Random cora

I know I haven't been on here lately, so I'm sharing some random bits about the week with Cora.

My little girl is the prettiest little thing I've ever seen--especially when she sleeps! However, I think she might be sleeping too much at night now. Last night she slept from 10 to 6. I guess its possible that I'm getting up to feed her in the middle of the night like geron says I did, but I don't remember doing it if I do. or maybe she is just wearing herself out during the day.

Other things--wednesday Geron came home for lunch. One great thing about him coming home during the day is that he helps with Cora so I can get a chance to actually do something like take a shower if I need to. This happened wednesday. While I was getting out, Geron informed me that there had been an accident in the living room. Don't tell that to a newborn's mother. I couldn't imagine what had happened, but Geron seemed more amused than panic-y. He said "scooter scooted out of her diaper." She was in her pack and play and had scooted across it leaving behind her diaper and a yellow "treasure".

today we discovered that she might like rain. It was pouring, so she didn't have a choice but to be in it a little bit. She didn't cry at all, though. Perhaps we should try giving her a bath in the rain instead of the kitchen!

And in other news, Cora is getting a boyfriend-HA! Seriously, congratulations to our friends, Lindsey and Eric who just found out they're having a boy in February. Cora's getting several new friends around the eastern states and we pray for them and their mommies daily.

Cora can't have cookies. She doesn't have teeth to chew them yet. She's been going to the nursery at church and spends time with Mrs.Jan, Miss Jennifer, and/or Mrs. Lynn. And her friends, Madeline and Hannah (2-year-olds) are usually in there, too. Wednesday night, Hannah tried to feed Cora part of her cookie. Its okay, Hannah, I know you were just SHARING and sharing is good.

Lastly, Granny and Grandpa are coming to visit Cora tonight! YEA! They'll be here for the weekend and I'm sure baby girl will be spoiled rotten by the time they go back home. But hey! Thats what Grandparents are for! ( And yes, I realize I might regret having said this later on.)

2 new nicknames for Cora

Our baby girl showed us she can accomplish some amazing feats this week. The other night we put her down to sleep in the middle of her crib, between her lamby sleep positioner. When she woke about an hour later, she was at the EDGE of her crib--thank God for whoever invented the crib bumper! This incident(and several like it since then) has earned her the first nickname--Scooter.

For her second nn, she really didn't DO anything. I merely put her down to bed in her fleece sleepsack around 11 last night. I awoke to baby peeps and cries this morning at --get ready for this people, this is big--almost 7 AM!!!!!!!!!! nickname? SLEEPING BEAUTY!

**UPDATE by Geron**
apparently mommy doesn't remember getting up at 2:oo to feed baby, but daddy does. So the nickname will have to go to mommy instead.

Happy Days are Here Again!

Cora seems to be having better days this week--and me, too. YEA! I must admit my last blog entry was typed at about midnight or midnight thirty when I was exhausted and Cora wasn't. Yesterday and today have both been good days for me with her. Her gas doesn't seem to be as bad--at least its not lingering IN her tummy as long. She hasn't been incredibly fussy either day. She really is a sweet, good baby all the time. I'm just a new mommy learning about babies--I've never had to take care of one 24/7.

I try to be sure she knows I love her all the time, even when she is fussy. We pray together when she wakes up in the mornings and when I put her down for bed at night. Of course, she basically can only say "ooooee Aahhhh" kinds of sounds, but I know God knows what she means. I say a prayer on her behalf so she can learn how to say real words to God later on. We're learning to pray throughout the day, too, when she's having a hard time or when Mommy is frustrated or hurting. I want her to know her Jesus is there to hear her WHENEVER she needs Him, and especially when Mommy or Daddy can't tell what she needs.

She's calling me now, so I better see to her. I've got a great little girl. Thank you all for your advice.

