Miracle Man

I took Baby to meet the man who facilitated her existence.  It was incredible to walk into the Dr.'s office and ponder the events of the past year.  We began here:

and ended here:

I will never forget Dr. Ransom.  God gave us Nora, but Dr. Ransom was the coordinator.

He's our miracle man on earth.

1,000 words

Yup.  That's how we feel.

Inconceivable

Look at what is living in my house now.  

I could just die.  And not from joy.

Kitty has wanted a lizard for many years now.  Booney hates lizards.  Lizards are creepy and weird.  Therefore, Kitty ain't got no lizard.

Until now.

Mykey thought it would be good for Kitty to have a new pet to help her be responsible.  Mykey thought a new pet would help Kitty navigate the birth of her little sister and the shift of attention to another kid.  Mykey thought Booney would be on board because she is a loving and caring individual and certainly wants the best for her children.

Mykey just doesn't think sometimes.

The very evening Mykey approached me with his ridiculous idea, a woman in our ward posted on Facebook that her son's leopard gecko needed a new home.  Mykey took that as a sign.  Booney took it as bad luck. 

Now we have a gecko.  His name is Squiggly and Kitty couldn't be more in love.  I am happy she loves him but it hasn't changed my mind about lizards. Hence, Squiggly is not allowed within 2 feet of me.  And I'm not kidding.

And then this happened.

That's a hole in the carpet where Kitty set down the heat lamp while it was on and left it there.  We had words about that.

And then this happened.

That's my oldest daughter putting a disgusting lizard near my poor, innocent baby.  We had words about that as well.

I'll admit that I am sincerely happy for Kitty and the joy Squiggly brings to her.  I guess getting the gecko was the right call.

But I'll never love him. Never.

Stats

Can you believe that Baby is one month old already?

Me neither.

Here's how she is faring thus far in her short life.  

4-day-old checkup:

6 lbs 9 oz - down 11% from her birth weight.  Her doctor wasn't pleased with this and told me to fatten her up. Challenge accepted. If there's anything I know how to do well in this world, it's making people gain weight.  Just ask my husband.

1-week-old checkup:

6 lbs 11 oz - I was doing well on my assignment. 

2-week-old checkup:

7 lbs 10 oz - Now we're really cooking!

1-month-old checkup:

8 lbs 15 oz - 48th percentile

22 in long - 91st percentile

15 in head circumference - 85th percentile (She's housing a big brain)

I continue to feel exhausted but blissfully happy to have this little person to love.

Happy 1 month birthday!

July 4th

This was our first 4th of July in TN.  Last year we were in good 'ol Ideeho as per usual.  This year we had a baby instead of traveling.

She was worth it.

I scoured the interweb to find activities to occupy our day.  Our town apparently has a huge celebration and firework show sponsored by Pepsi.  It's a shame they held it on the 3rd and we missed it.  The 3rd!  Luckily Kitty and Michael were able to see the tailend of the fireworks show outside our house. We heard the booming as we were reading scriptures and out they ran to investigate.  They reported that it was a nice show and they enjoyed it.  Next year we'll set up our camp chairs and watch the entire presentation.

But for this year, what to do?

I found an advertisement for a boat parade so off we drove to the dam in search of a good time.  It took a while of circling to find an acceptable viewing spot.  I sat on a boulder and Mykey opted for a pile of dog poo in the grass.  Weird choice.  I had the esteemed job of using 182 baby wipes to clean off his rear end.

We waited and waited and waited until the parade finally began.  And guess what happened next?

We couldn't see the boats!  They were so far away in the middle of the lake that they looked like toys.  The other spectators assured us that last year the boats were closer to the shore and you could actually see them.  Well, that doesn't help me now, does it?

We and the other spectators retreated to our cars in disappointment.  But at least the view was gorgeous.

No matter, I had also discovered a real parade down the main street of a neighboring town.  After lunch we headed to see a parade not in miniature scale.  And guess what happened next?

The parade lasted 10 minutes and was just pick-up trucks and cars.  They did throw candy so there was that.  The only good part was a Native American couple was dressed in traditional clothing dancing and chanting.  That, and the woman sitting next to us who asked Michael if Baby was his granddaughter.  And she had a cheek full of chaw.  And right before the parade began she spit it out at our feet.  

Ahhh...new experiences are the spice of life.

But don't worry...we were sitting right outside of an arcade so it wasn't a total loss.  Kitty rocked it at Fruit Ninja and got to put her name on the high score list!

We retreated to our car in mild disappointment and went home.  We spent the remainder of the evening eating pizza and watching a movie.  It was an interesting day.

Happy bizarre 4th of July to us!

Guests

My sissy came to visit from Rhode Island.  She plans trips far in advance.  I mean far in advance.  Far like: let's-go-on-vacation-together-in-three-years-but-we'll-start-looking-at-hotel-rooms-now kind of planning.  When she asked me months before the baby was born when we were going to bless her, I stared blankly and drooled.  

Good thing she asked.  I hadn't even considered when we should bless the baby.

To summarize: my sissy wanted to come visit when the baby was blessed. Therefore, I had to choose a date far, far in advance.

I tell you my sissy came with 3 of her daughters and 1 of her husbands, but I don't really have much photo evidence.  You'll have to trust me on this one.  And also trust me when I say that it was a wonderful time and she didn't stay nearly long enough.  I cried when she left.  

But don't tell her that.  I don't want her to think that I love her.

The best part of my sissy's visit was that she brought me 2 boxes of Phillips Chocolates from Boston.  That alone was worth the 12 hour drive.  Well, it was for me anyway.

We didn't do anything particularly spectacular since I'm still recovering from birthing a human.  We celebrated my niece's 12th birthday, swam in the pool, went for a walk and discovered my other niece didn't pack shoes but merely dollar store flip flops, ate delicious barbeque, played cards, went to our cousin's daughter's baptism, laughed and visited, and on one day everyone went to Dollywood and Buc-ees without me.  Thank goodness. I too tired.  My nieces also held the baby and doted over her nonstop.  It was wonderful. And they even brought a hand-crocheted blanket and fox. Amazing!

Oh! And Michael blessed the baby.

I'm incredibly grateful to have siblings who are also my friends.  I'm also grateful for the Phillips Chocolates.

Mostly for the chocolates.