susuwatari

So the last 4 weeks have sort of flown by for me because I spend all day kissing these chubby cheeks and eating these tiny fingers:

Two favorite mommy moments:
1) When she’s super hungry she will start chewing on your face – I call these kisses. I might have been known to delay making a fresh bottle because I enjoy these so much.

2) When she’s done eating she’ll make a huge satisfied sigh and scrunch up her forehead and purse her lips. I then kiss her a million times.

I can’t believe Elliott has been here for almost a month. (We’ve survived for almost 4 weeks!! With no sleep!! And we’re only slightly insane from it!!) The month of June has totally disappeared and I vaguely recall a grueling heat wave that I noticed in between commercials on the Style network and poopy diapers. We are so happy to have her here. She is a great baby. The kind of baby that makes you think you might want to have more babies in the future. A happy, cute and cuddly baby that just wants to be held on the sofa while Mama reads trashy novels or Daddy plays Xbox. Also, I am so happy to not be pregnant anymore and I feel infinite pity towards pregnant women everywhere. It was totally worth it, but man is it nice to have my body back! I can sleep on my stomach again! Amazing!!

We have been catching up on endless episodes of Clean House. I have never watched so much TV in my life. We are stuck on the sofa with a cute little cuddlebug who squeaks mercilessly if she is put down. Somehow she knows the difference between night and day because the night time squeaking is considerably less. We have been gifted with 3-4 hours of sleep at a time. On a single rare occasion it was FIVE WHOLE HOURS! WOO!! I’m still a little slap happy from that. I’m also terrified that it will never happen again.

I have started going out of the house recently and it has been amazing so I will try to keep this trend up. (Of course this will only happen on those good days where I’m allowed to shower… unless we’re just going to the library because people can be smelly and go to libraries.) Elliott has gone out to TWO restaurants and has not caused a scene. Unfortunately, Wes and I were so tired that we fell asleep at the table, but we have hope that we will be able to enjoy an evening out as a family in the near future.

Sorry if the posting remains light. I will try to keep showing you my adorable child. The pictures above were taken by the fabulous Michelle from Under Grace Photo. She did our wedding photography as well and we love her. If you live in St. Louis and need an amazing photographer, please look no further! I can’t recommend her enough!
~Christina

Ok so it sorta looks like Christina and I have fallen off the face of the earth for a bit. Christina has an excuse and that excuse is she is busy with the day to day battle of caring for an infant under extreme sleep depravation. I on the other hand don’t have much of an excuse except the usual which is that I’m lazy and easily distractible. Some things I plan to update everyone on in the future are as follows:

1) My wonderful niece Elliot Jane was born 6:05am June 4th. She had jaundice for while but now she is a normal color and I no longer call her a little Oompa Loompa. Now we call her a little goat since when she’s grunting in anger (before the screaming starts) she sounds like a little goat. So cute! She has moved up from newborns to 0-3months so Auntie needs to do some shopping. I require that she be dressed adorably at all times. ;p

2) My house. I’ve been painting, unpacking, and organizing. My Dad has also spoiled me beyond belief and been Mr. Super Fixit man.

3) My friends are pretty awesome and have been spoiling me as well.

4) I’m thinking about getting a new dog soon.

5) I’m also starting agility classes with Freya again.

But I will not be updating you on these now and probably not much this week as I’m heading down to Sweet Home Alabama to spend the 4th with my folks and their deck boat on Friday. I have been told that I must come see their new sofa as you can now sit in comfort in their house. Amazing!

Well it turns out that Rufus’s stomach was halfway twisted which is why they could put a tube all the way thru him. They did surgery and made it so that his stomach is unable to twist again. He survived the surgery (yaay for old dogs being tougher than we thought) and is still recovering. The vet doesn’t want us to get our hopes up since basically he still at very high risk still and he did start getting gas pressure again in his stomach. Still the surgery was last Thursday and every day that he survives is a step closer to victory, so yeah our hopes are up. I will be boarding Freya while I head down to Alabama for the Fourth of July festivities with the belief that Rufus will be back home at my parent’s house recovering.

