Chuuch

Our weekend was lovely.

We hit the Grove on Friday and had dinner in the Farmer's Market. TR rode in my sling and she got a great deal of attention. I never realized how much interest babies evoke in strangers.
TR seems to be social like her dad so she didn't mind the attention.

I've always liked babies that I know , but I was unprepared to be approached and questioned by so many strangers. People were all up in my sling. 'Pregnant women and babies are people magnets. I admit to getting excited today when I saw a pregnant woman. I loved carrying TR and seeing the woman made me reminisce fondly.

We went to American Girl Place and TR got checked out like she was a doll. I think the sling adds to the fascination. Other parents were pushing their baby in cadillac strollers and a few had the bjorns, and I imagine our contraption is less familiar therefore automatically interesting. Someone even asked me if I had a real baby in there. I heard one woman tell her child I was a good mommy because I carried my baby.

On Saturday, Mr A worked his magic on the grill. One of our neighbors was over and told Mr A that he needs to be on one of those Food Network shows.

Mr A cooks/grills with total love and does something special with the meat. I'd tell his secret ingredients but our retirement job might be some type of restaurant, so the method has to be protected. Another neighbor came by with homemade guacomale dip and chicken wings. He marinates his chicken in plain yogurt. Mr A grilled the chicken. It was tender and um um good. The dip was amazingly tasty.


Sunday was church and TR was Mr A's passenger. TR was great in church. After service we hit Costco. Observing the reactions to Mr A transporting TR was very interesting. I got a little perturbed when 3 women stopped him by the zip loc bags. Then I recalled that when I woild see a handsome man caring for his cute baby, I'd oooooh, awwwweee and have little heart thumps. The world is a sexist place and I have sexist inclinations too. Yes.............. I just called Mr A handsome and TR cute.

Mr A and I have a game of monopoly to finish. I think I'm winning. He has more cash but I have the most expensive properties with hotels on them.

Have a blessed week.

Smile

TR had her first photo shoot today. The photographer came to the house and we had a good time watching it happen. The photographer was great. She wore her pink kimono.

Mr A has been putting our grill to good use. He got it at the beginning of July and we've used it 3 weekends and at least one week night this month. One night he grilled pork chops and they were amazing. The last time he used it, he made us dinner for a few days and one of our neighbors brought crabcakes for us to grill. He's been using wood- instead of charcoal- and the food tastes yummy.

He'll be grilling again tomorrow and TR and I will be sitting outside watching him do his thing.

Sunday will be our first trip to church with the newest addition to our family. Well...... we went all the time when she was my passenger but ya know what I'm saying.

Have a beautiful weekend.

ROMANCE..

...is about the possibility of the thing. From the time when you first meet some fine ass woman... To the time you make love to her. From the time you first propose to her. To the time you say I do. When people who have been together for a long time say that the romance is dead....naah......they just exhausted the possibilities. LOVE JONES.

I am a romantic and if there's a cure for this I don't want it, if there's a remedy, I run from it. Check out my newest song of the moment- Love Hangover. I won't attempt to describe what romance is for me, words would only diminish the truth of it.

This week Mr A and I went on our first couple outing/date since TR came home. It was a lovely afternoon/evening. We started missing TR towards the end of our evening, so it was great getting back to the house to be with her. This was the first time she was without one of us and I expected her to be kicking a slight fit.

When we arrived she was hanging out with my mother and my great aunt and she barely glanced at us. Oh well....... having her receive me with open and waiting arms was just my fantasy. I'm pleased that she didn't spend the entire evening fretting over the absence of mommy and daddy.

We hit the same area of our very first (alone) date but a different restaurant and we didn't go to Jamba Juice. Revisiting that spot was pretty - heart flutter- cool. Nearly 4 years after that first date, we were back in the same place, having our first date as parents. I guess that is what O.prah might call a full circle moment.

