Monday, May 25, 2009

More Family Fun

We've been spending most of our time here hanging out with the family.


Our buddies!


Lucy thinks Great GranE is a laugh riot!


My aunt Karen just had her 50th birthday party. We brought Lucy as her birthday present. That lady sure loves babies!


Stand back!


How sweet are the two of them together?



Pretty pretty

I made Lucy her first toy!

I hung a few strands of mardi gras beads (thanks Paddy!) from the rubber tree in Grammi's kitchen.


Lucy lays in the Moses basket under the tree and watches those beads for whole minutes at a time!


She even figured out that if she grabs one of the necklaces and shakes it, it shakes the whole tree and makes all the beads twinkle.


Not that she's doing it on purpose, of course. But she's enjoying herself nonetheless!


Here's what it looks like to her.


The best part is that this entertains her for the WHOLE time it takes me to scarf down my oatmeal and put the coffee on! Like, 3 minutes!!

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Video--Lucy's first coos!



Awwwww! I'm making her cooing noises at her, and she's making them back at me. And even giggling! She just learned how to giggle today!

Holy cow she's wonderful!

Peekture. Mor peekture (as requested).

Picture post for Lucy's papa, who misses her bunches.


Who's our little Mexican?

On our way here, the flight attendant took one look at Lucy and exclaimed, "Girl, are you married to a MEXICAN??"

Eh, for all intents and purposes, yes.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Yelling yelling!!

Lucy did not have a happy day.


But I did! After a failed attempt last night--Lucy cried really loudly at the store, I didn't want to be THAT GIRL with THAT BABY so we left--Mom, Lucy, and I finally managed to go clothes shopping! I had been at the point where anytime I needed to go somewhere, I had to try on everything in my closet. It usually ended up with me in tears or throwing clothes on the floor in a fit of rage. Nothing fit! Or if it did fit, I couldn't breastfeed in it! And of course, wearing ill-fitting clothes just made me feel worse about my postpartum body. So what a relief to actually have new clothes that fit my new body!

Sunday, May 17, 2009

She can talk!

Little lady learned how to converse! It's so so so cute. I say something to her, pause, and she says, "ah gloo" in her sweet baby voice. Then I ask her a question, and she says, "aaah!" and giggles. It's the best thing ever! I could talk to her all day.





Lucy's first carnival


We all had a blast!


Well, Lucy mostly slept, but I'm sure she absorbed the festive spirit of it all.


Oh, look who woke up!


Mom held Lucy while Jen and I went on the scariest ride there, the Hot Shot.


And holy cow was it scary! The first time we were upside down, 5 stories in the air, barely held in by the seat belt, I thought, "Oh man, this is more than I bargained for!" Then as the car whooshed 5 stories back down, zipped around, and back up to the top, I thought, "Well if I can give birth, I can handle this!" Jen must have been thinking the same thing, because the next time we flew down she yelled,
"WE HAD BABIES OUT OF OUR VAGINAAAAAAS!"

We sure did, Lady. We sure did.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

It rained today

Luckily, Lucy was content to sit inside and watch the thunderstorms with Mama.


Oh, it's wonderful here

Here's what we've been up to since we got to St. Louis.

Grammi found the Snoopy! This is the baby carrier she wore us in when we were babies. Grammi and Paddy took us ballroom dancing in this thing, and we loved it. Looks like Lucy likes it too!


We've been taking a million walks every day. Well, maybe five a day. Lucy loves them because they make her stop crying and help her go to sleep. It's so cute to watch her watching all the trees and flowers--she's so entranced!



This little lady is out like a light!

We've also been doing a lot of baking...


And Lucy got to meet Mike Brown, my best friend from college (and the minister who married her parents!) She tried really hard to breastfeed from him...I guess he just seemed so motherly.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Hiking around Grammi's House

Grammi and I showed Lucy, Jen, and Reiley the trail that I used to hike on when I was little. It's right behind Grammi's house. The neighborhood is manicured and suburban...you'd never expect the wilds that grow right behind the matching houses.


