Carmella Rose

Well as you can see, we have welcomed Carmella Rose into our lives. She was born at Hinsdale Hospital at 7:45 p.m. on Wednesday, October 22. As of today she is one week old. The Lord has truly blessed us with her little life.

Last night was the first night that she slept between feedings without a bout of crying. So my mother, Mark and I all finally got ample sleep. The times when she does cry are much easier to bear when we have had a chance to rejuvenate ourselves. The learning experience continues as we bond with Ella and figure out how to best meet her needs. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.

Some of my favorite things:

• Watching her sleep
• Listening to her little squeaky noises
• The way her lips pucker when she is finished eating
• The clicking sound she makes with her tongue when rousing from sleep
• Her beautiful large, almond shaped eyes
• Just about any part of her little body you can think of—especially her soft, pudgy cheeks.
• The way she cuddles up on my chest and falls asleep cradling her head in her little arms

Well, I could go on forever…the bottom line is that Mark and I are absolutely head over heels in love with her.

Due Date Approaching

Tick tock, tick tock. The seconds are ticking away and I am unfortunately counting each one. These last few days are long and exhausting. We seem to be in a holding pattern just waiting for something to get started. The trouble is that there is no way to know when the baby will come. It could be today, it could be next week. We do know that the doctor will not let it go past Oct. 22. So for sure by next Wednesday we will be holding her in our arms…but I sure hope it will be sooner.

Here is a photo of me taken yesterday (Tuesday, October 14).

We will keep you posted. But don’t hold your breath…I tried that and trust me it’s not wise.

A Quick Trip to Chicago

My dear friend, Lisa, and her husband, Kevin, came in from Boston last weekend. I decided to take the train in to the city on Friday and meet them for the afternoon. We made a simple plan and didn’t try to do too much. So we walked to Millennium Park, saw the sights there, hung out at a coffee/tea bar, and then walked back to the train in time to meet Mark after work. Here are some photos of our time together.

Much to my chagrin the journey did not bring on early labor.

Pregnancy Brain

I have a little over one week until my due date and I seem to be experiencing the strange phenomenon of “Mommy Brain” or “Pregnancy Brain”. For instance, I went to the Jewel (local grocery store) yesterday which is literally three blocks from my house. Coming home I completely missed my turn and went several miles out of my way to get to the house. I have absolutely no idea what happened. I knew my turn was coming up, but it was like I didn’t even see it. Yes, so many of you are thinking…keep that crazy woman off the streets! Well, you might be right.

Then poor Mark is without any dress pants because I took them all to the cleaners and forgot to pick them up. It completely slipped my mind.

One thing I did do, finally, was bake some dinners and freeze them so we would have something decent to eat when I am not feeling up to creating meals once the baby gets here. I spent all day making a lasagna, chili and mini calzones. All that time on my feet nearly did me in. Afterward my back hurt and all I could manage to do was crash on the couch for an hour or so. Thankfully I gave myself enough time to recover before picking Mark up from the train station and heading to my women’s Bible study that evening. (Don’t worry. I got a ride to the study. I couldn’t even imagine the damage driving in the dark would cause.)