The most romantic and heart moving moment for me was my telling Mr A I had a belly ( not a big belly but I went from flat to round). Mr A pulled me close and told me I was beautiful and so was my belly. When he was done speaking softly in my ear, my heart was smiling. Sincere expressions of love and acceptance are romance for me.

TR got her immunizations and now that we are clear to hit the streets, I'll be getting this body back in condition. I love looking in the mirror and knowing I look good. Even more I love looking in full length mirror and realizing I look fabulous to be mommy to a newborn. Once I get in tip top form we can get to work on a sibling for TR.

I've got a video of TR and Mr A dancing that I want to post. More stuff that makes my heart smile. Check your emails for a link or if I figure out how to password protect- the password.

Far East Fashions

My sis made a shopping trip to Asia a few weeks ago and returned with these two outfits for TR, the diaper bag and a huge diaper cake- the diaper cake includes sleeper sets, towels, and lots of other things.

My mom said the diaper cake was too large for her to travel with so we'll pick it up next time we are in Oakland. I asked my mother how my sister could get from Hong Kong to Oakland with everything, but she can't get from Oakland to Central Ca with the diaper cake. I'm anxious to see it.

I hope to make the next Asia trip. The idea of a 14 hour flight is less than thrilling but the look of custom made clothes is fab. If anyone wants to see some pics of the outfits she had made, shoot me an email.

Maybe someone will invite us to a wedding or a party and TR can wear one of these.

100 Years

TR and I missed the Centennial Celebration in D.C. but were there in spirit.

TR got a pink dress, which she is modeling. Had we gone to D.C., this is probably what she would have worn to the gala.

Mr A, TR and me took our own walk. TR was wrapped in my pink and green personal carrier. Mr A got the fabric and got the instructions online. I love carrying her this way. I just have to learn how to do the wrap for myself.

My sis went on a shopping trip to Asia. I can't wait to get the clothing she brought back for TR. Pictures will be posted.

Then and Now

I looked at my archives and came across my http://call2arms.blogsome.com/2005/12/08/babies/#comments post on babies.

The various things I imagined about having a baby were right on. We were within our 3 year desired timeline of having a baby and so far so fun. Last night she went to sleep at 1 a.m and slept until after 6. I roused her to feed her and she sucked while sleeping. She's eating baby food- which my momma said help babies sleep longer.

I've discovered what s30 meant by leaking breasts. Its more like a flood. We both get drenched. The babe isn't bohemian but she does spend her days either topless with her cloth diaper on or a onesie. She owns lots of clothes but hasn't started wearing them.

She's my happy, friendly, warm, chubby baby that goes to strangers without crying.

She hasn't pulled my hair yet and when she grips my cheek sits a death grip. I love her warm little breath on my cheek and I'm in love with her gums. I have a photo and she's smiling and her gums are fully displayed.

She doesn't yell or cry too much, but she makes noises for most of her communication purposes ans she screams when she crawls or rolls over. When I'm on the phone she'll get very quiet. At this point I love to hear her little noises.

We didn't move to Baldwin Hills and its unlikely we will. We discoverd we love the side we're on and if we stay in L.A. we want to be on this side of the city.

Beware of the Mommy

TR is so fabulous. I said beware of the mommy- heed words of caution.

She is just now 2 months and crawling. She's been crawling since she was a couple of weeks old but she's covering more distance now. I had her in bed with us one morning and I awoke to her attempting to nurse. She had crawled to my breast and kept lifting her head trying to get to the nipple. When she is eating and wants to be burped she sticks her arms out.

When she wants to poop she makes little noises and we put her on "the throne" position, she relaxes, focuses and poops.

Visitors have informed me that she is a good baby- apparently because she doesn't waste a lot of time crying. She does more cooing and purring to communicate. I'm also told I've got it good because she will sleep 4 hours at night.

She appears to have dimples in every place imaginable. Two deep dimples in her cheeks, chin dimple, a little dimple by the bridge of her nose, and dimples where her smile line is. She smiles a lot. She has eyes like mine- large almond shaped.

