my valentine

v day puppyOriginally uploaded by wi77ow.

I forgot it was valentines day, at least until I made the mistake of going to the grocery store around 4pm.
I was the only young woman there out of about a million people.
It was 80% men buying flowers, 20% old women buying candy, and me, buying milk and pretzels.
Josephine has a lot of aunt Sara(h)s, one aunt Sara sent her this valentine outfit a little bit ago and I was afraid it wouldn’t fit her in time for a valentine picture. She is still so little, she’s just starting to fit into her 0-3month clothes and she’ll fit in her NewBorn size outfits for a little while still.
To me though, she is huge. By my estimate, she’s put on about 3lbs so far, maybe more. We’ll find out for sure at the next doc visit next week.

We had another storm here Wed. We’ve gotten more snow here this winter than the last three winters combined, but! at least it’s been decent temperatures. Hot compared to the Minnesota I left behind.
Every night after dinner my dad and I take the dog for a walk so she can poop and then we run her back and forth between us a several times to give her a little more exercise before bed. She loves racing up and down the street getting a little bit of cheese each time, she’s a greyhound!
With the extra snow sticking around, Akila has the extra task of hurtling the drifts between laps. This video isn’t very good, but you see what I’m getting at.

Some family are coming to town to go skiing and staying with us for a few days next week. I’m extra excited because they are the first extended family to meet Josephine, and I’ve been itching to show her off.

Wanna know what I’ve been watching? African American Lives 2 on PBS.  It is fascinating. You should watch it. Unless you hate learning.
 

stop the presses!

I won’t tell you whether or not I could breath or even sit down. 

I won’t mention how I couldn’t look directly into the mirror.

I won’t even say how long I lasted before I was back in sweats.

I WILL say though, that I have successfully buttoned a very forgiving pair of pre-pregnancy jeans.

snow day

snow day

Originally uploaded by wi77ow.

All week I was looking forward to today, not because I like football, but because everyone else would be watching the game and I was going to take advantage of the near empty mall. Use some gift cards, break out the stroller, get out of the house…
But this is what it looked like out the front door this afternoon. As I type this there is another few inches already on the ground and it’s still snowing. I can’t wait till it’s nice enough to take this baby outside!

February is Snow Up To My Eyeballs month

February:

Black History Month

American Heart Month

Burn Awareness Week 3-9

Children of Alcoholics Week 10-16

National Condom Week 10-16

National Eating Disorders Awareness Week 24-29

mama got a new hair cut

mama got a new hair cut

Originally uploaded by wi77ow.

My ex used to tell me that only ugly girls cut their hair short…(I know, what a charmer…) actually, I don’t think I’ve ever had a boyfriend that didn’t tell me what to do and not to do with my hair.
Not that I listened.
I’m generally not the type to do the opposite of what I’m told (shut-up), but I did tend to do that with my hair. If I was considereing cutting or dying it and someone said I probably shouldn’t, that would just be motivation to go ahead with it…it’s just hair!
I guess when I find a guy that’s cool with whatever I do with my hair I’ll know he’s the one.
In other hair news, Josephine is finally losing her hair. Dark haired babies lose their hair a bit later than blond and red-headed babies. I’m excited to see how it comes back in…curly? straight? think? thin? mohawk?

Month One

I don’t think I ever fully got used to the idea of being pregnant and now that I’m not pregnant anymore I have forgotten most of what it was like. 

Having Josephine here has been a rather surreal experience so far.  I can’t get past the feeling that I’m going to have to give her back any minute now, that she isn’t really my daughter. 

I’m trying my hardest to appreciate everyday for what it is and not let these days pass by too quickly.  She is already growing up too fast.  Grandma* is one of those people that is always anxious for what comes next; she can’t wait for Josephine to be able to get up and walk and talk.  I can wait.  This stage I can handle, I am terrified of everything else. 

