You Just Have To Ask

I learned a new parenting trick yesterday: just ask.

Nate and I hesitantly left the house yesterday for his friends graduation party. It was right in the beginning of Matildas witching hour and it was already showing. So we decided to leave early and take the scenic route (ie...drive until she falls asleep).

Fast forward 45 minutes and this child has resisted the alluring motion of the car, the white noise of the wheels and the beautiful sounds of a hush-a-bye Johnny Cash cd. So we risk it and just go to the party. The car stops, the screaming starts.

Nate throws on the Moby wrap, and Matilda instantly calms, and proceeds to sleep for long enough for Nate to have a few beers, for us to enjoy the food (which I had to bring my own...thank you food allergies), and for us to feel just a little normal.

As we pulled into our street Nate says, "Thank you Matilda, for letting daddy enjoy the party."

To which I said, "yes, that was great but what Mama really wants (and I'm the one that feeds you remember) is for you to sleep for 5 hours. Not 6, not 7 because I'm not greedy, but just 5.

And. She. Did.

It was brilliant. I can't believe I am even typing this because I am so superstitious about jinxing us by saying anything good, but she did. She slept from 10-3. And I slept too.

So, now I have decided my child is actually quite reasonable. You just have to ask.

I Hate My House

No really, I hate my house.

In the last 6 weeks, we have had a tree go partially down and break our neighbor's fence, water in the basement all the way into our finished area and tonight...a broken air conditioner. And not just a 'call the repair guy, pay the emergency fee' sort of broken. The replace it for $4,000 broken.

Ok, so maybe I don't hate my house so much as I hate being an adult and having to deal with all of it. And on top of that dealing with it WITH a newborn, that doesn't especially enjoy the early evening hours, which makes it nearly impossible to get anything done when Nate is at home (which is usually only during those early evening hours..).
How do you swaddle an infant when it is 83 degrees in your house? And how do you sleep when you have an infant that won't sleep without a swaddle?

Riddle me that.

And whatever I did to piss off the karma gods, I would like to know what it is so I can make it right and go on with our lives--incident free for a while.

The End of an Era

This week was a very sad week in the Hanson household as we had to put down Lucy--our almost 23 year old cat.

Lucy has been in my life longer than most anyone beyond my core family. From the moment we found her stranded in the gutter and begged and pleaded to my Grandma Sherry to take her in (which totally worked), she won my heart.

Her little smoosh face stayed young through her old age.

She was not keen on Nate moving in with me when we lived in our apartment. Whatever room Nate was in, she was in the opposite room. Fast forward 5 years, and they were fast friends with morning 'love' sessions. Recently, Lucy was a little peeved that my belly was too big and not teh perfect 'resting pillow for her' and she even opted to lay on Nate during our regularly scheduled night-time snuggle sessions.

She perservered through me dressing her in Cabbage Patch Doll clothes when I was about 8. Lived through a house full of doggy-visitors. Many trips back to Viroqua where she set up shop in Hotel Ekern.

She even had her own special 'trick' which involved using her paw to grab single pieces of food off of my Grandma's garbage can (very advanced I know...but she is a cat and had a trick..come on people--this is impressive).

Losing a pet is never easy. But for me, I guess I have always viewed Lucy as a little piece of my Grandma, sticking around to make sure that I was doing alright and watching over me. So I guess I will view Lucy's passing as a nod from my Grandma that we are doing alright, and she really just wanted to stick around to meet Matilda.

And through all the sadness of losing a pet, that thought makes me happy and warms my heart.

This is What Happens When Your Child is Born in MN

After finding flecks of blood in Matilda's diaper last week, we are on a strict diet to find out what is causing the blood (and hopefully some of her fussiness).

This means:
No Soy
No Wheat
No Egg
No Fish
No Peanut Butter
No Tree Nuts
No Cow's Milk
No Dairy

You heard me right. No cow's milk or dairy. No god-fearing Wisconsin girl would have a food intolerance to dairy. So CLEARLY this is all because she was born in MN (the lesser of the two states), because I can't explain it any other way. Nate and I certainly both adore all things dairy. Cheese. Cottage Cheese. Yogurt. Chocolate. Etc. So she didn't get this from us!

