Christmas is coming! Hooray!

Hello, peeps. Christmas is one week away! We are so very excited for our family to gather, and for Emma to have her first Christmas. We've got the tree up, the stockings hung, and the presents all wrapped. What a wonderful time of year!

In mommy news...I made a sandwich one handed today! I was just about to get lunch, and Emma started crying. She was just having some awake time, and decided she didn't want to hang out in her boppy or her swing anymore. She just wanted to be held. And I just wanted to eat. So...I managed to make a sandwich with Emma in one arm!

In other news, Mike and I had our 3 year anniversary yesterday!! It was a low key event, but we were able to get take out from our favorite restaurant, instead of going there to eat. All we need is some Cantone's for our special events, so we were excited to hear they did take out!

Here are some more pictures. My favorite? Emma in the bear suit. I just love it so much. All the pictures are taken in her car seat, because it positions her perfectly to see her little paws and ears!! Another favorite is her all wrapped up in her towel. She's always so content when she pops out of the tubby!! And she loves Daddy, who is the designated towel boy!!

Message Received

Ok, Anna. Message Received. No, my camera is not broken. But my regular desktop computer is not currently set up. And getting my pictures onto the laptop is kind of a chore. And also, too my time is currently being hogged up by this needy little baby. And also, I try to sleep where I can. So, my apologies for not posting more pictures, more quickly.

So. Being a mom is awesome. Sure I've had my moments and meltdowns. (lots). But it's just awesome having this little baby to snuggle with! And for those of you who were wondering, the calming effect is DEFINITELY Sherry (mom) induced. The woman just knows how to soothe a baby (me) and also the newborn:) Emma is also a big reason for how well I'm adjusting to motherhood. She's just a good baby. She doesn't cry very often, and when she does it's usually because she needs to poop. Actually, that's really the ONLY time she's cried. When she's hungry, her arms just get going, and she sucks on her fingers. So that's how I know when to feed her. But otherwise, she's just a happy, sleepy, snuggly little baby. She's even adjusted to bathtime, and seems to LIKE it. Well, at least tolerate it. She eats well and sleeps well, and is just awesome all around.

So, that's it for now. I'm sure one day I'll be able to blog about something other than baby. But don't expect that any time soon. I'm kind of preoccupied with it for the time being:)

More Pics

By popular demand, here are some more pics of Emma!
After 11 days of life, she weighs a WHOPPING 7 lbs 9 3/4 oz. The doctors exact words were, "Holy Cow!"

She's a keeper:)

She's Here:)

Emma Kay Sage joined our family on 11/22/08 at 8:04 pm. She weighed 6 lbs 14 oz, and measured 21 inches long. She now is only 19.5 inches long, since she's not a cone head anymore:)

Labor was long and arduous, but it's also the best thing I've ever done. For the record, I DID NOT take castor oil, and I DID go into labor on my own:) I'm very thankful that I did not have to be induced. However, it would have been nice not to have been in labor for 37 hours, start to finish. But, I guess that's life:)

We are still adjusting to life with a baby (A BABY?? WHAT? SHE'S MINE? YOU MEAN I GET TO KEEP HER?? RADICAL!). I'm very thankful that my mom is here with us, and that we have so much family, so close, to help us out. I'm also very thankful that Emma is currently dozing next to me wearing her turkey day outfit. Because she's just so cute!

I'm in love:)

FYI

An update for those of you who don't get the family emails...

The Dr.'s appt yesterday was ok. I'm still only 1 cm dilated. I have a non stress test and ultrasound scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.

Due date discrepancy: The initial estimate (when I was 8 weeks) was 11/19. Later that day I had an ultrasound, and they said the due date was actually 11/16. At every appt. since then, the countdown has lined up with an 11/16 due date. Then at my appt. last week, the lady who was scheduling me for another appt. said that in my charts, the due date was still recorded as 11/19. Confused, we asked the Dr. about it yesterday. He explained that yes, the ultrasound date of 11/16 was more accurate, but that in order to change my due date in my chart, there needed to be 4 or more days of difference between the estimate based on my last period, and what the ultrasound showed. SO. There was only 3 days difference, so even though we spent 32 weeks operating under the timeline of an 11/16 due date, they never made the change in my charts. Why does this matter? Because it effects the date I will be induced, if I don't pop naturally.

So. I'm scheduled to be induced on Tuesday morning at 9:00 am, instead of on Saturday or Sunday. At this point, 2-3 days just seems like a really long time. At any rate, if I'm able to deliver naturally after being induced, I'll be sent home from the hospital on the morning of Thanksgiving. If for some reason I have to have a c-section, I'd be sent home the day after Thanksgiving.

So, that's my story. I'm cranky. And tired. And I think I'm just going to hunker down in the house until she gets here.

A Notice: To Whom it may Concern

I'm taking a page from the book of Anna, (who I believe was taking a page from the book of one of her Rawlins' SIL's) and issuing an eviction notice to the tenant of my womb.


