Christmas with a baby

Before Christmas, I had a pretty good grasp on the idea that everything is harder (and more fun) with a baby. Christmas confirmed this concept. What a crazy week!! But it was wonderful seeing family and friends, and showing off Emma.

I took three vacation days (Dec. 21-23), so I could enjoy a full two weeks with Denny and Emma. It ended up being more like extra time with Emma since Denny was off hunting or fishing every day, but that’s okay.

On the 23rd, my family came to our house so we could celebrate. It was perfect. Low key, mellow … just perfect! On Christmas Eve, we made breakfast and everyone just kind of sat around and chatted before my parents had to take off to be with my Grandma.

The rest of the day was a little busy. I wrapped presents for a good three hours! Then, when Denny got home, we decided to not go to mass because the roads were going to be bad and Emma was having an awful night. We tried to let her cry it out in her crib, but instead of the usual 10-15 minutes it takes her to fall asleep, she was still screaming after 30 minutes. I decided I just couldn’t do that to her. I ended up holding her all night while she slept and I dozed in and out of sleep.

Denny and I exchanged gifts that night. We both got each other GPSs. I got him a hand-held and he got me one for the car. I love it!!

On Christmas morning, we woke up and got ready. We helped Emma open the three presents we got her and then headed out to Dennis’ house. Much to our surprise, no one was awake! Hello … get up, get up, get up!! It’s Christmas! We had a great time over there opening presents and hanging out.

We then headed to Debbie’s. Another great visit; we ate, opened gifts, mopped up rain water. We then headed to Bill and Mary’s for the final celebration of the day. We ate some more and visited with Denny’s relatives. It was a great day, but super hard on little Emma.
The following day, we got up and drove to Bremen, Ind., for the Maenhout family Christmas. It was a lot smaller than normal, but pretty good. The ride home was a nightmare with a lot of snow and unplowed roads.

Emma got a ton of toys … she is one spoiled little girl! She will enjoy these toys as she gets a little older.

Pink eye

Is it possible for three-month old babies to roll their eyes? I think it is …

When I woke Emma up in the middle of the night to give her the eye drops to treat the Pink Eye she contracted; she was angry. She screamed and screamed. Immediately afterward, I nursed her to calm her down and I was telling her everything was okay. I swear looked at me with angry eyes and then rolled them as if to say, “Whatever, I hate you!”

Repeat scenario at 5 a.m. Poor baby!

I seriously ...

just want to flip off my computer screen every time I type something "wrong" into Google and it says, "Do you mean blah, blah, blah?" Like I'm a complete dumbass. Granted, sometimes I do misspell words or get phraes wrong, but not always. And shouldn't Google give its customers the benefit of the doubt?

I know I use sarcasm next to never on here, but hopefully anyone reading this knows I'm not really that upset.

Worst smells in the (motherhood)world

Spit up … that is on your left shoulder, which means you must change your shirt. This, of course, also means that you are risking dirtying another shirt because you just never know when another spit up attack will happen.

Also, formula-made bottle after it has been sitting too long. These smells are 10x worse than the dirtiest diaper I’ve changed so far.

Last night

It was the hardest so far … well minus the first two days after we brought you home from the hospital. I don’t count those days. You fell asleep (in your car seat) around 9:30 p.m. At some point, I heard you stir and I assumed it was 3 or 4 a.m.

The alarm clock said 11:22 p.m. I got you up and fed you for a while. You fell asleep and I tried to put you back down.

You weren’t having it. I had to hold you and hold you and hold you. We dozed for a little while with you on my chest and then around 3 a.m., you began wailing.

A little dazed, I got up and took you into your nursery. I unclogged your stuffy nose and even though you didn’t appreciate it, I know it helped. I also made you a bottle and at some point, your daddy got up to help. THIS MADE THE LACK OF SLEEP COMPLETELY BEARABLE.
He fed you. You fell asleep in his loving arms and then he suggested we lay you back down. I said, “Are you going to calm her back down when she starts crying again?”

It was at that point he proved me wrong. ME … your loving mother whose maternal instincts had been pretty dead-on prior to this moment.

I laid you down (in your car seat); placed the blanket across your legs and you slept like a sweet little angel. You never even kicked the blanket off!

I slept horribly for that hour and a half before my alarm went off. First, I panicked because I couldn’t hear your snotty breathing. Then I remembered that I had cleared your nasal passages. Then I had a nightmare … actually two. The first one, we were in church and for some reason all of your stuff was spread out in aisle and mass was about to start and your dad just walked away from the situation. I was horrified and completely at a loss for what to do.

In the other, you were very tiny and I had you in my pocket while I rode a bike. Somehow I ended up at the hospital, but you had fallen out somewhere along the way. I was panicking and trying to get someone to dial 911.

I have no idea what these dreams mean. All I know is I love you so much. I hate seeing you unhappy. I would be willing to give up all sleep if I never had to see you suffer again.
I am hoping your day goes better than your night. I love you, Emma Claire Bear Tison.

Cuddling

Early this morning you woke up around 4 a.m. I fed you and then laid you on my chest. You went back to sleep and I dozed on and off well past the time my alarm was supposed to go off. I was savoring every second of it. We used to cuddle like this daily. But after this morning, I realized it had been a while since we last shared time in this way and it made me sad.

You are growing up way too fast. You are the most bright-eyed, beautiful baby in the whole world and I am so lucky to not only know you, but to be your mommy. When there are several people in a room and I see you look for me, it completely melts my heart.

Thank you for giving the kind of love everyone should experience. I love you more and more each day, and every second I’m away from you, I am wishing I could hold you.

Month two

You are already accumulating a wide range of nicknames, mostly from me. Pumpkin, sweet pea, cutie pie, Emma Claire Bear … that’s my current fav.

I will probably say this every month, but I can’t believe how fast you are growing! You are so close to rolling over … just a little more and you would have it. Speaking of which, you continue to get stronger and stronger every day. You are starting to show an interest in some of your toys. I think your favorite is the doll from Grandma Spencer!

You experienced some more firsts this month. You attended your first wedding – my friend, Betsy got married in Kokomo, so you also got to visit your Grandma and Grandpa Spencer’s house for the first time. You did so great on both the car rides there and back.

You have also gotten to enjoy spending a lot of time with Grandma Bendele and Aunt Alicia. They have been taking great care of you since I returned to work. It makes me so sad to leave you each morning, but I am so comforted in knowing that you are well cared for and loved greatly.

We are looking forward to the next couple of months. Your daddy is going to start hunting soon, which will give us plenty of time to cuddle. And then the holiday season will be here before we know it. Your daddy and I are so excited to share our traditions with you and probably begin a few.

Though we’ve only known for two months, you have brought so much joy and love into our lives, and we are thankful for you!