We’ve been tossing around the idea of joining some sort of CSA or home-delivery service for a while…mostly because I like the idea of being forced to eat more produce and being challenged to step outside of my habitual purchases. Finally, we found an option that works for us in terms of pick-up location, frequency and price: Johnson’s Backyard Garden (nice logo, right?).
Now the challenge…putting all this veg to use so we’re ready for our next box in two weeks.
…it’s been a really long time since I’ve posted. I thought Josh would start posting again once I got outta the hospital, but I guess we’ve both been really busy the past three months…and then there was the spring issue of the beer guide…
Anyway, life with Micah is great. Either she is an amazing baby, or we are amazing parents. Or maybe I’m just totally biased. I’ll go with that because it’s the most likely AND I don’t want to seem cocky. =)
It’s amazing how much she’s changed over the past three months. She’s rolled over (front to back), added at least an inch to her hair, made a smooth transition to the crib, raced in a 10K, started sleeping 8+ hours at night, and is full of coos and giggles and smiles. She loves being outside, staring up into the trees and listening to the birds. She loves her dad’s funny noises and goofy songs. She loves her made-up “Micah-Micah song” and mom’s singing. She REALLY loves Hoot and Holla, her paper-lantern owls that hang over her crib, and The Dots, her mobile above the changing table. She loves her sleep sacks (thanks Grandma!), and in fact doesn’t seem to think it’s time for bed ’til she’s in one. She loves her eye chart and smiles at it instead of burping over mom’s shoulder. And she loves mirrors…guess she thinks that girl looking back at her is real pretty…
This is all just some stuff I don’t want to forget.
We love her smiles. Her toots. Snug-a-bugging. Bringing her to our bed on weekend mornings. Taking her for walks. Seeing her in the arms of her grandparents, Aunt Jess, great-grandparents… Dressing her in cute outfits and putting bows in her hair. That she puts herself to sleep and sleeps so long…
Her daddy’s out camping tonight. I think she missed him reading to her ’cause she fussed for a couple of minutes before crashing out…it was what we would call a “dad night”, where mom’s love and snug-a-bugging just isn’t doing the trick. Don’t worry, there are “mom nights”, too.
Anyway, I’m really looking forward to next weekend. She’ll get to meet her cousin Olivia, Uncle Nathan, and Aunt Kimberly. Man, I miss them! Since pregnancy I’ve realized how important family is to me…I’ll admit I was much more self-centered before Micah. But now, I wish Mom and Archie would move in, that Spring were only 30 minutes away, and that Nathan and Kimberly would just get fed up with cold weather and move to Texas. At least we have Facetime to compensate…
So, here are the lyrics to “Micah-Micah”…again, just stuff I don’t want to forget:
Micah-Micah don’t you cry, Micah-Micah this-is-your-lullaby; Micah-Micah go to sleep, Micah-Micah count those sheep; Micah-Micah eyes getting sleepy, Micah-Micah eyes looking creepy; Micah-Micah close your eyes, Micah-Micah dream of pies; Micah-Micah your daddy loves you, Micah-Micah your mommy does, too; Micah-Micah have sweet dreams, Micah-Micah about streams (yeah, this line needs some work)
Sunday we enjoyed a family outing to Becky & Jib’s for brunch…man, how this group of friends has exploded with children! Soon we will have to start bringing labels to slap on the kids’ backs so we know who belongs to who, although if you did a dad/kid lineup, it’d be pretty obvious.
Micah was not really interested in the goings-on at brunch. She acted like the “cool kid” and slept through the whole thing, except for the quick mini-blow-out-diaper-change-new-outfit right there at the end.
And since the weather was so nice Sunday, we ended up spending some time outdoors at Black Star (back for our second day in a row, lame). I’m sure we could have been pulling weeds in the yard or doing laundry, but instead we chose to enjoy a drink and the warm sunshine on our backs. Call us irresponsible.
On our way home we picked up a free Crate & Barrel chaise lounge that was on the curb in the neighborhood…we thought it was obviously a good decision, but our fast actions led to little thinking and, well, the 4-runner paid a small price…er, what I hope is a small price. Let’s not talk about it.
And today, after reading more of these good-mommy books, Micah and I worked on a better routine to help us both prepare for me going back to work in two weeks. We now have a set morning feeding time and tried for true wake times after each feeding, which went pretty well…after her 6:30 AM one she laid by me gurgling away while I dozed in and out of sleep, mid-morning we ran to the grocery store, and this afternoon took a 55 minute walk through the ‘hood.
I’m hoping this this system of eat, awake, sleep will work and help her sleep more soundly at night (obviously we hope to avoid the “awake” portion at night). So far so good…after our walk, I put her down in the crib while she was still awake and she managed to put herself to sleep with minimal fussing. What a champ! Let’s hope for many repeat performances.
As suspected, I’m finding it much more difficult to find time to post. Instead I’ve been sending short Micahgram’s via email to family/friends…and today decided those are the short posts I should be putting on the blog. Plus, Josh appreciates brevity.
So today Micah experienced a couple of firsts…first road trip out of Austin and first visit to Grandma & Grandpa’s. We went to see my parents for a visit while Micah’s great-aunt Ruth is in town, and I must say she was very well-behaved. Too bad it was cold and rainy or we would have tried for a picture with the cows in the background (before they’re gone).
Back at home, we enjoyed some down time in our family room that is coming together…tummy time on her play mat and FaceTime with Nana & Papa Joe.
And because today was Micah’s original due date, we decided to celebrate by attempting dinner and drinks at Black Star Coop. Overall a good, rainy day…
Bonus: check out her post-bath curly hair.
