pure wonder, little milestones and random thoughts

{little baby isaac fills me with pure wonder on a daily basis}

well, it's been exactly one week since i arrived home from the hospital... in fact, it was about this time of the day {i started writing this around 6:00 p.m., friday evening} that we pulled into our driveway last week.

but it was not just that we pulled into our driveway. it was that we pulled into our driveway WITH A LITTLE PEANUT IN A CAR SEAT IN THE BACK!!!... HOW SURREAL it was.

to think, we had left that driveway two days before, and had the car seat in the back, but there was no baby in it. i can't even begin to explain what it was like leaving the hospital a week ago. after b. got off of work, he came to pick up isaac and me and take us home. it is beyond what i can explain to write about how i felt when we walked out those doors and up to the car with a baby in our arms. it was a beautiful day... a perfect temperature outside. i just began to cry in disbelief and amazement that we had come to this point... getting into our car for the first time as a family of three instead of just a married couple of ten+ years.

anyway, being that today is one week from when i arrived home, i figured now is a good time to write... to highlight this little milestone we've hit. there have been some other milestones before now... like mr. b's first father's day last sunday {which i had hoped to write something for along with the pictures below, and which also happens to be isaac's due date}.

even though i missed posting for father's day, i can still post today with just as much meaning... because EVERY day should be father's day for a dad like isaac's dad. my husband has been so unbelievable with his new son. i sometimes just watch from a distance and marvel at how natural and sweet he is with his new son. and he has been unbelievably helpful to me... he was throughout the pregnancy, then during labor and delivery, and now that we are home and i am sore and exhausted and overwhelmed, he has been that and more. i couldn't ask for a better husband. isaac could not ask for a better father. at first, i thought it would be really cool if isaac had been born on father's day. but i am glad he was born earlier... that way, we were home and b. could enjoy being a dad on his first father's day. we went to starbucks to celebrate, and isaac was so calm and happy... i think it's because he recognized the sounds of starbucks from all the times i went and sat there to ponder and prepare for this child during my pregnancy... i really do! and guess what. while we there sunday, not only were they playing a lot of jazz music... the kind my dad always listened to... but a jazz rendition of just an old sweet song keeps georgia on my mind came on. i asked all the staff {who were very excited to finally meet isaac} if they had put that on especially for me. they said no... it just happen to come on while we there. HOW COOL IS THAT? what a special day it was.

there was also the milestone of his one-week-old birthday this last wednesday. but as a new mom, finding time to blog is about as unrealistic as it gets. so that came and went as well.

i could sit here and write on forever, but rather than do "real" writing here today, i'll just use this post to spout out some random thoughts that have been rolling around in my head since last wednesday night... mostly to record the memories for myself to look back on some day. but also, to give you a glimpse of what this past week and two days has been for me. thus ends my paragraph writing, and now begins my individual thoughts or memories.

let me just start by saying this...

I KNEW IT WAS GOING TO BE A BOY!

i said it all along, and i just had a feeling.

i also said he'd be big.

and he sure was!

i'll never doubt my motherly instincts,

because so far, they are spot on.

since wednesday, june 15th, at 10:32 a.m.,

the overriding thought that fills my mind is

"how in the world did i get here?"

and from the standpoint of my blog,

i should say it like this...

"how in the world did i get from this point
{click on "this point" to see the post where i announced my pregnancy}
to...

...this point?"

{the two above photos were taken by my friend, mary.}

oh, yeah... this is how i got to this point.

i could seriously just sit and stare at isaac all day long.

my eyes would never tire of seeing his sweet face.

i am so very exhausted, as i knew i would be.

but WOW!

my favorite part of the day during the week is when b. gets home from work...

isaac, b. and i lay on our king sized bed and just hang out.

it's something i envisioned for many months...

just that sweet, quiet bonding time between the three of us...

with nothing to do and nowhere to go.

sometimes it's just quiet.

other times we talk and laugh.

speaking of laughing, did you know isaac means laughter...

or sometimes the meaning is stated as "he who laughs".

since we were so sure it was a boy,

we picked out the boy name, isaac, early on.

we felt it was so fitting,

as we found ourselves in a similar place that abraham and sarah

from the old testament were in...

being older than what is typical for child-bearing,

accepting that children were not what God had for us,

but trusting and believing that He could do anything...

that with God, nothing is impossible.

and then, SURPRISED that he gave us that impossible dream.

shocked to the point of laughter...

the bible says that when God told abraham and sarah they would conceive,

they laughed.

that's a bit how we felt when we saw our pregnancy test results.

how could this be?

how did this happen?

so, we "called him laughter, 'cause no other name would do".
and already, he has us laughing with his many facial expressions
and cute little noises or arm gestures.
and i have a feeling the laughs will just keep coming the older he gets.

his middle name, kenneth, is in memory of my dad

who passed almost five years ago {this august}.

and i find it also very fitting,

because, often, i look at isaac and very much see my dad in him.

