back in the saddle (sort of)

I went on my first post-baby bike ride last night with my friend Wes. He's the best. There are these great little hilly trails along a creek here in the neighborhood. On foot they are lovely and on bike they are thrilling. Like a roller coaster. Makes you feel like you are ten years old again, flying up and down those hills, you can't help but think (or even yell out loud) "wheee!!!"

Got to be good for the soul, those kinds of things.

We did a 30 minute ride, a good start for me.

baby's first trip

We went down to visit Stephen's family last week, Stella did great. It's only about a three hour drive, and she did so well that we ended up staying a week. Lots of family and cousins around, and we even got an evening off to ourselves.

the little dictator

When she sleeps she has such a serious look on her face, and puts her arms in these dramatic positions. I know it is reflexes but I just can't help picturing her as this little dictator commanding her minions. I will have to get some pictures of it, it cracks me up. Started calling her Mussolina.

first smile

today she smiled at me, twice. this morning in the nursery. it's a whole new world.

Nine pounds of baby

At last, this baby is filling out and I can worry less about her starving. Nine pounds - yeah!

Stella is getting a cousin!

Big news from my sister and her husband, they are expecting a baby on Christmas eve. Stella and I got to go to Becca's doctor appointment with her on Monday and hear the heartbeat (Chris was in India on business), and so far the new baby sounds awesome. We are thrilled!

return to the water

Stella is four weeks old today, and I got clearance to start exercising again. yay! It has been really weird during the recovery, I would get winded just walking up the stairs.

So I am clear to walk, do ellipticals, swim and water aerobics. So tonight we went to my Wednesday night water aerobics class. Stephen brought Stella so she could meet all the nice people who helped cheer me on during pregnancy. Then I stayed and did the class. Felt really good to do it, although my body definitely feels different. Definitely more squishy in the middle. I am excited to be able to work out again, I probably need to take it a bit slow, but I am going to work on dropping another 30 pounds. Right now I have lost all the baby weight, so I think I'm in a good position to shrink some more. Metabolism is still all revved up from the pregnancy/nursing, so I'll just have to see how long I can work that.

Wish me luck!

just like on the Jetsons

We got the best mothers' and fathers' day gift from my sister Becca - web cams for us and my parents. Now we can talk online and see each other while we do it. We love it!!

We are using skype to talk, so if you want to chat drop us a line and we can put the baby on camera too. She doesn't do any real tricks yet but she sure is cute.

baby photo shoot

We had a baby photo shoot this morning in the nursery. Stella totally rocked the runway. She worked that onesie for all it was worth!
You can see more at our Flickr site.

Grandma Sugar

My mom has been here for a couple of weeks, it was hard to say goodbye to her this morning. We have been teasing her with nicknames like Grandma Sweettooth, Grandma Bakehouse, etc. But I think Grandma Sugar just might stick.

Aside from being a prodigious baker, she has been an amazing help to us, and Stella has just been soaking up the Grandma love.

We miss her already!

Hurrah for bottles

So now that we are on a bottle feeding routine, an added benefit is that anyone can feed her. Stephen has been fantastic and has been taking the night shift so I can rest more. It has been absolutely wonderful.

Return of the happy baby

So it turns out Stella was not getting enough to eat last week. She was born at 8 lbs 4 oz, but lost a pound shortly thereafter. We were happy to see her at 7 lbs 8 oz by the end of her second week and thought all was going well. Then last week we took her in to the pediatrician and she was down to 7 lbs 3 oz. Not good!

Turns out if a baby isn't eating enough they also get really cranky. Just like grown ups. Her needs simply have exceeded my supply. So we are on to a pumping routine, supplementing with formula, and I am happy to say that she is back to her old self. For a while there she was so fussy, I just didn't know what to do.

But the sun is shining in our world this week, she was up to 7 lbs 12.5 oz at her check in on Monday. Hooray! Best of all she has her mellow personality back. Life is much better and I am much more confident about taking her places and doing more.

Mini-Stephen?

So far the overwhelming consensus has been that Stella looks more like Stephen. My obstetrician even proclaimed to her office that Stephen should worship me like a goddess because I allowed his genes to get first in line and produced him a clone. ha.

So far she has my fingernails, earlobes (does it sound like I am grasping here?) and my chronic hiccups.

Good thing I like Stephen, eh?