Time flies

Where have the past 4 months gone? Tomorrow night, 4 months ago, I remember being in a whirl. I was being wheeled into the labor & delivery OR and prepped to bring little Sophia into the world. I remember shivering so much. The CRNA put a blower of warm air aimed at my chest, but it didn't seem to do anything to stop my shivering. I remember thinking that I needed to be still because they were cutting me open and I didn't want them to miss! I tried deep breathing. I tried distracting my thoughts. All to no avail. I remember hearing her first cry. "10:10 pm" Dr. Utterback announced. How beautiful. To know that she was breathing and not too happy about the cold air and bright lights...what a change that must have been from the dark, warm womb to which she had grown accustomed. I felt such a relief to hear her. And seeing her, it seemed like just a second that I was able to look at her. And I was still shivering so much, I don't know if I was concentrating enough on her. And then, she was whisked off to the nursery, and John with her. There I was, having experienced the most incredible moment in my life and I was left all alone. The CRNA was so nice and supportive. He continued to talk to me and make sure I was ok. But it wasn't the same. I could hear the doctors talking, about what I don't remember. But I remember thinking - why are you talking about anything except sewing me up? And I was so jealous of John, and my parents, who got to see my little miracle. I was rolled into recovery. I had to wait there for what seemed like an hour. I was thirsty. They gave me ice. Not really a thirst-quencher. Where's the Gatorade? I must have gone through 4 cups of ice. Where's my little girl? How long til I can see her? At midnight, they rolled me into my postpartum room and I finally got to see my little girl again - nearly 2 hours after I first heard her cry. And she was beautiful. And all was right with the world.

It all seems like last week, not 4 months ago. And thank you for indulging my reminiscing.

Video Frustrations and Blogger

I uploaded a test video the other day. It worked beautifully! I was so excited! I took a video off my camera card, happily converted it over to a legitimate format, even edited it down into shorter segments....Then I go to upload it into my blog and lo, and behold....ERROR!!! ARRRRGGGGGHHHHH. Double Argh because I have "contacted" blogger as instructed in the error message and it goes to a forum where the only solution provided is to get something from the blogdoctor. This is not associated with blogger, only someone peddling his solution.

So, I'm working on it. PHHHTTT. (*Sound of disgust!*)

Video Test

This is a short video just to test my new converter software and trying out the upload.

Thanks Nikki!

The blog update and new look are courtesy of instructions from my buddy Nikki. Thanks for the instructions!

The washer is fixed!!! Woohoo! Never thought I'd be so happy to do laundry again. Now, if only we could get one of the several electricians we called to call us back - I could get electricity in the bathrooms again! I was looking forward to a nice bath tonight after the baby went down, but I'm too tired to draw the water! :)

So, short update. Actually it's not an update. Things here are good. That's all. Goodnight! :)

I should be sleeping....

But, I can tell by all the comments you people can't stop leaving, you are craving another post... [insert sarcasm] :) Haha.

So, we had another milestone tonight. We have mastered rolling from back to belly. Not quite got the belly to back yet. She just rolls on to her belly and cries because she really didn't want to be there! :) Got video, but haven't gotten my conversion software on this new computer yet. One day....

She's also started laughing intentionally. This past weekend was horrible. My washing machine flooded the laundry room Saturday night. It was such an ordeal to clean up and try to figure out what the problem was. In an effort to narrow down the cause (I originally thought it was maybe the plumbing of the house), I ended up flooding the laundry room again! During this time, picture hungry crying baby, tired crying mommy, and daddy working the night shift! This was all after a long (albeit successful) day of shopping in San Antonio off craigslist. So, baby fed, laundry room cleaned and then snuggling with babe. All I could do was laugh....and she laughed back. We laughed at each other a few times and it was all ok....until....

I tried one more thing to see what part of the washer might be fowling up. This was now Sunday and hubby was back at work on the night shift (Why didn't I do it BEFORE he went to work?). And, yes, you guessed it....flooded again! And it wasn't what I expected. I thought maybe the pump that pumps the water through the drain hose wasn't working. So I put it on the smallest setting and walked away....yes, this was a mistake. I came back in a few minutes and it was still filling...and filling....and filling...and AAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!. It doesn't stop. I shut it off and start manually draining it, carrying gallons of water (again) out to the yard (guess I am going to water my yard). Well, during this drain, the hose falls off the back of the washer!! A gully gusher came a flowing! No way to stop it....I can't get back there in time to plug the hose back up (very small space....heavy washer fully of water). Well, we cleaned it all up again. Hungry and tired baby crying again (She took all of 1 hour-long nap while we were at church). Tired mommy crying again. And no laughing that night! :) This is all so dramatic. But that's how it seemed. I have never been so grateful for a Monday to get here!

In other news, we found a portable battery operated swing and a kick & play bouncer seat. They both have lights since Sophia loves lights! I got them all cleaned up and washed the washable parts (BEFORE the washer fiasco...which by the way, I had also done a load of John's laundry and Sophia's laundry...so everyone has clean clothes except me!)

We have also begun sitting in the bumbo seat.
She got a little tired of me taking so many pictures! :)

This was before church....and before spit up.

This is definitely where she gets those beautiful blue eyes.

Her new kick & play bouncer seat. Not bad for $10!

And one of my favorite pictures ever.

Thanks for keeping up with us....now, comment people!

July 31, 2009....

