Tricks of the Trade: A Few Energizing Tips

So, let's be honest here. In our busy lives, most of us feel as though we could use another two hours or so of sleep--or we find ourselves wishing that we could take an afternoon nap like we used to do when we were children. You know, the nap that Mom used to have to compel us to take--the same bit of rest time that our now-adult selves would like to go back and tell our child-selves to appreciate while we have it, because one of these days we'll want it and we won't have it anymore. 

And while there are an umpteenmillion reasons for us to feel a tad bit tuckered out--and a lot of those reasons are for great things, such as busy lives with families, or jobs, or school, or activities--it isn't a bad thing to admit that, sometimes, we can all feel just a little draggy. And that's okay; it's a natural part of being human, to feel tired every once in a while. There are also tons of different kinds of tired, and some of those aren't so okay to have to deal with. But since I'm not a doctor or any kind of specialist, I'm just going to stick to talking about the average kind of tired, and some very simple but HIGHLY effective cosmetic tricks that I have learned to help combat it.

My baby girl has been a fabulous sleeper for a while, but at the beginning of my mommyhood (and even now, to be perfectly truthful) I would start to feel weariness pulling at me in an acute way that I hadn't experienced before. And since there are a lot of times that I simply cannot just say, "Okay, Life, I'm putting you on hold for a while!", I have been on the hunt for things to help me look a little more energetic and perky. I have listed them below, along with some basic tips on how I use them and the explanations as to why I find that they work so well.

Let's talk skincare first. These are my two new favorites in that realm: Yes to Grapefruit's daily brightening scrub and Garnier Fructis' anti-puff eye roller.

Grapefruit is known to be a heavyhitter in skincare, as it is packed with lots of good-for-you elements that include vitamin C and lycopene.  This scrub smells a-ma-zing, and it really is gentle enough to use daily, as long as your skin isn't incredibly sensitive or acne-prone. Using a daily scrub in either of those cases will irritate the skin and could cause it to be more oily. However, I have fairly sensitive skin myself, and using this scrub every other day hasn't bothered it at all. Because it is a gentle, fruit-based product (which features lemon balm as well as the aforementioned grapefruit), the scrub is able to deftly buff away dead cells, dirt, and impurities on the surface of the skin, exposing the fresh new skin beneath and giving that 'brightened' effect to the complexion. A product that smells good, is effective, and is part of a great brand that strives to make its products without a bunch of harsh chemicals? I'm on board.  

Once you've started things off on the right foot with giving tired skin a dullness-banishing, beautifully brightening boost, you'll want to follow up with your favorite moisturizer for a dewy glow that locks hydration into your skin and protects it from losing too much moisture. Make certain to avoid your eye area with your facial moisturizer, because a lot of the time the ingredients that are in face care products are too harsh to be used on the delicate skin near the eyes. 

Instead, treat your eyes to a refreshing, cold dose of caffeine and mint--with Garnier's anti-puff eye roller. I know that I'm late to the cold-as-ice eye roller party, but now that I'm here, I'm never going back! The eye roller basically has the same effect as running an ice cube along the skin around your eyes, boosting blood circulation to help get rid of the excess fluids that build up around the eyes and cause puffiness. The added benefit of an eye roller is that it isn't just cold; it also smoothes a caffeine- and mint-infused concoction onto the skin, which also helps get the blood circulating and results in less  puffiness and dark circles in the under eye area. I usually apply the eye roller to my under eye area and then gently tap my fingertips against the skin to help blend in the product, using what is left on my fingertips to dab onto the skin above my eyelids. As with any skincare product, do be careful when using this stuff near your eyes. It's meant to go around them, but definitely not in them.

Onto makeup! I will also list these products in the order that I use them. 

