Clothing Optional

We celebrated Henry's 4th week on the planet but letting him be naked. He started taking big, boy baths this week and he went swimming for the first. Taking Henry's clothes off is like walking around with loaded weapon. A weapon that at any moment could fire. When Henry pees, he doesn't dribble he shoots (and he often scores). His streams of urine make the fountain in front of the Bellagio in Las Vegas look like a yard sprinkler. He doesn't discrimnate, he will pee on anyone who crosses his path. Just ask Cassie. Yes, he gave her a good soaking during his infant photo shoot. However, Mom and Dad have gotten smarter in our dealings with Henry. This week no one was attacked. This is a nice change, those first few weeks Momma got sprayed in the face more than once.

Here is our little man during his first, full bath. Hooray for the umbilical cord being gone, that thing was not pretty. Now he has a cute, kissable little belly button. Henry didn't see what all the fuss was about. Bath time is boring, yawn.

After conquering the bath it was time to tackle the pool! Little Henry was invited to swim with baby Stella in her grandparents pool. Stella loved the water so much that she drifted off into a peaceful slumber. Our little boy wasn't too sure about the whole thing. He kept looking at me as if to say "Why are you doing this to me?"

Daddy did make sure that Henry knew that when he was a teenager is would be completely unacceptable to skinny dip with Stella in her grandparents pool.

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Yes Henry, Your Daddy is a Ninja

Jason is going to be an amazing father. My father passed when I was young and I never got to experience the father child relationship first hand. I have really enjoyed watching Jason with Henry. I can't explain the feeling I get watching him play with and take care of our son. I love that I am giving Henry the gift of a wonderful, engaged father. As you might know, Jason nor I really like kids. Yet, we decided to have one. I know it makes no sense. In addition to not being big fans of the wee ones, we also had no experience with childcare. It took us 15 minutes to put Henry in his car seat for the first time. As we were loading in him the car we both looked at each other with crazy eyes that communicated "I can't believe they are letting us leave with him." The truth is, infant care really did come naturally for me. Everything I read is true. It is like a reflex that you have no control over. Without much thought I was feeding, burping and diapering. I read that it sometimes isn't the same for dads. They don't always have the same impulses mothers have. I have an unfair advantage. I cared Henry in my womb and I breast feed him. We can't help but bond. Even with out my physical advantage, fathering came naturally to Jason. He jumped in like he had been taking care of kids forever. The first thing he does when he gets home is scoop Henry up in his arms and kiss all over him. If I am holding him after feeding he accuses me of being a "baby hog." He begged me to pump (yes, much like a diary cow) so he could feed Henry. I love watching Jason tend to Henry's needs. It melts my heart.

I know that as Henry grows he and his daddy are going to be wonderful playmates. I also know that once he is up and moving around I will spend much of my time saying things like "no running in the house" and "if you are going to rough house, take it outside." I already have to tell Jason this in regards to him playing with the dogs. I know how much worse it will be with a little boy. I am also aware that they will both give mommy a hard time about being too up tight. We will playfully go back and forth until Daddy and Henry convince mommy playing Ninja in the house every now and then is okay. I will give in, set back and watch my boys. I am sure the first thing Jason will do is teach Henry how to this . . . .

. . . because, Jason is an awesome dad. Hey wait, how am I going to compete with this? Mommy will never be as cool as daddy and I am okay with that. My son is blessed to have an incredible Dad and I am blessed that I got to have Jason's child. I really am a lucky lady.

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Babies are Expensive

The dust has settled and we have received our final bill from the hospital. If we didn't have maternity insurance it would have cost us $20,012.60 to have Henry. This isn't included my anesthesiologist or midwives fees. The reason I bring this up is that a few month before I found out I was pregnant we didn't have maternity insurance. We were both employed at jobs that didn't provide employer group insurance. We had to purchase our own insurance. It took us a while to even find anyone who would cover us but that is another story. The insurance we ended up with was expensive, terrible and didn't include maternity coverage. The Barks family defiantly doesn't bring in the big bucks but we make enough that we don't qualify for any type of government assistance. Fortunately the wonderful folks at Ace Hardware offered Jason a job, a job that came with a nice employer group plan insurance. So instead of shelling out over $20,000 for our little bundle of joy we are only going to pay a nice little deductible. My point is, regardless of your political affiliation, you can't deny that there is a health care crisis in our country. That is all I am going to say.

To celebrate my expensive little boy I am going to share with you some of the newborn pictures that the wonderful Cassie Williams took of Henry. He is so cute that they probably could have charged us a million dollars for him to be born.

Click here for the rest of the photos!

