad watching him change your first diaper, and swaddle you and watching how excited he was to finally get to know you.
The first couple of weeks after the surgery were the most wonderful and the most difficult days of my life. I was elated to hold you and care for you, and I was crushed by the pain and humiliation of recovery. Your father is a saint. He took such good care of the both of us during that time. He helped me dress, shower, eat, use the restroom, sleep and walk. He jumped up to comfort you every time you made a peep. And even though it killed me not to be able to do the same, you had what you needed in your dad.
You are such a different baby now from when we first brought you home. You get cuter every day. You know your father and I, and GP (Grandma Paula) and like to stare at us while we hold you. You noticed your mobile for the first time last week and it mesmerized you. You can tell the difference in my appearance when I have my glasses on and when I don't. Just tonight you recognized that your dad was wearing a hat and would follow it when he took it off and then look back at him as if you were working it all out in your head. You are a really laid back little guy. You mostly cry when you're hungry, gassy or dirty. We haven't yet been faced with a long period of crying when we couldn't calm you down. It's really hard to hear you cry. Some deep primal instinct makes me need to make it better right then. I don't think that will ever go away.
You're usually up twice in the night, sleeping four hours at a stretch. Your dad and I are still trying to get used to waking up. Your GP has been here since you were born to get to know you and to help us out. Nights are her favorite time because when your dad and I just can't stay awake anymore we take you to her and the two of you have a few hours of sleeping and bonding. I think you're going to really miss her when she leaves on Sunday. Your father had to go back to work when you were 2 weeks old. It's hard for him to leave you for so long every day. If we had it our way we'd both stay home with you. Maybe one day we'll be able to do that. Until then, he'll spend as much time with you as possible.
Your sisters (the dauggers) are so great with you. Chloe is your protector. When you cry she's right there to make sure you're OK. When a new person holds you she sits right next to them to make sure they don't hurt you. She even rolls around in your clothes. Bella-dog loves you so much that she has even sacrificed a toy or two just to be near you and give you slobbery kisses on your toes. You were already used to hearing them bark and growl while they play from hearing them when you were inside of me. You don't even flinch when they get crazy.
We learn something new about each other every day, little one. We're still settling into routines and figuring out what works and what doesn't. I love every second I have with you. A lot of people say that their lives are unrecognizable when they have a baby. I think that our lives are still very much the same. You fit into our world so perfectly it's like you were always here.
I love you little man.
Love,
Mom
posted by Kathryn @ 10:31 PM
6 comments
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
On the 21st Day God Was Merciful
I just buttoned and zipped my pre-pregnancy non-stretchy jeans. (Yes I was laying on my back and sucking in but hey they got closed.)
Before the baby if I had something I wanted to blog about I would just walk on over to the computer and do it. I've thought of about 1,000 things to say over the last few days (mostly at 3 and 6 am) that have left my brain almost as soon as they entered it. I'm going to have to start writing them down.
For now, I present Bard Ellis.
Before the baby if I had something I wanted to blog about I would just walk on over to the computer and do it. I've thought of about 1,000 things to say over the last few days (mostly at 3 and 6 am) that have left my brain almost as soon as they entered it. I'm going to have to start writing them down.
For now, I present Bard Ellis.
posted by Kathryn @ 6:17 PM
8 comments
