2 Weeks, and Stuff.

After 2 weeks of motherhood, I find that I'm amazed by everything these days. Maybe it's the lack of sleep, but I am just astounded by every little thing. Like, the number of diapers we are going through. It's crazy! More than 80 diapers in just 11 days. Don't ask me about the wipes, though, because I just have no idea.

Ok, in all seriousness, being a mother is truly amazing. The joys and frustrations that I have experienced in the past two weeks are unlike anything I've experienced before. And the craziest thing is, the joys and frustrations are almost always two sides of the same coin. Nursing, for example, can be wonderful. It is a great joy to watch her nurse contentedly, when the process is working as it should. But when it isn't, then we both usually end up frustrated and soaked in milk. And it is a joy to watch her sleep, and a joy to play with her when she's awake. But it's frustrating when she sleeps too long (maily because I worry about whether I should wake her to eat or not) and really frustrating when she won't go to sleep in the middle of the night or when I'm trying to help fix dinner. So, everything is all wrapped up together, the joys and frustrations inseparably twined. It's crazy and it's wonderful and I love it.

As far as updates go, here is the scoop: we are both doing exceptionally well. The doctor took my stitches out on Thursday--I'm healing up nicely. It still hurts a little bit if I cough or sneeze, but otherwise I feel pretty much back to normal. I'm still taking it easy, though. I'm not lifting anything heavier than Elora in her car seat, and I'm resting often. Also, I'm already back to my pre-pregnancy weight, which is awesome. (Now I just need to re coop my pre-pregnancy shape, and I'll be good to go. But don't worry, I won't try to start any exercise regime until the doctor gives me the all clear.) Brandon is still wonderful. I've taken to calling him "super dad" because, well, that's what he is. It's obvious that he's just as in love with our daughter and amazed by parenthood as I am. I find myself falling more and more in love with him. It's crazy to think now that before I'd feared that Elora's birth would affect our relationship in a negative way. We're closer than ever, and I still couldn't be happier.

Brandon and I have been wading through all the paper work associated with having a new baby since before we were discharged from the hospital. We've made 3 separate trips, now, to Panzer, trying to get everything taken care of. We finally got her enrolled in Tricare (our insurance) today, and that was the big one for me. Now, I can call tomorrow (they told me I had to wait until then) and make the appointment for her first well-baby check up. Hopefully they will be able to get us in during the recommended window for her first check up. (I'll be sending out the next update after this appointment, whenever it ends up being.) Everything else really is just paperwork, and so long as it gets done, I'm not stressing over it. I have better things to do. :)

I haven't been doing anything crafty since Elora's arrival, mainly because I've been sleeping, or at least stretched out reading, during my down time. But I have been taking pictures, and today, I finally sucked it up and bought the full version of Photoshop Elements. I spent way longer playing with it than I should have this evening, but I couldn't help it. First I was just touching up all my photos with the quick edit feature, and then I decided to try and play more with the digital scrapping thing... I found this website with a lot of free digi papers and alphabets and such, which was great. I used 2 of the papers I downloaded from them to make the page I have up top. It's still really basic, but I'm learning. I'll have to play some more tomorrow...