My Best Ten

It's pretty easy for me to sit down and type out my Top Ten lists. Top 10 Food, Top 10 Workouts, Top 10 Songs....But nothing will ever beat the last 10 weeks of my life.

On December 7th I gave birth to a perfectly healthy and beautiful little girl, named Olivia Anne Stewart. After an easy and healthy pregnancy, and a not-so-easy 14 hours of natural labor, she came and completely rocked my world. As a matter of fact, my world was no longer mine. It's our world now. She is, by far, the most important thing. Making sure her needs are met is my full-time job. So my last 10 weeks have been spent learning about her, about me, about my husband and I as parents, and about how to juggle being a mom, a daughter, a sister, a friend, and a wife. As of Monday I'm now back to work full-time, so added into my juggling act is manager, co-worker and employee.

And though that all may sound like a lot to handle, it's been blissful. Yes, it's a challenge, and at times I'm sure I fail in one area or another. But I never fail at being mommy, and I never will. I now realize that this role is one I've always wanted, and I wear my mommy badge proudly. But it's important for me to mention that next to my mommy badge is my wife badge. Before having Olivia my happiest week was the week I spent in Mexico with family and friends, marrying my husband. And let's face it: without happily marrying the man I fell in love with when I was just 19, I wouldn't have the happy family I have now. Doug made me a wife, and now he's made me a mother.

The first 2 weeks at home were the most challenging, but in a good way. I was lucky enough to have Doug home with me, and together we learned about caring for our girl. After Doug went back to work it was just me and Olivia during the days, and the bond that we formed during that time is truly unbreakable. We figured out a great routine (thanks to the BabyWise book and theories), allowing enough sleep and playtime for her, and enough time for me to work, straighten up the house, and workout. I've learned how to do many tasks one-handed and how to change lyrics to children's songs to fit the mood (last night I changed the "clean up" song to a "clean your butt" song while changing a poopy diaper). I've mastered cloth diapering, pumping, bagging and freezing breast milk, and folding tiny onesies. I've also figured out how to make my little girl smile, coo, and even dance to Reggae music.

I finally ordered a baby book from Target so I can keep track of all these tiny, yet very important milestones. At five weeks we saw her first true smile, and at six weeks she began "talking" back to us during her very happy times. Around 8 weeks she started to sleep 6 to 8 hour stretches during the night. At 9 weeks she began intentionally studying her hands, and on Sunday I'm pretty sure she grabbed a toy in her play gym on purpose. All of these things are huge developmentally, not to mention they are SO STINKIN' CUTE.


But by maternity leave is over, and although it's only been a few days I already miss my first 10 weeks at home with Olivia. They were some of the most special times in my life, and I'll never forget them. The thought of missing out on her special moments each day make me sad. But I am very fortunate in that my little sister has moved in with us to be our full-time nanny. It's very reassuring knowing that Olivia is getting loving individualized attention everyday, is in consistent surroundings and is following the same schedule everyday that works best for her. My sister, Emily, is very respectful of the way we want things done and because she has an emotional attachment to Olivia, she does it all the same way I do- with LOVE.

I can't think of anything better than our little baby surrounded by nothing but love.

You Are What Happened When I Wished Upon a Star

You can imagine that news of having a baby is seriously life altering. But for some reason, the impact is so much more now that I know that she is a little girl. It's not more impactful simply because she is a girl, but it does feel more solidified and real just knowing her sex. That may sound silly to most, but knowing what she is allows me to picture her growing up. I daydream about her, what she'll look like, what sports she'll play, and her little voice calling me mommy.

I often think about how I'm really the only one who knows her right now. And she knows me. She knows  my voice, my touch, my breaths.... I know when she's sleeping and I swear the little peanut actually starts kicking me when she's hungry. And the craziest thing about all this is that no one else understands or can possibly appreciate what all of this means to me. It's deeply personal that only she and I understand.

The very first baby item I bought, when I was just 7 or 8 weeks along, was a Google onsesie. I was on my first trip to California to visit the Google Campus in Mountain View. At this point very few people knew about my pregnancy. I shared the info with my co-worker, Jill, and she happily snapped a picture of me and the onesie. I actually ended up buying a cuter one with cookie monster on it.

A few months later I did buy my first girlie item: a hot pink diaper cover with ruffles with a hot pink headband to match. I've also bought a few cloth diapers, some warmer clothing items, and some decorative items for her room. I'm not the best at decorating, and Doug says her room looks to cluttered. But we've been blessed with so many fantastic hand-me-downs that she already has so much stuff!!!

Decoration Idea

I actually started writing this post back in September. It's now November 16th and I have just 19 days left until my due date. I've been neglecting this blog, my household chores, sleep....but it's all worth it. You see, in just a few weeks I will have a daughter. She will completely change my life and I'll be in charge of shaping hers. She'll come into this world knowing that she needs me. And I already know how badly I need her. So all this hard work, long hours, doctors appointments, household changes and preparation will pay off. We'll have a family- Me, Doug, Baby Girl, Karma, Pepper and Senior Gato. Quite the full house, huh?

I'll leave you with a sneak peak of our maternity shoot we had 2 weeks ago. I haven't seen the rest of the photos yet and simply can't wait! I'll also follow up with a few other posts about cloth diapering, my health and wellness during pregnancy, and some other baby-related items. Thanks for the support!

Houston, We Have a Baby Bump!

For those of you who don't know (I haven't been too vocal about it) I'm now 17 weeks pregnant! That's around 4 months for the non-mathematicians out there. Though I've certainly felt pregnant over the last 17 weeks (I will spare you the details of that), I didn't necessarily look pregnant. To me, my close friends, husband and family it's pretty obvious that I'm thicker in the middle. My clothes don't fit and my once flat stomach was beginning to bulge. But for co workers and others that don't know about my normally flat and toned stomach (yea...I workout, lol) I just looked normal. But the in-between faze was very difficult; not quite ready for maternity clothes but not fitting into my own. I felt like people were looking at my like I was chubby when I knew I was carrying a precious little baby in my growing belly.

Well, practically out of nowhere my belly has made a very distinct and obvious appearance!

Side note: I am wearing my new glasses! Yes, I can see!!!

I don't think most people can mistake that baby bump! And although growing is a bit scary, it's also very exciting and I can't wait for more. I know that as I grow and change that means my first child is developing as he or she should. I read updates on it's size and development daily and am amazed everyday at what's going on inside of my body. While I'm busy being a wife, a manager, a friend, etc. my body is busy making a baby every minute of every day. It certainly explains why I'm exhausted all the time.

Two days ago I went for a regular check up with my doctor. She said my blood pressure is excellent, I'm in great shape, I've gained the right amount of weight and everything seams very healthy! We listened to the baby's heartbeat which was 153 BPM. This was the second time I've heard the heartbeat, and it was no less emotional then the first. Knowing that the little heart inside my child is beating strong bring tears to my eyes. I'll do whatever I can, whatever I need to do, to ensure that he or she is healthy and happy. I already feel a strong connection to this child, and it's only been inside me for a few months. I can't even begin to imagine how it will feel when I hold him or her for the first time. I simply cannot wait.

I"ll continue to blog about my 20-something life, including the big changes I'm currently facing with buying a home and being pregnant. My life is changing more in my twenties, and more rapidly,  than I ever thought it could. Here's to change and being healthy and happy!