Parenthood is continuing to be quite time consuming! Everytime I think to sit down and update the blog, I can never actually get around to it. Now that Ethan is back at work, my days are simultaneously boring and hectic. I don't actually DO much of anything, and yet I'm extremely busy. Ethan will get home and ask what I've done with my day (after glancing around at our apartment, which has slowly devolved into piles of laundry, bottles, toys, burp clothes, and the like) and I proudly tell him that I fed Maddy every 2-3 hours, changed about 14 diapers (sometimes within a mere seconds of one another as Maddy has the tendency to deliver what we refer to as "the two-for-one special"), and took a shower. On a good day, I have a chance to eat something before 2pm. How can one little person take up so much time? Simple. She, like all babies, prefers to be held and rocked. Though I can occasionally put her down in her swing or bouncy seat for a few blissful minutes, most of the time I am balancing her in one hand and trying to do something else with the other. She is happiest in my arms...but if I am honest, I'm happiest when I am holding her. This obviously works in both our favors, though our style has its critics and organizational chaos is now ruling over our physical domain. I did experiment a bit this week with some of our slings, and they do make it easier to accomplish more while also having Maddy close to me. It's hard to feel too badly about how little I am doing, though, since I actually have a quite important job being a mother and I am doing that quite well!
Over the past few weeks we have had some wonderful visits with friends. Its been so much fun to introduce Maddy to the special people in our lives, and we have been both amazed and touched by how many folks have reached out to us in the past six weeks. Madelyn's bedroom is filled with gifts and we are falling further and further behind on our thank-you notes (apologies to those of you who haven't yet heard from us; we aren't intentionally being delinquent with our appreciation!) We are blessed to be surrounded by so much love, and I've enjoyed making even more friends recently through a new mother's group that I've been attending on a weekly basis. It's been really helpful to connect with other women who are going through similar experiences as me. The babies are adorable, and I was really relieved to hear that many of the mothers have had a difficult time breastfeeding. I haven't yet given up on it; I take it day by day and we seem to be doing better. Maddy hit nine pounds this past week, and family and friends have commented on how much bigger she is getting. This makes me feel an unusual swell of pride, likely because we've worked so hard to ensure that she continues to be healthy and happy.
Another exciting development these past few weeks was the engagement of my sister, Lindsey, to her boyfriend, Scott. We are very happy to be officially welcoming him into the family and looking forward to hearing the details of when and where the wedding will take place!
Maddy also exercised her civic duty in early November by accompanying us to the polls and casting her vote by proxy! Ethan and I were both thrilled with the outcome of the election. We are very excited by Obama. I find him incredibly inspiring and feel an immense sense of relief and hope now that he'll be in office. I also am experiencing a renewed interest in politics and am eager to see what kinds of changes take place in the coming months.
I am going to try and be better about staying current with blog posts. So much seems to be happening lately, and Maddy is changing every day. She recently started to smile and I can't properly convey the elation that courses through my body when this occurs. It's not yet frequent, nor is it exactly clear to me what she is smiling at or about. However, it is the most gorgeous sight to behold and we can't wait to see that gummy little grin as it emerges more often. As for the title of this post, it is the inscription on the back of a charm necklace that I recently came across. It seems to perfectly express our current state of being as we relish in our new roles and continue falling in love with our daughter. Joy abounds!
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