Today I had to go back to the hospital for a few follow-up tests. Don't worry! I actually feel good -- they just want to make sure all those antibiotics actually killed off my infections.Anyway! Jamie was working from home today... so I left the baby with him.Gasp! I KNOW! I left the house on my own without the kid! And it was A.W.E.S.O.M.E.Now, don't get me wrong -- I adore little Ezra to pieces. Really! I am even sorta stunned myself at how much I love spending time with that little peanut. But as I was backing out of the driveway, and as I turned up the Nirvana song to near deafening levels, I had a huge smile on my face. Alone? In the car? With Nirvana and a gorgeous autumn day? BRING IT. And instead of going straight to the hospital, I figured a stop off at Starbucks for some pumpkin spice goodness would be an excellent idea. And then I sipped my coffee, blared my music and drove along curvy back roads only stopping to snap photos of beautiful fall foliage.You guys, drives like that? They are so good for the soul.You know what else is probably good for my soul? THIS COOKBOOK. Man-oh-man do I want that in my arsenal.

I remember back before I was knocked up (oh, doesn't that seem like ages ago?) that I would hear stories about new parents who had kids and their love for their dogs would wane. They of course still loved their furry family members, but the dogs/cats just fell a bit in ranking, and they would get fewer walks and not as much attention. And I have had friends who have volunteered at dog rescues or humane societies who have taken in many surrendered animals because of a new baby in the household. I even rescued a 6-year-old sheltie when I got out of college who was given away because she wasn't as good with the grandkids as her parents had hoped.So you can imagine how nervous I was about this baby coming home. I mean, we all know that I *adore* my animals... and I didn't want to become someone whose priorities shifted. These guys were my kids for years before I got knocked up, and I hoped that my love for them would not diminish.You guys? I had nothing to worry about. AT ALL.If anything, my heart swells even more for Magda and Merlin as I watch them welcome Ezra to the family and quietly approach him, offering sniffs or gentle kisses. Magda was terrified of infants before Ezra came home, and now she's happy to lick his ears and feet (and anywhere else where we might allow -- which isn't much). Sure, making time for the daily walks requires much more planning. But seriously, look at those eyes up there? I am still nutso for that crazy girl. Even if she did get into the trash twice today.Yup. Still madly in love with a trash digger. Who knew I had it in me? 

I'm back in the kitchen! Well... sort of. As you're about to find out, this is almost the easiest "recipe" ever (after the frozen grapes and the ice cream balls). But this week was Jamie's birthday, and I needed to do something special since he has been SO AMAZING taking care of the entire family while I healed up. But, um, as we've discussed before, I despise baking. So I opted for an ice cream cake instead, and holy moly was it FANTASTIC. I cannot suggest this recipe enough. So let's get started.First, here's what you'll need:• A bread pan lined with plastic wrap• Three pints of your favorite ice cream. I did 2 salty caramel and 1 maple nut (all from Izzy's, my favorite local ice cream). I almost think you could do 3 of the same flavor and just break it up in the middle with cookies, but I wanted to mix flavors.• Some Oreo cookies. I think this was about 2/3 of a "sleeve" of them• Whipped cream. Yes, you can totally make your own (which I normally love), but I wanted to make fancy designs on the cake so I wanted a spray can.So the first thing you do is figure out what "color" or flavor you want on the top of the cake, and you put that on the bottom of the pan. I ended up using 1.5 pints of Salted Caramel for this. 1 pint makes a super thin layer, so keep that in mind.Then I smoothed out the ice cream...Then I put the Oreos between to sheets of wax paper (I just folded the wax paper over it) and then I crushed them up. I used a shoe because as we've discussed before, it's an ode to my grandmother. But use what you like.Then you get so excited about the cake that you forget to take a few photos because you haven't done this in a while! Ha!But really, you next spread the crumbled Oreos over the salted caramel ice cream and then spread the maple nut ice cream on top of the Oreos (you can get the idea from the photo above).I then hid the bread pan in the freezer for a day. When I pulled it out, I waited about 5 minutes and then pulled the ice cream out using the edges of the plastic wrap and flipped it over onto the cake stand.Next, I made fancy schmancy whipped cream designs! And then I finally crumbled up more Oreos to sprinkle on top!Voila! That's it! I'm not giving you the calories because HELLO IT'S ICE CREAM CAKE. If you're on a diet, you shouldn't eat this. Actually, you should TOTALLY eat this. Just exercise 30 minutes longer that day :)

