melts my heart...

I just can't get enough of this smile!  There are starting to be gurgles and coos to go with it, not to mention the flailing arms and legs when he's excited.  He does have his share of baby gas (and therefore tears) but often he is just such a happy guy!  Mommy and Daddy love you, Levi!

forgotten...

I just realized today that I completely forgot to show you some pictures that we took while I was still pregnant!  I had forgotten about them myself, because we had them hidden away so that nobody would accidentally find them on our computer, and just today I remembered and am having some printed!  Yay!  I love finding things like this!

Levi's nickname pre-birth was "McBaby"

McBaby kicked the "Y" off of my tummy while we were taking these shots...apparently "McBab" was better?

Though we didn't have a name until the next day when Levi was first born, we had been talking about the name "Levi" for years and, at the point these pictures were taken, we thought we were decided.

just being honest...

*warning: this post is not for the faint of heart stomach*

Since this blog is about me being honest, today I'm going to be honest about why I dislike having an indoor dog.  Behold:

This is not a month's worth of dog hair, nor even merely a week.  This is daily, people.  Disgusting, no?  And before I sweep it into a looming pile of black hair, it is swirling endlessly on our nearly white linoleum floor.  So if you come to visit and notice wisps of dog hair floating around on our floor, don't jump to conclusions and assume that I haven't swept recently.  I just haven't swept since 10am that morning.

Sock Monkey: complete

It makes me happy...

I won't lie...I smile inside whenever Levi's diaper matches his outfit. 

I laughed today when...

So, today was an insane day in the city, lots of waiting and traffic and not alot of fun.  But that is a different story.  While we were in the city, though, I had some time to kill so I went into Please Mum to see if I could find any cute outfits for Levi.  I finally found my way to the back corner where the newborn stuff is and was scouting out my options - which are very limited, by the way - when the helpful sales lady offered her expertise.

"Looking for a gift?"

I replied that I was just seeing what was there and thinking of getting something for my 7 week old son.

Well, she must have missed the word "son" or something.  I should have clued in because the next thing I knew, she was trying to convince me that a 7 week old probably isn't wearing 3 month clothes anymore and that I must be mistaken.  I said that yes, he is wearing 3 month clothes, despite what your 4 month old nephew is wearing, and that, in fact, he's starting to fit into the 3-6 month size.

I shrugged it off and made a comment about how smart it was that their overalls had snaps on the bottom and how annoying infant pants are that don't have snaps.  She said, "Yes, I bet your mom would find the overalls great because the snaps make changing diapers so easy."  At this point I started to understand that something hadn't gotten through to this lady, but wondered what my mom had to do with it.  I mentioned that I would be the one changing most of the diapers.  The lady was quiet, probably wondering what was going on.  So was I...

Eventually the saleslady walked back to the til, but not before wishing me luck in finding something for my little brother.  Finally it clicked.  She thought I was a helpful older sister, probably with an absent or neglectful mother, who was the primary caregiver for her infant brother.  I laughed inside but failed to correct her.  I also didn't make eye contact with this lady for the remainder of my time in the store, a bit embarrassed for her lack of understanding, especially when Nathan and Levi joined me in the store a few minutes later.  Or did she just think that Nathan was being the helpful older brother?  hahaha.  Lovely.  No longer am I the pregnant teenage delinquent.  Now I'm reduced to being merely a helpful older sister buying clothes for her younger brother.  While it is mildly entertaining when my role is mistaken, I'd rather be recognized as the mother that I am.  Though in a few years, I'll probably not mind being the "older sister".  : D

Oh, and by the way, Please Mum is having a 50% off everything in the store sale...just so you know.

Old things new again...

I love when old things become new again.  It's such a fresh feeling, isn't it?  We have two reasons for feeling fresh in our house this week (oh come on, people...not like that).  Read on, my friends, and you too will be refreshed...