What a momentous day in history.... that's when Sophia started consistently sleeping through the night. We've almost made it 2 weeks. I'm nervous to even announce that as she is asleep in her crib right now. She had one night where she woke up at 3 am. I let her talk and moan until 3:30, went and nursed her, and she went right back to sleep. I'm so grateful for the nights I've had where I could get some sleep!

We've done some more traveling this past weekend. We ventured to Belton and Waco. John's sister Pam came into Waco to visit, so we trekked up there to introduce Sophia to her and her son Chris. We had a great visit and played some Wii, which is always a good time. Also got my last peach run of the season. I don't know how long we have been getting peaches from Cooper Farms, but they have been sooooo good for as long as I can remember! I even brought back 3 boxes to fill orders for Uvalde people! I think they beat the Fredericksburg peaches hands down!

Yeah, she's pretty much a doll.

Nawnaw must have been more interesting than the camera at this point!

She got to meet Aunt Pam and cousin Christopher for the first time.

Nawnaw with her two grandchildren (Christopher is 17 now!)

We got to see Nana and Pawpaw too!

"It's just another baby in the world" to pawpaw...yeah right!

I'm working on uploading video. Dad and I looked around for conversion software to convert my .mts files to something acceptable by blogger. Darn Canon software. I tried to view and edit a short video of Sophia talking. When I watched with Canon's software, the image was upside down, but only when playing. When the still was on the menu, it was right side up. Weird. It also locked up my computer. Another sign I was ready for a new one. Mom and dad went with me to Staples to look. I didn't think I was going to buy one that day, but it was a really great deal! It's a desktop with quadcore processors, 1 TB of hard drive, 8 GB of RAM. That should be plenty for my future video endeavors! Haha. Now, I just need the time and energy to do it!

In other news, we went in for a weight check today. Sophia's been spitting up pretty significantly for a while now (a couple of months?). It's more than a little, but probably not the entire meal. Well, per recommendations from my fabulous lactation nurse, I cut out milk products and tried a more upright nursing position. I was also not to encourage her to eat more than she wanted. She used to fall asleep while nursing, so I would have to rub her back or tickle her feet/neck to get her to keep eating. Well, this may have been my problem. I stopped doing that and started recognizing when I thought she was done versus making sure she eats for at least 10-12 minutes. Sometimes she would eat for 7 minutes, sometimes 15. Last Monday, she weighed 12 lbs, 13.5 oz. As of tonight's weight check, she was 13 lbs, 1.7 oz. So, we are gaining appropriately according to my consultant. The spitting up has also cut back some. She still does it, but not as frequently as she was. We will ask our doctor about this at the 4 month check up on August 26th!

4 months. I cannot believe it is 2 weeks away. Wow. Slow down, you move too fast. Got to make the moments last....

We have rescheduled our trip to Corpus Christi for August 28-30th. I am really looking forward to this trip (just not the drive). Last attempt was thwarted by a horrendous stomach bug that left me immobile for 24 hours! We can't wait to see our old friends! I will sing at my old church on Sunday. Hopefully I will have my voice back. I have been singing and talking at such a high pitch that my cords are a little swollen. But it's just so much fun to talk to her!

Speaking of talking....we have chatty cathy on our hands. She "talks" all the time. When we get off work, sometimes we go to Walmart or HEB afterwards. In the basket we carry on conversations all through the aisles. What a silly sight we must be. She tells me all the gossip from Mrs. Matthews' house and I tell her how I tried to help some kiddos at work. It's quite funny how this is all such a blast for me!

As I blog about our adventures, I am always inspired by one of my college friends. She keeps a blog that is so truly wonderful to read. She is a gifted writer who bears her soul with elegance, honesty and wit. I have been keeping up with her blog and felt her joy, sadness, frustration, and strong love for her family and friends. Through her joys and sorrows she is an inspiration to me.

Ok, work comes awfully early in the morning, so I must close out this chapter. Thanks for keeping up with us!

3 months old and sleeping!

Around the 3 month anniversary of her birth, we went to central Texas to see family and get peaches. Above is with John's mom in Waco. We had just eaten some delicious Chick-fil-A!

Nana's shirt matched Sophia's outfit so we needed a picture!

Papa's shirt was about 25 years old, so we only get to see his knees this time :) haha.
But she's a happy girl in papa's lap.

Love my little girl!

This past Saturday was my friend Ashley's bridal shower in Junction. We got to go visit her and see all the wonderful things they got to start their new life together.
Sophia was an angel of course!

The past 2 nights have been so wonderful! Sophia has slept 8 hours on Friday night and 9 hours last night! Hopefully this will be a sign of things to come! She's such an angel.

This was before church this morning. We tried to keep the shoes on, but they had come off several times before we made it out the door, so we opted for socks instead!

I've been trying to upload a video of the little squirrel, but I've lost my video camera software. Should have installed it when we got the camera months ago! But, I would need to convert it anyway since blogspot apparently won't take a .mts file. Why can't everyone get together on the same page?

We are looking forward to another trip to central Texas this weekend so Sophia can meet her other aunt (John's sister) and hopefully cousin Chris too. We are almost traveled out, but have one more trip planned at the end of August to see everyone in Corpus Christi! My last trip was postponed due to violent illness (yeah, it was that dramatic). Can't wait to get down there and see everyone!

Thanks for keeping up with us!