Hallelujah!

Hallelujah, Hallelujah,

Hallelujah, Hal - le - lu - jah!

Please go ahead and finish Handel's Hallelujah chorus in your head (or out loud, I don't judge). Yes, Lela slept well in her cradle last night and the night before for that matter. Yay!! I was going to post it yesterday but I didn't want to jinx anything and if we're being completely honest with each other, yesterday was a bit of a hard day. I totally planned on writing out a blog post but my mom left after lunch and Lela had a bit of a meltdown starting at 3:00 and by the time Nathan got home, I was beat and I zonked out until dinner. But the past two nights have been great and I hope they stay that way . . .

So far today Lela has been sleeping great during the day also, so I've been able to get some things done around the house. I just hope this doesn't mean she won't sleep tonight. This is what Lela's doing while I write:

The dogs have also slept pretty much all day so it's eerily quiet around here today.

Changing gears, I got an email today telling me the baby sling on my baby registry has been recalled and that I could get a free replacement product from the company. I'm thinking they are going to ask for a serial number or have you mail in the whole sling in order to get the replacement product, but apparently, this is all they want.

So not only am I required to render the product completely useless, but I am forced to witness the slaughter of a perfectly fine baby wearing apparatus.

Don't get me wrong, I understand the method to their madness, but I can't say that I wasn't a little traumatized by the whole ordeal. I kept finding myself saying "I can't throw this away. I'm sure I can use it for something, maybe just the fabric." But if you know me, you know that will NEVER HAPPEN. So I begrudgingly threw it in the trash and am now trying to keep my focus on things ahead as I await the arrival of my high chair/shopping cart cover (a.k.a. a "floppy" to use more baby savvy lingo).

I'm actually excited about the floppy because I registered for one but didn't get it and now I don't have to worry about buying one. If you're worried that the loss of my baby sling means I won't be able to participate in the baby wearing trend, never fear. Nathan also registered for a "less girly" baby carrier. So I informed him that I would now have to use his.

I'll leave you with a picture of Lela's shirt today. She received the shirt from her uncle Andrew.

I sort of love that she looks confused in this picture. It's like she already understands the irony of that statement. That's my girl ;)

Doctor Says "A+"

Let me start off by saying that I feel like a regular person today! In my last post, I shared that Lela slept well in her cradle, but unfortunately that trend did not continue the next night. So last night I was nervous and I just knew she wouldn't sleep, and I was right. But my mom suggested letting her sleep in her bouncer because it might make her feel more secure, but that kinda made Nathan and I nervous. So after struggling to get her to sleep for 3 hours, this is how she ended up.

Yep, she slept in her bouncer. But I was so nervous about her suffocating on the pads around it that I slept on the floor right next to her. But I was able to get 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep which was amazing!

Lela also had her first doctor's appointment this morning so I had to get up and going at a normal hour to make it on time. So I got up and actually took a shower and had breakfast and was ready to leave at a little after 9:00! Of course I accepted help from my mother to get Lela ready for the appointment and pack my diaper bag because I definitely underestimated how long that would take. Hopefully I'll be on top of it next time. Nathan came home from the church to go to the appointment with us. Here we are on our way.

You can see in this picture how Lela likes to put her fingers in her eye. It is so weird.

Here are some pictures of us waiting in the waiting room.

I'm always a little self-conscious about taking pictures in public like this because not many people take pictures at the doctor's office, so I waited until the people around us left. Maybe I'll get over that.

This may sound weird, but it felt so good to be out of the house and in normal clothes at a reasonable hour. (When I say normal clothes, please don't think I'm back to my normal size. I had to make some "adjustments" to the jeans and the top is a maternity top, but still they're not pajamas.)

So we saw the doctor and she was so sweet. She totally reminds me of the mom on "That 70s Show." Anyway, Lela weighed 7lbs 3oz which was a surprise to me because they say newborns regain their birth weight by day 10 and it is only day 6 and she has gained beyond that! The doctor said I must have good groceries . . . that's a new one. I would've taken a picture of her but again I have a phobia of such things.

She also said we were good parents and didn't seem like the usual nervous first parents and she gave Lela an A+. But we did leave there with a prescription for diaper rash cream and she had to show us how to clean her umbilical cord "correctly" after questioning whether Lela has a blocked tear duct. So after all that, I'm glad she reassured us we were doing a good job.

Finally Home

Let me prepare you for the following post. So much has happened since I've posted that I felt the need to give everyone a complete run-down of all the events. In this process, I made no effort to be witty or clever in any way, not that my wit or cleverness comes with any effort ;). So I apologize if it is kinda dry . . .

I know Nathan has posted some pictures but I thought I would give a little bit of my perspective on things. Nathan took this picture seconds after Lela came out and at this point I am crying uncontrollably because I could finally see my little girl and because the pain was gone :)

This is my relieved face, so you could imagine my face when I was in pain . . .

This is me holding her for the first time. I don't know what I'm saying to her in case you were wondering. I apparently said a lot of things I don't remember under the influence of some slight pain medication taken around 8 centimeters (I made it without the epidural . . . I'm not so sure I will ever do that again . . .).

