Wildlife

The location of our house offers us daily wildlife visits, for which we never tire of watching.  The common sightings include birds (of all sizes & varieties), squirrels, chipmunks, & deer.  Unfortunately, we also battle with neighbor cats using our yard as their hunting ground or litter box.  I'd really like to pop them in the behind with a BB pellet - not hurt them but scare them off - but apparently that's a felony.  Fiiiine, we won't resort to animal cruelty.  (Seriously though, I don't let my dog wander around the neighborhood to s**t in other people's yards or terrorize other critters, why the hell do you get away with it because you have an "outside" cat?)  I think we'll resort to a squirt gun & letting Guinness out to chase them anytime we see them.

On a more rare occasion, we're delighted with visits from more skittish creatures.  Yesterday evening, a small fox came cruising through our yard, looking for dinner.

 Mid-pounce!  Didn't appear to be a successful hunt, he (she?) didn't walk away with anything wriggling in his/her jaw.

Time flies when you're raising a kid

Somehow time flies by when you're raising a very busy baby.  Lilly is almost 7 months (wth?) - the picture above is from Easter, when she was 6 months.  She loves to interact, at the same time quietly observing.  Her brain is an incredible little sponge; it's amazing to see her watching us & then try to mimic.  She still loves daycare & is growing into a social little lady.  At 6 months, she was only in the 12th percentile for height, grew to the 50th percentile for weight, & a whopping 95th percentile for head circumference.  Kid has a huge noggin (all that brain matter).  Put her at one side of the room & in the blink of an eye, she's rolled across to the other side.  She desperately wants to crawl & I have no doubts that will be coming along soon.  Any day now, she will cut a tooth.  We've started pureed foods & so far, she loves most things.  Except peaches.  She continues to sleep fairly well (crossing fingers, toes, & eyes) & vocalizes as much as possible.

We love her.

