Flying with a Newborn

So. I had to take my baby on a plane.

On the evening of Christmas Day, we took off to travel to Seattle to visit Dallin's family for a week.

I basically had a nervous breakdown.

No, seriously, I was in tears as the plane took off.

I have no idea why...except that I had never been so incredibly worried about anything in my entire life.

Worried about what, you might ask? Oh, you know...whether or not we'd have to check the car seat; getting past security with all our extra stuff (including bottles); having to hold the baby the entire time; the baby crying for the whole trip; the pressure change bugging her so that she cried louder/harder; having to feed her; having to change her; having her spit up or blow out or emit some other kind of liquid that had to be cleaned up immediately; the fact that the plane might crash...you know.

Well, you know what happened?

Madelyn slept. THE ENTIRE TIME.

When we checked in and were told there would be extra seats so we could take her car seat right on the plane, she was asleep.

When we got to security, she was asleep.

(Until we had to take her out of her seat AND take her little boots off so they could be sure we weren't smuggling a dangerous something in our baby's baby sized boots. Sheesh. But she went back to sleep.)

During the extra 40 minutes we had to wait because our flight was delayed, she was asleep.

As we got on the plane and settled into our seats, she was asleep.

As they explained that adults traveling with children should, in the case of an unexpected pressure change, put their own oxygen masks on first before securing the child's, which I completely ignored as I realized if that happened I would not be able to breathe at all and so would be just as well off giving my mask to Madelyn anyway...she was asleep.

As I was in tears during take-off, and as everyone's ears popped, she was asleep.

And when we landed in Seattle 3 hours later, she was still asleep.

It was hard to believe. And it's harder to believe that it will happen again when we fly home.

I guess we'll find out. Cross your fingers for me, please.

No, seriously...cross them.

Christmas

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David (because he was of the house and lineage of David)

To be taxed with Mary, his espoused wife, being great with child.

And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Can you really read this enough?

I can always tell when I'm reading it the right way...it makes me cry.

From humble beginnings came the Savior of the world, the literal Son of God.

He came to live and die for each of us. His love is immeasurable, and His example is perfect.

I hope I can do something to follow that example this Christmas. Will you join me?

He is our Savior. He lived and walked this earth, and He still lives today. I believe this with all of my heart, mind, and strength.

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Merry Christmas!

Joyful and Triumphant

The title of this post really has nothing to do with the content of this post.

I just really like the phrase joyful and triumphant.

I will now proceed to write this post that is largely unrelated to joyful-and-triumphant-ness.

Basically, I am up earlier than I want to be (love you, Madelyn!), still tired, and rather bored.

So here are some things on my mind:

1) Christmas is in like, three days! Christmas Eve is in like, two days! Christmas Eve Eve is in like, one day! I really like Christmas.

b) I have a large amount of Christmas shopping left to do, some of which is unplanned (aka I have no idea what to get some of the people on my list)

iii) I like Dallin. He is fun to look at, be with, and smell.

IV) I am in a very intense baking mood. I have seen many yummy to the max recipes nowadays -

**Side note: I love picky-palate.com. This lady has the BEST recipes. And if anyone has a picky palate...well, hi, it's me. Side note over**

and would love to just escape to my kitchen and bake my little-but-powerful heart out. We shall see if that happens.

E) I'm pretty sure I could list 8,700,040 reasons why I love Madelyn. Stay tuned for that post.

last) I am fairly to moderately upset about the newer version of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" being at the TOP of Moviefone's Worst Christmas Movies Ever list. Um, hi. Did they not read my Katie's Favorite Christmas Movies of All Time List and realize that this movie is one of my favorites before really hurting my feelings in this way? Apparently not.

I think that about covers what's on my mind at the moment...

Oh wait - and I'm hungry. Now we're done.

So tell me - what are you baking today?

Sicky McSickerson

Everything sounds better in (Blank)y Mc(Blank)erson form. Observe:

Sweety McSweeterson
Hottie McHotterson
Stinky McStinkerson

It's really the only thing I remember from my high school calculus class, in which my teacher would commonly refer to himself, students, or math problems as Trixie McTrickerson.

Which I guess sounds better, since "Trixie" is actually a name.

But you know, whatever.

I am currently Sicky McSickerson.

Would you like to know how long I've been this way?

I developed a nasty sore throat plus cough thing a few days before Madelyn was born.

Why yes, that was a MONTH ago, now that you mention it.

It got a little worse, then it got a little better, then it got all the way better, then about two days passed, and now I'm sick again.

