No more mom and dad's room!

My little monkey has started to eat so much! She is now going 5 hours between feedings - a wonderful breakthrough for mom and dad!

Mike and I have also decided that it was time to start inching her towards sleeping in her own room. We like to keep it really cold in our room and for the past two months we have both woken up all night because we are too hot! We have been really trying to keep the temperature good for Maddie so we have pretty much made ourselves miserable. So, we decided that we would put Maddie in her little cradle next to her crib to start with. I have to admit, I think it was harder for me than her. Notice the sleeping bag in the picture? That's because mom ended up in that sleeping bag on the floor half way through the night! Even though we have a video monitor, I was freaking out all night that maybe it stopped working for some reason.

I am happy to report that I am no longer sleeping on the floor in the sleeping bag and Maddie is doing great in her own room!!

WAY TO GO MADDIE!!

Last Newborn Diaper!

Yesterday was Maddie's last newborn diaper. She is getting so big, the newborn diapers were starting to leave red marks because they were getting tight and we finally used the last one. I have to admit I was searching around the room for another one..... putting on that last newborn diaper was a symbolism that she was growing up and I feel like it's just happening so fast. Her newborn clothes still fit for the most part... well... at least the tops do! Maddie has what her cousins have called the "Lewis" butt (aka bubble butt)! So her pants are the first to go when things start getting tight! I'm thinking that she will have completely outgrown her newborn clothes here in the next week.

Although Maddie loves sitting up, she has gotten to the stage where sitting up is pretty much all she wants to do. The only problem is that she can't actually sit up on her own, so this means mom and dad holding her in a sitting position and trying to play. It's hard to grab the toys and play while still holding her. So, we bought the bumbo chair as I mentioned in a previous blog post. Of course this isn't enough for Maddie - she's looking for more. We're going to babies r us today to get her some new baby toys that would aid her in sitting up, like a walker, a bouncer, etc.

"OOOh"

Around 6 weeks, Maddie started making the noise..."oooh." Mike and I have been spelling out words like mommy and Madison. When we get to the O we exaggerate it since she likes this sound. It's so cute!

Maddie is also continuing to smile more and more. She will mimic you if she sees you smile, it's so cute!

Last but not least, she is finally learning to self soothe a little more. She loves to watch the elephants above her swing... it's hilarious to watch how infatuated she is with them!

My little talker!

Our first Valentine’s with “baby”

So… Mike and I are living the city life in San Francisco… which is far different than where I grew up. When you are in downtown, space does not exist and parking does not exist…. None of which is a big deal to anyone here because they are quite used to sharing space and taking public transportation to all their destinations. But... being from Texas and Florida, we miss the quiet, space, garages, fences, and parking!!! So for Valentine ’s Day, Mike and I decided to forego buying big presents and plan a weekend getaway to Napa Valley… which Is like going from Houston to the hill country for the weekend. This was Maddie’s first trip out of town!

Napa Valley, CA

We had such a great time, it was really nice being able to be outside and enjoy the scenery without all the hustle and bustle of city life. It was also Maddie’s first time to have her feet dipped in the pool – she loved it! And by loved it I mean she didn’t make a sad face or cry! She opened her eyes really big like she was surprised. She is just now starting to smile at something and not just randomly. It was so cute to see and of course it makes me teary eyed every time…. I am going to be so embarrassing! 

Sleeping beauty with daddy in Napa

Maddie laughing at 6 weeks old

Maddie had four valentine’s outfits to wear courtesy of her grandparents, Aunt Dana, and us. So… we started off wearing them over the weekend and continued each day up until Valentine’s Day. On Valentine ’s Day Mike went to work as usual and I was at home with Maddie. We woke up to notes around the house asking to be his Valentine, etc . This is something Mike does frequently so it’s become kind of a game to try and figure out where the notes are. I have found one on the diaper table, in the wipe warmer (under the lid), mirror in the bathroom, on the radio where my cell phone charges, and many more. Sometimes being at home with the little one all day can be hard work, so this always helps to start my day of right!

