Operating Instructions

{The perfect book to read while nursing..notice Jonas' head}

One of the things about breastfeeding, especially in the beginning when your baby feeds every 2 hours, is that you have massive amounts of downtime where you can't do anything! Obviously I thumb through my iphone and the many apps I have downloaded, but even that gets old. Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year by Anne Lamott is fantastic. A must-read for first time mama's, and not necessarily those to boys. This book is written in a journal style so its a great quick read and easy to stop and put down and pick right up again at the next nursing session. I can't even tell you how many times I have experienced something new (happens daily) and there it is, on the pages on this book. This book has made me laugh out loud numerous times, which I haven't done since Tina Fey's Bossypants. Bonus points for the author being from the Bay Area and getting lots of local references. 

An expert that made me laugh and nod my head:

I wonder if it is normal for a mother to adore her baby so desperately and at the same time to think about choking him or throwing him down the stairs.  It's incredible to be this fucking tired and yet have to go through the several hours of colic every night. It would be awful enough to deal with if you were feeling healthy and upbeat. It's a bit much when you're feelings like total dog shit. When he woke me up at 4:00 this morning to nurse, I felt like I was dying. 

Yep. I am glad I didn't read this book when I was still pregnant or I would have thought the author was a monster. Now, after having no decent sleep for nearly a month, feeding around the clock and having a colicky baby that doesn't take a pacifier...I TOTALLY GET IT.

Another:

Sam slept through the night. I don't want to jinx things by saying it too loudly, but it is true...It was very confusing at first. My initial thought was that he had died. Then I actually let out a whoop and have been moving joyfully around the house like Julie Andrews on the mountainside in The Sound Of Music ever since.

The good thing about this book is it gives me things to look forward to, like Jonas smiling (not from gas) and sleeping through the night.

Everything is Black and White

At three weeks we have intense focus on highly contrasting things, such as black and white images, painted stripes and wallpaper. I had no idea two big parts of our house I designed for a newborn baby!

There is a mirror on the reverse for when he gets older. Love this thing. It is starting to make Jonas cry less during diaper changes because he is so busy just staring at it, which is really cute because I just see his thoughts cranking.

 {circa 2009}

While the black and white striped wall is getting pretty tired at this point and a change would be nice, Jonas is in love with it! We will sit watching TV and he will peer over our shoulders staring deeply into it. 

{Empty built-in}

And I am also applauding my choice of a strong black and white graphic wallpaper for our family room built-in, because when Jonas and I are bouncing on the exercise ball, you guessed it, he is busy gazing at this wall. {The before and after built-in, featured on Design*Sponge}

What a difference

{excuse the messy room}

Here I am on September 25th, my due date, before heading to the gym for a long walk to hopefully induce labor. My water broke early the next morning at 2:20AM on September 26th and Jonas was born at 2:11AM on September 27th.

I remember feeling excited and hopeful. And now I look at this picture and I think, "silly girl, you have no idea what you got yourself into!"  Being pregnant sure was the easy part. Jonas is almost 3 weeks old and I will say that the last two weeks have held some of my toughest moments ever. But it's true, every day it gets a little bit better.

Pumpkin Patch

This weekend I had my first outing with Jon and Jonas, not counting the pediatrician appointment. We went to the Pumpkin Patch. Obviously more for me than Jonas, but I hope to make this a little tradition.

Had to dress our little guy in orange for the occasion.

Our new role as mama and daddy. I remember we came here once when we were boyfriend and girlfriend maybe 4 or 5 years ago. And now we are back with our offspring. Crazy!

Small fry. 

Going out with a newborn sure gets you a lot of attention. Other than the several warm smiles from other mothers, people love coming right up to you to ask how old he is and what not. I think between the pumpkin patch, Peets and Chipotle (we were on a roll!) we had little conversations with 6 different people. And it definitely has a different tone than the comments while pregnant. ;)

Hi there.

{8 day old baby Jonas}

I kind of don't know where to begin or how to write this post or what to even write about. They say there is no bigger transition in life than going from non-parent to parent and I would have to agree. I have free moments every now and again to blog but I am really stumped as what to write about! At this point talking about hot nail polish colors for fall makes me laugh. I will use the ever forgiving bullet point method to jot down some things on my mind.

