May 21, 2010

Foto Friday - Happiness


May 20, 2010

May 18, 2010

It's a crazy life....keeps you on your toes

1 husband who has battled a virus since Sunday
+ 1 precious baby who started running fever yesterday
1 extremely tired Mama

** Posting will be limited until the sickness has vaccated our house.
*** Feel free to start a pool on how long before I come down with something.

May 16, 2010

Peaceful Easy Feeling

My wall clock reads that it is just a minute after 7:00 a.m. The soft rays of the rising sun are streaming thru my window and dancing across my floors. In the quiet of the morning, I listen to the sounds of my home - the soft whurrr of the air conditioner, a faint hum as a load of freshly laundered clothes tumbles in the dryer, the deep rumble that is M's snore, and Joycelen tiny peeps echoing in response.

Most Sunday mornings I sleep in until the last possible second - then it is a mad dash to make it to church on time. And more often than not, I am left feeling grumpy/angry which is no way to enter a worshp service. So, I decided to try something different today. I am forgoing an extra hour of sleep (which I do not really need as I am getting 8 hours already), rising early, and facing my Sunday morning head on.

Thus far, I have fed Joycelen her morning bottle, played with her for a bit, and settled her back down for a nap, showered and fixed my hair, washed a load of clothes, put that load in the dryer, and started a second load. In a moment, I will fix myself a breakfast of greek yogurt and granola which I shall enjoy while catching up on my favorite blogs. Lastly, I will read over my Sunday school lesson, before I wake M so that he can get ready.

I have never been an early riser, but today has left me wondering if I should not seek to become one.


**Joycelen's Christening is today, so be sure to check back for a recap and photos.

May 14, 2010

2 Month Check Up

Joycelen had her 2 month checkup on Thursday. She weighed 10 pounds, 9 ounces - nearly 3 pounds above her birth weight. Her length was 23 inches long - nearly 3 inches more that her length at birth. The actual exam was pretty painless. Dr. C did note that Joycelen had the beginning stages of "thrush" and was showing symptoms of a mild case of reflux. Both of these diagnosies warranted prescription medication. Following her exam, Joycelen received her 1st round of vaccines. 3 shots and 1 oral med later, this is what we were left with....




Per instructions for Dr. C (and my Mom, my MIL, SIL, my sister - and every other mother I know) I had given Joycelen a dose of baby Tylenol prior to the visit. I continued the Tylenol for 24 hours afterwards. And this is how baby girl spent her afternoon:









May 11, 2010

Joycelen - Two Months Old


Joycelen,

You turned 2 months old on May 5th - just one day before your cousin Trevor's 5th birthday. At his birthday lunch, you enjoyed the teeniest bit of frosting. Just like your Mama, you loved it. I hope this is not the beginning of a life long sweet tooth. Here are your milestones for this month:

· You are weighing close to 10 lbs, based on Mama's weighing methods (Mama stands on the scale and gets her weight, steps off, picks you up and then steps back on the scale).
·Papa Babo measured your length and you are around 22 inches long.
· After developing some mild reflux, we have reduced your bottles to 3 ounces with 1 teaspoon of rice cereal. You are still eating every 3 hours but have little to no tummy troubles now.
· You are wearing 0-3 months clothes and size 1 diapers.
· You are still a champ at sleeping - Nana Nancy says that you take at least two naps a day, usually 3 hours each time. And you are sleeping from 10:00 to 6:00 a.m. with Mama and Daddy.

In the last month, you have developed even more of a personality. When your Aunt Lane holds you, you like to stuck your tongue out at her, and then blow spit bubbles. You tend to jabber at your grandparents, and follow your cousins' every move.

You have started noticing the television, and seem to enjoy watching sport center with your Daddy (you turn your head towards the t.v. when you hear the intro music and look away when it goes to commerical). You are quick to give smiles to Mama and Daddy, and love babbling at Mama while we drive in the truck.

During tummy time, you did these mini pushups....lifting your head, neck, and shoulders off of the floor. Both of your Nana's seem to think you will be an early crawler and walker....Mama is kinda hoping you stay still (and small) just a little while longer.

Love,

Mama & Daddy

May 10, 2010

Perspective: My First Mother's Day

For the last several weeks, I have eagerly awaited my first Mother’s day. I have envisioned opening a card from “Joycelen” on Sunday morning….and I just knew that M would have picked out the perfect gift to mark this special day.

As life would have it, the week preceding Mother’s day was extremely hectic for M and I both. It was M’s week to open at this office, which meant he was leaving the house at 4:30 a.m. Factor in my need to work several late nights, the start of picking season for our blueberry crop, and obligations to our church – M had no free time to go shopping.

Late Saturday night, M explained that while he had all these ideas for ways to make my day special, nothing had come to fruition. He wanted to let me know so that I wouldn’t be disappointed. And I assured him that I would not be…..

Sunday morning came, and with it a Happy Mother’s Day whisper in my ear, and the site of M feeding Joycelen. Later that morning, M placed Joycelen in my arms for a power nap while he showered and dressed for church. It was a wonderful start to the day. But the joy quickly dissipated when M made plans to do a favor for my father immediately after church, without consulting me. (Side note: I did not mind M doing the favor for my father, just the fact that he had consulted with me first. We have an agreement to check with one another before committing to things). The fact that M had neglected to check with me, stung….the fact that he did it on Mother’s day made the sting even more painful. We sat in stoney silence in the church’s sound booth, preparing for the morning’s worship service.

