Bath time: A study of expressions

Our Tater Tot is becoming quite the character! Not only are expressions becoming more varied and entertaining, but her little noises are too! Here's some pictures from tonight's bath time:

All clean!

Tatum's Fifth Week

Five Weeks!

My little elfkin is getting so big!  I'm way too tired to write much more as I've been packing and nursing and rocking and packing and jiggling a bouncer and packing and nursing and trying to remember to eat something and packing...you get the ides...so here's a few more pics since those speak louder than words anyways...

FINALLY caught a smile on camera! She does smile a lot...I just can never catch it!

Whatchu lookin' at?

Happy baby...for the moment...

This cardboard isn't too comfortable...

Love the Black & White book! And doesn't she look darling?

She's gotta represent Daddy's new job...

Our family friend Sally got to stop by for a visit and meet our Miss Tatum, and she brought hugs and kisses from Grandma Beth and Grandpa Palmer for our Tater Tot!

Kisses all the way from Groveland

love T's chubby chins!

So grateful she's taking the bottle!!!

That's all I've got for now...I'll leave you with a couple of our first child--the Roy Boy.  Today while packing Tatum's things that will be too big until next year, he thought he could use them as a substitute bed...

silly boy...

and I think he's beginning to take over the activity mat...I picked up Tatum and he army crawled his way in...

The Cliffs of Insanity

LOOK you see? The Cliffs of Insanity! Hurry UP! Move the thing! And hoist...that other thing!

If you don't know this quote I don't think I can count you as a friend any longer.  Okay, maybe I won't go that drastic, but you really should check out The Princess Bride.

Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles... its got it all.

But I digress.

The reason for this title is I feel the next two weeks will be akin to scaling the cliffs of insanity.  Matt has gotten a job at Mid-America Christian University in Oklahoma City.  We'll be able to live close to family (actually we'll be at my parents for a month or so), Matt's schedule will actually be normal so we can plan on things like a weekly Bible study or Friday date nights, cost of living is much more doable on one income, and if I wanted/needed to get a part time job I would have family who could watch Tatum, Matt will be able to get his MBA and I could even get another BA in Literature (my true love, though I don't regret my Communication major). All of this in Oklahoma City.

That's in Oklahoma, folks.

And we're pulling out of Seattle on Monday, September 19th.  That gives us two weeks to pack up, and about two weeks to drive the nearly 3,000 miles out there.

Inconceivable?

Nah.

It'll just take a miracle.

Tatum's Fourth Week

Here's our Tatums at four weeks old! I can't believe almost a month has gone by since she was born!  She had her well baby check-up yesterday and she's now 22 1/3 inches and 11lbs 4 oz! She's certainly growing!

Since she was cooperating during this photo session I decided to snap a few more pics...including one with her constant guardian, Roy.  I can't put her on the floor or anywhere without him creeping as close as he's allowed.

Last night I got Tatum to fall asleep in bed before us, and I got to actually sit in a chair and read for a bit.  Roy kept going in the bedroom to check on her and coming out and laying by me.  Then I transferred her to her bassinet (she usually sleeps in bed with us, right by my side...practically on me) and she miraculously stayed asleep! Only problem was Roy had not seen the transfer, and the next time he went to check on her she wasn't on the bed where he could see her.  He was a bit frantic and kept coming out and staring at me, running the bedroom, sniffing around, and coming back to stare at me.  I felt like asking, "What is it Lassie? Little Timmy fell down a well?" I finally took him in and lifted him up a bit  (not easy as he's 85 lbs) so he could see her in the bassinet...then all was well in the Palmer household.

Yesterday Matt and I took Tatum on her first hike on Tiger Mountain.  She slept the whole time in her Ergo baby, but we enjoyed the beautiful trees and lake!  Its the first hike I've been on in months and it felt so good to get back outside and on a trail!

And by the way, did you notice Tatum is part elf?

We've gotten to use our Baby Jogger stroller too, which is AWESOME, by the way!

The fully reclining feature plus a snuzzler make it a perfect napping place!

I finally got a few barrettes for Miss Tatum, too, as her hair is just out of control! I love it!

And since I'm usually the photographer, I got Matt to get a few pics of me and Miss Tatum so there's proof I was actually around during the first month of her life...  ;-)

And here's 2 short videos from our hike:

And here's the sound Tatum makes when in the ergo, or the swing, or the Moby...

Reprieve

I think God knows when we're at our limit and sends us a reprieve.

Yesterday was a long, hard, exhausting day.  When Matt got home at 8:45 I sprang at the chance to get out and go pick up some diapers (my 3 1/2 week old is already in size 2 diapers!), and Matt graciously said to take my time and he could handle her fussiness. I grabbed my keys and ran out the door--teeth unbrushed, face still unwashed, hair in a scraggly pony tail, spit up on both shoulders and pen marks on my boob from trying to finish thank you notes with Tatum on my shoulder (not sure how pen ended up there but it was a struggle).

After a stop to get a large diet coke and an order of curly fries, I got the diapers, some cute barrettes because Tatum's hair is getting out of control, and a six pack of Mirror Pond Pale Ale that was very much appreciated.  By the time I got home I was ready to hold my sweet baby girl again...even when she wasn't acting too sweet.

Last night, Tatum graciously slept from 2:45 until 7:30, letting me get a wonderful 5 hours of sleep! And today she took long naps in her car seat and stroller, and Matt and I got to go to church, Target, lunch at Panera Bread, a nice drive along Lake Washington, and a nice looooong walk in the glorious sunshine! And her awake times have been minimally fussy! Thank You Lord!

Ahhhh, days like this make days like yesterday sooooo worth it!

Growth Spurts

Last week Tatum must have gone through some major growth spurt because she had three modes:

Eating

Sleeping

Fussy

She was eating every 30 minutes to an hour during the day, and we're not giving her a bottle (with breast milk) until she's a month old so it was all Mama, baby.  Thankfully she was still sleeping well at night and I was getting 3-5 hours of sleep at a time which is just rapturous!  But the day times were a bit brutal.

It made me think about growth spurts that God takes us through.  We're hungry and just want more and more and more, and if we can't feel Him around we get rather fussy and complaining and vocal about it. Sometimes we're forced to grow and we're just not too happy about it.  We cry and want to be held all the way through it.  There's no spiritual binky to satisfy your soul.

And I'm wondering why God's deciding to coincide my spiritual growth spurt with Tatum's...it's rather exhausting...