Recent Pictures of Madeline

I posted these and a few more pictures on Facebook, but I wanted to share them here as well. Diane, you should be happy to see not one, not two,but THREE pictures of me with Madeline! (Notice the strategic placement of the baby in all three. :))She started off slowly, wearing premie clothes for about 3 weeks, but she is getting so big now. She is fitting well into her 0-3 month clothes, and she weighs over 10 pounds. I'm sure this is obvious, but she has SO much hair and it sticks straight up! Auntie Becca tried styling it with some pomade the other day, but it looked pretty much the same. 

Besides being adorable, Madeline is a really good baby. She does not cry a lot, although unfortunately when she does, it is usually late at night. But, she has been sleeping about 6 hours straight, from midnight to six, most nights, so that's been nice. We have taken her many places, and she is usually very good and flexible. She has been to a wedding, a beach bonfire, the mall(several times!), Pasadena visiting her Aunt Becca, Downtown Fullerton movie night, and several bbq's. She seems to like riding in the car, she doesn't mind her car seat,and she loves out newest discovery, which is a sling. I just started using it this week, and we both love it. She can snuggle up and sleep, or look out at the world,and I feel a little more free to use my hands but still have her close to me. And, it doesn't hurt that Becca got it at a boutique in Pasadena and it's very cute. I  will post a picture of it next time. 

I will say that it has been an adjustment for us, especially for me. I have had a few cry sessions, and have gotten mad at Jon (for not having breasts filled with milk so that he could help more) on more than one occasion. I have even been frustrated with Madeline on a few occasions. So, it has not been perfect or easy or fun ALL the time, and I want to be honest about that. But, I can also honestly say that she is the most amazing blessing, and that I can't imagine not having Madeline as our daughter. It is hard work at times, but worth every minute of it. I love her more than I could have possibly imagined. 

Seriously?

When was the last time you saw a BOY in a leopard print car seat with hot pink trim? That's right, at CPK yesterday, Madeline was sitting in her car seat, wearing her pink and brown zip-up outfit, and the manager stopped,smiled, and said, "Aw, how cute! How old is he?". Seriously? He? I gave her a strange look and she looked confused and said, "Is it a boy or a girl?".  I didn't try to hide my irritation. I said, "Girl. SHE is 5 weeks old today." She made some excuse about not noticing the car seat at first, but come on lady! It's not like I'm trying to confuse anyone by having her in a brown car seat wearing yellow and green stripes(which is totally fine if you're into those colors. ) It's not like an episode of Pat on SNL where the clues are deeply hidden and it could really go either way. I mean, the pink is everywhere...there's no mystery here!  I know people make honest mistakes, but there are usually ways to tell. 

For the manager at CPK, and anyone else who has a hard time picking up on the gender clues of babies. here are a few pointers to help. 

You can be fairly certain it's a GIRL if...

-The color scheme portrayed bears any resemblance to that of cotton candy, original flavor bubble gum, Pepto Bismal, or the color you get when you mix red and white together. 

-Flowers are in abundance on the car seat or clothing of the mystery child.

-It looks like an animal such as a zebra, leopard, or tiger was killed to make the child,car seat, or mother look good.

-Fruits such as cherries or strawberries are present on car seat or clothing.

-Ribbons,lace, or bows are seen  in the hair of mystery baby

Or, continue to ignore the clues stated above, and just take a guess. You have a 50/50 chance of being right, and a 50/50 chance of being wrong and irritating a new mom like me. 

Did I Just Say That?

Do you ever say something, and then think to yourself, "Did I just say that?"? I had one of those experiences the other day. 

I was talking to a nice young couple at church who just got engaged. They were telling the story of how he proposed in Yosemite, and I told them a story about how I thought Jon was going to propose in Yosemite, but he didn't.(See bottom for that story.) So, it came up that I have hiked Half Dome, and they were very impressed. Then I told them that I have actually done Half Dome four times, and they were very impressed.  After I said it, I felt worried that it sounded like I was bragging, so I quickly tried to downplay it by saying, " You know how everyone wants to do it? Well, I'm just the person they did it with..."  What??!! Are we still talking about Half Dome?? I broke the awkwardness(I think) by admitting how weird that sounded, and we all laughed(awkwardly). 

If you are wondering about my Yosemite story...it was about a month before we actually got engaged. We had been looking at rings, and I had a feeling it was coming. We had a trip to Yosemite planned, and if you know Jon, then you probably know that Yosemite would be a perfect place for him to propose. So, I tortured myself all weekend, expecting him to get down on one knee at every turn, and practicing the surprised yet joyous expression I would wear as I said "Yes!". 

It didn't happen the first two days, but not to worry, we still had our big Half Dome hike, and what better place to do it...

I will just skip to the point now. Picture us, having just reached the top, lying on a massive rock, sun shining brightly, birds chirping, you get the idea...perfect right? Then Jon looked over at me. My heart stopped. This was it. "Oh! I almost forgot," he said. " There's something I've been saving just for this moment..." He reached into his pocket. This is it. With the word yes on the tip of my tongue, Jon pulled half of a Powerbar out of his pocket with a huge grin. Of course. A Powerbar. He had been saving it. I knew that. 

I did wind up telling him that I had thought he was going to propose, and he felt badly. Believe it or not, he was not even trying to tease me, but honestly was just excited to have half of a Powerbar left. 

He proposed about a month later, and it was worth the wait.