Yesterday Micah made it to the four-week mark and she’s still not even supposed to be here! I feel blessed that she’s doing so well despite being a preemie. I think the overwhelming showering of love has a little something to do with it…
Speaking of, this past week brought visits from her Great Grandma & Grandpa Spradling as well as Nana & Papa Joe. Micah enjoyed lots of cuddling with them, which gave me some hands-free time. Not sure what I did, but it was somewhat liberating! I was also happy that Josh’s family got to see first-hand how involved he is. He’s really a great dad and it’s so sweet how he adores Micah. It makes me wish he were still home this week, instead of back at work, sigh. I guess he’s just getting a head start on his “work” routine with her…it seems he has already aligned daddy time with watching PTI, always the skilled multi-tasker.
Meanwhile we’re also getting better at baths and coordinating them around her BM schedule (our first 3 baths at home included pooping in her bath water or the clean towel, ugh). Plus, Grandma Gerry helped us figure out a better bath system. Sometimes I just need tips and tricks from experienced moms. Like Lisa with her breast-feeding advice and Erin with her Moby wrap demonstration…there is so much to figure out as a new mom! Maybe I’m a nerd, but I actually googled how to take her to the grocery store in her carrier before I went. I was so scared it wouldn’t fit in the cart and I’d look like a fool and have to turn around and go home! Sometimes I just need someone else to tell me it’ll work, how to do it, or give a little encouragement…maybe that’s why people say the second child is easier–you’ve got more confidence by then. I’m not sure when or if I’ll have the energy/desire to test that theory…for now, I’m soaking in my Micah time before the next four weeks are up, which aligns with me returning to work. =(
Okay, it’s officially sunk in…This. Is. Challenging. I mean, Micah’s a pretty easy baby, but those 45-minute night feedings, plus 5-10 minutes of burping, then the additional 15-30 minutes of shining my iPhone on her when I hear any gurgle or grunt…well, it really adds up to minimal sleep. And it makes it even more awkward that I’ve started to sleep with my glasses on just so I can see her in the middle of the night. I know…nerd alert.
But, even when she spits up on me twice in a row at 6:30 AM on a Sunday morning when I want just one more hour of sleep before we get up to meet the Gupton’s for brunch, I can’t help but laugh and love her. Maybe because she is so darn cute. Or maybe because she managed not just spit up, it was in-the-hair, down-the-shirt, and on-the-pillow spit-up (all mine). Twice. That takes talent. And although Josh got away spit-up free, he’s really proven himself quite the diaper-changing-soldier and master-swaddler…its nice to know I have a teammate in this who complements my weaknesses (uh, the swaddling part).
All in all, it was another good week. I spent hours tormenting over whether to keep Micah on her feeding schedule or switch to on-demand…and I suppose today we officially made the switch since we let her sleep 3 hours between feedings last night (zzzzzzz…). I hope it’ll be better for both of us, but I suppose it will be more difficult in coordinating with our visitors since she and I will have to slip away for long stretches at a time. Josh will just have to entertain…
Micah and I got out for a walk through Northwest Park with Sofia & Santiago this week, I was able to peel away for a pedicure with Cyndi, and we enjoyed a nice homemade dinner with the Trout’s before the boys headed off to the big ABG winter release party while Kim and I relaxed and ate delicious Oreo-fudgey things, just what the doctor ordered. The weekend was full between sweet Hazel’s baby shower, more ABG duties, the aforementioned enjoyable brunch with the Gupton’s, photo shoot with Tiffany, and another welcome visit and dinner courtesy of Sheila. Fun, but exhausting…I’ve begun to fit in sleep wherever I can to keep myself going!
Hopefully, with Josh home more this week, I can find a bit more balance as we look forward to more visitors/dinners courtesy our Care Calendar, some time with Micah’s great-grandparents, and finally have Nana & Papa Joe over since she’s been out of NICU.
Today marks one week of having a complete Sprad family at home!
It’s definitely been a full week as Josh and I learn the ropes…meaning doing things on our own, figuring out her cues, and this new practice of scheduling around her feeding time. This little munchkin is totally running things already!
Actually, she’s on a great schedule and pretty much just sleeps between feedings right now, so I’ve found plenty of time to work on settling back into the house, showering (I was under the impression no new mom ever had time to shower…man, I beat the odds), and just adoring our little sweet pea. Josh and I are even making it out of the house to resurrect our social lives (The Bachelor at Becky’s tonight!).
It was at our first visit to the pediatrician that we got the all-clear to have healthy, hand-washed visitors and permission to take her to non-crowded places, as long as we kept strangers at bay. Remember how I was cooped up for over nine weeks? Yeah, so I was thrilled to be able to do things with her! Josh’s first idea was a lunch date at Hopfields, but since my mom was in town, she offered to babysit (read: cuddly Grandma time; super selfish of her, in a good way) so we got our first DATE in two and a half months! And my first pint all to myself…ahh. I could get use to this pump/dump every once in a while.
Micah also had her first date with Archer. I know what you’re thinking and don’t worry, Cyndi and I totally chaperoned. The four of us went for a walk through the ‘hood since it was a gorgeous Texas January day (read: sweaty). Other outings included Elsi’s with G&G Elmore, a return to one of our favorites, Billy’s on Burnet, with G&G Cray, a walk to Thunderbird for coffee, and some quick errands.
So we enjoyed some outings, had visits from family and friends, and just started settling into this parenthood routine. Stat update: as of her second pediatrician appointment this morning, Micah has already gone from 5 lbs 8 oz to 5 lbs 11.5 oz…sooo close to 6! What a champ! Though, I think I deserve some credit, too. =)