Maddie's Valentine's swimsuit



Valentine's outfit from Nanny

Valentine Outfit from Aunt Dana

Valentine outfit from Aunt Dana

One of the hard things about living here is not having any family around that I would trust leaving Maddie with while she is this little. So what kind of Valentine’s dinner do you have with a 6 week old? As cheesy as it is, I decided that I would make our own little restaurant at home. I got out the good china, placemats, printed little menus, and candles.  Of course we were going to make Mike’s favorite (and mine too) cupcakes, Red Velvet with cream cheese frosting! So… Maddie and I made a trip to the store and got all the stuff for the cupcakes, of course some small fun presents for Mike, and put on a roast for dinner. Maddie was up all day and definitely wanted to be part of the action…. I wasn’t sure I would get all of it done – but I did, successfully! It’s moments like that when I go… whew… I can do this whole mom/wife thing!!! J.

Dinner was wonderful. Maddie actually went to sleep right about that time for a nap and we got to enjoy some quiet time while we sipped on a bottle of wine we had bought in Napa – an O’Brien Estates 2010 Chardonnay called “Attraction.”….. Perfect for Valentine’s Day! This winery has a wine for every stage in your life… Attraction, Love, Eternity, etc. While we were there getting the wine, I made a joke asking where the one for labor was… shouldn’t a women who goes through that deserve to get a wine bottle named after it?? The man joked back and said… kids are not romantic at all… there is nothing romantic about kids.  The thing is…. I somewhat disagree with him…. Staring at a precious baby that you created with someone you love so much seems as romantic as it can get to me! J.

Maddie's Newborn Shots

Maddie had her newborn shots last weekend. The same photographer that took our maternity shots was able to take her newborn shots as well (Jennifer Jamieson). We took the shots in downtown San Francisco at Jennifer's studio. Of course the morning that we are all trying to get ourselves out the door at a decent hour... Maddie decides that she wants to poop in the towel after her bath. Super! But... no matter what this little girl does, she still steals our heart.

You know those cute little sleeping shots you see?.... Well, I was about 99 percent sure we were not going to get this little diva to sleep for the camera. She's no fool.... when she saw that camera she wanted to pose for it! We tried everything.... food, rocking her, etc. Finally, we gave in and decided to take advantage of her being awake. Of course once we were down to the last 2 minutes of the shoot (and were on a strict time schedule).... Maddie decided she had enough of us and she was tired. I captured this last picture with my phone.

She's just so precious! Love this little angel! Looking forward to seeing more of her pictures at Jennifer's studio next week! 

Diapers and Divas

So….. it’s Thursday night. I remember back in college Thursday night was the “new” Friday. No responsibility and better drink specials. We were always so excited to make the trip down to 6th street in Austin for Thursday nights. Fast forward 7 years and I feel the same excitement that I was able to get my 5 week old down long enough to get this blog post in… oh.. and that we are taking a family trip to babies r us tonight to look for a swimsuit for Maddie. Not just any swim suit…. Her very first swim suit… this is a big deal! Since I’m back tracking a little, I have desperately wanted to find time to get this post in to document her development…. She’s going to be a teenager before I know it and I’m not sure how popular I will be with her if I’m blogging her weekly developments.

Her First 2 Weeks

Madison Sophia Perkins is a born cheerleader my friends. Her small, yet toned physique makes her ideal flyer material and she has tried her best to show us that. Her favorite thing to do in the first two weeks of her life was to straighten her legs and lift them in the air as far as she could. In cheerleading we call this a pike… and Maddie is preparing for her pike jumps and tumbling passes. During these first two weeks, Maddie was also given the nickname “one eyed Willie.” The only swaddle that this child likes is a human one – that means make sure your arms are wrapped around her at all times or she aint sleepin! If you try to put her down, she opens one eye to see what’s going on and assure you that she in fact will not be dozing off like you are expecting her too! For this same reason, I have also referred to her as a chucky doll. For those of you who remember the chucky movies, Maddie is a great imitator. When you have all the lights out and are just about to put her down in her bed….. bam! Her eyes will be wide open staring you down... I just know if she could speak she would be saying, “you better not be putting me in that bed.”

Maddie is a piglet and this was shown in her first two weeks of life. She absolutely loves to eat and is extremely dramatic when she is hungry – which she shows by attempting to eat her hands and shaking her head like an animal. In fact, we even had to call the Doctor because she was choking on her milk… turns out… there was no problem other than she is simply a piglet and likes to drink faster than her body can take down. Luckily we have been able to teach her a more lady like way to eat.