Her hair has a red tint. My mother and Mr A's mother have reddish/red hair. Mr A's mom had told me Mr A had red hair as a kid. but it looks black now.

After her bath this morning I styled the top of her hair in a mini mohawk.

While I love green, I think she'll be wearing more yellow because it flatters her coloring. She has her first professional photo shoot soon, and I already have her outfit planned.

I can't wait until we can take the world by storm. I'm going stir crazy in the house- we're doing it the old fashioned way and keeping baby indoors for a while. But when I leave the house I want to hurry back because I want to see her little face and hold her. My mom will be coming to a city near L.A. soon and we're going to go hang out there with her. My mother told me to tell TR that she really misses her. I waited for her to say she missed me.......... I'm still waiting. It's okay though- the joy of being a grandmother is enjoying the baby and letting the parents enjoy the work.

I plan to join the L.A. Mocha Mom soon. I need to interact with some SAH moms/wives. I've reconnected with a few of my L.A. folks now that I have less time to socialize. Clearly I like having too much to do and not enough time to do it.

Magical Date- REpost

Love has been on my heart and soul this week. Check out the 'love' song on the sideline, it's currently moving me. S30's current post inspired me to do a repost of my magical date.

Wednesday, December 01, 2004

Magical Date
Okay this blog is about a date I had, my guy reads my blog so he's gonna have to read about himself in this one.

Well this date was magical because it consisted of my favorite things and my guy didn't even know they were my favorite things.

So I'm there visiting ( almost 300 miles seperate us) this was probably our first couple outing, first time without family and/or friends.

The conversation went something like this

Him: So what do you want to do?
Me: Anything is fine. (I know guys actually want an answer when they ask that)
Him: Do you want to see a movie?
Me: Nope, we can't talk during the movie.
Him: Do you like Jamba Juice?
Me: Yes, I do (super excited, I lu-uvvv Jamba Juice , I drink them when I want to treat myself)Him: Well I thought we could go to Jamba Juice and my favorite Sushi bar is right next to it, so we could go there
Me: Sushi? you eat sushi? What kind?

Ladies I wanted to jump with glee. Sushi is what I eat when I want to treat myself . Sushi for me is like my permission to relax and just enjoy. Jamba Juice is the same thing. Plus both are so expensive cuz it takes much Sushi to get full. This man was offering me three of my favorite things without even realizing it. Him, sushi and Jamba Juice. Ya'll I had to tell him.

Me: I usually only eat sushi when I get paid, it's how I treat myself.
Him: smile
Me: And I love Jamba Juice, I drink it when I want to treat myself. I never imagined that I'd ever have a man that I really like, sushi and Jamba Juice all together. It's like my fairytale.

The small pleasures in life really mean so much. This is not some fru fru guy either, he isn't petite nor does he drink tea with his pinky out. He's like a football kinda dude, which makes it all the better. A man with a liking for delicacies.

The day was beautiful, there was an art festival and we walked along and looked at the various sidewalk art and yes, he held my hand.

I sigh just thinking about it.

Side note: the best thing about my building is that it is across the street from my brother's building. In the middle of writing this blog we took a walk to the bank. I didn't want to go to the bank but being self employed I sometimes have to work on my clients cash schedule. We have lunch together on lots of days and sometimes we run errands together. It's fun. END SIDENOTE.

Posted by Call 2 Arms at 1:51 PM

Our Day

Yesterday morning we had crepes with sliced strawberries for brunch. They were very good and the recipe is super simple. I'm trying to figure out why I was willing to pay 5 bucks for a couple crepes at the Larchmont Farmer's Market.

TR shared the day with us. She sat in her swing and made her little baby noises as we ate brunch.

I made an Oreo Cookie Pie* for dessert. It's a yummy and simple recipe.
I prepared Jambalaya for dinner and when it got late we shared a huge slice of the dessert.

