The other week, we went downstairs to help Gran with hooking up her newest TV set (her old one gave out). She got a brand new, spanking HDTV set. Flat screen and all. DIgital features, etc. While Dave and his brother were putting it together, Dave and I marvelled how ironic it is that we’re the “tech geeks” in the family yet we’re the only ones who still don’t have a flat screen television set. We’ve discussed it many times, but I still stand by my reasoning that if it’s not broken, why fix it? This TV has lasted us almost as long as our relationship has lasted so far, and the picture is still good. Granted, it’s not as high tech and beautifully digitalized as today’s versions, but it works for us. It’s not wide screen, but it works. I don’t see how I can justify throwing away a perfectly workable television just to keep up with today’s times and the Joneses. It doesn’t make sense to me.

So, now poor Dave is vying for the day this television set breaks down. Heh.

I think Dave and I are finally getting the hang of having a newborn. We’re doing pretty well, even squeezing in daily chores and being on top of our recycling. I think we have a good routine going (as far as we can tell). Lily Bean has been sleeping most of the night with the exception of feedings, and I can’t complain since she’s only up long enough to get her fair share of boobie juice and then she’s right back asleep, even through a diaper changing and a burp. So during the night, I only have to stay up for about half an hour to get all that done, and then it’s back to bed.

During the day, she’s been so sweet she just lets us do what we need to, as long as we’re interacting with her and playing with her often (very often :P). She likes the sling so I just carry her around with me while I’m walking around the house. She likes being carried around the house so we can look around and I can show her things and point colors and objects out to her. Dave and I are currently going through a major cleaning rampage, just in time for my parents’ one-week visit in two weeks. He’s cleaning out both of the extra bedrooms’ closets (one of which has become Lily Bean’s room), so now things are all over the place. We’re finding things we didn’t even know we had, or forgot we had, like my hammock chair that my mom had gotten for me from Vietnam. We have about 5 old computers and about 15 old keyboards. I don’t know why we’ve been saving them, but there ya go. Dave gave me the green light to finally recycle them. It’s like a dream come true for me.

Is that sad? Haha.

One of the awesome “side effects” (so to speak) of having a baby is that we get my mother-in-law visiting almost everyday now, in order to see the baby. I adore this woman, and I’ve begun to really look forward to having her around so often. I’ve really come to see her as a mother to me after all these years. I’ve confided in her more than I’ve confided in many people, and I feel truly blessed that not only do I have a wonderful mother-in-law, but that my child has a wonderful grandmother to boot. She has been coming to spend some quality time with her latest grandchild (Lily Bean) and in the meantime giving us awesome advice and suggestions regarding dealing with a newborn. She makes me feel less anxious and emotional when she’s around — like I’m doing everything right and I don’t need to worry. She’s a saving grace. I’m so blessed to be so close to her.

Family is really important to me. It has been for quite a while because I know personally how important it is to have a stable root in a family. The future will bring many new surprises, and new un-surprises, from moving trucks to new homes to first steps to maybe getting a doctorate to decorating our own new home to getting a puppy to all of these great things. One thing I know for sure though, is that throughout it all, I’ll be with family. Family is important.

Since the pregnancy, I’ve noticed quite a lot of changes in myself. Not just physically but also emotionally and mentally. For one thing, I’m losing a lot of weight. I don’t know exactly how much weight, but I can tell whenever I look in the mirror. It’s like everyday I see a bit of the old “me” coming back. I’m hoping I don’t lose all of the pregnancy weight, seeing as how I was considerably underweight before getting pregnant. I would like to be somewhere around 110 lbs. I was under 100 lbs before I got pregnant. At the height (end) of the pregnancy, I weighed 135 lbs. That’s a pretty significant increase in weight, especially for me. What’s funny though, is that it appears it was mostly water retention and not fat. Almost within a week of giving birth, my face became slimmer, my thighs thinner, my stomach went down considerably, my ankles and feet stopped swelling up. I have a picture of myself on the day Lily Bean was born, and as Jenbug said, it looked like I was stung by a family of bees — I was so swollen and puffed up all over. It’s kinda hilarious. Must be saved for future walks down memory lane. Heh.