#1: This is L'Oreal's response to the overwhelmingly popular B.B. cream trend.  Their version--and, I should note, this is just one of at least two B.B. creams that they've come up with--is from their Studio Secrets line, and is called Magic Skin Beautifier B.B. cream.  It comes in a chic-looking slender white, silver, and purple tube, and the product itself, when you first squeeze it out of the tube, very much resembles your everyday sunscreen.  It's a white lotion-like substance in which tiny, grainy little beads are suspended.  I use just a tiny bit of this stuff--about a lima bean size amount on my fingertip--and blend it into my skin.  The tiny little beads in the B.B. cream are actually where the pigment is contained, and it adjusts to the precise shade of your skin.  Not a bad arrangement, I say, in a world full of people having to play the "What's my proper foundation shade?" game.  Ain't nobody got time for that.  ;)  

What is nice about this product is that, as a good B.B. cream should always be, this is a multi-tasker.  It hydrates the skin and primes it for other makeup, corrects uneven skin tone, and gives the skin a polished, flawless look.  It isn't overly dewy-looking, either, so if you're really looking for just a simple, no-makeup look, this is a good choice of a B.B. cream for you: a little matte, and a lot of healthy and glow-y.  One note: do use just a little amount of this stuff, because it goes a long way, and I wouldn't glop on a whole lot of moisturizer beforehand.  For some odd reason, this B.B. cream doesn't do too well when it's applied over a lot of another moisturizer.  The plus side of this?  You don't have to use a lot of this product, so one tube of it should last you a good long while, and that is never a bad thing in my book.    

#2:  This is a fabulous waterproof kohl kajal eyeliner by Rimmel London, part of their ScandalEyes line, in the shade Nude. I've heard the recommendation of using white eyeliner along the inner rims of the eyes to give them the illusion of being wider and more awake, but I have also heard the recommendation to use a flesh-tone eyeliner instead, because it's still brightening but not as strong of a contrast against the skin's natural shade. Plus, the apricot undertones in a nude-colored liner counteract any purple tones in the flesh.  (The culprits behind this?  Darkness and discoloration, which are often found around tired eyes). Try this great, creamy waterproof liner on your eyes' inner rims, and see for yourself how it instantly makes your eyes look bigger and brighter. I use it to line my eyes' lower inner rims, extending it to blend it into the lower lash line, so there is a seamless brightened area. This liner is also really helpful if you put it on under your normal eyeliner--it helps hold in place any makeup that you put on over it!

#3:  Moving on from there, we have product from Almay, from their Wake Up line: the hydrating under-eye concealer. This product comes in a squeezable tube with a brush applicator, but I don't use the brush as I find that it more often piles on the product and then smears it around in too-thin lines. That being said, if you simply squeeze a bit of the concealer onto your fingertip, dab it onto the areas that you wish to use concealer on (it works for more than just under the eyes), and then blend as you please, it works beautifully. I like that this concealer is lightweight and hydrating. With its light consistency but substantial pigment, you get an almost weightless coverage that you can build as needed without worrying much about the dreaded cakey effect. Using a light hand with makeup on tired skin is key though, so do keep your "less is more!" mantra in mind, as always.

#4:  My new favorite mascara is CoverGirl's Clump Crusher, a fine phenomenon in a beguilingly bright emerald green tube. I've found that this product lives up to its name and hype: it gives volume and pigment to the eyelashes and virtually resists any clumping tendencies! (Any mascara will clump eventually, but it would really take some doing with this stuff.) It has a slightly curved comb-style applicator wand, and the mascara itself has a thick (aka volumizing) consistency. When you're looking to bring life to a tired face, a good, strong mascara that brings clean definition and pretty, plumped-up volume to the eyelashes is an absolute must.

#5:  Next in the line-up of eye-awakening pros is a dual-ended eye liner and highlighter, also by Almay's Wake Up line. It's pretty much a self-explanatory product: one end of it holds a cooling, lightly sparkly (think new-fallen snow sparkle, not Las Vegas) highlighter, while the other end holds a nicely pigmented swivel-up eye liner with some fabulous staying power. I chose to get the classic black eye liner (because I refuse to be without one in my makeup kit), which is paired with a pretty pale gold highlighter. I don't always use the latter, but it gives a subtle bit of sparkle and that lovely cool sensation against the skin when it's applied, so...again, worth it, even if you're not much of a sparkle fan.