The middle parts were spent with us just hanging out. We bathed TR and Mr A washed her hair. She sure did enjoy herself. Perhaps we are that boring couple/family but I truly enjoy our lives.

This morning I woke up, heard TR sucking loudky on her pacifier, I scooped her up, showered her with kisses, told her how beautiful she is, changed her, gave her breakfast of milk and laid her down to sleep.

I'm sure life could get better, like a paid for home in Bel Air, property taxes on that home paid up for 20 years and maid service included, the stork dropping off a few more kiddies at well-timed intervals, a teletransportation machine, ownership of a prime office building in L.A.- but right now life feels pretty great.

*http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/OREO-Ice-Cream-Shop-Pie-2/Detail.aspx?prop31=1

ForLove 21

My cousin was in town last week - either Thursday or Friday and we discovered Forlove 21 at the Beverly Center. It's sister to Forever 21 but all accessories. Pretty cool place. We both had gift cards for Macy's and we got TR a bunch of cute outfits. We had lunch at Toast. Toast is a very L.A. place. I try to give the total L.A. experience when I can. I had "the Lus", and that sandwhich was amazing with addictive potential.

Speaking of "for love" and "forever" our wedding anniversary is upon us. Life with Mr A has been pretty great. I've noticed that the longer we are wed the quicker we get past any dispute. Pretty cool. That probably works great for Mr A because I'm a bit dramatic. Now we have little Miss TR and she adds a whole new beauty to life and our relationship.

We're still in awe that we've been blessed with our tiny person. I'm holding her right now. She usually is glued to Mr A's chest but he needed to get into his sleep. Me and TR are on one end of the sofa, he is on the other, my feet are under his thighs. The news is on and I'm slightly watching. Welcome to the Good Life.

I never knew how good this type of life could feel. Thank the Lord for blessing me. I don't know why he did or why this was granted to me, but I am grateful. We plan to remain living in the city, so we won't totally become that couple- you know "I Think I Love My Wife" dull and predictable. My great aunt Bessie and Uncle Major were like that- sans children. As a kid I felt like I was being punished when we went to their house. Their home was beautiful, a show place almost, too much valuable stuff to break and perfectly maintained wood floors that creaked when a kid moved. I'd try to limit my visits to times my grandparents were there. My grandparents defined vivacious.

Mr A was gifted- from me to him- a manstation type grill so he'll do barbecue this weekend. It's nice that folks celebrate and have firework displays in honor of our marriage. :)

Adventures in Mommyhood

It has always been my belief that children train parents more than parents train children.

Mr. A has already got TR accustomed to behavior that mommy doesn't do.

While TR was in the hospital she was always changed prior to eating. Now, no matter how hungry she is, she will not eat unless she has a fresh diaper. Fortunately we are using cloth so if she tinkles a drop we change the diaper. I really like how wasteful cloth allows us to be. The diaper service is grand.

Last night Mr A was outside when TR pooped. She was also hungry. The two always coincide. I guess her poop makes room and she wants to fill it. She was acting super hungry, rubbing her face across my chest, putting her fist in her mouth so I tried to feed her first. She wasn't having that. I laid her down to change her but she hates sitting in her poop so that was a disaster. She began wailing. Her hollering hurt my heart and I just held her close. She looked at me and screamed bloody murder for about 7 minutes. I thought she must be in pain. I called Mr A and he heard her yelling in the background. He was back super quick. By the time he arrived I had unpinned her diapers.

He scooped her up and she immediately stopped screaming. Only thing was she had poop on her butt and then he had it all over his hand. She found her spot in his neck and acted as if she hadn't scared me half to tears.

He never put her down. We got a towel and cleaned her and his hand. We put her diaper on and he fed her.

