It's my party and I'll cry if want to....

Crying seems to be Mirabel's theme of late. We can't figure out why, but most of her waking time seems to be spent screaming. It has nothing to do with diapers, feeding, or temp as best we can tell. We're taking refuge in a factoid Dave's sister shared (crying peaks at 3-5 weeks) and that we are trying to figure out what we can do with her. Being near a warm body seems to help, but that impedes our ability to get anything else done!

Here's a link to some pictures I uploaded to Snapfish. I'm new at this, and blogspot doesn't allow mass photo uploading. You can use my Snapfish account to view(polkstina@hotmail.com for the username and seepics as the password).

**NOTE** Please only view the pictures, don't order anything as any information you put in will be viewable by everyone else. If you want the pictures, email me and I'll send them to you directly.

Happy Graduation to Me...

I finished up my MBA this semester, graduating on May 1. Although, I actually skipped graduation. May 1 was my official due date, and I didn't plan to attend the ceremony (thinking it wasn't good to plan on attending something where I'd either be VERY pregnant or else just have had a kid.) I borrowed a set of graduation gear from one of my classmates that graduated last semester just in case I was able to go, so I can at least have pictures. (Check out the weird hood- and funky sleeve hood thingies!) I ended up staying at home with Mirabel on graduation night, but I'm truly finished just the same!

My graduation gift to myself is to read the Harry Potter books. I haven't done so before now, and have wanted to the whole time I've been in school. However, I know myself well enough to know that my homework would have suffered, so I didn't allow myself to even start the books. So far, I've read the first three books in the past three days. Now I'm getting ready to start book 4, but I've had to put a bit of stop on it while I catch up on laundry. :)

Living Green Expo

We took our little earth baby to the Living Green Expo this weekend. It's a major event held annually at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds, conveniently within a couple miles of our house. There are exhibitors of different "green" products, including food, farmers, cloth diapers, cloth bag totes, energy, green building/remodeling and the list goes on. They also have some seminars, though we had to cut back on our normal sun-up to sun-down exposure due to Mirabel. She was a fussy monkey last night from 3-5am so we are home now and taking a little nap soon. We got a ton of cool free stuff and coupons and purchased a new style of cloth diaper and some eco-friendly cleaners. We'll see how well they work.

Well...off to bed!

Super Nana!

We are doing well at home- everything is topsy turvy and I don't think there is a room in the house that doesn't have some impact from Mirabel (except maybe our renter Eric's bedroom) but we're loving it. My mom (Nana) is kindly staying with us to help out, doing everything from cleaning, cooking, and laundry to holding Mirabel for three hours during the night when she is fussy but not hungry (allowing Dave and me some much needed sleep!) We've taken a couple of excursions to date, including a rummage sale (where we bought a bundle-me for $1.50- who would think you need one with an April baby? It SNOWED yesterday!) and a trip to check out Tirzah's wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses. (Any tips from nursing moms out there about how to order a dress now for a January wedding? I think I'll be down to regular size by then, but not sure about the bust measurements.)

Auntie Micaiah (a hairstylist) took a funny shot of Mirabel with a faux-hawk and in the outfit M purchased.

Mirabel has a sweet disposition, doesn't fuss much except when hungry or if she has a dirty diaper, does really well with being passed among a bunch of people, and is the cutest little thing (I know, all parents are biased.) We'll try to figure out how to link to an online photo gallery, but for now, I'll include a few of our favorite pics.

It's a girl!

We had a beautiful baby girl on April 22 (Earth Day!) and we've named her Mirabel Grace. Vital stats: 8 lbs 4.8 oz, 20 inches long, lots of black hair on her 14 inch circumference head, and a good set of lungs. She was a trooper through the whole labor and impressed the socks off the hospital staff- her heart rate never spiked and we never needed interventions. With the awesome support of David and my sister Micaiah, I was able to go through the whole labor and delivery without drugs. Mirabel is a pretty little girl who has done a great job of sleeping, eating, and creating dirty diapers thus far. We expect her skills will only increase with time, but for right now, we've decided she's definitely a keeper. :)

8 1/2 months

Here's the 8 month shot...this was the week of uncomfortable pregnancy. Now I'm back to "normal" which means I pretty much run around and do whatever I want. I took my first fall on Friday...trying to carry a paper box of stuff home in case I went into labor over the weekend and dragging my briefcase behind me. I stepped on an unlevel piece of sidewalk and fell down (fortunately not on my stomach, and hurting nothing but my pride). The gentleman who was there to witness it all was very nice and carried my box two blocks to the bus. I did aqua aerobics, finished my 1860s baby dress at the sewing bee, did some shopping and laundry, and got my very last homework stuff done- hooray! Now if I can just make it through at least a few more days at work I should be able to get everything done that I "need" to do- like the board reports- and this kid can come whenever it wants.

My sweet husband scrubbed the grout and resealed the tile throughout the house- he does a fantastic job of maintaining the place. He gets frustrated that it takes so much effort that doesn't really show, but when the house doesn't fall down around us, I think it's well worth it. :)

Pregnancy Laziness and Busy Beaver-ness

So I've found that there are some elements of pregnancy in which I've become extremely lazy...for example, makeup went out the window months ago (the extra 5 minutes is more worthwhile, plus who wants phthalates messing up the baby's reproductive system). Lately, I've decided it's just too much work to put in my one contact (yes, I only wear one) so I've been heading out the door in glasses each day.

Then again, I've been a little machine in getting things done- exercising 3-4 times per week, cleaning the basement and sorting office papers. No, it's not nesting- I think the baby could come and survive a cluttered basement. Dave has been asking me for a looong time to get these projects done and I'm trying to do it before baby, knowing the chances of it happening afterward are slim. I've also been working hard to get things up to speed at work before going on maternity leave. I've got 2-4 weeks left (although the baby could come anytime now). As long as I can make it through April 21, I think I'll have everything done at work that I "need" to get done.

Just three more nights of class (including tonight) before graduation. Everything is wrapping up...we'll see if that nesting instinct kicks in anytime soon.