England update

With Sue and Gord off this week, the time is going by much quicker now. Stace and Gord have been busy the last two days putting kitchen cabinets together for the Howards' kitchen makeover.
On Bank Holiday Monday, Stace, Cora and I went with Dean and Jenny to Weymouth, a beach town on the south coast. The weather wasn't too bad there - cold and windy but dry. (On Sunday, the rain didn't stop all day.) The town was packed as there was some sort of festival going on for the holiday weekend, and it was a great atmosphere. On Tuesday, Sue, Gord, Nan, Dean and the three of us went to visit Hawkchurch, a tiny tucked-away village where Nan grew up. We walked around the old farmhouse she grew up in and visited the village's church and pub. We then went down to Lyme Regis, a beautiful fishing town on the Dorset coast. Though dry, the weather was quite cold and very windy, so we didn't stay too long.
Cora continues to entertain us with her development. She is reaching for things more often and holding her head so well. She sometimes even keeps her head steady and level when I'm picking her up off the bed. Still not much luck getting her to take a bottle, sadly. Sue and I went to Mothercare yesterday, a big store like Babies R Us, and bought an expensive and funky-looking bottle that we'll try out later (http://www.breastflow.co.uk/). Cross your fingers, everyone, because Stace and I plan to leave her with Sue and Gord Friday night to spend the evening with Dean and Jenny, and it would be fantastic if Cora is pleasant and eats something while we're gone. Oh, and speaking of pleasant, that screeching cry we mentioned in an earlier post keeps rearing its not-so-pretty head. Since she started making the noise in England, I hope she leaves it here as well!
In other Cora news, we have had very bad luck using disposable diapers while we've been here, with her poop leaking out just about every day. We're washing her clothes so often, I'm wishing I had just brought along her cloth diapers, as it would have been easier and cheaper to wash them then buy throwaways AND wash her clothes all the time. I think my memory of changing her entire ruined outfit, with her on her travel changing mat on the floor of a dirty, tiny Glastonbury bathroom, my head right next to the filthy toilet, will be with me forever.

Village Life

Still enjoying our holiday... Here are shots of Nan with Cora in the cafe, Dad with Cora on her first visit to a pub (The George), and Mom and Cora at the Pinnacle, a Martock landmark. The weather has stayed decent, but the forecasters are calling for rain, cold and wind for Sunday and Monday, which figures as Monday is a big national holiday here.
We haven't been up to much, but it's been very relaxing and fun to show Cora off. On Thursday afternoon we made it up to Ham Hill, which offers beautiful views of the surrounding countryside and villages.
Cora is doing great. Wednesday and Thursday nights, she went to sleep easily at night and slept through to 7:30, so she's sleeping nearly as well as she does at home. She has been making great baby noises a lot more often, including a new screeching sound yesterday morning. She's happy to pass out smiles to all the new people she's meeting. Still not much progress getting her to take bottles again, though Sue has bought some new nipples we're trying out. Everyone has been impressed with how well she's holding her head up - with her neck strength, she's much easier to carry around, and I'm just about able to carry her with one arm for lengthy periods of time.

Meet the Howards...

...Wells-Burrs and just about everyone else.

We're in England! Cora is enjoying her first trip back to Daddy's homeland and hometown of Martock.
We were nervous about the long flight, but Cora did very well. We had a little leather bed that attached to the bulkhead wall in front of us, and she slept a good six hours, and only cried a tiny bit at the end of the flight. Waiting for us at the airport were Stace's mum and dad and brother Dean and sister-in-law Jenny. When we arrived in Martock, we went to Stacey's nan's house so Cora could meet her Nannie.


We've been fortunate to enjoy some lovely weather; yesterday (Tuesday) was absolutely beautiful and warm. Luckily, that was the day Stace played golf with his friend Andy. Usually when Stace returns and plays golf with Andy, the weather is decidedly unlovely. While Stace played golf, Cora and I spent the day with JT. We had a California-style lunch in the back garden to soak up the sun, and even got a little sunburned! We also walked into the village to see the Treasurer's House, a 1260 stone building managed by the National Trust.
Today we're off to have lunch with some more of Stace's friends, and tonight we'll watch the Liverpool-AC Milan football match.
Right now, the birds are singing, the cows are enjoying their lunch out Sue and Gord's back window, and all is well.

On Mother's Day

I had been eagerly awaiting my first Mother's Day. I think because I'm a full-time mom now, it meant a lot to me as I've reassessed how I see myself - I'm not the working-woman-newspaper-reporter person anymore. I am a wife, a friend, a daughter, sister, precious child of God - and a new one, Mom. And I'm enjoying this new role.
Alas, like many things we look forward to so much, this one didn't quite meet my expectations, as I spent Friday night through Sunday morning sick, much of the time in bed, and too much of the time, sick in the bathroom. On Saturday morning I felt like "death warmed over," as my dear grandma would have said (stomach problems, headache and a 102 degree fever), and Stace had to work. And there was this baby who needed me - needed to be changed, needed to be fed, needed to be loved. And so, with God's strength and a new-found mother's ability to put others' needs ahead of my own, I did all of those things the best that I could. She did spend a good hour-plus in her bouncer while I rested in bed. And we got through, and Stace came home and took over.

