Sleepy Time / Tummy Time

The only way Sienna and I can both go back to sleep after the 5 a.m. feeding is to pull her into bed with me. It's so fun snuggling up together and she looks so small and cute in our big person bed. Love it!

I think this was on a Saturday after Adam's 5 hour (!!!) bike ride. They had a nice afternoon zonk together.

Tummy time cracks me up. There is much grunting and struggling and resorting to a fierce fist sucking. But she's holding her head up on her own more so maybe it's doing some good ... and isn't just purely for our entertainment.

The Bird

Adam has given Sienna the nickname of "The Bird" from the very beginning and she's really grown into the title. See?

Bird hair

Bird neck

Waiting for a worm

Bird smirk (and bird shirt)

Bird eyes?

Perched, thinking of flying

More at home in the nest

Nannies (or Grannies) Please Apply

Yesterday Adam came home to find me eating Pizza Hut pepperoni pizza from the box with a naked (thanks to a mustard-poop blowout) screaming baby on my lap, mail on the floor, laundry still in the laundry room since 9 a.m. and basically nothing in its place. It was my first real day on my own without help from the grandmas and it was painfully obvious that I was failing.

If you see some ladies who look like this:

Or this:

Please tell them that they need to come back so that Sienna can once again go from this:

To this:

Thanks.

Let's Talk Baby Carriers

My friend asked me yesterday what the most surprising thing about motherhood was and I said that I rarely have two hands free. True to what they always say, kid(s) are a literal handful. That's why it's been so important to me to find the perfect baby carrier. I consulted many people on this and the jury is still out. In fact, I think the jury will rule that all baby carriers are good at certain times and stages and in certain situations. So far I've only tried the Moby. Take these two exhibits:

Exhibit 1: Moby Wrap gone wrong:

I bought this piece of hud from a girl off Craigslist. So much for practicing one of the three Rs: Reuse. In theory it looked great. In practice, it fell flat. It's an old model, it's flimsy, and it doesn't support a little girl's head, for pete's sake! Result: floppy baby and mom still with both her hands full.

Exhibit 2: Moby Wrap knock off, the Sleepy Wrap:

I love this thing so far. It's super snug, my little bug is supported, the snuggle factor while getting things done is sooooo fun. There are still some cons, though. When I take an honest to goodness walk, I do feel like I need to cradle her with at least one hand still because it's a very jiggly ride. If I lean over to, say, take out the trash, I have to cup her head, so I'm still doing my chores with only one hand which doesn't work too well when I have a sack full of nastacious dirty diapers that I need to tie up with BOTH hands. It's still a pain to wrap and unwrap even though it doesn't take that long. Sometimes I just need to throw the child in NOW and get out the door NOW. A sling, I'm thinking, would be great for this. My mom just sent me one that she made so I'll see how that one goes.

I want to know what has worked for you guys? Is there any ONE golden baby carrier out there? Or do I really need to just buy all of them?

Eat. Sleep. Poop. Repeat!

Besides eating, sleeping and pooping, babyhood is also:

Having frog legs at all hours of the day

Working your versatile hair




Having a warm bath (no screaming this time!)



Reading stories with Dad

Being smashed in the Moby

Snuggling in the rocking chair with Mom

Wearing clothes that say ridiculous things

Sucking on ridiculous plastic things (and meeting strange people who want to hold you, like, for instance, Uncle Allen)

Loving Grandma

Looking cute

Hating family portraits

Sticking your tongue out at Grandma (or was it at the picture-taker, Uncle Allen?)

Sienna's 1st Week

Introducing:

Sienna McCall Ware

Arrived May 6, 2009

At 8:27 a.m.

Weighed 7 lbs, 5 oz

Measured 19.5 inches

Here's a look at her first week:

We are SO happy to finally have her here. The birth went great, too! In short, I had painful, irregular contractions Monday and Tuesday nights. Wednesday morning at 2:30 a.m. my water broke and I called my doctor's operator who told me to call back when I was in active labor. Hmm, that's not what my doctor had told me would be the case, but I didn't question it and hung up, waiting to get down to the business of real, regular contractions. They came from 5 - 6 a.m. and we got ready to go the the hospital. We arrived there at 7:30 a.m. to find that I was dilated to a 9.5 cm! YES! Best news EVER!! I had planned to go au natural anyway, so this news made me ecstatic. Sienna was born an hour later. Woot! She looks exactly like Adam did when he was a baby - all cheeks.

If you want all the nitty gritty details on the birth, email me at martha(dot)hullinger(dot)ware(at)gmail(dot)com or leave your email in the comments and I'll send you my birth story. I am obsessed with birth stories but I understand if the Reader's Digest version above works for you.