#6:  Last on my list of new favorites is Revlon's gloss balm stain. It isn't just a lip gloss or a stain or a balm...yes, obviously, it manages to be all three at once. And I flipping love that. Much as I adore a good tube of lipstick, I'm always rubbing my lips together or wetting them (I know, saliva dries out the skin...), so it's difficult for me to keep a normal lip gloss or lipstick on. Stains are a fabulous solution to the problem, as are long-wearing lipsticks, but a stain that has the moisturizing power of a lip balm is even better. Revlon's impressive array of shades have a nice hint of minty flavor, and are hydrating with a light glossy finish and tons of color that tends to stick around quite well. I purchased the bright orange-y shade called 'Rendezvous', and it has been a fun, bright addition to my summer lip color collection. When you're tired, bright colors such as hot pink, orange, and red have the power to really light up the complexion. A tired face can look colorless and dull (mine does!), so adding bright colors brings a pop of life back onto the scene. Add a bit of blush and you're set!

As I said earlier in this post, these are simply a few cosmetic tricks to help make a tired face look more rejuvenated. A proper diet, exercise, and sleep--along with whatever else your trusted physician advises--are key to looking and feeling your best. But! A few helpful and inexpensive beauty products don't hurt sometimes, either, and it is my hope that you have found this post to contain both helpful, inexpensive tips and products to try! If you have any recommendations of other products or tips to looking your brightest and most lively and awake, do comment and share them! :D

PS:  All of the products that I mentioned--and the photos of them too, for that matter--are copyright of the individual companies who own and manufacture them.  I simply wrote about them and used some images that were available on the World Wide Web to make a few collages to make this post look more visually appealing. ;P  End disclaimer.

À bientôt!

--Cait

The Enchanted Rose: A Tutorial

I have so many fond memories that are tied to Disney's animated, musical film version of Beauty and the Beast.  I remember when my mom and dad took my sister and me to see it in the theater shortly after it premiered; it was actually released on my birthday, a fact that I've enjoyed for a long time.  I remember dressing up and acting out the story, with Mom playing the role of the narrator while my sister and I played all of the other characters, and I remember how my sister used to love one particular bit near the end of the movie, where a wardrobe--enchanted and come to life--leaps off a balcony, singing an operatic musical note as her battle-cry.  

Somewhere along the line, my family acquired a book of Disney-themed parties, and for my eleventh--I think--birthday, I had the Beauty and the Beast themed party from that book.  My friends and I played a relay game where we balanced--on our two hands and our heads--three 'candlesticks' that were made out of cardboard tubes and construction paper, pretending to be the film's enchanted candelabra, Lumiére.  I remember the birthday cake that was made to look like the enchanted teapot, Mrs. Potts, and her little teacup son, Chip; I also remember 'Beastly Baked Potatoes', which were cleverly made to resemble the character for which they were named.  

I also recall when I was a little older--around sixteen, I believe--when I discovered the Broadway musical version of the tale, and wouldn't rest until my mom and dad bought us tickets to see the show when it came to town.  It was a theater-experience that was nothing short of sublime, and I was moved to tears by the tugging of my heartstrings and the sheer beauty of it all.  And I completely geeked out when my favorite television show, Once Upon A Time, did their own version of the Beauty and the Beast story in last year's Valentine's Day episode.  It was heartwrenching, and fabulous.

Now, all of that is yet another roundabout way of introducing my true focus of this post, which is the tutorial on how to make your very own version of the movie's infamous floating enchanted rose in a bell jar.  My designs for my little girl's nursery have included as many pretty, girly things as I could possibly think up...and/or manage to include...within reason.  Mom has some lovely bell jars around the house, and I kept looking at them and thinking, If I could find a bell jar of my own, I know I could something that would look like that enchanted rose. And, well--I did find a way to put together my own illusion of a rose floating in mid-air under the shelter of a bell jar!  I shall share with you how it can be done forthwith.