As I have already mentioned, sleeping isn’t really Maddie’s thing. During this phase of her life, she hated her swing, bassinet, crib… you name it! However… her favorite place was her changing table. Her changing table has a picture above it that says “couture” in crystals. She loved (and still does!) this picture. There were many nights when we tried everything to console her and the only thing that would work is laying her on her changing table to stare at her picture. It’s not just that picture Maddie loves… we have noticed that she is infatuated with almost any picture in sight.

Maddie hates Hiccups. If you read about babies getting hiccups, you will read that it doesn’t really bother them… I promise you it bothers this child! She finds them annoying… do you blame her?!? Just when we get her to sleep and a hiccup comes on… Mike and I look at each other and say… “Oh great.” Sure enough she’s crying three seconds later…………. I hate you hiccups!!

Last but not least, Maddie loves holding both of her hands way over her head. We have never been able to put her arms in a swaddle without her throwing a fit… she wants them over her head and by god this girl better gets what she wants!!

3 Weeks

Maddie’s first trip to the zoo! We live right next to the zoo so we figured it was a perfect place to go walking to get us all out of the house. Maddie slept through the first hour and then decided that she no longer wanted to be in her stroller… which meant one of us had to tote her around the entire zoo for the remainder of the day… without a carrier! Whew… neither of us had realized what a workout this day would be!

Her favorites this week…. To keep her fists clinched and smile randomly (they say this means she is passing gas but I refuse to believe it’s not just because she loves mom and dad). One big thing we noticed this week was that she loved sitting up like a big girl. We would prop her up against the couch and we begin discussions of going and getting the bumbo chair. We also noticed that she had very ticklish feet! She would actually pull them back when you tickled them.

Last but not least… we had our first “accident” on the changing table where quite frankly… one diaper could not hold what this child needed to let go of…. Boy was this an experience!        I can’t wait to insert this picture in her wedding slide show. This was also the first time she didn’t cry in the bath tub…. Hey… at least this girl knows what it takes to be beautiful.

4 Weeks

Maddie has decided at 4 weeks that she now loves her swing… we are finally able to use this to console her!.. Not all the time of course… just when SHE decides she will allow us to have a small break. She has also definitely noticed who we are and can follow us with her eyes. This was so amazing! She has such big eyes and is extremely alert at this stage. I was feeding her in the Nordstrom’s lounge and there was another mom in there with a 3 year old girl… the little girl asked her mom really loud…” why does that baby have such big eyes?” Her eyes seem to get bluer each and every day.

She is also making new sounds every day that sound more like a language. We call her a kitty cat because sometimes she almost sounds as if she is meowing as her crying becomes more controlled.

Her month old doctor’s appointment showed she was almost 9 pounds and 20 ½ inches.

5 Weeks

I’m amazed at her development! I put her in the bumbo chair and she holds her head up! I took her into Walgreens and the pharmacists were amazed at how alert she was and how much she was observing the place… they say she is going to be a scientist! My only question is… are scientists stylish?

 

I think my water broke...

I think it’s time to fast forward 9 months. While a lot of women claim that they loved being pregnant… pregnancy was not really my idea of fun. At being 5’0 and just over 100 pounds… turning into Santa Clause proved to be a new challenge while I tried to keep up with our normal hectic life here in the city. Needless to say……. I’m happy that through all the aches and pains of pregnancy… ..we have produced a beautiful and healthy little girl.

It was December 29, 2011. My mom had just come in town a few days before and I was anxiously waiting for something to happen. Everyone… including the doctor… had told me that I would begin feeling contractions at some point and I needed to time them to know when I should go to the hospital. Mike and I were more than prepared… we had taken a child birth class and knew all of the things we were supposed to do once those contractions hit. On this particular night I felt nothing. Getting a bit discouraged and hoping that I would begin to feel something soon, I asked my mom and Mike if they wanted to go for a walk. My mom had said that she was going to pass because the previous night I had forced all of us to endure a 6 mile adventure to the yogurt store…. Except we didn’t actually make it to the yogurt before we turned around. Mike and I took off for a quick walk. On our way back we were about 4 houses down from ours when I felt what I thought was my water breaking. It actually scared me and I said… “I think my water broke.” Of course Mike was shocked asking me what it felt like, was I sure, etc. You would think that there is no way someone would not know their water broke…. But when something like this happens it’s really amazing how you can be so unsure. As the doctor had instructed… I made the decision to wait to see if the labor kicked in.

