An eventful evening (part 2 - watch me last hubby!)

So I'm posting these mostly for my husband who is away on business in Japan. He missed being present for a few pretty cool things tonight, but at least I caught them on video! I am sharing them here for all to enjoy, but mostly to make sure he can! This one takes an unexpected twist. Make sure you watch the other one first, hubby! Oh, and it looks like the choppiness and missing audio is gone now - huzzah!

An eventful evening (part 1)

New accomplishment tonight - grasping with intent! Look at how she decides she's going to grasp something, puts her arm up, opens her hand, and then she grasps it! Amazing! And I like where the ring ends up - how does it get there? haha! Sorry the video is choppy - I don't know why it runs that way. And the audio seems to have disappeared. Oh well!

Off Topic

I have been putting off getting my wedding and engagement rings appraised for our insurance because I have just had so much else going on. I finally got around to it on Tuesday. I was told that my rings would be ready for pickup on Friday and they would call me to let me know what time. I didn't really want to leave my rings for three whole days (other places prices were higher but would have them ready for pickup the same day or next day. This place is a small local business though, so I chose them for price, proximity, and the quaint family feel). I still had no call as of today, so I just called the store. They told me they should be ready by next Tuesday. Next. Tuesday. I'm very upset! It's hard to be without my rings for so long - I wear them all the time, every day. Imagine going without underwear (assuming you wear it) for a whole week. That's what it feels like. And why in the hell does it take 7.5 days to appraise two rings? Grrrr.

Just an Observation

I went back to work last week. It wasn't too bad. I missed my little girlie like crazy, but that is to be expected. In any case, I am breastfeeding my baby. If any of you are working mothers, or close to a woman when she had her baby and went back to work, you probably know about breast pumping. I have been pumping several times a day at work as my workplace is very good about encouraging breastfeeding for new mothers for all of the health benefits to baby. And if baby is healthy, mom doesn't have to miss lots of work to care for baby. Sorry, I digress. My observation is this - when my breast pump is working, it makes an interesting sound. In my head, it sounds like the pump is saying "breasto - breasto - breasto". I amuse myself by making up other phrases that it may be "saying" as it works. In any case, I found myself walking around the house today making wooshing sounds and thinking "breasto-breasto-breasto". I think I need more sleep.

Last Day of Maternity Leave - July 23rd, 2010

Tomorrow is my last day of maternity leave. I've had a variety of feelings about my pending return to work, but recently it's been a blend of apprehension and sadness. I'll miss my little girl something awful and I'm afraid that she won't get as good of care as I can give her. Realistically, she'll probably get better care from those who are more familiar with her development. But darnitall, I'm Mommy! I give the best attention, hands down! I really just need to calm down and accept that it will be what it will be. If I really can't stand it, I can always leave work. I've promised myself at least a full month of trying before I really think about it again. Once that month is up I can reconsider my feelings, but until then, I need to give work my attention again. I really do enjoy working, so hopefully I can feel that pleasure of accomplishment again when I return. Only time will tell.

In the meantime, I have a heck of a busy 3 days coming up! Tomorrow is my baby girl's 2 month checkup! I hope she's been thriving. I've had breastmilk supply issues - perhaps I'll write more details on that later. Suffice to say that I hope she is gaining weight and growing appropriately from her last appointment and I'll be very happy with where we are. After the appointment with the pediatrician, we're headed for the daycare for another meeting with her new teachers. We'll get some last-minute questions answered and then we're off to the hospital (one pretty far away actually, not the two closest to us) to return the hospital-grade breast pump that we've been renting. Finally, we hope to have dinner at an Indian restaurant in our old neighborhood since we've moved to the sticks and no longer have Indian food nearby. Saturday will be filled with a doctor's appointment for my husband and I for our insurance, then off to a suburb waaaay on the other side of town for a girls' afternoon out - manicures, pedicures, and dinner of some sort. Sunday will be filled with a visit from friends for some D&D (Dungeons and Dragons for all you non-geeks). Then we'll do some chores and we're headed for the work week. Eeek!

