I just want to say . . .

today has been a good day!

How about yours?

What was your high point and/or low point today?

High points for us - having a bit of a routine, not too much crying (from baby and none today from mama!), talking to my mom and Marcella on the phone, sweet friends from school bringing Rosa's for dinner and time for Adrian and I to hang out

Low points - hmm . . . today has been short on them (hence the good day post) but I guess if I had to pick I'd say yippey dogs, diaper rash and lots of laundry

the 18th

I am one month old today!

In the last week . . .

Grandma has come to visit and I've been rocked and rocked

I learned to drink from a bottle

I got to go to the souffle restaurant with Mama and Daddy and Grandma and people there said I was perfect

I have been wanting to eat every two hours lately and Mama and Daddy are tired

I got a swing and it is the greatest thing ever

I went to woodcraft with Daddy to look at guy stuff

I went garage sale-ing with Mama and Daddy

I am loving tummy time

sleep when baby sleeps

"Sleep when the baby is sleeping"

is an adage I've heard many times even before this little guy was born.

Being a "doer" and not one who likes to take naps I wasn't sure how much I'd actually live it.

I've had at least one friend tell me she didn't and wished she had.

Maybe God is helping me to learn some things without having to learn them the hard way or something because I decided just to go ahead and live that adage right now. It has been good and much needed.

There is not however a corresponding "blog when the baby blogs" adage :)

Hence, very few posts around here . . .

Thanks for having patience while we learn our new "normal".

Here are some things I'd like to remember from the past couple weeks:

So many wonderfully kind friends bringing us delicious dinners. It has been absolutely wonderful!

An elder from our church who brought us dinner praying over the three of us before he left. Such a blessing.

Comedies of errors - of course they want to paint our apt. bldg. this week requiring that we take everything off the balcony and pile it in the dining room, our boy learning to make "fountains" in the midst of diaper changes and tinkle landing all over him, mama, daddy, the carpet, the clean and waiting diaper, etc., etc., a drawer in the kitchen randomly and literally falling apart when opened and landing on daddy's foot, multiple diaper and clothes changes during middle of the night feedings and the laundry just piling up, a glass breaking right over the pan of browning meat . . . ugg, mama bursting into tears while watching You've Got Mail . . . hello hormones!

saying a tearful goodbye to Nana and yet making it on our own

mama, daddy and son going on a date together - the drive through at Wendy's, sitting in the parking lot at the park to eat dinner on a windy, windy night, Cherry on Top for dessert and sitting on a bench away from all kiddies to eat it

learning to nurse in front of the computer :)

the three of us all sleeping in the nursery

Mama going on her first outings alone since becoming a mama - Market Street to get ice cream for the amazing rhubarb cobbler Daddy made and to an estate sale who's photos of vintage Fisher Price toys beckoned to me while browsing during a middle of the night feeding - both excursions absolutely wore me out!

Daddy telecommuting and all of us being home during the day - Daddy holding Little Man while Mama gets a shower in the morning, etc.

Daddy going into work first for a few hours and then for whole days (!) We made it, Little One and I and we're also so happy when Daddy comes home.

Eating dinner at the table again - we need to get a swing :)

Daddy made an AMAZING steak dinner, baked potatoes, salad with blue cheese for Mama

laundry piling up everywhere :)

Wonderful friends who came and worked, hanging curtains, sorting maternity clothes and what I can go back to wearing from my regular clothes, fixing dust ruffles in the nursery, etc.

Mama learning to get a shower with Little One hanging out on a padded blanket on the bathroom floor - such a good baby who stays content long enough for Mama to get clean for starting the day

Baby Boy rolling from side to side and traveling down his little sleep wedge in his bed

Going to church for the first time on Mother's Day

my mama loves me . . .

and can't get enough of my handsome face!

Happy Saturday

Kelly

Nana reads . . . it's one of the things Nana does best

We're doing well . . . just not finding a lot of time for blogging . . .

what are you finding time for today?