You will need:

- A mantelpiece clock, like the one below

- Wood paste, like this stuff
- Some duct tape
- Spray paint, of the color of your choice. I chose silver, to mimic a mirror.
- A hot glue gun
- Two clear or white buttons. It is very important that they have no color!
- Some transparent thread, like this, or fine fishing line
- A silk rose
- A needle and scissors

First, you'll want to dismantle the clock, removing the clock itself and all of its machinery until you're left with simply the clock's base and the bell jar.  Cogsworth would be horrified, I know.  Please forgive my rather haphazard illustrations...I was working in pen, and wanted to get the drawings done quickly, before Lil' Princess woke up from her nap.  

Place some of the duct tape on the underside of the clock's base, and then fill in any of the holes from where the clock was formerly attached to the base, using the wood paste.  Allow the paste to dry, and then sand over it a little, so that the filled-in holes are hidden.  Next, spray paint the base.  As I have already said, I had mine painted silver, so that it mimics the look of a mirror--another inanimate object that is predominantly featured in the film as a major plot device.  Allow it to dry, and there!  You're finished with that part of the project!

You want for the buttons that you are using to be clear or white, at least, because they will be helping to create the illusion that the rose is magically suspended in midair within the bell jar.  Take the two buttons and secure them, one at each end, to a short bit of the clear thread or fishing line.  I used about an inch and a half for mine, but the length of the thread really depends on the size and height of your bell jar.  You can make adjustments accordingly.

Cut the silk rose to a length that will fit under the bell jar, leaving it short enough to have room both above and below it, when you hold it inside the bell jar.  You might have to prune a few petals and rearrange and reattach some of the leaves, to make the rose fit within the jar in the manner that you find to look the best.

Carefully attach one of the buttons into the rose by parting the rose's petals and using the hot glue gun to plant a dollop of glue inside.  Press the button onto the hot glue to secure it inside of the rose.  Take the other button, at the other end of the string, and attach it into the center of the inside of the bell jar.  The rose should now appear--when you place the bell jar on a flat surface--to magically float in the air.  The transparent thread and the buttons create the illusion!

To complete your Beauty and the Beast inspired work of art, simply place the bell jar on its base, set it on a shelf or dresser or table top somewhere, and enjoy its whimsical, and...dare I say...enchanting charm. ;D

I found my mantelpiece clock at a thrift store, and it cost under $10, and the silk rose cost less than $3 at the craft store.  All of the other materials, I already had access to--so if you play your cards right, this project is beautiful and inexpensive!  I'm quite happy with how the one that I put together for Lil' Princess turned out.

Until I write again...

À bientôt!

--Cait

December 28th

It has yet to cease surprising me how some of the sayings about being a parent--and being a mother, in specific--are absolutely true, even the ones of which I doubted the veracity.  I've heard, "Once you've made it through the labor and delivery of your child and you're holding that sweet baby in your arms, you'll forget all about the pain that you just went through."  I've also heard that, "Once you have that baby in your life, you won't be able to imagine life without him."  As far as my personal experience with becoming a mommy goes, both of these sayings are true to a heartstring-tugging extent--in an indescribably wonderful, good kind of way.

As of December 27th, I still wasn't feeling any "different" in the waiting game for the baby.  Mr. Darcy had gone back to work the day after Christmas, and so my mom went with me to the doctor's appointment that I had that morning, at around 9:30.  The doctor's visits were weekly at that point, and they usually tended to be brief and to the point: I would have my weight and blood pressure taken, the doctor would check on a few other things, and then I would be sent on my merry way after they'd made certain to answer any questions that I might have.  Quite basic and uncomplicated.  Mom and I had made plans to drive over to where my dad worked, so that we could meet him for lunch and give me an opportunity to--yet again--get out to walk and see if it would prompt Little Miss Princess to start thinking about making her grand debut.

