I need to first start by saying this: I am not at work.
Okay, that's a lie. But all my work is caught up for the moment so I had some spare time.
I just spent a good hour or so reading blog posts from December 2006 to May 2010. Yes, yes I did. And let me just tell you...
WOW, HAS MY LIFE CHANGED!!! (In a good way!)
I am always so grateful that I write things down. I seriously would NEVER remember things if I didn't! There are so many things that happene during those years and, wow, I am just amazed at all God has done. To relive some of those moments in my life.... wow.
I have said "wow" three times now. Obviously I am in amazement-mode.
A few things I was reminded of:
- The long string of deaths we had in my family for a few years. It was brutal on the heart.
- How much I learned about the Lord during those years
- How much I loved being single
- Some funny dreams I had (including one where Ludacris - the rapper - was my boyfriend)
- Just HOW MUCH I love "Shout to the Lord"
- Some fun times at Gospel Supply House
- Road Trip 2009 to Maine with my mom... and driving aimlessly around Manhattan, completely lost
- How much time I spent thinking about the end of Harry Potter (two whole blog posts dedicated to it...)
- How much time I spent blogging (more than I currently do, that's for sure!)
- How many documentaries I used to watch... wow (#4), I was really on a reality kick for a long time
- All the books I read
- Meeting Blake in March 2010 (although I didn't blog about him for quite a while!)
It's just so strange to go back and visit Katie Lewis. She was, in my opinon, a fantastic person with a passion for life. She was reflective and introspective, funny, candid, and quite goofy. She still exists, somewhere deep down inside this boring old married mama. I've felt her bubbling up a lot lately, so maybe it's time to pay attention to her. :)
There's this whole "Throwback Thursday" thing on Instagram where you post a picture of yourself in times past on Thursday with the hashtag #tbt. Well I don't Instagram, so I think I'll be doing a little #tbt here on the blog. Some of you have never met Katie Lewis and, well, I think it's time you should.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Monday, April 8, 2013
Currently
We're eleven weeks into this whole parenthood thing and we're finally feeling more confident and like we almost know what we're doing. (And, of course, after I type this, everything is going to change!) Nothing has gone as I imagined it would, but I'm learning to go with the flow.
For starters, we have a little girl. No, I mean little. As of right now, at least. At her eight week appointment, she was an ounce shy of 10 pounds. That put her at around the 15th percentile for her height and weight. Last Monday (a day shy of 10 weeks), she was 10 lbs 4 oz. There are babies born bigger than what she was at 10 weeks old! She's perfectly healthy and growing the way she should, but this has posed a small problem: clothes. We stocked up winter/cold-weather clothes in 0-3 month and warm weather clothes in 3-6 months. Unfortunately, the weather isn't going to wait until she's big enough to wear her summer clothes. Thankfully, I have been able to find some outfits at consignment stores and on sale, and some of our friends have been generous enough to loan us some 0-3 month spring/summer clothes. I really don't want to go buy any more!
We also had to make the switch to formula much sooner than I had hoped. I wanted to nurse for six months, but nursing didn't work out for us. Pumping was exhausting, so I changed my "goal" to three months. My knee had other goals. After dealing with tendonitis and fluid build up on my knee for two weeks, I was finally convinced to take medicine to help it get better. This particular medicine made my milk dry up, so Maleah only got 10 weeks of breastmilk. I still think that's better than nothing, but it made me a little sad to have to make the switch so soon. She seems to be doing well on formula, though. It doesn't seem to bother her tummy, although it does seem like her intestines are doing a bit of adjusting if you know what I mean. ;)
Maleah has adjusted very well to her daytime routine. We wake her/get her out of bed around 7am and she follows this pattern every three hours: eat, diaper change, wake time, nap. Daycare hasn't seemd to mess with the routine as much as I thought it would. She has been sleeping less during the day, which means she is sleeping more at night. So, I can't complain!
Speaking of daycare, we love her school! She's only been four days so far, but we have no complaints. They are loving and compassionate ladies and they are doing a great job taking care of Maleah while we're at work! She seems to be adjusting well to being in the room with other babies and they say she eats and sleeps very well! That makes this mama VERY happy!