Thankfully, on Sunday afternoon I ended up feeling just well enough for the three of us to join my own family for dinner in Ventura. And Stace and Cora gave me a wonderful present, a homemade DVD with video and photos of me and Cora over these three months.

We're getting ready for our upcoming trip to England! Stace was last back in November, but it will be my first trip in just over a year, as I didn't go while I was pregnant. We have seats on the plane with a fold-down bassinet in front of us, so that should help make Cora (and us) more comfortable.

Cora has been using her hands more and more to hold onto and grab things. She also is quite the little kicker, and she is babbling more often. And, she is taking fewer - and shorter - naps, unfortunately for Mom. Not that Mom has any right to complain, as Cora sleeps 10 hours a night. On the negative side, she also has been fighting taking her milk from a bottle. She took to the bottle so well when we introduced it at three weeks, and we were good for a while about having Stace give her bottles, both for their bonding and for the sake of keeping her used to them. But it is a bit of a pain, because while she's eating, I'm pumping, to keep my milk supply up (and to supply milk for those bottles); it is obviously easier to just breastfeed her. So we got lazy about it, and now we're paying for it! We're determined to get her taking bottles again though, I want to be able to go out for a few hours without her!
(The photo is by my dad - he posts his photos of Cora at www.chriswahla.com)

No longer a newborn?

Cora is three months old today! She is about 11 pounds, 13 ounces and 23 inches long.
She is so alert, so much of the time. She has always been an alert baby, but now that she's awake more, it really shows. She seems to notice everything and follows things with her eyes and head.
She still loves her hands, and besides eating them, is practicing using them for other purposes. Yesterday she and I went to Starbucks in the morning (what else should a stay-at-home-mom do?) and she spit up enough to soak through the one burp cloth I had brought. (Bad mom! Should have known better, this kid can spit!) So I put several napkins under her chin. A few weeks ago, this would have worked just fine. But yesterday, she soon had both of her fists clenched around napkins. She likes to hold burp cloths and burp blankets, as well, and sometimes will bring them to her mouth.
She now has turned over from tummy to back several times while we've been doing tummy time.
And with her reaching three months old, Stace and I are having to suck it up and give up her bassinet. I know many parents don't like having their babies in their room, but we've really enjoyed it.
Last week we put her to bed each night in her crib, and it went very well. But we brought her back into our room for the last several nights.
She sleeps so well! She has been going down between 9:30 and 10, and I feed her around 8. She may awaken before 8, but she is happy and content, just looking around and apparently waiting for me to come and feed her. I am so, so blessed by her. The only thing is, and I'm not complaining!, I miss cuddling with her early inthe morning. When she was getting up about 6, I would feed her then in bed and we would go back to sleep together until a more reasonable hour. It was very sweet. Oh well...
As for these photos, I couldn't decide which one I liked better of her playing in her crib, so you, my dear readers, can enjoy them both. I think that in the top photo she looks like the Gerber baby. Granted, EVERY parent thinks their kid looks like the Gerber baby...
And the bottom photo is from one of our last nursing/cuddle sessions in Mommy and Daddy's bed.

Medieval Times

After chatting to Mum and Dad on the video phone Sunday morning, Lisa, Cora and I went to a Medieval Tournament 40 minutes north up the freeway.
It was fantastic.
The tournament was put on by the American Jousting Alliance who actually compete at this type of thing. I thought it was going to be a demonstration but it was an actual competition.
















The participants showed their skills at sword fighting, spear throwing, archery and hitting the rotationg shield thingy. All the riders were very skilled horsemen and the horses were magnificent.














At the end of the day's sport came the main event. Again I was imagining a gentle demo on jousting, but these blokes went for it. They really went for it!
Riders were dismounted and lances were snapped. No one got really hurt though, which was very surprising.



We all had a great afternoon, including Cora, who caught up on her sleep.

Award Winner

On Thursday Dad and I drove Mum to the Millenium Biltmore Hotel in downtown LA where she received a Regional Champion Award from the Southern California Association of Governments. She got the award for media and communications, for the reports she wrote for the people of the Antelope Valley to keep them informed about transportation, the economy and housing.

Here she is with her plaque.

Previous years winners have all been TV presenters from LA. This was the first year the award went to a local newspaper reporter.

I was nice and quiet until Mum had to get up and make a speech, then I decided I had to cry, so Dad had to take me out of the ballroom and watch and listen from the door.
I don't care though, that's my job.

Does it get any better?

Here is what Saturdays were made for...