My Ray

I started going back to work a week and a half ago. It breaks my heart to be away from my girl. I fought tears (often unsuccessfully) all day my first day back. With each day it has gotten easier, just as everyone said it would. But my heart still breaks a little every time I walk out that door in the morning. All I wanna do is be with my girl!

Lucky for me, my hours allow for a good amount of time with her after work. I get home just after 3pm. So from then until bed, it's Mommy and Raya time.

This is how we spent the afternoon after my first day back at work.

My second day of work was Raya's first day of skoo. She was seepy when she got home.

Here's Raya pretending to be Mac. (She's in Mac's car seat with Mac's blanket, self-feeding the way Mac sometimes does)

Just seepin' and suckin' my thumb

Raya goes to daycare 3 days a week. Her cousin Mackenzie goes there too. We call it "skoo." Raya had some tall tales about her day at skoo today. Sounds like she and Mackie had tons of fun.

(I apologize upfront for allowing my nerdy laugh to intrude on Raya's cuteness. You'll see.)

She laughs!

I took this video today. It's the first time Raya has done any significant laughing (while awake anyway... she tends to have very funny dreams). It was the cutest thing ever and I'm soooo grateful my new camera was nearby and the video function easy to figure out!

This moment

Smiley girl in Lake Chelan - 6 weeks old

Raya is a little over 2 months old now. 9 weeks and 6 days to be exact. She smiles all the time, loves to stand and look around (while I hold her balanced, of course), and talks our ears off (she and Mike have some seriously long conversations, it's the cutest thing). She has real emotions and knows how to express them now. Sometimes she's content to just look around while she's in her swing, other times she insists on being held. She LOVES her Moby wrap. I can stick her in that thing and do the dishes, fold the laundry, check my email (she's in it now as I write this)... it's awesome. Plus, I love having her that close to me too. It's a win win for sure :)

Wearing the adorable outfit cousin Erin gave her...

and the cute Mary Jane socks her Great Grandma Judy gave her :)

I wish I could ask her to slow down and let me revel in this moment for awhile. At the same time, I love that with each day I see a new little piece of her. I'm careful to remind myself to appreciate the moments. Sometimes I actually whisper those words. When she looks up at me while she's nursing ("this moment"). When she's crying or sleeping in my arms ("this moment"). When she's cooing happily to her daddy ("this moment"). When her dimple is deep from the big smile she's giving Mommy ("THIS MOMENT!!").

Here are some moments from the past few weeks.

Ray in the Moby, Mac in my arms (and totally happy about it)

Chatting it up with Daddy

Poor baby had her first round of shots last week - she's showing off her owies :)

Watching the Hawks win their first game!

Smiling at her Mommy... there's that dimple!

She's squirming and fussing now which means blog time is over. I best get up off my butt and dance around a bit.

This moment :)

Yesterday

Yesterday was our 3 year wedding anniversary. We started the day like we've started every day since Raya's arrival - all four of us in bed. Yep, four. Somehow we got in the bad habit of allowing Steve up on our bed in the morning (and by "somehow" I mean Michael). So as the four of us lay in bed anticipating the start our day, we have this conversation:

Me: Is today the 29th?
Michael: I'm not sure.
Me: Hmmm... well if it is, we should go out to dinner tonight.
Michael: Yeah, probably so.

Then Michael got out of bed and I received a phone call from Sarah. She wished me a happy anniversary. Yep! It's the 29th!

Breaking the streak of gloomy days on July 29th, yesterday was a record breaking 104 degrees. I would've preferred the gloom for sure - but THANK GOD we were smart enough to buy a window AC unit before this heat arrived. I cringe at the thought of what it would be like without it (especially with a newborn)! We spent the day hanging out on our bedroom with the AC pumping constantly. Colin and Alyssa offered to watch Raya while we went out to dinner, but we decided we wanted to bring her. She is the product of our 3 year marriage after all... and besides, the three other times we took her to a restaurant she just slept. Easy.

