Pilgrims at Oak Ridge

Megan tagged me for a wardrobe meme, listing my 5 "can't live without" pieces in my wardrobe. These days I'm in an very in between sort of clothing stage - I'm small enough that the maternity stuff is not wearable - (or I refuse to wear it anymore) but still bigger than I used to be so my pre-pregnancy stuff, for the most part, doesn't fit yet. (But I did go on my third post-pregnancy run today, so we're working on that....) So here they are: 1. These skirts . I got two similar ones last year, from Target, but a few weeks ago I got two more from Old Navy. I love them. I wear them most days. This time of year I'm not a fan of pants, and skirts look so nice. I love that they are super comfortable, but still look nice. I can wear them to work with a nice shirt, or around the house with a sweatshirt. And only $15!! 2. Good running shoes. When I started running consistently, I went to a running store and got fitted for running shoes. They taped me running, ...

....With his proud papa.

Sadly, I forgot my camera and so all the photos from our trip are on my mom's camera. We had a great time - Judah really is a great baby and did so well in the car. He mostly just slept, until the very end of the trip home yesterday, when he decided he was done being in the car seat. I always forget how beautiful it is in middle Tennessee - everything was blooming and green. The town my mom grew up in is in the middle of tobacco country, and there are farms everywhere with these beautiful red barns surrounded by cows and dark green fields, hollows with creeks flowing through them. I love my family - everyone was so excited to meet Judah. I guess I knew they would want to meet him, but I was very touched by their excitement. Of course, they all have also been praying for us throughout much of our ordeal. We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful, loving family. Jeff and I will probably visit again in June, so it will be great to see them all again in just a few months. It was a...

Well, its just me here, me and the dog that is. Aubrey and Judah are away on their first road trip together. They are in Tennessee, accompanying Aubrey's mom to a conference, and visiting some extended family. They will be back either tomorrow or Wednesday, depending how things go. So. In the mean time, its just Jeff and the dog. We are missing that little boy quite a bit. At least when we're not sleeping in a delightfully quiet house for long stretches of time. But when we are awake, we are definitely missing him. The absence of Judah also means there are no new pics to post today for his adoring fan base. So I am picking two of my past favorites that haven't made it to the blog. This first one is so close to being a great shot. But if you look closely, you can see that his face is slightly out of focus. This second photo would be a pretty mundane shot, except for one cute little surprise near the bottom which totally makes my day!

Lucy was worried that she hasn't been fairly represented in pictures on the blog lately, and she would like to let you know that she is still here, and doing well. She sniffs Judah from time to time, and occasionally licks him. He doesn't seem to mind.

He has impressive eyebrows. This is his serious face. He usually only makes this face when he needs to poop. Jeff says he gets this furrowed brow from me. He smiles in his sleep. I love it. He's got great hands.

Yesterday was a momentous day - at least for me. I took Judah to the grocery store. By myself. For the most part, until now, I've been nervous about taking him places, mostly because I worry about what happens if he starts to bawl, or how I'll manage everything. But I was feeling adventurous, so I decided to go. I used my moby wrap that I finally got in the mail yesterday. I put it on before leaving the house, and then just stuck him in it once I got to the store. It worked great - he slept the entire time. And my hands were free and I didn't have to cart around his car seat. I have a feeling I'm going to get a lot of use out of it. After we got home and he ate, I actually cooked dinner. Sometime I haven't done since before he was born. It was great. I made salmon and asparagus and then baked these chocolate cakes - which are delicious. It was a nice night - it felt like things were getting to what our normal is going to be from now on. I like the new normal.

So you want to know what it feels like to be an intern? Have a newborn. Seriously. Intern year, I was on call every fourth night. Which felt very frequent. That meant that every fourth night, my sleep would be interrupted by the less-than-pleasant sound of my pager going off. Of having the experience of laying in bed, trying to sleep, but wondering when I'd hear that sound again. Of not being able to think clearly during the day because I was chronically sleep deprived. Now, I'm on call every night. My sleep is interrupted by the sound of newborn cries and poopy diapers. I get in bed and then hold my breath, hoping that the little sigh he is making won't turn into a scream. I don't think clearly - as evidenced by my posting of the same photo twice. And not realizing it. The only difference is that waking up to feed my baby is a joy - for the most part. Waking up to go to the ER in the middle of the night is not nearly as enjoyable. And I get to be on call with my husb...