remember the ducky?

mr. b. sneaked it into my overnight hospital bag

just before we left for the hospital for labor.

when i got to my room, i set my bag down,

opened it up to get my comfy slippers out,

and there was the ducky... sitting right on top of my slippers.

i melted with sentiment and joy

and tears came to my eyes.

i told b. it was the most thoughtful and meaningful moment

 i had ever experienced with him...

not just that he did it, but that he had the presence of mind

to think to do something like that for me.

it became my "focal point" for labor and contractions.

it sat there on the table next to me,

and all the nurses and my doctor asked what it was about.

what a joyful and whimsical story to tell when asked about it.

i LOVE that part of this whole experience.

speaking of my doctor and the nurses...

i could not have asked for better healthcare professionals

throughout the entire process of labor, delivery and postpartum recovery.

i can honestly say,

other than the pre-epidural contractions i experienced,

my entire labor was blissful.

and the hour of pushing was unbelievably easy

and memorable and exciting...

did i mention it was easy?

i didn't feel a single thing!

and i had the three best coaches anyone could ask for...

my husband on my left,

the on-duty hospital nurse on my right,

and my doctor in front of me...

all coaching me and rooting for me to "push...

come on, georgia... you can do it!...

you are doing great!"

i swear, it seemed only like twenty minutes of pushing...

not an entire hour!

and though i tore

{first-time moms often do... especially when their babies are that big!},

i did not feel pain.

i owe so much of the great experience i had

to my awesome doctor!

not just during delivery,

but throughout the pregnancy, too!

i'm so grateful to have had a VERY good obstetrician.

words can not explain the indescribable joy that filled me up

when they placed isaac on my chest and told me it was a boy...

well, i guess it was actually the reverse order.

but i was a bit drugged up at the time,

so the order of everything is sort of a blur.

but i was not drugged so much that i could not experience the most intense joy

that i will ever know...

knowing that i did it!

i delivered a healthy baby BOY!

from that moment on, my life would/will never be the same!
i do remember this... the very first words out of my mouth were
"hi, there... i've waited for you for SO LONG!"
the words could be heard between my sobs of joy.

can i just say?

hospital food is either hit or miss.

sometimes it was delicious.

other times... ewwww!!

no one told me about what it's like after giving birth.

OUCH!!!

there are like fourteen different places on my body that are constantly in pain.

i'm nursing {need i say more?}.

i had a level-two tear {which is the same recovery-time as an episiotomy}.

i've got bruises from the i.v. and all the needles that they poked me with.

my feet hurt {still a bit of swelling}.

headaches.
sore back from nursing and using muscles to hold the baby that i've never used before.

even pain in my gut where baby used to be and now skin just sort of hangs like a blob...

sorry... these are just the facts.

but you know what?

EVERY single bit of pain is sooooooo worth it

when i look at that little bundle.

little bundle must be so confused already.

he has so many names, and isaac is one he's probably the least accustom to.

b. and i have many others that we like to use.

let's see...

there's little squirt,

little man,

silly monkey,

mr. peebody,

sir penguin,

sir isaac,

fruit stripes {when he's dressed in his colorful going-home outfit... see last post},

dr. crankenstein {only when he's crying},

elvis {when his lip goes up while he's pooping},

izzy,

my little piglet {because he snorts... one of his ways of letting me know he's ready to nurse},

sugarsnap pea,
squirmos,

mr. peanut,

snickerdoodle...

i even STILL call him baby-b!!!

and there are so many more names... too many to list.

i just knew he'd have many "names",

'cause mr. b. has always had a thousand pet names for me.

in fact, many of them have transferred right on to isaac.

God was good, not just to give us this child in the first place,

but to protect me and the baby throughout the pregnancy... 

and THEN, give us a very, very healthy baby.

we are blessed!

{many of you know about the previa during the pregnancy,

but what no one here knows... because i never wrote about it... 

is that i also fell at thirty-eight weeks...

which turned out to be nothing,

but as a result of the fall and having to go to the hospital to be monitored

just to make sure all was okay,

an arrhythmia was discovered in the baby's heart...

which meant more tests and a bit of worrying.

maybe i can write more about it some day,

but all turned out to be okay.

isaac's precious heart was tested again right after birth,

and the arrhythmia was gone...

which indicates that it was probably just a benign pregnancy-related arrhythmia

that was bound to go away upon birth.

and i'm soooooooooo thankful that turned out to be the case!

you know how facebook sends you a notification

every time someone comments on your wall

or sends you a private facebook message?

well, when we got home from the hospital

and i logged into e-mail for the first time,

my inbox had over 300 new e-mails in it...

my brother and sister had announced isaac's birth on their walls,
and then tagged me on those announcements.

so all of my friends could see that baby arrived

even before i could announce it myself.

but i'm glad!

what a nice surprise it was to come home to all those congratulations and wishes.

and it hasn't just been in cyberspace that we've been lavished with congrats.

we've had many friends and relatives

stop by the house to visit isaac {some even stopped by the hospital}.