In the silence of the sanctuary, I glanced at my husband, his normally cheerful eyes were hollow. His happy smile was gone, and in its place a look of utter defeat. I nugged him and said “Babe, what’s wrong?”

His reply, “I failed you.”

What followed was a lengthy discussion (that would be repeated a few more times throughout the day) in which M stated how horrible he felt about not buying me a card/gift, and my reassuring him that it really didn’t matter (even though in a way it did).

There were high points to the day – laughing with M’s family at dinner, enjoying cake with my family, and a nap on the couch with M and Joycelen. But once again as the day drew to a close, I felt the disappointment swelling, and I retreated into myself….sitting silently on the couch while M feed Joycelen a bottle.

This time M reached out to me….moving to sit beside me. Instinctively, I leaned into him. And soon we were conversing, stating our hurt/pain. And as Food Network played in the background, we reconnected. Soon Joycelen finished her bottle, drifted off to sleep, and M laid her down. Watching his tenderness with our daughter, made my heart burst with love.

As I replayed the day in my head, I thought about the moments I had been gifted with:

- Moments of holding my peaceful sleeping baby
- M handling all of the diaper changes while I conversed with family and friends
- A quiet evening in our home, just the 3 of us – no commitments, no phones to answer, no where to be but together.

Perhaps, my first Mother’s Day did not happen as I had envisioned it would. But with a little perspective, I can see that it was a wonderful day.

** I would be remiss if I did not brag that M surprised me this morning by telling me to purchase the Nikon D3000 I’ve been eyeing for months. While I do not need gifts to make me happy, it meant a lot that M wanted me to purchase something that I longed for but had deemed as a “save and purchase later item”. It should arrive Wednesday….so excited!

May 07, 2010

Show Us Your Life: Your Kid's (or future kid's) Names



Joycelen Rebecca

Joycelen’s first name is a creation born from my habit of doodling while on the telephone. One afternoon, about a month before I discovered we were expecting, I was on a training call. As I listened to the speaker, I started doodling mine and Micheal’s full names. It was then that our middle names caught my attention and I thought…if we take Joyce (my middle name obviously) and combine it with the Len (M’s middle name is Lenwood) it creates a lovely name for a future daughter. Four weeks later, when I found out we were pregnant, M and I already had our girl name.

The name Rebecca has a double meaning for M and I. First, it was the name of my father’s niece, who was killed in a car accident when I was just 11. She was the baby of her family, and I was the oldest in mine – so she and I were immediately drawn to each other – and she became my big sister. Her death left a huge void in my life and I told my parents after her funeral that if I ever had a daughter, I would honor Becky’s memory by giving her name to my little girl. And as destiny would have it, I met and married a man who loves the name Rebecca…..since it is the middle name of his own amazing Mama.

Micheal Lenwood, III

Almost immediately after delivering our daughter, people began to inquire about when we would try for another child. They often follow up that question with “Have you thought about names?” M and I have not devoted a lot of time to thinking of names for our next child, but we do know that if our 2nd child is a boy he will be named after his father. M’s middle name was his grandfather’s middle name – so it seems only fitting to carry on the family traditional.

If we have another daughter, her name selection will be much more difficult. M and I want her to have a name that has family ties (since her sister’s name does) but we have not settled on any definitive choices. I think it would be awesome to create her name from some combination of our names but I am drawing a blank with ideas (feel free to offer suggestions).

I would love to hear how you chose your child’s name….or what you will name your future children.

May 06, 2010

Help Me Remember

Last night was the first truly difficult night that I have experienced with Joycelen. And by most standards it was not very bad. Until now, Joycelen has been going to bed at 9:00 p.m. and sleeping until 5:00 a.m., has a feeding and goes back to sleep until 7:30 a.m. However, last night she was awake until 11:00, up screaming at 2:00 -- fought sleep until well after 3:00, and then demanding her breakfast at 4:30. I wrongly assumed that the little stinker would sleep late this morning. Lol! Instead, she wanted to lay in bed with wide eyes and coo/smile at me. I loved and resented this all at the same time. Needless to say, I was dragging at the office this morning. (Did I mention that this was the one morning I needed to be in at 7:00 a.m.). Tired and slightly grumpy, my day was off to a bad start.... then a friend sent me this poem.

Lord, help me remember, when I feel It's a chore,the time will come when I'll hold her no moreasleep on my chest (the crib refused,the blanket, the pacifier, gone unused).What better place is there to lay her headthan against my heart, my arms her bed?For infants grow up and leave us behindwith only memories left to remindus of midnight walking and predawn rocking,of soft, helpless babies unable to sleep.So, Lord, make me patient and keep me awakewhile I cradle this child, and don't let me takefor granted the moments I spend in the nightwith this baby--Your gift, my joy, my delight.
by Jan Dunlap
It put my whole day (and night) in perspective. I thought it was worth sharing.

May 05, 2010

Wordless Wednesday





Can you guess what Joycelen's favorite pastime is these days?