Lets, be honest, I can barely remember much here, beyond the highlights of you know, having a child, so thanks to Facebook, I’ve gone back over the past year and made note of my most interesting updates and will add, ad nauseum, any other details necessary.
December 2008 (because we need a little history here): Around the 17th I flew to Vegas to visit an old dear friend, Kelli. She bought my ticket and that was just so sweet. I will never forget the view of the Grand Canyon covered in snow from the plane. Also, I will never forget the constant burning of my belly button the entire trip. I also owe a huge thank you to Kelli who took me to Baby’s R Us and got me started on my registry. Let me tell you, I was overwhelmed but Kelli saved the day.
- Joy Little Kusek says to sister, “Are you sure you’re prepared to be present during the labor?” She says, “Yes, I watched Knocked Up.”
- Joy Little Kusek just stabbed myself in the nose while washing my face and gave myself a huge nosebleed. Great. (What I failed to mention is that I was in the shower when I did this and Peter popped in to the bathroom to say goodbye and I stuck my head out to give him a kiss but my face was unknowingly covered in blood and streaming down my neck. Peter freaked out said it looked like a scene from a horror flick)
- Joy Little Kusek is brushing her teeth at Kelli’s and 4 year old Natalie says, “Whoa, your teeth are BIG! It must be hard to brush such huge teeth.” Joy says, “Yes, it’s very hard.”
- Joy Little Kusek wants to scoop out her belly button with a spoon and feed it to the dog. It hurts like hell.
- Joy Little Kusek says hello to colostrum.
- Joy Little Kusek has a good feeling about this (upcoming) year.
January 2009: This month, along with a lot of nesting, and getting a great set of bedroom furniture and curtains for my whole house, we started our birthing classes, and while I did learn a lot about managing pain, ask me if I used any of those techniques while in labor. No. But I did meet some really cool women/moms. Alysa, my sister, also threw me an incredible shower in Austin where I got lots of baby loot!
- Joy Little Kusek is sore from falling yesterday. Pregnancy bellies make balance difficult. (While out walking with Peter and Nutmeg I took a huge tumble and practically killed the dog by falling on her. Good thing we were all okay)
February: Marks the beginning of my 37th week, and the crazy idea that I would give birth that month. Little did I know that I would be 10 days late. I was miserable and ended up getting the a stomach flu, which led me to believe I was in labor, but I was sorely mistaken. Though some highlights of the month were my parents coming in town for Zoe’s birth, seeing Dave Brubeck perform live. Also, Destiny threw me a wonderful shower in Grand Prairie! (Thank you!)
- Joy Little Kusek ‘s husband says, “You have something on your lip and I really hope it’s not puke.” Joy says, “Oh, it’s Maalox.”
- Joy Little Kusek wonders what life will be like without heartburn.
- Joy Little Kusek has been pregnant for 284 days.
- Joy Little Kusek had a perfect stranger walk up to me today and ask to touch my “baby” meaning rub my belly and I said “No!”
March: I finally gave birth to my daughter! I really don’t remember much beyond this event.
- Joy Little Kusek cannot get enough of Bizkit the sleep walking dog. Oh my GOODNESS! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2BgjH_CtIA&feature=related (I watched this video incessantly)
- Joy Little Kusek is in labor (finally). This message brought to you by husband.
- Joy Little Kusek gave birth to a beautiful little 7lb 6oz. girl at 12:57am on March 7. She’s perfect.
- Joy Little Kusek is drunk with love.
- Joy Little Kusek has two words: MILK JUGS.
- Joy Little Kusek just experienced first hand the wonder of orange projectile poop.
- Joy Little Kusek : so little sleep, so much joy.
- Joy Little Kusek says: umbilical cord fell off, should I save it and put it in the baby book (or give it to nutmeg- that’s gross just kidding)?
- Joy Little Kusek made my first official trip out of the house with Zoe – to where else but Target!
- Joy Little Kusek parents are leaving today, trying to keep it together.
