2 Months!

Today, my little Lily Bean is 2 months old. I can't believe she is already 2 months, times flies when you are having fun (and when you are up at least once a night). We took the monthly picture of her cute little self this morning, though she really didn't want to smile (I did get one good smile, though). She is off at grandma and grandpa R's house today, so Tom and I could spend some time together before school begins. This also meant a mass cleaning of the house because Lord know when it will get a good cleaning again!

Earlier this month Lily met Ben, her future husband. Ben is Kara's son (Kara is my and Tom's co-worker and friend). Kara and I were pregnant together at school and always joked that Ben and Lily would be the product of an arranged marriage. We got some cute pics of the kids together. Lily (and I) look forward to future play dates!

3 nights of sleeping for 7 hours!

So for the past three nights Lily has successfully slept for 7 hours through the night! Two of those nights were 11p-6a and one was 10:30p-5:30a. Either way, that is some good sleeping. It has definitely been nice getting more sleep and having her on something of a sleeping schedule. I keep waiting for this schedule to change, though, so I try not to get too excited...

This week Lily joined us at school to get my room started and go over HSA materials. During the HSA meeting she was a perfect angel...mostly looking at Becky and making her laugh (which, is kind of humorous when Becky is saying "How can we focus on getting FARMS students' scores higher?...Hi Bean! Anyone have ideas?". She did a pretty good job for it being a longer day at school, she even felt comfortable enough to poop through her diaper, onesie, and pants. That was a fun diaper change for mommy.

I will miss my Bean terribly when school starts, but I know she is in capable hands at my parents' house and then at daycare. I have mixed feelings about going back to school; I am enjoying these days with my wonderful co-workers, but I know once school starts the stress will begin. I truly love what I do, but with high stakes testing the schoolhouse has become a kid factory, pumping out graduates. It makes me sad to see learning so focused on one test. I would rather freely do what I thought I was hired to do-- enrich students' lives through literature. I look at Lily and wonder what her education will be like. I feel grateful that she was born into a family who values education. I hope that she can develop the love for learning that I had, and still have. I want school to be a sanctuary for her, not a factory like it seems to be now.

Of course...

...without fail I will sit down to pump and Lily will start screaming. She will be sound asleep, I will put her in her swing (a swing that she normally loves), and as soon as I am "hooked up" WAHHHHHH begins. No amount of cooing, talking, reasoning (ok, maybe not reasoning), will help her to calm down. Unlike Lily, Fred snoozes through everything, so he is on the couch asleep. If one can be jealous of a dog, I am.

Onto a more exciting topic...my brother comes home from China this weekend! He left June 12, just 8 days before Lily made her entrance into the world, so he has never met her. He has seen her pictures and we have sent updates, but I am just so excited for him to meet her. He will also be her godfather, so that is super special! After 2 months abroad, I am pretty sure Tim is ready for some American food. He has strongly conveyed his dislike of Chinese food, especially the soup. I suppose we should have a big, juicy burger with fries waiting for him when he gets off the plane. Oh, and, interesting fact...he will get 2 Sundays this week...a Chinese one and an American one!

Finally, we have set a date for Lily's baptism-- October 8. My uncle Dan, who is a deacon, will perform the baptism. I am oddly excited. Maybe it has something to do with my devout adoration of Mary (this dates back to four-year-old me pretending to be Mary at Christmas) or the idea that Lily's baptism will be the first big event in her life. Despite some of the problems within the Catholic Church, I am glad that Lily will have some form of religion in her life. I believe that the morals that a person gains through religion, or any form of belief system, is invaluable. Plus, a little bit of good old fashioned Catholic guilt never hurt anyone. (Sarah and I also came up with some catchy slogans for a baptism-- our best, in my opinion-- "How do you get defeat the devil? I do it with a little holy water and cooking oil!" Ok, so it's not cooking oil, it's holy oil, and this slogan may get us excommunicated, but we think it is pretty catchy!

Wedding!

Yesterday our friends Glenn and Jess tied the knot. The wedding was beautiful and it was held at one of my favorite places-- Loyola. Jess looked beautiful and Glenn looked very handsome. The reception was great and marked my first alcoholic drink post-pregnancy (it was champagne, for those wondering)! It was really nice to get out and have a night dressing up, dinner, dancing, and friends...but I missed my Bean. Apparently, she decided to be as hungry as possible and drank basically everything that was left for her. When we got home she was sound asleep in my mom's arms, and, fortunately for us, she slept for four more hours after we got to bed (so we got some decent sleep after the fun). Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Savage!!

Pictured Above: The newlyweds! To the left: Tom and I before the reception. Six weeks postpartum...not too bad!

1 month!

So this is a little overdue, but last week Lily turned one month old! She has started smiling and cooing like crazy. I love talking to her and watching her kick her legs and move her arms.

Lily also went to the mall for the first time. If she is anything like her momma she will love shopping! She slept through her first trip, which was great. She loves to move and the stroller and car put her right to sleep. Hopefully, we can have some more mall trips soon (Tom may not want us to have more mall trips soon...).

"Not my daughter, you bitch!"

Today I went to see Harry Potter with my friends from school. It was amazing! My favorite part- in the book and the movie- is when Molly Weasley confronts Bellatrix after she (Bellatrix) tries to harm Ginny (Molly's daughter) (pardon my explanation of characters, while I assume most of you have read HP, some of you probably have not...and if you haven't...go read them...now!). Molly looks straight at Bellatrix, exclaims "Not my daughter, you bitch!", and kills her. It is awesome and, I think, shows the strength of the bond between mother and child. Molly is the ultimate mom heroine.

Watching HP as a mom gave me a completely different view of so many things in the movie. There are so many parent-child relationships that are highlighted: the Malfoys, the Potters, the Weasleys. Each relationship is a little different, but underlying each of these relationships is the love that the families share. Yes, even the Malfoys have love. I completely lost it when Harry saw his parents before he confronted Voldemort. When Lily says, "You have been so very brave, sweetheart" I just burst into tears. Lily Potter, who gave the ultimate sacrifice for her child by dying for him, shows that she is still with him even after her death. Harry knows he has love...and that love will conquer all (even a freaky snake dark lord)...and, in the end, it does.



It's been a while...

I haven't posted in a while, so I thought I would give some quick updates...

Lily is 3 weeks old (almost 4 weeks old)! She will be one month old on Wednesday, July 20. I can't believe it has been a month since she was born! She changes so much every single day; I wish I could just bottle up her baby-ness and keep it forever. Her smells and her sounds and her littleness. Each day brings something different...she learns something new, or does something new that we can celebrate. Heck, we celebrate when she burps (my dad wanted to know why, when a baby burps, everyone is excited, but when he burps everyone goes DENNIS! GROSS! haha)!

I think one of the best things about being a momma is seeing each day as a brand new one. Everything is fresh through Lily's eyes. She has so many milestones ahead- smiling, laughing, sitting up, walking. I look forward to experiencing every last one of them. It is all just beginning for her. I just so happen to be lucky enough to share this journey with her. Being a mom is definitely the best job in the world.

Just playing with my toys!