I feel sorry for men

I really do.

My dh is a wonderful man, who loves his family dearly. He cherishes his children, plays with them, spends amazing amounts of time with them, and is basically just an all-around terrific dad.

And yet, in spite of all of that, it seems that God doesn't bless him, or other men, with that "babymoon" period.

You know what I'm talking about.

It's that phase, in spite of all the complications of the recovery process, in which a mom just drinks in every feature of her new baby.

How can they just not experience it?

Case in point--

me: Honey, isn't she the most beautiful baby you've ever seen?
dh: Yeah.
me: I'm serious! I mean, just LOOK at her!
dh: I know... she's a cute baby.
me: She's not just "cute" -- she's beautiful! Look at her eyes!
dh: um-hmmm.
me: They merit a whole lot more than just an "um-hmmm."
dh: [smiles sweetly] Yes, she has beautiful eyes.
me: [pause] Are you patronizing me?
dh: What?
me: Are you patronizing me? You didn't sound very sincere.
dh: Of course I mean it!
me: yeah, right....

[time passes]

me: Doesn't she just smell good?
dh: What???
me: Doesn't the smell of her just make you want to melt?
dh: um, no.
me: NO???
dh: You don't want me to lie, do you?
me: How can you not love the way she smells?
dh: I don't know... she's just a baby.
me: JUST a baby? I don't think you're trying hard enough. Here, smell her...
dh: No! I don't want to smell her!
me: Here (putting baby's head to dh's nose). Doesn't she smell heavenly?
dh: I can't smell a thing.
me: Oh COME ON!
dh: No, I'm serious.
me: She smells a lot like Kathryn did... with maybe a little bit of Thomas thrown in.
dh: How on earth do you remember that?
me: Don't you?
dh: No!
me: That's just so sad....

I'm being facetious, of course, but you get the point. I bet you've all had those same sorts of conversations with your own husbands!

My kids, at least, are enjoying the babymoon with me.

No joke. You would think that there might possibly be some jealousy issues, but there aren't. THEY sit around staring at her and telling me how beautiful/wonderful/perfect she is, and that they can't imagine a better baby.

God bless them!

Kimberly Hahn says several times in her book, Life Giving Love..., that the best gift I can give my children is siblings. I believe that is true (although I think "Loving their Daddy" ranks first). I am watching my kids love their new baby sister sacrificially and joyfully, being thrilled every moment over her presence in our lives. They "ooh and ahh" over her, making sure that all of her needs are taken care of (and many that I'm sure she never thought of!). They "call turns" over who gets to hold her next -- regardless of whether she is crying or not.

So as I type this with her snuggled against my chest, breathing in the delicious Pampers/diaper wipes/normal Grace smell and hearing her light snoring noises as she falls asleep on me, just know that I am in heaven...

Yeah, I could go for number 8.

Sorry...

...for the light blogging as of late. They say "real life trumps blogging life," and I must say this is true.

I have been battling a low-grade fever for many days now, which resulted in getting my little you-know-what trotted over to the ER this afternoon (much to my great dismay). After many tests, they could not tell me what I *do* have... only what I don't.

So, I wait until Tuesday when I can talk to my regular doctor, and see what is going on.

Please pray for me. This is the last week that I will have help, and I need to get back on my feet quickly. (no, I'm not going to purposely RUSH anything, but... well, you know what I mean).

For the record: although the ER trip was not "fun," my dh and I had the best time together. He is hysterically funny, and we were both laughing so hard, I'm sure the rest of the staff were wondering what the HECK was so funny in exam room 1!