And it's an annoying sick, let me tell you. Stuffy and coughy and headache-y and no appetite-y (which is why my pregnancy weight was gone in what was probably an unhealthy amount of time that I have decided not to reveal) and just all around blegh.

What I really need is a good old fashioned, high-powered anti-histamine, something that will just suck all the moisture out of my body and knock me out for several days.

Oh wait...

I can't sleep because I have a child to care for, AND said child would probably be in nutritional trouble if ALL the moisture in my body dried up, if you know what I'm saying.

Which is why the doc says I can't take any medicine.

So what the heck do I do? I guess I'll just take some Tylenol for my headache and drink tons of orange juice, even though I don't really like orange juice. And sleep with the humidifier. Or, as it is, sit up awake in bed with the humidifier.

And now Dallin's sick too. He didn't get whatever I had before and after Madelyn, but he's got what I've got now.

And it's Christmas.

Hmph.

Humphrey McHmpherson.

Take that, Target

So, I like Target. Really, I do. And I've got to say: working retail for like, 4 years (including like, a month or so at Target, before I gained true wisdom) has made me very sympathetic to any and all retail workers.

But I have had a couple of run ins with Target lately - one of which blemished an otherwise clean honesty record (oh ok...mostly clean. See how honest I am?), and another that left me a little bit frustrated and a lotta bit perplexed.

I'm going to focus on the second one, because really, the first one is between me and my Maker.

So I'd bought this metal Christmas sign thing from Target, and I decided I didn't want it anymore. I still had the receipt and needed to go to Target anyway, so I went to Target, baby in tow, and walked confidently up to the customer service desk.

"Hi, I just want to return this, please."

"Ok, is there anything wrong with it?"

"Oh no - I just changed my mind. I do that way too often...haha!"

(She doesn't laugh. Not even a courtesy chuckle! Boo.)

So she scans the barcode sticker on the sign, then does it again, and then looks at the sticker and does chuckle.

"Um, this is from Walmart."

What? It most certainly is not! It's from Target! This Target!

"Huh? No, I bought it here."

"No, look...it says 'Walmart' on the sticker."

I look at the sticker. It does not say "Walmart."

"Um, that says 'Wall Art.'"

She looks again.

"Oh yeah, it does."

Genius.

"But still, it's not ours. It's not in our system."

What?

"Are you sure? I can show you which thing it is on the receipt."

So I take the receipt back from her. Being the former Target employee that I am, I compare the item number on the receipt with the item number on the item's sticker. To my dismay, they don't match.

Now, this was the right receipt. I had kept in in the bag - the Target bag - with the sign ever since I bought the dang thing, which would have been a few days before this occurrence. So I was totally mystificated.

Target Lady saw what I was doing and must have decided it was a good idea because she totally copied me and did the same thing before stating, "Yeah, these numbers don't match. This isn't a Target item."

I desperately look at the sign's sticker one more time.

"But it says Target on here! 'Manufactured by Target Corp, target.com...'"

The thing said "Target" in like, three different places.

"Oh. Well did you get it online?"

Oh yeah, I forgot. I saw this Christmas decoration online and loved it oh so very much that I paid to have it shipped to my house. Then I waited a week before a big, three foot long box came with my precious sign in it. How could I have forgotten? And anyway, even if I had ordered it online, I should be able to return it to the store.

"No. I got it here. At this very store. I can show you where I found it...it was only a few days ago."

At this point, Target Lady 1 has called Target Lady 2 over and asked her for help. They both conclude that my sign is not in their system, and they will not take it back. They refuse to believe that I'm not insane and that I did, in fact, buy the sign at their store. They just won't take it.

And I won't take that. Don't think I thought for a second about just taking that sign back home with me. I marched over to the aisle where I had found it, determined to find another one and thereby prove my sanity. If it wasn't there...well, I guess Maddy and I would just wait in the store until they got more. I was ready to camp out there until next Christmas when they'd (hopefully) bring out all the crap that they didn't sell this year.

So I go to the aisle...and there it is. In fact, there they are. Two more signs that look just like mine. In the exact same spot. Because it's only been a few days. And because I'm not crazy.

So I grab one of these signs and go back to customer service.

Only Target lady #2 is there...not a major party in the issue, but she knows what's going on.

I show her the other sign.
She takes my receipt.
She pushes buttons.
And about 5 seconds later I'm walking away, refund in hand.

Now, what the heck? Why was it so easy for her? And why couldn't it have been so easy for Target Lady 1?

I guess just because they didn't believe me.

