Sleep, where have you gone? and other updates

First, my apologies to anyone who doesn't like babies. I have a feeling that our blog is going to become a baby blog for the next little while.

My precious baby girl is 9 days old today. Every day I think "this is the only day the rest of her life that she is going to be (fill in the blank) days old", and I have to say, it makes me sad that days go by so quickly. This time next year she will be a year old! In only one year! I try to cherish every moment with her. I take that back. I don't really cherish the times when she is fussy at night instead of letting us sleep. And there is definitely a steep learning curve to being a new mom. But in general, I am so grateful to have a sweet little daughter as part of our family and I am so grateful to be her mother. My mother-in-law made the observation that the day my daughter was born, all of a sudden my life and identity changed for the rest of eternity. In a way, I was born to a new life as a mother.

I want to share my birth story, but that will have to wait for another time. Honestly, I am still processing the whole thing myself.

Here are a few pictures of my sweet little girl. It is amazing how much she has changed already.

This is from day 3 I believe. Looking at this picture, I think she has already changed a lot since then. 

Please note the long fingers. One of the first things we noticed about her. 

She likes to snuggle.

In other news, Alex matched to Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston! It was his first choice and we feel very blessed and a little overwhelmed at the changes that will be coming with selling our home and trying to find a place to live in Boston.

 Cely and I decided to come to match day. A one week old only lasts so long though, so we did leave a little early.

I am loving my Moby wrap to have Cely close to me and still have hands to do things with.

A couple other things I want to point out. Both the oven and the dryer were broken when we came home from the hospital. Alex figured out the problems with both and the oven is back online and the dryer part should get here any day. Alex is thinking of opening his own appliance repair shop on the side. 

Cecily Annabel Parent

It's official. We have a name. It's on the birth certificate (or at least will be). No going back now.

Cecily was chosen mostly because we simply like it and it fits our little girl. It also meets our basic name reqs: It's pretty, it's not very common, and it's not weird. Cecily (or Cecilia) is also the name of the patroness saint of music. We're not Catholic, but that's still pretty cool. 

Annabel is Katie's mom's middle name. She is a wonderful woman, and it's an honor to be able to name our daughter in part after her.

The happy family

First real clothing. Thanks, Sara and Gilly!

Little Annabel with her namesake

Katie likes the nickname Cely or Celi (pronounced Sehli). I think Ceci is also pretty cute. Shortening both names gives Cely Ann, which also has a nice ring to it. We'll see which one(s) stick!

Baby Parent

Katie and I have wonderful news. Our little girl was born this morning at 4:24 am. She is a healthy 7 lb and 15 oz and is 20.75 inches from head to heel. Everyone here at the hospital says that she is perfect, and I can't disagree. We feel so blessed to have her in our family after all this time, and can't wait for all of you to meet her. She is already our special little girl.

I hope that Katie will share her labor experience later on, but I just want to say that I have never been more amazed, impressed, and in love with my wife than I was last night. She was simply incredible.

The name? Well, Katie's not ready to commit quite yet. Check back soon for a status update.

She's here!!!

My mom, that is. :)

Mom is patiently waiting for baby girl to make her grand appearance. And while she is waiting, she has cleaned my house top to bottom three times, done all my laundry five times, painted rooms and other stuff, otherwise prepared our house to be put on the market, and bought us food. She has worked really hard.

She took this picture of us. Yes, I am large.

And this one. This was at dinner tonight at Xinh Xinh Cafe, a Vietnamese restaurant. Yum.

As for baby, we are all waiting. I am almost a week overdue. Yes, I am getting a little tired of people asking me when I am due and giving me advice about how to speed the onset of labor. And yes, I am getting tired of being very pregnant. It dawned on me today that our daughter made us wait to get her here in the first place and making us wait to finally meet her just seems to fit. The difference is, the first waiting was an unknown amount of time from months to years. This time it feels like an eternity but I know it is really only a matter of days or less. I learned so many important things while waiting for her to exist. Certainly there are some things I can learn this time as well. 

One other picture I thought I would share: 

Maternity pictures!

Thank you so much Emily for taking our pictures! We had a great time and we love how they turned out.

A resourceful man and goodbye to a dear friend

A week ago, our washer stopped washing mid-load. It was already a frustrating day for me and that about put it over the top. So I called a repair dude who couldn't come out until Wednesday. He diagnosed the problem, gave us a (large!) quote to replace a part, and left.

Enter my husband. With the combined genius of YouTube, Google, and Amazon, Alex fixed the dang thing himself! I have proof:

 I told him afterward I should write him a check but he declined.

And an ode to my friend the broom:

Farewell pictures. 

You and me, broom
Sometimes that's all there was
Fighting a losing battle to keep the house clean.
We swept up crumbs, dog fur,
Many torn up shreds of paper (thanks, Lola)
And probably a few tears.
I gave time and energy to head off the tide of dirt on the floor
But you gave of yourself.
Piece by piece, stem by stem,
You gave of yourself to keep my floor clean (or cleanish I should say).
Unyielding devotion. You were always there.
When I needed you I knew where to find you.
Now I have already purchased your replacement.
I will throw you in the trash can
And not think twice about it.
But I will not forget your selfless service
In the name of kind of cleanliness.
Thank you, broom.


Don't mind the czapka. It found its way onto my head when I was going through boxes of stuff I didn't even know we had yesterday and it was so comfy I left it there.

A momentous occasion

Something happened yesterday in our family that has never ever happened before. I don't think Alex was looking forward to this day, and I can't say I was especially either, except that I was, because I knew it would happen and it was one more milestone of my pregnancy.

This is what happened: 

We weighed the same.

Alex looks thrilled, doesn't he? 

Here is a fun picture from my baby shower with some of my pregnant friends:

From left: Evelyn, Becca, Emily and Sara

For the record, I have loved being pregnant. I actually think I am going to miss it. Sure there is some discomfort  now that I am in the large-and-in-charge phase, but in general I feel good and healthy. I love contemplating the miracle that is happening and the fact that I basically have to do nothing and my baby and my body do everything. And in a few weeks out pops a new little human to be a part of my family.