How Time Flies...

I can't believe how much she's grown and changed already- especially when I realize that only 6 months ago she was kicking me from the inside! I know it's been awhile since we last updated the blog, but we've been busy :) It's a whole lot easier and more exciting to post about crazy trips through the Outback or tropical times at the Great Barrier Reef than it is to post about feedings, changings, baths, and play time. However, I suppose we have hit some pretty major milestones in this little girl's life and we should probably share those with our friends and family who don't see us on a regular basis. First, Avery had her first haircut at the beginning of the month. Grandma Mary was in town for my 30th birthday, so she got to do the honors. Second, Avery started eating solid foods. The pediatrician said that she might only eat a few spoonfuls in the first few feedings and that it would probably be pretty messy- obviously the pediatrician doesn't know that Avery comes from a could big eaters! There wasn't really any mess because she was so determined to get every last bit of food into her mouth :) Finally, Avery rolls over like crazy and is getting ready to crawl. This brings about some mixed emotions for us. On one hand, we're really excited to watch her as she gets up on all fours or scoots herself around the room. On the other hand, we know that having a mobile baby will be a lot more work for us! Anyway, in addition to the major milestones, we're enjoying the little changes that happen from day to day. She's become much more animated and playful- she just woke up from her nap and is blowing raspberries from her crib as I write this (going to have to wrap this up and just post pictures later). We love playing with her and making her smile and laugh- her outloud giggles are the cutest! It's so fun watching her grow and change and wondering what she will be like in a few months or years.

I have become one with the Poo

and the pee, and the puke, and the boogers. Really all of it. I know I have mentioned this before but really poop talk is always funny and a major part of my interaction with Avery that I can place into words. Just 5 minutes ago, I saw a little boogey hanging, and without a thought I picked my daughter's nose. Yes, you read that right, I picked my daughter's nose. I understand there are those that have lost all respect for me (football teammates, college drinking buddies, etc.) in that one sentence. I'm sure there are a thousand mothers, including my own, that performed a collective "ahhhh" when hearing it. I sit somewhere in the middle, complacent and apathetic as to what has happened. It is a bit like the turning of the tides or the rising of the sun, simply an inevitable conclusion to my self respect.

As for the three "p's" (poop, puke, and pee), my gorgeous little daughter has performed the hat trick on me. I was sitting there watching TV with her on my lap when she goes from her cute little smile to a lovely puke right on my khaki shorts, then right back to the cute little smile. When I picked her up, I noticed she had also slipped a bit of poo out of the side of her diaper onto my shorts. I decided this was an appropriate time for a bath, so I take her into the changing table and take off her diaper and whilst I take her to the bathtub... she went ahead and peed on me too. This is where, the "deep end" comes into play. After being excreted on through three different orifices within a span of 5 minutes, I laughed, probably harder than I ever laughed before. And I was starting to worry Nichole might pee herself too because she was laughing so hard!

Just to reinforce my point, the other night she was leaning on my shoulder when she "spit up" (I know; sounds nicer that way doesn't it). I just moved her to the other shoulder with little to no regard as to the contents of her stomach on my clothes, and she proceeded to go ahead and slip another poop right out the side of her diaper, directly on to my bare arm. Again, this is another display of my complete insanity... but I half hoped she would pee too. You know just to hit the hat trick again.

Working Mom- Week 1...

I just finished my first week as a working mom and boy am I glad to only be part-time for the first few weeks! Not only do I get to sleep in a little and have extra time to get the two of us ready in the morning, but I also only have two different classes to prepare for (I'm teaching three classes a day, but my afternoon classes are the same). Anyway, here are some of the highlights from the week:

1. Daycare: Avery goes to Tammy who lives two minutes from work and only watches one other little girl who's about 18 months. She came highly recommended by several of my colleaguees and, since we didn't really have a Plan B (not really our style) and she's willing to use the cloth diapers, we decided to go with her. I got to her house an hour early on Monday to spend a little more time with Avery and to go over some of the things we had talked about when I visited before break. I was a little worried about how it would be leaving her there the first time, but it was just fine. It definitely helped knowing that I would only be gone a few hours (it's actually 5 hours, but in my mind it's only a few hours) and knowing that she was in good hands. It was also nice that it was just Avery (Lily was sick Monday and Tuesday), so I knew that she would get plenty of attention. So far Avery has done really well with Tammy, and she's made a new friend! Lily gets excited when I bring Avery in the morning, and she likes to help and play with Avery during the day. Plus she gives Avery pats and kisses when we leave- it's pretty cute!

2. Pumping: Let me just say that this whole working thing would be a whole lot easier if I wasn't pumping- it would also be a whole lot less interesting ;) I read a few things about preparing to go back to work while breastfeeding and wish I would've followed the advice about practicing pumping outside of the home (again, not really my style). I asked my colleague who's been pumping the whole year where she pumps, and she said the place she's found to be the best is the teacher bathroom in our wing. When lunch rolled around on Monday, I grabbed my fancy pump case and headed to the bathroom. My plan was to pump for about 15 minutes, which would still give me 15 minutes to eat lunch (I considered eating in the bathroom, but then thought that was pretty gross). What I failed to consider is that it takes time to set up the pump and take it apart and store the milk when I'm finished.