This doctor's visit took a different course from the others, however.  The nurse-midwife who was seeing me that day told me that the baby's heartbeat sounded a little low when she had listened to it, and she would like to monitor it for a bit, just to make certain that everything was all right.  She assured me that there was nothing to be concerned about; the baby's heartbeat most likely sounded lower than normal because I hadn't eaten yet that morning--bad, whoops, I know--and because I had just been lying down on the exam table.  Mom came to sit with me while the nurse started a stress test for me, hooking up a monitor to my tummy to chart the baby's heartbeat while I held a little clicker in one hand and pushed a button on it every time that I felt the baby move.

We waited for about twenty minutes, with the nurse-midwife checking in on us every once in a while.  Everyone kept reassuring me that everything was all right, that I didn't need to be worried; everything was fine, and this was just to be cautious.  After a while, though, the nurse-midwife told me that she wanted for me to go on over to the hospital--which is a mere two-minute drive down the road from the doctor's office itself--and they would have me monitored there for a bit longer.  Well, all right, I thought, as my nervousness began to edge towards something closer to panic.  This is kind of scary...

I'm still thanking the Lord that Mom had gone to that doctor's appointment with me that day.  If she hadn't been there to talk to me and reassure me and tell me that everything was fine--if the doctor had seen something to be really worried about, they would have sent me to the emergency room straightaway, not to the maternity ward to have more monitoring done--I know I would have been an absolute mess.  And to think that I had almost decided to go alone that morning!  Fortunately, I wasn't alone, and as I sat in a room waiting to be checked in, the frightened tears started, and Mom sat by me and prayed with me, and told me that she had had one of these very same tests done, and nothing had come of it.  Eventually, I was admitted and taken to a room, where I was once again hooked up to a heart monitor.  And then we waited.

Over the next forty-five minutes, two different nurses came in to check on me repeatedly.  Mom called my dad to let him know what was going on, and told him that we might be a bit late for lunch, pending my release from the hospital at the word of the doctor who was on call that day.  She also called one of my sisters who was at home, telling her that we might need for her to bring the bag of things that I had packed to the hospital...but we weren't certain yet.  I delayed calling Mr. Darcy for the time being, not wanting to have him worried about us while he was at work, especially if nothing came of the test and I was released shortly.  The nurse told me that it looked as though they would be releasing me soon, and brought me some apple juice and graham crackers.

I must note a few things here.

#1: At the time, I was a fan of apple juice in the slightest.  Apple cider, yes.  Sparkling apple cider, yes.  Hard apple cider, of course.  But not apple juice.  However, I was extremely grateful to have that apple juice to drink at the time, and much later, I would be even more grateful, but I'll come back to that later.

#2: I had not had anything to eat that day, except for a glass of Ovaltine, that apple juice, and those graham crackers.  Ordinarily, I would eat in the morning, but on that particular day, I hadn't left myself time for anything more than the Ovaltine before rushing out the door for my doctor's appointment.

I suppose it was somewhat for the best, however, because...the doctor came in about fifteen minutes after the nurse had brought me my snack, and told us some rather surprising news.  I had already been informed that I was having contractions--about two or three minutes apart, I think it was, and I was unaware of it because I wasn't feeling the contractions at the time--but now the doctor told me that because the baby's heartbeat was dipping every so often, they wanted to proceed with admitting me to a delivery room and inducing labor.  Lil' Princess was going to be...ahem, gently encouraged...to make her debut into the world, out of a concern for her safety and health.

At that point, the hospital staff commenced getting me ready for an induced labor and delivery.  I was hooked up to an I.V. to keep me hydrated while they started me on a pitocin drip to induce the labor process.  I called Mr. Darcy then, and asked him, with a shaky laugh in my voice, "Um, honey...can you come here to the hospital now?  It looks like we're having a baby today..."  I got settled into my new accommodations--a rather spacious labor and delivery room--and soon enough, Mr. Darcy arrived...