Lessons from a first-time mom

 Two months in & I think we're figuring some things out. But I won't get too comfortable. We have this saying in Montana - ok, probably every state has this saying, except Hawaii - "if you want to see the weather change, just wait 5 minutes." I'm fairly certain that also applies to kiddos. "Just when you think you have it down & you're in a groove, just wait 5 minutes." Here are some things I've learned through this roller coaster:
1. It will take time to bond with your baby. And it is ok. It doesn't mean you don't love your baby and your heart won't jump into your throat when you're checking on baby for the fifteenth time in ten minutes while he/she is sleeping and you think they've stopped breathing.  You just brought a new human into this world and you have to get to know each other. It's like bringing home a complete stranger who doesn't speak your language & can only communicate by crying. That's not easy.
2. You will be judged.   It doesn't matter if it's the name of your child or how soon you choose to go back to work, someone at some point will make a comment that stings & makes you question your ability as a parent. And you need to remain strong in your belief that you're doing the right thing for you & your family.  When comments hurt, smile & nod & say "thank you, I'll take that into consideration" (while clenching your teeth & thinking "bite me") or "thanks for your concern, if you'd like to pay two months of our mortgage payments, I'll be happy to stay home longer with baby." If you have any doubts on the health of your child or how things are going, consult with your pediatrician. You and your pediatrician are teammates & they are a wealth of knowledge for caretaking of little ones. If you don't like your pediatrician, find one you can trust. Which brings me to my next point...
3. Find a pediatrician you like and trust. Not just the pediatrician but their office staff, too. Before you have the baby, interview several pediatricians. If they work with a group of pediatricians & share duties, make sure to interview their partnering peds. When I say you become teammates, you need to know, like & trust this doc A LOT.  Not only do they help guide you in the development of this little person, they will (hopefully) be a your child's healthcare provider for a looong time. You want someone that your kiddo will like & trust too.
4. You will be amazed at your ability to find a second wind.  Just when you think you can't get up in the middle of the night  again, your baby cries for you at 2 a.m., you jump up, rub the sleep out of your eyes, & commence taking care of this little creature. You may not jump up as quickly after the first two weeks, it's more of a stumble, but you have inner strength you never knew possible.
5. Your communication with you partner is  crucial.   Whether it's discussing who will take which feeding shift, asking if there is something that person needs free time to accomplish (working out, showering, cooking), or asking for help, you must must MUST have open lines of communication. If you don't have a live-in partner, this holds true for anyone helping you in the care of your child.
6. You will resent your baby & your new life. I KNOW, this sounds incredibly harsh but before you filet me, admit it's true. There will be times you will look at your screaming child, your eyes a vacant black hole of sleep deprivation, & (guiltily) wish you were back to your carefree childless days. And it is ok. You love your family but you don't always like them. Same holds true for your new addition. Understand these emotions are normal & it will pass. The only time to be concerned is if you become a risk to you or your baby...
7. Ask for help. These are in no particular order but this would be one of the most important. You may think you are the strongest, most sane person but this baby will test your limits and it may shake you to the core.  Your patience will run very very thin. You MUST be willing to ask your support person, whoever that may be, for help. In the very least, put your baby in their crib (with no blankets, toys, or anything dangerous) or on the floor (a baby can't roll off anything if they're on the floor, away from hazards of course) & walk away. Collect yourself, take a deep breath, & don't get your baby until you know it is safe.  If you & your partner are helping each other out, you may have days where you're trading baby back & forth every 30 minutes. That's ok.  If you see your partner struggling but you're in a good place, take over child duties & give that person a break.
8. "Things" will fall by the wayside. Give yourself a break on them. Cleaning, home improvement, yard work...  Babies take a lot of work & time. By the time you feed, change, console, & get them down for a (short) nap, it's time to start it all over again. And they do these silly things like go through growth spurts or get sick & just when you think you might have some free time, they need extra snuggling. Find your priorities - sleep, working out, laundry, manicures, cleaning - whatever those "things" are that you absolutely require to feel human & make time for them. The other stuff will happen again. Someday. In eighteen years when your child moves out.
9. Time does not move fast. But only in the beginning. Everyone says, "oh time moves so quick & before you know it, they're teenagers." Bullshit. The first month feels like it goes by soooo slowly. It's tough & you're not sure if you're ever going to get the hang of this child-rearing stuff. But suddenly, it's month two & your baby that was 7 pounds & fit snugly in your arms is almost 11 pounds & she's almost too long for your arms. Time begins to move a little quicker...
10. And you realize you are figuring out this parenting thing.  Your baby, YOUR baby, starts to smile & coo & babble. He or she spends less time sleeping or fussing and  now hangs out with you in the kitchen. They start sleeping a little longer at night. You watch as they notice their hands for the first time. Your heart soars as you see these milestones. And when you realize it won't be long before your baby is more independent, you hold them a little tighter as they fall asleep in your arms.

Bonus tip: Stay off social media of any sort. When you see someone post a status of "Hehe, finally fitting into my pre-pregnancy jeans two weeks post partum & my perfect baby just spit up a little on them. So cute!" & you're still in maternity leggings six weeks post partum & your baby hasn't napped all day & pooped on your sweatpants (that you're still wearing at 4 p.m.), you will cry. Then you will try on your pre-pregnancy pants & realize they still don't fit. Then you will cry again. Then you will eat wayyyy too much ice cream. Or cheese. Or both.

Stay off social media.

One month

I had plans to post this on November 2, which would be Butterbean's one month birthday.  But babies have a way of taking your plans & throwing them out the window (or spitting up on them or pooping on them or sleeping through them or crying through them).  With as busy as she's kept me, I'm perfect happy posting this two days late.  Close enough.

Our girl is growing quickly & keeping us on our toes.  We love her so very much - what an amazing addition to the family.  Despite the fact sleep deprivation is possibly causing us to act like we're drunk.  It explains a lot.  Seriously.

The dogs (mostly) love her.  Brewer takes a special interest in her.  I know they feel neglected because we're not spending nearly enough time loving on them but it's amazing to watch them check on her.  When she starts crying, however, Guinness disappears.

Her chicken neck.  Gets me, every time.  So cute!

 We get this look, a lot.  The quizzical look.

Butterbean, you enrich our lives every day.  We miss sleeping in & the spontaneity of our pre-children days but we wouldn't change anything.  We love watching you grow & learn.  As you begin to find your voice, giggling & babbling & squeaking, we grin like fools & snuggle you closer.  We love all your hilarious faces

Except this face.  Ouch.

