Week in Review

This is actually last week; John and Cecilia and I went for a walk at Carondelet Park last Friday night. The weather was so nice, and we had fun with the new camera. Last Sunday was Easter, and it was a cold one- it even snowed. We stayed warm, though, surrounded by loved ones. (The beer and wine didn't hurt.) =)

Family Portrait

Photo courtesy of Amanda

Baby's First Easter

Fairest of Them All

Homecoming

I'm back from my trip to Santa Rosa to judge wine with women. I had a good time. I traveled with Patty from Stone Hill Winery and she was a fun traveling partner. We met lots of great women in our field, drank lots of wonderful wine, went on another perfect hike with Ann Noble and had some fabulous food. The weather was amazing also. All in all, though, I am so happy to be home. I accepted their invitation last year when I was pregnant, and I didn't realize how hard it would be to leave home after having a baby. Half of me couldn't believe I was there, how could I leave her, but the other
half of me was proud that I could think about something else. She is so demanding, and I love being there for her, and it's sometimes hard to think outside her world. I don't want to be that mom who swarms around her child every single solitary second of the day, but it would be easy to because I love her so much. I want to have my own identity besides Cecilia's mom, but she's so much fun, and I like being with her so much. I guess all moms feel this way, or all working moms?

Want to see some pictures?
California state flower- the poppy

Dr. Ann Noblelavender and vineyards in Carnerospoppies and vineyard in Carneros

California Knows How to Party

Tomorrow I go to California for a couple days for another wine competition. There are parts of the trip I am looking forward to including a chance for a little more sleep, and a chance to get to know my new Nikon D40 better. There are parts I am not looking forward to including leaving my husband and my baby, and getting to know the breast pump better (if that's possible.)

So I leave you with this picture of her taken this morning in the bassinet dressed in turquoise. I'll be back to blogging probably on Thursday with more pictures of northern California than you can shake a stick at.

Life is so much more pleasant with a little bit of sleep. Last night I fed her at 8:30 p.m., and she fell asleep at 10 p.m., so we went to bed too. I fully expected to be up again in 20 minutes, but I was so tired I went to sleep at 10 p.m. also. Much to my surprise and delight, she slept until 2:30 a.m. I fed her and felt like a million bucks. After she fell back asleep I laid there in bed a long time. I felt so rested, I thought, "I should get up." But I didn't. 5 a.m. isn't so bad when you've slept 6 and a half hours. I think Cecilia was exhausted too, because she slept this morning from 6:15 a.m. to 10:15 a.m., and again now from 4:15 p.m. and she's still asleep now. I hope all this sleeping doesn't make me in for a rough night. Tomorrow I have more time to catch up on sleep though, so even if tonight is rough, I don't have to be up at 5 a.m., and to work by 7:30 a.m.

Truth be Told...

...this baby is kicking my ass this week. She doesn't want to sleep. Every night this week I've been up until midnight or longer, and the alarm goes off at 5 a.m. Monday was not so bad, Tuesday I had off, so I slept a few more minutes in the morning, Wednesday I was dragging and today I'm barely hanging on. Last night I went to bed at 8:30p.m., and she was up at 9:13 to eat. At 10:15 p.m. John got out of bed to hold her, and at 11 p.m. she wanted to eat again and not fall asleep until midnight. Plus, on top of all this not sleeping, I'm trying so hard to make more milk and pump so while I am gone next week she can continue to be exclusively on breastmilk. I drink gallons of water a day, eat cereal and soup, anything liquid to help make more milk. This morning I had so much milk that she drank it too fast and threw it all up on me. I'm talking projectile spit up, out her nose, on all my clothes and hers, the boppy, the sheets, etc. Then she cried through my whole shower. Yesterday I put the swing right outside the bathroom and she swang while I showered. This morning she wasn't going for it, so I put a blanket and a play pad on the bathroom floor, and tried to wash my hair while "poking her paci" (as Amanda calls it.)

