No one ever told me...

Things no one ever told me about having a child...
-I would get so teary-eyed over the silliest things.  My professor was so understanding and supportive letting me turn in my final paper late and asking to see pictures.  I am so grateful for such a great teacher!
-I would get distracted by 50 different things only to drop them all when my baby squirmed in his sleep.
-I would wake up every 15 minutes, worried he wasn't breathing or might choke.
-I would be excited about poop.
-I would wash bottles 4 times per day.
-I would turn the heat up and down constantly to make sure my baby was warm enough, cool enough, comfortable enough.
-I wouldn't care about spit up on my clothes, but I would rush to change my baby at the slightest drop on his clothing.
-I would stay home for days in a row and be perfectly happy about it.
-I wouldn't have time to eat, empty the dishwasher, brush my teeth, take a shower, read my email.

I'm sure there are many more things that we didn't know, but are continuing to learn along the way.  Like, it's okay if that load of laundry lays on the floor for a day...or two.  It's okay to snuggle and go back to bed until 10am.  A baby spits up... A LOT, but they will not starve to death.  Projectile spit up doesn't concern a baby.  They will go right back to sleep.
Our blog is likely to be very different now that Aaron has arrived.  I have not cooked a meal in over a week, which is strange and not like me.  I feel like I've lost a little bit of myself, at least temporarily, until we can establish a routine and figure out how to change our lives to fit everything else back into it.  Slowly but surely, we are getting there.  We've been able to take a shower every day so far.  HUGE accomplishment.  Today, I got to make coffee for myself, and I got to drink it before it got cold!  In short, we welcome you to our baby chronicles.  Hope you enjoy!

So many choices..

There are decidedly too many choices and decisions to make in preparing for a child.  Should we buy a dresser?  Do you think these storage cubes are good enough?  Should we just hang their clothes?  What about diapers...cloth, disposable?  You mean there are more than 1 kind of cloth diaper?  What should this kid come home in?  How do I dress a newborn?  What if they don't fit in the "coming home" outfit?  Do you think this outfit would be warm enough in December?
How in the heck do people make these decisions?  So far, here's what we've decided.  We did get a dresser, as we would need one most likely in the future and the closet is getting quite small already!  We're going with cloth diapers, the pocket kind.  We've gotten some pointers on washing these bad boys and I really hope it's as simple as we've been told.  Sounds like we should buy two sizes of coming home outfits, in case our kiddo is small...or big.  Apparently sometimes you aren't able to put your child in a snow suit or warm blanket/gown.  So instead, do we dress our kid in a super warm outfit?  At this point, I'm planning on a long sleeved onesie and an outfit with long sleeves and pants or a jumper.  Plus, it was suggested to have a hat and socks/booties.
I guess at this point I'm soliciting "advice" or help from my experienced friends and family members.  What did you do?  How did you decide?  Thanks in advance for all of the suggestions.  I look forward to the life lessons, suggestions and advice that everyone has experienced along the way!

FRIDAY and Progress

While I normally don't work a full Friday anyway, due to my typically 8+ hour days, today was even better.  I only had to work 2 hours this morning and it's almost like a three day weekend!  Boy do I need it! I've been pretty tired lately and actually sleeping pretty hard most nights, so rest sounds like the right solution.  We are 23 1/2 weeks down, with only 16 1/2 weeks left to go, assuming this Lil Apple comes on time.  We did not find out what we are having in terms of gender and are excited about the surprise.  The unfortunate part of this is that all clothing we have received is green, yellow or some variation thereof.  But it's baby clothes so they are cute either way.  We keep forgetting to take pictures on a weekly basis but there is not much of a bump to share, so you'll have to live without those pictures.  We do have Ultrasound pictures and Ben posted them here: Ultrasound Baby Haylett.  We are looking forward to December already, and NOT for weather related reasons.  We are starting to stock up on diapers and I'm questioning my thrifty store brand theory when it comes to these important items.  Any suggestions from current parents regarding diapers, wipes and if Brand name is worth it regarding these items?  I look forward to hearing the responses!

News

I finally got around to filling the bird feeder this Spring and I feel it was just in time.  We now have finches enjoying the seed and the cats enjoying the view.  Most days, I don't even notice the birds out on the feeder until I start hearing Coda chirping and flicking his tail around spastically.  A quick glance out the window and sure enough, there is a gold finch.  While I hate the mess that gets made with all the seed, I love watching the birds.  I always say that if I could be any other animal, I'd want to be a bird.  Can you imagine being able to fly?  Really, that's my only ambition for life as a bird, to fly.  I would want to still have the same intelligence as I do now, just able to fly.  Maybe technology will make this a reality for me in this lifetime.

In other news, Ben and I are expecting an addition to our family in December!  We are excited and nervous and can't wait to see how our lives will change.  This blog may change focus as the focus of our family changes, but I'm hoping that I get back to posting delicious recipes, which is why I started this thing in the first place!

While we are excited, we continue to think of our friends who are struggling and frustrated with fertility challenges.  We are thinking of you!  Know that we are here to support you and help in any way that we can!

IDK

I couldn't think of anything witty for the subject so there ya go.  This past week was awful but I ended up with almost a 12 mile week, which was were I had been before.  Only this week, 3.5 of those were walking.  I didn't count the possibly gazillion miles we walked at the State Fair.  I just call them "bonus miles."  Hopefully this week goes better.  I already got a strength training work out in and tomorrow is a four miler, if it isn't dark.  However, without having a respite client this week in the A.M. I really have no excuse...damn.  

On a funner, yes funner note:  my college friend Ellyn is gonna have a baby!  I can now officially use two hands to count the number of pregnant people that I know and/or work with.  I keep telling Ben that this is a sign but he seems to be the more practical? one about it.  Yes, the question mark is there on purpose because as many know/say:  If you wait til you can afford it, you will never have kids.  Well......I guess we are never having kids based on the monetary criteria.  We are by no means broke but floating along just fine, however, my lovely and wonderful opposite is thinking just opposite of me.  Patience is not a virtue I possess and I am hearing an almost constant ticking in my brain on a daily basis.  If only I could transport this noise into his, maybe he would more quickly change his mind.  I will keep you posted on this...however, I think it may be awhile.  Til then!