Before Judah was born, I made a promise to myself that this blog wouldn't turn into a blog where I only post pictures of my kid and how much he weighs or what milestones he is hitting. What I didn't know is that: 1. I don't go anywhere. At least not really. So pretty much all I do is feed him and eat. And take a daily walk. Yesterday I cleaned the bathroom and did some laundry. So there isn't much exciting going on. Except finding out how much he weighed. 2. Since I'm not working right now (which is wonderful) I don't really have any patient/medical stories to tell. Although I did go sit in on a c-section after his doctor visit on wednesday - one of my more special patients had her c-section and she really wanted me there. Thankfully, it was possible for me to go - and I got to see her sweet baby girl. It was a little bit weird being back in that room. But I realized I have a whole new empathy for my patients now that I've actually gone through a c-section. ...

My dad has finally followed through on a long standing threat to start a blog, and it already looks quite promising! It is called Formed By Grace , and will showcase the fruit of his now 38 years in full time ministry. It will focus specifically the last ten years of studying and meditating on the doctrine of grace and how the entire Christian life is shaped by it. I've been looking forward to reading these thoughts for a long time.

Judah is two weeks old now. He's still an eating champ, and sleeps fairly well, too, although last night he decided he wanted to do a little more staying up than usual. We had his first doctor's visit yesterday. He already weighs 8 pounds, 14 ounces - which encouraged me since it's just hard to tell with nursing how much he's getting. I knew he was getting fatter - his little chicken legs are slowly filling out - but it's nice to have an actual number to prove he's getting enough. His head was in the 95%. (Something else he gets from his mama.) He definitely likes the bath. and his swing. And his mama.

I think maybe my favorite time of day with Judah is when he's up in the middle of the night. I figured it would be hard to want to feed him then. But I love the quietness of the house, how still everything is when I nurse him at night. He makes the sweetest faces when he is excited about getting his midnight snack. (Honestly, the faces he makes when he is starting to eat at every feed are probably my favorite faces that he makes. He just looks so happy. My second favorite is when he smiles in his sleep.) It surprises me that I usually wake up before him when it's time for him to eat. I didn't know that my body would tell me when it's time. I've always been a very deep sleeper, but now just about 3 or 3.5 hours after his last feed, I suddenly wake, and hear him make his breathing noises as he starts to wake. He is usually still sleeping, but starting to stir and smack his lips together. He usually falls asleep while he's eating, and then I change him, and he wake...

1. I've been amazed at exactly how much laundry such a small body can generate. Last night we had to change his clothes three times because he either wet or pooped past his diaper. 2. Judah seems to be a fairly happy baby. He does occasionally have some fussy times, but mostly he is fairly content. Right now, he's just swinging in his swing, looking around and enjoying the motion. 3. We're going to try to go to church tomorrow. Jeff is definitely going (thankfully he doesn't have to preach this week), and Judah and I will hopefully make it, too. We may end up spending the entire time in the nursery if he's fussy, but I'm ok with that. Everyone at church is antsy to meet him, and it will be nice to get out of the house for a little while. 4. My mom left on Thursday - she was such a huge help. Our house hasn't been this clean in a long time. 5. It's nice fitting into all my shoes again. I'm thankful finally to be swelling-free. Well...I think that...

We named him Judah, which means praise. And I've been thinking a lot about his name, and thankful that I've had that reminder that we praise God for him, and we want to keep praising God through good times and bad. The day he was born might be both the best and worse day of my life. My water broke Tuesday at 3:30 pm. And it was meconium-stained. (This can often be a sign of distress in the baby.) Unfortunately, I wasn't really dilated and so I knew immediately there would be no laboring at home, no showers or walking the halls, and that I would almost definitely need pitocin. After your water breaks, you have about 24 hours or so before you need to get the baby out. After that, the risk of infection goes way up, both for mom and for baby. I had started having some contractions, but they weren't very bad. I wanted to wait to start pitocin until I knew for sure I wasn't going to change with my own contractions. We ended up starting pitocin around 8pm or so. I was doin...

Wakey Judah

1. My kid doesn't like to be dirty. If he is the least bit dirty he will scream his head off and refuse to eat. 2. My mom is awesome. 3. Baby poo gets everywhere. But I never knew I'd rejoice so much to see a dirty diaper. 4. Nursing a baby is maybe the most wonderful thing I've ever done. 5. I love my baby's soft head. And sweet feet. And skinny little legs. And how he'll open his eyes up and just look at me. 6. My husband is a wonderful daddy.

We came home today, and Judah seems to be adjusting well. I love being a mom. There are lots of things I'd like to write about, but for now I'll just leave a few more photos. He just keeps getting cuter....

For all those who have been looking for news... we have news! It's a boy!!!!!! Judah Anthony Tell was born last night at 6:15 PM. He's a healthy baby boy with light brown hair and bright blue eyes. He was 8 pounds, 4 ounces, and 22 inches long. Both Judah and Aubrey (and Jeff) are doing well. "She bore a son and said, 'This time I will praise the Lord .' Therefore she called his name Judah. " Genesis 29:35