Things I've learned

-There are as many child rearing philosophies as there are children. Do what works for you and screw everyone else's 'opinion'.

-Dark furniture + baby powder = WAYYYY too much dusting! Next child is getting light furniture!

-The little ruffles on disposable diapers? They are actually necessary. Make sure they are out or the poo may escape. Blech!

-Formula burps are smelly.

-It IS possible to forget to eat.

Even she loves Rasputin!

When we're in the vehicle and Kirra gets fussy what do we do? Throw on Boney M 'Rasputin', crank the volume and enjoy the 'silence'.

Is that better than singing 'Baby got back' to make your baby smile?

Moments in motherhood

Deciding between changing your daughter's poopy diaper now, or after you feed her. If you feed her first, she's happy and you try not to breathe through your nose. If you change her, she screams bloody murder the entire time leaving you with ringing in your ears.

Guess which one wins more often?

Such a good little munchkin!

Kirra had her first long overnight trip this past weekend, and she did soooo well! Dad was so proud of her :)

We drove down to Calgary, stayed with Daryn's brother and went to Isabelle's (Kirra's cousin) Dedication. Kirra slept all night, didn't fuss much during the service and was a happy girl at the restaurant afterwards.

And she slept both ways in the car. Way to go Kirra! *heart*

Things I missed while pregnant

Hot baths.

Hot baths.

Like nearly-scalding-your-skin, turn-you-into-a-lobster, hot-DAMN-does-that-feel-good hot.

Don't even get me started on the 6 week post-partum bath ban....

Smiles make it all worth while

I hated being pregnant. I know many people who enjoyed the experience and say they miss being pregnant, but not me. I was sick for 7 out of the 9 months, exhausted ALL THE TIME and by the end I was a huge uncomfortable blob that couldn't wait to be done with the whole process.

BUT

I knew it would be worth it in the end, that I would have my beautiful baby in my arms. And now I'm getting face-lighting smiles that just melt my frozen little heart and remind me why I did it once and why I'll do it again.

I mean, how can you look at this face and NOT feel better? I find it physically impossible to not smile when looking at my munchkin smiling

Hi, my name is...

Kirra is not going to think Kirra is her name. We hardly call her that, lol! She's going to think her name is 'Fussy' or 'Pants'. Or Munchkin, lol!

Fussy Pants!
Poopy Pants!
Munchkins!

Whatever we call her, she's darn cute *heart*

6 weeks

My little munchkin is six weeks old today. In some ways it seems like it was just yesterday she was born, and in others, like she's been here forever.

Aw crap

Insomnia. It sucks at the best of times. When you're already over-tired from caring for a newborn, it's downright shit-tastic. You lie there, hoping for sleep, which of course does not oblige. Then you see the time and realize that the baby has been sleeping for two hours and will likely be up in the next hour. Probably 10 minutes after you finally manage to fall asleep.

Awesome.

O.M.G.

So when I got pregnant back in April I joined some internet forums on parenting and pregnancy. I figured it was a good way to tap into the collective knowledge of the masses. Not that they're always right, but it can be interesting to see what other people worry about. Makes you feel less crazy when you're worried about standing in front of the microwave while your lunch heats up.

Anyways, on one of those forums, one woman posted about her 6 week post-partum check-up. Where she found out she was pregnant. WTF? Seriously? You've already done that ? It boggles my mind that if that were me I would have two kids by the time I go back to work next January. Two kids under one year? No spanx you!

Well, it's official

I'm a mom.

My kid peed on me.

Introductions

Guess I should introduce myself, eh?

My name is Danica, first-time mom, long-time nut. I grew up in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Oil Sand Capital; a place that is infamous now a days for its 'dirty oil'. the oil sands might be the reason I chose to go into the environmental field. That, or spending time at my grandparents farm. Or perhaps something else entirely. Whatever the reason, I always knew I wanted to do something related to the environment. After getting a B.Sc. and an M.Sc., I landed a job as an environmental consultant. Right now I'm on mat leave and not working, but in a year I'll be back at the office, dealing with government folk and getting permits.

My husband, Daryn, is an electrician. He's earned many brownie points with my parents doing electrical jobs for them. They use to joke that I should date a plumber next. Guess they're stuck with the electrician!

Our daughter, Kirra, was born in December 2009. It's been quite an adjustment, but I think we're doing not too bad. She's a pretty good sleeper and I can usually get 3-4 hour chunks of sleep at night. Daryn's been awesome, helping out with night shifts as well.

We also have two furballs: a kitty named Meowsie and an Alaskan husky named Roli. The cat loves to play fetch with twist-ties and the dog loves to chase the remote controlled car.

So that's us.

What have I gotten myself into?

Suddenly I'm responsible for another human being. And a tiny, helpless one at that. Crazy! Honestly, who makes these decisions? Who decided we would make good parents? And what were they smoking the day they chose us?

Whatever the reason, I'm glad it happened. My little Kirra is adorable, if frustrating at times. Guess that's parenthood!