As many of us know, you take a minute where you can get it when you have a newborn! I got 2 posts written and 5 pictures edited the other day while Reece napped in the car seat. The next day, I got pictures imported and started sorting a little bit while he was in the Moby wrap, leaving me hands-free, for the most part. When this was written last week, the boy was actually napping in his crib! This was the first time he'd slept more than about 20 minutes in there since the first week we were home!
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And, of course, when you actually get this hands-free time, you're at a loss as to what to do with it. Should I eat first? No, I can eat one-handed; I've gotten pretty good at it. But, I should prepare the food, because sometimes that's hard to do one-handed. I should definitely go to the bathroom. A shower would be nice. Oh, I should start some laundry. I don't want to take a cold shower, so I'll just do that later. I should do the dishes. No, Eric can do that when he gets home. Ugh. I've left the dishes for him every day for the last week; I'll do the dishes. I should edit pictures....and on and on it goes. You get the picture.
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Because Reece was born on a Thursday, Eric ended up having only one full week off, and there was a lot to do in that time. He got to work early Monday morning on insurance stuff because we had paid in cash for the hospital stay, and he was eager to get our reimbursement. He was also pretty busy with grading and preparing lessons for school. With the older kids in school, I'd had visions of how calm and peaceful our days would be, how much we would get done, and how much quality time we would all spend together, but one's dreams rarely turn out in reality. The days flew by and with Eric leaving in the early afternoon to pick up the kids and meet with students every day, we really didn't seem to get much accomplished at all.
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On Tuesday, we spent the day taking Reece's passport pictures and preparing the documents for our trip to the embassy. (If you are needing to take infant passport pictures at home, this link was really helpful for us!) As it turned out, the trip and interview would actually be pretty easy, but we didn't know that at the time. We were pretty stressed figuring out some of the documents we needed, though I thought I'd done everything I could to prepare beforehand.
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On Wednesday, we took our first trip out of the house since returning home from the hospital. It was refreshing to get outside, and it was surprising just how much it had cooled off in the past week. I had still been sweating when going for a walk the week before Reece was born! We walked down our hill to get Reece's passport pictures printed and then went to a local coffee shop where we sat and had a cup of coffee and continued the debate on whether or not to stay in Korea for another year. Reece did great and only started crying as we walked up to the apartment.
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On Thursday, Eric was able to go with Cade on his field trip in the morning, since he happened to be on leave. They just went to the park near our house to explore the fall leaves, and Eric loved hanging out with Cade and the other boys in his class and observing their friendships. Reece and I were on our own for most of the day.
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Friday, we had to venture back to the hospital for a postpartum checkup for me and Reece's one week doctor's appointment. Unfortunately, the appointments overlapped, so I wasn't able to actually see the doctor with Reece, as I was waiting for my own appointment. The bonus was that I missed his shots, though I was stressed the entire time because I hadn't brought a bottle for him (he hadn't had one yet), and I wouldn't be there to nurse if he was really upset. Eric said he barely let out a cry. He still had a little jaundice in his face, but he either was much better than the other two in this regard, or his doctor is much more relaxed about it (seems unlikely in Korea!). He hadn't quite returned to his birth weight yet, but the doctor didn't seem too concerned about it, and he doesn't have to return until December. In this regard, Reece has been much easier compared to Cade and Kennedy who both struggled to nurse and had to have supplement bottles for the first several weeks of life.
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That afternoon, while Eric was at school, I did Reece's first round of newborn pictures, which explains the tape on his heel...I was afraid I'd wake him if I removed it!
Because Reece was born on a Thursday, Eric ended up having only one full week off, and there was a lot to do in that time. He got to work early Monday morning on insurance stuff because we had paid in cash for the hospital stay, and he was eager to get our reimbursement. He was also pretty busy with grading and preparing lessons for school. With the older kids in school, I'd had visions of how calm and peaceful our days would be, how much we would get done, and how much quality time we would all spend together, but one's dreams rarely turn out in reality. The days flew by and with Eric leaving in the early afternoon to pick up the kids and meet with students every day, we really didn't seem to get much accomplished at all.
On Tuesday, we spent the day taking Reece's passport pictures and preparing the documents for our trip to the embassy. (If you are needing to take infant passport pictures at home, this link was really helpful for us!) As it turned out, the trip and interview would actually be pretty easy, but we didn't know that at the time. We were pretty stressed figuring out some of the documents we needed, though I thought I'd done everything I could to prepare beforehand.
On Wednesday, we took our first trip out of the house since returning home from the hospital. It was refreshing to get outside, and it was surprising just how much it had cooled off in the past week. I had still been sweating when going for a walk the week before Reece was born! We walked down our hill to get Reece's passport pictures printed and then went to a local coffee shop where we sat and had a cup of coffee and continued the debate on whether or not to stay in Korea for another year. Reece did great and only started crying as we walked up to the apartment.
On Thursday, Eric was able to go with Cade on his field trip in the morning, since he happened to be on leave. They just went to the park near our house to explore the fall leaves, and Eric loved hanging out with Cade and the other boys in his class and observing their friendships. Reece and I were on our own for most of the day.
Friday, we had to venture back to the hospital for a postpartum checkup for me and Reece's one week doctor's appointment. Unfortunately, the appointments overlapped, so I wasn't able to actually see the doctor with Reece, as I was waiting for my own appointment. The bonus was that I missed his shots, though I was stressed the entire time because I hadn't brought a bottle for him (he hadn't had one yet), and I wouldn't be there to nurse if he was really upset. Eric said he barely let out a cry. He still had a little jaundice in his face, but he either was much better than the other two in this regard, or his doctor is much more relaxed about it (seems unlikely in Korea!). He hadn't quite returned to his birth weight yet, but the doctor didn't seem too concerned about it, and he doesn't have to return until December. In this regard, Reece has been much easier compared to Cade and Kennedy who both struggled to nurse and had to have supplement bottles for the first several weeks of life.
That afternoon, while Eric was at school, I did Reece's first round of newborn pictures, which explains the tape on his heel...I was afraid I'd wake him if I removed it!
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