NUMERO UNO:
Does anyone remember the quilt that I made back in early 2009?  It looked something like this...actually it looked exactly like this because this is a picture of it:

 (you'll have to put the two halves together in your mind...)

Well, I didn't plan it very well and, when I cut the t-shirts up, I didn't allow for any seam allowances.  Oops!  The entire quilt was just pieces sewn together hither-nither.  The edges weren't straight and it was lumpy everywhere.  Really, it was just a terrible attempt at a quilt.  But, I was sick of the quilt being "in progress" - the top took me so long! - so I sewed on the back (which obviously didn't fit because it was all weirdly shaped) and put it away.  Done.  Or so I thought...

I got it out again a year and a half later.  Which was this summer.  When I seam-ripped the entire quilt apart.  Each.  Individual.  Square.  But today, I finally got it all put back together and done!  Again.

Round #2 looks much better:

(it still is a tad lumpy, but at least it mostly lays flat and you can actually see all of the t-shirt pieces because none of them folded over the side onto the back...)

NUMERO DOS:

And now, for the second old thing that became new at our house this week.  (Anyone who ever plans to visit us can thank us.)  Did I ever share our lovely toilet seat with you?  When we first moved in, this classy wooden toilet seat had a large crack separating the left side of the seat from the right side.  I fixed it with duct tape after a few splinter scares and yes, I took a picture:

We used the toilet like this for WAY too long - almost 4 months - and made WAY too many guests use it as well, all the while waiting for maintenance to come and fix it.  Along the way we had two helpful guests offer to fix it for us (because when we tried, the bolts were rusted on so badly that we couldn't even get the old one off) but we finally bought a new seat and fixed it ourselves!  (moral of the story...don't wait for maintenance)  And yes, I took another picture.  Because as disgusting as toilet pictures are, they will make it into my scrapbook so that my kids can look at it and be disgusted as well.

For all you out there who have been thinking of visiting, consider this your open invitation:

Advertising works on me...

Every once in a while I open some of the junk emails that I get.  I especially open the ones with subject lines like the following:

"Warm feet with the push of a button."

And if it's -40 with windchill outside, like it was yesterday, they just seem to jump out at me.  And so I came to the understanding that I need a pair of these:

So I'm not sentenced to cold feet all winter after all?!  Alas, I am.  As beautiful as this technology sounds, I'm sure it is far from affordable....I call it "survival of the richest."

These are a few of my favourite things...

Lately I have really been enjoying spending my allowance. : )  I often end up forgetting that I get an allowance, or just not buying anything for a few months and, before I know it, I am able to treat myself to a few things!

A couple weeks ago I treated myself to this:

(A one year subscription to Canadian Living...nothing like paying someone to send you mail each month!  They sent me a special offer and I was tempted.  Then they sent me an even better offer and I accepted.  $15 for a year.  My Mennonite roots are happy.  Or maybe my Mennonite roots would have held out for yet a better offer...or gone to MCC to purchase a whole box of previous issues.)

Then, this week I ordered this:

(It's a kit for that very adorable afghan.  I like to have a "winter project" each year so that I have something to do on those long winter evenings.  I like to choose something that will take longer than just a week or two.  Hopefully this blanket will keep me busy for at least a month!  And it's just so cute!  Hopefully Levi likes it...)

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Ok, so that's not much that I've treated myself to.  But our allowances aren't terribly big given our student budget (aka no income and paying tuition out the wazoo) so even this feels like a great treat!  But, just for fun, here are a few more things that I would have no problem treating myself to, if the budget allowed.

Laugh with me now.  Who wouldn't want to treat themselves to a house?  Nathan and I really enjoyed most aspects of being homeowners and are looking forward to buying our own place again one day.  One.  Day.  I'm sure it won't be this year!

         _________________________
 

A new sewing machine would be fun.  Though the one I have works wonderfully and does basically everything I need and want it to do...

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A serger.  Ever since I used one of these in high school home ec class, I've been in love.  For those of you who haven't discovered the greatness, it's a machine that makes all your edges finished (cuts off loose threads and binds the edge AT THE SAME TIME!  Love it.

