pretty is as pretty does

As I was dressing Tess this morning...

Tess- "Am I byoo-di-bull?"

Me- "Yes, you are beautiful. Do you know what makes you beautiful?"

Tess- "Skirts and dresses."

Me- "When you love Jesus and treat other people nicely, that makes you most beautiful."

Tess- "No. Skirts and dresses make me byoo-di-bull."

Things I Should Never Have to Say...

"Stop licking the ceiling fan!"

"Everybody had better keep their pants on while the plumber is here."

"Don't put bubble wrap on the baby."

Mary Claire, one month old

Our little red bundle of fury is one month old!


That's my endearing little nickname for her. Because if she's not nursing or sleeping, she's pretty ticked off most of the time. Oh no, not *all* the times...she has happy, content moments. And she smiles, and is starting to coo...goodness, I just love me a cooing baby, is there anything sweeter?

(Maria got these yesterday...that's why the picture is shot up her nose, lol. Maria was determined to get one of her smiling long past the time I had given up, so she was both holding the baby and taking the pictures.)

She's not colicky, at least not so far, because nursing does comfort her. And she does have some long sleep periods. Usually she will take a decent nap each day *out* of my arms, and she sleeps pretty decently at night...you can't complain about that! But mostly when she is awake she wants to nurse, and nurse, and nurse some more. This kind of negates the value of those naps....you have to work a good long time to get them, like spend an hour nursing to get the nap, and then there's no telling if it'll be a three hour nap or a 10 minute one. And when she's awake, she's not even content to be in her swing or sling or anything. She just wants to nurse. She's gaining well and has obviously been filling out nicely, so I can only assume she has a strong suck need. I have had some luck putting her in the sling and using a pacifier, but I have been saving this move for when I really need it, not wanting to overdue the pacifier and all. But John is back at work, we really, really need to get things caught up around here, and so I am really going to need it more and more. Don't tell me these things can wait. I'm not talking about scrubbing baseboards here, people! I'm talking about clean underwear! Clean dishes! Bathed children! Such things can't wait forever...

We took an unexpected little trip to St. Louis recently to visit John's family. Insanity to take a trip three weeks postpartum you say? Apparently so, since I came back home with a case of mastitis, and Henry came home with a virus of some kind. But it was worth it, really. We got to visit with John's sister's family, whom we haven't seen since Jack was a toddler. The kids had such a ball with their cousins, I really wish we could visit more often...we are hoping to travel to their neck of the woods sometime next year. They live near DC...wouldn't that be the Mother of All Field Trips?

I do need to take some more (better) pictures. It has been rough, what with the trip and the cooties and all...Anyway, that's the latest and greatest around here. I am struggling mightily to find a new normal. I feel like I spend the whole first half of the day trying to get a shower, and the whole second half trying to fix dinner, and that's about all I can manage. But we sure are enjoying our new little girl. Hopefully we will get it a little more together in the next week or two now that everyone is well again, and then maybe I can find my way to more picture-taking.