As Promised

This post, in which my child is dressed as a bear, is dedicated to Abby.  Sorry it isn't a panda suit, but I bet it's close enough.

Baby's Got Her Blue Jeans On

Today Em and I ran some errands. She was a perfect angel (i.e. she slept.) the whole time.  It really is all about timing I guess.

Since we were going on an outing, she wore jeans for the first time!

Feeling okay abou this get-up.

 Settling in for a nap after lunch...good time for a car ride!

I will sell you to the gypsies!

Of course I'm not actually going to sell Emerald to gypsies.  Because Birmingham doesn't have any.  

But we have had a challenging day.  There was yelling.  There was spitup all over 4 outfits and poop on one.  There was projectile spitup in my hair and all over my shirt.  There was more yelling.  

I wanted to start wrapping Christmas gifts today.  That was my mistake-I made an agenda!

Being a new mom is kind of like hazing. Babies are real good at hazing, turns out. 

I'm quite excited for her dad to get home from work so I can go to the gym.  Really, anywhere but here for an hour or so would work.

She is sleeping peacefully now (finally napping after several hours of yelling, puking, pooping and yelling...and also a bath), and I'm once again madly in love with her. She's so stinkin' cute.

People warned me this would happen...

I'm back, bitches.

Today I went back to the gym.  It was wonderful, even though I still have to take it easy until my 6 week post-partum appointment (2.5 weeks to go!). 

And I weighed myself out of morbid curiosity-I usually use my clothes as a weight gauge, but I couldn't help myself.  I've lost 21 of the 27 pounds I packed on during pregnancy!  I bet the last 6 will be the hardest so I'm not going to sweat them or weigh myself again. 

I'm just happy to be active again.

The Littlest Fan/A Clean Baby

Baby Em watches football with Dad.  They are both wearing their special outfits. Maybe the tutu was the problem with the gators, but I would imagine it has more to do with the gators just sucking in general.

She's unimpressed. Or maybe hungry.

The fam.  Minus Mr Homie-he was (cautiously) exploring the outdoors.

Also Emerald got her first tub bath today!  I know, she's close to a month old already.  But I was just sponge bathing her until now, because wet babies are like SUPER SLIPPERY.  Today I got brave and put her in the tub.  I don't think she hated it completely.

She is discreet and covers up her ladyparts.

Ham Day.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Rob smoked a ham today, and we invited our friends Ben and Amy over for dinner.  I also made cranberry sauce, mashed sweet potatoes, and the most beautiful loaf of bread ever to come out of my oven.

We haven't had dessert yet, but it's going to be fudge brownies with mint filling and a hard chocolate topping.  And ice cream.  A little unorthodox for Thanksgiving dessert, but pie is gross so shut up.

And it's Emerald's very first holiday with her mom and dad!

Our Thanksgiving Setting:

 The prettiest bread I've ever made.  AND the most delicious.

Dad gives Em a bottle so hopefully we can have dinner in peace

Our first family Thanksgiving!  

Note:

1.) We look exhausted.  I didn't know we looked THIS tired. Par for the course I guess.

2.) Em is making sure my boobs don't get too far away.  You know, just in case.

3.) To Kim (Amy's sister in Alaska): LOVE THESE BOOTIES.

A Glamorous Life

Rob went back to work this week and I am on "mommy duty" until January.  (Don't worry, he still helps a lot when he's home.) I love it but it's a challenge to be sure.  I'm learning to deal with getting interrupted instead of actually finishing something, and let's face it:  I get to snuggle a baby all day if I want.  Em and I are getting the hang of it, slowly and surely.  

And I am now recovered enough to do a little exercise besides dog walking and babylifting.  I might venture back to the gym for a really lame workout soon.  Seriously. Lame. Workout. 

One thing I have learned is that babies don't give a tiny little rat's ass if you have a Ph.D. or not.  (Probably the Ph.D. is detrimental in some cases...) I'm learning patience because all the smarts in the world don't help.  Well.  It's a different kind of smarts that you need for dealing with a newborn than you need for slicing up a brain and working a million dollar microscope.

I'm enjoying the time, though, because my mom says I will be the saddest person in the world the day I drop her off at daycare.  And I learned a long time ago:  Momma don't lie...usually.

