Westside Visit

Dear Life,

Today I visited my coworkers and saw some of my former students at Westside Elementary. I didn't think I'd notice how much I truly missed them all, but being back made me a little sad.

I don't ever wonder if I made the right choice staying home. I love love love being able to cuddle my sweet girl whenever I want, sleep on her schedule, actually see my husband, and keep our house relatively functional. I cannot even begin to imagine the stress of teaching and figuring out mom-ness. Sometimes I do wish I could do it all though. :)

Yours Truly,

Molly

Sleeping Babe

Dear Life,

I know it's silly, but I'd really like to whip out my video camera while Emberly sleeps or just chills in my arms to capture the precious sounds, smiles, whimpers, sneezes, hiccups, cries, dreams, laughs, yawns, and breaths she takes. Have you heard a baby breathe lately? It is seriously the most captivating sound. Maybe I'm just sleep deprived and crazy but I could just sit with her in my arms forever listening to her breathe and it would never get old.

Today I feel like it's going a little too fast. Slow down sweet Emberly! How in the world can you be four weeks old tomorrow? I am taking all of these mental snapshots of the sweet sounds and cries and sneezes and it is just not good enough.

I know you won't enjoy this video of my sleeping babe the same way I do, but hey, it's not about you anyway. :) I blog so I remember the moments and hopefully I will someday get to share them with my sweet Emberly and she will get a glimpse of how fast we fell madly in love with her.

Yours Truly,
Molly

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

- Matthew 7:11 -

Stars

Dear Life,

Emberly discovered the star mobile hanging over her swing yesterday. She watched it SO intently for the longest time. Then her eyes became heavy and she gave into sleep. :)

She is also going through a growth spurt. She is fussier than her normal self and she wants to eat every hour or so. So we've embraced the "frequency days" mentality around here and I have a cozy spot set up with music, iPad, water, snacks, books and of course the cuddly fussy, sweet Emberly babe. It is a gloriously beautiful day outside, so next time I finish feeding her I am going to quickly plop her in the stroller so I can get in a quick walk before she's starving again. :)

That's about all for now!

First Date

We did it. We went on our first date since Emberly has arrived! We gave her a bath, fed her, and dropped her off at Grandpa and Grandma’s house. Then like silly kids we drove the van with the windows down, sunroof open, and music blaring to Johnny Carinos. We enjoyed a nice dinner and I only checked my phone 20-30 times in the 30 minutes we were at the restaurant to make sure Grandma didn’t need anything. :) As we were leaving though, we got a text saying Emberly was sleeping like an Angel. Ahhh, sigh… all is well. (As if I expected anything different!)

We had a little extra time before my sweet ticking time bomb would be hungry again, so we went to the mall and browsed a bit. Then, totally defying any sense of practicality we ordered a $7 piece of cheesecake from the Green Mill and picked it up Carside-to-Go to devour as our dessert! Yum.
All around it was a delightful evening, but I was ready to get back to check on Emberly. I’m thankful, however, for the undivided time with Jordan. I love just doing life with him, so I feel like we are always just living on a date, but I know as Emberly grows it will be important to make sure my time with him comes first. We wanted to be sure to set that pattern early. He’s pretty wonderful.

Now my sweet angel is tucked into bed, so it’s time for me to crash too. We sleep in 4 hour blocks these days, which is lovely and awful all at the same time. (Did I mention that Jordan scooped Emberly up and took her on an errand and to visit her Auntie Kendra this morning so I could sleep an extra hour? Ahhh… Lovely.) Anywho… goodnight and sweet dreams!

Discoveries

- It is impossible to get ANYTHING done when you have a cute, smushy, cuddly baby to hold. Today, however, I discovered the wonderfulness of a Moby Wrap. Heavenly. If you have a cute, smushy, cuddly baby, you need one of these.
- Boppy pillows are the best invention ever.

- I LOVE love LOVE cloth diapers. It brings a smile to my face each and every time I put one on Emberly. I secretly think she is also smiling as I put one on her (often disguised by fussing and crying…).

- It is possible to be very sick of sweet lullabies in a matter of 2+ weeks. Today I purchased a new CD thanks to the recommendation of a dear friend. Hopefully alternating between the two (for now) will help.