Rufus

My mom took him in to the vet yesterday as he was showing signs of anxiety. Good thing she did as he had gas buildup throughout his intestines. They didn’t see any obstructions in the x-rays so the vet thought he may have a twisted bowel which is what killed my childhood dog Bree, a beautiful collie. Rufus is a collie and husky mix and apparently this issue is prevalent in both of these breeds. Turns out it wasn’t a twisted bowel as they were able to pass a tube all the way through him and relieved the pressure. They have kept him overnight and if the pressure builds up again they will know that there is an obstruction and the only way to save him is to cut the obstruction out. Unfortunately they don’t know where it is right now. Also he is an old dog and is at high risk of dying just from the shock of the surgery. I’m waiting to hear back from my mom.

For those who don’t know I was the original owner of Rufus. I had been planning on getting a dog when I went to grad school but I was originally planning on waiting until I got up there first before getting a dog. Then I saw Rufus’s picture online and something about him just connected with me, I think it was the sweetness in his eyes and I just knew deep down in my soul that I was supposed to get this dog. Now I’m not totally flakey he matched all of my requirements that I had in a dog…yes I’m a dork and had compiled a list of things I needed the dog to have, mainly that they were not aggressive and would not attack my cats Boo and Sano. He was mine the whole time I lived up in Michigan and he and I explored many a path up in the Upper Peninsula. When I became jobless and homeless Rufus went to stay with my Mom and Dad (along with the cats) while I went up to stay with my sister in St. Louis to go job hunting. During that time (and it was a long time) my dog and my mom feel in love with each other. You could tell he adored her as he started following her around like he used to do me and would pine for her by the door anytime she went out and left him. I was very hurt at the time but felt it was selfish of me to take him back when he had become so attached to my mom and my mom to him. In the long run I felt like this was meant to be as my Mom’s favorite cat Clyde passed away shortly after I gave her Rufus. I truly believe that the reason she was able to get thru that so “easily” was that she had that lug of a dog Rufus to comfort her. And that is why two grown women were sobbing on the phone to each other last night as we tried to decide what would be best for Rufus. Unfortunately the real burden is on my Mom and whatever she chooses I know that she will have made the right choice.

And after all this crying you just know this dopey dog is going to turn out to be just fine this morning and looking at my Mom like hey what were you upset about I just ate some stinky fish I found down by the river.

UPDATE 11:30AM Rufus did not bloat back up during the night so that is a good sign. Unfortunately he has bloody stool so he is still at the vet’s office. They are not sure what is wrong with him. He still could have just eaten something horribly bad or he may have a tumor.

She was born yesterday morning. Pictures and details coming soon.

Christina is in the hospital right now in labor. I’m at her house posting as I still have no internet at home and picking up little Popper to spoil her before the baby comes home.

I just closed this morning signing all the papers (actually the way people go on about it I thought there would be alot more to it than there was). Now if the basement starts flooding during our torrential downpours it’s my problem ha ha (sob). Enough of that, time for what you actually care about…pictures! These pictures were taken during my last walk thru Sunday morning before my state started flooding.

So a long time ago I wrote about my design ideas for the nursery. Things have totally changed since then. We decided to keep the lavender walls rather than repainting the whole room. I also decided not to buy a real crib set. We just purchased some pretty sheets that we liked instead. We also had to downsize some furniture ideas so that everything would fit. I’m really happy with how it turned out! I still want to get some artwork up on the walls, but other than that and some toy organization, I’m calling this done.

Due to the size of the room it was difficult to take pictures. I tried my best!
(Click on pictures to see bigger.)

The crocheted baby blanket was made by my Aunt Martha. It’s so cozy and pretty and goes perfectly with the room. The quilt on the rocker was made by my Grandma Easley. It was on my bed when I was a little girl. (This will probably be moved to a safer no spit-up zone for awhile!)

This chair is so comfy!! It’s a rocker/glider/recliner so I will probably be living in it for the next year or so. Jean, my MIL purchased this and the dresser for us. They are pieces that I’m hoping will grow with our daughter. Also, had to have the butterfly chandelier! This picture really doesn’t do it justice. It’s the first thing you notice when you walk in the room. I love it!

This is our pretty crib from Marcie, my SIL. The front part moves up and down (it’s currently down) and there is a drawer for storage underneath. I’ve been putting sheets and blankets there.

