Get Carried Away

You know how I can tell that I was right after an argument? My husband wakes up and starts cleaning.

All this to say that I love my little husband, who warps into Mr. Clean to apologize. Do you think it'd be in poor taste to start a fight next time I don't feel like cleaning the toilet?!? J/K!

I'm watching the closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics right now (on DVR, thank goodness- fast forwarding is my best friend). This is Cirque de Soleil on Asian crack, which is the best kind. It is incredible- Nick and I both want one of the circle wheely bikes.

Remember when I was going to post more often? Yeah, me too. Hey, give me a break- I have a two month old.

Holy crap, I have a two month old! And I totally missed the obligatory month-by-month birthday post. I'm a bad blogger mom.

Well, here's a picture of the little cutie. Yours to enjoy.

It's been a busy week in the life o' the Brauns, full of lunches with friends, naps, fun birthday parties (Happy 3rd Micah!), trips to Target and the like. Scintillating, I know.

The week of business culminating yesterday with a trip to the doctor for both of us. The A-girl is a stud muffin- now weighing in at 13.9 lbs and stretching out to 24.25 inches. Oh, and her head size, for those of you who are keeping tally, is 17" around (Thanks to her daddy!). She's in the 97% all around, so Nick keeps trying to decide what Olympic sport she's going to compete in. The way she's growing, she would be a fantastic shot putter. I'm pulling for soccer player. More on my take on the Olympics in a later post...

Hardest part of the A-girl's appointment was that she started her vaccinations. I was really torn leading up to the whole thing as to whether we were going to go through with them or not. There's so much literature and information about vaccinations now, from Jenny McCarthy's single-handed abhorrence to the practice, to Amanda Peet recently calling parents who don't vaccinate their children, "parasites." It's much easier to agree with the Jenny McCarthy school of "don't-vaccinate-just-INCASE-there's-an-issue" thought- plus, what parent is excited to subject their child to sharp needles and dead strains of toxic diseases? Nick and I had an honest discussion with the doctor, and after carefully weighing the decision decided to have her vaccinated according to the AAP schedule. It was a tough decision, and with all the controversy out there, I feel like I have to defend going full-steam ahead. **PLEASE NOTE- This is not to persuade or dissuade anyone from their own decision about vaccinating their children. This is just me, sharing my decision as a new mom.** #1- Not wanting to vaccinate her was really more for me than it was for her. #2- I was vaccinated on time and on schedule and I'm still alive and well. #3- If we decided to go on a delayed schedule (ie- doing fewer shots at a time and going to the doctor every month to keep up-to-date) we would have to schedule a full appointment as our pediatrician doesn't do shot-only appointments. #4- (And this is the biggest reason) The A-girl is going to have to be in some kind of day care when I go back to work, and I want her to be as safe as possible from the inevitable germs that come with gaggles of children.

So Nick held her and the evil nurse came in with a tray-full of needles. The nurse was like 12 years old and I will NEVER like her, simply because SHE was the one to cause the A-girl this pain. Three quick shots covered with Tweety bandages later, and the A-girl was screaming and clinging to her mama. We both lived. And she has been perfectly fine- no fever or soreness or extra crankiness, just three tiny reddish bumps on her chunky thighs where the needles went in.

My doctor appointment was a whole other party- I'll spare you the details (and you're so very welcome, btw) but safe to say that I have fully recovered from the c-section. Crap. That means no more "taking it easy" or excuses as to why I'm not working out and have been eating like a still 9-month pregnant woman. So today, I ate a salad and took a walk. Never mind the spoon full of frosting I had to wash down the salad. Baby steps, my friends, baby steps. I'm going to be nice to my body and know that after carrying a 9 1/2 lb fetus for 41 weeks, things are just not going to be the same. For those of you who have know me 5+ years, you remember my, shall we say, larger days. The most frustrating thing for me right now is that I'm just 5 lbs under what I was when I started Weight Watchers that first time. So I feel like I'm starting at the beginning again and that makes me tired. The good news is that I've done this before, and I know exactly what's required of me to make it happen. So, stay tuned for pictures of my soon-to-be evolving figure.

And now, a small tribute to the man that I love who makes me laugh constantly. The other day, Nick is on the phone standing in the kitchen, and I notice he's playing with something. He looks up and sees me watching him, and gives me the following poses...

Yes, that's right. That's my husband playing Buzz Lightyear with the breast shields that go to my breast pump. I thought I was going to die laughing. Pumping will never be the same. Thanks honey. I love you.

Alright, off to rock the baby girl to sleep. Sweet dreams to all!

Our new little family had a very busy weekend...

Friday night we watched School of Rock at Nick's mock drive-in movie at church with the youth group kids. The youth group girls lovingly passed the A-girl around- we'll never be short of babysitters!

A wave of nostalgia brought me back to the drive-in at the OC Fairgrounds with my family when I was younger. I have vivid memories of the preparation; we'd go to the store to each pick out one candy, pop popcorn at home and we'd each get our own tupperware full to chow down on during the movie, piling blankets in the back of the blue Dodge Caravan with the wood siding to create a tent/bed/cave of wonders in the back once the bench seat was taken out. We'd pile in the van, drive to Orange, park, and Dad would attach the huge silver speaker to the driver's side window. Inevitably, at least two of the four of us would be asleep halfway through the first movie. Looking back, my parents probably couldn't have been less interested in the movie itself, but were eternally grateful for a few hours of quiet and an opportunity to hold hands and be together.