Look at this face...it's begging for dairy---but her stomach doesn't agree.

Well my assumption is that it is dairy. It could be fish. Which is fine by me, because that is MUCH easier to give up for me than DAIRY. Argh....

So for now I am drinking rice milk (yuck), and eating rice crackers, and having rice or potatoes for most of my meals. It's a great post-pregnancy diet plan...but I want my cheese back. And I want the ability to race to the cupboard and grab something and stuff it in my face when hunger strikes and I am feeding Matilda without having to read the ingredient deck 8 times.

How are you supposed to be a cheese-head with no cheese? Someone explain that to me?

One Month

Well, after a month of having a newborn, this is what I can say for sure:

The day's of getting anything done 'on-time' are over.

Here we are a day after she has turned 5 weeks, and I haven't blogged any pictures from her one month birthday.

Yes, we are still taking pictures. It is the uploading, editing, and blogging them that seems to be the problem.

But I am trying this new tactic of swaddling Matilda for a few naps a day which allows me the chance to do something. And by somethign i mean race arond the house adn try to make food for myself, fill water bottles, go to the bathroom, pay bills, clean the litterbox, and maybe if I have the chance, blog. :)

Happy One Month (and a week now...) to our baby girl Matilda!

Magazine Cuisine: Episode 14

Yummm...check out this delicious dish:

Nothing like a little Feta Stuffed BLT Burger to wet your appetite on this warm summer day. One would picture Nate and I resuming our normal lives but just with a baby right?

WRONG.

We haven't cooked much of anything these last four weeks without the help of friends and family. Although we did manage to make chicken enchildas tonight (only the world's easiest recipe). This was our last Magazine Cuisine that we made pre-Matilda and i Just never got around to blogging about it.

Nope--no fun new recipes here unless you count figuring out how to use leftovers to make as many meals possible as fun. If it wasn't for the amazing people in my life, I would be starving. Matilda would be starving. And Nate would be living off of PBJ and Quesadillas (his go to meals of choice when I am gone).

So to my Mom--thanks for all of the delicious food you have brought to us on your many trips up here the last few weeks. From Nate's favorite coffee to fruit, chicken, bread, etc. It has kept us going.

Summer--the BBQ kept Nate fed last week. The scones and Costco treats were a lifesaver for me.

Marie--the taco night. You came to our door at the perfect time...and it was the biggest sigh of relief to know that we didn't have to worry about dinner that night. And now you have us in bagels for the next few days which will most definitely get devoured.

Katie F.--for coming to my house and cooking me a fresh dinner of veggie stir-fry and giving me MUCH needed adult conversation.

Sina--the POWER FOOD lunch was amazingly delicious and oh so healthy!

Andrea--the BIg Bowl on the night Nate had class was clinch. It was such a long day alone and your timing was perfect. (And the 'to-go' turkey dinner came in handy that next night!).

I never thought that COOKING--something Nate and I absolutely love to do would be something we just. couldn't. get. done. But it is. I am confident we will get back there, and hopefully soon.

But in the meantime--perhaps Magazine Cuisine should be called: What can I throw together with the crap in my cupboard?

Keeping It Real

Life with a newborn is not all peaches and ponies, and I definitely do not want to lead anyone astray that it is.

Take last night for example.

 I could spin it to say this:
Nate and I got to do some of our favorite things last night. Enjoy a beautiful sunset on Lake Minnetonka. Have a Punch Pizza dinner for two. Explore new places and try new things.

But in reality this is what happened:
After pulling out every trick on the new parent handbook to help Matilda over her fussiness (swing, stroller ride, gibberish singing, etc etc etc) we thre her in the car seat and started to drive. Destination: whenever Matilda stops crying.

This took us toward Lake Minnetonka, where we passed the Punch PIzza in Wayzata. Nate hopped out. I kept driving for fear that Matilda would awake. He jumped back in. We ate pizza from a box while driving. We happened to catch a beautiful sunset as we were driving.

Then we had a choice to make--head back toward home or keep driving. I opted for the keep driving as I wanted Matilda to sleep and sleep and sleep until her crankiness was gone. So we ended up in Chaska. A 'suburb' neither of us had ever been to. Exotic, exciting Chaska. Which we continued to drive straight through.