The next morning I was in the hospital. My water had indeed broken and they began to induce labor. I had brought in a beautiful birth plan… exactly what they tell you to do in birthing class. Perfect right? Wrong. Pretty much everything in my birth plan could not be used. While I will save you from the next 15 hours of my life (quite frankly because I am trying to forget them!)……. Maddie was eventually born via C Section at 1:34 am on Dec. 31^st. We spent the next four days in the hospital…… and while they were counting down for new years on the TV… we were staring at our little girl in disbelief and discussing pain medications!

You all know Dave Lewis. Of course as soon as he heard I was in labor he was on a flight. While he made it to the hospital… what he did forget was his belt. Some people would go to the store and get a new belt before coming to the hospital, but my dad did not see that as necessary when there was a dog leash hanging by our door that could do the trick perfectly. Yes folks…. My father wore a dog lease as a belt to the hospital. Surprised? Probably not.  

Maddie was 7 pounds 5 oz and 18 ½ inches long (although at her first pediatrician’s visit they told us she was 19 ½).…. she was 4 days early. You have so much adrenaline running through you at this point… there isn’t a way to describe it. I was so out of it….. on pain medications and exhausted... but yet I vividly remember one thing I felt shortly after I awoke from being put to sleep. The nurses were telling me all sorts of things to do with Maddie… some of which I agreed with and some of which I wasn’t sure. I remember shaking my head yes, etc… and then all of a sudden there was this overwhelming feeling of protection…. “this is my baby. We made her….. she is ours… we make the final say.” It was the best feeling in the world. From that moment on that protection feeling  (almost animalistic) has just gotten stronger.

Maddie was known as the princess of the nursery. Every day the nurses came in to take pictures of her outfits. We would wheel her around in the hospital on walks… we were so proud of the special gift we had made together and couldn’t wait to show the world!

Week one at our house was a blur. Thank god my mom was here. I couldn’t do much physically. We had to move ourselves into our guestroom because our bed was too high for me to get in. Maddie’s bassinet was moved into there as well and I still had to set up the monitor because I couldn’t lift myself up quick enough to see if she was ok. I think we stared at her all night…. We didn’t get any sleep and I’m not sure if it was actually because she was up or we just needed to stare at her J.  Basically I think the first week is about adapting and surviving… and that is exactly what we were doing.  

Thank You Walmart

 

So… what happened since the visit? Well… we secretly told some of our family and friends we were trying to have a baby and I got a good piece of advice from one of my childhood friends. She said go to the dollar store and buy as many pregnancy tests as I could. She said I would be so anxious that I would keep taking them and it would get expensive. Mike and I didn’t even know if San Francisco had a dollar store…. We had never seen one here…… but I looked online and found one. We went to the dollar store and bought 20 tests… this is true!! I probably went through 5 in the first month… and then slowly tapered down as I began to get discouraged (again… patience is not my strong point). I begin to do just what the doctor said… "live life, have fun.” Mike and I planned a trip to Florida to visit his family and then a cruise for our anniversary. Of course when I packed my bag for our trip, I threw in a few tests….you just never know!!

We were having such a great time with Mike’s family in Florida. This particular morning we had gone to the beach with his brothers. My mind was a little anxious because as of that morning… I was officially a day late. I remember Mike’s brothers wanting me to play volleyball and all I could think about was….  "am I pregnant? Is volleyball ok? Oh my gosh… am I pregnant? But I had a drink last night… am I ok? What will I tell everyone here since I can’t go out with them?” As I was sitting on the most beautiful beach, all I could think about was getting back to the house to take one of tests I had brought.

When I took the test…. It was the first time in my life that I questioned my eyesight… was I seeing two lines? I think so. But these tests were from the dollar store… were they right?

When something so life changing happens… it’s amazing what kind of emotions you experience… excitement… yet denial.  I was certain that it couldn’t have happened so quickly. It was now the last day of April… and I had always assumed it would probably take at least 6 months. Although I was sure that my eyesight was going out or that the dollar store was selling phony tests… we decided to play it safe and not go out that night… surely we would know for sure if nothing had happened by the next day. The second decision I made was to call my mom… surely she knew something I didn’t about this kind of stuff! Her response was as if this was almost common sense…. “Well just go to the store and get a different kind of test!” Why was all of this so difficult for me to soak in!?!