BY the way, my lactation nurse from the hospital called yesterday and told me about a support group for nursing moms that meets at the hospital. I'm going to check it out.

hungry

I'm thinking my body is not working properly right now and perhaps Cora is starving. Well, perhaps I'm exaggerating, but I do have a problem with nursing right now. I seem to be clogged up on the right side. Some days I dream of switching Cora to formula. At least then I would know how much she's eating. She has gained a pound since her first doctor's appointment. But tonight has been another problem night for us. Cora has been wide awake since about six--its almost 1 am now. She wants to eat forever. I've tried to put her down to sleep several times and she starts screaming. I feel ashamed for thinking this, but I'm starting to wonder what happened to my easy baby. Also, I don't think the mylicon is working for her. She seems really uncomfortable. I feel like a miserable mommy right now because I can't meet her needs or really struggle to understand what her needs are. i even gave in and gave her a paci. I need some encouragement desperately!

going to the doctor

Yesterday we noticed Cora had started wheezing. Her breathing had been sounding congested the last couple of days. So, when the wheezing started I got worried. We made an appointment right away and headed to the doctor's office.

Cora has a wonderful pediatrician. The Lord has really blessed our family with great doctors in all areas. Her doc has about 30 years of experience under his belt and used to be head of pediatrics at the children's hospital here, so we are well pleased and comfortable with him. He examined our girl and, in my words here, said there was nothing to be concerned about. If she has trouble breathing while eating we're supposed to give her a saline treatment in her nose. He also told us to invest in a coolmist humidifier for her room. We bought one on the way home. As for the congestion, if it sounds like its in her chest, but we can't feel it resonating there , then we need to make a new appointment. For now, our pumpkin is fine and her mommy is just a woory wart.

In other baby news, I think I'm ready to take some friends' advice and turn off her monitor at night. I was once an EXTREMELY sound sleeper, but now I wake up at every tiny peep. It seems Geron and I have traded places. He wakes up to her cries and gets up and changes diapers. I wake up if her foot pats the matress. This morning, Cora was wide awake at around 4:30 0r 5 and wanted to be held. Geron, being the sucker I told him he was going to be, got her up and the two of them went to the living room to watch t.v. I think he'll be sorry for that later.

Cora is a funny little girl

Little Miss Cora seems to consider herself a lady, but she doesn't appear to have any manners. I love watching her. She cracks me up! I never realized newborns could be so funny.

First of all, when she's awake, she likes to cross her legs and lay her hands across her chest, kind of in a prayer-like position, fingers intwined. When you say something to her, she often closes her eyes, raises her eyebrows and gives you that "OH, REALLY? IS THAT SO?" kind of prissy look. She behaves herself very very well in church (sleeps mainly, but for a baby, that's behaving.) And when people hold her, she snuggles with them and kind of grins from time to time. She thinks she's a lady, I'm sure.

But this little peach has her moments and they crack me up. I'd say she takes after her "Annie" and even her "aunt Holly" in some regards. Well, I guess I must admit, she takes after me, too, in this area. She burps LOUD! And she doesn't say "excuse me". She expects us to tell her "That's a good one, Cora.".... She also poots LOUD. These really make me laugh. She lays in your arms looking ever so sweet, hands and legs crossed politely and then SUDDENLY, she opens her eyes really wide, puffs out her cheeks (I know they're allready pretty fat) throws her arms up in the air, kicks her legs out straight and lets the loudest one you think you've ever heard. And then, she sweetly returns to her previous position like nothing ever happened. Sometimes she'll even look up at you after its over with an expression that seems to say "What?"

Cora seems to know when people are talking about her, too. Especially when she's asleep. Someone will say something cute about her or say "She's so beautiful" and she'll kind of open her eyes a little and look up at the person and sort of grin. She also has a habit of opening her eyes and rolling them back in her head while she's sleeping. And somehow this action seems to occur when Geron and I talk about plans we have for the day IF ALL GOES WELL...Its like she's saying "Yeah, that's what THEY think they're gonna do. Wait til they see what I have in store for them."

Geron likes to sit Cora on his chest, face to face, --cutest thing that seems to happen around our house--and they talk. They were sitting this way the other evening and Geron said "Cora, smile at Daddy. Show Daddy a smile." She paused a second and then made the HUGEST frowny face. It was hilarious! I think she's got his sense of humor (and you friends from the BSU know--his gas.)

