Well, we’ve been home a full week and it’s been a beautiful chaos. I packed a suitcase on January 5th and drove to Knoxville, TN for a weekend away with 6 of my best girlfriends. I returned home almost three weeks later with a newborn.
I am still processing it all and am anticipating it taking a good month more to grasp all that happened in January of 2012.
This afternoon has been the first afternoon it’s been just me and the girls at home (my mom left this morning). I put Charley down for her nap and made Lola a palette in the bathroom so that I could enjoy a nice, warm shower. I was thinking through all the things I am most grateful for this past week …
- Although we paid more than we would have liked I am grateful Lola and I were able to fly home on a direct flight and have a very sweet reunion with Corey and Charley at the airport. I had no idea how Charley would be, having not seen me minus FaceTime for almost three weeks, but she ran to us and I cried like a baby.
- I am grateful Lola, like Charley, loves the Moby. The Moby, as many of you know, is the one baby item I could NOT live without. Literally, I would be handicapped
- OMG, Melatonin is the best vitamin ever! I did not have any jet lag because of 1, tiny little pill. Every night I’ve taken it and within 15-20 minutes I am fast asleep. And, since it’s all natural when I get woken up 2-3 hours later to feed the baby I am not the least bit groggy (at least not from the medicine).
- The weather this week has been ridiculously amazing! Like in the 50′s and 60′s everyday AND sunny. And, we live in the Midwest. Best gift Mother Nature could have given me!
- I am so very relieved and grateful that Charley adores the “baby.” She is very concerned about her, always coming to get me when she hears the slightest peep and has freely shared everything – her food, her blanket and even her lovie (which is HUGE).
- Prepared food in the freezer is the ultimate gift when you have a newborn. I cannot be any more grateful for food. It’s just not possible.
- Since we had absolutely not time to prepare for Lola our house was a total wreck upon returning home. Mom and I worked furiously (and my mother-in-law cleaned the house all day the day we flew home!!) getting everything organized and put back together. Lola is officially settled in our room and the girls’ stuff is all organized in their room. To celebrate I bought myself a $5 bouquet of flowers.
- Beautiful weather, my girls, the Moby and an afternoon at the zoo was fun and refreshing. We finished off the night at A Tavola eating delicious pizza and drinking an amazingly refreshing beer. Their seasonal butternut squash pizza was to die for.
- My mom. What else can I say? When she drove away today I had a 5-second anxiety attack. She is so intuitive and so helpful and I could NOT have made the transition home without her.
- Gifts + friends. It has been so sweet to be showered with so many thoughtful gifts and to also have friends so eager to come over and meet Lola. There is nothing as sweet as your friends thinking your baby is as amazing and beautiful and perfect as you do.
- When you are forced to get up a couple of times in the middle of the night it is so nice to have some reading materials so that you don’t fall alseep (which is not really an option when you’re bottle feeding). I have been catching up on my blog reading during those late night feedings. One night during a feeding when I was in CA I accidentally did a screen capture of my phone. I decided to keep it as a reminder of the season we find ourselves in.
- And, of course Lola. She is so beautiful and sweet and minus some bits of fussy-time she is very laid back, an excellent eater and sleeper. She has always done the “gas” smiling, but today when I was talking to her she smiled twice in a row. I am so excited for those days! They make the sleep deprivation all the more worth it.
Corey’s brother and wife and son (who is only 3-months younger than Charley) are coming to town tonight. Although Corey is working all weekend (boo) I am looking forward to this weekend together, eating at Hofbrauhaus and attending our church’s famous Superbowl weekend service (which feels like a mini-Superbowl!). On Sunday, some of our friends have offered to take Charley to the museum for the afternoon and I plan to take a nap. I hope Lola wishes to do the same. ; )
xo,
jc