Back to the weekend... Saturday was a big day for the A-girl- she was baptized!!! We had a private baptism in Nick's parents backyard with their Bishop friend from Africa. We were surrounded by our amazing friends and family as the baby girl celebrated her first sacrament. She was an absolute angel and didn't even cry when the Bishop doused her- she was so wet that her eyelashes were sticking to her cheeks. And for the rest of the weekend, she smelled ever so slightly of chrism oil. And check out the baptism cake below- its ridiculous and awesome. I have been so blessed in the last two years to have a few large parties/showers- college graduation, wedding shower, wedding, baby shower, and now the A-girl's baptism. I'm always overhwelmed at how many awesome friends and family members we have. Thank you and we love you.

We rounded out Saturday with dinner with the whole family at Claim Jumper to celebrate my birthday. Something else people should tell you when you have a baby- your birthday is SO not about you anymore! It was a very relaxing birthday, woke up to a smiling A-girl, spent the morning at my mom's, lunch with Nick and the A-girl, made dinner (chicken taco salad- YUM!) and waited for mom and dad to get home from Vegas to have cake. Here's a picture of the adorable and yummy cake Nick made for me. He dyed all the frosting himself and surprised me with the cake, and his incredible thoughtfulness.

Sunday was the A-girl's first Angel game!!! Her daddy could not have been more proud and made sure she was rested before the game.

She donned her "My First Angels Tee" and beanie and trooped off to the Cox Suite to enjoy the game. It was fantastic with a bottom of the 9th win by the Angels. Picture of us at the game to come- my camera decided to stop working correctly.

Way for fun family weekends!

The A-girl being baptized- with Katie and Mike, her godparents

My birthday cake from my adorable husband. Kinda looks like Winnie the Pooh has on a big black Speedo. I love it.

The A-girl in her Angels gear- the socks really complete the look.

The A-girl napping with her dad

I recently devoured Emily Giffin's novel "Baby Proof." Summary- a couple falls in love and gets married KNOWING that neither of them wants to have kids. Then, about two years into the marriage, the husband changes his mind and wants a baby. The wife is a high-powered executive and doesn't want kids interrupting her career or the fun, spontaneous life she and her husband have. I'll stop there in case anyone would like to read the book and see how it pans out.

I really enjoyed reading the book- I finished all 300+ pages in 12 hours. It got me thinking about babies and lifestyles.

Before Nick and I were married, we went on an Engaged Encounter through the Catholic Church. To be honest, I didn't really think we needed to go since we'd been together for 9 years already, but it was a fun excuse to spend a weekend at a mission in San Diego together. It turned out to be wonderful- something I will forever highly recommend to engaged couples. During the weekend, we would hear a talk on a subject (ie- Finances). Then we would spend alone time journaling on a few prompts about said subject before rejoining with our significant other to read what we'd each written and discuss.

When the "Family Planning" talk arrived, I knew we would be on the same page about wanting kids eventually. Marrying at 25 and 27 respectively gave us the freedom to choose to wait a few years before starting a family, or so we thought. I clearly remember Nick saying to me, "I want to wait at least two years before we start talking about having kids."

Needless to say, when I saw the two blue lines appear on the pregnancy test not even 6 months after our wedding day, Nick's comment from Engaged Encounter was the first thing to flash through my mind. This was not the plan. What were we going to do? Where would we live? What would he say when I told him I was pregnant?

If there was ever a moment thus far when I knew that this man was meant to be my husband, it was when I said, "I have something to tell you," and walked to the bathroom to unearth the positive pregnancy test I'd been hiding. Handing it to him without a word, I watched carefully for his honest reaction, excpecting to see a flash of shock and disappointment. Instead, he looked deep into my eyes and said, "Are you okay?" with the most concern I've yet to hear in his voice. I burst into tears.

All this to say that we thought our marriage was Baby Proof for at least a few years. We had grand visions of taking a Mediterranean cruise for our two year anniversary. We were going to look into missionary work together in South America so Nick could brush up on his Spanish and we could teach and see the world. We also had simple visions of Saturday morning sleep ins and spontaneous movie dates and romantic evenings to make up for all the years we waited to be together.

Not that we've abandoned our visions, the simple or grand, but that those visions have now changed. From the moment Nick looked at the two blue lines, we were different. It was as if we'd been leisurely cruising down the road of life on PCH and then we were suddenly on the 5 going 80. And I think that knowledge was the driving force behind his two-year comment.

So reading this book with each and every reason the wife gave her husband for not wanting to have kids, I saw the young, fun couple we were this time a year ago slipping away. We're now responsible for the health and well being of another human being, one who needs us for everything, one who comes before our own wants and needs.

Okay, I'm going to have to ruin the book a little bit. Toward the end, after the couple has divorced and gone their seperate ways and the wife dated, she realizes that the husband was her soul mate and that if being together means having a baby, then she'll do it. Her "willingness" to give in and have a child is very different from the early surprise that Nick and I have.

It reminded me of what he told me one night, "It's something we always knew we wanted, we just didn't know we wanted it so soon."

Weigh in on being Baby Proof, and the difference between choosing not to have kids and choosing WHEN to have kids.
Oh, and read the book if you need a fun, easy read for a lazy afternoon. Don't we all wish we had more of those :)

Not quite as inappropriate when its on a baby's onesie and accompanied by a pacifier.