I enjoy her sooo much! She sleeps, she cries, she eats, she poops and wets, --can't read yet, Grandpa, but we're working on that one--she even grins from time to time, and even though its probably gas, its cute. She sneezes and coughs and cuddles, cuddles, cuddles. She wakes us up in the middle of the night yelling at the top of her lungs "LAYYYYYYY! LAYYYYYYYY! LAYYYYYYYY!" which means "I'm wet, I pooped and I'm weally weally Hungry!" She's a beautiful baby and we are so in love with her.

M&M's and Babies

I don't know exactly what happened yesterday but I'm blaming it on the M&M's I ate in the late afternoon. I'd kind of been taking it easy on chocolate---a brownie a day is easy for me and when you have RP's caramel brownies you'll understand that I was really trying hard to take it easy. Anyway, yesterday I had a regular size bag of m&m's and I think they made a little girl living in our house VERY HYPER.

Starting around 7, Cora woke up and wanted to eat. So, I fed her. About an hour later, she acted like she was ready to eat again, crying like mad all at the same time. This cycle went on until Geron finally said "Honey, she's NOT hungry. She CAN'T be hungry after eating every hour." I'd been told by all the lactation nurses and books that when a baby shows hunger signs, offer them "food". So, I was just doing what I thought I was supposed to be doing. Finally, Geron took her off my hands and tried to see if he could calm her down. We were up til midnight, at least, with a very fussy, angry baby. At midnight, I took her and we went on a walk through the house. Sometimes this works to console her-- It wasn't working last night. We ended up in the nursery and I sat down in the rocker with her, worn out (Mommy, that is). Cora continued to yell for about 3 minutes and suddenly closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. We didn't hear a peep out of her between one and 7:15 this morning.

Normally, we have a very calm little girl who sleeps about two to three hours between feedings and only fusses if she's waited too long to eat, is having gas or poopoo problems or has a wet diaper. (for some reason the poopoo ones don't bother her, its just getting it out) I think the m&m's had to have gotten to her last night. So, while they happen to be one of my FAVORITE candies, I believe I will lay off them for now. PRAY HARD, PEOPLE.

A Full House

It has been a whirlwind couple of days. Lydia's mom left on friday afternoon and our good buddies The Prossers arrived late Friday night. Holly and I gave Miss Cora a bath on Saturday morning and we all went out to buffalo wild wings for some wings and college football. Cora was loving all of the sounds and lights in the restaurant, but feel asleep after a few minutes. They went home on Saturday afternoon and literally met Everett, Lydia's brother in the front yard as he was arriving. We all went to church on Sunday and of course everyone had to see Cora. Everett left this morning, and it's finally just the three of us. Cora is sleeping and eating good, so mommy and daddy are getting up to five hours of uninterrupted sleep most nights. Here are a few pictures from this weekend.

Cora likes buffalo wild wings.

Survivor: Chattanooga

We've made it through the first week of life with a baby and we are POOPED (and pooped on.) Even with everything I've been through, I can say with the rest of the world's moms "I would do it all over again just to get this beautiful baby."

I wish I were more eloquent to be able to express just what a week we've had without using the words "Awesome, tiring, extreme joy, frustration, precious moments,etc." Cora is a wonderful baby. She has a very sweet disposition and cries only when she's about to poo or mommy is late on feeding her. Big appetite, this one has!

My mom has been here all week babysitting me and Cora while Geron works. It has been a bonding experience like no other. We have an entirely new relationship now as I have now joined the ranks of motherhood. She's taught me a lot this week about feeding Cora and comforting her at 3 a.m. Thank you, mom, for taking such good care of us. Her leaving was hard for both of us, but there comes a time that I have to start learning things for myself.

Geron and I are ready to start this parenting journey together. We are adjusting to waking up to cries and peeps. Geron has seemed to have figured out the codes for poopy diaper, hunger, and "Will somebody pick me up allready?!!!" I am still working on them.

As for my recovery, the worst part has gone I think. I had my drain and staples removed Wednesday. I yelled and cried like a baby. Its a very good thing I didn't go through regular childbirth afterall.

Cora and I are blogging this together and she just made some buisness transactions in her pants, so we'll be going now.


Thank you for loving us and praying for us. We love you!

New Pics

Hey I Put a bunch of new pics up last night over on our flickr.
I hope to get the video up of her first bath soon.

My Personal Favorite


Check them out here.