Getting Back in the Groove

When Shepherd was born two weeks ago, I decided to take a couple of weeks off from 'life' and just stare at my son. So that is what I've done for two weeks. However, it is time to start doing some of my normal activities again (like blogging and exercising and wearing clothes that aren't pajamas), so here I am again.

Before Shepherd's birth, I did several blog posts documenting my thoughts as my pregnancy wore down. After two weeks of motherhood, I thought I'd do one more post along those lines, so here it goes:

1. The term, "I love you so much it hurts," was coined by a new mom. I'm convinced of this.

2. Labor and delivery was actually sort of awesome. I mean, it hurt, but it was still pretty amazing. At the end of the day, a sense of accomplishment and reward totally outweighs any memory of pain.

3. My brother is a stellar uncle. When Bro came this past week to meet Shepherd, he had lots of homework he needed to do. Instead, he stared at Shepherd with me. He is currently in Texas having a panic attack about how far behind he is on school work.

4. I spend what seems like 70 percent of the day feeding my son. The doctor's exact words at his two week check-up: "Well, Shepherd gained a little more wieght than we had expected." I could of told them that. My son is a pig.

5. I can get more done in an hour than I ever dreamed possible. Shepherd fell asleep in his swing this morning for a little over an hour. I ran around frantically cleaning because I know what I'll be doing once he wakes up (see number 4).

6. Speaking of Shepherd falling asleep in his swing, this is the only reason I have time to do this post right now:

7. This is a picture of Shepherd in his Halloween onsie curtesy of Brittany. He was a precious in it yesterday. However, we thought it might be slightly more appropriate if it had said "I'm Batty for Boobies" (once again, see number 4).

8. BJ is the best father ever. He helps with baths and diapers and waking up at all hours of the night to (guess what) feed Shepherd.

9. And last but not least, see this picture:

See the two guys in this picture. (Warning: Cheesy moment approaching). I love these two guys so much it hurts.

Shepherd Joseph Gensic

Shepherd Joseph Gensic was born at 1:12 p.m. on October 15, 2010. He weighed 7 pounds on the dot and is 20 inches. And of course, that is 7 pounds and 20 inches of perfection.

What I want him to know

That he was loved from the moment we knew he existed.

That that love will never change.

That we are trying to do our best by him, and we apologize beforehand for all the times we are sure to screw up.

That stories matter, and the story one chooses to live out of changes everything.

That our great calling is "to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly before your God" (Micah 6:8)

That that calling is difficult.

That following Christ is worth it even when it seems like it might not be.

Two weeks to go (yikes!)

At six weeks left to go, I did a post on what thoughts had been running through my mind. With only two weeks left to go, here is an update.

1. My child will have the cutest bum on the block. Here are two pictures of the diapers BJ's mom (Nana) and I made this past weekend.

2. Grandma Farr would have loved those diapers.

3. I'm tired of being in labor. One of my pregnancy books described month nine as an entire month of labor, and in my experience, that is pretty accurate. I'll spare you any further detail.

4. Due to number 3, if this little boy pulls an Uncle Bro and comes two weeks late, he will be born grounded.

5. He's probably going to pull an Uncle Bro, isn't he?

6. The grandmothers are more anxious than BJ and I. When I see my mom calling, I now answer, "Hello. I'm not in labor. What's up with you?"

7. People who don't take advantage of all the free educational opportunities hospitals offer before giving birth are really missing out. In the past week, BJ and I finished our childbirth courses, I had an hour-long consultation with a lactation specialist, and we met with our pediatrician. I now know so much that I didn't know before. Of course, when you know nothing, you naturally have a lot to learn.

8. After the before-mentioned lactation consultation, I learned that babies spend a significant portion of each day eating. This means I will be spending a significant portion of each day being something akin to a soda fountain.

9. Gus's world is about to be turned upside down. He has started to sense that something is going on, so he is being really clingy. Since, as we all know, I am not even a little bit differentiated from this dog, my natural reaction is to be clingy in return. In other words, we're doing a lot of clinging here lately.

10. I'm going to sort of miss being pregnant. Don't be too shocked. I won't miss all the weird symptoms or the getting-fatter-by-the-day part. But I'll miss watching him move around and feeling him get the hiccups (which he does almost every night when I go to bed). I'll also miss our little games where I poke him to watch him move in response. He probably won't miss me poking him, though. I poke him a lot.

In conclusion and due to a request from one of my Fat Tuesday girls, here is a picture of the bump at 38 weeks. I am huge.