McBride Madness

We spent all week with Brandon's mom's family, The McBrides. They were here in town from Illinois for their Spring Break. B's stepdad is from here and his mom, Vivian (GG to Jonah, as in greatgrandma) fed us nearly every night.

We spent a lot of time playing the Nintendo Wii. Here is Vivi with her Mii.

Tori, age 11 (but taller than me) loved helping with Jonah. She is very good with him and he loved having her hold him, change him, etc. Jo loves the sound of Nana Lisa's voice.

Here is Jonah's Daddy Mac (B's stepdad Michael) with his Mii. I wish I'd gotten a picture of him holding Jonah, he was very sweet with him and it was cute to see such a big cuddly guy holding our tiny cuddly guy.

Well, we did a lot this week I'll try to remember it all. We went to the zoo, we saw Blades of Glory (it's hysterical and needs to be watched with surround sound), played a lot of Wii, ate a lot, talked a lot, had Jonah's portraits taken, went to the mall, and enjoyed the rainy weather. Today was the first day of sunshine in about two weeks and B took the gals to buy and fly kites before they headed home.

Weekend Update

Friday morning: Went out to breakfast with my cousin, Jill, at Jimmy's Egg. Spent the rest of the day hanging out with her on my couch, talking and eating. She is a flight attendant and was here on a layover. I got to see her cute 20 week pregnant belly and she got to see my cute 7 week old baby.

Friday night: Victoria's 30th birthday party at The Wolftrap. She entertained us with karaoke all night.

Saturday: My dad came into town for the weekend to see his 9th grandbaby. We went to lunch at Pho (pronounced Fa) where I finally discovered soup I like (chicken with rice noodles). It is a Vietnamese place in the Asian District that serves huge bowls of noodle soup which I've never liked before but Brandon loves. The table is laden with herbs, veggies, and sauces to put in your soup; pretty cool place. It was Jonah's first meal out and though he wanted to try the raw springrolls, all he got was a bottle of breastmilk.

We spent the afternoon at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. Jonah slept in his stroller nearly the whole time. I actually snuck into the fake railway station/telegraph office and closed the doors so I could nurse privately cause there was nowhere else to do it.

At church on Sunday with most of our party for Jonah's blessing.

Jonah "talking" to his Papa Stan.

Not the Mailman's Baby Afterall

Here's me as a baby. See, Jonah does look a bit like his mom.

Photogenic II

Check out the eyebrows!

Who has a funny daddy?

Here's our first family photo. It was taken at a Jenny & Shaun's BBQ on Saturday. We were uncharacteristically social this weekend. Sunday we had Jennifer and Andy over for dinner and Wii.

Lounging on the sofa.

"... with a wink and a smile."

On our way to the mailbox today. It has been gorgeous spring weather all last week, today is cloudy beautiful spring weather, and it should be rainy spring weather most of the week.

Yep

Yep, I'm the cutest and I'm 6 weeks old tomorrow.

Week in Review

All the days kind of blur together now that I'm not working. Let's see what I can remember from last week.
Sunday Jonah started smiling at us. His first "real" smiles! It is very exciting and totally adorable. He also coos at us now too. He is very alert when he's awake.
He slept 5 hours in a row on Monday night but has not done so again yet.
Brandon finally bought himself a Nintendo Wii that he's been looking for since November. I'm not really into video games (although I did like the Nintendo 64), but this system, especially the novel remote controller is prettty fantastic. Brandon beats me at everything, but the Wii Sports, Wii Play, and Excite Truck are all really fun anyway.
Decided that I need to eat onions, even cooked ones, in moderation, or it upsets little Jonah.
I cooked good meatloaf and italian meatballs this week and got Chicken Tikka Masala from our Indian restaurant one night.
Found another fun British show, Tommy & Tuppence. Brandon even watched whole shows and enjoyed them. It's another Agatha Christie detective show, the same actors that star in one of my favorite Brit movies, Why Didn't They Ask Evans.
Tonight, since Heroes wasn't on, we rented (Netflix) and watched Stranger Than Fiction. I'd seen it in the dollar theaters not long ago but wanted to watch it again with Brandon. He watched it all in one sitting, which is a rarity. It made me have to bake cookies.
Saturday night was really fun, we went over to Jamon & Alisha's house to go to the park, hang out, eat dinner (lobster freshly steamed at Walmart), talk, and play the Wii. Jonah was really good and slept 4 hours while we played around. It was fun getting out of the house for a little double date. Alisha mentioned that playing tennis or bowling on the Wii is like going out but without having to find a babysitter!
Sunday I left the baby home with his daddy and went to church alone. I taught in Relief Society and the lesson went well, it was on prayer. I love teaching.
Well, it's past my bedtime, so I'd better go.