So wish me luck, please! It's gonna' be crazy 'round these parts!

I am a terrible blogger

But, on the other hand, I have a most adorable baby girl! She was born in late May at 6 pounds and 14 ounces. She was a long little girl at 20 inches. She came 3 days after my due date and is now 6 weeks old. Here is a picture of the little munchkin. Bask in her adorableness! =)

Oh, and by the way, we really thought 'she' was going to be a 'he'. We were awfully surprised, but couldn't ask for a more delightful baby.

Six Weeks Left - April 8th, 2010

I can hardly believe that I only have 6 weeks left in this pregnancy. Actually, that's 6 weeks until my due date - I'll be considered full term in just 3 weeks. Wow. We have a lot to do between now and then, that's for sure! We close on both houses on April 20th and move to our new home on the 21st. Two weeks from right now, we'll be in our new house. Crazy. That's all I have to post for now. Eventually I'll have pictures of the new house. When we remember the camera. And it's charged. And we have the memory stick. Eventually.

The Word of the Day is Lucky - March 11, 2010

*tap tap* Is this thing still on? Anybody still out there? I wouldn't blame you if you weren't . . .

I was just thinking about things today and feel a very strong need to post. I've been really bogged down in some stressful situations lately. Work has been sucking every last ounce of energy out of me possible between challenging assignments, unrealistic timelines, and difficult coworkers. My husband was out of the country for a few weeks, leaving me to not only keep the house running, but deal with the trials of selling our house alone (with some help from Mom - thanks Mom!). And yeah, we've been trying to sell our house and buy a new one before baby comes. So I've had my share of stress these past few weeks. That's not what I want to post about though. What I want to post about is this: I am a very lucky person with a lot of things going right.

First off, I got pregnant via IUI. I know, there are tons of people who get pregnant as easy as sneezing - why do I consider this lucky? Because I've been following the story of many wonderful women on the infertility boards over the past year. There are many who are still there, trying to get pregnant completing round after round after round of treatment. More still spend months and months undergoing treatments and finally become pregnant only to have that bliss stolen from them due to a miscarriage, or worse, multiple miscarriages. These women are hopeful, dedicated, and deserving of experiencing pregnancy and the joy of having a child of their own. They spend countless thousands of dollars chasing the dream of this, only to have cycle after cycle of disappointment and sorrow deeper than I can even imagine. And I am no longer experiencing this - and there is much of it that I never had to experience at all. I am pregnant. I did not miscarry. I am going to have a child. Anything I am going through now pales in comparison with the sorrow that I was feeling or could still be feeling. And there are many who feel it for years and years - some for the rest of their lives.

I am also lucky because I am now 30 weeks pregnant, and my little one is still tucked safely inside of me, growing and healthy. My sister gave birth to her first child at 30 weeks exactly. If my pregnancy had gone the way hers had, I would have been on bedrest for several weeks now, and this morning at around 3:30 in the morning, I would have been informed that I would have to undergo an emergency c-section. But my pregnancy didn't go that way. I am not on bed rest. In fact, I'm feeling better lately than I have for several months. I'm a little tired, but that's understandable based on all of the activity in my life these days. I am healthy, my baby is healthy, and there isn't any indication that my little one will be anything but a full-term healthy baby. I will not be spending the bulk of my maternity leave visiting my child in the NICU. I will almost certainly get to spend that time at home learning all I can about this interesting little creature that I'm currently growing inside of me. I am so lucky.

I am also lucky because my house sold over the weekend for a fair price. No more worrying about that - I will find a new home to move in to or we'll rent a place for awhile. It will be difficult if we have to do that, but so what? It won't be that bad. We've sold our house and our options are wide open. I'm very lucky for that too.

I'm lucky that I have a family who loves me. And I have friends who love me. And everything is going to work out. It may be difficult sometimes, there are hardships to overcome, that is certain, but everything is going to be OK one way or another. And that's pretty damn lucky.