- Joy Little Kusek : wow, Zoe has gained 2 pounds in two weeks.
- Joy Little Kusek is learning all about thrush. Poor baby girl. Dang antibiotics.
- Joy Little Kusek can hear my daughter pooping – I’m two rooms away. She obviously has mad skillz.
- Joy Little Kusek is sleep deprived. Zoe was up from 10:30 till 1:30am, then woke again at 2:30, then at 4:30, then at 6:00, then at 8:00. This will pass right?
April: April was more sleepless nights, though we did start to venture out more. Our first trip to Austin happened with Zoe, this was the car ride from hell where I learned the hard way to NEVER leave the house without a bottle of milk. We also had a great Seder with friends in Grand Prairie.
- Joy Little Kusek Back from the Ped, Zoe has a stuffy baby nose most likely from allergies :(. AND at 4 weeks she weighs 10lbs 2oz – what I weighed when I was BORN (props to my mom)!
- Joy Little Kusek Five weeks of sleepless nights: strenuous. 400 diaper changes: inconvenient. Zoe’s first (real) smile: priceless!
- Joy Little Kusek For the last three nights Zoe has slept in 3.5 – 4 hour segments. HALLELUJAH! My dark circles are starting to fade.
- Joy Little Kusek wonders if i should be concerned that nutmeg just licked up zoe’s spit up off the floor.
- Joy Little Kusek zoe never had a blow out on me, until the day i wear white linen pants. Of course!
- Joy Little Kusek has a 12 pound baby.
May: May was a tough one for us financially, we were in between school loans and out of work. Thank God for good friends, without their help we wouldn’t have made it. I was constantly stressed, and with the lethal combination of poor sleep and anxiety, Peter deserved a medal being around me. Also, we finally figured out that Zoe had been suffering from acid reflux. Once we got this solved life became much better for all of us.
- Joy Little Kusek Whew – what a tough week, finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
- Joy Little Kusek thinks that once you become a mother, you’re automatically part of a secret club that you never knew about before. So strange. Happy mother’s day ladies!
- Joy Little Kusek my dog chased down a squirrel and caught it, then shook it (like a Polaroid picture) – the squirrel did get away. I don’t know if I should be proud or horrified.
- Joy Little Kusek counted seven rolls on Zoe’s arm. Seven is truly the number of perfection.
June: Alysa completed her triathlon and we all drove down to cheer her on. I was so proud of her. We also got baby giggles this month. Michelle gave birth to Laurel too!
- Joy Little Kusek feels like fireworks in my heart when she smiles at me.
- Joy Little Kusek is almost inspired to start training for a little triathlon myself.
- Joy Little Kusek zoe giggled for the first time today after i gave her kisses! I thought my heart was going to explode.
- Joy Little Kusek is sooooooooo sooooo proud of my sister for completing her first triathlon! She was awesome!
- Joy Little Kusek my husband is letting our dog lick clean the almost empty jar of peanut butter (he’s holding it for her while she sits on the couch in between us feasting away). This leads me to believe that our daughter will most likely be spoiled.
- Joy Little Kusek sometimes there is just nothing as fun as a bunch of women/wives/moms who will talk about ANYTHING! My face hurts from laughing so much. Thanks GP gang for a fun night.
- Joy Little Kusek my dog is growling at the stuffed rocking horse.
- Joy Little Kusek really hopes to see the light at the end of the tunnel soon. I have rope burn from hanging on to this thread.
- Joy Little Kusek thinks tweezers are a vital part of your life once you’re over 30.
- Joy Little Kusek happens to think my daughter is the cutest thing on this planet. I fall in love with her 1000 times every day.
- Joy Little Kusek Congratulations to Chris and Michelle on the birth of their daughter, Laurel! Can’t wait to meet her.
- Joy Little Kusek is starting to understand why people have a gazillion kids. This type of love is addicting.