- I am terrible at using a nursing cover, therefore do not plan on leaving the house ever. Well… ok, I will eventually have to leave the house, but it will be strategically planned for a time with a full tummied baby.

- I may never get thank-you notes written for the wonderful gifts we received at the hospital and once arriving home. So if you gave us a gift… THANKS! :) (Just kidding… kind of…)

- I get super excited for packages in the mail from Cottonbabies.com. WAY excited.

- Burp rags are now a part of my wardrobe and Emberly only spits up when I forget to wear one.

- When Emberly cries and I can’t calm her, it makes me want to join in the crying party.

- Baby lotion smells good for the parents.

- I have NO idea how parents of multiple children stay sane, or awake for that matter.

- Cute baby clothes were invented to make parents poor. Not only can they only wear them for a few weeks, but they prefer diaper butts anyway.

- I cannot imagine thinking about going back to school in 3 weeks. I am so very thankful that my gracious and loving husband is allowing me to be at home for the school year and providing for our family.

- Cloth diaper blogs are totally addicting to read. (www.theclothdiaperwhisperer.com is my favorite!)


- I will never be caught up on laundry ever again.

- I love being a mom and I pray every day that Emberly will turn out ok in spite of all of the things I mess up as I try to figure out what I'm doing. :)

Thursday

I’m keeping this post titled “Thursday” even though it is now Saturday night because I did in fact write it on Thursday, and then was distracted by Emberly and life and being a wife and visitors and everything else, and am just now posting it. That should explain how life has been going lately! We sleep very little and cuddle lots. That’s about all that is new. Just so you know, the pictures I referenced ordering on the post below are still not ordered, Emberly and I did in fact go to Jordan’s softball game that night, and I have accomplished nothing more since my Thursday of productivity. So… here is my Thursday post:
Dear Life,

In the past four nights we’ve had a night with Emberly sleeping VERY little, two nights of waking up every 4 hours, and one night of sleeping 8 consecutive hours without waking. Can you guess which one was my favorite?

Today Jordan went back to work and Emberly and I have been chilling at home on our own. We miss Jordan’s amazing swaddling skills, diaper changing quickness, and willingness to help with any and every thing that comes up. We’re thankful though that he has such a wonderful job and is such a hard worker, so we will just patiently wait for him to get home.

I was a little uncertain I’d be able to accomplish anything today… Emberly is just slightly distracting afterall. BUT… I have showered and gotten ready for the day, done 3 loads of laundry, (including my first cloth diaper load!) emptied the dishwasher and washed the dishes by the sink, made the bed, and tidied up around the house. Emberly and I have also managed to get in a great amount of cuddle time and she has continued to sleep sleep sleep through the day.

Daddy-o will be home soon so I am off to order a few pictures before he gets home so we can eat dinner together before he heads off to softball. We are still undecided about whether or not we’ll attempt to go cheer him on. It’s a CHILLY fall day!

Yours Truly,
Molly

P.S. Here are a few of the pictures I’m ordering – taken once again by my dear sister-in-law, Kendra, of KendraLove Photography. Thanks Kendra!

Life as the Wobbema Trio

Dear Life,

The ‘Wobbema Trio,’ as I now like to call us, woke up at 8:30 yesterday morning feeling quite refreshed and slightly adventurous and decided to head to the lake to visit Grandma and Grandpa Johnson. It was an absolutely beautiful 75 degree day. Emberly slept ALL the way to the lake and ALL the way home like a little trooper. She was awake a little bit more during the day and she seemed to enjoy the breeze on her face outside. Jordan caught a limit of trout and helped pull in the boat lift and dock, Grandma got to snuggle Emberly and show her off to the neighbors, and I was brave enough to leave Emberly for a whole hour (the longest we’ve been apart in 10 months!) to go 4-wheeling with Jordan. All around, it was a perfect day!

Today we went to church at 11 and ate a delicious lunch with Grandma and Grandpa, (we are SO spoiled!) and came home to take naps. I’m not sure if the nap was more for Emberly or myself. It was a glorious hour and a half, and it was much needed. (Ask Jordan. He will confirm that.) Funny what a little sleep will do to your mental state! PLUS… when I woke up Jordan had folded the giant mound of laundry and vacuumed the house and sorted through some of the mess that had accumulated around the house. Thank you wonderful husband! I do not know what I will do when you go back to work!

