A Babby!

Hello my wonderful readers! In the last few weeks big changes have come. As most of you know, I had a baby.

Meet Peter Charles

6 lbs 11 oz

20.5 inches

He's pretty cute, eh? I know that every mother probably thinks her baby is cute, but I was quite ready for an alien baby. I figured cute would come later. But turns out I already love him and his chubby cheeks and his scrawny legs and arms. 

I won't take you through every detail of my labor and delivery, but suffice it to say things did not go exactly as planned. Instead of going into labor naturally, I was induced because I was overdue a bit. Instead of going without medication, I had several methods of labor augmentation and ended up with an epidural (but I had lots of time without pain medication, don't worry...). In the end, we had a healthy baby boy though, which was ultimately the goal. 

We did have to stay a little extra time in the hospital because he had a bit of jaundice. Here he is actually looking like an alien because of his bili bed.

Life since Peter's birth has been so different and still so much the same. Sometimes I am overwhelmed with how much he needs me, but at other times I'm overwhelmed with how much I love him. There's a lot of being overwhelmed. :) 

Well, my words have run out today. Instead I'll give you some photos of life.

Peter and Neal both recovering from a long day

I love his yawns! 

Also, his legs are getting a bit chubbier now.

My wonderful husband brought me the beautiful rainbow flowers, the USU English department sent lovely white daisies, and Maylee brought me the two yellow flowers in the cup. I love flowers.

And the flowers my sister Holly brought, along with a sock monkey for Peter. He doesn't appreciate it quite yet, but he will soon.

Neal's own rocking horse from his childhood, now passed on to Peter. It's pretty rockin'.

The crib and monkeys keeping Peter company!

The one craft I actually completed, a hot air balloon!

The beautiful blanket Neal's mother made for Peter fits perfectly with the vintage nursery theme.

The mini library. My collection of children's books is actually quite small, but I filled the shelves with some of my favorite fiction too.

Most of my board book collection and the only cat we'll ever be able to keep.

The stuffed animal is from my childhood. I named him Blueberry. I only played with him at my grandmother's house. 

My favorite old world decorations.

Neal's very own bronzed booties. These may be my favorite part of the nursery. 

My brother and sister-in-law gave us this lovely Willow Tree. We tried replicating the pose, but haven't succeeded in looking so composed though.

For Halloween, Neal and I are dressing up as a well-rested couple. It's going to be tough to pull off, but we'll do our best.

Un-Update

I've had an influx of texts, messages, and calls the last few days. Here is my general update: I am still very pregnant and show absolutely no signs of delivering this baby/dinosaur/wiggly thing anytime soon. Of course, I have to deliver in the near future because

1) baby cannot actually grow up on the inside of me
2) my doctor is leaving town in a week
3) I've stopped eating healthy food until the baby is born and I don't actually want to gain another ten pounds
4) I'm actually caught up with grading and know this won't hold for long

So for all of you who are wondering, I am actually not stressed about the baby. Baby is healthy. I am healthy. We are just all sort of in limbo land. I have gone for walks. I drink my raspberry leaf tea and eat my date fruit. All other herbal remedies are out because I've done too much research for my own good to try them when I know the potential consequences. And yes, I know all the possible ways to induce labor: medical and anecdotal...

Mostly, life has been an adventure lately. Neal and I were rear ended a few weeks ago. Nothing major and we weren't at fault, but dealing with the car getting fixed has not been my idea of a good time. For right now I have a lovely rental car and no car seat installed because I'm not sure when my car will be fixed and don't want to haul the car seat base around unnecessarily.

We also had a mini flood. Whoever plumbed our apartment was lacking in any kind of common sense. Seriously, any common sense. It's a lovely place to live, but occasionally the quirks become apparent and require some adjustment. I finally got around to washing with my machine. There was some overflow from the drainage pipe. My wonderful father came to fix it. He found what he thought was a temporary fix. Only it didn't stick. So I called him again, frantic that I wouldn't be able to use my beautiful cloth diapers because I'd have no way of washing them without a washing machine. He came to fix it again and discovered that the previous owners had not only used the wrong size of pipe, but they had also plumbed it horizontally (because that's how water flows...). He ended up pulling it all out and replacing the pipes and adding a decline. In the process a water line came out of nowhere and we had to frantically turn off our main water line (way to move that bookshelf so quickly Neal!). Several hours later it was all fixed, but my once decorated laundry room is now a bit hashed. The washing machine works though. Huzzah!

For a while these adventures were weighing on me. It just feels like anytime I get things under control they all spiral out. I guess it's a lesson I always need to learn. I have less control over certain things and need to just let them go. On the other hand, I have more control over other things and if I'd just focus my attention there I'm pretty sure everything would go more smoothly.

So while I try to visualize my baby here before the doctor leaves town, I'm enjoying mornings with silence in them. I know it won't last much longer. Neal and I have also been much better at going out on dates since we keep thinking each date night might be our last one 'out' for a while.

Thank you for asking how I am. Really, most of the time I'm fine. Sometimes I am crazy. Sometimes I am weepy. Sometimes I wonder what I got myself into. Sometimes I wonder if life can even get better than it is right now, because it's so wonderful.

Here is something delicious I made, though the photo is terrible. Pomegranate scones. They are seriously delicious and much easier than you'd think.

We ate them with a little bit of Greek yogurt with lemon zest and juice added. I felt so refreshed eating it!