meeting mae

Mae's first visitors, her Grandpa and Aunt Kelsey, came to meet her in the hospital when she was just one day old! Mae was very sweet and sleepy and let both hold her without too much fussing.

Grandpa even brought props to make sure Mae doesn't end up with the same weird phobias as me. He wore his Vineyard Vines shirt (with a scary whale logo!) and brought the cute Halloween spider mug that he gave Kelsey and me a few years ago as "step 1 on our 12 step arachnophobia recovery program." So silly!

Aunt Kelsey did a great job holding Mae. I remember visiting Kelsey in the hospital when she was almost exactly 1/4th the weight of Mae!

Grandma stayed at our house until Tuesday to help care for us while we cared for Mae. No way could we have survived without her cooking, cleaning, and doing laundry! I'm sure she'll be back soon to get more time with her granddaughter!

Dan's mom flew in to town Wednesday and his dad and sister drove in after work on Friday. I love this family photo with Mae... so much love here!

Mae was happy to be snuggled all weekend. She loved being held by everyone, especially GranE who had the magic shoulder hold that calmed fussy Mae immediately.

Mae also got some quality time in with her Grandad and Aunt Colleen. So sweet.

We received an adorable little flower arrangement in an elephant planter from my parents while still in the hospital and more flowers and a teddy bear from my work group when we got home. Kathy and Jason sent a fruit bouquet (with pineapple ducks!) which was both pretty and delicious. The chocolate covered strawberries were my reward for getting through the millionth night time feeding.

Dan's parents sent me a silver heart charm with an "M" which matches the one they gave me last year after Nolan was born. I love this necklace... Such a good way to keep both my little ones close to my heart.

second blogiversary

Happy second birthday, blog! Your first birthday doesn't seem very long ago, but you've accumulated 51 new posts since then! I had them all bound into a Shutterfly book so one day, Mae can sit down and read about all the wonderful things she got to do while floating around in my belly. Unfortunately, I omitted most of the crummier parts like not being able to put on my own socks, the constant Braxton Hicks contractions, and that one week where I couldn't put any weight on my left hip, so she'll think it was all sunshine and roses and won't listen when I give her a hard time about those 9 long months I suffered through for her!

Thanks to everyone who checks in on the blog regularly. I'd probably keep writing for myself even if no one ever read this, but you make it much more worth it!

P.S. If you don't already get email notifications when I write a new post but would like to, just enter your email address in the box on the right side of the window where it says "get my new posts to your email!" Then go check your email and click the link sent to you by Feedburner (it could end up in your junk folder). This confirms your email address, and you're all set!

her first walk

Is it weird if I get almost as excited about my firsts as I do about Mae's firsts? I mean, yeah, Tuesday (one week old!) was Mae's first walk around the neighborhood, but it was also my first time wearing real clothes and makeup since I checked into the hospital. That's a big deal!

It took 4 tries to get Mae in her carrier without her screaming and flailing everywhere, but eventually we made it out of the house and all the way to the ice cream parlor down the street. She even let us enjoy our treats in peace and quiet while she napped in the stroller!

Mae has also been enjoying some tummy time on her quilt with Daddy. How cute is this??

she's here!

Mae Elizabeth was born at 6:10 pm on Tuesday, May 17th. She weighed 7 lb 13 oz and measured 20.5 inches long. She is healthy and adorable, and we are both recovering well.

My labor started around 10 pm Monday night, just a few hours after sharing my last post. We left for the hospital around 1:30 a.m. after making the necessary arrangements at home (take out the trash, fill Charlie's seed dish, turn off my alarm clock, etc). Labor was fairly long and much more painful than I expected, even with an epidural. The scariest part was probably needing to have the first epidural removed and replaced. How many people can say they had two epidurals?? Dan (Daddy!) and Mom (Grandma!) encouraged me through everything. Finally, after 20 hours of labor and some assistance from the doctor with his medical-grade salad tongs, Mae finally joined us as a healthy, screaming newborn!

After lots of "kangaroo care" time following delivery, Mae got her first bath and her hospital bracelets. I made sure to count 10 fingers and 10 toes since we had been joking that one ultrasound looked like she had 6 fingers!

We did lots of cuddling and not much sleeping while in the hospital. Daddy got a crash course in diaper changing and much, much more practice over the next few days.

