3 Weeks.

Just look at this face!

She also does an incredible "Hot Dog Impression" a la Robin Williams (Mrs. Doubtfire), and her "Elvis Lip" is spot on. She's definitely expressive.

And she amazes me.

Princess Ezri is 3 weeks old and is already holding her head up for several seconds at a time. She is urging to crawl, and even walk. And she has certainly found her very powerful lungs.

I, on the other hand, am still not able to sleep regularly. Jason and I haven't worked out a schedule thing and we just "take turns" for the most part. Last night was his turn. Tonight is mine. Luckily, though, we've been able to take a few family naps, usually in mid-afternoon.

Breastfeeding is another battle I am struggling with. She has never been able to latch on, and so the pumping has been a multiple-times-daily ritual. Still, I don't produce enough, so we've been supplementing with formula. I think she actually does better with the formula. I have very mixed feelings about stopping/continuing the pumping, and it is actually causing me some anxiety. But she is thriving, having gained a pound since we brought her home. A happy, healthy, and much loved baby is what's important, right? I'm trying not to stress over bottle vs. breast...

In the meantime, a few things have me excited or are on my mind:

• I won this amazing piece from Cinnamon Sticks Boutique! Canela had a giveaway on her blog a couple weeks ago, and I actually won. WOOT! Can't wait for it to arrive.
  
  
• There's another super-duper jewelry giveaway going on over here. Gorgeous stuff by Lisa Leonard Designs on one of my favorite blogs for inspiration!
  
  
• Was just introduced to the awesomeness of Tumblr. It is the most amazing place for eye candy, and super easy to add inspiration pieces to my own Tumblelog.
  
  
• Some birthday shoutouts to my girls... Greta & Mye who both had recent birthdays, and although I am late, late, late to the party I am ALWAYS thinking about these wonderful women. Today's birthday girls... my dear friend Lori Bonilla and my sweet scrappin' friend Nicole Harper. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
  
  
• We are continuing our apartment hunt, but have decided to stick to our guns about the picky criteria we have for moving. The big must-have is a downtown/midtown accessible location. Basically this means that we have to be IN downtown/midtown or within a very few blocks. Like-To-Haves include hardwood floors, a large kitchen, and a home-office area suitable for a joint studio for J & me. Of course we need these things in our price range. Wish us luck!
  

Another Monday is here... hope you have a wonderful week!

xoxo,
diana

Growing up too fast.

She's 2 weeks old today. I am amazed at how fast she is growing (including how much she is eating, my gosh!), and all those little changes happening every day. I'm in a zombie trance, but still loving every moment with her and with her daddy. Gosh, I love those two more than anything!!

Look at the smile on the girl's face!

Grandma took this picture on Saturday morning. Having a girl means getting to play with girly things like hair bows. And that smile?? I guess she doesn't mind, does she? (or maybe it's just gas...)

It's hard to believe that 2 weeks have already gone by. We're getting a routine established (still a little rocky at times), grandma has gone back home (and we miss her), and my Google reader blew up to over 2000 items for me to read (yeah, right... 'mark as read' and start over).

Happy Monday, all... hope you have a great week.

Welcome Home Baby Ezri!

Wowsa! So, this was not the week we were expecting, and yet it was so very amazing!

Ezri Frances Albright arrived just over 3 weeks before her due date after keeping me in labor for 33 hours, finally resulting in a cesarean birth. She came into the world on January 11, 2010 at 7:32 pm and was 6 lbs 12 oz and 19 inches. She is absolutely precious, healthy, and wonderful. Both Jason and I are completely exhausted, but totally smitten!

Posts will be updated now that we are home from the hospital but will, of course, be dictated in length and frequency by amount of exhaustion and time (or lack of). I've seen the well wishes on facebook and over at Studio Calico and though I don't have the energy at the moment to reply individually, I really appreciate all of you!!

Loves!

Stork Tour

This restless leg syndrome crap is frustrating. 3:00 in the morning... I should be in happy dreamland right now! But nope. My legs aren't having it. We're in for a busy day later, so I'll go ahead and put a few thoughts down right now in case I don't have the opportunity to hop on here later...

We did our Stork Tour at the hospital last night. There were 12 pregnant ladies in our tour group, all with at least one extra person. Jason, at one point, said "I thought this was just for us." Sorry babe...

I took a camera, but I didn't feel there was any appropriate moment to whip it out, so it stayed tucked into my handbag. I was hoping to get a photo of one of the Labor/Delivery/Recovery rooms, but the place was packed with mamas in labor. I didn't have a chance in the 15 seconds I was allowed to look at what a room was like.