{auntie angela holding little isaac... my twin sis came to visit in the hospital on his birth day,

but that photo was taken by my mama... i was too exhausted to take pics there.}

{uncle drew... mr. b's brother... holding isaac at our home}




{aunt jill with isaac}



{they have a somewhat new baby at home, too... cousin lucy for isaac to play with!}



{isaac in uncle nate's lap... this uncle is my brother}




{my newlywed friends, kellie and bobbie, visiting little baby-isaac}


since coming home, those visits have been some of the nicest moments...

friends or family coming by to give isaac a kiss

and wish us well... some even bringing us meals

because they know how tiring and time-consuming it is with a newborn around.

we are blessed!

so far, pampers win!!

huggies??... not so much.

in nine days, seven were pampers days and not a single leak.

two were huggies days... two leakers in two days.
very soon, i'll be graduating to cloth diapers.
but i wanted to give myself an easy break with disposables
until i get adjusted to this whole "new mom" thing.

why didn't anyone tell me that the life of a new mom

is all about laundry and cleaning up after leaky diapers,

leaking breast milk, or a spitting up baby.

{sigh}

this, too, shall pass.

after every feeding i give isaac,

i just have to laugh at his limp noodle-like state

{he is often "out cold" by the time he's done feeding},

because it reminds me of a favorite garfield comic/cartoon

that my sister once showed me...

garfield says, "eating makes me sleepy.

sleeping makes me hungry.

life is good."

yep... that's my baby... eat, sleep, poop.

when isaac first came out, he looked mostly like his dad.

and that continued for several days.

but much to my delight, as each day goes on,

he is beginning to look more and more like me.

that makes me so glad!

i had really hoped if we had a boy that he would look

a lot like his father did when he was little.

but i have to admit, i really want to see

what my influence looks like in my offspring.

i haven't put my finger on what it is exactly that is looking like me.

but there is something there.

i'm excited to see how he will evolve.

i have to laugh at the comment my father-in-law made
to my husband in an e-mail after we sent some of the first photos
ever taken of isaac {the shots from my last post}.
he said {paraphrased}, "hey, that's a good-lookin' kid!
most babies come out looking like winston churchill or monkeys,
but not yours... so you did good!

he is growing like a weed!

in just nine days, he has already changed, so much.

i fear i will terribly miss this newborn stage

after it has come and gone.

that's why i plan to take a million pictures!

golly, i wish i had a better lens before his newborn phase ends!

have i mentioned how much i love and adore my son?

i've sat in disbelief several times...

to the point of tears.

what did i ever do to deserve such a gift... such joy?

i am simply in awe.

i read proverbs every day to little isaac.

and during the week, every day from one o'clock to two o'clock,
isaac and i watch two episodes of leave it to beaver.
the night we came home from the hospital,
we listened to donovan and floated on a cloud
as we watched our newest family member
fill our home with love and joy.
since then, we've played all kinds of music from our collection...
this is gonna be one music-loving child,
as his parents are two of the biggest music lovers of all time!

i've already written a little tune for sir isaac.
it's a cute little number about a monkey.
it's called cutest little monkey in the land.
maybe some day i will take a video of him with me singing it to him.
then you can all hear what a wonderful voice i have! {wink}

remember how i have written about
the cardinal that hangs out in my back yard?
well, as long as i have lived here, i've only ever seen just the one.
and anyone who knows me, knows how i love cardinals,
because they are my little "sign" from God
that He is watching over me... taking care of me.
they have been that to me for about ten years, now...
starting in the midst of a really rough time of my life
when i asked God to send a cardinal to my deck
to show me a sign that i was going to be okay.
within minutes, a cardinal flew up and perched himself on my deck railing.
ever since, i can't tell you how many times i have seen cardinals
when i needed to see them most... in times of worry or fear or uncertainty.
or even just in times that i needed a little reassurance.
well, guess what...
just a couple days after i got home from the hospital with isaac,
i was sitting at the computer,
looking out the back window at the trees
where that cardinal usually hangs out.
and what did i see?
not one cardinal... but two!
first one flew from one tree to the next.
then the other followed.
and then they both flew back to the first tree.
i kid you not!
this is the first time i have ever seen two out there instead of just the one.
i BELIEVE with my whole heart...
God sent them both there on that day.
one for me.
and one for isaac.
reassurance that He is watching over us both
and will help me be a good mom to a healthy and vibrant son.
i will never forget it.

i bet there will be many more thoughts to come... random or not.

and maybe i'll get a schedule down

that will allow me to get on here from time to time to blog about them.

but for now, i'm signing out.

i've got feedings to do.

i've got diapers to change.

i've got kisses to lavish.

i've got prayers of utter gratitude to send.

so isaac, mr. b. and i bid you good night.

{if you would like to see a bunch more photos,
go here or here.}