The Itsy Bitsy Spider and My Man

The other night, I looked out the window and saw ...

Many of you know I am terrified of spiders. Sometimes when I see them, I have bad dreams the next night. I always let out a little scream at least, even if they are tiny. I am going to have to get better at that so I don't train Amelia to be afraid of them too. We'll see how that goes. Anyway, I was afraid (and still am a little) to go outside when I saw this. But Brandon went right by it to film it... Crazy. It was so big! its web stretched 15 feet across from our back porch to a tree. Brandon did a pretty awesome job making the movie, eh? It even looks like the spider is dancing. Just so you know, he saved the day and killed the spider with a good dose of carb cleaner.

Speaking of spiders, Brandon just informed me that he has made it clear up until yesterday not knowing the words to "The Itsy Bitsy Spider"! I don't know how he managed that. I guess he and Amelia are learning it together.

Brandon started school this past week. He is working on his masters degree in System Dynamics (you'll have to ask him for an explanation of what exactly it is). It's an online program, and so far, he likes it. :) He has really accomplished a lot of things since we have been married, and it's neat to look back and see what he's done. He's really driven to learn and improve himself. He's a pretty neat guy to be married to! Amelia thinks he's pretty great too, as you can see in this cuddling-with-dad picture:

Amelia is now three weeks old! I can't believe she's that old already. She is starting to be more alert and a little more fun to play with. We think that she sometimes sounds like a dinosaur. Maybe one day we will record her dinosaur sounds. The problem is, they are pretty unpredictable. She's pretty fun. I crocheted her a little bow yesterday. Of course, I didn't have time to do it until AFTER church, but at least I did it, right?

Little Amelia

Millie just had her two week checkup. Things are looking good! She is now 8 lbs (she is going to have some nice rolls, I have a feeling) and she is in the 50th percentile for height, weight, and head circumference. She also was a little mischievous and peed AND pooped all over the table! It was good to go to the doctor and be assured that we are doing a good job. Sometimes I wonder.

I am really enjoying getting to know our little girl. Even though getting used to her and her needs is hard, I love the little moments that make it all worth it. I hope that I can always remember things like the softness of her skin and hair, the little noises she makes when she is sleeping (high pitched squeaks, squeals, and little whimpers between breaths), and how fast her fingernails grow. I love it when I am watching her and she watches me back, like I'm just as interesting as she is. I love how her little hands float around when she's satisfied, or when they play with mine. I love the little glimpses of smile I sometimes see, especially when I see her little dimple. It's funny when I'm burping her and she moves her head to the side on my hand like it's a pillow. I'm pretty sure she is the best cuddler ever--she nuzzles her head on my shoulder in the most wonderful way! I love the feeling of being able to give her what she needs and help her to be happy. It's amazing to watch her learn. She is already getting good at holding up her head, she can flip over onto her side, and when you put your hands against her feet, she will scoot forward (usually when she thinks she'll find food).

Some things that have surprised me so far:

• For some reason, I thought becoming a mom would suddenly give me special powers, and I would feel like a different person in some way. That must come with time...
• Dirty diapers are not so gross when it's your own kid. They are like little trophies that tell you she's eating enough.
• Even though they aren't gross, there sure are a lot of them!
• My mom makes the best peanut butter cookies. Even when she forgets the eggs. Besides, that makes the cookie dough even better.
• Brandon has a cute high pitched talking-to-Amelia voice. I didn't expect him to have one. :) And I actually like it. (some high pitched talking-to-kids voices drive me crazy)
• Having a baby hurts! Afterward... For a long time. :)
• I didn't know my baby would want to be held all the time! Not sure how to get anything done... suggestions?
• It's amazing how in the middle of the night you can be so tired and frustrated, but when you think about who this little person is, it's all okay.
• Sometimes a couple hours to yourself or with your spouse can be heaven!
• I finally found something that helps me realize and do the important things more (not so much time for blog surfing, etc...)
• Epidurals are great. Not only because they take away a lot of the pain, but for me, it made it feel like it wasn't really my body they were doing all of those crazy and sometimes scary things to.
• A visit or chat with friends is so refreshing!
• I miss family more than I thought I would. It's sad not being able to really show her off to them yet. Video chatting is a great blessing, but it can only do so much.
• I spent almost an entire day staring at my baby. Who knew newborns could be so entrancing?

One of these days I will post more about how the birth actually went. It just is taking me a while, since extra time is hard to come by, and some of the details are pretty foggy. I still don't think I can comprehend that the little wiggly bump that was in my belly is now my daughter. They sort of seem like two separate things.

Middle Name...

We decided to go with no middle name for Amelia. It is already a longish name that can have lots of fun nicknames all by itself... and no middle names really stood out to us. So, there you have it. One of my favorite things to call her is Millie.

On another topic, SPAUB won the grand prize by getting more close answers than anybody else. Nice work, guys! We didn't know on the eye color, and we still don't really know, apparently it can take many months to know what their eye color will be. So the eye color question was thrown out.

I thought that this picture just needed to be posted, she was napping on my stomach and making faces so I got the camera and started taking pictures. I liked this one best.

Millie is healthy and happy. She gained her birth weight back after only a few days, and all the other stuff still looks normal.

Sheena's mom went home today. She was here for almost 2 weeks. It sure was nice to have her here to help out with all of the new parent things, and so we could have someone to help us watch Amelia and to help out with things around the house (we still have tons of delicious left-overs from the great dinners she made). Thanks, Kathy!

Pictures

Here are some pictures that I like. We decided to name her Amelia, but we are still undecided on the middle name.

Baby Ruggles

Well, the moment we have all been waiting for has come. We had our baby! As of yet she doesn't have a name, but we are getting it figured out. I haven't looked to see who the winner was yet, but here are the answers to the questions:

• When will she be born? August 9, 2010 @ 11:58 AM. or 8/9/10
• How much will she weigh? 7 lbs 4 oz
• How long will she be? 20 inches
• What color will her hair be? (Mine was blonde and thin, Sheena's was black and thick) Dark almost black
• Will she have lots of hair or not much at all? Lots of hair, she has almost as much hair as me
• How long will Sheena be in labor? We were officially addmitted to the hospital 8/8/2010 @ 6:30 PM, but she was started having contractions at 4 AM. All went well, the epidural helped a bunch, and once she started pushing it took around 5 minutes.
• Will I be brave enough to cut the cord? (I can't even get shots without laying down, but I think I am going to try) Thankfully I handled the blood and cutting the cord quite well, I must have been quite blessed.
• Was the doctor wrong when guessing the gender? Nope, she's a beautiful little girl.
• What color will her eyes be? Super dark, I am guessing they will be blue, but it is hard to tell so far.

We will post some pics soon, just thought y'all might want to hear the news.

Guessing Game

Sheena and I are now in the home stretch, our baby is due August 8th, or in other words one week from today. So the time has come for the guessing game. The prize for this guessing game is a $10 gift card (you get to choose the place). The way to win the prize is to have more correct answers to the following questions than anybody else that tries. Ready - Set - Go!

Questions:

• When will she be born?
• How much will she weigh?
• How long will she be?
• What color will her hair be? (Mine was blonde and thin, Sheena's was black and thick)
• Will she have lots of hair or not much at all?
• How long will Sheena be in labor?
• Will I be brave enough to cut the cord? (I can't even get shots without laying down, but I think I am going to try)
• Was the doctor wrong when guessing the gender?
• What color will her eyes be?

Good Luck!