Anyway, I get to the bathroom Monday and it's cold, awkward, and there's no place to sit (apparently there had been a chair in there before that my colleague had used, but it was not there on Monday). I try to set up my pump as quickly as possible, which really just leads to me knocking things over and taking more time to set up than if I would have just gone slowly. Once I get everything ready to go, I lift my sweater (not the best choice of clothes for the occasion) and get started. So, here I am, standing in the middle of the bathroom with my sweater pulled up, holding two milking-machines to my boobs, and hoping that nobody comes in (fortunately I'd be able to hear the key if they tried, but still) or that nobody hears the sucking noises coming from the bathroom. When I finish, I pour the milk into the clear freezer bag, pack it away in the gray storage bag, and then proceed to drip breastmilk all over the floor, shelf, and my fancy carrying case as I disassemble the pump- awesome. I get myself put back together, clean up the milk, and get to the lunchroom with about 8 minutes left to eat.

On Tuesday, I decided to be a little bit smarter about things and wore better clothes, assembled my pump before packing it away in its case so I didn't have to spend time setting it up, and grabbed a chair before going into the bathroom. Things went much more smoothly and I got to the lunchroom with a whole 10 minutes to spare! At this rate, I figured I'd have a 15-minute lunch by Wednesday. Boy was I wrong! Everything was going fine on Wednesday until I heard a bell ring. I was in the middle of pumping, so of course I panicked! I tried to pack up as quickly as possible and not only did I knock over the bag of milk, spilling it everywhere, but I got the zipper on my vest stuck. I cleaned up and rushed to the lunchroom trying to fix my vest along the way. When I got there, I realized that I had plenty of time to eat- we're on a different schedule on Wednesdays, so the bell I heard didn't pertain to me. By this time, I was ready to bag the whole pumping thing and just buy formula, but formula is expensive and I'm cheap! I decided a better route would be to find a different place to pump where I would be more comfortable and able to eat my lunch so I wouldn't feel rushed. I talked to one of the secretaries and I now have a nice private office to do my business :)

3. Routine: I've realized that in order to make this whole working mom thing work, I have to be very organized and follow a pretty strict routine. It's starts with getting us both ready in the morning. I shower, get dressed, get her dressed, head downstairs to make breakfast and lunch, feed her, make sure my pump and the diaper bag are ready to go, take all of my stuff for school to the car, then take Avery and the diaper bag to the car. When we get home, Mark comes down to the car to get her and the diaper bag so I can carry the rest of my stuff. He plays with her for awhile while I clean my pump, freeze the milk, check and restock the diaper bag if necessary, make sure we have enough clean diaper covers and wash a load if we don't, and get my lunch ready for the next day (I pack everything but my sandwich the night before so I have less to do in the morning). When I'm done with all of that, we eat, give Avery a bath (if it's bath night), and relax on the couch until it's time to do it all over again!

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words...

Our professional photos are in, so I thought I'd share some of my favorites- enjoy!

A day in the Life of the Daddy

There are really very few things that I wake up early to do. Every 6-7 years I'll wake up early to go fishing or kill something with my older brother. At least once a year my terribly inconsiderate father will make a 7:30 a.m. tee time, and I'll put up with it, just to spend that quality time with him. Both of these circumstances I will complain constantly. I am a night owl and firmly believe there is very little worth waking up early for. I have found one of those things, and it comes in the form of probably the cutest little girl that has ever graced the planet Earth... and I know some cute girls, so that is really saying something! I almost look forward to 5:00 a.m. coming around and am disappointed when Avery sleeps straight through. When I hold her in my arms, I am absolutely melted. Everything else in life seems almost monotone. I discuss how the last Bears game went and how Mike Martz should run the ball more, and she responds in squeeks and grunts, which by the way, I much prefer to Nichole's groans and eye rolls.
Then, I have to shuffle off to work. I still love my job and I have good students, but I sure look forward to 2:30 more than I ever have in the past, and when it rolls around, I don't have any problem leaving the stack of papers to grade on the desk and hitting the road.
When I walk through the door Nikki, being the good Mom that she is, has Avery all fed and wide awake to go straight back into Dad's arms. Nikki then tries to do all the things she hasn't gotten done in the day, while I hang out with Avery.
On the weekends, as Nikki stated in her last post, that is dual parenting nights. It really surprises me the whole gray area that sleep has become. There are times when I am rocking Avery in the rocking chair and it occurs to me, that I have no idea when I got there or how long I've been there. Or other times when I think I am rocking her and wake in my bed with Avery over in her wing sound asleep in the bassinet.
In case you aren't grabbing how much I enjoy hanging out with this girl I can give a frame of reference. I enjoy... yes enjoy changing her. Yes, I will wipe shitty ass just to spend the time with her. Even her cries are cute. Sometimes she gets a little la-la-la sound that gives a good laugh. Ten minutes ago I was holding her and she was crying and smiling at the same time. Speaking of crying, I am starting to decode this fairly well. Odds are there are only three things she wants if she is crying: #1; the boob, #2; poop, or #3; she wants to play. #3 is by far my favorite. #1 I can't really do anything about (although sometimes Avery thinks my bicep is a boob), #2 although, as stated before, it can be a pleasant exchange it is still ass-wiping. So playing is easily the best. This is a fairly new development. There are times when you are holding her or snuggling right in and she decides that she is done with that. I hold on to her and she stands right up, holds her head up really well, and smiles at me. I'm thinking she is gonna skip right by that whole crawling thing and start walking. I hope a little of this wears off so I don't end up over-babying this kid.

