Connor *just* fell asleep. And I have to wake him up soon to feed him.
Before I became a mother I thought that idea was a little weird. Actually, no, I still think it’s a little weird but I get where the idea comes from so I do it. And I pray everyday that it makes him sleep longer at night. One of these days it has to work.

I’m exhausted just about all the time, and have a million things on my mind and can’t do half of what I want to do. We’re in a new house and still have boxes in three rooms that haven’t been unpacked. WHY? Because we have a newborn and he eats, sleeps and poops, and then eats and sleeps some more, and the only time I get to sleep is when he does. (And that brings us back to me waking him up to feed him every 3 hours- that gets in the way of unpacking and cleaning.) And sometimes not even then. We’re still getting into the swing of things. And then it’ll all change when I go back to work. And we’ll learn a new way to live. Again.

On this Mother’s Day, my first Mother’s Day, what have I learned?

*Please hold while I feed Connor- you know- the baby who woke up early after sensing his mother was taking a little break to write a note.*

As Toby Ziegler(From the West Wing) said, “Babies come with hats”. Connor hated it when we took his hat off in the hospital, and now, he isn’t crazy to have them on. He scrunches up his face and wiggles around, not like he’s in pain, but like I’m sticking my finger up his nose and he’s not too crazy about it. Oh well. It’s Chicagoland and sometimes it’s cold out. You’re gonna wear a hat,kid.

That leads me to my second point- babies change their minds often. Connor used to hate, hate, HATE having his diaper changed. He would scream to the point of waking up an exhausted Danny (it’s a hard thing to do sometimes!). Now he just loves it. He loves lying on his back and looking up at me or Danny and smiling and giggling like we’d given him laughing gas. I’m sure he’ll change his mind a hundred other times before he turns 3 months.

I know it was in God’s plan that I become a mother. I guess I’ve always known it. Hell, I started babysitting when I was 10 years old, which is neat, but scary because I know some 10 year olds. I don’t know if I’d call them “babysitter material”. It was just all setting the wheels in motion. I was training for the world’s best and hardest job. Danny hadn’t spent much time at all with babies before Connor was born. It was fun teaching him what to do. I knew a lot- no one had to teach me how to change Connor’s diaper or how to get up and walk around when he fussed or how to burp Connor- I’d already learned that. But Connor teaches me new things about HIM everyday.

*Day two of writing this blog…we had to sleep at some point*

Torture.
Forget waterboarding. Give someone a screaming baby after weeks of getting very little sleep. That’s torture. Although, I don’t think it’d be fair for the baby. I don’t even have a colicky baby. Connor’s a good baby. I had no idea what continuous lack of sleep does to your brain. You can tell someone how they’re going to feel, but until they actually experience it, words do no justice.

Girlfriends.
I love Danny. (I don’t say “I love ______ to death” because it’s always followed with a “but” and then some kind of downfall. “I love Bob to death, but he’s as dumb as a box of rocks.” It’s never a great thing to say about someone). I love Danny and he’s a great husband, great friend, great father. He’s doing such a good job with Connor and having to go to work every day. Girls are just different. There’s something different in the communication with my girlfriends. Something that I can’t quite put my finger on. I hope all new mothers get time to spend with their girlfriends. It’s really healing.

Heartstrings.
I love other kids. I really do. I have 6 nieces and 2 nephews. I have many cousins. Some of my friends have kids. They’re fun to be around and I love making them laugh and seeing them grow up. But there’s something that happens to me when Connor smiles at me. It’s like he’s actually pulling at my heartstrings. I feel this tug in my chest. It’s amazing. And it’s every single time he smiles. I do feel like there’s a short circuit about to break in my brain when he cries, so it’s nice to have something to offset that.

Well, this blog post isn’t complete. There’s so much more I want to write, but it’s time to feed Connor. And start the cycle all again.

Well Connor’s umbilical cord stump finally fell off on St. Patrick’s Day and when it was all healed we were able to give him a bath- a REAL bath instead of just a wimpy little sponge bath. He seemed to be interested by it. He didn’t get mad, but I’m not sure if it’s correct to say he LOVED it. Anyway, here are some pictures of the cute, cute activity.

Connor's First Bath

So far things are going well with Connor. He’s in a routine…a baby routine. Eat, sleep, poop….eat, sleep, poop. Sometimes he doesn’t sleep as much at night as Mom would like, but he’s so darn cute that it’s hard to get bothered by that. “Big brothers” Jasper and Stanley are treating him well. They don’t run away when he cries and they don’t bother him. Perfect mix. (Yes, both cats are quite a big larger than Connor. Stanley’s about 16 pounds and Jasper’s around 14 pounds. Haven’t checked lately. Connor probably weighs around 8 pounds; we’ll find out tomorrow at his 1 month check up).