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And to go with my two new machines...stacks and stacks of fabric to make things out of!  I'm especially enjoying quilting right now, but other things like bags, clothes (especially fun if I had little girls), and home decor items are lots of fun too!

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Maid Service.  Normally, I have no problem cleaning my own house.  In the past, I have found it relaxing and enjoyable.  When we got a dog, cleaning got a bit harder to stay on top of but Lennox was our baby so I did it and still rather enjoyed it.  Now we have a real baby.  Now dog hair gets on my nerves...dog hair swirling on the floor (and we sweep every day, people), dog hair on the carpet, dog hair on our clothes, dog hair in my crocheting, dog hair in Levi's hands and mouth (and he doesn't even play with Lennox yet!).  Add to that the muddy dog prints that every once in a while sneak their way across my kitchen floor and I'm ready to hire someone to keep this place clean!

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My slow cooker died (again) right in the middle of cooking us some beef dip the other day.  It's died before but Nathan was able to fix it.  This time, when I plugged it in, it didn't go on.  I wiggled the cord a bit and it worked.  Knowing it was likely to lose connection again, I checked back on it often.  About 3 hours in - 4 hours from being ready - I went to check it and it was off.  And not hot anymore.  And wiggling the cord didn't help at all.  I put our beef dip in the oven to finish cooking and threw my slow cooker across the room put my slow cooker away.  Part of the greatness of a crock pot is not having to worry about supper.  If I have to check on it constantly, doesn't that take away a little bit of the convenience?  A new slow cooker definitely makes my "treat" list!

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A moss green coverset from Creative Memories to do Levi's baby book.  They didn't have this color when I was a consultant and I really really like it!  It's not the typical baby blue, which I like.  Hmm...I might have to save up for this one...

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What would you spend your allowance on today?

Worth the Wait...

Hopefully this blog post will be so full that it'll be worth the 6 day wait since the last post.  We've been away for a few days at my parents' place but now we're home with pictures to share!  Pictures of Levi, that is.  Hope nobody minds... Enjoy!

Levi was being fussy one evening and not wanting to go to sleep.  He would fall asleep, we would put him down, and 5 minutes later he would be crying again.  I was trying to get some sewing done so after quite a time of wrestling with him, I finally just put him on the kitchen table and kept sewing.  He was content there for a long time.  When he did start fussing again, I was almost done my project and wanting to finish, so I grabbed my trusty hair dryer and turned it on beside him.  He was out in 30 seconds and slept for 40 minutes until we turned the dryer off.

Babies love loud white noise.  Things like my blow dryer, the shower, or loud rock music turn off Levi's crying like a switch!

Cousins.  Ours is the sleepy one.  He's 5.5 months younger than the girls but I don't think it'll be long before he catches up with them in size!

The three men trying to add power to Nathan's old pellet gun.  My brother, my dad, Nathan.  They were using a YouTube video for instructions, hence the laptop in front of them.

Grandma being grandma and keeping Levi happy.

Our little man all dressed up for church in blue jeans and Rider shoes.  All ready to cheer on the winning team!  Thanks for the outfit, Auntie Marsha!  Shoes compliments of Grandma M.

The first piece of clothing that I ever bought for Levi...before we knew it was Levi.

Levi has really started to interact more.  He follows Nathan and I around the room with his eyes and will sit and look at us for quite a while if we're talking to him.

More snuggles with Grandma B.  Such a wrinkled forehead!  And see that receding hairline?  It's starting to fill in again. : )

Snuggles with Grandpa B.

Pentecostal?  haha.  Praise the Lord indeed!  We love you, little man.  You're our miracle baby.  God is good!

and just because he's cute...

And another sleeping picture because who can resist a sleeping baby??  This is actually him right now, while I'm typing this.  I just took this picture.  I've become pretty skilled at typing with one hand...