Happy Birthday beautiful baby girl.

Welcome to the world, Lillian Marie

At 10:46 a.m. on Thursday, October 2, we welcomed a beautiful 6 lb. 15 oz. baby girl.  Lillian Marie came into the world via C-section after an exhaustive 30+ hour labor.

Despite some rough nights, we are so incredibly smitten.  Being new parents is exhausting (so.incredibly.exhausting) but we catch ourselves staring at her in awe, still unsure we created this little being.  

I wasn't sure if I should post a birth story but if anyone takes comfort in our experience, it's worth it.  Story to follow...

And so begins the home improvement fun!

As I mentioned, we bought a house!  We love love love it.  It's perfect for our growing family & a place we can call home for a long time.

So with a house, especially one built in 1983, there are plenty of updates we plan to work on (over time).  We are very lucky in the sense that all three previous owners didn't do too many anxiety-inducing updates.  We'd both rather a house that's fairly untouched, something well-built that we can update, as opposed to a house with a bunch of hack updates poorly done.  I think it's PTSD from our house in Sheridan & the shoddy "updates" all the previous owners attempted.  So while a lot of things are outdated in the house, at least the house was well taken care of previously.  (We are very blessed with the fact the most recent owners already updated the kitchen & we love love love it.  No need to update a kitchen - they are expensive).

Master Bedroom
We couldn't escape wallpaper.  It's a given - someone at some point is going to think it's a good idea to have wallpaper.  False.  Wallpaper should be banned.  We are incredibly luck with this house...only two walls in the entire house had wallpaper!

 Even pregnant women can pull wallpaper.  Brewer thought he was helping but he was really just supervising.

 Ta-da!  Wallpaper gone, new paint!  We also installed new carpet in the master bedroom & the other bedroom on the second floor (nursery).  And by we, I mean we bought carpet from Home Depot & they installed it (they were running a special for free installation with a minimum purchase).  The wallpaper pictures have the old carpet.
The right side of the picture shows a strip of green/brown paint - that's where our master bath starts (& that's a whole other mess of a project that's down the road).

 The blue came from the "mistake" section...$9 for a gallon of Behr primer + paint?  You betcha!  That stuff normally costs ~$30/gallon.

Eventually we'd like to have "big kid furniture" (notice our dressers are those plastic drawers you can find at any big box store) but one day (& expense) at a time.  We also want to eventually have sage-color bedding, we think that will really tie the room together.

Nursery
The nursery also received a few coats of new paint (thanks for your help, mom!).  A Lipetzky baby wouldn't be complete without a Red Sox blanket.  And that's not a giant green monster trying to eat the chair - that's the lovely maternity/nursing pillow that has an odd resemblance to the Loch Ness.

We surprised ourselves when we picked the bright purple.  But you only have a baby girl how many times?  It's good to have some fun.  Girl also has a walk-in closet - spoiled!  :)  You can see the old carpet still in the closet.  Both master bedroom & nursery have carpets in the closets & we'd like to eventually switch that out for a low-maintenance flooring, so to save money on the carpet install, we left the closets alone.

 Eventually I'll tackle the floor trim in the room (you can see I stripped the first coat of paint & underneath is even worse - a horrifically bright red).  I can't explain it but I have serious issues with mismatched trim.  It borders on obsession.  So some day, in all of my spare time, I will either strip it back down to natural wood or buy/install new trim (matching the rest of the trim in the house).

2nd Floor Bathroom
In addition to the master bath, we have a 3/4 bath on the 2nd floor (next to the nursery).  We noticed a small water leak from the toilet (causing the floor to bubble) & although we weren't planning on tearing into this bathroom so soon, it just became more clear to us it would be silly to replace the toilet if we planned to eventually re-do this bathroom.

I failed on the "before" pictures but you get the idea of what we had in the bathroom...  The toilet was an old-school, short & wide tan toilet while the shower has lovely brown/mauve tiles & gold fittings.  The vanity sink was a recent update, so we'll be able to reuse that piece.