And so, we had a 'driving date'.

Matilda woke up. Ate her midnight snack and went to bed. (Whew!).

Today is a new day, and hopefully a 'fuss-free' day.....

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

The Good:
Having your 'hand' held by your baby. And by hand I mean finger.

The Bad:
Losing all feeling in your arm because you just held your baby through a 3 hour nap in fear that putting her down will make her cry.




The Ugly:
Going two days without showering amid bouts of spit-up, and night sweats. (Hey...it is called "the ugly"). Aren't you glad I don't have a picture for this one?

3 Weeks

Matilda tuned a whopping 3 weeks old on Sunday. 3 weeks of snuggles. 3 weeks of diapers. 3 weeks of getting to know each other.

Milestones for this week include:

• First mall visit with friends Max, Otto and Summer
• First true grip on Mama's fingers 
• First lunch out (and VERY public breastfeeding) with Grandma
• First "night out" for Nate and Greta--which included a 30 minute walk around the hood without Matilda courtesy of Grandma

We are learning more about our little peanut every day. What cries mean what. How she likes to be held when she has the hiccups (which are my #1 enemy in life right now..well that and gas that keeps Matilda up). How to function on very little sleep. Etc. Etc. Etc.

I can''t believe Tillie has already been in our lives for 3 weeks. While some of the days admittedly seem quite long, I can't believe how fast it has already gone. Looking back on her hospital pictures I already feel like she looks pretty different and is definitely more alert and aware of her surroundings. As her pediatrician said: "She has a very intense look about her for such a young baby"...

I'd like to say she gets that from Nate, but unfortunately......I think it may come from me. :)

The Fourth!

Our first trek back to WI is complete. We headed home for the Fourth of July with Matilda in tow (along with a trunkload of baby paraphernalia). She did great on the ride and slept for most of the way. I think I was the one that was worse for wear worrying about her going to long without eating. But we survived! 

The weekend was eventful as we got to meet Finn and Leo for the first time, and hear all of the 'she is soo cute' from Finn. Leo provided his shrieks of approval.

We headed to La Farge (population 500ish) for a Fourth of July parade that I swear exists solely to throw candy out as the marching band was made up of approximately 8 people, and there were about a handful of floats that weren't just old cars, tractors or trucks. But it was true Americana...

 And Finn did me proud as he sprinted around collecting as much candy as possible (of which there was an "aunt candy" tax).... Look at this kid--he loves sugar.

Nick and Matilda had some quality bonding time as NIck helped keep Tillie's paci in...as her hands are in constant need to be by her face. I love the contrast of big vs small.....I think Nick's forearm is bigger than Tillie's stomach.

 We also celebrated Janet's birthday (which she graciously shares with America). What better way to celebrate than with grilled pizza's, s'mores and beer in the garage? Well...that and lots and lots of Aunt Janet snuggles with all 3 of the kidlets.

It was a great weekend. I held my breath the whole way home as I was sure Matilda was going to freak out in the car, but she didn't. That's not to say there wasn't a meltdown for milk the second we got home, but we made it. Another first done. Now we  need to work on the first plane ride! :)

The Newest Addition to our Nest

If you have trouble watching this from the blog, click on this link to go to the Youtube version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6SOavClhnU

What They Say Is True

Well after 2 weeks of being a family of 3, I have come to one very strong conclusion:

What people tell you about not having any time to do anything once the newborn arrives is true.


It kills me that I haven't been able to blog more than once since the arrival of Matilda Mae. But between feeding, and pumping, and trying to sleep and trying to eat and feeding and pumping (did I mention feeding and pumping?), it seems like  a daunting task to blog.

And truth be told, I feel this immense pressure about the blog. I know people are waiting for pictures and stories about Matilda so there is peer pressure. And I want to be able to truly capture the feelings and emotions we have been going through since going into labor, and it just seems impossible right now.

So hang with me, please. I am cooking something up that I promise to get posted soon--just after the feeding and pumping and feeding and pumping.....

For now...hopefully this will tide you over. Matilda Mae hanging out on a quilt my Mom's cousin, Sharon made for her--enjoying her favorite pastime--sucking on her fingers.