My Little Angel

Today was Jonah's first time to church. He behaved himself very well. His churchy clothes are still too big so he wore this stylish outfit. This afternoon he was in a very sweet and smiley mood.

Jonah's one month check up was on Friday. I can't believe he's a month old already! It has gone by so quickly. He weighs 10 lbs. 13 oz. now (notice his jowels). I still think he is tiny, until I saw a couple other newborns today. But he's our little angel. He's in the 75th percentile for weight at his age, only 50th for height at 21 inches. I cried when he got his first Hep. B shot. He screamed, but only for a moment and suffered nothing afterwards. He is still sleeping well and is overall a wonderful baby.

I find it amusing that he has so much hair and yet his eyebrows and eyelashes are so light and thin that they are pretty much invisible. Oh, and speaking of hair, he recently discovered mine and likes to clench it. With his better hand control he is punching and scratching himself less and he sucks on his fists when he's hungry. It's adorable, everything about him is.

ABC's of Me

Stole this from Tori. I don't know how to do links but you can find her blog from her comment on my last blog or from my sister Robin's blog.

Accent: Arizonan, the purest U.S. accent!
Bible Book that I like: Luke
Chore I don't care for: mopping
Dog or cat: cats
Essential electronics: computer, cell phone, dvd player
Favorite Perfume: Bvlgari's Omnia, Gucci Envy, Vera Wang... I love perfume, I could go on and on
Gold or Silver: platinum. my wedding ring is yellow gold but silver looks better on me
Handbag I carry most often: black coach two straped med. sized for winter, though now it's a smallish Eddie Bauer Diaper bag (black & olive green, very unisex)
Insomnia: almost never until I had the baby
Job Title: Mama
Kids: I'd like 3 more
Living Arrangements: 2 bed, 1 bath apartment with hubby, baby, and two cats
Most admirable trait: healthy lungs?
Naughtiest childhood behavior: my terrible twos - I really liked making messes
Overnight hospital stays: 2 nights after Jonah's birth
Phobias: sleeping in when it's really important that you get up
Quote: "Smiling's my favorite" - Elf
Religion: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (this link came when I copied it from Tori, someone needs to show me how to do them myself), but I find all religions facinating
Siblings: 4 brothers, 4 sisters
Time I wake up: 9ish
Unusual talent or skill: spotting fake eyelashes, boobs, hair...
Vegetable I refuse to eat: I don't like raw onions but I love them cooked, I like most all veggies
Worst habit: squeezing at my pores
X-Rays: they're called radiographs
Yummy stuff I cook: Sour cream chicken, banana bread, dhal bhat... I cook lots of yummy stuff
Zoo animal I love the most: otters, those zebra/giraffe horse things, monkeys, big cats...

Flashback

I don't know why I never posted this and I don't know why I think of it so often. While I was visiting my family in AZ at the end of December I hung out at my sister Robin's house. Her little boy, Tucker, age 3 1/2 is always saying the funniest things. To demonstrate this, when Robin had eaten half of her yogurt, she decided she didn't want anymore and she said, "Watch this."
"Hey Tucker, do you want the rest of my yogurt?"
He said, "No thanks. I'm not so tasty on pudding." And if that weren't funny enough, her 12 month old daughter, Charlotte, said, "Yum, numm, num, num" and proceeded to eat (loudly) the rest of the yogurt.
Anyway, that gives me a smile whenever I think of it, so I thought I would share.

Looky Look

Jonah had a bath yesterday evening and I didn't comb his hair until it was mostly dry so it looked crazy when he went to bed. This morning he woke up with a mohawk! I think it's very stylish.

Lots has happened for the new mother and her cub. Jonah can obviously see farther than he could the first two and a half weeks of life. He now likes to look at the nightlight on his wipe warmer while he is changed in the night and he will watch his mobile in bed for a few minutes too.

His infant rash has been replaced by some baby acne. He almost always gives me at least one 3-hour sleeping increment at night, which is good. Last night I got four hours in a row cause I let Dad give him his last evening feeding while I went to bed. I love having Brandon at home, he is so helpful. Plus, he brought me flowers on Saturday.