Connor & Jasper

Connor & Stanley

So we went on his first walk today. It was almost 60 degrees and I just *had* to get out of the house. I figured it was time. I bundled him up (and I mean BUNDLED) and took him out for his first stroller ride around the block. I think I can safely say a good time was had by all. Mostly by me, though. He slept the entire time.

Connor's First Walk

Connor was born on February 26, 2010 at 12:20 am. He weighed 7 lbs, 8 oz. Here’s a picture of Danny and Connor. Connor had jaundice and had to spend time under the lights in the nursery. We were allowed to visit him and feed him while in the nursery.

Danny & Connor in the hospital Nursery

Connor's first picture

Connor is at home now and doing well. His jaundice is much better. We treat him at home with “sun therapy”.

He’s a happy, good baby.

Connor in the sun

Well here are some pictures from the 4-way baby shower. I needed to upload them on our home desktop computer, and it’s really slow so it just took me a long time to get everything done.

Allison, Erin, Katie

The “secret” 4th preggo is Sarah, on the far right. The shirt she’s wearing makes it kind of hard to tell she’s pregnant, but she’s due April 15th!

Old Friends

We’re just about done with the house.
Most of the interior is painted and here’s the nursery, so far.

Kind of a sage-green

As you can see, Question Mark’s crib and dresser are on the floor, needing to be put together. We’ll do that later this week. We have a guy coming in to clean all the carpets (former home owner had a dog and the carpets look kinda dingy) and then we’ll put the furniture together. The theme is Tiddliwinks Jungle Friends. Happy animals. It’s really cute.

It’s coming up pretty quick! I have 3 weeks left before my due date! Here’s my newest belly picture.
I’m at the point where I’m going to see the doctor every week now. So far, every appointment has been good. 37 weeks is considered full-term, though, so if I go into labor before March 9th, that’s my new due date.

Well now we have a new house, and finally, a bedroom for little Question Mark. We haven’t moved in yet because there’s still some cleaning and painting that needs to be done.

I’m still feeling pretty well, but am more tired and getting more sore from just standing around. Sheesh.

Little Question Mark is active all day, but not to the point of being annoying. Just a few kicks and punches here and there and then he stops. He’s most active at night, now.

I have 3 friends from high school who are all pregnant now. I’m due March 9th, Allison is due March 24th, Sarah’s due April 15 and Erin is due May 19th. Our friends Emily and Megan threw us an excellent shower on January 9th. It was a surprise for me (but not for the others because Allison and Erin had to come into town from out of state, and Sarah’s got a strange work schedule) and it was really great. I’ll put up pictures soon. Emily’s mom took a lot of great pictures and I’m waiting for her pictures as well.

We had our third ultrasound on Friday. At the second ultrasound, the doctor said that one of Question Mark’s kidneys was a little larger than his other one and while they weren’t really worried about it, they wanted us to come back during the third trimester just to make sure that it was ok. Well we went back on Friday, and the doctor said that his kidneys were now normal size. He’s 4 lbs, 6 oz and is the average weight and size for a 32-week-old. So everything’s good! This is one of those crazy weird 4D pictures. He kind of looks like a raccoon. I included some pointers in case you’re like us, and don’t usually look at ultrasounds.

Question Mark 3rd Trimester

I don’t have a whole lot to write, but for those of you who I don’t see very often, here are some more pictures!

Getting ready to leave for Kentucky

Danny and I went to Kentucky just before New Years Eve (my office is closed this week, and Danny’s weekends are Tuesday/Wednesday) to visit Erin and Tylor.

Erin and I have been best friends since 7th grade, and now we’re pregnant together! Erin’s due May 19th and is also expecting a boy!

Preggo Friends

Well it’s not the best picture I’ve ever taken, but you can definitely see more than a baby bump!  Stanley just *had* to get into the picture.

Pre-Christmas Preggo Katie

Thanks to so many for all of the great Christmas gifts for Question Mark! As you can see, he will be decked out in White Sox gear (some from Emily, some from Grandma & Grandpa Anderson)…all the time. Except when he’s wearing his Chicago Bears outfits (from Erin T)! There’s also a choo choo train blanket (from Grandma Schnolis) and his first Mickey Mouse doll that plays a song (from Uncle Marc and Aunt Kelly) (Mickey’s butt sticks up in the air and he’s sleeping, it’s SO cute!). We were really happy to see all of this! Thanks everyone!

A sporty baby