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The Poop Heard Around the World

We have been a family of three for three weeks and it has been lovely. Lovely despite the fact that we don't sleep and have been bathed in the plethora of bodily fluids.   I have a very special video to share with you, which highlights the perviously mentioned fluids.  Henry was squirming around in his crib so grabbed the camera to capture his cute movements. Not long into recording he took a gigantic poop.  The thing that has surprised Jason and I the most has been the shear volume of his excrement.  I now have documented the horrible sounds that come from our sweet baby.  The oddest part of the video is that you can hear me laughing.  The thought that I would laugh at a diaper full of poop amazes me.  What may be even more starling is that I laughed during the actual diaper change when Henry sprayed poop all over me and his changing table.  It must be my mothering instincts because I know that pre-mommy Jaime would have never, never laughed at being pooped on. I now wipe up poop without a second thought, laugh when I get urinated on and congratulate Henry when he belches. Henry you have no idea how much you have changed me.

full of it from Jaime Barks on Vimeo.

Jason and I have decided that instead of saving for his college education that we are going to save for therapy.  I am sure he is going to needs lots of it to recover from all the embarrassing photos and videos that I am going to post : ).  Want to see some recent photos of Henry?  Here is an album highlighting his third week of life.   

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Pregnancy Sucked

I am sorry, I am just NOT one of those women who remembers pregnancy fondly.  I love little Henry but the process of carrying him in my womb was miserable.  The other day I tried to think if I could come up with one thing that I miss about being pregnant. I came up with nothing.  I did come up with an impressive list of things that are much better now that I am no longer pregnant.  Things like: no more swelling, no more peeing every five minutes, I can sleep on my tummy, I have regained my center of gravity, I don't burst out in tears for no reason and the list goes on and on.  I also didn't have that "pregnant glow."  I felt like a cross between the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man and a teenager with raging hormones and bad acne.  Despite all this miserableness the amazing Cassie Williams was able to take photos of me in my bloated state that I not only like, I love. I almost didn't have her take photos, that is how awful I felt. Looking back on the photos, I am sure glad I did. 

Wanna see all the photos from the shoot?  Click here.  

If you want some awesome photos taken you should talk to Cassie!  She is my hero! 

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Breast Milk and Good Books

This is an entire post . . wait for it . . that is not about Henry.  It is going to be legendary.  Yes, Jason and I have been catching up on "How I Met Your Mother" on DVD.  How did we miss this show?  This only deepens my crush on Neil Patrick Harris.  Although, he had me with Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-Long Web Blog and Doogie Howser. But I digress, the purpose of this post is not to express my unfailing love of a gay man but to discuss some of the books I have been reading.  When does a new mommy find time to read?  During all those feedings.  Henry eats a lot.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy - Beautiful. Moving. Heartbreaking.  I started this before Henry was born and I finished it during late night feeding sessions.  The book explores the relationship between a father and son as they survive in a post apocalyptic world.  My favorite aspect of the book is how McCarthy doesn't focus on the world at large but instead just on the story of a man and his son.  The writing is minimal and yet descriptive. After finishing the book (at 5 am) I gave Henry extra kisses and said a prayer of thanks that we don't live in a world covered in ash.  Oh, there is a movie adaptation but in my opinion it looks crappie.  The trailer makes it look like another "end of the world" action movie.  Hollywood is great at ruining good books. 

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith - Okay, I actually read this book a couple months ago but I enjoyed it so much I thought it was worth mentioning.  I picked it up on a whim in McKay's (aka the happiest place on earth) because it was one of those books that I hadn't read but felt like I should have.  I am very happy with my impulsive purchase.  I found it very appropriate given the current economic climate.  The Nolan family is so poor in the book that they make anyone feel rich. Please read this book it is lovely. 

When You are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris - David Sedaris never disappoints.  This collection of essays is hilarious as always.  This book has been a nice change of pace after "The Road." Not familiar with Sedaris?  You can read about him on the Stuff White People Like Blog.  In fact, you can skim the blog to get a good idea of things Jason and I like.  I am embarrassed to admit how many of the post accurately describe us. 

If you have read any of the above titles I would love to hear your thoughts on them.  Any breast feeding book recommendations?  Please post in the comments.  I have a lot of long nights ahead of me. 

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Two Weeks Down . . .

Jason and I have survived our first two weeks of parenthood.  Henry is adjusting well to life in our little house.  Here he is having a bonding moment with Prissy.  I love the fact the Henry makes our little 12 pound dog look huge.  I tried to take a similar picture with Ann, but the prospect of getting that close to Henry was way to much for her.  She freaked out.  She has been great with Henry but we haven't let her get to close because we can see her desire to lick his entire head with her massive tongue. Maybe next week. 

And of course, I have another boring video of our baby not really doing anything.  This video features hiccups, a yawn and Henry's pissy face.  What is the pissy face?  It is when he wrinkles his forehead and gives you a look that says "please stop messing with me."  He is pretty content and likes his down time.  In this regard he is very much like his daddy.  

hiccup from Jaime Barks on Vimeo.

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Even his grumpy face is cute . .