TGIF...

A few weeks ago I had no idea what day of the week it was nor did I care. Boy how that changed once Mark went back to work! I think I look forward to the weekends more now than I did when I was working. Friday and Saturday nights mean I get a little more sleep because I have somebody to share Avery duty with. Saturday and Sunday afternoons mean I can shower before noon (doesn't mean I do) and get stuff done around the house. Every other day of the week I have the best intentions of eating and showering at decent times and crossing one thing off my list of things to do, but it doesn't usually happen. It's amazing how quickly time flies when all you do is feed, burp, change, rock, and repeat!

Here are some other things that have changed in the past couple of weeks. We are starting to learn Avery's routine (or lack thereof). For example, we know now that if she stays awake all day that doesn't mean she'll sleep all night. In fact, it means just the opposite because she'll try to stay awake all night too making her overly tired and fussy. She no longer likes to nap in her cradle or bouncer. I used to be able to put her into one or the other when she fell asleep so I could get a couple things done (like eating or showering). Now, for whatever reason, she wakes up crying the moment I put her down. So, my choice is to either let her cry, which means she won't sleep (remember: no sleep during the day = no sleep at night), or let her sleep on me, which means I won't get anything done. She's become a much more messy baby. She used to wear the same outfit all day long, but now she goes through a couple changes of clothes because of slobber, spit up, or blow outs. For you lucky ones who don't know what a blow out is, it's when the poo leaks (or explodes) from the diaper. We have 11 diaper covers and she's had so many blow outs lately that I've had to wash them every couple of days.

The good news is that not all of the changes are bad. For example, at night we can now put her in her basinett while she's awake and she will fall asleep on her own. She's also becoming much more aware of her surroundings so she'll focus on something for awhile or grab for the animals hanging above her changing table. And she's starting to become more vocal. I guess being able to see these changes makes it all worthwhile.

Parenting is Easy

Just thought I'd throw that title out for the sheer irony of it. I can't even imagine my poor brother and Heather with twins! Turns out this is a tough gig, I mean I knew it was gonna be tough but holy balls! When this kid ain't pooping, she's crying. Moreover, it is absolutely astonishing that even at 4:00 a.m. when I am singing "Bear Down Chicago Bears" to her and she finally calms down and quits crying that it might be one of the most divine things that any human can experience. Every little coo, grunt, or squeak that she makes breaks me down to sheer bliss. On the other end of things, whenever she cries a bit too long or spits up a bit, I'm thinking she could be sick, and I want to fix it. I do my best to not be that over-analytical parent. But, this kid is so important to me, and I just love her so much. I am always worried about her. I have gone from being able to sleep through a freight train crashing into the house, to a slight change in her breathing jumping me out of a deep sleep. While I am on the subject of being the cliché parent, this kid has about 1300 pictures taken of her thus far. I am pretty sure Paris Hilton doesn't get this many shots during the day. In other news, every parent I know told me I would be okay with every poop, puke, pee, etc. that expelled from this little girls body, and sure enough, I was walking around with her on my shoulder and spit up running down my chest when I fully grasped that concept.
I apologize for this being all about me I am, after all, borderline narcissistic. The fact is the only thing I can't put into words about Avery is pooping, sleeping, and crying. Nikki covered the poop thing in great detail in her post, and as for the crying and sleeping all I can tell you is even that is is cuter than snot! Everything else just can't be explained. Really, how can I put into words the way she stretches out real big and lets this long squeal out that turns her reasonably rational parents into absolute mush? The best I can do is take lots of pictures, send them along, then open the house for a visit anytime. As for Avery's Mom, Nichole was like Clark Kent sliding into a phone booth. She became instant Supermom. Nikki was never real big on babies. When our niece Abby was born it took about a year for Nikki to bond, now Abby likes her Aunt more than her Uncle. Even Nikki was worried that she might not feel the motherly gig right away. Turned out to be not an issue at all, it really is different when it is your own. And as much as I love our little girl, it blows my mind that I can love Nikki Marie even more. Even when I walk into our living room and she has a boob hanging out and milk dribbling down, I realize, she is the best thing that ever happened to me, and I can't imagine raising a family with anyone else. I know.... sappy... right? Don't worry I made myself throw up a little too.