Cookie Crumbs: March 2012

Addie's first St. Patrick's Day. Little too much partying...lol

March has certainly brought a welcome surprise with the weather we have been having. It started out a bit rough but quickly changed to sunshine, warmth, and emerging flowers. It has made the days at home on the mountain much nicer because Addison, Luke, Matt and I can get out of the house and do things. We have already enjoyed numerous walks, a very welcome thing for multiple reasons; including getting fresh air and my waistline thanks me as well. lol I have also enjoyed some time outside gardening, while Addie naps in her stroller. I'm not a great gardener but I do enjoy watching the flower bulbs emerge and I can't wait until they all start blooming.

Addison continues to be a great joy. Matt and I have been blessed with an easy going baby. She takes after Daddy in that sense, and thank goodness for that...lol With each passing day I become more familiar with her cues and cries, which makes it much easier to determine what she needs at that moment. I'm also learning what foods I eat agree and disagree with my bug. Garlic is definitely one that does not agree with her. Matt and I were invited to dinner at his co-worker's, Harold, home last Friday and his wife, Doreen made a wonderful meal of shrimp scampi and baked ziti. Very delicious for me but it equaled a gassy day for Addison on Saturday. Mommy and Daddy did a lot of rocking, walking, soothing and burping that day.

Harold and Doreen were absolutely adorable with Addison and she loved all of the snuggles and kisses they showered on her. :)

It is hard to believe that we are coming up on 3 weeks since Addison arrived. It has been amazing to see how much she is growing and changing already. Matt and I just look at her in amazement and we cannot stop kissing those cheeks!

Smitten with our bug.

With all of the cuddle time we have been putting in with Addison we have also been welcoming visitors to meet Addison. The Tenbus' came up for a visit and were gracious enough to bring dinner. We had a great time catching up and John and Colleen got some practice time in, as they will be welcoming their little bundle very soon. We cannot wait to meet Baby Boy Tenbus and Addie can't wait to meet her new friend. :)

Uncle John is a natural.

I also took Addison down to Tri-Valley to meet some of the people there. Addison did great on our little mini-trip down the hill and slept right through all of the fawning over her. It was nice that she was able to meet some of Matt's co-workers. Yesterday Addie and I went over to Mema's for lunch and she met Sue Smith and Nancy. It gave the three of them an opportunity to catch up and of course, they loved seeing Addison. She even opened her eyes momentarily, but quickly went back to sleep when the ladies got all excited...lol

That is one comfy baby. :-)

Ahhh, snuggles. :)

Haha, the girl likes the "touchdown" pose.

As you can see from the pictures, all three were quite content giving Addie all the snuggles she wanted and she took full advantage.

On Friday, Matt and I took Addie for her first full day out. All and all it was a successful trip. Mommy and Daddy (or Big Daddy and Little Momma as Matt has affectionately named us) learned a valuable lesson in baby time and that we will now need to adjust accordingly. It would not have been a trip out with Addison if we did not visit the children's section of Barnes and Noble. I could have spent the rest of the afternoon in there and easily have bought the whole section but Matt limited me to one book, this trip. Miss Addison will have quite a book collection by the time I'm done.

This Friday my parent's begin the journey to New York to meet Addie and I cannot wait. Matt and I have a hard enough time being so far away from my family, especially our niece and nephew. I know that my mom is chomping at the bit to meet her new granddaughter. They will be here a week and I'm certain that I will only get to hold Addie when she needs to be fed...lol I cannot wait.

Sunday night I got the pleasure of talking to our nephew, Hunter on the phone. He had spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa's and even helped Grandma make the meatballs for dinner. Of course he had to have his marshmallows before dinner. Though I know he was probably just repeating what I said, it was so special to hear him say that he loved me and missed me. He even asked Grandma if they could come to my house. That was enough to make me tear up. I have adjusted to life in New York but it has been hard being so far away from them. I can't wait until we head to Iowa again so I can give him and his sister a big hug and kiss. Hopefully they will be able to make the trek out to New York to see us soon. :) And our family will be growing even more once May arrives and brings the arrival of my baby brother's, Aaron and his wife's, Jessi new bundle of joy. This year has certainly brought a lot of wonderful changes so far. It makes me so excited to see what the rest has in store.

I hope you're all having a wonderful week! XO

Daddy and Addie sleepy time.