 Steve was tired by the end of the day - he broke out a lot of concrete from that shower pan.  We plan to keep it a 3/4 bathroom with a corner shower but we'll put down an acrylic shower base with tile walls.  And frameless shower doors, which cut way down on water being trapped in little nooks.

And with those projects complete, we've taken a day or two to breathe & NOT do any home improvement.  Luckily we enjoy doing our own home improvements - it's incredibly satisfying to see a project start-to-finish (except for plumbing & electrical - we leave that for the professionals).  Next up - finishing this bathroom...

Due date...come & gone...

We sit and wait for Baby Lipetzky to make her arrival.  Well, not really sit & wait.  Since we just purchased & moved into a house (more on that to come later!), we're keeping ourselves very, very busy.  Although it's tough keeping anxiety at bay, the home improvement projects fill our days (& nights) with plenty of tasks.

We slacked off on taking pictures recently, although we blame that entirely on the move.  With that being said, we managed, between an afternoon of showers, to capture a few pictures at our new place.

If you look closely over my shoulder, we captured a rainbow.  :)

 Guinness decided to join me for this picture, which he promptly left as his brother, Brewer, was investigating something & Guinness just couldn't wait to check it out.

 In front of the new house!  Don't mind the garbages; we're keeping those readily available while we work our way through home improvement projects.

Due Date: September 27, 2014 (womp womp, we're now past due)
Gender: Girl
Weight Gain: ~30 lbs.
Food Cravings/Aversions:  Hilarious question.  By full-term, the strong food aversions & cravings are almost disappeared.  I do find myself craving more vegetarian & less meat; I'm not sure where it stems from but if I lived alone & only cooked for myself, I probably would not be eating meat about 90% of the time.  Except for chicken nuggets - sorry folks, nothing will stop my love for chicken nuggets.  Throughout this entire pregnancy, certain meals simply don't sound good - hamburgers, steak, etc.  However, since hubby & I share cooking duties (& the poor guy would be reduced to skin & bones), we continue to eat meat as we did pre-pregnancy.  I'll eat meat if it's served but I won't be the one ordering a 1/2 pound burger when we go out to eat.
Symptoms:  Oh Lord, the hormones have hit & they've hit hard.  I will chalk some of it up to the stress of the move but I didn't understand the emotional roller coaster a lot of women complain about until this last trimester.  Whether it's choosing a couch or how to organize a closet in the new place, I can be reduced to a puddle of tears in approximately 10 seconds flat.  I can't help it & immediately after the episode passes, I can't figure out what the hell is my problem.  It's as if a crazy woman possesses my body & mind.  My dear, dear husband wins "Most Amazingly Patient" & "Best Husband" for a lifetime (X 100).
Physically, the last trimester has also been the most difficult.  My hips/back ache like an elderly rheumatic, heartburn is a common middle-of-the-night wake-up call, my bladder holds approximately 1 oz of liquid (also inducing regular nighttime interruptions), & I can't bend at the waist (making it fun when I drop something on the floor).
Otherwise, life is a peach!  :)
Ring:  Still fits...barely...  I wear it to work, otherwise it comes off.  Anytime we're doing any sort of chore, the ring stays off.  It takes very little time for my fingers to swell a bit & then I can forget taking my ring off.
Running/Workouts: Still rocking it with the workouts!  I'm taking walks around our neighborhood & have set up a workout room in our basement to lift weights.  I actually prefer weight-lifting at this point; even walking leaves me in need of a bathroom & sore lower abs.  I have also enjoyed days off because the closer we get to due date, the more tired I am & the harder my body is working (yes, cooking dinner leaves me tired).  This past weekend, we found a good deal on Craigslist for a decent treadmill, so we pulled the trigger & brought her home.  With the pending change in schedule (& weather), we know a 'mill will help us maintain our sanity.  Between hubby & myself, we will most definitely get our money's worth out of the new toy.

Baby Bump in the Subalpine

Last weekend Chicky, the dogs and I went for a little hike up on MacDonald Pass west of Helena.  My beautiful bride makes such a gorgeous pregnant woman that I couldn't help but take a few bump pictures while we were there.  Here are a few of my favorites.  I even convinced her to try on my hat for a few pictures.