P.S. Lots of people have been asking about the significance of McCall. No significance ... it just came from my brain and Adam didn't like it as a first name so I was able to fenangle it in as a middle name. Sienna also means nothing. We just liked it. Wow, how's that for a depressing start to life?

P.P.S. Whoever said newborn poop doesn't stink has not smelled Sienna's diapers.

29 Thoughts from the Birthday Boy

{Nothing better than a man in a suit, in my opinion.}

{Just hanging out on the couch.}

{Adam and his siblings and parents last Christmas.}

{Also last Christmas with his brother and dad walking around Temple Square in Salt Lake City.}

{At his last race, kicking trash.}

{After the big race, big smile included.}

I'm off bed rest which means I can celebrate Adam's birthday properly today! We started with a breakfast of waffles and we're ending with a pizza-making party and Cold Stone ice cream cake with friends. Hopefully the excitement of it all will throw me right into labor.

In the meantime, here's a Q&A I had with him in honor of his 29th birthday today. (B-day Q & A idea stolen from Jackie P.'s blog. Thanks! )

1. What is one thing you'd like to blow up? ONE thing??? Mmmm ... apathy ... no wait, Thai food ... no wait, pollution.

2. What is your favorite weather? Sunny and 60s. Perfect for bike riding.

3. Why do you like cycling so much? Because it's got everything that swimming has, except you get to be outside and the scenery changes. Also you can actually look your competitors right in the eye before you drop them.

4. Who is the best country singer? Now or ever? Now - Brad Paisley. Ever - no opinion.

5. What's President Obama's best accomplishment in his first 100 days? When he told Jay Leno that his recent crummy bowling score would only be considered good at the Special Olympics. There's nothing like a good retard joke.

6. Do you care about Bo the dog? Who?

7. Your thoughts on Michelle's arms, please. Black.

8. What is your least favorite household chore? Hanging shirts. I don't know why that bugs me ... I mean, it's not like hanging shirts is hard. I just hate it.

9. What do you hate about California? Not being able to find parking at the beach. I HATE that.

10. Whose hair would you rather have? Rod Blagojevich's? Or that God of cycling from Europe? Can't remember his name. Mario Cipolini for sure. And he's not from Europe ... he's from Italy.

11. If you could be a woman for one day, what would you relish most about the experience? I don't want to be a woman. Even for one day.

12. If you had 2 weeks to go anywhere in the world, where would you go? Nepal. Or Europe to go riding. It's a toss up.

13. What would you do with 1 million dollars? Tithing, house, road bike, cyclocross bike, time trial bike, rain bike, savings.

14. Who's your favorite cyclist? Ricardo Ricco. He's the guy who blew everyone's pants off in the mountain stages of the Tour last year, tested positive, then blatantly denied any wrongdoing. Anyone who can pull that off has be admired.

15. Is Lance a doper? Yes.

16. What food makes you happy? Malt-O-Meal. Sushi. BBQ.

17. What do you like about accounting? Trick question.

18. What do you think is wrong with America and/or Americans today? Too many liberals, too many conservatives, not enough people in the middle.

19. What do you think is right? Mormons, America, and David Brooks.

20. What is your life mantra? Just do it. I know that's lame ... but it's true.

21. Tell me your thoughts on being Mormon. Well, it's going great so far. No complaints really.

22. What is your favorite scripture? Recently it is 2 Kings 5:13.

23. Are you excited to become a dad? Why or why not? Yes! I just can't wait to have my two little girls at home. It will really give my life even more purpose and meaning.

24. What is a favorite memory from your mission? Accidentally running over the mission president's flower bed in the car ... right in front of the mission president. Wait ... did you say favorite or most embarrassing?

25. What's your favorite thing about Alec Baldwin on 30 Rock? Total disregard for all social niceties.

26. What was the last thing that happened to you that made you really angry? If you know me ... you know that's not possible. However, I did punch a car window after being cut off on Tuesday.

27. Do you have a great memory from birthdays past to share with us? In college I once moved to California for the summer to swim on this big club team. My friends hadn't come out yet and I didn't know a soul. I listened to an entire Dodger game on the radio while sitting on the floor of my apartment because I had no friends and no TV. Things have really been looking up since that day.

28. Do you think our baby will be born on your birthday? And will she look more like you? Or more like me? I do not think she'll be born today. If she looks like me ... we're sending her back.

29. What is your favorite thing about being married to me? It is not possible to answer this one. That's like asking me to choose my favorite apostle. But since you asked (and these are in no particular order): friendship, companionship, love, chatting, hanging out, planning our lives, coming home to you, sitting together in church, sitting together at movies, cooking together, reading together, singing out of tune together, traveling together, and being parents together. (Editor's note: Just got a little tear in my eye.)