Seven-Month Update

7 - the number of months that have passed since I first made eye contact with you and held you in my arms. While all is not perfect in Nathanland, you are immer noch my sweet baby boy, and there are many things worth celebrating about you- I can't believe it's been another month already.

6 - you took the sweetest six-month portraits. I know they're a month old now, but you're so cute... and you look pretty much the same now.... you certainly haven't grown out of that open-mouth grin!
5 - the number of minutes you nurse at most feedings. I promise you really are getting a lot of milk, and we always let you come back for seconds or even thirds... you're still the power-eater you've always been!

4 - your favorite foods right now are prunes, carrots, sweet potatoes, and of course mommy's milk.

3 - the number of naps you take every day. About an hour in the morning, an hour and a half to two just after lunch, and then a short one in late afternoon. You love your crib and we're starting to think you won't sleep anywhere else!

2 - the number of new teeth you have! They cut through at the same time, on the evening of the 18th. It was a hard night for both of us, but the next day we could see one little white top, and the morning after that the other one was just about as high. You love to put your tongue and fingers all over your new mini teeth... but pretty soon they'll be big enough that that will really hurt!

1 - new word in the last month... Mama!

I love you, kiddo.

Got Milk?

So you know I have been blessed with udders that spring forth eternal, right? Well, I went to our Nursing Mothers of Raleigh meeting last Thursday (yes, men... there are actual meetings out there that exist solely for the purpose of talking about breastfeeding) because last time I was there, one of the moms told me that I should consider donating my breast milk.

So I decided to do it.

Moms out there - this is SO easy. They just do a blood test to screen for disease, and then you're good to go. If you have a baby under one year old, are willing to pump an extra one time per day (beyond what you might already be pumping for your own baby), and are willing to stay away from alcohol and medicine (at least within 12 hours of pumping milk intended for donation), you can help premature babies, or post-op babies, or babies with immunological problems.... I can't believe I wasn't doing this earlier.

You're probably thinking this sounds very weird. And yes it sounded weird to me at first, too. Seems odd to give a baby breastmilk from someone else... at least at first glance. But it turns out there are a lot of babies out there who want or need it, and can't get it from their mothers. So the more I think about it, the more sense it makes. Especially considering I've had overproduction issues from the start (any of you who have spent more than 3 or 4 hours with me since July can attest to the leakage problems... ahem). Also, more than one person has told me my freezer already looks like a milk bank.

So if you have extra milk, or are willing to pump extra milk, and are interested in more details, go here.

Do you think I can get a tax deduction for a non-monetary charitable gift?

A Walk in the Park

When Mark and I first moved to Raleigh, our apartment complex bordered a huge state park where we used to spend a lot of time. It's where we first learned that we can't go running with Bowden (she thinks we're chasing her and gets scared out of her mind); it's where we learned neither Bowden nor Simon likes to walk across bridges or logs (Mark has been known to pick Simon up and carry him across the riverbed - such a big baby!); it's where we spent many an afternoon escaping for some family time. It's such a great park... thousands and thousands of acres of forest and wilderness and tranquility. Hard to believe something like that can even exist in the triangle.

But since we moved to this side of town a few years ago, we don't get over there much anymore -- not as a family, anyway. (Mark still takes Simon for get-back-to-nature bonding every once in a while.)




Last week, when the weather was so nice, we decided to go take a hike one morning. It was wonderful! I was in such a good mood for the rest of the day. Not very Lenten of me, but whatever. God shouldn't have made the weather so nice on Ash Wednesday if he wanted me to be somber.
It's the first time we've braved the canine and human babies together more than 50 yards from a house or car, but it went well. One of us strapped Nathan on, and the other managed the leashes. We switched off halfway through, since the way I figure it, I carried Nathan for more than nine months and Mark has a lot of catching up to do to make up for that kind of back pain!

I've decided to count this as Reason 4615-D I am glad to be only working part-time.

It's a Boy!

Ok, I know a bunch of you just saw this post title and the ultrasound picture below and are about to jump out of your seats, thinking that I am knocked up again. (Or maybe you don't care that much at all!) Well, you can relax. I'm not pregnant. I'm just reminiscing about one year ago today (not one year ago from the 19th, which is what I originally thought), when Mark and I found out that our baby was a boy. I had seen him swimming around before (in an early-pregnancy ultrasound I did for a study at UNC), but February was the first time we saw him together. Sitting in that dark room and hearing the swish-swish of a fetal heartbeat, seeing baby jerk around while feeling the movements simultaneously in utero... there's nothing like it. What a happy day.

For more pictures of Nathan in utero, click any of the fetal icons below.

December 06
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February 07
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May 07
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Riddle Me This

Tomorrow is a holiday: President's Day. Not a fun holiday, but a holiday nonetheless. Federal, even. Banks will be closed. We will not have mail delivery or trash and recycling pickup. Public transportation will operate on limited holiday schedules. Road construction will cease for the day. Wake County Schools will be closed. Wake County libraries will be closed.

And I have jury duty. Where? You guessed it... the Wake County courthouse.

I'm hoping this will only take a day - first, because it messes my milk up to be away from Nathan for more than a couple days in a row (by the way, think they'll let me bring my pump into the courthouse? or will they think it's a weapon of some sort?).... Second, because I will be anxious at the end of the day to take my $12 and get the heck out of town. I am long overdue for a trim and highlights (since last May, people!) so I need to be in Huntersville Tuesday morning.

Off to do my civic duty...

Happy Valentine's Day!

One of my favorite Valentine's Day memories goes all the way back to 2006. This is one of those stories that Mark will never live down, and I'm happy to share it now.