July: In July we took a trip to St. Louis to see my parents at a missions conference. Then they came and visited us in Denton. Other things happened too, but I can’t remember.
- Joy Little Kusek thanks to post pregnancy hair loss, I shed more than the dog. Great. And I don’t even want to hear about how much you shed, cuz it’s NOT WORSE THAN ME (unless you’ve had a baby – then maybe).
- Joy Little Kusek gotta stop putting my underwear in Peter’s drawer.
- Joy Little Kusek went with my sister to my first movie since I had zoe (zoe came too she did great!) we saw The Proposal, it’s Oscar material I tell you!
- Joy Little Kusek packing to go to St. Louis. Any tips on flying with an infant. What should i bring (that i may not think of)?
- Joy Little Kusek Is celebrating, for the first time EVER zoe slept straight through the night. Praying that it happens again tonight.
- Joy Little Kusek Joy to Peter: “Whatcha doing babe?” Peter to Joy: “Looking at puppets.”
- Joy Little Kusek grunting while you poo is only cute if you’re a baby.
- JK Wedding Entrance Dance best wedding entrance I’ve ever seen!
- Joy Little Kusek loves waking up to a house full of people, especially family. It’s good to have my parents here.
- Joy Little Kusek Did you know that Goodwill has outlet stores?! Angie and I found one today and OMG we were in thrift heaven all day long!
- Joy Little Kusek thinks watching Zoe suck on her toes is better than sliced bread.
- Joy Little Kusek one of the vintage aviation books I found at the Goodwill outlet store (and gave to my dad) is selling on ebay for $450.00. I bought it for a dollar.
August: August was our birthday month, Peter and I both have birthdays in August. This was another really rough month for us, but we made it with flying colors. Peter’s good friend Jon also came to visit us from Philly and we spent some time in Austin. We also started watching Weeds, and couldn’t stop till we were done.
- Joy Little Kusek is having a date night/birthday dinner with Peter, fist time since Zoe was born. Talk about long over due. Glad the grandparents are around to babysit.
- Joy Little Kusek my daughter is now 17 pounds and 5 ounces and 26 inches long. She’s gained 10 pounds in the last five months and has grown more than five inches. Plus she gained over a pound in the last two weeks….crazy how fast they grow.
- Joy Little Kusek In my 30th year I moved from Austin to Israel and got pregnant. My 31st year I moved from Israel to Denton and gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. I wonder what 32 will bring…
- Joy Little Kusek just rescued my daughter from rolling off the couch. It’s a whole new world now isn’t it?
- Joy Little Kusek I wonder if babies experience poop euphoria, because Zoe just took the biggest one of her life. Sheesh.
- Joy Little Kusek Great, time to pull out Nutmeg’s doggy undies. SIGH.
- Joy Little Kusek Zoe just said, “Ma Ma.” Okay so really she said, “Ma, Ma, Ma, Ma, Ma.” But it thrilled my heart, because I do this thing where I look at her and say, “Say Ma Ma.” She usually always just grins really big, but today she said it! This is proof that my daughter is a verbal genius.
- Joy Little Kusek hacked into my sister’s facebook account last night and had all sorts of fun. It was the best laugh I’ve had in a LONG time. Good thing Alysa thought it was funny too.
- Joy Little Kusek could really use a silver lining today.
- Joy Little Kusek Had a great day with my birthday love – a movie and dinner (thanks for watching zoe kristen!) martinis at Hannah’s with friends and then b-day cake on the square.
September: I landed a book project. I was thrilled to get back to work and to have the ability to work at home made it all even better.
- Joy Little Kusek If I was abducted, you know just randomly, and someone put masking tape over my mouth. I would DIE people – Because I CANNOT BREATH through my nose. Here’s hoping I don’t get abducted today.
- Joy Little Kusek Got to Austin last night and stayed up till 2:30am talking with my sister. Felt like I was 13 again at a slumber party.
- Joy Little Kusek and for septemeber Zoe gets two front teeth – and I get scared.
