Sunday Funday

I just couldn't resist this Sunday morning bliss.  I hope you are as relaxed as these two.  Happy Sunday.

Clara's 1 month

Little. Little. Little Miss Clara.  You are one month old and I can't tell you where the past four weeks have gone.  You have not left me in a total sleep deprived blur, but I suppose that is where this time was 'lost'.

I really can't imagine life without you anymore, its like you were supposed to have been here all along. Your dad and I anticipated your arrival for so long and when it finally came, we looked at each other and smiled - you are everything and more.

We've learned so much from each other.  I'm not to set on learning your cries, but I can tell when your hungry or need to burp.  Though, you leave me perplexed a lot of the time and then we just bounce around the house going through my mental checklist of things that could be bothering you - wet diaper? are you hot? maybe cold? or is it that pesky tag on some new clothing item you have on...

You are 'learning' to love bath time.  Your dad and I are getting it down to a science, especially since he had the ingenious idea to turn the heat fan on in the bathroom.  We bundle you up and set you under the fan - you couldn't be any more content with this.  And thank goodness for all the wash cloths and towels you got, they have been a life saver.

We haven't quite mastered the gdiapers yet, but we're working on it.  You are growing into the newborn size and I think in another week or so they'll be fitting much better.  For now, you're in Pampers Swaddlers newborn size.  Though, after yesterday's weigh in - a whopping 8lbs - you're fast tracking to size 1.  Keeping our fingers crossed for no diaper rashes and thanking Leslie for the great recommendation of Boudreaux's Butt Paste which keeps your little behind irritation-free.

Yes, I subjected my daughter to this.  Am I horrible??

In the eating department - no problems to speak of yet.  And as above, you are gaining, gaining, gaining.  I'm headed back to work next week, so we tried giving you a bottle last week.  Yes, I was a little nervous, but you took it like a champ.  I think you were a little confused when it was all gone so fast, so you promptly responded by rooting in your dad's chest.

You love your daily walks, but not as much as I do.  Being on pseudo house arrest until you get your shots leaves me anxious to get outdoors.  [As I type this, you are in your Moby wrap while we sit on the porch, its a balmy 71 degrees on this cloudy January day]  You and I walk about two miles every day in The Bob with the car seat adapter - thank goodness for this, which I thought I wouldn't need.  This walk also comes in handy when you get fussy in the afternoon, I've yet to see you keep your eyes open longer than a few seconds.  And if you get fussy on the walk, you ask?  Well, you love to off-road on the bumps, seems to lull you back into a deep slumber.

Sleeping.  It could be better.  But it could be worse.  You still have your fussy nights from about eight to eleven, then you eat, which usually puts you to sleep.  But not always.  You have started to sleep in four-five hour stretches between meals at night; we're still keeping you at three hour increments during the day.  This means I'm only getting up once in the middle of the night and then again about the time your dad is waking for work.  Most nights you fall right back to sleep after eating, but I'll admit to several nights of me falling asleep on the nursery floor while rocking you in your bouncy chair [I'm still refusing to use the vibration mode, though I don't think you really like it anyway].

Your dad had been an amazing help through all of this.  I don't know what I would do without him.[I've had more then one discussion on how all you single moms out there do this alone.  I'm an independent women, but I'm not sure I could do it.]  Bo is so eager to get home from work each day to hold you and sing to you.  When you get older, you're going to love all the funny little songs he makes up to sing to you - they make me laugh just thinking about them.  He is also the Burp Master, an asset for those fussy nights.

We are both anxious to see what else you have in store for us.  Your personality is already coming out - opinionated but cuddly.  You love the outdoors [YES!].  And you can't get enough attention - which means we can't leave you an only child for too long...

A somewhat eager attempt at tummy time.

Clara's Birth Story

Get that cap on that baby, that is one serious cone-head!

For those of you I haven't talked to yet {you understand, right?}, here is The Birth Story. It was amazing, every bit of it, yes, even though it hurt.

Bo's parents decided to come down for a visit on Saturday, the 8th.  We walked around downtown for the Art Walk and then went to dinner.  All quiet on the western front.  I had no idea at this point of the events to come.  I'd been having Braxton-Hicks contractions for weeks, I'd even become kind-of used to them at this point.  The in-laws left around 10pm, I went to bed, and Bo stayed up for a bit longer to play video games.

Then, at 1:30a, I awoke to warm, wet undies and though it was possible, I was pretty sure I hadn't just peed on myself.  However, I wasn't convinced that this was my water breaking either {denial, denial, denial}.  I called the L&D nurses to elicit their perspective {first mistake}.  She told, me "No, no, you really would have had a gush of fluid if it was your water breaking".  I know better than this, even with my minuscule medical school knowledge.  But, I was ready to accept this to further deny being in labor.  So, I promptly went back to sleep.