The one thing I’m looking forward to is being able to wear my engagement and wedding rings again. I haven’t been able to fit them in months. Everyday I try them on after my shower, and everyday they slide down deeper down my finger, but not quite enough yet for me to wear them. The time will come. I miss them. I almost feel naked without them on. Dave still has his on. He likes his wedding ring, especially for someone who does not wear any type of men’s jewelry at all.

Right now, three weeks after giving birth, my stomach is almost as flat as it was before, except not as toned (that will come later when I can finally get back to my yoga routine). Aside from the c-section scar and the bandage, as well as the little patches of stretch marks here and there on my sides, it’s almost as if you can’t tell I’ve ever gained any weight at all. I’m not bragging, honestly. I think it’s amazing what the human body can go through and come back from. It’s quite intriguing to see myself morphing so quickly, right in front of my very own eyes.

Next Friday is our next doctor’s appointment — Bean’s one-month check-up. I’m going to sneak onto the scale to see how much I weigh now. I’m guessing maybe 115 or 120? I have no idea. Weight has never been an issue for me. It shall be interesting.

I had something in mind to write about here, something substantial… but for the life of me I can’t seem to remember what it was. I think I still have left-over pregnancy brain. How odd. Anyway, yesterday was our first family get-together since Lily Bean was born. It was so good to see the whole family (on his side) in one spot again. It felt like we were back to our old routines again, except with a newborn baby. It’s nice being able to add her into the family like that. She was passed around from person to person, and she didn’t seem to mind it at all. She was sound asleep for the majority of our time there. Everyone adores her, of course (who wouldn’t, come on?! hee). We have a really nice, big, supportive family system here. Lily Bean is so lucky to be raised in an environment with lots of attentive cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. Everyone wants a piece of her. The more there are, the more love she will receive, so I’m not complaining.

We’ve gotten more baby items as gifts in the last month than I ever thought possible. When once presents to us included geeky things like Mac memory or laptop upgrades or odd knicknacks, now we receive onesies and diapers. Not that I’m complaining, but wow, how times change over a lifetime, huh? It’s amazing how we’ve survived all these years without her. I just chalk it up to Dave and I preparing ourselves for parenting her. We first had to love each other this much in order to use that love to create her. She is filled with love. She is nothing but love. She’s all love.

Husband moved his laptop back out into the living room, so that we can both be closer to Lily Bean during our laptop periods (he was in the computer room before), in between her naps. I really enjoy having him back out here because I was so lonely without him when he was in the room. We’re both laptop geeks. We’re now using the dining room table in the dining area in the living room as our little “office” table. We need a bigger house with a little more open space so that we can have an office in the open without having to use the dining room table. I’m sure it will come in handy as Lily Bean grows older and we have more meals as a “family unit” together. I’ve been watching so many real estate and decoration shows on HGTV (which has been driving poor Husband nuts), and I can’t get out of my head all these different ideas on how we’re going to decorate our new house when we decide to sell this one and buy another in a couple of years. I want one of those awesome vessel sinks, and hardwood floors, and a lovely curb appeal for the front yard. And a little garden in the back yard. It’s so wonderful, to dream of all these things. We’ll see what will happen when the time comes.

Today was our one-year wedding anniversary. How time flies when you’re having fun. The last year has been incredibly satisfying, with a successful pregnancy, and a successful birth of our firstborn child. We couldn’t have asked for a better first year of marriage, to tell you the truth. Everything went as planned. I feel like Dave and I are closer than ever before… creating a family together really does something special to a relationship, especially when it’s planned and wanted.

I am very happy with the choices I’ve made in life. I am even further happy that one of these choices is the man I married. We’ve been together for about 9 years now, with one year of marriage under our belt. It has been, for the most part, an extremely easy relationship. We hardly ever fight, and as the years go by, I am amazed at how easy it is to love him. It continues to be like cake walk. He is a good man, he is a compassionate man, and most of all, he is my best friend. I couldn’t have asked for a better partner in life.

There have been many changes in our relationship. We’ve gone from one stage to the next, and with each transition, it has been relatively smooth. I feel like everything I went through as a child is just a way of preparing me for everything good in my life now. I deserve this happiness. There is hardly anything to worry about, outside of the daily grind of work and bills and such. Heck, I don’t even have to worry about Orovo dieting or the way I dress or anything. When life is good, everything falls into place.