And then the next thirty-four hours of labor began.  The afternoon and evening of December 27th passed with both Mr. Darcy's family and mine coming by to visit with us during the wait, and then Mr. Darcy and I hunkered down to wait out the process through the night.  My contractions went from unnoticeable to the "Okay, that's starting to hurt quite a bit..." level, and the next morning arrived with little change.  The doctor arrived to break my water at around 7:30am, and the contractions went through the roof in pain level.  I was a weeping mess until the anesthesiologist arrived to give me the epidural that I had practically begged for.  I had been quite uneasy at the idea of getting an epidural; although I knew that I wanted to have that for the relief of my pain, it didn't take away my nervousness about the procedure.  I'm a lot of things, but one of the things that I'm not is a girl who can blithely face the idea of a needle going into my spine.  Fortunately, I had an excellent group of people who were working with me: the anesthesiologist and the student who was with him, and the nurse who was assigned to me at the time.  I also had Mr. Darcy, who actually had me laughing--carefully, of course--during the procedure by quoting this video.

Don't watch this video if you don't get a giggle from absolute ridiculous and overt silliness--because that is precisely what the video is all about.  And the song at the end may or may not get stuck in your head for a few hours...you have been warned.  ;)

The epidural took all of a minute or two to work its magic on the awful pain of the contractions that I had been having, and I felt much, much better...which is exactly what I had been told would happen.  Thank goodness too.  Contractions are nothing to play around with!  Even after that, however, it took the rest of the afternoon and the earlier part of the evening for me to get to the point where I could be given the go-ahead to start pushing.  It was around 7:00 in the evening when I reached that point of labor.  I was as tired as I had ever been in my life by then; I hadn't eaten since around 11:00 in the morning on the day before, and I had been in pain for many long hours.  

Finally, after two hours of pushing and very little progress in the birth, I looked at my husband--about to cry yet again--and told him, "I can't do this anymore.  I have nothing left."  My energy and strength were completely gone; I had nothing to go on, nothing to fuel my efforts.  I felt extremely weak, upset, and scared.  I just wanted my baby to be delivered, safe and strong and healthy. Mr. Darcy turned to the nurse who was with us and said, "I think it's time to get the doctor.  I would like to have a talk with him."  

The nurse--who was a very sweet, friendly, and encouraging lady--immediately went to retrieve the doctor for us.  He gave us a few options of how we could proceed in the delivery from where we were, and when we asked about the safest out of those choices, his answer was simple: a c-section.  

Prior to becoming pregnant, I had always imagined that I would have to give birth by c-section.  My mother had had my sisters and I by c-section, and we have a similar body build, so I had assumed for a time that that would be what would happen to me.  My doctor--along with most doctors in this day and age, I would think--tried for the natural method of delivery first, and we had exhausted that option before anyone brought up a c-section.  As it turns out, I do share the same type of body build as my mother--so giving birth naturally simply isn't physically possible for me.  The baby literally could not get out through natural birth, because of my body's bone structure, because of the way that I'm built.  Since it was now the safest method of giving birth to our baby, wherein her health and safety was guaranteed--more so now than the other methods--Mr. Darcy and I were quick to reply that a c-section was what we wanted to do.  Mr. Darcy went off to inform our families and my friend, Micah, of what was happening, while everything was being prepared for me to go into the first major surgery that I had had in my entire life.  

Mr. Darcy was able to stay with me during the entire c-section delivery process, which went very smoothly and--surprisingly enough--pleasantly.  I was wide awake through the whole procedure, though a blue surgical curtain was put up to hide our view of the c-section, and Mr. Darcy and I were able to talk, joke, and laugh together with the team of hospital staff that was with us.  Finally, someone told Mr. Darcy to hurry and get out the camera that he had brought into the operating room with us: "Take the pictures, take the pictures!  Hurry, you're going to miss it!"  My husband snapped picture after picture on the phone, holding his hand over the curtain, and suddenly he exclaimed: "Oh--Cait--she's beautiful!  She's so beautiful!  Even more than I imagined she would be!" (Which was quite a lot, because we had seen her image on the sonogram that I had had done when I was sixteen weeks pregnant.)  My heart racing, I strained to hear...waiting...and waiting...and then...

