Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Success!

As you can see, I decided it was time for a face lift for the ol' blog. I'm clueless about HTML and web design, so I am forced to rely on free templates. I loved this one, but needed to edit out some text and replace it with my own. However, there was no simple editing option to do that, so I had to find a blank version of the image and do it myself in PhotoStudio. It wouldn't be a big deal to many of you, but I'm thrilled that I got it to work!

Now maybe the new look will inspire me to blog more often. In the meantime, there's a hungry baby calling me...

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Long Overdue. Literally.

Pregnancy is long, folks. Forty weeks, which is in fact TEN months...not nine. My baby decided that her accommodations were quite pleasant and decided to extend her stay by another two weeks. Women should not have to be pregnant for 42 weeks. While I felt fine physically (apart from being exceedingly great with child), I was mentally and emotionally done and soon began to feel like the proverbial watched pot that never boils. I started to think I would come unhinged if one more person asked me, "Well, aren't you feeling ANY contractions yet??"

Rest assured, the appointed day did finally arrive. It didn't begin the way I had hoped (induction, rather than spontaneous labor), nor did it end the way I had hoped (c-section after 22 hours of labor, rather than a VBAC). It did, however, produce exactly what I had hoped for - a strong, healthy, beautiful baby girl. I even got the added bonus of having our first dark-haired baby! (which was a secret hope of mine)

Allow me to introduce Ellie, the newest member of our family:

Eleanor Elizabeth
9 lbs, 11 oz
21 1/2" long
Born September 23, 2009 at 10:11 PM

Just born:

The next day, meeting Natalie, Ethan and Neena (my mom):
Don't let the picture fool you. The kids weren't nearly as exuberant as this image would lead you to believe. They were a little overwhelmed with the newness of everything, but they are adjusting well now.

Rocking with Neena:
Wearing her first handknits:
Finally home:
It has only been six days, but it's already hard to imagine what life was like without her.