Today . . .

we've

woken up

eaten (Little Man)

Mama got a shower and even managed to shave her legs

Little Man got a sponge bath and changed into clean, dry clothes

(he's rather a messy eater at this point)

Mama and baby both took a nap

Mama enjoyed some chunky monkey muffins from Jenni for breakfast while Little Man got his second breakfast and we changed clothes again along with a diaper change

Little Man laid on the bed with Mama and helped me sort some clothes figuring out the whole wardrobe puzzle now of what fits and what doesn't

We read Is Your Mama a Llama? and then I rocked Little Man to sleep and we both took another nap

he ate and then I ate lunch around 2:15

we both laid down again but I didn't fall asleep before he woke up hungry

he started eating again and Daddy got home from work!

Daddy wanted to hold him so we all sat on the couch together and looked through the mail - Costco coupons, a baby card from church friends here and one from church friends in Missouri, two packages (or as the one hailing from England was called, a "parcel") for baby - a sweet reproduction vintage book and an outfit

that's our day so far in a nutshell . . .

also so thankful for friends bringing us enchiladas for dinner tonight! :)

Kelly

o happy day!

We went to the pediatrician today and this big boy has gained just over one pound two ounces from his birth weight! Yea!!!

The really, really, really happy part of that for his mama is that the pediatrician gave me the go ahead to go off his cues during the nighttime of when he needs to be fed rather than setting an alarm to wake him up and feed him. I have been feeding approximately every three hours during the night and therefore only getting to sleep in stretches of 1 1/2-2 hours. I am one tired mama!

I am sooo happy to be able to sleep longer. I feel like doing the happy dance but I'm too tired. :) I am dancing inside for sure.

I hope little man agrees. Seeing as how I generally have to wake him for feedings though I am hopeful.

And in other happy news of the day, every part of today's outfit is non-maternity clothes! Yippee! Now granted the skirt is a stretchy one that I wore the entire pregnancy but hey, it's technically not maternity clothes and the shirt is not for sure. I also managed to put on a necklace and {some} make-up for our venture out to the pediatrician's. Now my poor hair is another matter but no one seemed to really notice it. :) At least I hope not. It will all come, right?

So what is happy in your world today? Leave me a comment so I can do the happy dance inside for you too. :)

Kelly

one of the best parts about the hospital

actually we love our doctor and the nurses who helped us while we were there were AWESOME . . . but the chocolate cake and key lime pie after every meal wasn't too shabby either. :)

Thank you again for all of your sweet comments. They definitely put a smile on my face in the middle of the night as I'm reading them on my iphone during feedings. :)

Kelly

baby feet and bright eyes

Today he wore a day gown worn by my brother when he was a baby. So sweet.

Don't you love all those little baby wrinkles?

Thanks so much for all of the comments you've been leaving. It is really wonderful to be able to read blog comments in the middle of the night when I'm up nursing.

Kelly

one week!

This is the day we found out we were going to be parents.

We were so excited and happy.

We had no idea how wonderful it would be to be parents.

We are both absolutely smitten with this bundle of joy we've been given.

We have had wonderful visitors this week to help us with the ups and downs of new parenthood.

Nana and Ducca (my parents) came to meet their new grandson and to spend time running errands, setting up pack and plays, changing diapers, cuddling, holding through the wee hours, fixing food, doing laundry, picking up and countless, countless other things that we couldn't have done without.

Things about this first week:

I was enchanted with you from the first moment I saw you.

The first night in the hospital I sang "Little David play on your harp, hallelu, hallelu" over and over again when I'd wake from sleep.

I love how your little tufts of hair stick up on your head.

It is so much fun when you have your sweet little eyes open and you're looking all around at the world.

You lost your cord at only 6 days old!

You had your days and nights mixed up for a few days but last night you slept in your own bed between every feeding! Nana, Daddy and I are all sooo proud of you! We celebrated in the morning!

Your tongue is absolutely adorable.

Your daddy has been speaking Italian to you. It's really cute.

You, angel boy, slept in your carrier the entire time Nana was watching you in the lobby of the hospital while Mama was getting her blood patch done in the ER when I couldn't take care of you myself. God really provided for us in that.

We pray over you every night.

Nana read your first book to you on your one week birthday.

We also sang "happy birthday" to you after lunch.

You make some *stinky* diapers!

You have very long feet. Mama likes to get them.

Nana plays the kisses game with you.

