The Grand Return

Dear readers, who are not strangers although it has been some time, 


Perhaps not surprisingly, it has been exactly three weeks since we last spoke! 


To save myself a thousand words, I will give you a picture to illustrate what I have been doing.

I got out a homemade fudgsicle, and ...

You might say I have a new distraction now!  The little cowboy has been growing rapidly, thanks to his ravenous appetite.  He is three and a half weeks old now.  

Cozy after his bath in a towel from Auntie Jessie

Keeping up with my last-month-of-pregnancy tradition of taking a nap a day, I've been getting plenty of sleep - a lot more than I suppose I anticipated, based on all the grim sleepers' comments of, "You will be so tired!  Just wait."  Glad I didn't listen. I feel well-rested (most of the time!).

I absolutely love this sleep sack by Aiden + Anais,
a gift to the little cowboy from Grandma H!

Mr H was graciously given two weeks off work, and this eased us into life with a newborn.  He did all the cooking, cleaning, and chores for the first week, but I insisted on helping with at least light work in the second week.  It's hard for me to stay away.

We take walks about every day, and have visited the beach
a few times - just two blocks from our house - and got some
salt-water on Little Cowboy's toes :) 

I'm not supposed to be "exerting" myself too much yet, so I still take it slow.  Casual walks and some gentle yoga at home are the only exercises I have participated in yet, and that is actually very challenging for me as my body longs to be "exerted" much more than that!  

This little carrier makes trips to the market easy, and shields him from the sun 

I have ten "bonus" pounds still, but that's okay because according to the midwives, my body was storing up in anticipation of his nursing habit (and at the rate he eats, he'll take all ten pounds by years' end!).  I'm burning 400 - 500 calories a day just feeding him!  I'm not concerned about working it off - yet.  But I do look forward to saying good-bye to the extra baggage!  

This carrier, from Great Auntie Nee, makes life easy when we go for long walks

Now that Mr H is back to work, I spend my days feeding Little Cowboy, cuddling him, burping him, napping with him and, in between all of that, washing diapers, dishes, and clothes.  A lot of washing goes on!

Mr H is in charge of bath time!

When the little cowboy was seven days old, I was allowed back into the kitchen and made a simple dinner of borscht and biscuits.  Between Mr H and I, we continue to prepare nutritious, homemade meals for our family.  We have eaten out once, because Mr H was longing for a hamburger!  

Having an infant, a child, our own precious boy, is every inch the joy I hoped it would be.  But it is more than that.  

It is a thing beyond words.

Mrs H
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