Addison Marie Cook
Born: March 1, 2012
6 lbs 12.9 oz
18 1/2 inches long

As promised, I am blogging after the arrival of our baby girl, Addison. It took me a week but I think I'm doing pretty good. :-) Addison arrived at 6:30 am the morning of March 1st. Much to the surprise of my co-workers, friends, and doctor I worked until the day before she arrived. My doctor told me that I was in labor but I still felt good so I figured, why not. It was better than sitting at home twiddling my thumbs...lol

The night before Addison arrived we were hit with some very late Winter weather, thank you Catskills New York. So as I'm sitting on our couch trying to determine if I was having contractions or not (at that point it was just tightening which to me sometimes just felt like her moving), I suddenly felt a change. I text my friend, Abby and told her about it, she of course panicked a bit, as we live in the boonies and the weather was bad. She wanted me to run to the hospital immediately. Since I was still comfortable I opted to call the doctor on call. As I suspected he told me to just hang out for a bit and let him know when the contractions got closer together. Abby did convince me to come stay at her and her husband's house, which was 10 minutes from the hospital, as opposed to the 35 that we were from home. Given the weather situation and when I finally called the doctor, I am very glad that we did so.

When Matt and I arrived at the hospital around 1:30 in the morning on the 1st the contractions had gotten so I knew they were actually contractions, but nothing unbearable and they were 6 minutes apart. As we were walking in, another couple and their entourage were running in as well. I told the nurses that the doctor had asked me to come in to be checked. At the time I didn't notice too much, but after they said something I realized that they were taking their time getting me checked. After the nurse checked me she informed me that her and the other nurse had been sure that they would be sending me home and keeping the other woman because they thought I was too calm and happy! lol As it turned out, I was already 5 centimeters, so they quickly got me checked into a room.

I'm not going to say that labor is a picnic but I will say that throughout my entire pregnancy and then my labor and delivery I was incredibly blessed. I had a relatively short labor (from when I could actually feel the contractions to delivery it was 5 hours) and the pain wasn't dull by any means but it was manageable. Thank goodness it was too because by the time the nurse asked me if I wanted any pain medicine (I'm thinking epidural) there was only time for the medicine that dulls the pain. By dull the pain they mean just knock you out so you can still feel it but you're too drowsy to care. lol Matt was amazing through it all. He was right by my side the whole time, rubbing my back, getting me water and offering support. He was also the nurses helper as well because there was another woman in the next room who was delivering at the same time as I was, so the poor doctor had to go back and forth between the two of us.

Just a note to my friends who have not had children yet, when the nurse tells you to just breathe through the next contraction and don't push because you have to wait for the doctor, it's ok to tell her no...lol I thought she was joking until she ran out to the hall and yelled for the doctor to get in the room and then told me to wait again. Well that wasn't happening, but luckily for the poor nurse, who I think may have fainted if she had actually had to finish delivering my baby, the doctor arrived just in time.

When they set my baby girl on my stomach and I saw her face for the first time, I can't even express how happy and in love I was with her. Just thinking about it makes me tear up. There is no greater feeling than meeting your child for the first time. I thought the day I found out I was pregnant was the greatest day of my life, but the day Addison was finally in my arms definitely trumped that. I have never felt so blessed as I did in that moment. I was so distracted by all that love that when they gave her back to me wrapped up and clean I anxiously asked Matt if she had any hair because I hadn't even looked and I didn't want her to be bald...lol He assured me that she did and boy did she!

I think she's starting to look more like daddy every day.

The next few days at the hospital were a haze of sleep deprivation, elation, and visitors. It was nice having the nurses there for support but it was so nice to finally take our baby girl home. Addie and the animals all met and I am happy to report that the cats are pretty uninterested and Luke has assumed the roll of concerned big brother. If she cries he gets upset, he parks himself in front of her swing if she's in it and he periodically nuzzles her with his nose, much to her annoyance sometimes...lol This past week has been a learning process both for Matt and I and for Addison. We're all trying to figure out how to work together but I think we're getting there and she is one happy little girl. Matt and I can't stop looking at her. Daddy looks at his little girl so lovingly and can't stop saying how "stinkin' cute" she is. :-) As my friend Matt said after the birth of his daughter,"I've never been so happy to be so exhausted in my life."

Matt and I took Addison for her one week check up and much to my surprise she had gained almost another pound (7 lbs 3 oz) and grown over an inch (19 3/4 inches long). It really is amazing to see how much she has changed already. I can't stop taking pictures of her and could have easily just posted pictures of her for this blog post with nothing else. We're just so happy.

I want to send a special thank you to all of our family and friends who have sent gifts, come by or just called to check on us. Your support has been great and we can't wait to share more about how Addison is growing and changing. :-)

Until next time!