Needless to say, I'm exhausted. All this extra milk production, and crying and lack of sleep is making me looney. I cried on the way to work this morning because a Dave Mathews Band song came on. I worked really hard yesterday trying to keep her awake so she would go to sleep earlier, and I guess I'm going to do the same today. I have been avoiding coffee, especially after noon because I think it keeps her up, but I think I'm going to go make a pot here at work, so I can get something done, and maybe to aggravate her enough during the day today so she will sleep tonight. Oh God, please let her fall asleep before midnight tonight.

In good news, though, she rolled over last night for the first time. Mommy's lack of sleep doesn't seem to be phasing her at all.

Wort Chiller

John made beer last week. I think it's been over a year since he made beer last. He made another cream ale, since the first one turned out so well.

Woot!

John bought a Roomba last week from his new favorite website. It scurries all around the house picking up cat hair and dirt, and kitty litter and more cat hair. As you can see in this picture, Tabasco, or any of the cats for that matter, are not too excited about it. We can schedule it to run while we aren't home, and John is looking forward to next week when his parents come up to watch Cecilia for a couple days because he plans to have it go off in the middle of the day while they are here. Too bad we can't hook up a video camera when that happens. I'm sure his mom is going to freak out.

John thinks it needs a name. Any suggestions?

Namesake

John is very picky about names, and it took us a long time to pick out and agree on Cecilia's name. John didn't want a name that ends in the "eee" sound, so no Susie or Katie. He thinks it rhymes too much or something (who knows what he's thinking.) He also hates many names because of former students that he didn't care for, and after 9 years of teaching public high school, there are many names that he crosses off the list for this reason. I will have to admit Cecilia has always been one of my favorite names, so much so that Becky knew what it was before I told her. I love love love old names that you have heard before but aren't that common anymore. For example, I really like the name Opal, but John put the smack down on that name. =( I think my love of the name Cecilia came from the Simon and Garfunkel song. It just rings in your ear, and plays over and over in my mind, and just sounds so unlike any other song on the radio, with the drums, and the mostly acoustic sound to it. Also, St. Cecilia is the patron saint of music, which ties in so perfectly to John and I's life and priorities, what with him being a band teacher and all. Then there is the kin. This picture is of my great grandma, Mary Cecilia, who was born on today's date, 120 years ago. She lived to be 99, and I remember her birthday parties well. All my mom's aunts would come in from all over the country, and I would be reaquainted every year with many cousins, and second cousins, and first cousins one removed, and my great aunts would sing in 4 part harmony around the piano, and then we'd all take family pictures. One of my great aunts, Mary, is actually named Mary Cecilia also. My dad also has a first cousin named Cecilia.

Don't ask us about nicknames, because John also had a student named Cece that he didn't care for. I figure, we call Melissa, Melissa, and that is three syllables, no reason why we can't call Cecilia Cecilia.

Entertainment for Mommy

It snowed another 52 inches yesterday, and so I decided to take Cecilia out in the snow. I bundled her all up, and laid her down in the snow in the shade, and had to laugh. She looked so ridiculous. I'm pretty sure she had no idea what was going on. She's such a good baby, she just laid there and looked at me while I took pictures and giggled.

She's so fun.

Her Eyes, That's Where Hope Lies

I See You

Chester likes to hide, or in this instance, he thinks he is hiding. Kind of reminds me of this picture.

Equally as Cute

Here she is "talking" to me and she has a big yawn at the end.

Cute Movie

She smiles a lot now, and even coos and tries to talk.

Cabin Fever

My cousin, Heather, and her two sons are in town again from Florida. They must have brought the nice weather with them, because 70 degrees never felt so good to this body. Cecilia had more fresh air today than she has ever had. She didn't care too much about the animals at the Zoo, but it was fun to go, and I'm sure she enjoyed it (sure.)

Tomorrow's supposed to bring more snow, and although I do love winter, I think I'm done with winter for this year.