I convinced Mike that we should try The Seattle Crab Co. for dinner. Even though we both dubbed it "ghetto" by the looks of their sloppy hand written signs claiming they now make the "best cocktails in Seattle." But this mama was in the mood for some crab and figured they'd be cheap and kid friendly. The AC in Mike's car wouldn't work during the drive there, so we drove with all the windows down and arrived at the restaurant only to find a sign in the window that said "Closed temporarily due to no air conditioning." Great. Since we were already out of the house, we decided we'd just go to the Northgate Azteca. Lame, I know, but a margarita was sounding really good at this point. There was a half hour wait for our table and the entry way was packed making it impossible to feel the AC, so I spent those 30 minutes walking Raya around the restaurant and loitering in the bathroom where it was nice a cool. She slept the whole time like a perfect little angel. Finally we were seated and Mike ordered his Corona and I ordered my margarita (I pumped in preparation). We ordered our food and as we waited for it to arrive, our sweet girl just snoozed away in her car seat. Then our food arrived. And Raya awoke. We spent the remainder of our meal taking turns bouncing her while the other scarfed down their food. Then we laughed and said "Happy Anniversary!" as we motioned to the waitress that we were ready for our check.

If the whole experience hadn't been soooo miserable, it would've been miserable. Instead, it was a perfect way to spend our 3rd anniversary. Laughing together through difficult times is what marriage is all about!

The real highlight of the day was when we gave Raya her first official bath (she only had sponge baths before her umbilical cord fell off). Here are some pictures (and by "some" I mean lots)...











Have I mentioned yet that I LOVE her?

Sweet Baby Ray

Raya Claire Thompson

7.7.09

4:42 pm

7 pounds 4 ounces

20 inches

perfect

Our sweet girl is FINALLY here! I LOVE her. I love her I love her I love her.

I love her.

Today is the first day of the rest of my life!

I am soooo done with this belly!!

This is it! I'm exactly 39 weeks and having this baby today! I couldn't be more ready. I am so excited to hold this little girl in my arms and love her with everything that I am.

A few months ago, I wrote her this poem. It was back when I was still enamored with her living in my belly. I want to remember that feeling (even though I'm now thoroughly over it - hehe)

Sitting on the crowded bus
With unfamiliar faces
Strangers all too close for comfort
That's one of the places...
At my desk all day long
The minutes pass by slow
Wishing I were somewhere else
Again you let me know...
Relaxing on my couch
With nothing more to do
Suddenly I'm smiling
And all because of you...
Laying in my bed
You occupy my mind
I rest my hand upon you
When sleep is hard to find...
No matter where I'm headed
No matter when I'm there
You remind me that you're with me
No feeling can compare.
Every moment like this
I'm grateful you would pick me
to experience this miracle -
I LOVE it when you kick me!

Baby GT will bring me new love. New life. New everything. I cannot wait to meet her!

Kitchen Remodel Part II

Our temporary kitchen in our dining room

Steve liked to think it was all about him

Cabinets installed

Cork floor down

Ta-da! "Just a fresh coat of paint" turned into a fantastic new kitchen!!

And just in time... :)

P.S. Special thanks to Chris J. for all his help! I totally meant to mention that when I originally posted this, but I assume I was distracted by the fact that I was going to have a baby the next day. THANKS CHRIS!!

Ode to Thomas and Lucerne

I do not know how else I would get myself out of bed, showered, dressed and on the bus to work if I didn't know that I had a bag of Thomas' Cinnamon Raisin Swirl bagels waiting for me in my desk drawer, and a tub of Lucerne Soft Cream Cheese in the office kitchen. It really motivates me to get to work! (The key is to NOT have these items at home.)

If you haven't tried these bagels before, you're missing out. They're pre-cut but still so smushy soft! Our office toaster is a joke, it's made for thin sliced bread only... and even though these bagels are pretty thick, they can be smashed thin to fit and still taste chewy and delicious.