- Joy Little Kusek Drop caps, nested styles, Garamond, orphan lines. Indesign, you give chills.
October:
- Joy Little Kusek just had the worst fall on the bike. Ouchie, ouchie, ouchie
- Joy Little Kusek For the last two nights I have been working on teaching Zoe how to fall asleep on her own. It is so HARD getting her to sleep without me holding and rocking her. However, it’s already starting to pay off. Last night was my FIRST NIGHT of UNINTERRUPTED sleep in 7 months! Angels are singing.
- Joy Little Kusek really needs to stop thinking that it’s a baby kicking when really it’s gas. I call it phantom pregnancy itch, it’s hard to kick (get it, Kick)
- Joy Little Kusek aaaaand she’s mobile, time to baby proof. Sigh.
- Joy Little Kusek thinks whoever put “jogging” and “stroller” together is same person that put “jumbo” and “shrimp” together.
- Joy Little Kusek just finished the layout of a 176 page book. Now to get some sleep before I meet with my client tomorrow.
- Joy Little Kusek Just put away all of Zoe’s summer clothes. Now I am REALLY sentimental and a little sad (it passes so fast). I sat on the floor of Zoe’s room putting all her tiny little clothes into a box, wondering if I’ll have another little girl who will wear all these clothes.
- Joy Little Kusek is so thankful for my husband, Pete Kusek, who took care of Zoe this morning while I slept in, then brought me breakfast in bed, and then cleaned up the kitchen. You are so sweet to me.
- Joy Little Kusek was so overwhelmed when I looked in the freezer that I immediately closed it and decided not to have blueberries in my yoghurt. It’s kinda packed up tight like a mofo.
- Joy Little Kusek my daughter, while sitting in the middle of my bed in her bumbo, managed to fall off the bed (while still in the bumbo) – she hit the hardwood floor HARD. I’m ready for my mom of the year award now and an endless supply of guilt.
November:
- Joy Little Kusek thinks I may have over done it with the wings and beer. Blagh.
- Joy Little Kusek my enjoyable hour long walk with baby and dog turned into me holding Zoe with my left arm, while pushing the jogging stroller and holding the leash with my right arm – all while maintaining a fast pace to get us all home ASAP. Nice. Now that’s multi-tasking.
- Joy Little Kusek left Israel one year ago today.
- Joy Little Kusek my Israeli dog refused to eat hummas today but ate queso instead. I think it might be time to get her back to her homeland because she’s obviously been in Texas too long.
- Joy Little Kusek wonders if there is anything better than your baby asleep in your arms.
- Joy Little Kusek damn fleas. There, I said it.
- Joy Little Kusek pretty sure I gave birth to an extrovert.
- Joy Little Kusek it’s 11pm and I can hear someone outside drumming on the sidewalk – and wow they are sooooo good – like hummingbird wings tapping the air. Sometimes it does pay off to live so close to UNT with all its crazy music students.
- Joy Little Kusek Is celebrating four years of marriage to Pete Kusek on Thanksgiving Day. I have a lot to be thankful for, and I’ll add that it’s pretty great to be loved like this.
- Joy Little Kusek Teething baby and strange Twilight dreams are a bad sleep combination. And yes, I did finish the book. ACK! I think I need to read some Tolstoy to help clean my brain from the sludge.
- Joy Little Kusek Congrats to Gabriel Chance and Bethany Rudd Chance on the birth of their beautiful daughter. You will be surrounded with love Tessla
- Joy Little Kusek is celebrating four years of marriage to the most fascinating man I’ve ever known. I’m grateful for the privilege of loving you Pete Kusek. (Hey, thanks for giving me Zoe.)
- Joy Little Kusek just cried watching a Whataburger commercial. Um…. what’s wrong with me?