We came home from the hospital on Thursday and are trying to establish a routine for our little family!

overdue

My due date, Friday the 13th, has come and gone, and baby girl has decided it's just too cozy in my tummy to bother with the whole birth thing yet. I'm trying to balance tips for encouraging labor (daily walks) against the advice to get plenty of rest before baby comes (daily naps). She passed her non-stress test and ultrasound checks this morning with flying colors... She's measuring about 8 lb 10 oz (oof) and appears to have some hair coming in! I'm now officially scheduled for an induction on Thursday, so there is an end in sight for this pregnancy.

In the meantime, we'll keep making plans and hoping that they get interrupted by labor. Saturday we went to see "Captain America: Civil War" and then we ventured downtown with Kathy and Jason for an Asian food festival in the evening. (Maybe I should have tried more spicy things while we were there??) I had to dig out my maternity coat again since it was so chilly this weekend. I can't blame this little girl for waiting to make her appearance until it gets a bit warmer out again!

a baby weasley sweater

Last weekend I had to miss Emily's BaByQ (isn't that the cutest name for a baby shower/barbeque??), since I don't want to be too far from my hospital at 39 weeks pregnant! Even so, I couldn't pass up the opportunity for another Harry Potter-themed baby gift. I think baby Oliver needs his very own Weasley sweater, in Gryffindor colors of course.

I knit this from Plymouth Yarn Encore Tweed in the colorway Brick Red and added the monogram "O" with duplicate stitch in the colorway Nugget. The back of the neck has a button closure so it won't be too tight trying to pull it over his head. The sweater is a 6-12 month size, so hopefully it will be nice and snuggly next winter! Details on my Ravelry page.

our nursery

I think the nursery is finally ready for our baby girl!

I finished all my sewing projects several weeks ago so that my craft desk (a table top laid across two IKEA Expedit cubby shelves) could be disassembled and stored in the basement. (*Sob!* I will miss you terribly, craft desk!) My final sewing project was a pleated, adjustable crib skirt. Dan suggested the pink fabric to bring a little more girliness into the blue room, which was definitely a good call. It looks great and helps bring out the pink in the confetti dot curtains!

There are lots of online tutorials for crib skirts. I loosely followed one from View Along the Way, except I added lining and a pleat in the middle. The skirt is attached to the crib platform with Velcro so I can adjust it when the crib is lowered and it won't bunch up on the floor. I mentioned to Dan that I was concerned about the Velcro coming undone when lifting the mattress to change the sheet. His deadpan response was, "I'm more concerned that we're perpetuating gender stereotypes by giving her a crib skirt instead of crib pants." Ha! I laughed so hard I almost peed (which seems to be an increasing risk with each passing week of pregnancy).

We re-purposed one of the IKEA cubbies from the craft desk into a changing table and built a topper from a piece of MDF and some baseboard molding coated with primer, leftover wall paint, and a few coats of polycrylic. The topper is attached with sticky-backed Velcro tabs, so the shelf could potentially be reassembled as a craft desk in the future (I can always dream). Attaching legs to the bottom turned into a DIY Fail (it's hard to install screws into a shelf made out of pressed cardboard), but I figure that I'm short enough to handle a slightly lower diaper changing surface. I love how it turned out and it fits the changing pad perfectly! I'll use the drawers and baskets to store various diaper changing necessities and the extra shelf space to store blankets.

The area over the changing table needed a bit of artwork, so I painted a canvas to match the bunny motif from my baby quilt fabric. I mounted it in a wood frame and added the little fabric bows for extra cuteness.

The other cubby became a bookshelf/nightstand next to the daybed. The pink boxes hold towels and toys. I'm still loving the quilted pillow shams I finished back in March!

The only furniture we bought specifically for the nursery was the IKEA Hensvik crib and the rocking chair from Target. I emptied most of our stuff from the dresser and closet to free up space for clothes, crib sheets, sleepers, socks, and hats. I've had way too much fun organizing all her tiny accessories.

I'm glad this room is finally together, even though baby girl will probably be sharing a room with us for a while at the beginning!

boxy zipper pouches

These little zipper pouches were handmade with love as gifts for my baby shower hostesses. I finished sewing them in March, but waited to share them here so I wouldn't ruin the surprise for the recipients! I followed this tutorial from The Seasoned Homemaker with no modifications. The pouches are fully lined with dainty pink polka dot fabric and are a perfect size for holding makeup, sewing notions, and much more! I stuffed each with some tissue paper and a few travel-size beauty products. Now I just wish I'd made an extra one for myself!