Hanging with Claire

Delilah and I were in Dallas this weekend to host a baby shower and hang out with some friends. Our first stop was in McKinney to visit my college roommate, Jessica, and her darling family. Jessica's daughter, Claire, is 4 months older than Delilah and we had so much fun watching them play together. Thanks for everything, sweet Green Family...love you!!!

Aren't we cute?

I'll wash your back if you wash mine
Doesn't it look like Claire's about to kiss Lila? Adorable.
Love this poseDelilah, climbing in to things as usual
Hope we see you again very soon, Greens!!!

A Tad Bit Irritated

It's 10pm, Chris is out of town, I've had a glass of red wine, and I just watched a TiVo'd episode of Oprah. (Admit it, you're hooked, aren't you?)
The episode was on The Real Truth of Motherhood that No One Ever Talks About. Of course, this piques my interest, and I'm excited to watch. By the middle, I'm disgusted, and by the end, I'm hopeful (which is pretty par for the Oprah course, right?).

Why was I disgusted? Well, b/c I'm a little sick of the whole, "Nobody tells you how hard and awful motherhood really is". Here are some quotes from the show and my internal reactions:

I feel fat and ugly and like my boobs only exist for the production of milk and then my husband gives me 'that look' and I can't believe it--doesn't he know how tired I am? I can identify with that statement. But can we please focus on the fact that you feel fat and ugly and yet your husband WANTS SEX. WITH YOU.

I don't do arts and crafts. I don't do pipecleaners. I don't do cottonballs and paint. *Studio Audience laughs knowingly. That's great and all, but you know who does do arts and crafts and pipecleaners? YOUR KID. So get some cottonballs and watch your child's face light up when he makes a caterpillar.

I would trade my husband for a housekeeper. That's ridiculous and it is trite, untrue statements like this that diminish all the hard, truthful statements that some women have the courage to make.

And, my personal favorite, or unfavorite, depending on how you look at it:
I thought that any kids I had would just seamlessly flow into my life and I would go on being my fabulous self with the same life I had before, just with kids. Really? Really?!?! Then you are just delusional. How can you NOT know that having children will forever change your life as you know it? That is just ridiculous.

And the saddest one:
I look at my children and think, 'What did I do to my life?'. Ouch. Your poor children.

I don't have a problem with women being honest about the problems motherhood poses. It is not an easy road, and I have definitely done my share of complaining. I do have a problem with the new trend of bemoaning motherhood, and having that be 'cool' and 'honest'. Just this past weekend I had a friend comment on how refreshing it was to see me enjoy Delilah so much. How sad is that? And the point there is definitely not to say, "ooh, look at me, I love my child so much" (because we all love our children)...the point is to say that enjoying your child shouldn't be refreshing!!!

Motherhood is a gift and I have too many friends struggling with infertility to sit and not be affected by a show like this.

But I must end this post with the reason that I had hope at the end. One of the last comments was one that echoed something I've been feeling for awhile:
All of these apparent battles between 'working moms' vs. 'stay at home moms' and 'mothers whose kids sleep through the night at 8 weeks' vs.' mothers whose kids don't sleep through the night until they're two', etc.--they are not really battles or competions between the mothers. They are internal battles inside each woman. The woman whose child sleeps at 8 weeks asks other moms when their child slept b/c she wants to know that she's doing a good job, not b/c she wants to brag about when her child slept.

We all just want validation for doing the most important job in the world, the best way we know how. I don't think making motherhood the punchline for wry, cynical jokes is the best way to attain that validation.

Okay, dismounting soapbox now. Goodnight everyone.

Adventures in Baton Rouge

This past weekend all of Team Huntley drove to Baton Rouge to visit our godfriends and goddaughter, The Hauschilds. It was quite the trip b/c Delilah was getting over her double ear infection, I came down with a sinus infection, and Runyon is only about 75% potty-trained. Plus, Chris had to leave for a work trip in the middle, so I was kind of a single mom for about 4 days. I say 'kind of' b/c Kurt and Joie were the best wives ever to me. :) They helped out a ton with Delilah and me, the sicko. They also ran Operation: Rescue Runyon (see below).