And I saved the best for last.  This is his first smile caught on camera, taken just this morning.  He's been smiling for a while now, but until today I've chosen to just enjoy the moment rather than running for the camera : )

Bath time.

Less than one week old...4 weeks ago now, wow.

Levi hates bath time.  As a result, I hate bath time.  He doesn't mind sponge baths too much but the tub is his enemy.  Today he screamed the whole time (which wasn't long, I hurried as much as I could!).  Does anyone have any suggestions for helping Levi like baths?  What helped your kids enjoy bath time?

Udder Covers

If anyone missed out on the last giveaway at uddercovers.com, you have another chance at a free nursing cover!  Just go to the site, choose the cover you want (or gift set for $5 extra), add it to your cart and enter the promotional code: Thanksgiving.  This should bring your order to $0 (or $5 if you chose a gift set) and all you need to pay is the shipping - about $10 I think.  That's a pretty good price for a nursing cover, whether for yourself or as a gift.  Oh, and if you want more than one, you'll just have to place separate orders and pay the shipping for each cover.

one month.

Levi is one month old today.  If only the last month of pregnancy had gone by this fast...

One month old...

In the last month, Levi...
-  has gained approximately 2.5lbs moving from 8lbs 2oz, down to 7lbs 10oz, and up again to a whopping 10lbs 8oz currently (home measurement).
-  has gone through four packs of disposable diapers and countless loads of cloth diapers.
-  has had one insane growth spurt, eating every 1/2-3/4 hours for a few days.  (When does the next one come?  I think I'll need to - mentally - prepare myself...)
-  has gone through almost every bad breastfeeding habit in the book...but we have come out victorious! - and he still gained 2.5 lbs in just over 4 weeks, so I'd say he's doing alright : )
-  has kicked baby acne's butt
-  has met all of his uncles, aunts, grandparents, and cousins
-  has stretched out of his newborn size sleepers and is now comfy in 13lb, 3 month sleepers.
-  has given me one 6 hour break between feeds, one 5.5 hour break, and a few wonderful 5 hour breaks...all at night = awesome. (I love how this actually matters to new moms...)
-  has become a pro at holding his head up with only minimal face plants.  He has been holding his head up since day one and lifting his body weight with his legs since day two.  We sometimes call him Bam-Bam.  You know, the strongest baby ever?
-  has experienced Costco and loved it (who wouldn't?)
-  has learned to spit (spray?) and can get his mommy in the face from a good 12 inches away...twas a lovely way to wake up this morning, by the way
-  Levi's eyes have turned from a murky blue to a deep, dark brown.
-  Levi's smiles have become a daily occurrence.  And he smiles at us sometimes too.

 And because I can never choose just ONE picture...

Scary monkey...

Scary monkey not so scary.  Or Levi just can't help which direction he tips.  One of the two...

oh!

Diaper changes are so worth it when you get a big grin in return!  I thought I saw a smile (at me, not just gas) already on Monday when I was changing Levi's diaper and another on Tuesday really had me thinking that it wasn't just coincidence.  But today I definitely got a big, huge grin from the little man!  Happy four weeks, little buddy!  I can't wait to experience more of your charm!

4 weeks.

Four weeks ago today we were enjoying our first day as a family of three!  I cannot believe it's only been 4 weeks.  It feels like so long ago that we were just starting to get to know our Levi.  He's changed so much and has gone through so many different phases already.  Some days I wonder if I'm in some sort of time machine set on super-speed...

Crazy water retention from my IV...I was so puffy, especially my first day or two in the hospital.  When I got home from the hospital 4 days after giving birth, I was only down 12lbs from when I went in, and 8 of that was baby!  I must have had a few extra lbs of water on me just from my IV!

Daddy's jealous...

Who wouldn't be jealous of a red, one-piece sleeper?!

Apparently we're all ready for Christmas.  Red and green were a completely unintentional combination for early November...

What's new?

