It has been 9 months since my last post on this blog! Oops! I guess you could say I've been a little distracted. So I will try to sum it all up... Wow! Here goes:
Our wonderful Molly Samantha was born on August 22! It turns out she did NOT come early like everyone, including my doctor and my doula, predicted, but decided to arrive 5 days past my due date (actually on my sister's birthday)! By the time she came, I was BIG! I didn't think I was at the time, but now when I look back, I can't believe it! And Molly was big, too! Molly weighed 9lb. 2 oz. and was 21" long. She was nearly the same size her daddy was when he was born. We're thinking she's going to be tall like him-- at each doctor's appointment, she's been in the 95th or higher percentile for height and it seems like she's always a size or two ahead in her clothes just because of her height. Anyway, she was and is beautiful, amazing, and such a blessing straight from God. I still look at her and can't believe how much God has blessed us!
I think going through the things that we have over these past few years has really helped us to appreciate and be so grateful for all the different aspects, fun and not-so-fun, of being parents. We are so thankful for every bit of cuddle time, kisses, coos, babbles, dirty diapers, crankiness, and even being vomited on, all because we feel being parents is such a gift. A gift that not everyone gets to experience. A gift that we (especially I) cried for, longed for, and begged God for, not knowing if He would ever answer with a "yes". And not only did He give us a child, which is an incredible answer to prayer and a miracle, but He gave us such a sweet, patient, happy, and friendly child. THE most amazing child, in my opinion. (Maybe I'm a little biased.)
That's not to say things haven't been difficult. The beginning was especially hard. Recovering from childbirth did not go smoothly (again), I had a lot of problems with breastfeeding, naps have always been a struggle, and there have been various other bumps in the road, as I'm sure it goes with all new parents, or all parents in general. But it has been the best thing I have ever done! I feel privileged to be a mama every day!
As I mentioned, I have been breastfeeding Molly, and a slightly unexpected side-effect of this has been forced down-time throughout the day. Currently, it amounts to about 2-3 hours of time I am required to just sit on the couch every day. For Christmas, Ben's parents got us a Kindle Fire, and it turned out to be a really useful tool for all that down-time! While I'm feeding Molly I use it to get online, check facebook, check email. But the most useful thing is that I use it to read. Since Christmas, I have read 10 books, not to mention countless blog articles. I've been learning a lot, and I hope to write about some of it here on this blog. It's gotten a little expensive reading all those books, but it's a much better use of my time than spending 2-3 hours on facebook, or watching TV, or falling asleep while staring at the wall.
Ben has also thoroughly enjoyed being a parent, and life is pretty busy for him as a new daddy. His work is going well, and he's been delving deeper into the worlds of weightlifting and photography. The photography thing is something that actually involves both of us. We both enjoy it, and I help him with photo shoots and post-processing. He's got some weddings lined up this year, which should be a lot of fun!
As for what Molly's up to these days, she's trying all kinds of new foods. She's got 6 teeth, and she's acting like she's working on a 7th. She's learning to stand and just barely starting to learn to cruise. And she rolls EVERYWHERE! She's gotten so good at it that she doesn't seem to care to try and crawl. As a result of all this rolling, she's acquiring little bumps and bruises now and then as she learns where she can and cannot fit. For example, she cannot fit under the couch, but she can get herself wedged in there trying. Another example, she cannot keep rolling when she's only inches away from the coffee table. Ouch! Life's a little rougher for Molly these days. ;)
Well, I think I'm going to have to stop there. This blog post is already ridiculously long. I hope to keep writing more regularly about things I'm learning along the way, rather than huge posts every 9 months! Thanks for reading!
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