Oh what a beautiful morning

My morning, thus far...

It was nice while it lasted.

Blessings

Last Friday 2Bit and I went to the mall to, um, "walk around." There was a bit of shopping to be done, but nothing too damaging to our bank accounts. While we were walking through JC Penney, Neala started fussing a bit so I picked her up. As we left the Baby section to scout out a feeding location, a sweet lady walked by and said "Oh, that's a new baby." I responded and we talked for a few minutes while the lady admired my little one. As we ended our brief conversation, instead of saying "Have a nice day" or some other typical concluding statement she said "Blessings."
That struck me as a wonderful thing to say. I think I'll keep that in my vernacular for future baby interactions or, for any conversation.

Blessings!

almost a month

With 3 1/2 weeks down, my little one has kept me busy with some freaking out here and there. After spending time in the NICU and learning more than I cared to know, I think we've finally got it figured out. "They" say breastfeeding is natural. Yeah, it's not; "they" are wrong. The act of the body producing milk for breastfeeding: Yes, that's natural. The transfer from mother to baby: not so much. Still I think we've figured it out...finally.

Anyway, the purpose of this post is share pure cuteness. Little Miss Neala apparently loves her new bear and one afternoon last week, after a lovely nap, decided to talk to her. So enjoy the cuteness.

She's here! She's here!

My beautiful baby girl, Neala Kathleen, arrived one week ago today. It's hard to believe it has already been a week. Time has flown by.
She is such a beautiful, sweet baby with my temper (watch out world) and the ability to scream like a banshee. She's learning to sleep more at night, which I greatly appreciate, but prefers to cuddle.
Matt is adjusting very well and quickly. I didn't think it would be possible, but the first time I saw him hold our daughter in his arms, I loved him so much more. I really thought my heart would burst. Just the thought of that moment makes me emotional. I'll blame part of that on hormones.

The family is/was a huge help. Matt's folks started driving from AL as soon as they knew the hospital was keeping me. They arrived shortly before lunch on Friday, having stopped in St. Louis after 11 hours of driving. Mom was initially accepting of the fact that she would not be there for the birth, but somehow between the phone call to tell her we were going to the hospital and Matt's trip to get our stuff out of the car, she managed to get her flight changed and arrived by 6 o'clock that night, still worried she would miss the big event. Luckily, Miss Neala is all about timing and gave Grandma C 6 extra hours of waiting. My dad will be coming in next weekend and my sister will follow on Labor Day. Matt's brother may come another weekend after that. I'm pretty sure it will all be a blur, but a happy blur.

4 days to go...

I'm very excited to finally meet the munchkin that has been beating me from the inside-out, but I'm a little apprehensive about what is going to happen once s/he arrives. I really have enjoyed being pregnant. I don't have any real complaints about any of my experiences. Yes, some have been unpleasant at times, but they were so temporary. My greatest source of excitement, besides seeing what this little one looks like and who s/he resembles, is for Matt to get to hold this baby in his arms. I want to see the look on his face when he holds him/her for the first time.
I feel like I've been experiencing all the fun; interacting with kicks and pushes. So I can't wait to see what happens once he gets to interact, too.

This past weekend, we had a lot of fun. Matt's friend, Josh, was in town travelling from Chicago back to Arkansas. We had dinner with him two nights with the typical conversations (conversation was mostly trombone--okay, it was almost all trombone). Sunday my sweet, brilliant friend BB came into town, which was celebrated with a potluck and Beth & Drew's. It was a wonderful time with a house full of equally wonderful people.

Saturday morning, my buddy Brian took some pictures of me and Matt at the park. I wanted a few "belly pictures" (covered with clothing, though). The pictures turned out really well, even though I didn't like my puffy face in a few. Still, there are some real winners and I fully intend to have them framed in my house.

I have good friends. :-)