TR has trained mommy to understand that babies cry to communicate. I know what's best and as much as I want to hug her through her discomfort and crying, I can't just hold her. I can't ignore that she has a diaper full of poop. Sure she'll have to momentarily endure things she doesn't want to endure buts its for the best in the long run.

The Beginning

Our Bradley Coach just sent an email asking for my birth story and how Mr A performed as coach. I have yet to reply.

When they informed us we'd have to be induced, they told us we could have a natural child birth. The swelling was causing me great pain and drugs made TR's heart rate drop so I got an epidural. The epidural actually made my blood pressure drop, but only for a short while.

I would never choose an epidural. It paralyzes you. I was trying to move and couldn't figure out why I was having such difficulty. Then I was informed I couldn't eat once I got it.

They started inducing me, it was so slow. I felt very very little because of the epidural. I later read epidurals slows down labor. So after 72 hours of slow labor I could barely feel and feeling like I was about to die, I asked for a C-section- at least I thought I had. I asked for the C-Section at about 9:30 a.m. I was in the operating room before 10 a.m. Mr A told me the surgery had been discussed and scheduled the night before.

The doctors had made the surgery decision. Mr A and I had just discussed asking for it when they came and told us they would have to do one. I can't remember that convo.

The surgery wasn't bad, TR entered the world hollering like a champ. Recovery from the surgery wasn't bad either. The swelling was terrible but the water retention caused me to not have pain from the surgery.

That Bradley class was pretty pricey. I wonder if I could get a refund.

I spent a few moments crying, wondering what I'd done to make my baby come early, wondering what I could have done to change things. All of it made me be grateful for simple things. Having a baby is usually such a simple thing, and when my simple pregnancy got complicated I realized that blessings exists in simplicity. To never experiece the difficulty in something is a blessing.

Little Miss TR is home, and her cries, her coos, her kicks, her smiles are a blessing. They are a regular reminder of things I know not to take for granted. When she cries she gets a kiss from mommy and/or daddy. Today we double teamed her and showered her with kisses.

Perhaps I had a lesson to learn from my birth day. Even if I didn't have to learn something, I learned a lesson. Perhaps I'll delve into it later.

My mommy and my baby

Pretty soon, I'm going to write an actual post and finish my birth story.



Some sorta way TR got spoiled. The lactation consultant said babies who get lots of skin to skin contact go home earlier. So mommy (me) spent the day holding TR and daddy (Mr A) spent the night. I guess they didn't mean two parents coming to hold the baby a large part of a 24 hour period.

I don't consider a baby wanting to be held a bad thing, if you are able to continue holding them. Eventually TR won't want to be held. She won't be 30 trying to--- hmmm.... perhaps I'm wrong. I still love to be held.

Feed Me

Fret not- she is drinking mommy's breast milk.

I think green is her favorite color.

West Wing L& D- Part 2

So I hear the nurses discussing where to move me. They decided on the lovely labor and delivery wing. That should have clued me in that a delivery was in my very near future. Bed rest was my fantasy.

It's still a blur and I have to ask Mr A to fill in pieces but I'll recount as best I can. I had intended to drag this story out for a couple weeks but at the urging of S30 I'll share a bit more. Please pardon the changing tense, I'm reliving as I recount the story.

I get settled in the hospital room and am told I have high levels of protein in my urine. The nurse comes in with a steroid shot. These folks are moving too fast, I decline the shot. They said its to speed up the maturation of the babies lungs. In my mind I'm still not on board with an early delivery and I don't want to introduce drugs to my baby if I can avoid it. If we wait one more week, her lungs will be mature. We were so close to full term.

Mr A had gone to move the car. When he returned I told him what was going on with the shot. He told the nurse we needed info on this shot. One of the nurses went to get us info.

I tell them I want to wait for the results of the 24 urine sample before making a decision. In hindsight I don't think I had any decision making room. Delivery was a done deal.
Mr A goes home to get some of our things. He returns with the laptop and I send emails that I'll be on hospital bed rest. I'm firm in my fantasy.

