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Baptism announcement below!

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One of my friends shared her first real moment of truth about parenting. Vicki said, "You wake up in hospital and have this baby. You spend the first few days amazed at the miracle. The next few days struggling to learn new skills--maybe terrified at doing something wrong. Then you head home, and eventually you begin to feel comfortable. Then comes this shocking revelation--this little visitor is never going home. And what you remember as normal life is never coming back."

My friends we have had that moment. On the evening of Good Friday, we took Grandma Bonnie and Grandma Gretchen to the airport. The MOMS (as our friends called them) were our support crew--providing hot meals, clean clothes, sage advice, welcome distractions, and the occasional reason to leave the house to visit a local attraction (I think I would have stayed in my pajamas the whole month otherwise). As Nathan headed back to work and I struggled from lack of sleep, they took the baby when necessary, but also kept each other entertained when we weren't very entertaining. Although we want them both to come back to enjoy more of Western Australia, we needed their help in making this transition from the hospital to home.

With the MOMS departure, we are making another transition to a new normal. The hard part is we really don't get to decide what the "new normal" is. This normal includes waking up at 6 am to make it to church by 9. It includes managing to type, cook, do laundry with only one hand. This normal now includes weekend entertainment of doing a crossword in bed and going to sleep early. Figuring out that Noah normally wails for 30 minutes in the evening regardless of what anyone does. And starting to see friends for lunch, dinner, and coffee (although we are grateful so many of them are coming to us at the moment!).

We spent much of Easter weekend finding normal again. There were a few challenges but we survived. For example, the choir sang at the front of the church for Easter...this meant breastfeeding and diaper changes in front of the entire congregation (Thanks Karen....the "hooter hider" was a lifesaver!). We figured out who takes the early shift (me!) and the middle of the night shift (me!) but who can put Noah to sleep after 30 min of inconsolable crying (Nathan!) and who gets to take an afternoon nap (me--hurrah!).



here's to the new normal....until next week!

Week 1

Once upon a time, 7 days ago...
I can't believe it's been a week. It seems simultaneously to have taken 10 years and 10 seconds - 10 years worth of learning about diaper changes, goopy eyes, baby baths...you name it, I've talked to someone about it. In-depth discussions about embarrassing crevices, breastfeeding, and meconium (if you don't know, you don't want to know) -- all these topics were relatively taboo a week ago, now we're shouting about them on Skype at a volume that is guaranteed to keep our neighbors abreast (ahem) of the new developments. It seems like only last week that Kris looked like this on her way to the hospital, and something emerged that changed things dramatically.

A quick look at the past week (the 10 second version, not the 10 year version):

Friday the 25th - still smiling! They doll Kris up in paper and me in very important person scrubs, and we're off to the surgery. The obsterician, who has kept us in stitches (ha!) with random comments and questionable jokes for several months, introduces his colleague as the person who, "is there to make sure I do this right, for a change." Nevertheless, we let him do the surgery, and he delivers a swaddled replica of Mr. Magoo into our lives......and, lo! we are transformed.

Saturday and Sunday passed blissfully, as we smugly congratulated ourselves on our well-behaved child which didn't wake up and scream during the night, had reasonably easy-to-clean anatomy, and was coaxed to feed with a minimum of agony for all involved. This is now referred to as the Golden Age.

Luckily, they keep Kris in the hospital for 5 nights, allowing me to board during this time, so that we all get to see how Noah developed, matured, and evolved into the full-throated 2am howler. I understand that this is inevitable, but it would have been nice to immediately fly out to California, where the time change would have resulted in a more civilized 11am hour (or two) of inconsolability. Inconsolableness? Whatever the noun, there are a million adjectives to describe this time, few of them charitable. Kris soldiered on, and we relied on the help of the professional staff at the hospital for helpful tips, like, "Just see what works," and "Oh, they all do that."

By Tuesday night, we were facing a trip home the next morning, and viewing with more than a little trepidation the first night on our own. Well. We needn't have worried. Yes, he cried, yes we sang ourselves hoarse and exhausted our meager supply of lullabies, and yes we discovered new ways to calm him and make him cry, but we made it out the other end. And, as Nietzsche promised, we're stronger for it. It didn't kill us, anyway. Yet.