We didn't get the nursing thing down right away but it's been wonderful how quickly things have turned around and we're getting better and more confident every day.

It's fun hanging out with you and your daddy in the living room in the middle of the night.

It'll also be really nice to all be sleeping in the middle of the night.

Nana said that when Mama was born she was convinced microwaves were made for babies. Now we're all convinced that iphones are made for babies. We use our phones to record feeding schedules, check e-mail in the middle of the night, play "words with friends" and on and on.

You look good in green and white and navy blue and light blue . . . well, I guess we really think you look good no matter what.

Your daddy is an expert swaddler and diaper changer.

You smile at us A LOT and I've caught you giggling two or three times.

I like to sing to you during middle of the night feedings.

You are STRONG. You hold your head up, try to turn over, push up on your legs and elbows . . .

You got an e-mail from a girl. :)

I love watching your daddy be your daddy. He is REALLY GOOD.

You and your daddy watched the NFL draft together a couple of nights.

Mama changed her first solo diaper when I was the only one awake in the middle of the night last night. You were really good to Mama and didn't squawk too much. :)

I think one of my favorite times of day is going to be that 6:00 a.m. feeding when the world is waking up outside and I am holding you snuggly with me.

We have amazing friends who have helped us out with meals, prayers, encouraging e-mails, phone calls and boy clothes showing up on our door step washed, sorted and ready to go.

We have . . .

a baby BOY!!!

God has blessed us immensely!!

He is wonderfully perfect and such a good baby.

He was born Sunday morning at 6:03 a.m.

What a blessed Lord's day!

7 lbs. 12 oz.

20 inches long

He is strong and beautiful and we're so thankful.

More to come as we adjust . . .

Mama has had some pretty rough recovery setbacks but we're all gonna make it. :)

Hoping to be back to regular blogging soon . . .

In the meantime any prayers for sleep for all of us and nursing success are much appreciated. :)

I am so glad to finally be feeling well enough to sit down at the computer and share this good news with all of you!

Kelly

here is that vintage magazine rack that I told you about . . .

I got it for two dollars at an estate sale and Adrian and I painted it.

I think it's pretty cute if I may say so myself.

Kelly

remember that hanger I painted?

I like the way the green paint on the hanger ties in with the green of the xylophone mallet handles which ties in with the green of the 7up crate.

Funny when I was hauling that 7 up crate across hot, dry fields in Canton, TX, I don't think I ever once imagined I'd use it in a nursery.

Remember that, Jenni?

Fun, fun times.

What do you have in your house that you've used in an unexpected place?

Kelly

changing table

I thought I'd take a few more pics of the nursery since I haven't posted much about it.

It is perfectly ready to bring a baby home to but there are also things that are not done yet so I'm mostly taking detail shots as opposed to big picture shots. :)

Adrian built this changing table for us. I really like it a lot!

Do you have any furniture in your own home that has a history or a story?

I'd love to hear about it.

Kelly

projects du jour

Today I did a little painting outside while I talked to my sister-in-law, Mandy, on the phone.

Don't worry, I got the go-ahead from my doctor to be using acrylic paint in the wide open out of doors.

I worked on this shelf a little

and also painted this basket that I found at Goodwill today.

I was feeling like the shelves in the nursery were getting too busy and I wanted to keep more of a clean, white palette in there so I decided maybe some white baskets on the shelves to corral things would help.

Color next to white.

What do you think?

Kelly

still snuggled inside . . .

Today doesn't seem to be the day either . . .

That's okay.

Isn't this an adorable little door hanger pillow that one of my co-workers made for me?

I love handmade baby gifts. Such sweet sentiment!

One day {soon} there *will* be a baby sleeping in that nursery.

For now she or he is sleeping sweetly inside me still.

I do want to say thank you, thank you, thank you to all of you who are praying for us!

Your prayers are definitely felt and I am oh so very thankful for them!

It is amazing to me how many people I know in real life and only know through blogland who have told me that they are praying, of the people who've told me they've been awake in the middle of the night either with their own sweet babes, because a phone call wakes them up, because they dream about us or just because they wake up and then pray for us. Thank you!! It is the biggest blessing you can give us.

I really, really appreciate all of you friends!

Kelly

today

Today has been a really good day.