My blood pressure is constantly being taken. Mr A was watching it and I was watching his reaction to it. We had agreed that I wouldn't worry about it. I have no idea why it rose so quickly and kept rising. They kept asking if I had a headache or blurry vision. I didn't. Mr A said as high as my pressure was, I should have had a headache. I don't know what it got to but it clearly- to everyone observing it- wasn't safe. But I felt fine.

Various doctors came in with papers for me to sign. I asked questions and with great hesitancy signed. The neonatologists came to tslk to us and tell us about the plan for TR and babies who arrive at her age. It never occured to me to deliver at a hospital that had the leading neonatal center, fortunately that is where we were.

While we were waiting on my 24 hour urine I told the dr. I'd had that taken a sample while I was in the Bay- just a couple of weeks before. I told her if anything had been wrong they would have told me.

The results came back the following evening.. I knew 3000 was mild and 5000 was severe. I was thinking, hoping I'd be mild and get bed rest. I was 10,000. I cried, I knew TR would have to be delivered. I didn't know all the why's but I knew there was a reason I'd been checked in the hospital.

I now weigh 7 more pounds than my pre-pregnancy weight. It feels lovely to button my pants again, although today they kept slipping down.

Get What You Need

You cant always get what you want
You cant always get what you want
But if you try sometimes well you might find
You get what you need

That part of the Rolling Stone song ocassionally reverbrates through my head. Maybe its due to that commercial.

I'm realizing that with regular frequency people don't get what they want while others don't appreciate having what someone else is praying to recieve.

Perhaps its similar to having great difficulty finding what you are looking for but once you stop looking you discover it right under your nose.

This is not a relationship post but my above thoughts make me think of Rachel, Leah and Jacob. Rachel had Jacob's love but was miserable because she wanted his child.
Leah had Jacob's children but was sad because she wanted his love.

Either sister could have been happy with what they were blessed with but both were too focused on what they lacked.

I remember meeting a guy with super long thick lashes and I discovered that he actuslly had to keep them cut. That's a problem I would have loved to have. My lashes are thick and certainly not short but my sister and most of my paternal cousins have longer and thicker so I can't flatter myself with what I've got. That's another issue- what you have might be good but when you know there is better to be had, sometimes you forget to be thankful or even notice its nice to have.

I want to be grateful and appreciate what I have and not allow my focus to be kept on things I want or who has it better. This post isn't about material items either.

This post is just about wants in general. Most of us want something (I say most cuz there is always that person who says "I have everything I could want.") Most of us see someone who takes for granted what we greatly desire.

Such is life- there is nothing to do but recognize and be grateful for our own blessings.

I'm not a subscriber to the "I complained about my lack of shoes, until I saw a man with no feet", school of thought. My gratefulness needs to stand alone, not ride on the back of someone with less. Isn't it heartless to feel better because someone has it worse than you? That's no better than feeling bad because someone has it better.

Life is A Miracle

It was a cool day in May. I was wearing a green knit outfit. I can't call it a sweat suit but it was similiar to that. Mr A and I were trying to figure out alternate routes so we'd know which way was best when I went into labor. Because of our exploring routes we were running a wee bit late.

We got to the dr. for our regular prenatal visit. We had a another appointment prior to that so we walked to lunch and came back for the 2nd appointment. They had already taken my blood pressure which was a little high but nothing extreme. Apparently it was extreme since my blood pressure had always ran normal.

We were seen by one of the high risk doctors. Not because I was high risk but she just happened to be who we saw. I had requested to be placed in high risk care from the start but was too 'healthy'. My cousin passing after childbirth made me want to be extra cautious.

The dr had the nurse take my 'pressuh' again and it was still up. She told me to go to the hospital so they could check me out. She said she knew I was feeling well but not to go home, go to the hospital. We went and they hooked me up to a monitor that took my pressure every 10 or so minutes. I think that beeping and arm squeezing was making it go up. They put me on a fetal monitor and did an ultra sound. TR was fine.

