Love, Life and Appreciation

I was able to get a recording of May a few minutes ago. She was content, sitting in her Boppy pillow just looking around. Her sounds are so cute and I wanted to get a recording of them. Hopefully I can get a recording of when she starts saying words like "mama" and "dada" but that's further down the road. I recorded this using my phone (Samsung Galaxy S3).

I wasn't sure how to embed an MP3 into Blogger so I created a mini movie using Windows Movie Maker, and uploaded the audio there. The picture is from a little while ago. I was teaching her to stick out her tongue.

So I'm a little late for our 6 week update. May is now 6 weeks and 2 days old and it's been that long since I've had my surgery as well. May is doing so well. Our girl amazes us every day. She is so alert and talkative. Though it sounds like many coos and aahs, I can already see she's going to be a talker and there's nothing wrong with that. She smiles a lot too. That gummy smile is so cute!! She's getting heavier too, so that's good. She's also getting stronger. Nursing her is going well. She's still getting up three times a night for feedings but one or two of the previous nights, its been two times. I keep my phone by me to stay awake during those feedings. Hehe.

My recovery has gone very well. I saw my doctor yesterday and she said everything looks good. I'm also 131 pounds now, so I lost a pound. I still have a bit of a pouch but I have gotten back into my pre pregnancy jeans. Things are going well in our married life too. Yesterday was also our four month anniversary. We celebrated by buying groceries and a file cabinet :-)  In March it'll be our six month anniversary. We might go to dinner then, or see a movie. We are all looking forward to September. That's when well be celebrating our one year anniversary and we'll be taking a family trip to the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. It's about a two hour and a half drive from where we are and we got a good package deal on a hotel there. May will be seven months. I can't wait for the month of May too. So many exciting things are happening this year.

For now we'll be cleaning the snow off our cars ;-)

My little girl is not even two months old yet, but I feel so compelled to write how her birth has changed me. I went from not knowing how to change a diaper to changing about 10 a day. I went from being able to just get in my car and go, to taking the time to put her in a car seat securely and placing her in a car. Most of all I went to a newborn who completely dependent upon myself and my husband.

When I first found out I was pregnant, I knew that things would be different from before. I had seen pregnancy and I had seen children and babies but the experience of having a child of your own is VERY different from you see and hear. Every child truly is unique. May is truly our angel. She has brought so much joy into our hearts and in the hearts of our families and friends. She amazes me everyday with her developments and many times I find myself just looking at her and thinking "WOW". From her tiny hands to her tiny feet, her cries and all that hair, she was made by Rex and I and we are so happy she is in our lives.

It's true that it's not easy. There have been times were I have cried. Just from feeling overwhelmed, plus my recovery from the C-section was intense at first. I wanted to breastfeed, though I had no real clue as to what it entails. I figured that it wouldn't be that hard. It was. From so many people telling me various ways to do it, to not thinking she was getting enough to eat, to an extremely cracked nipple and engorgement, it was so painful and stressful! I pushed through the pain though and got into my own routine, taking what people had told me, but doing it MY way. Now I can say that I've been breastfeeding May for 3 weeks now and I have no plans to stop. I love the bond it creates between child and mother and it is one of the best things I can do for my child. I also pump because I am a working momma and although thankfully this semester I don't have any classes, I still need to go out and do my research on certain days. Pumping also gives Rex an opportunity to feed her as well.

Sleep deprivation has also made it not easy. I don't think I truly understood what people would say when they told me to rest up and take advantage of the sleep while you can. Yeah we went from sleeping through the night, to waking up at least 3 times a night, for feedings and diaper changes. When May when through her growth spurt at about 3 weeks. I was ready to pull my hair out. I didn't know what was wrong with her.  I was exhausted and she was crying so much. I know that there's many more to come and now I'm more ready, though can anyone be completely ready? I know too that it'll be a couple more months before she gets into a sleep pattern.

Last year I did not only become a mother but a wife too and trying to balance the two in such a short time has been difficult. There have been bumps. I blame my hormones. Hehe. I'm thankful Rex has stuck by me and is here for May.  I know it's been hard on him and we are both learning.  He has baby nephews and nieces but like myself, never had a child before. He is very hardworking and such a great father and we'll continue to learn together as we all grow together. I know we are both happy though we'll be approaching the 6 week mark.

I'm also losing that post postpartum belly. At my last weigh-in I was 132 pounds. My full pregnancy weight was 152 and my pre pregnancy was 120. Breastfeeding helps. I have an appointment on the 24th. I'll have to see how much I weigh then.

I'll write Part Two a couple months from now. It'll be interesting to see what I write then. Just now as I finished this blog post, May has fallen asleep on my legs. I'm sitting crossed legged. Of course I'm staring at her and smiling. She's the reason I'm a mom. What happens in life might be a surprise but I really can't imagine my life without her.

I received my first Yuzen box yesterday and I love it! It's $26 for the box and according to the website "Each box has the very best eco-conscious products to nourish the body and soul. They are carefully chosen for excellence, mission and integrity and always put to the Yuzen test before we share our favorites with you!" Yuzen recently announced on their Facebook page, that they are no longer doing monthly boxes but instead will do quarterly boxes. The next box will be February and after that the box will be in May. The quarterly boxes are for each season, so one in the winter, summer, spring and fall. I like this idea, plus it's better for my wallet. They did say that they will offer limited edition boxes at different times during the year.

Here is the box:

This is the third Cravebox I received. I previously got the Holiday Spruce Up and the Winter Favorites. I did not write a blog entry for the Winter Favorites, but it was a good box. Te box was $15 and was good as well. I had trouble actually getting the box due to UPS and the delivery of it. It said it was delivered January 10th, yet me nor my husband was there to receive it. I never saw it by my door or in my building and spoke to UPS about the missing package. They said they couldn't do anything about it and that I had to contact the shipper. I contacted Cravebox, who asked me to ask my neighbors if they had seen anything. I did and they said no, so I told Cravebox that and they informed me that I'd be getting a replacement box at no extra charge. Well four days after it was supposedly delivered, the box showed up by the mailboxes in my building. It was so strange because I had not seen it anywhere in the days before then and when I asked nobody knew anything about it. I checked the box and it was not opened. When I opened it nothing was taken. I contacted Cravebox to let them know I had received the box and they said that I'd still be receiving the replacement as a bonus for my troubles. I had never had anything happen like this before, at all the places I have lived. It was so strange. UPS never should have delivered it, if no one was there to receive it. I thank Cravebox in regard to how they handled the situation. Thank you Kelley. I can see that they really care for the satisfaction of their customers and that is wonderful. My replacement box was shipped yesterday.

So enough of all that. Here's the box!

I received another complimentary box from the wonderful Influenster program, to review. The products to review were three full-sized premium Palmolive dish washing soaps, in White Ginger Tea, Lemon Thyme and Lime Basil. I also received about 16 coupons for $1.50 off and two info cards of the products that were contained. I can't help but think that possibility my box got one too many coupons. I love this box though and they all smell great. My favorite is the Lime Basil.


This is my second box I got from Influenster. Here is that review. In both cases I received an email from the company saying I was pre-selected for a box and to fill out the survey included in the email. I filled out the survey and a few days later I got an email saying I had been selected. I love the Influenster program and I'm so happy to be a part of it. 

To learn more about Influenster check out this link.