This sleep didn't last long.  Braxton-Hicks begone.  Things down there were a changin'.  I laid in bed for an hour timing my contractions.  And yes, they were like clockwork - 5 minutes apart and lasting about a minute.  So, you'd think this would get me moving in the direction of the hospital? Nah, not yet {second mistake}.  It did however, prompt Bo to finally pack his hospital bag and then he went to sleep for a bit.

At this point it was probably 3am.  And since I was already doing some serious rule breaking, what's one more?  I was hungry and boy, did those Coco Krispies taste good. That is, until they came back up with a vengeance about a half hour later.  Our bodies are pretty amazing machines.  Looking back, each and every step was in preparation of getting this tiny baby out without a hitch.

4:15a rolled around and I was getting a little more vocal with my contractions, so much so, that I even roused Bo from his slumber.  It was time to get moving.  I couldn't deny it anymore.

We arrived at L&D about 4:45a.  I was hurting.  After a daunting amount of paper signing, I made it to my room.  I had all these grandiose ideas of how the next steps would take place.  I didn't want to be in the bed, please don't keep the fetal heart monitor on me the whole time, blah, blah, blah.  All in all, I just wanted to lay in that bed so, monitor me all you want, just don't make me open my eyes.

7cm.  Seven centimeters.  I was shocked.  All that denial got me to 7cm and thankfully things continued to progress quickly.  My nurse was amazing.  She really helped me get my breathing down pat.  I was, by some miracle, in control of the pain.

By 6 or 6:30a I was complete [10cm] which meant the hard part was still to come.  I felt ready. Sorta.

Our little bundle of joy arrived at 7:35am, Sunday December 9th. A bouncing baby girl, 6lbs 10oz and 20 1/4in.

Looking back on it all, I wouldn't change a thing.  My mind and body were prepared for the whole ordeal - I wish this for every mother-to-be.

Happy 2013!

2013. I'm a mom - The Brady Bunch is expanding.  Bo and I will 'celebrate' a decade of 'dating'.  Wow.

I have so much to be thankful for in the past year, most notably this wonderfully perfect new addition we have. The feelings are so overwhelming, it's really hard to fully describe.  We've had three weeks to begin to know each other, Little Clara and I, and it kinda feels like the beginning of med school all over again. It's amazing all that you can pack into a short amount of time!

The past week she's really started to become more alert, holding her eyes on you or gazing at the pictures on the walls. She found her thumb this week, too, but really doesn't prefer this digit over the others yet.  She's still a good little sleeper, I wake her up to eat during the day when her snoozes go too long.  However, it's the when she sleeps that can sometimes be trying on me - wide awake time at 3am is still her favorite. It's funny, this is the time she would wake me up when she was still in utero, old habits die hard I guess.

We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas with my parents and Bo's.  Quite different from years past, but equally good. My mom prepared her {delicious} homemade lasagna in advance, which was so great as this gave time for us all to gather together around our 'greatest gift of all' and soak her in as much as possible.

A first look for Grandma Mommu.

Christmas Eve Dinner with the Ryan's

Christmas Day with the Ryan/Brady Clan

Our newly minted family of three

 Parting is such sweet sorrow, my parents left on the 29th.  Seemed like we were all just getting our stride and we had to say goodbye. I'll admit, I was a wreck [and may still be]. March and my mom's spring break can't come fast enough.

Proud Grandparents - we hated to see you go!

Of course, NewYears Eve was also a change from years past. Bo and I ate Chinese and watched TV. I went to bed early, but was awoken with a kiss and fussing baby - time to ring in the new year milk-drunk, mom!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season, whether you celebrated old traditions or started new ones. I haven't come up with my New Years resolutions yet but I do have some New Years plans to complete - namely the birth story post I've started and the nursery tour post in my head...

May 2013 be bountiful.

Skillet Apple Pie

Thanksgiving.  I hope you all had a wonderful holiday.  I know I had/have a lot to be thankful for.

I was responsible for the apple pie at our Thanksgiving celebration in Brookhaven, MS this year, which put the pressure on a bit.  Up north this is always something Grandma is in charge of and she always delivers; I guess I hold myself to this standard, too.  I mentioned this to a patient I was seeing on my family practice rotation and she had just the recipe for me - Easy Skillet Apple Pie.  After a short description, I was sold.  (Really, she had me at easy)

It turned out great and was equally delicious.  Pardon these terrible pictures of the process, but I was having too much fun being in the kitchen with my mama to be burdened with Instagram quality photos.    You'll get the jist.