There's a retired obstetrician in the neighborhood who spends his time planting trees and grasses back here. He really is a character. Picture an old white guy in basketball shorts, covered in mud, who will talk your ear off whenever you come without shouting distance. When he found out we live in New York, he said, "Oh really? I used to go there for two weeks every year, to take African Dance classes." I'm still working up the nerve to ask him for a demonstration!




Look how tiny Grammi is! She's a little forest fairy!



This always was the best hill for running down. And sledding down! We'll have to come back in the winter so Lucy can try out sledding.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Lucy meets my family!

On Mother's Day, Lucy and I flew back to visit my family. Aaaaaaah, I was so scared to travel alone with her! I was terrified to be THAT LADY with THAT BABY on the plane, but she actually slept most of the time and didn't cry that much.

I got to introduce my baby to my family!


The gang's all here!


Changing party!


Ainsley is so sweet with Lucy. She makes silly faces at her, sings her songs, and keeps exclaiming, "All that hair!" When Lucy got a little overwhelmed with all the Ainsley-love, Kevin told her, "Don't worry, Lucy, she's a happy monster." She sure is!


Blond, blond, black! Tim jokes that Lucy is Reiley's evil doppelganger, because they look so similar except for their coloring.


Everyone wanted a chance to hold Lucy on their laps. We joked that even Sawyer is big enough to try!


And so he did. Here's a blurry, but hysterical picture of him munching on her fingers.


Baby games! Won't it be fun for them to have a cousin just four months apart?

Grammi got this gorgeous Moses basket for Lucy to nap in while she's here. Our apartment at home is small enough that I can always hear Lucy, no matter which room I'm in. But here, it's easier to keep her near me so I'll be sure to hear her little sleeping squeaks and baby calls.


Ainsley and Reiley (our resident Bible scholars) have been playing Baby Moses every day. Ainsley is Moses, Reiley is the big sister, Miriam, Jen is Moses's mom, Yochabed, and I'm the Princess.


It's just so pretty here. I feel relaxed for the first time since Lucy was born. Can we please move here?

Sunday, May 10, 2009

My First Mother's Day

Doing what we do best.



Thursday, May 7, 2009

Midhoof Appointment

Today was my 6 week postpartum check up with the midhoof, as Tim calls her. Everything's a-ok!

I took Lucy in the Maya sling that we just got. I'm hoping that it will be easier to use than our other baby wearing things, especially for traveling and quick baby wearings around the house. I love the color! Lucy and I are getting the hang of it, but apparently we're not at the point yet where we can take pictures of ourselves that we actually show up in.


I met another mom in the midwife's waiting room with a funny baby wearing story. She said that with her first baby, she wore him in the Baby Bjorn with it on UPSIDE DOWN for weeks, until a stranger stopped her in the street and explained how it was supposed to be worn!

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Baby Games

Lucy is waking up! She's settled herself into a daily schedule, and that schedule now includes time when she's awake and wants to play.


She likes to watch her giraffe from Great GranE that plays Brahm's Lullaby. I can sing it to her in German, but I don't think I've ever heard the lyrics in English.

Aww, I just found an English version and it's so sweet! I'll just take out the creepy angel part.
Lullaby and good night, thy mother's delight
Bright angels beside my darling abide
They will guard thee at rest, thou shalt wake on my breast
They will guard thee at rest, thou shalt wake on my breast


Today was the first time I've read to her while we're laying on the bed--just like we did for story time when I was little!


Of course, Lucy's favorite pastime is still nursing! We started calling it having a love snack.

Mama got to play mama games today, too! I went out to lunch at the corner diner with my mama friend from the neighborhood, and one of her mama friends. It was cute--they parked their strollers at the table and the six of us giggled for hours. Well, the mamas and the little boys giggled; Lucy just slept in her Moby. I love spending time with other moms. They understand.

Now that I know how to put the Moby on around Lucy, it's been much easier to get out of the house. We've been going for walks every day, even in the rain. It's really helping me feel like me again. I was going nuts spending every day just talking to a baby and pacing these two rooms! And as an added bonus...walking in the Moby always puts Lucy to sleep!