Here's one of Lela in the post-partum hospital room (they moved us to this room about an hour or so after delivery). She likes to put her hands in her mouth.

Well, Nathan, Lela and I got to come from the hospital on Thursday. We thought we would get to leave on Wednesday, but the pediatrician at the hospital wanted us to stay one more day. So we were psyched when he told us we could leave Thursday morning.

Part of me was honestly scared to go home because I wouldn't have nurses at my beckon call to clear up questions for me and we hadn't spent a whole night with her without sending her to the nursery when we got tired. But right after lunch on Thursday, we loaded up our stuff and took Lela home.

Thursday night was rough because Lela wouldn't lay in her bassinet for more than a minute without fussing and every little sound she makes causes me to worry that she is suffocating or spitting up and I had to get out of the bed in order to see her, so it was pretty much a sleepless night. It didn't help that Nathan had class the next morning and his two-week bout of sickness began to flare up again in the hospital so I hated to wake him up every time I got up. Luckily my mom stayed the night and was able to rock Lela for about an hour while I got some sleep. But I think I cried four different times that night. Some of it was due to the extreme hormonal change and some of it was due to extreme exhaustion. But I made it through and was able to take a nap the next day.

Friday the moms and my dad helped us get things organized at the house and I was mainly focused on making sure Lela was happy.

I was dreading Friday night because I just knew it would be a repeat of Thursday night but after realizing that Lela was probably cold all night Thursday, we turned up the heat and she slept great between feedings (about 3 1/2 hours apart).

Today was a great day for Lela and us. She did great at all her feedings and after her 10:30 feeding, she stayed awake until her 1:30 feeding. So we gave her a bath and got her dressed up during that time. It was so fun to actually put her in an outfit!

Then later I had time to do some shopping online using the remainder of our gift cards. So basically, I was able to achieve a good level of normalcy today.

Tomorrow I will be staying home from church for obvious reasons, so that will be kinda weird but my mom will stay at home with me. I really don't know what I'm going to do when she leaves, but I guess I'll need to get used to not having her around.

All in all, it feels good to be home and so amazing to be a mother. I'm not sure it has totally sunk just yet.

Lela Ann Clardy

Welcome Lela Ann Clardy. She was born yesterday at 2:03am after mom was in labor for about 11 hours. She weighs 7 lbs. and is 20 in. long. She is so beautiful and I could tell as soon as she came out that she was. Mom was amazing and so very strong. She did a great job of brining Lela into the world. Here are some pictures for now and mom will update this later for sure as dad is not the blogger that she is. Also some video to come. Thanks for your prayers and support.

Snow?

Really? Snow on the first day of spring? Crazy! Yeah it definitely snowed here Saturday night but it was just a dusting. Some of the metroplex got up to 5 inches. So crazy!

In other news, we have made some good progress on the nursery in the last couple days. I'm thinking Lela has been waiting for her room to be ready to come into the world, so maybe now she'll be ready.

My dad made a mobile out of some decorative butterflies from one of my showers. It looks so much better now.

My parents brought the rocking chair and we found a matching cushion.

The canopy is now finished and I think it looks like a princess room :)

We also have a dress that matches the bedding hanging by the crib on a crown hanger.

Here is the mobile on the crib. My dad also made this one and we attached it to the canopy. It kinda looks like a circus tent from underneath :)

She also now has a chandelier in the room. I said she's gonna be spoiled. Nathan says she already is . . .

Another thing, I have now officially been reprimanded by the government for not turning in my census form. Hopefully we can take care of that soon . . .

We Can't Move Forward Until You Mail it Back

No I'm not working for the Census Bureau, although I hear it's harder than you think to land a job with them. Apparently it's a little more complicated than just asking, "male or female?" or counting warm bodies.

Anyway, I'm feeling the pressure to complete my census form and I'll admit that it may have something to do with my OCD-like need to please people. When you open the packet from the Census Bureau it says, and I quote, "Please complete and mail back the enclosed census form today."

As you can see, the letter is dated March 15, 2010, so I obviously did not follow instructions and for some reason that really bothers me. So let me take a moment to explain why I so flippantly ignored the instructions from the federal government. Lela is due on the 22nd and could come any day now and I felt the accuracy of my census form was more important than the timeliness of said form. (Please understand that I do not judge all of you that are not as worried about following the census directions as I am. In fact, you should be judging me.)

I just feel it would be such a waste of a government form to turn it in and then know it would be incorrect just a few days later. Although I don't plan on waiting until one of the very intelligent census workers knocks on my door to "help" me fill out the form.

At this point, I know you're wondering why I feel the need to share this, but I suppose it is a form a therapy for me. I somewhat realize that these feelings of guilt and shame about not following directions to the letter are not normal. So maybe airing my thoughts will help me see just how crazy how I am. So maybe I can move forward without mailing my form back right away.

Ch, ch, ch, ch, changes . . .

In the nursery specifically there have been many changes the past couple days. No, Lela is not here yet, (I feel that I must clarify that point as often as possible), but the decorations are definitely coming together. Nathan's mom, Tawnya, is here this week and she brought curtains and pillows and is working on the canopy for the crib and it just feels like the room is really coming together. What do you think?

