Norah's on a boat

Norah's going on seven weeks now so we figured it's high time she get out on the lake. Translation: We needed to test the boat motor and didn't have a babysitter.

I'm still super nervous when we take her very far from home. Nervous because I'm the mom and it still feels like any outing could end in a screaming, tear-filled disaster that makes me never want to go anywhere again. In reality she's always been amazing whenever we've taken her anywhere--I'm just a little high anxiety. I've never been responsible for an infant.

Turns out she LOVES the boat. She was completely helpless against the calming powers of its noisy, bumpy ride. Maybe she's used to it because of how many times we tried boat rides to shake her out of me those last few weeks of pregnancy.

And if you're ever out on Utah Lake there's a little spot at the southwest end where all the pelicans go to hide. Just make sure that your propeller is up if you go in for a closer look. We may have hit bottom the first time we tried to get there.

Pelicans could be my very favorite type of bird. I saw them for the first time as a little girl in San Francisco and my dad recited this:

"A pelican, a pelican. The only bird whose bill can hold more than its belly can."

The fact that I now say this every time we see or hear mention of a pelican makes Nic want to stick sharp objects in his ears. He refuses to say it; he says it's too long and lame. Which means that it makes it even more fun for me to sing the pelican ditty as much as possible. My point being that last night on the lake was Norah's first pelican encounter and you'd better believe that she's going to learn how to drive her dad nuts by singing about them. It's gonna be two against one.




Oh and this last picture is my new favorite. There is nothing in this world that is more incredible than your husband holding your child. Nothing.

Someone discovered her angry voice

Being at home with an infant is unlike anything I've done before--obviously. I used to marvel at the moms who could never eat a meal while it was still warm. Couldn't they just put the baby down? How hard could it be to find time for yourself? It couldn't be that time consuming, could it? Silly, silly me.

This little girl runs the show. At first I was trying to fight it; trying to hold on to the old life where I did what I wanted exactly when I wanted. But as I let life slow down I'm starting to understand how important this time is. Sure, I haven't showered today. Yesterday was the first time I got dressed up in five weeks. I don't get to visit with friends like I used to. But I only have until September and then it will be back to work and I know I'm going to wish I had more time to spend at home with Norah on my lap all day long.

Here she is at four weeks. I cannot even describe the particular sort of joy that I get from those tiny crossed eyes.

Now she's five weeks and is discovering that she can be grumpy. Everything will be fine and then she'll remember that she can cry and will proceed to practice screaming to the best of her ability.

I always thought that I wouldn't have a problem letting my baby cry. Now I'm discovering the tugging on my heart that happens whenever Norah isn't happy. There have been times when I've been able to calm her and there have been times when I've had to set her down a walk away. Yesterday we discovered the magical powers of the vacuum cleaner, which has made today a lot easier.

Sometimes she just decides that her life is too hard and that everyone needs to know about it. Maybe she's just mad at her mom for taking photos instead of taking her seriously.

Yesterday was her blessing and she decided that she wanted to be antisocial. She must take after me when it comes to group settings. It was still a great day and I'll have more about it to come. But right now she's awake again meaning she must be held.

Sweet sixteen

The youngest of the Wilcoxes turned sixteen this weekend. How is that even possible? We're glad you had a fun day Lexi.

The best part for me? Not being pregnant. I swam and tubed and did it all in my own regular swimsuit (well, the larger-sized, more-coverage swimsuit I purchased in anticipation of lake days with a post-baby body). It seems like it's been an eternity since I felt this close to a normal person. Norah graciously slept the day away so I could have a little me time. She did, however, pay me back big time yesterday by being the grumpiest baby ever on her blessing day of all days. But getting a chance to play all day with the big people made the repercussions totally worth it.

Yes, I'm wearing a helmet. You would too if you knew how awesome it is to get whipped off the tube and slammed into the water without even feeling it in your head or ears.

Nic finally got to ride his new wakeboard. I, of course, forgot my camera though and didn't get any pictures.

Uh-mazing

We're getting ready for Norah's blessing and I just had to give a sneak peek of her dress because oh my goodness I couldn't even stand the cuteness. How amazing is this? Debbie (Nic's mom) really went above and beyond to make this for Norah's special day. Thank you thank you thank you Debbie--it's perfect! I cannot wait to see it on our little girl.

Any ideas for a fabulous way to display the dress after the blessing?

Getting out

This is the second year that Nic has participated in the Keep On Rollin' charity car show at Brighton. Last year he won the Diamond in the Rough award for his Coronet; this year he actually got to drive it up the canyon instead of towing it on a trailer, which is a huge deal to him. Norah and I came up on our own because we require much more Saturday nap time and need air conditioning in our vehicle.

Norah was a champ. She went to the car show and took a stroller ride around Silver Lake all without giving me any anxiety at all. She is seriously such a good baby.

