photos

I have lots of thoughts I'd like to post, but I don't have lots of time. Even WITH my mom & and MIL visiting over the last few weeks. So in lieu of my usual cathartic brain dump, here are a few photos to enjoy...

my helpful big girl...
my adorable lil boy...

my annoying bandage...

after I took the thumbs up photo, I decided I really felt more thumbs down about it...



but I'm not really complaining. The surgery went well. Other than the fact that they somehow sprained my entire hand during the procedure, the pain is less than expected. I have to keep this same bandage on until 3/1. Um, yeah. So my hand just isn't as useful as it needs to be (diapers, dishes, etc). Thank goodness for loving, selfless grandmas!!!

can I ride it?

Last week Luci pensively asked if she could ride the balloon she got from Chick-fil-a. Like she knew the answer would be no. When we responded, sure, you can try (we wanted to see what her plan was) she promptly stood on the string of the balloon and really thought she was going to be hoisted into the air. She was VERY upset when nothing happened. Luckily, Dad came to the rescue and one of her little zoo monkeys was promptly lifted into the air after being secured to the string.

The phrase "can I" is heard about 100x a day lately - for example...can I...

go with you? Doesn't matter if we are going to the store, to shower, to Gus's room, to the backyard, to get the mail, with Dad to work...she wants to come along.

feed it? Dad got us a dozen roses for Valentines Day...well, 11 for me and 1 for Luci. And the flowers came with a packet of food. She asked what the packet was, and upon learning it was flower food she asked, "can I feed it?"

have some? Usually meaning some food or drink item.

wear it? Referring to a dress up outfit, a tutu, or new clothes for Valentine's Day from Grandma & Grandpa.

step on it? Usually on something she knows she isn't supposed to step on (toys, Gus blankets, etc).

play with it? Usually referring to an instrument she knows she can't play until Gus is awake.

and finally, in a bit of tmi...
touch it? Looking at Gus's little boy part during his bath or mama's milk makers (that's what we call them these days) during nursing sessions. I take these particular requests as a 'teaching moments' to talk about private parts...

my mother

more and more, i remind myself of my mom. and i adore my mom, so that must be a good thing then, right? i swore i'd never do this, but here i am...

i've started buying random stuff on sale & hoarding it in the closet. then i bring it out whenever i need (clay hates when i use that word in this context. but right now, it really does feel pretty close to a need) to. said 'surprise' is totally all about helping me get through the day. when we need something to mix it up, boom, there we go. i'm running on 3.5 hours of sleep...literally...i wish it was an exaggeration...and it is 6p. it has been a LONG.DAY. i'm almost there. my girl trina is coming over in 30 minutes to help out with bedtimes & keep me sane. so what do we do until then?

my sweet girl just opened her first ever box of 64 crayons (thank you kroger for $2.99)...the kind with the sharpener. and the inner office supply geek in me realizes i've been this way since childhood. there is just something AWESOME about opening a new box of 64 crayons. i opened it VERY carefully...i don't want a crinkly box top for the remainder of its life. er, i mean, luci doesn't want that ;) watching her pull 20 of them out at a time is giving me angst.

come to think of it, i bet that wouldn't bother my mother in the least. that part must be from my father...

ah, and it is 6:10 and she's all done coloring. that didn't work so well, uh.

it's not a tumor....

ugh...i have a benign tumor on the tip of my thumb!! i thought it was just a blood blister that wouldn't heal (for 10+ weeks). it bled all the time all over everything...so finally at my 6 week postpartum check up (all is well, btw) i asked dr. j about it (due to clay's prompting)...and she said, hmm, you need to see a hand doctor.

and per the hand doctor, nope...not a blood blister, turns out it is a pyogenic granuloma...it happens in up to 5% of pregnancies per this random website (so it must be true ;). so a week from tomorrow i'm having it surgically removed. FUN TIMES. i'm opting for 'twilight' anesthesia instead of the full blown or just the local (all three were options). full blown anesthesia really knocks me for a loop, but i'm a total wimp and hearing/seeing/smelling the coring of it (core it like an apple...to use the doctors words) and the cauterizing of it would probably make me throw up. so twilight it is.

the most annoying part (at least, pre-surgery most annoying)? i can't nurse gus for 24 hours after the anesthesia...so i'm pumping like it is my job to get enough milk stored up for him. more fun times. especially when i've been trying to regulate my supply a little better to his needs.

i'm sure the most annoying part after surgery will be the intense pain & the inability to use THE TIP OF MY THUMB!!!

and, in better, more fun news...my boy is smiling...amanda managed to get some proof for me!

to see more click here. thank you talented miss amanda. don't i have talented girlfriends? i'm such a lucky girl. even if i do have a tumor on my thumb!

family photo

the entire texan contingent of the pierse family decked out in their colts gear...courtesy of the indiana contingent...with the lovely addition of our home away from home family (the lawrences...minus one very important 4 year old)!

we are sorry for your loss grandma pierse...we supported the colts with all our hearts at a party FULL of saints fans just for you!! you can see that luci was pretty upset about the loss too...

PS - that is a 6/9 month onsie that lil booty is filling out!! 12lbs, 8oz at 6 weeks!

PPS - oh, and the faux pearls that go so well with my t-shirt? they remind me which side to start feeding on next...classy, no? ;)

time

is something I don't have much of lately. I'm giving myself 10 minutes to post...so if it isn't very eloquent please forgive! something that has been reaffirmed over & over again in the last five weeks is that the board room phase of my life was certainly much easier. so as a throw back...here goes an executive dashboard view of my life...everything you need to know in one place, readable in 10 minutes.

-my days are longer/more difficult than my nights now. i NEVER dreamed that would be the case. yes, the nights are sleepless, but the days, oh the days. two kids crying. feeling like neither one is getting 100% of what they need, wondering if i'm giving the right one the right attention at the moment...ugh.

-my house is even more of a disaster than usual.

-gus is now on prevacid...i hope it works. he loves the way it tastes (strawberry).

-luci is sick...fever of 100.4, CONSTANTLY runny nose, watery eyes...she's not seriously ill, but just a bad cold need a lot of snuggle time kind of sick. there is seriously snot EVERYWHERE.

-desired snuggle time is rough when there is a 5 week old who also needs attention, and to be kept away from his sick sister best as possible. dr. brooke says we don't want to walk the sick newborn path. this is impossible to explain to the sick 2 1/2 year old.

-trying to balance needs tonight, my baby largely cried himself to sleep at 5 weeks old. not more than 5 minutes at a time, but more than i wanted him to. i wanted to just rock him in the dark until he fell into sweet slumber. but his 2 1/2 year old sister needed some snuggle time & a nice book read. and she got it.

-we are interviewing care providers starting this weekend. finding potential providers has taken a lot of time. i'm looking for someone just for about 10 hours a week while i work. i was supposed to start back up on Monday (yeah right), but my awesome boss is giving me a few more weeks. i'm terrified that no matter how wonderful said care provider seems to be that my baby is going to be shaken. (he cries. a lot.) thinking about this keeps me awake at night. and not when i'm already awake tending to a child. the kind of extra painful awake you have when you know you need to be sleeping.

-my friend Amanda came over last night to help me out during bedtime and give me the adult interaction i am so missing. i love her for this, and for many other things.

-my friend Sara took AMAZING newborn photos of Gus. they are so amazing I don't want to share them until i pick one for his birth announcement. and all i need to get that done is a bit more TIME. until then, here is a sneak peak.


my 10 minutes are up. off to bed in hopes of some sweet slumber of my own.