Yep she is the cutest.  

Also:  really good at farts. I can hear them on the baby monitor!

Check out these beautiful baby blues.  

Rob and I are both blue eyed, so we expect she will be too.

Otherwise, I'll have some 'splainin to do.

I wonder if there's anything as presh as a sleepy head on your chest...

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone :)

In which Rob and Keri forget they have a baby.

Keri:  I'm going to take the dog for a walk, can you listen for the baby?

Rob:  Sure.

Rob:  Well, I might be at the store when you get back.

Keri:  Well, don't lock the door since I don't have my keys.

Rob:  Ok.

Keri:  Wait, are you taking the baby?

Rob:  Oh.



IN OTHER NEWS:

Today I am wearing jeans!  From pre-pregnancy!  Let's not get too excited.  They are my biggest jeans.  And they give me a bit of a muffin top.  But still!  PANTS WITH ZIPPERS.

The Emerald Joyce Show.

We're having a ton of fun with our baby girl.  With the exception of the 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. hours, when she decides to work out her vocal chords. That's usually when she goes on a "date" with Dad and I go to sleep to prepare for a night of feeding and changing. We're climbing up the steep learning curve and making it just fine. The pediatrician says she's doing well, even though I was concerned that she's not made it up to her birthweight yet.  But she is getting chunky I can tell, and it's kinda nice that she gets more time in her newborn size outfits since they grow out of them so fast.

And her animal siblings love her too.  I think. Bells is getting accustomed.  At first she peed on the baby's blanket and crapped in the baby's room.  And destroyed 5 pacifiers and an aspirator.  But she is better now and holds vigil while Em is crying or being fed or changed.  She even tries to comfort her with kisses to the face, gross. Now that I'm up and about more, I can put the baby in her backpack and take the dog for walks which will help the jealousy.

Rob and I actually watched almost 2 hours of TV last night together on the couch!  It's nice to remember that we're a couple that love each other and not some jacked up version of friends/lab partners.  

And I know none of you read any of the preceding stuff because all anyone wants to see are pictures of the new baby.  So here you are.

Happy Tuesday!

This is what the family is doing while I update my blog. 

I've found I prefer having an hour to do what I want to sleeping an extra hour.  

Time to myself is precious!

Entertaining herself (and me) in her bouncy chair.  I feel so accomplished that we can put her down while she's awake. Just play her some music and she's good for at least an hour to look out the window. That's gotta be her dad in her.  Everyone knows I'm the least patient person in this house.

Tuckered out after her 2nd trip to the pediatrician.  

Heel stick for a newborn screen-hard to say if it was more painful for her or me.

The post-lunch stupor.  I swear she's like the town drunk.

Homie makes sure I don't drop the baby in my sleep deprived state.

And finally, Slick really likes the play gym that we obviously got for him.  

He wasn't sure about the mirror at first, but thinks it's okay now.

One Week

Emerald will be one week old tomorrow.  

This week has been challenging in ways I didn't think possible, from the physical recovery (you know I'm no good at sitting still, and nothing messes up your fitness routine like shooting a person from your nether regions.) to the emotional ups and downs (hello, hormones, you suck).  I'm looking forward to a little stabilization and hoping it comes sooner rather than later.

Emerald is a good baby, and sleeps for about 3 hours at a time at night. I have to set an alarm so that I can wake her up to eat.  She loves to go outside, and we've been lucky to have 70-degree weather since we've been home.  

This past week, from labor til now, has been amazing and I feel so lucky to have a beautiful, healthy (and hungry) daughter.  And a helpful husband--money can't buy that shit. He sits up with her if she's super fussy between feedings so I can sleep too.

Also I just have to mention how grateful I am that my superfriend Amy set up a meal delivery at my baby shower.  Rob and I have not even gotten the opportunity to get hungry.  

Here she is!

I didn't need the induction after all!  I went into labor the day before my scheduled induction and suffered all night and all day until it was time for me to come for my "induction".  But by that time I was already at 5 cm!!  So I was so happy to see my anesthesiologist :)

She is so adorable, and Rob and I are getting the hang of it.  We head back home tomorrow to start our lives as a family!

Anyway, here is baby Emerald and her proud proud parents!