She isn't sleeping through the night just yet, but we are starting to see a shift in her middle of the night feeding. We think she's just not big enough weight-wise to go more than 4-5 hours without eating, so hopefully as she gains weight, she will sleep longer. People have told us (and I have read) all sorts of ways to try to get her to sleep through the night. Honestly, I'm tired of trying new things. What we're doing is working and she'll sleep through the night when she gets there! Lately she takes her dream feed at 10:30/10:45 and can sleep until 3:30 or 4, which is good! That's 4 1/2 to 5 hours. Blake and I take turns with the night feedings. One of us does the dream feed and the other does the middle of the night feeding and we swap roles every two days. It isn't easy and I'm sure there's some magic trick (not) to get her to sleep until 7am, but right now we can manage this routine and as they say, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
Our favorite part about her current age is that she has started to be much more interactive. She smiles more and with purpose and she "plays" with us. She also babbles and "talks" a lot! She loves, loves, loves music (as all babies do!) and enjoys time on her Baby Einstein activity mat. We like to take her out in the stroller, too, but we're waiting until the pollen count goes back down before we venture outside too much in the next week or two. She's been grasping her hands together A LOT lately and I'm hoping this means she's starting to figure her little hands out. So far she doesn't really reach out for things, but I think as she learns to control her arms better, that'll happen, too.
My favorite time of day is still around 8:00/8:30 p.m. when I'm rocking her to sleep. I always sing hymns to her during this time and it's hard for me not to get choked up while I'm singing! I have dreamed of singing hymns to my kids for-ev-er and it's just so sweet to be able to do so.
Eleven weeks and going strong... can't wait to see what's up next!
For starters, we have a little girl. No, I mean little. As of right now, at least. At her eight week appointment, she was an ounce shy of 10 pounds. That put her at around the 15th percentile for her height and weight. Last Monday (a day shy of 10 weeks), she was 10 lbs 4 oz. There are babies born bigger than what she was at 10 weeks old! She's perfectly healthy and growing the way she should, but this has posed a small problem: clothes. We stocked up winter/cold-weather clothes in 0-3 month and warm weather clothes in 3-6 months. Unfortunately, the weather isn't going to wait until she's big enough to wear her summer clothes. Thankfully, I have been able to find some outfits at consignment stores and on sale, and some of our friends have been generous enough to loan us some 0-3 month spring/summer clothes. I really don't want to go buy any more!
We also had to make the switch to formula much sooner than I had hoped. I wanted to nurse for six months, but nursing didn't work out for us. Pumping was exhausting, so I changed my "goal" to three months. My knee had other goals. After dealing with tendonitis and fluid build up on my knee for two weeks, I was finally convinced to take medicine to help it get better. This particular medicine made my milk dry up, so Maleah only got 10 weeks of breastmilk. I still think that's better than nothing, but it made me a little sad to have to make the switch so soon. She seems to be doing well on formula, though. It doesn't seem to bother her tummy, although it does seem like her intestines are doing a bit of adjusting if you know what I mean. ;)
Maleah has adjusted very well to her daytime routine. We wake her/get her out of bed around 7am and she follows this pattern every three hours: eat, diaper change, wake time, nap. Daycare hasn't seemd to mess with the routine as much as I thought it would. She has been sleeping less during the day, which means she is sleeping more at night. So, I can't complain!
Speaking of daycare, we love her school! She's only been four days so far, but we have no complaints. They are loving and compassionate ladies and they are doing a great job taking care of Maleah while we're at work! She seems to be adjusting well to being in the room with other babies and they say she eats and sleeps very well! That makes this mama VERY happy!
She isn't sleeping through the night just yet, but we are starting to see a shift in her middle of the night feeding. We think she's just not big enough weight-wise to go more than 4-5 hours without eating, so hopefully as she gains weight, she will sleep longer. People have told us (and I have read) all sorts of ways to try to get her to sleep through the night. Honestly, I'm tired of trying new things. What we're doing is working and she'll sleep through the night when she gets there! Lately she takes her dream feed at 10:30/10:45 and can sleep until 3:30 or 4, which is good! That's 4 1/2 to 5 hours. Blake and I take turns with the night feedings. One of us does the dream feed and the other does the middle of the night feeding and we swap roles every two days. It isn't easy and I'm sure there's some magic trick (not) to get her to sleep until 7am, but right now we can manage this routine and as they say, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
Our favorite part about her current age is that she has started to be much more interactive. She smiles more and with purpose and she "plays" with us. She also babbles and "talks" a lot! She loves, loves, loves music (as all babies do!) and enjoys time on her Baby Einstein activity mat. We like to take her out in the stroller, too, but we're waiting until the pollen count goes back down before we venture outside too much in the next week or two. She's been grasping her hands together A LOT lately and I'm hoping this means she's starting to figure her little hands out. So far she doesn't really reach out for things, but I think as she learns to control her arms better, that'll happen, too.