Dearest Bean:

You are totally awesome and cool. That said, Get Out.

Please consider this your final notice. You must vacate the premises of my womb immediately. Don't misunderstand my motives or intentions. I will sorely miss the internal tenderization of my organs. I will miss our afternoon naps together. I will miss having your little elbow serve as my alarm clock. I will miss cuddling with your little butt up under my ribs.

However, there are some things that I am looking forward to, with your departure from the womb. First, I look forward to the return of a normal center of gravity. I am also looking forward to sleeping on my back, to walking and not "waddling", to having control of my own bladder, to touching my toes, or putting shoes on without grunting or sweating, to wearing pants that aren't elastic, and to drinking Dr. Pepper with reckless abandon.

Mostly, Bean, I am looking forward to YOU. Yes, you. You will cry. You will poop. You will spit up and/or puke on my nicest outfits. You will wake me in the middle of the night. Repeatedly. You will make me worry. You will only increase my paranoia and fear of the irrational. But you will also be AWESOME. And that's a fact, I know it already.

Also, Bean, your father would like for you to come out, now. So that I will stop whacking him in the middle of the night with the gigantic pillow I'm required to keep between my knees when I sleep. And so I will stop making him put on my socks and tie my shoes for me. And so I will stop wearing his clothing, which looks oh-so-ridiculous on me, but is also oh-so-comfortable.

Mostly, Bean, he is looking forward to YOU. Yes, you. You will cry. You will poop. You will spit up and/or puke. And he will pass you off to me:) But that's ok, because I like you. Aw, heck. I love you! Bean, your father would also like to play with your toys. He's already unwrapped them and broken them in for you. But he's feeling a little silly playing with them all by himself. He'd like a friend to play with. And he'd like none other than you. (Side note, right after I finished typing those last few sentences, Mike walked out into the living room with "Mr. Monkey", his favorite rattle.)

So, Bean, get out. Get out. Get out. Get out here. We'd like to meet you:)

Sincerely,

Your (Ugly) Mom

I need

Here's a list of some things that I need:

1. Sleep.
Everyone is saying, "Oh get all the sleep you can now, because HAHAHAHA you won't sleep a wink once baby is here!" Great, in theory. Except that I get up every 5 minutes to pee. Or if I'm not getting up to pee, I'm having to flop over from side to side because my hips are in excruciating pain. So lately I'm ending up on the couch, which doesn't provide for very sound sleep either. And I've been having trouble NAPPING lately. If you know me...you know I love my naps. So this is very upsetting to me. Egads, if I can't sleep, can I at least have a baby here as the reason??????

2. A Baby.
I need a baby. No really, I just need her to get here. I love her so much already, and she's going to be awesome and totally cool. And she just needs to get here so that these weird, horrible awful nightmares about bad things happening during labor will go away. So, get here, ok?

3. A pedicure.
It's getting a wee bit chilly in this neck of the woods to be wearing flip flops, but I'm even more opposed to traditional footwear now than I was a couple months ago. So my feet are all dry and rough. And I can't reach them.

4. A Cool Code Word.
Mike and I just rented Juno last week. And when Juno goes into labor, her code was "Thundercats are go!". So now Mike and I feel that we need to have an awesome code word/phrase to use. I think we're both secretly hoping I go into labor while he's at work, so I can call him and yell out whatever we come up with as our cool code! Suggestions are welcome.

5. To Stop Cleaning.
I have had the uncontrollable urge to clean and disinfect every surface of my house. I've mopped my floors more times in the last month than I had in the 2+ years we'd lived in this house before then. And my bathtub...pristine. I know this is what you'll call the "nesting" urge, or whatever. I've been told it sets in just a few days before labor is go. BUT - I've had this urge for weeks now. And where's baby? Please refer to #2. Get here.

6. People to stop saying, "So, no baby yet?"
Um. I think it's obvious upon seeing me, that NO, there's no baby yet. Because I'm still huge and whale-like. It seems silly to even have to answer that question.

7. To stop freaking Bird out with random text messages.
Apparently I haven't been very sensitive to the situation, because Bird told me last night (after I sent her yet another randomly timed and meaningless text message) that she'd have to start keeping her cell phone with her all the time, because when she heard her phone she frantically ran up the stairs because she thought it was me calling to say I'd gone into labor. My bad.

8. Chrysta to post a new blog?
Chrysta, as far as I know, there's no new Stephanie Meyers books out right now, so people are totally checking your blog. And noticing that you're still in repentence. So, you should post a new blog, even if it only includes ridiculously cute pictures of your family. But if you'd like to add words to it, and share with us all the happenings of your life lately, that would be awesome too.

9. To go get some leftovers for lunch.
I made potato soup last night for dinner. And I love it so much! And now I'm going to go eat some more. Yum.