Picture this: I'm sitting at work, where three of my coworkers have just received beautiful bouquets from their valentines. I'm not terribly bothered, since Mark and I have never made a big deal of Valentine's Day, and while I do like to get flowers, I certainly never expect them... chocolate goes a lot farther in my book, anyway! But then an email pops up on my screen, from Mark. "Happy Valentine's Day," it says in the subject line. I smile and open it, and there is a picture of a lovely bouquet of flowers. The body of the email said,"I'm sending you some flowers for Valentine's Day!"

What you're looking at to the right are the actual flowers he was sending me. This was not a picture of the flowers that were waiting for me at home, which is what I first suspected (who wants to pay all those delivery fees when we see each other at home in the evening anyway?)... the picture was the present. I was like, virtual flowers? Are you kidding me? A sweet email would be great, but don't try to pass a picture of a present off as the actual present! Only a computer dork would find a photo of some flowers a valid present. I didn't want or need any present, but if he was going to send something, send something!


I thought to get even, I should go into the bathroom and snap a quick boob picture to text to him. See how he liked getting a picture instead of the real thing. He claims to not remember receiving said text. Oh, well - I'm sure my plan backfired anyway, since (like any good husband would) he probably enjoyed the photo. [Sigh.]


I really love him and never expect anything for Valentine's Day except a nice take-out dinner in our den, and spending time together making fun of all the people who feel the need to have a contrived "special" date night (which I'm sure applies to many of you reading this... so, um... sorry in advance for the fact that we will make fun of you tonight). And to be fair, I'm pretty sure he got me some flowers or chocolate or something the next day, so I ended up with more than just a virtual gift after all. And, since I do love him, I think I remember virtually having sex that night. And at the end of the day, at least it makes for a funny memory.

[Ed. Note: about 10 seconds after I first posted this, the doorbell rang and there was a nice man there with a bouquet of chocolate covered strawberries. And the advantage to working from home - besides blogging on the clock, obviously - is that I can eat them all in one sitting with no one watching. Delicious! Thanks Mark!]

Welcome to the World, Baby Katie!

Kathryn Elizabeth Calhoun, the long-awaited daughter of my oldest (in friendship, not age... duh) friend, Jenny, was born at 9:45pm on February 13, 2008. She weighed in at 7 lbs, 6 oz. I don't have a picture of her yet, but I'm sure she is beautiful just like her mom. In the meantime, Nathan has a little welcome message.

(Think he'll still be smiling with a gaping mouth when he's 25?)

Katie, we already love you so much. We can't wait to watch you and Nathan play on the beach together and babble in toddler nonsense. And someday to stay up all night watching movies with your friends, the way your mommy and I did. We're so excited for you and your new family, and we're looking forward to watching you grow up into a beautiful woman. Fifteen days and counting until we get to meet you! Welcome, sweet baby girl!

First Word: Dada

And in other Genius Baby! News, and for further proof that Nathan is most definitely MY son... he's talking. How did this happen already? He was just born like last week or something, right?

I didn't want to post about it until I was sure it was for real, but Nathan started saying "Dada" sometime in the last couple of weeks (I need to go back and look at my calendar to figure out exactly what day, actually, for the baby book). Apparently it's normal for babies to be able to form the syllables "ma" and "da" by six months, but they almost certainly don't know what they're saying.

Nathan is very intentional with his "Dada"s... he knows how to repeat it after we say it, he knows to say it to get a rise out of us (especially Mark) or to get our attention... but he's not truly using it as a name yet.

I am desperate to catch it on video, but just like the first smiles and laughs, he stops when the camera comes out. I have a sneaking suspicion that it won't be too many months before I'm longing for him to hush for a few minutes, so I'm trying to not to stress too hard about capturing "Dada" on film in the early days.

People keep asking me if I'm sad he doesn't say "Mama"... no! I love that he can say anything at all - and I love that he sees Mark enough to hear his dad's name all the time (and trust me, Daddy has been on a mission - since the hospital - to make "Dada" the first word... I've known from the beginning that "Mama" didn't have even a slim chance of beating it out)!

Groundhog What? and Bumgarner Ears

Apparently the groundhog here in Raleigh, Sir Walter Wally (I wish I were kidding), saw his shadow yesterday, which means we're in for another six weeks of winter. Um, I'm not sure God got the memo from Wally. The weather today is gorgeous... about 70, and sunny.


It reminds me of that song by Darrell Scott ... "it's a great day to be alive; I know the sun's still shining when I close my eyes." Nathan did get that memo, by the way -- we were standing outside this afternoon after church waiting for the library to open, and he turned his little face towards the sun and fluttered his eyelids, half-smiled, then fell asleep. I've always said that if God will let me be whatever I want to be in heaven, then I choose mud turtle. I got it honest from my mom, and I think Nathan must have a little of it in him, too, based on his sun-dozing this afternoon.

Speaking of Nathan getting a little of me in him... one of the nursery workers at church this morning, who hadn't seen him in almost a month, couldn't believe how much he suddenly looked like me. Is this true? Mark and I determined last week (from the picture below) that while he got the big-ear gene from both sides, it looks like he specifically got mine - Bumgarner ears!


I don't know - I still think he looks more like Nathan than like Mark or me. But aside from some very Daddy features, like his lips and his eyes, I think he might be showing some more Mommy. Definitely in the nose and in the fact that he can't seem to keep his mouth shut.

For more pictures of our family at home over the last month, click the Nathan icon below. There are also (finally) pictures of last weekend's Birthday and a Half festivities as well, which I have linked to from that post.


by mgoetts