My favorite time of day is still around 8:00/8:30 p.m. when I'm rocking her to sleep. I always sing hymns to her during this time and it's hard for me not to get choked up while I'm singing! I have dreamed of singing hymns to my kids for-ev-er and it's just so sweet to be able to do so.
Eleven weeks and going strong... can't wait to see what's up next!
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Ch-ch-ch-changes
Having a baby, of course, brings about a lot of changes in a person's life and in their personality. I've found some of the changes I've experienced to be quite humorous. Maybe you will, too!
Pre-Baby Katie: Would put on an outfit for the day, hate it, and ransack the closet hunting for a magical beautiful outfit to wear. The closet, of course, looks a hot mess when she's done.
Post-Baby Katie: Puts on an outfit for the day, hates it, and says "I hate this outfit. But I don't really care that I hate it." And wears it proudly anyway.
Pre-Baby Katie: "OH MY GOSH OUR HOUSE IS COVERED IN DUST!!!!"
Post-Baby Katie: "I think the dust gives our furniture an added sense of texture and depth. Let's leave it there."
Pre-Baby Katie: Had meals planned out two weeks in advance...
Post-Baby Katie: Might have meals planned out two minutes in advance...
Pre-Baby Katie: Needed AT LEAST 7 hours of sleep to function.
Post-Baby Katie: "Woooooo hoooo!!!! I got to sleep for three hours straight!!!!!"
Pre-Baby Katie: "I love coffee!!"
Post-Baby Katie: "I NEED coffee!!"
Pre-Baby Katie: "You make money to spend money!!"
Post-Baby Katie: Second-guesses EVERY SINGLE purchase. Wishes she was in the baby product business so she could make more money...
Pre-Baby Katie: "I have a headache."
Post-Baby Katie: "Ok, I don't have a headache. But, still, no." ;)
Pre-Baby Katie: Lived on a schedule.
Post-Baby Katie: Lives on someone else's schedule.
Pre-Baby Katie: "People act like their baby's gas is sooooo bad. They spend so much money on GAS stuff! Babies get gas! It's normal!"
Post-Baby Katie: ...at the store buying every type of gas-reducing bottle, gentle-on-the-tummy formula, Mylicon drops, and gripe water. And apologizes to every mom she's ever judged for being obsessed with the air bubbles trapped in their sweet babies' tummies.
I'm slowly becoming a better version of myself. I'm pretty certain a second and third set of arms are about to grow in and I think God is going to grant my prayer for an extra few hours in the day. Until then, thanks for going on this little journey to Post-Baby Land with me!
Pre-Baby Katie: Would put on an outfit for the day, hate it, and ransack the closet hunting for a magical beautiful outfit to wear. The closet, of course, looks a hot mess when she's done.
Post-Baby Katie: Puts on an outfit for the day, hates it, and says "I hate this outfit. But I don't really care that I hate it." And wears it proudly anyway.
Pre-Baby Katie: "OH MY GOSH OUR HOUSE IS COVERED IN DUST!!!!"
Post-Baby Katie: "I think the dust gives our furniture an added sense of texture and depth. Let's leave it there."
Pre-Baby Katie: Had meals planned out two weeks in advance...
Post-Baby Katie: Might have meals planned out two minutes in advance...
Pre-Baby Katie: Needed AT LEAST 7 hours of sleep to function.
Post-Baby Katie: "Woooooo hoooo!!!! I got to sleep for three hours straight!!!!!"
Pre-Baby Katie: "I love coffee!!"
Post-Baby Katie: "I NEED coffee!!"
Pre-Baby Katie: "You make money to spend money!!"
Post-Baby Katie: Second-guesses EVERY SINGLE purchase. Wishes she was in the baby product business so she could make more money...
Pre-Baby Katie: "I have a headache."
Post-Baby Katie: "Ok, I don't have a headache. But, still, no." ;)
Pre-Baby Katie: Lived on a schedule.
Post-Baby Katie: Lives on someone else's schedule.
Pre-Baby Katie: "People act like their baby's gas is sooooo bad. They spend so much money on GAS stuff! Babies get gas! It's normal!"
Post-Baby Katie: ...at the store buying every type of gas-reducing bottle, gentle-on-the-tummy formula, Mylicon drops, and gripe water. And apologizes to every mom she's ever judged for being obsessed with the air bubbles trapped in their sweet babies' tummies.
I'm slowly becoming a better version of myself. I'm pretty certain a second and third set of arms are about to grow in and I think God is going to grant my prayer for an extra few hours in the day. Until then, thanks for going on this little journey to Post-Baby Land with me!
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