- Joy Little Kusek Made a delicious Thanksgiving dinner together with Angie Armstrong, Alysa Little and Pete Kusek (okay, so Peter didn’t really cook anything). It was delicous and we have so many leftovers. Now we’re all sitting down to watch Up. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
December: We went to Arkansas to visit my family. I got a chance to reconnect with a lot of old high school friends. Zoe’s first Christmas. It snowed on Christmas morning!
- Joy Little Kusek felt like Christmas morning when Peter woke me this morning to see the snow (in Texas!). Also made me really glad we got our brand new windows in our house (yes all 24 of them!).
- Joy Little Kusek Oh, hello separation ANXIETY. It seems I can’t walk into the kitchen now without my daughter self-combusting. Um. Hope this doesn’t last too long.
- Joy Little Kusek just realized this is the first night in almost 9 months that I had absolutely nothing to do with putting Zoe to bed. Which is why I’m walking around feeling like the world is about to end, or the rapture might occur (or whatever your eschatology might be).
- Joy Little Kusek after a week of “sleep training,” Zoe went to bed with only a tiny little 30 second cry and then she was fine. This may not happen again tomorrow, but for now, I’m celebrating.
- Joy Little Kusek congratulations to Tiffani Mauldin Frederick and Ryan Frederick on the birth of their daughter Lively Bella Grace Frederick! We are so thrilled for you.
- Joy Little Kusek put Zoe down for bed tonight with ZERO tears, she curled up in her crib and went happily down. Somebodyah oughta shouta!
- Joy Little Kusek Five years ago today, Pete Kusek requested communication.
- Joy Little Kusek Poop in the baby tub. Nice.
- Joy Little Kusek has been reading The Unlikely Disciple all day long and loving every word. This guy is an incredible writer for being so young.
- Joy Little Kusek is excited about my new book project!
- Joy Little Kusek Note to self, make sure there are no random objects, say like a tube of baby toothpaste, stuck inside Zoe’s pjs when I put her to bed at night.
- Joy Little Kusek what’s it called when a woman feels like a widow (even though her husband is not dead) because she’s lost him to work or something? I feel like that right now. I can’t wait till finals are DONE and I’ll remember what it’s like to be married, and have someone in this house besides Zoe and the dog.
- Joy Little Kusek Last final of the semester was completed today. It’ll be nice to have Peter home for a while. Looking forward to all of us, (Nutmeg included) heading to Jasper on Sunday. A road trip in Alysa’s Toyota with the babe and dog will be FUN! Bring on the Holiday cheer!
- Joy Little Kusek is in Jasper, AR. It’s good to be here.
- Joy Little Kusek tonight, I put my daughter to sleep in the room I grew up in. Wow. I did not expect to get sentimental about this but I did.
- Joy Little Kusek Had such a fun evening reconnecting with old high school friends: Renee Stauffer McCutcheon, Misty Langdon, Paula Lynn Floyd-Faught, Liorah Bogle, Carrie Reynolds and finally meeting Robin Reeves Seymore. My face hurts from laughing so much. Our husbands should get awards for patiently listening to us blather on all night.
- Joy Little Kusek is proud of Pete Kusek for getting an A in every single one of his classes this semester (18 hours folks). Seriously, way to kick some A
- Joy Little Kusek standing in the check out line at Harrison’s Walmart the cashier announced to the woman in front of me with a THICK southern accent, “Uh oh, your total comes to exactly 6 dollars and 66 cents!” Then she made a face. I leaned over and said, “Quick better buy one more thing just to be sure you won’t have a scary Christm…as.” And then the cashier said, “No, it’s too late now!” Welcome to my world people
- Joy Little Kusek might just have a white Christmas in the Ozarks. Could it get any better? Merry Christmas everyone!
- Joy Little Kusek Made it back to Denton without a hitch. Zoe was in her happy place all 8 hours of the drive. Yay!
- Joy Little Kusek This is the first NYE in ages that I’m going to sleep through. Happy New Year to you reading this (yes, you!)! Take time to reflect, give thanks, and look ahead.
The Joy of This 
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