Cream cheese is cream cheese to me, so I can't brag much about that except to say that Lucerne is usually quite a bit cheaper than Philadelphia, but tastes just the same. Regardless of the brand, smothering it on a Thomas' Cinnamon Raisin Swirl bagel is a breakfast treat from heaven.

Yeah, I'm still very pregnant.

Our baby could arrive any day... LET'S REMODEL OUR KITCHEN!

I know what you're thinking... why would we want to change such a beautiful kitchen??

We're just crazy like that...

The wallpaper was quite beautiful. And artistically installed upside-down.

But a prego must do what a prego must do.

Surprise! A second layer of amazing wallpaper! If only it were possible to strip just the first layer :(

Stripping it at all was quite a chore. It took MT a day and a half!

DONE and primed! Steve was confused.

Check out that FINE fatty taking the hardware off all the cabinetry. Yep, she's got power tools.

Sink and counters are gone, but the skeleton is sanded, primed and painted!

Cabinets too. As well as some of the rocks lining our driveway... oops.

Oh why not? Let's tear down a wall. It's not like we could have a baby tomorrow or anything...

Stay tuned for the next installment of our KITCHEN REMODEL! It may or may not include pictures of our baby.

Stubborn Girl

Smooth sailing can only last for so long, right? Eventually your wind is going to change and your approach adjusted accordingly. Such is life.

GT has decided she's more comfortable chillin' hammock style. Her head is up on my left side, her legs up toward my right, her butt snug at the bottom. It seems she shifted back into this "Frank Breech" position around the time she dropped. She's also a BIG girl. Estimated to be 7 lbs 4 oz already. Michael now lovingly refers to her as "Frank the Tank."

Normally, my doctor would try to manipulate her position from the outside to turn her around. However, my amniotic fluid is a bit on the low side, making me "not a good candidate" for this procedure. I guess this gust of wind is going to require a bit more adjustment than that.

GT is so grounded.

I'm doing what I can to motivate her to turn on her own. Right now I have classical music playing from earphones tucked low in my belly band. I also read about (and will try) some other techniques to get a breech baby to turn. Because of my low fluid, I can't attempt any of the gravity maneuvers... so no headstands for me. Not that I think I could do that with this belly anyway!

I know what this situation likely means and I'm working on adjusting to the idea of having a c-section. But I've been fantasizing about my labor/delivery experience for so long, it's hard to switch gears. It does help to focus on the positive though. I am going to have a healthy, chubby-cheeked, stubborn little chunkster soon... one way or another.

I guess it's up to GT to decide how she'll make her debut :)

Shower 'til you DROP!

My Ma did the flowers The spreadGT surrounded by her future BFFs

Girls Girls Girls!!

Bloody Marys, Mimosas... and Strawberry Lemonade :)

My dear sis-in-law, Alyssa, and one of my bestest friends, Kelly, hosted an AWESOME baby shower for me at the Greenlake Blue Water Bistro on Sunday. It was a beautiful day to spend with friends and family, eating yummy food, and opening tons of gifts!! GT is pretty much set for the good life. I had so much fun going through everything and finding places for it all in her nursery. I have my first load of baby clothes ready to wash! I just need to get some gentle detergent first :)

After I got home from my shower, I planted my butt on the couch and didn't move for the next few hours :) I noticed GT was squirming a lot more than normal... but didn't think much of it. Then, yesterday morning, I noticed that I felt a little less pressure around my rib cage, and more pressure lower down (the kind that makes you feel like you gotta go to the bathroom even after you just went). I thought perhaps she was starting to drop - but wasn't sure if it was all in my head. Then last night, as I changed into my pajamas, I caught sight of myself in the mirror. What the... my belly button is pointing down! That's not how it looked before! I showed Mike and he agreed - our girl must've dropped!

2-4 weeks is what they say to expect once your baby drops. Let the countdown begin!