It's a bit of a blur but eventually I was admitted.

I figured I was going to be put on bed rest. Tune in for the second part of our birth story.

Random

When Mr A and I moved shortly after getting married, we had no idea we lived on such a great bus line. We didn't know we lived on any bus line. We loved the floor plan and the area and that was that.

Now with gas - at Costco- approaching $5 a gallon I'm even more appreciative to live on the bus line. My sis was in town last week, we stopped to put gas in her rental before dropping it off. The tank was just a slight bit from full. She paid $6 to get it to full. I haven't put gas in the car for a long time and while I know the price, seeing the reality of how much just a little costs, was a shock.

Then Mr A and I went to Costco for gas. The tank was 1/2 full when we got there but it took @$45 to get it a bit past full. So in my head I'm calculating. $90 a week for one tank- although I'm sure we used more than that going back and forth to the hospital which is 10 miles each way. I decided to utilize the bus. At $90 a week, by the end of the month our gas bill could be a car note.

Mr A has been riding his bike to practice. He's looking great, too- whoo hoo!. We work from home so that wasn't an expense. Some say work close to home but working from home is the only way to go at these gas prices. I bet telecommuting will pick up. The car gets to rest, until the bus isn't convenient, nighttime travel or we have shopping.

I'm sure with gas this high and the price of it increasing, bus service will expand. At least I hope it does. It would be nice if public transportation was convienent to the masses.

I missed being a mommy on Mother's day. I was OOOOO so close. Mr A did get me the ice cream cake I'd been talking about for a month- we shared it with the wonderful hospital staff who we really liked. Any ideas on what TR and I should get Mr A on his very first Father's Day?

Not That It Matters

I currently weigh 13 more pounds than I did prior to becoming pregnant. The weight just fell off because I have not missed any meals

Mr A. says I'm a snapper because I snapped back. I'm guessing my boobs which are full of milk weigh about 5 pounds.

I still have a belly. Maybe a 3 month preggers belly. Yesterday I was standing outside a full elevator and someone said- "hey there's enough room for the pregnant lady." I smiled. She was trying to be helpful so I didn't want to tell her I'd had the baby. When I left the hospital I had a 7 month pregnant belly.

No one told me I'd have contractions post pregnancy. Apparently those help get your uterus back to its original size. I guess my organs still have to shift back to their normal placement which is why a still have some belly. It took months for everything to shift so it makes sense that it would take weeks to shift back

The belly comes in kinda handy. When I place my baby on my chest, the belly gives me a place to rest her body.

Something I always wanted was a dimple. As a child I would stick my finger in my cheek trying to form one. My mother and all my siblings have deep dimples. Mr A. has dimples- which until I pointed them out he seemed oblivious to owning. I was pleased to see that TR has a deep dimple too.

Our Angel Is Here

These words are to the full song but I prefer the abbreviated and live version I linked. We've been granted a gift from heaven in our precious baby girl.


Tell me have you heard the story
That took place not long ago
Bout an angel up in heaven
They say she up and ran away from home

Word is she had unfinished business
So back on earth she had to flee
Well you know I'm so elated
Because she's laying right here next to me

And when God woke up that morning
And he called out her name
And when she did not answer
Heaven will never ever ever be
Heaven will never be the same
Never be the same

Always dreamed that it would happen
I just didn't know exactly when
All my life I'd been waiting for something amazing
Said it took a while but now I know
So tell me can I get a witness
If you believe in miracles
And the proof I have is living
And my life will never ever be
And your life don't have to be the...

At times it seems we take for granted
How precious life can be
Just hold on and I'm sure you'll understand it
Bringing into this world
A precious boy or girl...And when God woke up that morning
Said where has my little angel gone
And when she didn't an...answer
Heaven will never ever ever be
Heaven will never be the....same
Yeah....Yeah


More later.