Recent happenings

Apparently we do have things going on in our life, besides preparing for baby.

Steve completed another ultra, the Devil's Backbone 50-miler.  I'm losing count how many 50-milers we're at...four? five? six?  He also ran 100K last year.  Let's blame it on pregnancy brain.
We met our good friends in Bozeman for the race - they're from Sheridan & we miss them since moving to Helena, so it was great to catch up.  The two crazies pre-race:

 (It's ok hubby, you can smile.  Or maybe you're thinking about another pre-race porta potty trip).

Ah-ha, there's the smile!  Post-race excitement.

 Nothing like an ultra through the mountains, followed by a refreshing IPA.

This race is known for being extremely tough & to make matters more exciting, it's essentially unsupported.  The runners are expected to have general navigation skills, in addition to packing their own water (or filter system) & food.  Steve finished in a very admirable 11:35 - good job honey!

Now that we live in Helena and within twenty minutes of several lakes (yay!), we've tried to take full advantage of the warm weather.  Here's what it looks like when we take four big dogs to the lake:

The last weekend of July, we zipped over to Missoula for their annual Celtic Festival.  With Enter the Haggis and Young Dubliners playing, we couldn't pass up the quick trip.

Guinness (appropriately named) enjoying the park after a dip in the river.

Enter the Haggis.

Just like a little kid, he quickly passed out after a busy afternoon.

Young Dubliners with special guest Eric Rigler (far left)

They put on a great show & the fact everything was free was awesome!  We got their early enough to score great seats (it's in a park, so BYO chair) & had a very fun time.

It's never to early to introduce baby to our love for all things Irish.  She certainly spent a good portion of the night dancing.  We don't know who's playing at the festival next year but we might have to bring her along.

Halfway!

As I write this post, we're at 22 weeks.  When we took the pictures, we were at 20 weeks - halfway!  Time crawled the first half but now that I'm showing (bigger everyday!) & we know the gender, time seems to be zipping by at a rapidly increasing rate...

Due Date: September 27, 2014
How Far Along: 20 weeks!  Halfway!
Symptoms:  Very little (knock on wood).  Some right upper rib pain wrapping around my back.  It's fairly common for pregnant women to experience rib pain, especially the more they grow, as their rib cages are stretching to make room for baby.  I think my right side is feeling it more because I'm right-hand dominant & my right side muscles are probably much stronger/tighter.  It's most noticeable when I'm sitting down on a couch or lying in bed.
Maternity Clothes:  Absolutely.  So damn comfortable.  The outfit from the picture above is not maternity but they're a few of the last strongholds that haven't been delegated to boxes.
Ring: Still fits!
Weight Gain: At our 20-week appointment, I'd gained approximately 14-15 lbs.  Not sure as of post date.
Cravings: Oranges, OJ, & chocolate milk.
Aversions: Meat.  The farther along, the lesser the aversion.
Running/Workouts:  Still feeling good on my runs & strength training sessions.  I stay very in-tune with my body anytime I'm working out & if I'm going to be longer than 45-minutes or so, I take water & food.  I ran a 12K trail race on May 11 & although my time was slow, I felt good & enjoyed the ride.  Early on, I purchased a maternity support belt for running purposes & after using it a few times, know it's going to be very handy in the near future.  I'm running (waddling?) a half-marathon in a few weeks & my training is on par.  By taking it easy & carefully, I hope to enjoy staying active as far into this pregnancy as possible.
Gender: (Drum roll...)

We're having a girl!!  We weren't set on a particular gender & would be happy either way - our biggest concern was knowing our baby is healthy.  Each person has an opinion on ultrasounds but we chose the modern healthcare route & selected the 20-week ultrasound (besides the ultrasound at 7 weeks, we won't have any other ultrasounds unless there are signs of complications).  I have to say, it was an absolute joy & thrill to watch as our tech checked the brain, heart, fingers, toes, arms, legs, spine...& all appeared to be developing very healthy.  When we first found out we were pregnant, I had a very strong feeling we were having a girl.  Call it motherly instinct or call it unbalanced hormones...