Time

Babies are time consuming.

Who woulda thunk it?

My days are filled with Nora. Feeding Nora, changing Nora, bathing Nora, snuggling Nora, talking or reading or singing to Nora. Honestly, it’s wonderful. I have eight weeks of maternity leave left, but with four of them already over, I’m already dreading leaving my girl and going back to work. I love being with her all day, and it’s sad to think that it won’t be like this forever.

Anyway, caring for Nora doesn’t leave me with much time to do anything else. It’s difficult to find time to shower, or make the bed, or cook, or clean. And obviously, it’s hard to find time to blog. I have posts I want to write, but have not had the chance. Each day, it seems like we hit the end of it and I find myself wondering what the heck I did all day, because the house is a mess, and the to-do list in my head is largely untouched. But the answer is always the same, and it’s always simple–I spent the time with my daughter. And isn’t that what maternity leave is truly for?

This past week has been busy. In addition to the daily Nora duties at home, I had somewhere to be almost every day this week, so I had the extra challenge of having to get us both ready and out of the house every day. (Don’t get me wrong, though, this isn’t a rarity–I’ve been taking Nora out pretty often since the beginning. I don’t do well cooped up at home, so we have to get out so I can maintain my sanity.) But actual appointments are kind of stressful because that means we have to perfect the timing.

Also challenging was Nora’s bout with a growth spurt. It started last Friday, when she was just about three weeks old. She was eating more often, and not sleeping as well at night. By Wednesday of this week, I was feeling pretty exhausted, but praise God, the growth spurt seemed to end and Nora fell back into her good nighttime sleeping habits. We’ve been doing better since then, but I’m still trying to catch up on my sleep. I can’t complain too much, though, as I swear I have been one of the most well-rested new mommies in the history of the world. We know we’re lucky.

Nora is four weeks old today and I’m amazed by that. What the hell… four weeks?! Where does the time go? Seriously.

I’ll leave you with a bunch of photos from this past week, and a promise that I will get to some of the posts I have planned… eventually. (HAHA.) I hope to do them this week, but my brother’s wedding is next Saturday and I have a bridesmaid dress fitting on Tuesday/Wednesday and my dad is coming into town on Thursday and we have bridesmaid pampering/rehearsal on Friday, and… you get the picture.

Soooo… pictures! Here you go…

Last Saturday morning. Is this not hilarious? Tessa cracks me up.

A super cute (and girly!) Halloween outfit that my mother-in-law got for her. It was nice and cozy for her on a cold, rainy Monday.

I love when she wrinkles her forehead.

Wide awake and relaxing in her bouncer.

Funny sleep position during a snooze on Friday morning.

Liking her baths more these days.

Visiting with Aunt Cristina this morning.

Today, Nora met her cousin, Brendan, for the first time. He was totally into her, it was adorable. And look, she’s smiling! ;)


Michael with his sisters and Nora

The other big cousin, Logan (who said “baby!” every time he passed Nora).