Living and Loving

So, these first two pictures are very ...real. It's Addie sacked out with Daddy on a lazy Saturday morning and then us hanging out on a lazy Sunday evening. We spend a lot of time in various couches and chairs, just playing with our baby, drinking her in, making her giggle and commenting on every nuance of expression. And yes, I'm almost always sporting the crazy ponytail these days. I'm probably going to get that type of baldness that happens when you always have your hair pulled back. That'll be a hot look.

So this picture of Addie with gross, crusty stuff on her face? That's avocado. She loves it. What a random first food to really take to, right? Avocado. Not rice cereal, which she only tolerates, not her homemade pureed carrots...but mashed up avocados. Oh well, maybe it means she'll be a foodie.
Speaking of being a foodie, we're doing some good cooking in the Ewald household lately. Tim is a grilling machine and he grilled that lovely chicken in the salad above with Mexican style spices. We had it in a salad (obviously) with avocado, black beans, cilantro, and quesadilla wedges. Delicious.
I posted these pictures mainly because they demonstrate how BLONDE my baby is becoming. Who would have thought it? She was loving feeling the breeze in her hair as a thunderstorm blew into the area.

How sweet is Adelaide in her sunhat?!?! She has FINALLY started to like walks in her stroller, as long as the sun doesn't get into her eyes TOO often.

We've also been doing some gardening around Chez Ewald. My flowers are looking a little bit suspect, but I'm planning on keeping them alive, as a refreshing change to my usual "kill them stone dead" strategy. The clematis (below) is looking way better than the potted flowers, but I think the planters are going to make a comeback. Turns out you have to water them a lot when it's hot. Yes, I am a son of the soil.

Just a day, just an ordinary day

This blog threatens to mostly "mom-less" as far as the pictures go, because I'm always the one behind the camera. I've been working on my "pic skillz" and I think this was a technical triumph. It's not the cutest picture of either of us, but it is mildly impressive because it's the good old "try to take a picture of yourself with an outstretched arm" technique. Yet it's somehow centered, well lit, and stable...not the easiest thing considering how heavy our camera is. Reason enough to post it!
Snuggles for Daddy
More monkeying around with the camera
And a bit more. Such a sweet little face she has!
Addie loves being outside. We've been doing some gardening and she loves to clench her toes in the grass.
She really does like her swing also. I promise. Picture notwithstanding.

It's amazing how some days can be so productive and others so ...not. I have days where I feel like I make leaps forward around the house, the yard, in life in general. Take Monday for example: I baked bread from scratch, made homemade spaghetti sauce, cleaned out my herb bed, planted my herbs, started mowing the back yard (didn't finish that one), did some serious laundry, and mopped the kitchen floor. Productive day! Gold star!

Today...not so much. I didn't do much of anything except play with Addie. I didn't cook dinner, didn't clean a thing, took a long bliss nap with my baby. But I still award myself a gold star. It was a good day. And while I don't allow myself to take naps often, every few days I do think I need a long, cuddly, warm, milky, delicious nap with my little one. After all, I still get up twice a night with my lil glutton....at 1 am and 5 am, like clockwork. We get up for the day at 7 and I don't normally go to sleep until 10:30 or 11 PM. So a nap every few days keeps me sprightly and sane. Plus, it's just so fun to sleep with my sturdy little pumpkin curled up against me. She falls asleep nursing and loves to stay pressed close to my stomach and chest while she sleeps. We both lie on our sides with our knees drawn up and we fit together perfectly. It's eerily reminiscent of carrying her...the same feeling of little feet and knees and elbows and hands pressing into me, just from the opposite side. A small moment of bliss.

Showing Her Off

I think I said everything that was in my heart in the last post, so today I'll just show you how Addie is growing and thriving. She learns something new every single day. Tim came home from work today and actually got to see her awake (!) and said "She is such a joy." I agree.

I had to get a picture of this crazy morning hair.
Addie is loving being outside. Here we're having a cookout with Aunt Sylvia.
She is extremely interested in foods of all sorts.
Sitting up on her own!
Here's an action sequence. Addie spies her newfound love, Rocky.
He wanders closer. She is feeling the anticipation.
And she pounces!
Celebrating a successful grab!

Five Months

My daughter, my daughter. She is a joy every single day. It's hard to believe that there have been five months worth of "days", but the calendar doesn't lie. The 16th of the month has come and gone, and the sheer all-encompassing wonder of how much I love this baby remains. Truly, "my cup runneth over".

I've just been looking back at some pictures of Addie's adventures thus far and marveling at how much change five months has wrought in our lives. From the very moment that I got my first positive test (after waiting so long!), I've been filled with profound gratitude for the existence of this special little person. And looking at her beautiful blue eyes and her precious chubby cheeks today gives me the same soul stirring, bone deep, heart overflowing sense of thankfulness and completion that I first experienced with that positive test and in so many moments since then.