The next day came and sure enough…. Nothing. That morning we were leaving the family’s house and would be embarking on our cruise. We had decided that we would pick up a different test on our way. We stopped at Walmart and I picked out the most expensive digital test they sold….. Surely this would tell me the real answer. I looked at Mike and asked… “Should I go ahead and take it before we get on the boat or should I wait?” Again, this all seemed so surreal and this was the first time in my life I felt so out of control of my destiny. As we were both excited and nervous, we agreed I should go ahead and take it before I left the store.

Sure enough… the reading said… “Pregnant!” I stared at the reading all the way to the boat. When we boarded the boat and went to the safety debriefing, the speaker reminded the crowd to do things that would “make this trip memorable.” Mike and I both looked at each other and said…. “I think that’s already done……..” While this would be a much different trip than we originally expected…. There was no doubt it would be a memorable one.

And so the journey begins....

            Many of you may have read my previous blog, which was a humorous account of my travels for work and life on the road. Since our family and friends are so far away, writing seems to be a good way to keep in touch on a continuous basis and many of you are not on facebook. So what happened to me and where did my blog go?


            It was right after my last post that I got the call that my father had a heart attack and stroke. For weeks my mind was in a different place and I was certainly not in the mood for writing. My weeks consisted of flying to Chicago, San Francisco, and Houston in order to be with my family. When things finally settled down and I was able to write again, I wasn't quite sure how to start…..My life had been far from humorous and I struggled with what to say. I decided to take a break for a while.


            Along the same time, I began a local project that would better fit with my lifestyle (aka... allow me more time with my husband!). Of course “local” in consulting language means a 3 hour roundtrip drive, but at least I was home more! It was around this time… January 2011….that we decided that we wanted to have a baby. Of course I also couldn't write about that because I wasn't sure how long it would take! So... writing became even harder as time progressed!


            After 9 months of pregnancy and 5 weeks of baby… I have decided that it is time to write again! Not only to keep family and friends updated, but for our family as well… to be able to look back at this time and have captured all the little moments that you sometimes forget!


So….. .how did this journey begin?

            For those of you who know me well… you know I can be a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to trying to plan something and I typically have very high expectations (my poor child!!). I am by far a person with type A personality and I can feel a bit anxious when there is something in life that I cannot control. By the way – I simply blame this on the fact that my mom drank way too much coffee while I was in her tummy!  Of course nothing is perfect when you are planning to have a child… because you never know what will happen, or not happen…..  and even once you are pregnant, you have no control over what labor will be like (I know all about that now by personal experience!!) So… you can imagine how difficult this past year was for me… trying to plan the most precious gift was something I simply could not control…. All I could do was leave what was meant to be in someone else’s hands (of course this was something I had to learn along the way). So… how did I learn?  


            The journey of this lesson started at my OB’s office. When Mike and I decided to have a baby, I set up an appointment for a “prenatal consultation.” My OB offered it as a way to help women conceive and prepare for a healthy pregnancy. I think I set up the appointment a few days after we had made the decision (talk about excitement). When I went into the appointment, this is how the conversation went...

OB: Ok….So tell me a little bit about what's going on. How long have you been trying to conceive?

Me: I just quit taking my birth control yesterday. (By the way - not only had I stopped taking it, I took a picture of the last pill for my scrapbook... not a joke….)

OB: (surprised)…. Oh, ok… not long. Well.... are you taking a prenatal vitamin?

Me: Oh yeah, I've been taking one for about a year now.

OB: (smile)… Well then there isn’t much that we can discuss here. You should be fine… come back in 5 months if nothing has happened.

Me: (surprised)… oh ok….. so that’s it? Should I stop having any drinks, etc.?

OB: (giggling)… No….that’s it. Just go about your normal life, have fun… you should be fine… come back in 5 months if you have not conceived.   
 

I’m sure as I left, the doctor was saying what I hear most of the older generation say… “these young people want something and they want it now… they don’t want to wait for anything!” She would have been right….. patience has never been a strong point of mine… but in this case… I would be forced to develop it! This was the start of the most life changing journey we will ever experience!