It's similar to this, but maybe a little less posh:

At any rate, the tour was a fustercluck (mainly because it was a busy night in Labor & Delivery), but I had confirmed most of the reasons I want to have my child at Mercy Hospital:

• Private Labor/Delivery/Recovery rooms. I'll be able to have up to 4 people in there with me (other than doctor/staff), though I will likely only have Jason and my mom. I won't have to move rooms for the entire birthing process (unless in the unforeseen event of cesarean birth).
• Amenities. A private bath with shower, because warm water "sometimes aids in labor." Squatter bars, in case that position is more comfy. Rocking chairs. And various other labor aids.
• They are very open to all sorts of birthing plan requests.
  
• They encourage immediate skin-to-skin with baby, breastfeeding, and "rooming in." In fact, we were told that they actually do not even have a well-baby nursery anymore. As long as baby is healthy, s/he will be with me and Jason the whole time.
• Jason will be allowed to stay with me and our baby during my entire recovery. I love that "visiting hours" don't apply to "the other" parent.

So, excitement is mounting for sure! We're in the home stretch.
And now, if I could just get some sleep...

Happy Thursday, friends!

28 Days...

I am loving this photo. It's grainy and imperfect (because I WANT to be a photographer, but I am so not), and it was overcast out when I took it and the color was off so I had to convert it to B&W for it to look decent. But it's Jason and Ramona. We love this puppy so much. And I can't help but to think that in a little while, I'll be taking photos of Jason with our child and he will be even more tender and sweet than he looks in this picture. He is going to be a wonderful father!

We've broken the 30s. We're now less than 30 days 'til the expected due date of our bundle. I know these due dates are estimates at best. I'm 36 weeks today and anything could happen. I could be pregnant for another 2 weeks or another 6.

With the exception of several trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night, last night's sleep was the best I've had in over a week. I won't hold my breath that it will continue this way.

We've learned that Ramona has issues with strollers (and things on wheels, in general), so we need to start taking her on her walks while pushing the stroller, too, so that she'll get used to the idea. Will I look too weird pushing an empty stroller? LOL

My mom will be here later this afternoon to join Jason & I at the hospital to take the Stork Tour. We'll be seeing the Labor/Delivery/Recovery rooms and filling out my pre-admissions paperwork.

And she'll stay with us this weekend as we make more preparations and room for baby.

I have to make a grocery list and a list of the few things we still need for baby.

This is starting to feel real.

I'm hoping to make something today, but I may not get around to it. I'm hoping to get a few more things done toward decluttering, which I am determined to do. I'm hoping to actually make it out of my pajamas at some point before my mom shows up. We'll just see about that!

More About "The Resister"

Ever the resister, I am.
It makes no difference the day of the week, even. Especially Mondays. I fiercely resist the Mondays. I tend to resist Tuesdays too, mostly because TODAY is Tuesday. But I have sooooooooo much to do today!

Being The Resister is in vehement conflict with BEGINning. But I must BEGIN. I have goals and projects to work on. I have a baby coming in +/-30 days. I thought that cleaning off the top of my fridge would be all the decluttering I had to do in the kitchen. I was elated. And then, I opened my other cabinets - there aren't that many of them - and was HORRIFIED!

Where are all the rubbermaid bowls that these lids are for?
Why does that mug have no handle?
What in the world is this thing even for?

And, oh my goodness, I forgot that I have a Banker's Box full of new baby bottles, breast pumping accoutrements, samples of formula *just in case* the breastfeeding doesn't take, and various other baby paraphernalia that doesn't belong in the bedroom.

AND WHERE AM I GOING TO PUT ALL OF IT?

It is obvious that I have work to do. I didn't do it yesterday, because - as you now know - I fiercely and viciously resist Mondays. I guess Tuesdays now, not so much...

What's the Word?

There's lots of buzz about One Little Word. I wasn't going to give in to the hype. I already made goals for 2010, so I wasn't going to add any more work to what I've already outlined for myself for the year. 2010 is going to be monumental enough on it's own.

That's me. I'm a resister.

And then it hit me. I was in the middle of commenting on Ali E's blog, stating my defiance of The Word, and all of a sudden... BAM!... The Word just came to me. Of course, since one of my goals is to "pay attention," I couldn't just ignore The Word. I can't deny it either, now that it has come to me. So, I hit the backspace key until my comment had been erased and I began again.



From Mirriam-Webster Online:

be·gin
intransitive verb
1 : to do the first part of an action : go into the first part of a process : start
2 a : to come into existence : arise b : to have a starting point
3 : to do or succeed in the least degree

transitive verb
1 : to set about the activity of : start
2 a : to bring into being : found b : originate, invent

The Word is perfect to set the tone for the year. 2010 is going to be a year of beginnings. Time to stop procrastinating. Time to stop putting "it" off. Time to stop waiting. BEGIN!