Well, the answer to that is "not much".  Life has become fairly routine around the "M" house and I think it's just perfect that way with a new baby!  (Routine is a life-saver these days.)  And I sometimes forget that people don't know what our routine is, so here is a bit of an overview of where each of us are at these days...

All ready for church, wearing "big-boy" clothes! 3 weeks, 2 days old.

Levi

Levi is growing and changing almost constantly.  I'm guessing he's over 10lbs already.  He hasn't been weighed in 2 weeks so I'm very curious to know how big he is!  I suppose I could try to figure it out with our home scale.  Hmm...I might just have to do that.  It feels like Levi has been here so much longer than just 3.5 weeks.  We know him so well.  His hungry cry is different from his pain cry.  We can tell when he's tired or when he's just content to look around (that's an easy one!).  How did I not know this little guy just 4 weeks ago?!  He is absolutely amazing and we love him so very very much.  His sleep schedule is mostly figured out, I think.  He is up for feeds at 2am and 5am most nights.  And I am so thankful for a quick eater, making our night-time feeds usually no longer than 20 minutes.  Last night went about as smoothly as I could hope.  Levi and I went to bed at 9:30 after a bedtime feed at 9:15. (I wasn't about to miss out on a couple hours of sleep if Levi was sleeping already so I went to bed when he did!)  He slept straight through until 2:15am!  (He has only slept longer than 3 hours a handful of times since he was born)  I got up, fed him and he was back in bed by 2:30am.  He then slept until 5:15am.  I fed him and he was back in bed by 5:35am.  After his 5am feed, he is usually done with his 3 hour stretches and is wanting to eat every two hours (minimum) for the rest of the day.  But an early morning is much easier to handle with a 9:30 bedtime.  If he sticks with this routine for a while, I will definitely be able to handle it.  That said, how long does a newborn stick with anything?  Things are changing much too fast and before I know it, I'm sure I'll be adjusting to something new!

Nathan

Nathan is busy these days with homework and with his "internship" at Bethany.  Working at the school (grading assignments, teaching classes, etc) takes quite a bit of time, but it is good experience for the future so hopefully it is worth all the time it is taking!  Homework is a constant as well.  There is always a textbook being read or a paper being written around here.  I think Nathan is finding it a bit hard to focus on homework when Levi is such a tempting distraction, but I think he's doing pretty well. : )  His biggest challenge will be getting the required work done on his thesis by the end of the semester.  There is not much happening with Nathan besides school right now.  (Poor guy...SO not jealous!)  But I think he's still enjoying it...and enjoying life too.  I believe he would say that the highlight of his days are the times when Levi and I join him on his daily dog walks.  What's better than a walk with your wife, son, and dog in the beautiful weather we've been having?

Me
I've been doing very well since giving birth.  Physically, I'm feeling pretty much back to my "old" self.  There is still a little bit of sensitivity around the incision site, but it is certainly nothing that slows me down. (don't worry, I'm still taking it easy...don't want to push myself and then end up paying for it later)  I was worried that the recovery time would be long with a c-section, but I've been feeling fairly "normal" since around the 2 week mark.  I think that is actually a record recovery time, and I am definitely not taking it for granted.  I am very thankful for how this recovery is going and for how good I'm feeling already.  Emotionally, I am also doing really well.  I was wondering if baby blues or post-partum depression would be a struggle, especially after dealing with infertility.  I have been pleasantly surprised at how smooth and natural the adjustment to motherhood has been.  I keep half-expecting a huge melt-down with tears and worries and tons of emotion.  But it hasn't come yet and I feel so much "myself" in this new mommy role that I'm in.  It has definitely been affirming of the feelings I've always had of just wanting to be a mom.  This really does feel like a perfect fit and I feel so unbelievably blessed to be able to do this.  After wondering for years if I would ever have a chance to be a mommy, I am thankful that I'm feeling so much at home in this role.  Definitely loving life.  I can't imagine a better fit than being Nathan's wife and Levi's mom.