I did it!

Small and mighty, miss Drew Alexandria joined our family on Tuesday, June 23rd weighing in at 5 pounds, 15 ounces.



My labor was fast, and ended dramatically when she made a speedy entrance into the world, surprising all the nurses and causing my midwife to nearly miss the whole thing (this happened when Addison was born too).



We're home now and all is going swimmingly! She's a peaceful baby, and I'm so full of joy, I can hardly contain myself....

My mom's friend writes limericks for fun for such special occasions and I thought I'd share this one with you!

There once was a baby named Drew,
Who thought that her birth was past due.
So out she came, early,
More girly than burly,
And made all her peeps feel brand new!

xoxo

waiting for my real life to begin

I'd never heard this song by Colin Hay until today.

It makes a beautiful soundtrack while on bedrest and waiting for the arrival of a baby girl.

honesty

When I had Addison 3 1/2 years ago, I was 25. Not terribly young to be starting a family, but by far the first of any of my friends or family to have a baby. Addison was born in the dead of winter, days before Christmas, and to be honest, my entry into motherhood was a painfully traumatic transition in my life. Like many mothers, I was overwhelmed by my new responsibilities. The night wakings were difficult for me, and I literally did not sleep for more than 3 hours at a time for the first 7 months of Addison's life. I spent my maternity leave feeling isolated due to the wintry weather, my inability to drive (I won't get into it here, but I did not obtain my driver's license until I was 26), and, primarily, the reality that most of my friends were busy starting their careers, working 40 hour work-weeks, and staying out late at bars on the weekends. I spent most of my days on leave at home, alone, counting the hours until my husband would be home from work. I really tried to keep a positive attitude during this time, but the loneliness and responsibilities were frequently more than I could handle emotionally.

I'm happy to say that this darker period in my life has passed. With one month to go until my baby girl arrives, I am excited to do things differently this time. Much has changed. I drive. I know the fun places to go with babies and small children in tow. Most importantly, we now have a large community of supportive friends who also have children. And, I'm excited to have a summer baby and enjoy much of my maternity leave enjoying the outdoors during the best months Oregon has to offer.

I still have little anxious moments that it will be too hard. That I won't be able to handle all the change and newness and responsibility. But those moments are fleeting, and I do my best to let them pass me by.

I truly want to enjoy every little moment of having this new baby girl. I'm really ready for all that life will bring me over the next few months. Ready and armed with a smile and open arms.

a different kind of labor

Of all the things that a parent goes through.... pregnancy, labor, sleepless nights, tantrums and more, I had no idea that finding good child care would be such a drain on my energy.

First, I should mention that our family is super fortunate and blessed to have one of Addison's grandmothers, my mother-in-law, Cheryle, living close by and always willing to help out whenever she can. She was his sole care provider for the first two years of his life while I worked part time, and she continues to be available for afternoon pick-ups, sick days and the occasional scheduling snafu. This has been an amazing gift to our family in many many ways, and I have tried to always recognize how lucky we are and show appreciation, but I'm sure I still manage to take it for granted on some level.

After 6+ months of researching daycare facilities and other child care options, we finally found a school for Addison that we felt comfortable with, we could afford, and was fairly close by. He's been here for over a year, and we have been really happy with it. I was so happy we waited for the right place to come into our lives before we finally enrolled him.

Now, a little over a year later, we find ourselves in child care transition again, and the process has been difficult. Researching, open houses, tours, more research, dead-ends, filling out forms, long waitlists, exorbitant fees, turn-offs, let downs, waiting with baited breath, miscommunications, and on and on and on.... I keep thinking to myself, Why does this have to be SO hard?

I don't have answers. I wish I did. My heart goes out to all the other mothers out ther who are having similar experiences... I guarantee I'm not alone in this.

I'm just still waiting and hoping and praying that the school we've got our sight on now comes through for us so we don't have to start this exhaustive process all over again from square one.

Wish us luck.

She's so real

I dreamt about my baby girl last night. The vision of her was so clear, so real. She had a head of short dark hair and clear, light hazel eyes. She looked a little like me as a baby. But prettier...

She brings me so much joy already, even when she's kicking my insides in uncomfortable places. It just makes me giggle. I think this is how motherhood is supposed to feel.

Hot Beer and Harriet

Thank you, Amy, for sharing a link to these amazing historical volumes on cooking and keeping a home in the late 18th to early 20th century. I, too, could spend hours looking at these windows into the past.
Feeding America: The Historic American Cookbook Project



After delving into the world of "Aunt Babette," I learned that we make coffee the same way she did 141 years ago. But she had some other interesting ideas for drinks, like Eierbier (Beer with eggs in it..mmmm) and Hot Beer (Hot beer with eggs and milk...whoa).












In another volume, The American Woman's Home, by Harriet Beecher Stowe (remember Uncle Tom's Cabin?), I found evidence of her early efforts for gender equality.




"The authors of this volume, while they sympathize with every honest effort to relieve the disabilities and sufferings of their sex, are confident that the chief cause of these evils is the fact that the honor and duties of the family state are not duly appreciated, that women are not trained for these duties as men are trained for their trades and professions, and that, as the consequence, family labor is poorly done, poorly paid, and regarded as menial and disgraceful.

"To be the nurse of young children, a cook, or a housemaid, is regarded as the lowest and last resort of poverty, and one which no woman of culture and position can assume without loss of caste and respectability.

"It is the aim of this volume to elevate both the honor and the remuneration of all the employments that sustain the many difficult and sacred duties of the family state and thus to render each department of woman's true profession as much desired and respected as the most honored professions of men."

It is easy to discount the past, finding humor in the ignorance, mistakes, and follies of people who lived before us. I like this passage because it reminds that women not only fought for equal voting rights, but for keeping a home and raising children to be respected and on equal standing ground with men's professional work.

I don't think we've quite arrived yet, since child care is still one of the lowest paid professions, but we have come a long way.

Thank you to all those who have gone before!