I love sleep. Really, I do.  I hate nothing more than having my sleep interrupted.  When my mom was sick and I had to take care of her she would always comment on how mean I was when she woke me up in the middle of the night.  In my defense my mother was at times a bit needy and she would often page me (yes, we had an intercom system set up) to come and fluff her pillows.  I remember being up with her one night and commenting that I was never having a child because I hate being woke up.  She quickly agreed that I was not nice in the the middle of the night and then said that it would be different with my child.  I never really believed her.  

I am here to report that it is true.  As with so many things in life, my mother was right (if you knew my mother you would know the joy it would bring her to see me write that she was right). It is different. While I am not thrilled when I hear Henry fuss and squirm in his crib I am no where near as ill as I thought I would be at 3am.  The truth be told when I pop my head over the edge of the crib I often find myself smiling. Even in the middle of the night, even when I know that there is diaper full of poop and that Henry is about to latch himself to me for the next 20 minutes. I am sure at some point I will stop finding his grumpy face adorable.  But for now, I think this is one of the most precious faces in the world . . . 

Fussy Baby from Jaime Barks on Vimeo.

This clip is SHORT.  Why you ask?  Because I can't stand to see him cry.  This was taken before he started to cry.  We were in Cracker Barrel and I imagine he is saying "Where is my bacon? All I get is breast milk again?"  I would love for you to hear his little grunts but all you can hear in the video is the sound of a busy restaurant. After my years of working as a server the sound of a restaurant ranks up their with nails on a chalk board.  It had to be silenced. 

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We grow 'um big

I mentioned a while back that we planted a recession garden this summer.  It was a wonderful distraction from what felt like my eternal pregnancy.  Obviously this last week the garden didn't get much attention, we were a little distracted with a new born.  When I finally stumbled outside to pick some veggies and herbs I was shocked to find a zucchini rivaled Henry in size.   In addition to squash of unusual size we had cucumbers coming out our ears, our first ripe tomatoes and more basil than I will ever use.  All in all I would have to say that our first garden is a success, let just hope we are as successful with our first attempt at parenting!

Henry and the Giant Zucchini

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Happy Little Henry

I survived pregnancy and childbirth and I have came out on the other side with an adorable little boy named Henry. Labor was long.  I was in the hospital for 28 hours before Henry was born. I had to be induced because our little boy wasn't moving much and I was past due.  I took a pill (not an IV of pitocin) to induce labor and remained medication free for 10 hours.  At that point I caved and got an epidural.  Yes, I hear you all saying "I told you so."  I was still hours away from delivery and I couldn't sit still long enough for the nurses to get a good read on Henry's heartbeat (which kept falling during labor).  In an emotional ball of tears my midwife and I decided it was time to get an epidural.  By the time the wonderful man with the medication came I was vomiting from the pain.  I won't lie after writhing in pain and puking as I went through my medical history with the anesthesiologist the epidural was amazing.  

When it was time to push we cut off the epidural so I kind of got to experience a little of what natural birth is like.  I have to say, it was phenomenal.  It was hands down the most amazing experience of our lives.  Jason wasn't really sure how he was going to react to labor but when the time came he got totally into it.  Almost too into it, like umm Jason I am up here.  And I knew I was close when Jason went from saying "Good job baby" to screaming "Push Jaime, push Jaime."  After choice expression (which I will not type because this blog is G rated), a yell and one massive push our entire life changed.  Seeing our tiny, baby born was the most defining moment of our entire relationship.  I have never experienced anything as exhilarating as holding our new born son.  

Thanks to my awesome midwife and a gallon of olive oil I am recovering well (I will spare you any other details).  Breast feeding is going great.  Henry is sleeping well, eating well and is generally a happy baby.  All in all we are a content little family and are thrilled to have Henry join us. 

Here is a video of Henry.  I realize at this age he doesn't do anything to exciting but personally I find his yawn irresistibly adorable.  Also, I love the fact that Henry spends the first few seconds looking at me with this look that says "I don't know about this camera in my face business."  To which mommy said "Get used to it kid, all your extended family lives out of state." 

Yawn from Jaime Barks on Vimeo.

PS.  Who won the guessing game about when Henry would be born?  No one.  Despite all the people who participated no one guessed July 2nd. Looks like Henry is going to be his own man. 

Wanna see more pictures of Henry?  Click here!

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The Newest Arrival to the Barks Family!

No, Jaime is not blogging from the hospital bed. This is Cassie and I've hijacked the blog to bring to you a very special introduction.

Meet Henry Elliot Barks.

He arrived on July 2, 2009 at 12:50 am weighing in at 7lbs 12oz and measuring 20 in. And my goodness, I think he has stolen the hearts of family and friends alike. He is a handsome boy and the pictures do not do him justice.

Jaime and Jason were, and are, amazing by the way. There is no doubt they will be included among the list of the most incredible parents we are blessed to know.

And now for your viewing pleasure:

Congrats you guys! He is an amazing little man and the perfect addition to your family!

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