Stitch vs. Naomi

Yesterday when I came home from the grocery store, I left Naomi in the kitchen while I finished bringing in all the groceries.  I came back inside to find her crying and Stitch responding.  I'm not sure if he's trying to console or compete with her, and even though it was kinda mean, I had to run up and grab the video camera instead of picking Naomi up right away =)

Delivery men are supposed to do what?

Today has been the day I've been waiting for. The day my treadmill came in.  Alright! I can finally work out and be the lean mean muscle machine I've always known I could be.  At noon the delivery man came to deliver the treadmill.  He took one look at me and goes, "who's going to help me?"  I responded, "what do you mean? You're the delivery company, I'm just waiting to sign for the package."  He glared at me and went back to the truck where my beloved treadmill was patiently waiting to be unloaded.  It took a lot of swearing, grunting, sweating and probably voodoo curses on me, but he finally got it off the truck.  The box was huge, we're talking about 10 Amy's could fit in there comfortably.  He did his job I suppose and delivered the treadmill....just not exactly to WHERE I wanted it to be...  boy oh boy I can't wait for Austin to get home!!

Monday's treat

Today the postman dropped off 3 mystery boxes on my doorstep..

I wasn't expecting anything, so I excitedly ripped them open, and found 3 boxes of clothes for Naomi!  My co-worker has two daughters that are 1 and 5 and sent us all their clothes.

I quickly set to work unpacking them...there was a ton of great stuff in there, Naomi's going to be one stylish chick....

but now we have a pile of clothes in our sitting room.  Resolution #1 during maternity leave - wash, fold and put Naomi's clothes away.

Going at it alone....for real this time

My mom left for Shanghai this morning.  Needless to say the 5am drive to Newark airport was a tearful one.  I don't think I've cried this hard since leaving my kindergarten days...ok well maybe since at least leaving for college.  She'll be back in October when I go back to work, so it's not like she'll be gone for a LONG time, but it really hit me that since Naomi was born, I've only been alone with her for 5 days.  And they weren't even consecutive ones!  Guess I'll have to buck up and become a real mom now.  What makes it harder though is that my mom, dad and brothers are all going to Singapore, without ME!!  They're going to attend one of my best friend's wedding....again...without ME.  Austin and I were thinking we would try and go, but ultimately decided a 24 hour trip with a 2mth old would be a little bit rough.  So instead, I'll have a ton of time with Naomi all to myself.  Although I'm worried, I know we'll make it through.  After all, how could spending time with this little peanut be hard....

Naomi started smiling at around 5 weeks, and since then I've desperately been trying to get good shots of her in the act.  These are a couple of attemps.  (ok I think Austin really took these, but same dif.)

Gym Boycott!!!

Having my mom here the past week has been great, I've been able to leave the house without Naomi and go to the gym to go running. I'll admit I hate running, but after over 10 months of being somewhat of a couch potato, it actually feels pretty good to exercise again. I'd rather play swim or play volleyball anyday, but running will have to do. Anyhow, I've been worrying about how I'll get out to the gym once my mom leaves this sunday. I could go when Austin gets back from work, or just wait til the weekend..or I could use the gym's babysitting service (which i've NEVER seen anyone use). But Austin and I decided to forgo the gym completely. I'm going to quit paying my $75 club membership (yes I paid $75/mth for the 10 months that I sat on my couch)....but rather than continuing to sit on the couch, we've decided to buy a treadmill!! I'm super excited and completely determined to NOT let this treadmill become a very expensive clothes hanger. We should get it in two weeks, here's a preview of our new purchase...
Yes, I am determined to be a lean mean running machine....ok, or at least lose the baby weight I gained thanks to my mini-me.

Little Miracles

Naomi turned 6 weeks old today. She's so much more alert these days, and her little smiles can melt my heart. It's crazy how time flies. Just 6 weeks ago my life was completely different, I could go out whenever I wanted, eat whenever I wanted, even shower and go to the bathroom whenever I felt like it. Now I have a little mini-me that dictates my schedule.
I'm finally starting to feel like a mom. Getting used to reading her cues for when she's really hungry, or just wants to suck on her hand or pacifier. Finally recognizing her cues for when she needs to go down for a nap, and how to soothe her when she's just being fussy.
The more I get to know my little girl, the more I realize how blessed I am. Childbirth and children in general truly are little miracles. I'm constantly mesmerized by how tiny her little bones are. That within her little chest is a tiny heart probably no bigger than a couple of inches at most.
This week has been pretty tough with bad news of loss and sadness from friends and family. When you think about it, there really are a million things that have to go right in order for a full term pregnancy to run it's course with no problems. How lucky am I that the worst of my problems was a little morning sickness for the first 3 months of pregnancy? So many times I've taken for granted how miraculous it is that in 9 months Naomi was able to grow and foster and develop into the tiny perfect little person that she is. I can hear her coo-ing in her crib right now, and in 5 minutes the little mini-me will become the dictator that she is, demanding her food and diaper change and attention. But all jokes aside, despite any fussiness, despite all the changes, the lack of freedom, sleep deprivation, raging hormones and crazy emotions, I thank God for the gift and miracle that he's given us in Naomi.

On another note, Naomi can't really fit her Newborn onesies anymore. Although I'm ecstatic she's growing well, it's a bit bittersweet to see her growing so fast.

meeting the wei's

Two weekends ago we went to Harvard, MA to atttend Austin's cousin's wedding. Naomi got to meet some of the extended family on the Wei side, including her great grandparents. Initially we were really nervous about travelling with Naomi since it was our first trip with her. But overall I think she did pretty well. The drive up took a little longer than normal since we had to make two stops to feed her and change her diaper. Austin had to make a makeshift changing table in the front seat of our car since Arby's doesn't have changing tables in their bathrooms. Go figure.

At the wedding, she slept through the entire ceremony and most of the dinner reception. I actually started to get a little worried cause she was going on her 5th hour of sleep during the wedding. (she needs to eat every 3 hours or so). It was pretty loud at the wedding, but as soon as it quieted down and the speeches started, sure enough our little boss decided to wake up and start crying. But Austin was quick enough to whip her up out of her seat and stuff a bottle in her mouth so she didn't have time to make too much noise. Overall though it was a pretty good weekend.

Naomi definitely made out like a bandit that weekend though with tons of gifts and hong bao's from all of Austin's relatives. She even received a handmade rocking horse which her great uncle made specially for her. Pictures to come later, but here are some pics from the weekend.

Family picture!

Naomi likes to wear shades like mommy and daddy

Great Grandpa and grandma Wei

4 generations of Wei

One of the rare moments Naomi was awake

Wei family