still here on the face of the earth

contrary to what may be presumed by the lack of posting, we have not fallen off the face of the earth.  apologies for the near-month of absence, but here i is, ready to update.

1.ransom had a rough month of getting used to life outside of the womb, but is on the mend.  he has some feeding trouble, which makes mom sad sometimes because he kind of doesn’t like to eat from her, however, in light of the fact that he is thriving and growing, she gets over it rather quickly.  he is just over ten pounds as of this morning, growing like a weed and looking cute as a button.  he also smiles a lot now, and sometimes almost giggles when we tickle him.  it’s precious.

one year down, adventures ahead!

 

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY US!

 

 

that’s right, one year ago today, darin robert damme took me to be his wife, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, ’til death do us part or Christ returns for his bride.

one year.  it’s weird to think about…  i’ve been a wife for a whole year.  woah.  and now i’m a mom.  bigger woah.  in one year of marriage, we have gained much in love, respect, hope, faith, trust, experience, and healing.  and we’ve gained another damme, too!  i think it’s safe to say that it has been a productive year!

milk-drunk face

milk. it's good stuff.

it’s fun to learn!

so, we’re a few days into this parenting thing, and all in all, not so bad.  we brought an eternal being into this world; regardless of any complaint against the hardships of parenting, the simple fact of his eternality is enough to qualify as a really unbeatable trump card.  awesome.

things we’re learning:

x. babies are really cool.  everything they do is fascinating (even colicky things–how in the world can they sustain that kind of wailing?  i mean, seriously, that takes a lot of energy!).

x. our baby is flat cute.  just look at him:

 

 

 

 

IT’S A BOY!

We present to you Ransom David Damme:

Born 11:59 pm, May 12, 2009

7 lbs. 3 oz., 21 inches

 

immediately post-partum… we ALL look rough

 

fall in love… we have.

 

our beloved son, much less fresh-from-the-womb-looking

 

more later…  lovelovelove.

bed rest might not be so bad after all

so, a few updates on one of my very few bed rest breaks (i get four-ish a day, about fifteen minutes at a time):

x. baby stuff is getting better.  my blood pressure is back to relatively normal for where i’m at in the pregnancy (134/70-something), but the edema (swelling) is still being monitored.  my legs and feet were beyond disturbing to see at my last prenatal, but since have had their moments of getting back to normal, especially on days when i stick to my bed rest.  i actually saw my ankles two days ago… it was like christmas.

x. our desktop computer came!  talk about christmas…!  we are so overwhelmed!  thanks coxes!

 

 

a good day to go saling

yard-saling, that is!

this morning, darin and i armed ourselves with some cash and resolve and headed out to a church sale and a neighborhood garage sale.  it has been some time since the last time we went a-saling, but i am happy to report, we are still quite good at it. : )

here is a picture of our weekend loot:

 

 

minus the massive jar of chocolate-covered dried cherries in the back on the left and some other random freebies, everything was the fruit of our day’s labor of saling away.  i included the cherries in the picture because i’m proud of the purchase; they regularly sell for $39.99 at harry and david, one of my favorite stores (though i pretty much can only afford to shop clearance there).  i got the biggest jar they have at half-off on clearance, then had a $10 off $20 preferred customer card to supplement the savings, leaving me with only having to pay 25% of the full price. 

shear heaven

last night, i got tired of saying “i need a haircut” to nobody that could do anything about it (because paying $14+ for someone to lop off a few strands is a huge waste of money to me and i most often refuse to do it, so my continual hair-complaints are really just pointless).

i haven’t cut my own hair since about two summers ago when it was a sweltering 105 degree kansas city day and i couldn’t take it anymore (great story, not a shabby cut, either), but i was more than willing to give it a go again.

all that said, here’s the head:

 

i have dinosaur feet…

so, in case you haven’t yet heard, i have pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) that showed up around two weeks ago and hasn’t taken its leave.  what this means on the practical:

1. i am puffy.  especially from mid-calf down to my toes, but also frequently in my face and hands.  yay edema.

2. baby is mostly fine; there is the reality that with high blood pressure (hypertension), less blood can get across the placenta to baby, but all that seems to equate to is a lower birth weight.  baby was measuring big before, so maybe this is an interesting way to balance that out…?

3. i’m on bed rest.  and i stink at it.  real bad. 

4 more weeks!

yep.  somewhere close to four weeks from tomorrow, we should have another damme in the family.  get excited!

i know i am!  i cannot wait to meet our kid in person!  how cool is that?

[and weird.  i mean, seriously.  a human being is going to come out of my body soon.  freak.  out.]

a few folks have asked me lately what we still need for when Baby gets here, so i figured i might as well tackle that on the blog since most of the baby shower goers for this weekend are coming here to access our registries.  maybe a short list will help pinpoint gifts for y’all a little better.  here goes:

1. we need a car seat.

2. recently realized that i am in utter lack of nursing stuff (sorry for the TMI, but it’s true).  nursing bra/conducive-to-nursing shirts or tanks, reusable nursing pads (not a big fan of the disposable stuff…), a nursing cover of some kind, etc.

3. simple baby clothing–onesies, snap shirts, leggings, snappy pj’s, etc. and some swaddling blankets.

4. a baby carrier–either a ring sling or a moby wrap would suit me just fine.  the sized hot-sling things haven’t worked for me yet in various trials, but if someone finds one that they think will fit, awesome.  i’m game.

5. money for diapering stuff.

so, there you have it.  minus the issue of not yet having a car seat, we could truly have this baby at any point and get by alright.  most everything else, in all reality, is a convenience item that we could improvise for and be okay (if mary did it with a manger and some clothing shreds, i bet we can find some decent alternatives this day and age, too).  we might get some nasty looks from people for using bread bags as diaper covers (thanks for the idea, amy dacyczyn!), but that wouldn’t be anything new for us, so no biggie.

anyhoo, the baby shower is this coming saturday.  i’m kind of excited about it.  in all honesty, it’s more thrilling for me that people my age get excited about babies than it is for me to receive gifts, but i’ll take whatever comes my way. : )

if you want to come to the shower and this is the first time you’re hearing about it, let me know and i’ll get you the details.

otherwise, i’m going to bed.  yes i am.  good night and God bless you.