Today is due date day.

So far today at least the baby has made no sign of coming.

Only 5% of people are born on their actual due date.

Who wants to be born on tax day really?

Today is my second official day of maternity leave!

I was planning to just work until I went into labor but over the weekend Adrian and I decided that it was time for me to be done working and spend some time resting before the baby comes.

It has been wonderful.

It has allowed me the opportunity to do things like meet these sweet friends for lunch today.

All three of us are expecting, today, end of May and end of August . . .

Fun!

After a nice lunch with these friends who graciously took their lunch breaks from work to hang out with me I went to Ross and World Market.

I had some really fun experiences.

At Ross I picked out a couple of baby girl dresses to give as a gift to a friend who just had a girl. (Fun fact: She was my ONE other friend who was expecting during the same time we were who didn't find out the gender ahead of time. It was soo exciting to get the phone call from her saying the baby had been born and getting to ask if it is a boy or a girl!)

Okay, that was a rambling sidenote.

I was in line at Ross to check out and the lady in front of me asked me when I was due.

I said, "Today."

She got a huge smile on her face and said, "Today?!" She was all excited. She asked how I was feeling and I said, "great". Then another lady came up behind me and was sort of joining in on the conversation and the lady in front of me said, "She's due TODAY!" and the other lady was exclaiming about how great I look, how I only look like I'm eight months, etc." It was really nice.

The lady in front of me obviously had an accent and when she told the cashier who was asking for her zip that she didn't live here I asked her where she was from. She said, "New Zealand". I told her how I'd been to New Zealand in '96 and really enjoyed it. We started talking more and it turns out I'd been to the city where she lives which is not one of the major tourist destinations and probably sang at her church! How cool is that?! So then when the lady behind us heard us talking about the church, she asked where I go now and said that maybe I went to her church. It was a fun conversation.

Then I went to World Market and I was sort of crouched down looking at a dish towel display. One of the saleswomen came by and asked me if I was okay and said she thought maybe I was going to have that baby right there in the store! Hilarious! I had no idea how I must have looked. :) Later she came and found me again in the store just to check on me. :)

To add to this incredibly long post, here are a few other tidbits from the day:

Today . . .

I learned how to use Adrian's sander

sanded and painted an old wooden hanger bought at the thrift store in Pittsburgh last summer and Adrian hung a poster from it in the nursery for me. Remember that look from here?

caught up on some e-mail

enjoyed not being a teacher

had Chunky Monkey bread from my sweet friend, Jenni, for breakfast

painted a fun estate sale find magazine rack for the nursery to hold books for mama while I nurse

bought some throw pillows for the guest bed in the nursery and two sweet baskets to hold diapers and lotion, diaper rash cream, etc. on the changing table

worked on my labor playlist

talked to my grandma and my friend Erin on the phone

enjoyed getting lots of e-mails from friends who are checking in and praying for us

prayed

looked for a baby book at Hallmark but came up with nothing

and last but certainly not least, wore pearls to Cici's pizza with my husband! :)

how funny and crazy is that?

It wasn't the original plan but it's what we ended up eating for dinner, quite happily I might add, especially since they had some of their mac and cheese pizza on the buffet :)

What did you do today?

Kelly

unless something crazy happens . . .

in the next two and a half hours

it doesn't look like this sweet baby is going to come on Sweetie and Jenny's birthday.

That would have been really cool.

But . . . we are content waiting.

God's timing is perfect . . . every time.

Are you waiting on anything right now?

Kelly

fun pic

On the way to our Saturday night date we spotted this old pick-up in an empty parking lot and decided to stop for some pictures on a gorgeous night.

Hope you're having a good Monday!

Kelly

from our date last night . . .

I don't believe in fortune cookies telling the future or anything.

When you open one and it tells you something that you already believe though it can be pretty fun. :)

We went to Mr. Wok. It was really good.

Where did you last go out to eat? Would you recommend it?

Kelly

I've seen those shoes somewhere before . . .

Betty was absolutely right in her comment yesterday that she remembered seeing those shoes from our engagement photos! Great memory, Betty!!

Wow, I was skinny! :)

I will be again and it's all worth it. :)

all photos by Rachel Debell Photography