Boat and Baby

Right now it's pretty much all Norah all the time for me, but Nic has also been hard at work on a different sort of baby for quite some time. Last fall we went in on a boat with my family and Nic has been dedicated to getting it ready for a summer on the lake.

It was kind of a mess when we got it and had to be completely torn apart.

Now it's looking much better.

And thanks to some babysitting from my mom, we got to take it out last week.

Nic got a new wakeboard for his birthday that we have yet to try out--luckily we'll have plenty of chances to go out this summer. I'm just excited to finally be able to get in on the action again; I've been having to sit out on all the fun for far too long.

And now for what ya'll really care about: Norah!

We had her two week appointment yesterday and she's now 8 pounds 13 ounces and 21 1/2 inches. She's on a pretty predictable "schedule" of waking to eat every three hours. If you can catch her while she's awake she likes to sit in her little chair-bouncer-thingy and stare at the red star until she's completely exhausted from the sheer effort it takes to keep her eyes open.

It's super weird to be home most of the time but we're having a good time. Thankfully I have my mom and Alexi around for when I have to get out. It does help a lot that she's pretty much the cutest thing that has ever existed.

Norah's birth day (also the longest post ever)

It's hard to know where to start...we became parents this week and are doing our best to adjust to this crazy new lifestyle. Everything is going awesome and we can't say thank you enough for all of the friends and family who have visited and helped us.

Norah was born Sunday, June 27, at 3:32 p.m. weighing in at a hefty 8 pounds 10 ounces. And while I may have said that I wanted a 15 pound baby, I think I lied. At one point during the delivery my doctor looked up and Nic and mouthed "That's a big baby." No wonder I was so uncomfortable all the time.

But she's so teeny tiny and delicate.

I woke up Sunday morning because I was feeling some pain, but I've never done this before and wasn't sure if it was contractions or not. By the time Nic found me in the basement I was pretty sure this was the real deal. He was not convinced and proceeded to watch TV in his underwear. I made him time my contractions and they clocked in about three minutes apart, but we still didn't leave for the hospital. I didn't even really know if we were timing the contractions right. Then the pain got really bad and I must have yelled at Nic because the text message he sent to everyone before we left said something like "The cursing has started, I guess this is really happening."

The car ride was pretty intense. I remember Nic playing "Showdown" by The Black Eyed Peas to try to get me to laugh. I don't think I did. All I could do was try to keep calm and when each contraction hit I had to turn around in my seat so I could bend over to better deal with the pain.

And for all you moms who have given birth without an epidural: How? How are you even still alive? I don't know how such a feat is physically possible. The only thing that kept me going was knowing that our destination was the hospital and that the hospital had an anesthesiologist. God bless that man.

The admitting nurse told me that I had to be dilated to a five to be admitted. Thankfully I was already at six and a half because had she turned me away I think I would have come unglued--and it would have been a shame to make Nic pick up those pieces.

But once the pain was controlled I was a happy woman. They kept checking on me for the next couple hours until it was go time. The only problem was that Norah had pooped herself in utero (she is Nic's child!) and they had to flush me out in hopes that she wouldn't inhale it. But again, she is Nic's and she did inhale the meconium so the first few minutes of her life were mostly silent and pretty tense. I got to meet her for a moment and then her and Nic went to the NICU.

Because of the whole poop deal she wasn't getting enough oxygen so she got poked and prodded and had to hang out under an oxygen hood. They also had to give her an IV in the top of her just-born head.

Originally we were told that we would have to stay in the hospital for at least three days, but just a couple hours later Norah was doing much better and got to come hang out with us for the first time.

I think Nic looks more tired than I did. He was a champ. He drove like a bat out of hell to get me to the hospital; got scolded by the nurses because I made him ask what was taking so long for the epidural; held my hand and helped coach me through delivery; was there for Norah in the NICU; took care of anything and everything while we were in the hospital; and completely supports me as we figure this parenting thing out together. What I'm saying is that he is basically the best man ever.

Dennis and Debbie came to the hospital right after the delivery but Norah was busy in the NICU. My family came later that night. Take a look at the brand new grandparents. They are going to have so much fun watching Norah for us.

Aww. Norah and her dad.

Holy crap, I'm a mom.

We had some great visitors and I got lots of rest and let the nurses change Norah as much as possible during our hospital stay. Best of all I got all the Lorna Doone cookies and Diet Coke that I wanted. Nic got a little (and when I say a little I mean a lot) cabin fever and was happy to pack up and head home.

The puppies were equally as happy to have me home. Poor little suckers had no idea what I was bringing with me.

I think this picture is cute, but I'm pretty sure this is her "I'm pooping" face.

Debbie thankfully came and gave us a lesson on bathing an infant. After two days and no bath Norah was getting a little crusty.

Oh, and Nic also had his 28th birthday. I'm sure he was secretly glad that he didn't get a lot of attention. We celebrated by shopping for a new wake board until Norah decided she was done and I made us go home. Already she's running the show completely.