This is where some of my classic Pooh bear obsession is revealed. I tried not to go overboard. That’s my old Pooh bear that I’m passing down. Wes was adamant that she needed her own Glow Worm too. The infant mirror was a baby shower gift that we can easily take down to put on the floor for tummy time exercises. The little outfit is what we are planning to bring to the hospital for her to go home in. The cute little hat is from Aunt Patience.

Here is Wes’s main contribution to the nursery. We went to check out crib soothers and I was all prepared to get an Aquarium or Jungle themed one so that it would stay gender neutral but he saw this Fairy Princess one (that cost extra!) and demanded we go with it. It’s plays music, lights up and projects a light show on the ceiling. Pretty sweet.

Here’s our new dresser/changing table. I’m working on putting up a family photo wall here for her to look at while we’re changing clothes and diapers.

The top drawer holds everything we need to change diapers and her pajamas.

We’ll probably switch this out for a white bookcase later but I’m repurposing this one for now. This holds her books, some favorite toys and our baby CDs. The doll on the top shelf was made by Aunt Jo, who passed away last August. Wes and I both really wanted something special in the room to represent her and I’m happy this doll looks so great with the room! The zoo animals on the bottom shelf were made by me.

I’m using this old china cabinet to hold baby clothes and supplies. I can tuck away diaper and wipe packs in the bottom cabinets and we’ve got onesies and receiving blankets stored in the little bins.

So that’s the room! I didn’t take a picture of the closet, but I’ve cleaned it all out and all her little outfits are hanging in there. Her toy bins are also inside. We have been so lucky to be gifted so much of what we needed. I love that her room is a good mixture of recycled/repurposed items and the new things that we needed. Thank you to our family and friends who have been so generous in helping us get started! I can’t wait for us to bring her home to see her room!
~Christina

Dear baby,

I have not written a letter to you in a long time. I’m not so good at staying in touch. Of course, I do talk to you everyday. Mostly exclamations like:
“Ow! Quit it.”
“Do you seriously have to get hiccups at 2am?”
“You do understand that balling up like that makes it hard to drive/eat/sleep/sit/breathe/live, right?!”
So it’s not like we’re not communicating. Just wanted to be clear on that.

Today Daddy and I went to the doctor to get our last ultrasound. This is to make sure that you are in the head down position and not taking the more cautious approach to birth that I chose (breech). Note: Please don’t follow my example because I really don’t want a c-section. The doctor pulled up the screen and Daddy and I nodded a lot and pretended to understand what we were looking at. There was some black thing she called your bladder, and some moving thing she called your heart, and she pointed out your vulva, I guess, to reassure us that we wouldn’t have to return everything we’ve purchased at Babies R Us. However, there was no good face or head shot, so we’re still going to have to wait for your grand arrival to find out what you look like! The good thing is that you are still sitting in the right position, with your feet right up in my rib cage, just like I thought. I asked our doctor if she could tell how big you were and she said that judging by how big I am, and how you’re positioned, that you’re on the small side. I would kiss you if I could bend over that far.

Now that we are only 4 weeks away from our due date, I’m looking forward to any signs that you are preparing to exit my body. Please know that if you decide to stay longer than June 17 that I will lovingly begin charging rent. Hopefully this will provide the incentive you need to get going. So far you have not begun to drop. I’m looking forward to this even if it will mean more trips to the bathroom because I’m sort of tired of the severe acid reflux. I’m taking two Zantac a day and I still feel like I could breathe fire on occasion. I’m also getting a little tired of my GIGANTIC feet and ankles. The doctor has told me this will only get worse for a few weeks after the birth, but then I’ll pee a lot and then maybe weigh 100 pounds lighter or something. For the past few weeks I’ve only been able to squeeze my feet into a pair of smelly black flip-flops. Thank goodness it’s not the middle of winter! By the end of this journey your father will have won and I will be barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. To illustrate the HUMONGOUSNESS of my GIGANTIC GODZILLA feet, I have taken the following picture:

Be afraid - I will crush you with my ginormous feet.

As you can see, your father is very sympathetic. He does rub my feet every once in awhile, but I told you those flip-flops are on the smelly side, so I can’t really blame him if he’s not super enthusiastic about it. He is much more enthusiastic when it comes to buying toys for you. I’ll share more about that when I post pictures of the nursery.

We are getting very excited about your arrival. See you soon!
love, Mama