I think the curtains really make the room. I realize the mobile over the changing table is empty but I do plan on fixing that. I also mentioned that Tawnya is working on the canopy. Here's an idea of what it will look like.

Here's what the frame for the canopy looks like. I couldn't get the canopy and all the linens in the same picture before. My plan is to use those little butterflies as a mobile, but they look kinda weird right now.

My parents will be here on Thursday and will also bring some things for the nursery, so another update is soon to come.

First Video

So this is our first video on our new baby camera. It is also a test run for me adding video. This is Morgan's blog so I will be simply adding video as it comes.

Easter Dress

My Easter dress came in the mail yesterday. You might be wondering why I would get a new Easter dress considering the proximity of Easter to my due date, but every year, my grandfather offers to buy me a new Easter dress and as always, I am powerless to resist his offer. Nevermind the fact that I likely will not be in church on Easter sunday and nevermind the fact that I ordered an overly optimistic size to be wearing two weeks after I give birth to a child. I will always take an offer for new clothes. Anyway, here it is.

It looks a little oriental looking in this picture, but it's really not. From what I can tell, it looks good on, but it will be a little while before I can tell if it will fit me . . .

I am encouraged to know that it appears to be the same size as one of my other wrap dresses that I wore before pregnancy. Of course that assumes that I will get back down to that same size . . . but still there's hope. I'm not sure I'll be able to squeeze into it on Easter sunday, but I will certainly try ;)

Thanks for the new dress Poppy!

My First Day as a SAHM!

So yesterday was my last day at work and today was my first day as a SAHM (Stay-at-home-mom). Sadly, I didn't take any pictures at work yesterday even though I had every intention to do so. I guess I haven't gotten into the full swing of bloggy mode. But I can show you my box full of my desk stuff.

Oh, it's kinda sad. . . but I'm kind of excited about keeping my name plate! I don't know what I'm going to do with it, but it looks so official :)

Today my day consisted of watching the Today Show, reading other blogs, folding and putting away towels, making lunch for Nathan and I, paying bills, taking clothes to the cleaners, going to the grocery store and making dinner. It may sound mundane, but I thought it was wonderful! This is exactly what I have been longing to do ever since Nathan and I got married. I realize things will change dramatically once Lela arrives, but I know we will find our new norm and I'm so excited about that!

So, in short, my day may sound pretty uneventful, but it was a big day for me and I can't wait to see what's in store for the future.

Morgan and Nathan's Day of Fun!

So, ever since I found out I was pregnant in July, I knew I wanted to start up my blog again. Because of the simple fact that I knew the grandmothers would want frequent updates on the grandchild and because I thought this would be a good way to scrapbook our lives, I knew I needed to get back into it. But I wanted to wait until things calmed down a little bit and I felt like I was ready to really commit to this. Well, tomorrow is my last day of work at the Seminary and I will be starting a new chapter in my life, so I thought this was as good a time as any. But I do feel like I should resolve the cliff hanger I left everyone with in my previous post, before I can truly move on.

Alright, I have been promising this post for about . . . well since I'm too ashamed to do the math I'm thinking you can figure the numbers for yourself because the post containing said promise is right below this one. I originally thought I would forget about posting about this event but I couldn't bear to go back on my promise to post about this event and Nathan put so much work into this trip that I feel like I should do it justice, so here it is:

So, I have known for a few weeks that Nathan had a surprise in store for me for Friday. He asked me to get off work early that day and we would go do something unknown. You should know that I have always had very little faith in Nathan's ability to surprise me. He always gets so excited that he leaks just enough details for me to figure out what's going on. But this time around, I had no idea what was in store.

So at 12:30 Nathan picked me up in the rented Jeep which he claimed would add to the excitement of the day's events. I honestly thought he was taking me off-roading but needless to say I was way off.

So we started driving. . .

When I left for work on Friday, Nathan mentioned that I might want a change of clothes for our little surprise event. So I changed "covertly" in the car.

I tried to figure out where we were going by looking at the road signs, but I think I seriously overestimated my knowledge of Texas geography.

At some point along some Texas highway (I was really on top of the whole mapping out our location gig), we took the top off the Jeep.Shortly afterwards, we arrived here: Fossil Rim Wildlife Center. (At this point I'm still not completely sure of the nature of this trip, but it would soon become clear.)We got a bag of feed . . .
and as we made our way down the path . . . I realized how awesome this place was! (I have to say this ostrich is demonic. He was determined to peck out my eyes!)Look how close he got to me! Yes, his head is inside the car! At this point I'm realizing how having a vehicle like a Jeep changes the experience at the wildlife center (by putting your life in danger!)We saw many animals up close and personal.But the best part was the giraffe . . . because . . . yep, he dropped in from the roof of the car to eat out of our hands. That was the coolest experience ever!

I feel way better now that I have resolved that cliff hanger from a year and a half ago! Now I feel like I can move on to more recent events. I hope it was worth the wait, (but somehow I'm thinking it wasn't . . . )