I heard my little girl's voice for the first time.  

She didn't cry very loudly, or very much.  But I heard her, and I cried tears of joy as I felt my entire being absolutely glow with joy.  Mr. Darcy hastened to follow the nurse out of the room with our newborn daughter, so that they could go and have her cleaned up and attended to.  I felt a pang of sadness through my elation then, because I wouldn't be able to see my baby in the very first few seconds after her birth--but soon enough, they let Mr. Darcy bring her back into the room, all swaddled up, wearing a little crocheted pink and white hat over the little pink-, white-, and blue-striped stocking caps that they put on babies at the hospital.  

As my husband held our precious little girl close to me, so that I could see her at long last, I stared into her perfect, red little face, and couldn't contain my awe and wonder.  Squinting her little eyes, she looked back and forth between her father and me, as though she was somewhat grumpily contemplating her new surroundings and the strange pair of beings that were gazing at her and talking to her.  

We were given a few moments with her before the nurses ushered Mr. Darcy and the baby out of the operating room, so that I could be, ahem, patched up and attended to.  It was amazing; I had just been through my first surgery, and it was a big deal, as it was a major abdominal surgery...and it hadn't been bad at all!  I was so surprised, relieved, and even thrilled at this.  I had undergone a c-section, and it had been a smooth, even pleasant process--at least, as pleasant as surgery can be.  

After that, I had to wait an agonizingly long forty-five minutes in a recovery room before I was finally taken to a room in the hospital's mother and baby ward.  I had never felt so eager in all of my life as I felt when the door opened and a nurse came in, wheeling one of the little carts with the baby's crib on it.  Finally--finally!--my daughter was placed in my arms, and our family and Micah filed into the room to see us.  Pictures were being taken left and right as I stared down at the sweet little face and hands that peeked out of the blankets that she was wrapped in.  Those moments were one long blur of amazing, all-consuming, beautiful, joyful emotion; I cannot begin to describe how I felt then, because it all defies the power of humanity's words to tell.  I'm a mother now.  I'm a mommy.  My baby is finally here.  This precious little human being in my arms is my daughter.  This is her.  She's here.

It has been a little over a month now since our little rose's birth.  She is an extremely healthy and strong little girl--every day she surprises and delights us all with her always-developing expressions, sounds, and strength.  She's been trying to hold her head up on her own almost since birth, and she is exceptionally alert and bright-eyed.  She shares a lot of features with her daddy's side of the family: his big blue eyes, his full lips, his long eyelashes, even the cute little slightly pointed curve on the outline of her ear.  (I call them her elf ears...they're so adorable!)  When I watch her sometimes, I can see some of my own expressions on her little face: the way she will raise her eyebrows, or the way she will pout or scowl.  Her spirited, smart little personality is all her own, however...she is a combination of her daddy and me, and yet a completely and wonderfully unique work of art from God's hands.

There's something that I tell her, from time to time: that God took all of the sweet, pretty, nice, and wonderful things in the world and put them together, and made her, and then He gave her to us.  And though the allusion to the poem about "sugar and spice and everything nice" is somewhat just an affectionate mention of a lovely old nursery rhyme, I truly do believe that the Lord has given my husband and I the most immeasurably incredible and beautiful gift in this little girl.  She has challenged us, changed us, and been the greatest gift and blessing that I have been given in my adult life, since the Lord brought Mr. Darcy into my life.  

And to wrap up this incredibly long and detailed post, I will simply say that becoming a mother has been a fantastic experience for me--that my labor and delivery were an epic adventure, but a wonderful epic adventure at that--and even though I had a long recovery time and some pain, it wasn't bad at all.  I look forward to the time when we will give our little rose a sibling...

But not for a good, decent lil' while.  ;)

À bientôt!

--Cait