Speaking of Brandon, he took his Part II Dental Boards on Friday and Saturday. We're one big step closer to graduation. His graduation date is June 3rd (Jen's birthday). We still have not decided where to live. I want to live in Flagstaff, AZ and he wants to live in Utah. We are both stubborn and biased and it's scary to have to make such a big decision so soon with such differing views.

My brother Teddy in Madagascar is being threatened and abused by a major hurricane right now. Keep the Malagasy people and Ted in your prayers.

What else? Not a lot. Jonah spits up more now, but not too much. He makes a lot of noise. I call him Grunty McGruntster.

My nephew, Chandler, turned six on Saturday. I can't believe my nephews are getting so grown up! Gabe turned 13 the day before Jonah was born. I hope Robin's baby (due in July) is a boy cause then Jonah would have a cousin of the same sex close in age. Right now he's just got his two female cousins (Moqui & Charlotte) a year older than him. At least if I end up in Utah I've sworn to visit Mesa at least 4 times a year, so we can still hang out with Brimleys. If we end up in Flag we can visit monthly. Maybe Mom & Dad will start doing waffle Sunday dinners like Grandma & Grandpa used to for all the grandkids. I just had waffles for breakfast.

I'm totally rambling. It seems like I had more to say, but I can't remember anything important now. I am currently reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. It's got a lot of good stuff in there. I have also been browsing The Happiest Baby on the Block. Brandon and I watched the condensed video version of it three times before the baby was born, so the book is just supplemental. Brandon is all about swaddling, swinging, and sucking, more so than I am. I prefer not to give a pacifier, only to swaddle at night and to have Jonah sleep in his own bed rather than the swing.

I remember what else I wanted to record. I went in to my doctor last Wednesday. My scar looks great. He says my incisions are very weak right now because the stitches are dissolving and my weak body is having to heal and hold everything together. He said I only had to remember three things. 1- NO heavy lifting (take things easy all around). 2- No abdominal exercises (this makes getting up out of bed a little unnatural, but it's been that way for over a month). 3- Gentle sex only. I didn't think I'd get clearance for that for at least another week.

As for my post-pregnancy body, I'm 8 lbs. heavier than pre-pregnancy (I think it's all in my belly except a pound in my boobs). I'm glad the other 27 lbs. are gone so quickly. I just look like I have a beer belly or am a little pregnant. I need to find some less fitted shirts (that I can still nurse in). I have no stretch marks on my stomach (?!!) but quite a few on the top of my butt. My legs seem really thin now that the swelling in them and water weight is gone. My complexion is still blotchy and I have the line on my stomach (which has always been off-center). Nursing has become much more pleasant and though I am achy and sore (especially my back), I feel pretty great overall, except when I am exhausted. When tiredness is combined with a little hunger, my irritability skyrockets and I become quite a beast, just ask my poor husband.

NOW, I've rambled enough. Signing off --- Mrs. Jensen.

12 Things

Stole this post idea from Acte Gratuit, actually hers said, "Tag, you're it" to her readers, so I kinda got tagged. I am posting 6 weird things about me and 6 things that make me happy.

Weirdness

1- Symmetry - or maybe that's something that makes me happy. Eggs, hot curlers, and ice cubes in the tray, have to be taken out and put back in symmetrically.

2- I HAVE to have a vacation that I'm planning. I am depressed if there is not a definite vacation in my future. (Currently planning a trip to Cabo San Lucas in November).

3- I am very weird about noise. I don't usually like listening to music unless I am driving or doing housework. The more tired I am the more noise sensitive (irritated by noise) I am. Listening to people's thumping base, chewing, or belching often make me insanely angry.

4- Despite my own personal noise issues, I blow my nose, swallow, and hiccough very loudly. Sorry Brandon.

5- I like pothead music (Pink Floyd, Bob Marley, The Doors, etc.) but I've never smoked pot.

6- I'm not as weird as I thought. These were really hard for me after the first three. The third one encompasses a lot. I'm sure those of you who read this can leave comments about my weirdness that you have noticed.

Happiness

1- Jonah's smiles, laughs, cute expressions, hair, smell, softness.

2- Brandon's smile, sense of humor, helpfullness, hair, smell, strength, dedication...

3- My family & my friends

4- Good food (curries, salsa, desserts...)

