Join Me

Baby Fever . . .

So I get to spend a lot of time with Aubri. A LOT. I even get to strap her to me when I'm working at Randolph. And she's beginning to prefer me to others, which I like and don't like at the same time. "Why don't I like it?" you may want me to ask myself. Just imagine being the only person who can put your baby to bed. Every night for the next . . . I don't even know. I'm not saying it's gotten that far-- but I'm definitely worried it's getting there. And lately I've been finding myself needing to remind myself that I really am thankful to get to stay with her so much, thankful that Johnathan works so hard we can hang out like we do. And at the very same time I am super glad when I get to drop her off at Tricia's so I can teach my class, or when Johnathan offers to take her while I grade papers (always a Starbucks run in there.) It's just nice to get a moment to myself sometimes. Because this kid is super awesome, but she's also still a baby, which I find myself needing to remind myself of lately. Isn't that weird? I have to actually make myself remember that she's still a baby! 

Focused

My kid is awake quite a bit more than I expected she would be-- you know, since she's an infant and all that. And when she is awake her favorite thing to do is to stare at me. To tell the truth, after a while it gets a little creepy; you know she's just a baby, but you find yourself looking over your shoulder to see if she's stopped, yet. But today in church pastor mentioned that for the disciples, the Old Testament mandate to, "Praise the Lord," looked like a great day hanging out with Jesus and I got to thinking about the way she just loves my face. When she looks at me she's doing a couple of things: learning about life and flattering me because I love that she prefers me to everything else. She's also incredibly content (she can't focus on me when she's freaking out).

So today in church I started thinking that I need to work a lot harder to focus on Jesus' face. Most of the time I can't see him because I'm freaking out about stuff and that only results in me feeling out of touch with Him. So here's looking at you, kid-- thanks for teaching me a little about God today.  

7 Days Post-Partum

Am I tired? Yes. But do I like my kid? Yes. She's pretty cool-- not too fussy and fairly easy to please. Her one fault is a need to sleep while being held. Yes, this makes sleeping hard. =)

Am I sore? Yes, but can I walk without waddling? Yes. Thank God! 

My husband is in love with his baby, which has made things really easy on me! 

It also just occurred to me that I forget to post her weblog-- yes, she's starting literacy at an early age. You can view it at www.underwritten.typepad.com/aubri. It's mostly for pictures, although there's also Johnathan's facebook for that. 

Here She Is!

Just so you know- black plus white equals hispanic! My dad will be so proud! 

And . . .

. . . she's here! 7 pounds, 8 ounces; 21 inches long. Aubriana Janell arrived at 6:21 AM on June 16th after 12 (or so) hours of labor. She has been alert, feeding well, and hardly sleeping. She also hasn't cried much yet, so we are praying for a very sweet-tempered girl. I feel okay, but am definitely sore; and we're very tired since neither Johnathan nor I slept last night. Husband can't stop taking pictures (he'll take her from me in the middle of nursing so he can coo at her)! I'll post pics as soon as the internet can handle it.

And soon . . .

The nurse thinks she should be arriving in about 12 hours. 

Back by Popular Request: The Pregnancy Conversation

Or at least, you guys need my half of the conversation.

Okay, first of all, we're having a girl, and she's coming in one month. I've got my roommate praying for a father's day birth, since Johnathan's wanted kids since he was 12. She has favor with God, so I think I might get this one. 

And we will call her Aubriana Janell. Aubriana because I like the way it sounds (and it's not too trendy, ethnic, popular, classic, etc.) Janell because Janell is the French form of my mother in law's name, means gracious, and because my best friend is named Janell. This is also a good name for nickname fans (I belong to this club), because we could go a few different ways. Johnathan and I have been shortening it to Aubri, but you could go even more with Aub, or Bri, or Ana, or A.J. (but only if she's a super tomboy). And with a last name like ours, the more nicknames you have, the less you can expect to hear, "What you talkin' bout, Willis?"

Yes to breastfeeding. Even though that's weird to say on a public blog. 

Yes, we are excited. And so is Aubriana. She's actually been moving all day, trying to stick her butt under my ribs. I push it out, she puts it on me again. Johnathan and I are a little concerned that she already knows how to use her butt to get attention, but we hope she'll grow out of it (rather than into it!)

The nursery is not ready, because Danielle will be occupying her room until she gets married in July. Baby will just have to live with us for a little while longer. I did, however, get the valance for her room today, and I can't wait to put it up! 

My birth plan? Get her out. I think I'll let God take care of the how. (Although I am asking not to tear too much. Is that allowed?) 

Another popular request is for pregnancy photos. I'm not posting them. Who wants to show the world that they feel like a whale? Here's a picture of some cute ducks instead. 

The Pregnancy Conversation

When are you due? <1 month>
Do you know what you're having?
Have you decided on a name, yet?
Do you think you'll breast feed?
Are you guys excited? [sarcasm, here]
Do you have your nursery set up, already?
Have you written out a birth plan?

I've gone through it with perfect strangers and close friends. I don't tire of it-- it's actually nice to have something to talk about with people I am not familiar with. And I really enjoy when we diversify into discussing her possible skin, eye, and hair characteristics. Today, though, I got a totally new question-- one that floored me, from someone I didn't know:

"How many cup sizes have you gone up?"

Hmm. Well, I guess a little variety is good!

The Pregnant Gals

Guess which one of us is the furthest along?  

A Little Bit of Interest Goes a Long Way . . .

Trying to prepare financially for having a baby is difficult. It might be better if God would clue us in as to what we'll be doing after she's born, but we are still uncertain what our work situation will be. So aside from the daily bills we're not sure how we'll juggle while I'm on maternity leave, we also have to consider how much the hospital bill will be (all told, I hear around $2500, and these after we've paid $1000 for delivery). Oh, and we haven't even started buying furniture for her, yet.

But I just filed our taxes, and for the first time in a long time, we'll be getting a refund. A nice little car repair bill of half a grand has cut nicely into what we'll get, but with those $1200 rebates set to arrive around the time Aubri is, I think we might be able to pay the hospital!

We've had our house almost two years, but the first year wasn't much help with taxes because we only paid interest for about 6 months. This year, the amount we paid was almost double, and it is nice to see some of that back! Thank you, God, for usury! Strange how interest became your provision for us this year. . .