Hmmm, about half the state is under tornado watch. We have the makings of a good storm tonight . . . .

Here is my new toy, I've been waiting for a mixer for nearly two years, let me tell you, this one is terrific! Don't laugh . . . don't! . . .  but it makes just plain incredible mashed potatoes. It's a long, complicated story as to how we found the funds to purchase this piece of equipment, - I'll spare ya'll!

Oh, and mine is silver. I have Samuel a bath today. Poor little guy. Baths are so . . . horrific! He doesn't mind diaper changing, but I can only bring myself to give him about a bath a week. Not like he's out playing in the mud and needs it more, anyway!  I can't capture what I see when I look at him with the camera! I try, but it . . . escapes. *sigh* Oh, and I gave J a hair cut more suitable for the warmer weather we've been having!

Musings . . . .

Hello!

This weekend, I did a little thinking. And then today, I thought some more.

I was thinking about something that one of J's friend's little sisters said. She said that in public school, she was given this assignment, she had to take this doll home, and the doll cried randomly, like, at 3 am, and you had to get up and press this metal thing to it's back. A computer chip recorded your responses. She got a 97% despite being sick.

That got me thinking about a scene from the movie, Ten Things I Hate About You, and the paranoid father that made his daughter wear "The Belly" - that thing they use sometimes in schools, too, so that you know what it's like to feel pregnant, that weighs a ton and you strap on the front of you and you feel the awkwardness of it.

So, I got to thinking about these two things. They attempt to teach about pregnancy and motherhood. I got to thinking about how sad this method is.

A high school girl could experience both of these and still have no idea.

A heavy, akward belly allows you to feel the dead, heavy weight of what you might gain in 9 months. When you wear this thing, there is so much you don't feel. The excitement of knowing your child is soon to be in your arms. The barrage of kicks in response to daddy's voice. When you're pregnant, there is a person inside of you, and it's the most incredible feeling in the world, it's a miracle . . . .

And then this doll that wakes up in the morning, how annoying. It's a . . . doll. There are no tiny, exploring little hands touching your skin, no little eyes searching your face, no calming of a doll when it hears your voice murmur in the dark . . . .

I look at myself in the mirror. I have weird looking, purple stretch marks on part of my stomach. My midriff isn't firm and toned. I could stand to loose 10 pounds more.

But you know what? I look at my changed body, and I get this ridiculously huge smile on my face, because all it does is remind me that I have a son, this incredible little boy and all I can say is, wow, it's sooooo worth it!

Ok, my bad. The baby shower being given by the church isn't until the 11th. *whew*

Poor Samuel has a bad case of baby acne . . . . just in time to see all of his relatives on Friday! At least he's not a teenager, right? Actually, it might have cleared up by then, salt water works wonders, wish my skin cleared up that fast!

He has a I'm-tired-but-don't-want-to-go-to-sleep cry now. This cry is loud, heart breaking, and very startling. My first thought it always, a) he's starving to death or b) he's been bitten by a cat. The thing is, when he cries like this, usually I've just fed him, and I'm holding him, so that rules out both of my initial thoughts!

Being pregnant was easy . . . being a mom is a bit more of a challenge. God is so good. It's hard to believe that I'm married, let alone a mama! I have this sudden connection with every other mom that has a son, hehehe!

Oh, and the nursery at church? I'm lov'in it! The only thing that would make it better is if J was with me, but I'm meeting other young moms with little ones and it's the most effortless making friends has ever been for me . . . I ask questions and they ask me questions and we talk and it's so lovely . . . .

Currently Reading Angels Watching over Me (Shenandoah Sisters, 1) By Michael R. Phillips see related

Hello, hello!

Yesterday was a Please-Don't-Put-Me-Down-Monday for Samuel. So . . . I didn't. Ok, I did, but that was only to run to the bathroom. I did alot of reading while cradling Samuel in my lap. And we have a Maya sling, which is wonderful to leave my hands free and keep him calm. No matter how upset he gets, all I have to do is walk around and he goes to sleep. I highly reccomend one . . . . lol!

We get the strangest looks for not taking Samuel everywhere in a car seat. Sometimes, we don't even use the sling, we just hold him, which really has people looking. We ate at Fazoli's last week, with me holding Samuel in my lap, and there were three other babies in the restuarant in carseats. They look so akward to carry that way!

Samuel is really into lifting his head. At first, he had almost no control and his head would fall forward, but he's doing alot better when he's on his stomach. He still struggles with being vertical and controling his head, but he doesn't like to snuggle on your shoulder much at all. He would rather throw his head back (which can be kinda scary) and watch your face.

My right hand is bright red. Someone gave us a huge bowl of red jello. Well, we didn't manage to eat it all, so I "crumpled" it down the sink today. Joy of joys, my hand and fingernails are dyed red now. I've washed it four times. I was going to venture out with Samuel today (maybe to the library) but I'm not sure I want my hand seen now . . .

This week is going to be busy!!!!

Friday night is J's family's baby shower for us . . . .

Saturday night is AiG speaker Carl Kirby (we're hoping my family goes with us, it's in a town close to them and half an hour from us) . . . .

Sunday is church, but also, from 2-4 our realtor wants to have an open house, so the house has to be spotless . . . . .

And then on Tuesday is our church's baby shower for us . . . . .

Busy, busy!

Samuel, the Son Who Hiccups . . . .

EDIT: if you got 3 different posts for Wednesday, sorry!!!!

It's been raining, raining, raining! J emailed me and said we've gotten 1.96" - that's my numbers man!  So the burn ban has been lifted. The fire I mentioned just before Samuel was born? It took out 5,000+ acres!!

Samuel is doing great. His umbilical cord fell off yesterdy, YIPPEE!

J says if we were Indians, we would have named him, The Son Who Hiccups.

I got Samuel to sleep in the cradle!!! The trick was swaddling him in a blanket nice and tight. Now, I get to snuggle close to J when I do sleep . . . how can a man who's body temp is unusually low be so nice and warm? I don't know but I sure enjoy it! (When I was pregnant, we kept the house at 66 and I was fine, now I'm "normal" again and it's 68 and I'm freezing!!)

I've read that when a new baby arrives, the first thing to go is mommy's beauty routine . . . . . so glad I don't have one!  Horray for J who doesn't like makeup!

For the last week, we haven't made it 24 consecutive hours without a clothes change. Samuel likes to spring leaks in the early mornings, regardless of how often I change him!

Oh, and we survivied church. I nearly didn't make it back to the sanctuary before announcement time, and J came looking for me, but we made it with about a minute and half to spare. Haha! I managed to walk out and then I decided to wait in the nursery until the end of service to walk back in, and I made two new friends and didn't watch closely enough and . . . um, let's just say that next time, I'll nurse him and change him and walk back in the middle of service as akward as it is!

Samuel has decided recently that mommy doesn't always know where the food is, so recently he's begun arching his back and stiffening his little legs and stubbornly insisting he knows were to go, resisting my best efforts to hold him close and nurish him. I have to wait him out and his stubborness turns quickly to desperation, lol! I'm not sure if he has his dad's stuborn streak or mine, if he has both of ours', we're in for one opinionated little man!!!

And best of all, when he's sleeping, he'll start to wake up, and I can whisper things to him and he'll calm down and go back to sleep . . . he knows my voice! My voice soothes him . . . such an amazing thing!