5- Festivities - Halloween, Christmas, birthdays... (and any chance to play games)

6- Great entertainment - books, movies, blogs, tv, etc.

Tired Mommy

Does anyone use baby powder anymore? Does it help prevent diaper rash?
Jonah sometimes sleeps in his swing (turned off) at night for two hours, just to be upright. During the day if he sleeps in it, he doesn't sleep long and Brandon always switches it off until he starts to stir and then puts in back in swinging mode. What experiences have others had with infants and swings?

This morning I was exhausted. I usually get three- hour stretches of sleep, but last night I never got more than two. I fed Jonah and changed him and then smiled at him. He smiled back at me and continued smiling while I talked to him for the next 5 or 10 minutes. It was wonderful.

Yesterday we had a great day. I drove for the first time in almost three weeks. Jonah and I went to the drug store to pick up a couple things, but mostly just to practice the car seat and to get out of the house. Jonah was well fed before hand and slept thru the entire outing. Then in the afternoon I got an almost 2 hour nap, which was delicious! I had a Big Mac for dinner, which was not delicious (I probably haven't had one in 15 years and I'd forgotten that they are gross). Even though I was craving meat and fast food sounded good, I always feel a little sickly after I eat fast food burgers. I had to scrape the onions and sauce off the burger to make it edible. Watched Heroes and CSI Miami last night, great shows, though the CSI had an ending I found rather disturbing.

Big plans for today? Taking Jonah in the stroller to the apartment mailroom, getting a visit from Lacey, showering.

Giggle

A couple times when I was half asleep I thought I saw/heard Jonah laugh in his sleep. Once I saw him do it but it was totally silent. If you tickle him he reacts, but he doesn't seem to know how to laugh. He looks uncomfortable and squirms but doesn't seem to be able to laugh. Today after I fed him and he dozed off in my lap, he laughed, not very loud, but it was definitely a laugh. A huge grin and an audible chuckle. Brandon witnessed it. My baby smiles while awake now and laughs in his sleep. He is a happy baby.
That said there has been an increase in gas and fussiness, but we are managing. He has also decided that he likes to sleep upright. He has been napping propped up in his boppy pillow, in his swing or in someone's arms. Last night he slept the first 3 hours in his swing and was okay in his bed after that. He fusses a lot in his sleep though and it makes us a bit restless. We may move his bed into the next room...
Oh yeah, he does well with a pacifier and a bottle (of breastmilk) and we are relieved and proud, it will make our lives easier to have these two tools at our disposal.
I haven't been napping nearly enough. I get exhausted but then can't manage to rest, I don't know what's wrong with me. It takes me so long to fall asleep sometimes, when I should just zonk out. When I've only had five or six hours of sleep, in two or three hour increments I know I should nap when Jonah naps, but I also have to eat sometime and do laundry & dishes, make phone calls, and shower sometimes. I want time to check email and blog n' stuff, but it really shouldn't be a priority. I just finished dinner and Jonah only ate on one side so he could wake up any minute so I'm not napping, but he could sleep for two hours, so I should nap. Ah, the dilemas.
I'm excited to be able to drive again this week. I go to my first post-operative doctor's appointment on Wednesday and it will have been 3 weeks since the birth then and I'll be able to drive again. It will be nice to be able to run an errand when I want to. It will never be as easy as pre-baby though. I hope I can figure out the carseat on my own :)
Well, I'm definitely rambling now. My milk is coming in and my baby is fussing, gotta run.

Hands

Infants have little to no control over their hand movements. They also have sharp little nails. I filed Jonah's nails his first day home but it didn't seem very helpful. I don't understand why any newborn clothes are made without the foldover mittens on the end. I tend to dress Jonah in the gowns that have them. The outfits without them have the accessory of mittens. Jonah has earned the title of Mitten Tosser, he can get them off in record time. He gets swaddled more on days with unattatched mittens. Yesterday after Jonah's bath he got his nails clipped. Today they were filed again. They still seem like a hazard. Any suggestions?

New Mom

Well, tomorrow Jonah will be two weeks old. Motherhood is amazing. Fortunately, the breastfeeding has gotten better. My baby is incredibly kissable. I call him "Wiggle Wiggle" and a lot of other silly nicknames.
Nana Lisa came to visit from Illinois this weekend. We like her. More grandparents are due this weekend.

I've left the house without Jonah twice in two weeks. Both times for less than two hours so that Brandon didn't even have to give the baby a bottle (that excess milk will come in handy eventually).