We had a WONDERFUL time, but a baby and a puppy never need to sleep in the same room together. Never. Ever. Why? Because they don't sleep. They wake each other up every couple hours, which means mom is up the whole night.

Avari and Delilah taking a bath together. SO CUTE!
Let's Play!

And here's Operation: Rescue Runyon. Runyon got out through a hole in their fence and decided to go visit the nearby construction site/ditch. Joie took charge, told me to stay with the girls and she went to rescue the puppy. Kurt was at the store and when he got back he heard Joie calling out for help. She had successfully crossed the ditch and rescued Runyon, but had lost her shoes in the mud, and was stuck on the other side. I realized Joie had been gone awhile, so I gathered the girls and found Kurt rescuing Joie who had rescued Runyon.

Here's Joie triumphant after her daring rescue!!! This picture doesn't even begin to do justice to how caked in mud both Joie and Runyon were.
Thanks Hauschilds!!! You guys are the best friends ever!!!!!!

11 Months Old!

I started this post on the 21st, and it's now the 24th. Why the delay? Because Delilah's been very sick so I haven't had the inclination to blog. I believe it's only the second time she's really been sick since she was born, and I'm quite thankful for that. But it also means we're both a little out of practice on how to handle it. :)

Other than being sick, here are some Lila updates: she's about 21 pounds and is starting to show some preferences for certain foods, instead of just eating whatever's put in front of her. She's taken a few more solo steps, but I still wouldn't say she's 'walking.' She says mama and dada and a version of hi. She also raises her arms above her head when you say "Soooo Big" or "Touchdown!", which is pretty cute. Her favorite sign is still 'milk', but she also likes 'more', 'all done', and 'hi'. She'd probably know more if I signed as regularly as I should. :)

Loves her toy shopping cart and the tupperware cabinet is quite the hit. She'll sit and play drums with Chris forever. Runyon is growing on her, but only in small doses. Runyon and Delilah would each rather play with the other's toys instead of their own. Can't believe she's almost a year old!!!

You can see that she's quite sick. :(

Didn't want to put her through the normal monthly photo shoot, so the above shots are all I took. Feel better, Lila Bear!

Alone? Sort Of..

Just a couple quick thoughts that I want to remember down the road...
Yesterday, Chris left work early so that I could have some time alone. I pulled out of the driveway and tried to figure out why I had tears in my eyes--then I realized that I could literally count on one hand the number of times I've been alone for more than an hour since Delilah was born almost a year ago. I still don't know if the tears were happy or sad.
I went to the fabric store to buy some yarn for a gift I'm knitting; I went to Borders to have coffee and read a book for an hour or two; I went to the gym, worked out and sat in the steam room. I was gone for 4 hours and came home so very refreshed. I also realized that during my "alone time", I: bought a pattern at the fabric store to sew something for Delilah, bought a book at Borders for Lila, and looked into toddler programs at the gym for Lila. And it hit me for the first time that I will never really be alone again.
I'm okay with that.

Just Some Funny/Cute/Random Pics

These are just a few shots snapped in and around the house this week. No big message. :)
First, I was so happy we had a cold snap in Austin, b/c Delilah could wear the hoodie/sweater I knitted for her. It's the second thing I've ever knitted and it took me FOREVER. :)

Here's Runyon sucking on one of Delilah's pacifiers...she loves them!!
Delilah doing a little reading
Runyon on my lap on the porch
Sunset meltdown on the back porch
And happy sunset on Daddy's shoulders

Big Week!

I thought simultaneously taking care of a 7-week-old puppy and a 10-month-old baby was going to be enough excitement for this week, but I was definitely mistaken. First, on Sunday, Delilah said her first word and I have to admit that I was beyond thrilled that her first word was 'Mama'!!! She's said it forever, but never meant me when she said it...she was just making sounds or repeating me...now she says it when she wants me or when she sees me. Love it!
Then, yesterday, she took her first solo steps! What a big girl we have on our hands now. Which was another thing about this week...it really hit me that I don't have a baby anymore, but a little girl. That would probably make me a lot sadder than it does, if it weren't for the fact that she's just so fun to play with. Love you, Lila Bear!