I'm fairly sure this is where she got the recipe; she brought me in a copied page which doesn't say its source.  I made a few changes, but nothing dramatic.

Preheat oven to 350.  Peel apples and cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges.  Toss apples with cinnamon and granulated sugar.

Melt butter in a 10-inch cast-ion skillet over medium heat; add brown sugar, and cook, stirring constantly, 1 to 2 minutes or until sugar is dissolved.

Remove from heat and place 1 piecrust in skillet over brown sugar mixture. {Put your piecrust in the skillet to measure it before melting the butter and brown sugar, I could have rolled mine a bit bigger so that it came up higher on the sides.  It was tricky to pinch the two crusts together once it is filled with the apples.}  Spoon apple mixture over piecrust, and top with remaining piecrust.  Whisk egg white until foamy. Brush top of piecrust with egg white; sprinkle with granulated sugar.  Cut 4 or 5 slits in top for steam to escape.

Bake for 1 hour to 1hour 10 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly, shielding with aluminum foil during the last 10 minutes to prevent excessive browning, if necessary.  {I set my timer for 50 mins to remind me to add the foil if I needed, which I did, but just around the crust.  Then I baked it for another 10 mins.}  Cool on a wire rack 30 mins before serving.  Serve with butter-pecan ice cream.  {I made mine the day ahead and it still tasted great.  We're not fancy, so we had vanilla ice cream.}

What made this so yummy was how the brown sugar and butter caramelizes in the bottom and even seeped up on the top.  Its not overwhelming or too sweet, just enough. And, well, I love that you can make it and store in in your skillet.  I'm a Minnesota girl, so using my skillet still comes as a novelty to me.

Easy Skillet Apple Pie 

[make-ahead, party-perfect]

Makes: 8-10 servings

Hands-on time: 20 mins {um, yeah right, peeling and cutting the apples took forever}

Total Time: 1hr 50min 

Ingredients:

2 lb Granny Smith apples

2 lb Braeburn apples*

1 tsp ground cinnamon

3/4 c granulated sugar

1/2 c butter

1 c firmly packed light brown sugar

1 (14.1 oz) package refrigerated piecrusts

1 egg white

2 Tbsp granulated sugar**

Butter-pecan ice cream

*I could only find Granny Smith, so I used 4 lbs. of those and it tasted fine and we had some extra due to the piecrust 'issue' I mentioned above.  

**I only used about 1 Tbsp, which seemed to cover the crust enough.  Do as you wish.

Memphis Showered us with Love

Bo and I headed up to Memphis this weekend for a baby shower, one last trip out of Mississippi before Little Lady arrives.  It was great.  I really couldn't have asked for anything better - good company, good food, and lots of good memories.  Most notably, the running out of beer one hour into the festivities.  I did mention this was a baby shower, right?  I may have forgotten to mention this baby shower included a keg.  All in all, everything else ran quite smoothly and I was happy to see and visit with so many friends and family.  Bo and I are so lucky.

Our most gracious host, Ruth Ellen, opened her home to host the shower and with the help of my MIL, April and sister-in-law Emi it turned out amazingly.  Here are a few pictures of the fantastic food they prepared...

And the beautiful table centerpiece...

 Oh!  And the dessert table was not to be missed...

I must give much thanks to Jonathan Jerkins for taking all these fantastic pictures.  Thanks buddy.

Cheers to 34 weeks.  We're getting to the home stretch!

Nursery News

The nursery is in the making!  Little Girl will be here before we know it and I'm still waiting for the walls to get painted!  Hopefully that will happen this week (fingers crossed, please).  Here's what we had to work with...

I'll miss seeing Grandma's quilt everyday,
but she's making one for Little Girl - stay tuned!

You'll see our first DIY project above - the unfinished dresser - and I don't know if I'd wish this project on anyone.  I guess it was pretty painless, but we probably could have found one finished.  The motivation was that this was made in good old U-S-of-A out of [semi-local] North Carolina pine.  

The result was good, but painting sure is a chore!  And then there was the knob debacle.  The front panels of the drawers are made with two layers of wood so, I couldn't get the oh-so-adorable and oh-so-much-cheaper knobs from Hobby Lobby.  I guess the Martha Stewart ones from Lowe's will be fine...

Her's Bo doing a little preliminary sanding.

And the finished product! 

The crib bedding should be arriving this week (yay!) and my parents are shipping some IKEA shelving, which should arrive next week (double yay!).  So as stated above - keep your fingers crossed that we get some new paint this week and all should start to come together nicely.

Hope you enjoyed the sneak peek!  

31 weeks and counting!