Jonah has been incredibly gassy the past two days. Last night we hardly slept. I've eaten everything that can bother babies (curry, milk, salsa, chocolate, etc., etc.) and nothing has upset him until yesterday. And yesterday I ate almost the exact meals I'd eaten the day before (we love leftovers which require no effort on my part). Lunch included broccoli and dinner included raw, green onions, but they hadn't bothered him much the day before. What's the deal? Poor baby, I hate to see him with such bad tummy aches and feel like it's my fault. I tried the gas drops that Megan recommended, but I can't tell that they do anything.

This picture is Jonah doing the bird face. When he's really hungry he looks just like a baby bird opening up to get his worm. I love when he is frantically rooting around for his milk. So adorable, even if you think he looks silly.

Well, I'm off to shower, haven't done that in a couple days. I actually think I've been wearing the same clothes for at least two days too, normally I at least try to change my shirt. I do manage to brush my teeth and hair at least once a day, but normal hygiene routines are out the window for now.

Oh, and I went to Target today to buy another nursing sports bra, they clearanced all their nursing bras sometime in the past 3 weeks and were out of the one I wanted. Ugh!!
Gotta run, crying baby.

This is Love

Jonah the Model

We can always make him smile when he falls asleep eating. He smiles a lot.
Awake and Aware.
Bathed, dressed up, and hair combed for his first doctor appointment on his one week birthday.

Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding is miraculous and one of the best things you can do for your child.
That said, I must warn those of you out there that are thinking of doing it that having a baby nurse on you feels like having really hard titty-twisters, but the pain eases as the feeding goes on. When your milk comes in full doctors/books talk about your breasts being "engorged", that is really what they are. It is painful. I can best describe it as feeling something like having your breasts lit on fire while being electricuted. My mom says it feels like being hooked up to car jumper cables. You get the idea. I wore ice packs in my bra all day yesterday. My nipples have now begun to crack and bleed a little. I cried a little when Jonah spit up milk with a couple spots of blood in it. My pediatrician says that is totally normal (but scary and sad and a little creepy nonetheless). The first few days I mostly wore soothies on my nipples (permanently cool breast pads that keep your clothes from chaffing you - thank you Abbie for telling me about them) and occassionally put a little Lansinoh pure lanolin on instead (covered with a regular breast pad to keep the gel from getting on my bra). I have now switched to ice packs and tons of lanolin, plenty of pain killers, and an evening pumping (as of yesterday). I'm paranoid about pumping too often because I'm worried that my body will think Jonah is eating that much and compensate for that. Apparently the past two days and the next few days are my body's days for figuring out how much milk to produce regularly in a day and it initially starts out with the max amount. Before my pregnancy I wore an A cup, during my pregnancy I wore a B cup, I think I'm a C cup now, but hopefully not for long. I don't think I'll ever long for bigger boobs again.

More Jonah

Why do I have a mustache?
Notice that Jonah is smiling in this one.


He scratched his face sometime on the first day so now he has a scratched cheek in every picture.

Introducing Jonah Charles

I've been too busy staring and feeding to take hardly any pictures. Fortunately Nana Colleen has taken lots over the past four days so I will post more later.
Jonah entered the world Wednesday morning, Jan. 31st at 9:21 am. He weighed an unbelievable 8 lbs. 2 oz! He has beautiful soft brown hair and big dark blue eyes. He makes a lot of cute facial expressions including smiles. He likes sleeping and milk and being burped. He loves when Dad wraps him, when Mom feeds him, and when Nana snuggles him. I think Brandons is actually a more natural parent than I am. He is a great swaddler, burper, changer, cuddler, etc. I feel like all I'm good at is making milk and timing feedings. No, we're both taking to the parenting thing pretty well actually. It helps that we have a really good baby.
My cesarean went well and I got to go home from the hospital a day early cause I was doing so well and wanted to be in my own bed. I can't drive for three weeks or pick up anything heavier than my baby (think a gallon of milk) for longer than that while my incisions heal. I'm trying to take things easy. It helps when Mom is cooking and Brandon is cleaning and I get help with burpings, diaper changings, etc. Taking care of myself requires a little extra work these days. I don't feel too sleep deprived, but we'll see how I do when Brandon is back in school and my mom goes home... Thanks for all the phone calls, gifts, emails, etc. I appreciate your love, support, and well wishes. We are all doing great.

A rare crying moment.