Dear Elliot

I found this on my friend's blog and was touched by the story. Life truly is beautiful.

Photos

I wish I could use Bicho as an excuse as to why I haven't been blogging but lets be honest, I wasn't very good at it before. Here are some random pictures. Apparently we do a lot of sleeping around our house these days!

Baby Bicho - one week old

3 weeks old - back in the hospital

Bicho bundled in hospital

Terbear and Bicho sleeping

Bicho 6 weeks old

Bicho eating

Bicho and mommy sleeping

Labor Of Love

Don't worry, I won't scare you with my labor story or how my body is apparently designed to contract forever but never dialate past 1.5 cm without lots of help. I do have to say Bicho's birth was excellent and truly a spiritual experience. I began feeling anxious and overwhelmed with the thought of being a mother a few days before she was born. I prayed long and hard to have a positive birth experience for both me and Terrence. We were so blessed to have excellent nurses who loved and cared for me and Kenadee when we ran into feeding problems which resulted in a longer hospital stay than anticipated. Who knew something so small could bring so much love and tenderness into our hearts! She truly is a little angel sent from heaven. Its so fun to see her little personality shine through, even though she is only 10 days old. Even the nurses and doctors in the hospital jokingly commented on how she is "full of personality" (which I take to be a great compliment - who wants a boring old baby when you can have a sassypants like Kenadee?!). I have a feeling little Miss Kenadee will be giving us a run for our money :)

On a similar note, has anyone had feeding problems with their babies in the past? I know feeding my baby formula wouldn't be the worst thing in the world (seeing how there are starving children across the world, I should be so grateful that is not our situation). But - I desperately want to breastfeed only my baby. I've been so nervous about it , though, since we had so many problems with it in the hospital and she became dehydrated because of it. I've been pumping then supplementing with formula. Any advice ???

Welcome Burner Bicho!

Introducing....

Kenadee Ann Burner
Born 9/10/09 at 9:50 am

8 pounds 3 ounces

(the 3 ounces is all hair!)

More details to come soon!

I Declare Maternity Leave!

Today is the day I declare maternity leave at work. Oh yeah - it's gonna feel good. It kind of reminds me of my favorite Office episode. I wish I could declare it Michael Scott style ! Instead I filled out paperwork....social workers are no fun. So when you watch this, think of me - declaring maternity leave!



So now what am I going to do now that I don't have to drive 80 miles to and from work? Sleep in, take naps and eat a lot of things that will probably give me killer heart burn but taste oh-so-good. Oh and prepare for little Bicho to join our family soon!

P.S. Did I tell you we saw Bicho at my "luverly" Dr. appointment yesterday? She's going to have A LOT of hair. (Add making bows to my list above...)

"Big Bicho Belly" or "Why I Stink at Blogging on a Regular Basis"

Here is my personal portrait...

And here is Terrence's picture...

Personally, I like the "far away" approach.

("I'd like her to look a little more attractive. How far can you pull pack?" "How do you feel about Cleveland?" - name that movie!)

I can't really complain about how I feel right now. I think Heavenly Father is really helping me get through my last few work weeks and miles upon miles of traveling that is required. And He has saved me (on more than one occasion) from seriously injuring people who make those "well-meaning" pregnancy comments like "Wow, you are getting really big". Usually I would respond with a "Great observation, Sherlock. Can't sneak anything past you, huh?!" But I try to refrain. One sweet Latino man at work told me I was "engordandose" which means getting fat. I told him (in a semi-joking manner) if he ever said that to me again, I was going to fill his mouth with my knuckles (it sounds much more suave in Spanish). I think I scared him off since he hasn't said a word to me since. As you can tell, my biggest trial right now is controlling my tongue and swallowing the sarcasm that just flies out of my mouth on an involuntary basis.

::Sigh:: I think I should have registered for a muzzle.

But in better news, I had my first "internal exam" ::grimace:: and it went as well as an "internal exam" could go. I guess I am about 50% effaced - whatever that means and I've apparently started to "thin out". He apparently missed that round thing between my extremely enlarged chest and pubic bone (ha ha - my lame attempt for a joke)! So anyhoo, I'll just plan for Bicho to come on time. And if she comes any earlier...heaven help us!

Totally True Thursday

The Big Google Mistake

No, I didn't disappear off the face of the earth! And you definitely can't miss me or my pregnant belly now. Terrence took the camera fishing (a better companion than a 8 month pregnant wife no doubt) so I can't show you any belly updates. But no worries, I won't leave you photoless. I've been contemplating having my sister take some nice belly photos soon before I'm so awkwardly uncomfortable and cranky...oh wait, I might already be there. Anyhoo, I thought I would use Google images for some pregnancy pose ideas. Little did I know what I was getting into....

Which one is truly pregnant?

The right to bear fruit, arms and...children?

No, the belly does not unscrew like a lid to get the baby out.

James Bond gone wrong...

Want more where these came from? Check out this website for all the awkward family photos you could ever want (and more). Terbear and I spent a hour the other morning laughing so hard it hurt! Thank heavens for awkward photos!

The Hots for Heartburn

Oh yeah...I've got it bad.

Welcome back heartburn!

Oh Baby!

Oh baby! Bicho is coming in 90 days...well according the ticker on the sidebar. How the heck will I get everything done that I need to? I have a new appreciation for women who work full-time and are pregnant or work and have any children at all. How do they get it all done?? After driving to and from Phoenix (which is 90 miles round trip) daily - and not including trips to visit my foster families who live as far as Buckeye - by the end of the day I am so exhausted. Sometimes I wonder how I will get even the basics done for little Bicho. With one day a week (Saturdays) to do it all, there's no wonder I'm stressing. But isn't this part of the joy of being pregnant?! (As a side note - I do recognize pioneer women crossed the plains on foot while pregnant, so what do I have to complain about !?)

This Saturday we put together Bicho's little crib. We didn't buy a bundled set of bedding because hello- who wants to spend $180 on bedding?! (Ok - so I really wanted to but I couldn't justify it in the Bicho budget). So here's what we put together...

I actually love it. It's so much better than what I was thinking about buying in a bag. Plus it was hand picked with love :) ::So sappy, I know:: At least I have the crib down, which is one of the millions of things on my list. And here is a recent belly picture from Saturday...

And a picture of how I ended my busy Saturday...

..with an awesome kidney stone. I thought I was dying. Bicho was fine - just happy and kicking away. Meanwhile, I was puking my guts up for about 3 hours and in horrible pain. The nurses at the hospital were really great, though. Even the ultrasound tech said passing a kidney stone is much more painful than actually giving birth. Equally, I think I will pass on my natural birth plans and go for an epidural. I mean really - what good will I be I'm "tossing cookies" the whole time I'm trying to deliver. But - you never know what crazy decision I may make last minute!