At nine weeks, when Tim said "I see the heartbeat" and I found out that we weren't losing her after all. At twelve weeks, when the ultrasound tech said "your baby looks perfect". At fourteen weeks when I felt her move for the first time, over pasta at Victoria's. At twenty weeks, when I saw her precious little yawn and her imperious (already!) yanks on the umbilical cord. At thirty weeks, lying in bed with her cradled in between Tim and I and him laughing at being able to feel every nuance of her crazy midnight uterine dance sessions for the first time. On her exact due date, when I knew that we were really in labor and I was soon going to meet my little baby. The first time that I saw her face, through a haze of anesthesia and pain and simple relief to be alive after all THAT. The first time that I held her. The first, the first, the first....the first everything really. And the second, and the hundredth for some things. For most things. I guess I've nursed her hundreds of times at this point, and yet it still fills me with that feeling. I live in a state of love. This is a good thing. Adelaide is a good thing. She's made my marriage, my family, my life, my self...better. More.

All this, in only five months. Sweet, sweet baby.

Home again, home again, jiggity jig

So my last post made almost no sense and was an incomplete effort. I'm tempted to "fix it up" but I'm actually just going to let it stand, because honestly... that's motherhood. There are a lot of good intentions, and quite a few things that still end up as "incompletes"! Fortunately, there are still many more things that end up as "thrown together at the last minute and yet somehow still work out" than there are "well that didn't work at all" moments.

We are finally home again! It was so so so nice to see Tim. I think all three of us were just delighted to sit and smile at each other. It still gives me butterflies to remember how nice it felt to be reunited. My husband is a smart man...the house was clean and he'd gotten my favorite Greek food for dinner. He also knew that I'd be desperate for a long shower, so he took Addie and let me soak for ages. Not like that was chore for him, he was dying to play with her after such a long time away from each other! I was the most happy lady alive, especially after such a long day. Tim actually beat us home despite being on a service notorious for its late nights. That should tell you something about my day. Chicago is a fabulous city by all accounts, but I must say its weather leaves me wholly unimpressed. I feel like I'm always getting stuck somewhere because of the dreaded weather in Chicago.

The Reader's Digest Condensed Version: My day started at 5 AM with a flight out of Raleigh, which is an hour and fifteen minutes away from my parents house, it was delayed several hours, I finally made it to Chicago, my connecting flight canceled, and then my later flight was delayed, I made it to the Twin Cities, Sylvia picked us up, drove us back to White Bear Lake, so I could get the dogs, Addie needed a break, we eventually got back into the car, and drove the hour and a half back to the Roch. It was a long day, which made having such a nice homecoming even better.

The trip home was great. It was wonderful to see my Mema and to see Pappy and Erika. We got to spend some quality time with my Mom and Dad (aka Cici and Heavy D) and my brother. I also got in lots of visiting time with friends. I don't really have time tonight to post details about the trip, but suffice to say that the weather was great, the food was heavenly, and the family time was priceless. But there is nothing better than coming home to a life that you love!

Mother's Day

Happiness is my daughter's smile. Honestly, Addie has THE biggest, cutest smile of all time. She smiles with her whole body. Her eyes crinkle up, her mouth stretches wide with joy, her cheeks crease with delight, and her whole body stiffens with joy. It's the kind of grin that makes everyone in the vicinity match her smile for smile.

I was so lucky to be able to share her smiles and general joyfulness with my mom and my Mema on Mother's Day. It was so nice to have four generations of women together. I missed being with Tim, but I was delighted to share the day with the women in my life.

I realized that my daughter has my mother's eyes exactly, right down to the gold fleck in their right iris. And I have my grandmother's insanely high arches ("those are the Bennet feet"). It was kind of amazing to see the continuity of genetics in action. I think Addie is doing better with the gorgeous blue eyes than I am with the high arches though. Every time I get a blister from now on, I intend to blame the Bennets.

If this post seems sort of disjointed and rambling, it's for good reason. I'm so darn exhausted. Addie is not doing well with sleeping in the same room as me. She wakes up at least half a dozen times a night. Believe me, we are a worn down crowd. Even as I type, she is awake again. As much as I love being home, it will be nice to get this baby back on a routine!

Away We Go!

Addie and I are in North Carolina for two weeks. I definitely forgot a camera so these will be text-only posts. Boo. It is great to see family and friends, and, as always, the time here is absolutely flying by. Some good...or at least memorable...moments:

Adelaide is cutting her first tooth and it is making her a tad bit fussy and quarrelsome. Whatever works to make her happy is basically what I'm doing. What works seems to include CMT music videos and DVD cases. I was dying for camera yesterday because I so desperately wanted to take a picture of my adorable daughter staring fixedly at country music videos while her pudgy arms clasped Kate and Leo to her heart. She looked like a starstruck teeny bopper. Too cute.

She's also really kicked the social anxiety (fingers crossed that THIS isn't a phase). She is happily letting people hold her and "talking" and smiling. There is no trace of the fearful and anxious little baby of the last few weeks. Now she's doing her patented special Addie "full body grin" ...where her whole face creases up in delight and she literally bounces with happiness. She's being quite the little charmer. I can't get enough of her!

She's also doing GREAT with her rice cereal and is very interested in food. My dad brought me a bbq sandwich and hushpuppies yesterday (heavenly) and Addie reached out, as quick as a flash, and grasped a hushpuppy and brought it to her mouth before I could even process what she had done. The speed and precision brought to mind a cobra strike. I've also been letting her drink some water from my glass, and as a result, she goes crazy every time I drink something. She wants to participate. It's pretty funny.

I have so many more things to blog about, but I have to dash..to be continued!