But that doesn't matter. I believe in myself.

Katie: 2
Target: 0

Last Christmas

I gave you my heart
But the very next day, you gave it away
This year, to save me from tears,
I'll give it to someone special.

Do you know this song?

If you listen to the same Christmas radio station that I listen to, you do. You probably know it backwards.

Special someone to it give I'll
tears from me save to year this
away it gave you day next very the but
heart my you gave I Christmas last.

Yeah, that probably made perfect sense to you.

This song gets played a lot. And like everyone that's ever recorded a Christmas song sings it.

WELL guess what? If I ever record a Christmas album, I'm NOT singing this one.

That's right - I don't like this song. Nope, I sure don't.

The original version by Wham! is especially irksome to me. At least other versions have decent vocals.

But really, what is this song other than a love song disguised as a Christmas song? I'll tell you what - it's a bad love song disguised as a Christmas song!

If it wasn't for the word Christmas, it wouldn't be allowed to play at Christmastime. And since none of the other lyrics have anything to do with Christmas, I submit that we officially change the title of the song to "Last Easter" or "Last August," which make just as much sense, and get this song off the Christmas playlist.

So - do you have Christmas songs that you just get sick of, or deny the Christmasness of? Don't worry - it doesn't make you a Scrooge.

Sleeptalk

Dallin fell asleep with Madelyn on his chest the other night.

Madelyn, um, stunk. Stank? Stinked?

Madelyn smelled bad.

So I took her away from Dallin, which woke both of them up. I reminded Dallin that he should get up and get ready for bed, since he was still all dressed and everything. He mumbled "Mm-hmm."

As I was walking out of our room to change le bebe, I heard Dallin roll over and say...

"I was gonna complain that there are no white people on the cover, but I guess the snowman's kinda white."

It took me a second to realize that this was totally nonsensical.

"What?" I said, kinda laughing.

Dallin lifted up his head a little bit and said "Oh. I don't know." And promptly fell asleep again.

Hooray! Hooray for sleep talking and nonsense and white snowmen! This made me oh so very happy, let me tell you.

It's the little things, you know?

Tee hee.

Mommy-ness

So, I'm a mommy.

Yeah, it's kind of weird.

It's like, I had this alien creature in my stomach for nine months. It was something I couldn't really identify with or really picture. And then I birthed it and it was like...a human. It's like...my daughter.

It's really pretty mind boggling if you think about it. And if you don't think about it, it's really a very normal thing that happens hundreds of times every day. Maybe I should stop thinking about it.

Anyway, motherhood.

Motherhood is hard to explain for me at this point. Probably because I've only been experiencing it for three weeks, which is not a very long time to become an expert or even really a well-rehearsed novice at anything.

I would say that my feelings of mommy-ness could be placed into a nutshell at this point: a nutshell named "Worry."

I worry. A lot. It sucks. I try really, really hard not to. I don't freak out when the bink (aka pacifier. I dislike the word pacifier) falls on the floor. I don't wash every piece of clothing before she wears it for the first time. I'll pretty much let anyone hold her or touch her. I've even taken her out shopping and exposed her to germ infested society.

But a cough, or a comment that she still looks a little yellow, or a little bit of spit-up coming out of her nose, or a particularly violent startle, or her being "too still" while she's sleeping, or falling asleep while I was holding her and waking up to see that she slipped out of her original position, or her eye getting a little goopy, or her not wanting to eat for a little longer than usual, or her nails getting a little too long, or wondering if I'm dressing her too warmly, or thinking the cradle mattress might be too soft, or just thinking about the possibility that something might show up on her newborn screening, or even just thinking that she might get a cold or something...

and I just...don't like it.

I mean, this is my baby. It's my baby! Nothing is allowed to happen to her - ever! You hear that, universe?

I am seriously trying to not become a total basket case by worrying about my daughter too much. But wow, it's hard.

Thankfully, this worry has tapered off since the first week or so. I can pretty much go about my daily business without being constantly sure paranoid worried that Madelyn is surely going to suffer some kind of terrible suffering.

But I still can't exactly sleep in the same room as her. She stirs, I stir.

I just love her, you know? This is my daughter. Of course I don't want anything to happen to her. I want her to be happy and healthy and smart and beautiful and I don't want anything in the world to even think about getting in her way.

I know that things are going to happen. She might even (gasp!) get a cold someday. And I'm going to have to deal with it.

And maybe then, after a few years or so of colds, I'll be a little more qualified to write about Mommy-ness.

You know...maybe.