The good news is that so far nearly every part of this “mama” business has been completely opposite of what I had expected.  It’s good news because I pretty much expected the worst.  Josephine rarely fusses, she is so far as healthy as can be, and nursing has been a huge success.  Grandma and grandpa have been helpful in all the right ways, almost never slipping in unwanted “assvice”.  I’ve been able to shower everyday, sit down for dinner with my family every night, and update this blog on occasion.

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I’m not nearly as anxious as I thought I would be either.  I let some lady at church hold her even though I had no idea who she was other than another older woman that wanted to pinch her cheeks.  I have taken her with me to the doctor and grocery without anyone else along to help, and I don’t have a heart attack every time she cries out.

So far I have hardly even had any of the “baby blues”.  If you are someone who is skeptical of the seriousness of depression then I don’t know what to say to you except, go research.  I, however know first hand how serious depression can be and so I have been on high alert for signs of PPD and other pregnancy related depressions.  So far so good.  Hallelujah.

I’m so excited for Josephine.  There are so many people that love her.  I know I’m supposed to be talking to her as much as possible to help her learn, but sometimes when I look at her I’m at a loss for words.  By the way, she’s pretty good at staring contests.

Here is another video of the babe because how could you not want more?!:

*Grandma doesn’t like to be called ‘Grandma’.  She thinks it makes her sound too old…hmmm…I tell her that she is old, but whatever.  She hasn’t come up with anything better yet, so she is still grandma.

They call me…

I’d like to explain how I chose her name.

She is named first after St. Josephine Bakhita.

Her middle name is after Mother Teresa, but I like the sound of Therese better than Teresa as a middle name.

Both women were incredibly strong and powerful by being weak and humble.  Both women were excited about God and made their excitement obvious to others without having to say one word.  Both women are worthy role models for my daughter.  I also like that St Josephine is (as far as I have learned) the only female saint to be originally from Africa.

Josephine is the feminine of Joseph which in Hebrew means “God will increase/enlarge”

Therese in Greek means “harvester” or “one who reaps”

Don’t those two names seem perfect together when you take into account the meanings?

Yes, yes they do.

I don’t know who Josephine Therese is going to grow up to be, but I do know that God has put into her spirit an ability to take on more than most of us would ever dream of.  I am so excited for her and proud to be her mama.

Here she is now, before she was famous…fighting the sleep:

would you like to be my maid?

I have soooooooooo much laundry to put away………

Last week my dad came walking through the door with a huge bag full of baby goodies.  Turns out the people at his office (probably the females at his office) threw him a “grandpa shower”.  How cool is that?! I made out with all kinds of loot and he had to be the one awkwardly sitting as the center of attention…  I even got one of these. 

My favorite thing in the world right now is that Josephine knows who I am.  When she is being a little wiggly and antsy and is passed from aunt to grandma to grandpa and then finally to me where she relaxes, it is the best feeling in the world.

my little puppy

She sounds like a little whimpering puppy when she’s waking up.

We had our first outting saturday night; dinner at some seafood place.  She slept through it all in as I wore her in a sling.  Awesome.

She had her first doctor visit Monday, not so awesome.  She clots fast so the nurse had to prick her heal three times to get enough blood…poor baby.

When she sleeps she makes faces, sometimes sad ones, sometimes smiley ones.  At about 20sec in and again at 40 in the video she cracks a smile and almost chuckles. It is the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen.

First of many posts about poop

Thanks for all the congratulations and well wishes.  And I’m feeling 10x better today, I still can’t lift anything and it takes me extra long to get in and out of bed, but I can appreciate Josephine more now that I don’t have to worry about pain so much.

Now, if you want to see pictures of Josephine taken at the hospital you can click here. 

She sleeps so well! Maybe she’s waiting to be fussy until I am strong enough to handle it…The only time she cries is when the cold wipe touches her naked butt.

She is the loudest pooper ever.

Ever.

My sisters are still terribly amused by potty humor and every time they hear Jose “relieve herself” they are in tears laughing…every time!

Guys, come visit! We’re ready for you.  She’s been asking about you…