That’s all for now. Oh! P.S. We put the first (seemingly giant!) cloth diaper on Emberly this afternoon! No wetness or poop yet… we shall see how it holds up! But boy is it cute on her little tushie!

Yours Truly,
Molly

Day 9

Dear Life,

I cannot believe that our dear Emberly is already 9 days old! It is all a bit of a blur in my mind already… so I figured I better quick write things out as I remember them before I lose them completely.

Here’s the story…

Apparently 9 months wasn’t long enough to be all cozy together.

It was Tuesday, August 30th, and I was out running a few errands. I had just picked up a few ink cartridges for the printer and had my first experience telling the man at the shop who inquired about my due date that I was in fact “overdue.” I drove to the fabric store after that, thinking that I would occupy my mind by making a few hair flowers for our dear sweet baby on the way. My mom was nearby, and she met me there for a little shopping. I was feeling a little crampy, but nothing unusual while shopping. As we were leaving the store I told my mom that I wasn’t feeling well and that maybe I was hungry. She said, “maybe you’re in labor!” I laughed and thought “yeah right” and we decided we’d go eat at Olive Garden.

We ordered some pasta, enjoyed our meal, and stood up to leave at about 6:10. When we stood up to leave, my water broke. Yup, right there at Olive Garden. Praise the Lord it was not noticeable (I don’t think!)… we walked right out of the restaurant, got to our separate vehicles, and climbed in. I hadn’t said anything to my mom at this point, because I was still in shock and not entirely sure if I had just wet my pants or if my water broke. As my mom was about to back out I rolled down my window to get her attention and said, “uh… I’m pretty sure my water just broke.” Her reaction? “Are you serious?!” “Yup. Pretty serious.” She handed me a plastic bag to sit on, we drove home as I called Jordan at work, then grabbed my things and mom took me to the hospital. Jordan scurried to get cleared at work to meet us there.

When we got to the hospital, I wasn’t having any contractions, so they decided to start me on petocin to get things rolling. It was 9:30 at that point. By 10:30 I felt the contractions start kicking in, I was dilated to between a 4-5 by 12:30 at which point I got an oh so heavenly epidural, and was about to take a little nap when my blood pressure started dropping. They got me on some oxygen and all that jazz, and by about 4:30 I was able to start pushing. Dear baby Emberly was born at 6:08am. Two minutes short of 12 hours later.

Oh, did I mention that Dr. Vetter was called just sightly on the late side? They said he’d get there in 15 minutes and it was almost 35. I had to stop pushing and wait for him. Let me just tell you in case you were curious, that if they tell you to stop pushing… It is not fun. Jordan tells me at one point that I just said “I’m pushing anyway!” Oh my. Apparently labor does funny things to your politeness.

Anyway… all that is in the past now and we are clumsily learning this parenting thing. Who knew that a newborn that can only eat, sleep, burp, poop, pee, and cry could be so complicated? Even still… we think she does those things cuter than any newborn around and are so proud of each of those feats.

We learn a little more each day. Today we are marveling over what a truly incredible amount of laundry a small bambino can go through in a short amount of time. I better learn to start loving laundry quick!

And now, I must sign out, as our sweet Emberly has decided this would be a good time to nap. Therefore, I have decided this would be a good time to nap too.

Yours Truly,
Molly

P.S. If you have called and/or texted me and I have not returned your call/text, please don’t take it personally. Yesterday I am pretty sure I forgot how to back our car out of the driveway temporarily, and I catch myself wandering around having no idea what I started doing. I think I lost a few brain cells in the delivery room.

Meet Emberly

Emberly Ann Wobbema
Born August 31, 6:08am
7 lbs. 8 oz.
20 inches

100% Perfect

We’re pretty much drunk with baby love around here.
 

Fresh!
 

Sleeping with Daddy.
 

Pretty in pink.
 

Peaceful sleeper.
 

Sleeping with her blankie from Grandpa Juice and Grandma Go-Go.

Perfect.

 Momma can’t take her eyes off of you.

Getting ready to go home!

 

Waiting for the discharge nurse to let us take you home.

 

We made it!

Look how tiny you are in this big crib!

First bath at home!