On a fairly to moderately more awesome note, here are some of our Madelyn's adorable personality traits that we've noticed in her first twenty-five days of life:

-She loves to be held, and will refuse to sleep anywhere but someone's arms unless she's out like bell bottoms.

-She loves to hold hands. Sometimes holding her hand(s) calms her down like nothing else.

-She likes to have her hands up by her face. Short nails are completely necessary. She won't wear baby mittens.

-She does not like baths.

-She likes being rocked and read to, and while you might think Dickens' A Christmas Carol is a bit advanced for someone at her level, I can assure you, she loves it.

-She has a very strong neck/head. When I'm sitting up and holding her with her head on my chest, she'll lift her head up and stare at me in the face for a good amount of time.

-When she's awake, she's very alert. Just taking in the world around her, I guess!

And on the most awesome note of all, here is a recent picture of our little princess (not that all pictures of her aren't recent...I mean, she's 3 1/2 weeks old...):



Ok so it's not the most flattering angle, I know. But the fact that she's still the cutest baby in the land, even at the unflattering angle, has got to say something.

Oh yeah, I'm a mom.

Nice People

Do you know how many nice people there are in the world?

I don't think I did, until all this baby-ness occurred.

But let tell you, there are some nice people out there.

And fortunately, I happen to know a lot of them.

First of all, Madelyn disguising her gender for 5 months actually turned out to be pretty smart on her part, because once word got out it was a girl, we got a whole new set of gifts, including girly clothes and blankets. One lady in our old ward loaned us two bags full of baby girl clothes. My aunts stepped up to the challenge and threw in some stuff as well. My cousin, who had already made us a couple blankets and burp cloths, made us a beautiful, more girlish blanket. A new friend in our ward gave us more clothes and blankets. One friend who had already made us some cute boy onesies (including one with an applique tie that is so cute I just might make Madelyn wear it anyway) made us a super cute ladybug onesie complete with matching hair clip (can I just say that I love ladybugs? I can? Well, I do.) Another very dear, very talented friend whipped up some more adorable girly onesies with ruffle bums. Oh, how I love the ruffle bums! Check those out here. I'm probably forgetting several specific people. I wish I never forgot anything. But I do. Anyways, we've received an outpouring of lovely gifts from lovely people.

And the service doesn't stop at clothes. Our ward has brought us a couple delicious meals and someone brought us some delicious cookies that disappeared inexplicably fast. Someone (I still don't know exactly who...) is covering for me as the Primary pianist until I can pull myself together enough to get back to church (hopefully this week...I feel like a sinner.)

My in-laws came and stayed with us for Thanksgiving, and we got all kinds of help from them. They brought presents (again handmade - why are people so much more talented than I am?). They even got us some stuff for our backyard, including a lawn chair (OK- so that was so they could enjoy the AZ sun while they were here...but we get to keep it!) and a much needed pool timer. They grocery shopped. They took us out to eat. My mother in law made some freezer meals that I have a feeling are going to be not only handy but delicious. And, of course, they held sweet Maddy, which gave me some free hands with which I could actually do some stuff, like oh, say, homework. And a shower or two.

But really, the crowning emblem of niceness in these past couple weeks has been my own Mom. My house, my grades, my health, and my sanity would be in some serious trouble if it weren't for this one woman. She stayed with us for the first few nights that Madelyn was home, sacrificing her own sleep to help me get a little more. She cleaned our entire house while she was here (like, really cleaned). She helped me with laundry and groceries. She told me (and continues to tell me) that what Maddy is doing is completely normal, even though I've freaked out about it for whatever reason. She reminds me to take care of myself, and worries about me getting enough sleep and enough food, and about me getting over this nasty sickness I've had since before the baby came (ew). She's been more than willing to watch the baby while I do basically anything. In fact, she practically forced me to let her take Maddy to her house today so I could catch up on sleep and homework. So basically, she's a big part of the reason that I've slept, eaten, showered, and really just survived these past couple weeks. You're amazing, Momma. Will I ever reach your level of incredible Mommy-ness?

**Side note: I don't think my mom reads my blog, which is a bummer because now I'll have to find some other way to thank her, which will probably involve tears, since I'm a crybaby like that. Side note over**

Anyway, thank you, thank you, thank you to all these nice people, and to anyone else that I may not have mentioned specifically who has helped us, thought about helping us, or just thought about us. Unless your thought was that you don't like us. In that case, we don't like you either.

P.S. Madelyn is perfection. Come see her if you haven't yet. It will complete your life.