Noah

Nathan & Kristin Mannix
are pleased to announce
the birth of their son

(FINALLY) after 5 days at the hospital without internet......

NOAH WILLIAM MANNIX

was born on

25 March 2011 at 2:06 pm
(Perth Standard Time, Australia)
at St John of God Hospital, Murdoch, WA 6150.

At birth he weighed (4.82 kg; 10 lb 10 oz),
was 53 cm long (21 in) and had a head circumference of 38.5 cm (15 in).

We have now returned to our home in Meadow Springs,
with Grandma Gretchen & Grandma Bonnie helping us settle in.
We'd love to introduce you to Noah via skype,
and are planning to back in the US this summer to introduce you all in person.

So it's not so much the birthing (that's mostly Kris in the starring role with me in the cameo) as the parenting that's worrying. Now that I'm looking around me, I've started to see hazards in everyday life. It's not just the things that we eat and drink (although the maker of this product was obviously asleep through 2002-2003 to think this was a good name) that are worrying, but also the little things in your environment. Barely perceptible things, like tiny spiders...at least, tiny by Australian standards. And then there's the psychological impact of dad's hair in the morning!

Maybe all of these worries will be assuaged when we go to parenting classes. Until then, I will likely continue to worry. Especially with this subtle reminder that I pass every morning as I walk the dogs...

Happy 2011--

Welcome to the new year! 2010 had some amazing highlights but 2011 promises to be a year of incredible firsts and new things.

Memories from 2010 included:

* enjoying the Fremantle lifestyle with a cat-sit at Edmund St, just a short walk from the beach and our new church home at St Pauls.
* Hiking the Overland Track in Tasmania--wow, what an experience!
* Celebrating my dad's birthday in January--still missing him terribly.
* Mike's visit to Australia in March--complete with Aussie BBQ, big game fishing, a trip to the outback and some prospecting and LOTS of photos.

*Loren & LoRae's visit in April--with a visit to Margaret River, a dive on the wreck HMAS Swan (much deeper than Nathan was supposed to dive!), and a glimpse of our ideal retirement.
* Singing the Hallelujah Chorus with the St Paul's choir for Easter, and Nathan's "surprise" trumpet solo for Joshua Fit the Battle at the St Paul's Consecration.
*saying goodbye to Nathan's grandma, Ethel Mannix online while Kristin recovered from surgery in May.
* moving to the 'burbs (Secret Harbour) to take care of a house and 2 red setters, giving up Foxtel, and being pregnant in 3 weeks!

* Catching up with friends at Kristin's 20 year HS reunion
*Kristin's long visit back to the US to spend time with family & Nathan's rushed visit just in time to see his mom break her shoulder!
* Discovering we were were 10 weeks pregnant just in time for our 14th wedding anniversary.
*Kristin acting as guest musical director for Band of Angel's Gospel Choir for 6 weeks, culminating in 2 performances (one for the Fremantle City Council at Christmas).
* Co-Hosting an orphan's thanksgiving for the North American students with Emily & Justin
* Finding Advent and Christmas sermons take on new meaning and relevance when you are waiting for a baby, too.
* Singing for Christmas at St Pauls, enjoying Christmas dinner with the Gwynnes & Michael & Jen.

We are looking forward to 2011 with the many new experiences that it will bring:
* A baby boy on April 1, 2011 (no foolin'!)
* 15 years of marriage (and 20 years together)
* visits to Australia from Deb, Tim & Caitlyn, Bonnie (Kris' mum) and Gretchen (Nathan's mum)
* a visit home in June/July for a christening/Nathan's 20 year reunion (?)
* Kristin's year-long maternity leave (thank you, Murdoch!)
* moving to a new home & buying a new "baby-friendly" car
* getting Australian citizenship (we aren't giving up our US citizenship, just want to have a passport that matches our son's!)
* first everythings--cries, laughs, poos, words, haircuts, teeth and more!

We'd love you to be a part of it--come for a visit, keep in touch! We promise to talk about something other than baby stuff.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Nathan & Kristin