This week was great in that we left the house! A week of new adventures! But... little Ezra here managed to sleep through all of them. Apparently locking him into his car seat is the recipe for a four hour nap.He slept through many walks, his first trip to Target, his first trip to the Farmer's Market and his first trip out to lunch. But you know what? We'll take it! Because holy cow were those trips nice and easy on us! (Knocking on wood as I type...)That said, the kid here also had some fussy days as he adjusted to life with no medications in his milk since Mom is now medication free. But overall, he was still pretty great. Photos from the week are below! Enjoy!I was so excited to be leaving the house last Sunday that I had to document it. Even if I was leaving to attend Alby's memorial service.Seriously. This kid got a gift from TIFFANY'S. I've never gotten anything from Tiffany's! But it's an adorable piggy bank from his Aunt Kameran in Chicago. What a lady.Magda is soooo interested in these diapers. Don't worry. This is as close as she's gotten.These two are starting to really get along. It's fun to see.Jamie got to dress Ezra on Saturday. It was both a game day and Jamie's birthday. That hat will probably fit for only a few more hours.This is Ezra sleeping through lunch!And this is the *amazing* Korean BBQ pizza that we had for birthday lunch that Ezra missed out on!Obligatory birthday portrait.I told you he was fussy! I love crying baby photos, so I had to snap this one.And I also love this one of him making a face. Don't worry, he had just eaten (that's why his tongue is white).

Oh hi there!So... this post is gonna be a little, um, birthy. Wait! Come back! Don't leave! This is not about actual birth (whew!). I just wanted to tell you guys all about my amazing doulas.My what?My doulas.A doula is a woman you hire to help you during birth. I was a bit skeptical of this need, but my Man is, ah, shall we say, a touch queasy around blood and needles and hospitals, so I thought having an extra hand on deck might be worth it during my labor.Whooooo boy, was I right!And even if my Man was the embracer of all things medical and birth-like, I still would have wanted that doula there. Here's why I loved her and why I think if you are gonna have a baby, you should hire one of these rad ladies asap (btw, I'm not gettin' paid to write this. I'm just tellin' you like it is).First off, I hired someone who I adored. She was a former journalist (ding! ding!), a photographer (yay!) and she loves yoga (hooray!). Plus? She's just sortof a bad ass, and those are the kinds of ladies I like to have around in general, but especially during really life-evolving moments like child birth.But the main reason I would advocate for hiring a doula is that the, um, nurses? And hospital staff? They kinda check in with you here and there throughout labor, but no one is there with you all the time. And there are many, many times during labor where you wonder, "Is this normal? Is it supposed to feel like this? Is this a thing? CAN I GET MORE CRANBERRY JUICE?" And this doula? She's been to dozens and dozens and dozens of births and she can totally tell you what is normal and what is not. And she'll get you more cranberry juice.So how did she help? What did she do? Oh, let's see.She massaged my back during ALL SIXTY HOURS of my labor (maybe not consecutively, but she was there for the whole shebang). She brought me heating pads and ice packs for whatever my body needed at the moment. She brought me ice chips and snuck me food and told me when a nurse was telling me something that she had never ever heard before and that maybe I should push back.She helped me anticipate what the doctors would want next and she helped me ask the right questions. She turned off the lights and had a dance party with me in the labor room when we were trying to GET THAT BABY TO MOVE DOWN AND OUT OF THIS HERE BODY. She took notes on the birth so I wouldn't forget the details and she took photos -- wonderful photos (which you can see above and below).But the absolute most important thing she did for me was assure me that we had tried EVERYTHING before resorting to that c-section and that it was OK and I was not just giving up and this was what needed to happen. I really needed to hear that. I'm not a quitter and it was hard for me to surrender to surgery.And then, she calmed down my husband as I was wheeled off to surgery and she stayed in the OR with us, and she told us what to expect and what was happening and overall just calmed us the fuck down.Then! Then after the birth, she found the contact information for my favorite masseuse, reached out to her, and let us know she could come to the hospital to work on my back and neck the very next day. She sent us names for post-partum doulas (another magical creature who I'll get to next) and she sent us all sorts of resources for the upcoming weeks should we need them (lactation consultants, c-section counselors etc etc). She was ah-mazing.And let me be honest, I felt a little hoity-toity hiring her. But after that monster labor and delivery, I would say she is worth her weight in gold. My doula was Alisa Blackwood and she was awesome and I would suggest her over and over and over again. And while she was the perfect lady for moi, she might not be an exact fit for you. If you're gonna hire one of these wizards, you should find the doula that is right for you! There are many different women out there who offer all these same services -- I suggest interviewing a few and finding the right match.(All the b/w photos above were taken by the amazing and wonderful Alisa)Now, let's talk about my post-partum doula (who is pictured above).I had briefly considered this as a pure luxury before birth just because, meh, I can do my own laundry and make my own food and take care of the baby and the dogs etc etc etc because I am super woman and it will be just fine. (Ha! Hahahaha!)But then, after the c-section, I was speaking with my doctor about how, you know, I wouldn't be able to climb any stairs (laundry is two floors down from the bedroom), I wouldn't be able to drive (and pick up the MANY, MANY prescriptions I had coming in) and I couldn't lift anything larger than my baby (much less chase a Viszla around the house). And then there's the whole food issue since the kitchen is downstairs as well (I opted to maintain my residency on the top floor where I had the nursery, bedroom and bathroom). So once we considered these factors along with the fact that I only had 3 days left with Jamie at home before I would be on my own, we opted to hire a post-partum doula for a few afternoons.TOTALLY. WORTH. IT.I will also note that if I lived in the same town as my family, I suspect they could have jumped in for a bunch of this help. But since I have zero family here, this was the perfect solution.Here's what this amazing lady did for me in those afternoons:• Laundry. So much laundry.• Dishes and kitchen cleanup.• She took all the huge food dishes that friends had dropped off and broke them down into smaller tupperware containers so Jamie could take some to work and bringing me portions upstairs was way easier.• She walked the dogs WITH Ezra so that I could nap.• She talked to me about breastfeeding -- checking in to make sure all was good (she's also an expert at that).• She pulled out all the slings/baby carriers we had been gifted and showed me how they all worked and we figured out which ones were best for each circumstance.• She answered the door and signed for packages (which I would not have been able to do).• She played tug-of-war with Magda (a huge help since I couldn't do it).• She watched Ezra so I could take a long, steamy shower.• She picked up medications and other small errands.• She did not judge me for still being in my pajamas with bed head at 2 pm when she showed up.You can see, this was all a huge, huge help. My post-partum doula was Sarah Bach-Bergs and she was fantastic. But again! There are many fantastic ladies like this out there! Interview a few or research them and just keep them in mind. I promise, I know you think you can do this all on your own. It is so much better if you have help.Also? If you have a knocked up friend? Maybe a gift certificate to a post-partum doula would be nice. Trust me. IT WOULD BE NICE. 