-I think I plan on writing Jonas' birth story at some point...not sure

-It's funny how in any given room of our house there is either a breast pad, burp cloth or swaddle blanket

-Pete is dying for attention

-I have given Jonas ten thousand kisses

-He surpassed his birth weight in 5 days, most babies take 7-10 days. 

-My milk came in within 48 hours, most women it takes 3-5 days.

-It makes me feel proud that he is living only on the milk that I am providing him but it is the most exhausting thing ever. We both fall asleep during feedings. 

-Jon has been with us in the hospital or at home since his birth and he goes back to work on Monday. That's when the real test begins. ;)

-Having an iphone has been the best thing ever for those late night feedings

-Go Giants! ;)

Baby Jonas is here!

With a full heart, I would like to announce the birth of my son, Jonas. He entered this world on September 27th, 2012 at 2:11 in the morning. He weighed in at 8 pounds and 7 ounces and measured 20 and 3/4 inches in length. As you can imagine, Jon and I are over the moon.

Be back soon.
H.

Due Date.

As I sit here on my due date (or more accurately, my "guess date") I realized I never posted about when we found out I was pregnant. You don't have to settle in or get cozy, this isn't that long of a story. :) So we decided to start trying for a baby in January, the start of a new year seemed like a good place to begin. Also, at that point we had already been together nearly 5.5 years, so we didn't really feel like we needed to wait to "enjoy married life" since nothing changed at all once we got married! Additionally, since I am thought to have PCOS, I didn't know how this journey would go. Would it take 1-2 years, if at all?

So we tried in January on the days that the little online calculators told us would be our best chances. Fast forward a couple weeks later, on the day I was supposed to get my period, did I wait 1-3 days like a normal person? Nope, I went to CVS after work to pick up a test! I still remember putting it on the little belt with nothing else and the girl who checked me out. I go home and read all the instructions (there are A LOT) to make sure I am doing it right and all that. I pee on the first one and before I can even put it on the counter to go wait my 3 minutes, it turns positive! Um, what? I am half excited because its positive but also it feels like a fluke. I still feel the need to leave it alone in the bathroom for 3 minutes and when I return, its obviously the same. Positive! I wait probably a half hour or so before doing the other test (they come in packs of two) and this one doesn't turn at first, but after the 3 minutes it also says positive. Holy shit, right?

At this point, Jon is probably about 15 minutes from home and I'm wondering how to tell him and also kind of half dancing around the house and not really believing what has just happened. I leave the tests on the bathroom counter and when he comes home after we kiss "hello" I tell him "go look at what Pete did to the bathroom...." This isn't that weird since Pete is a little rascal and causes mischief constantly. Jon goes in the bathroom and out a couple seconds later....."what...?!" He didn't know I was even planning on taking the tests so he is shocked! I still half believe the results so we go back to CVS to get the most expensive digital test there is. And I see the same girl that checked me out earlier, really wonder what she is thinking now. We come home, I take them both, both positive. Seriously? To say we were shocked would be an understatement. Getting pregnant for the first time I'm sure is a trip no matter what, but on the first try seemed impossible. There were lots of "oh my god"s and happy tears that night.

{that night back in January}

Nice try, Skipolini's

I am sorry to inform you that the Prego Pizza did not work for me. But it was tasty dinner that I didn't have to cook, which was awesome. Even though my due date* is tomorrow, I am beginning to feel permanently pregnant!

*My original due date is October 4th and I am starting to think that's the real deal.

First Halloween

I am pretty excited baby Jonas is going to arrive right before a slew of holidays. I feel lucky to get to take him to a pumpkin patch and celebrate Halloween as it is one of my favorite holidays! But since he is going to be so small and it's going to be such a major adjustment period I wasn't planning on dressing him up. That was until yesterday...

What's this? A homemade knit present for our little bean?

Let's take a closer look at this little outfit. 

A green bean costume! How perfect!! I was over the moon when Jon brought home this present yesterday from a sweet family friend. I could not have thought of a better costume for our little boy.

Jonas' Nursery

Here it is, the big reveal of our little man's room. It was so fun to gather things for his small space and also a bit of a challenge since the room is so darn teeny. As you can see there isn't a theme but just an overall cheery feeling and lots of animal friends.

I hope he loves his room!

Any questions about sources, ask me and I will answer in the comments.

(But the big rug is from Urban Outfitters :) )