Today was big. Today, I left the house with the baby BY MYSELF. Today, in fact, was the first time I've left the house without Jamie or my parents since September 13. So as you can tell, I finally feel like I'm on the mend. And? I'm finally off all of my prescription medications! This is a really big milestone, I tell you.And you guys? Jamie's birthday is coming up and this girl needed to run some Top Secret errands! Without the man! But luckily, I worked it out so that I could *walk* everywhere I needed to go so that I could a) get some much-needed exercise and b) get some much needed time outside in this glorious weather. I know I've said it before and I'll say it again: Living in a place where you can walk to get errands done is freaking awesome. Sigh. I love Minneapolis.And then! THEN! I returned home with Ezra from our errand and I had more energy left! So I grabbed the collie so he could get a little walk in. Doesn't he look happy? He loooooves that little baby brother of his, and he was pleased as punch to get out and about a bit today.And speaking of the boy... he's feeling a little bit better. Not a lot better, but we will take any and all improvements that we can get. There has been no more messes in the house (knock on wood) and his appetite is huge, so we're just happy with that right now. And as you can see, his spirits are a bit better as well. So thank you so, so much for all warm wishes you've been sending the dear boy! It seems to be working :)Also, I know I've been slacking on my internet shares of the day. I could spend 30 minutes trolling online to find one for you guys, but I think I'm gonna go nap instead. Forgive me! But I want to keep this healing thing going!

Oh man, today was kinda rough. Well, actually, it was last night that was rough.Ezra woke us up to feed, and about 40 minutes after that, Merlin began having serious, um, we'll call it "intestinal distress" in the bedroom. Rugs were taken outside, fans were turned on to circulate air, and then right as we were heading back to bed... Ezra needed feeding again. And then we got him settled in and... Merlin needed to go outside STAT. And then we came back in and ... Ezra needed changing... and feeding... and oh hey, he vomited all over me. And then? Then Merlin needed back outside immediately. Are you understanding the evening? Because you guys I am ZONKED.Luckily, through all that Jamie was able to get a *little bit* of sleep since he had a presentation with his company's CEO today. I made it through the day because Ezra is pretty dang easy, and sweet, sad Merlin got to spend most of the day outside while his intestines tried to work things out. Poor guy.We are hoping this is just a bug. Because that guy up there? In his condition if it's anything more serious, then we are going to have to start having large, tear-inducing discussions around our household. And a household lacking a collie is not one I think I'm ready to face just yet. But at the same time, I want this lover to die with the same grace that he showed throughout his life.So yeah. Today has been hard. We'll be taking samples to the vet tomorrow and seeing doctors later this week. Keep your fingers crossed for us.