Idle

It's been so nice having Sister home from school lately that I found myself idly thinking about home-schooling her today just to have her around more. But that's because today she's chosen to be in her awesome big sister mode. In this mode, she does things like freely offer Bean piggyback rides to coax her out of a store we're running an errand in. She'll ask if she and Bean can share a smoothie when we're picking up a snack at the soft pretzel stand, and then she'll share it without minding when Bean demands very close together sipping turns. She'll try to engage Bean in noticing interesting things on a walk. When she feels like it, Sister is a ROCKIN' big sister.

It's 60 degrees outside today, warm enough to be outside at the duck pond with only long sleeves and no coats. It was just me and the girls since Husband is gone back to work now. The ducks had a damn fine treat--a freezer baggie of guglhupf cubes. The birds snarfed it, but Bean got at least a third of it. Why is it that I can serve that child delicious, perfect toast dripping with honey and butter in the morning and she'll only deign to lick a bit of honey off the top before pushing back from the table, but if I hand her some stale bread for duck-feeding she'll eat most of it? Not just stale pastry either, but hard, whole-grain bread heels that I've been accumulating in the freezer for 2 months? Anyways. It's best not to question why my middle child eats or doesn't eat the way she does. I can only hope that the baby will follow in Sister's eating footsteps someday. Sister, who requests Manchego and aged Gouda snacks without prompting...

Over it

Christmas is over and I, for one, am relieved. Not too sound all bah humbuggy or anything but the best part of Christmas for me is the day afterward. The girls (and Husband!) played with the new toys, I played board games with Sister and helped her mix potions from her new spa kit, started a sewing project, did a little laundry, nursed the baby, snacked...so relaxing. After dinner we went bowling which was not so relaxing since Sister finally hit her post-Christmas meltdown mode. But still, a lovely day.

Anyone out there making New Year's resolutions this year? I'm thinking about some, one of which will definitely involve my fat ass. Nothing specific yet, though...

Poopy

Alright, this just happened. I caught a whiff of poop-stink wafting my way from Bean's direction. I asked her, "Bean, are you poopy?" She replied gleefully, "Yes, Mama, I have a giant poop!" I plopped her down on the changing table and her feet are propped up on the wall, she's so big. She held her nose the entire time I changed her, asked me, "Is the poop all gone now?" before daring to unpinch her nostrils, and then complained when she still smelled poop in the air around her.

What do you think? Time to potty-train this 2 years and 8 months old girl? I mean, if she's using adjectives to describe it and all?

No time for prose posts!

I'm still here, living large in baby world. Actually, it's more like all toddler/all the time at our house these days. Was Bean always this attention grabbing, or is it just in stark contrast to her new baby sister sleeping through most of the day, crying only if her diaper is wet or if she needs to nurse? I'm too tired to remember just now. Bean is busy, but at least the baby is still easy. And I must spare some mental time to come up with a blog alter ego name for our new little angel...

In the meantime, here's what's new:

1. Utter disgust with my post-pregnancy body. At my 2-week check-up yesterday, I learned that I still have 20 pounds to lose. My friends are all like, "Oh, nursing will take it off. You'll be fine." And Husband is like, "Hmmm, that'll be challenging. Wanna go for a walk tomorrow before I go to work?" Maybe my ass looks worse than I think...

2. Christmas madness, but it hardly merits any detailed explanation. I will say that I managed to make a few batches of goodies over the weekend, if not my usual vast quantity and selection. And I did manage to ship a couple of packages in time. Other than that I've got a fair amount of shopping to do. But if it doesn't get done, no one will know that I intended to buy them an autoharp, or a Webkins, or what-have-you.

3. Back to my horribly slack body. I bought a Pilates video at Target a few days ago just because I happened to walk by them and because a couple of rushed walks per week in the mornings ain't gonna take off 20 pounds anytime soon. I feel like a total dork doing fitness videos all by my lonesome at home, but at least it's something. I guess. I just hope no one sees me through the living room window.

4. Off to haul Sister, Bean, and new baby out the door to piano class. It starts in 30 minutes, but I've recently learned how FRIGGING LONG it takes to get three kids out of the house and into the van. Oy!

Hope you're all well. I'll catch up one of these days.

Getting out

Today wasn't my first trip out of the house with both little girls, but it was my first attempt at a major excursion. We went to the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, about half an hour's drive away.

The hardest part? Just getting out the frigging door! I was shooting for 9:30, was feeling our departure was imminent enough to say so to Husband and the water company guys dropping in for a repair at 9:55, and was shocked to see the minivan's clock reading 10:25 by the time we were backing out of the driveway. Two sets of diapers must be freshened now. Two changes of clothes must be packed (and appropriate for the 75 degree day we're having). The baby must be tanked up with milk. Bean must be not too far past her famously meager breakfast or snacks will be in order. Who am I kidding? Snacks are always in order for Bean these days, so last minute tangerines must be peeled for the car, tissues must be stuffed in any available pocket for Bean's runny nose, and I need to not be too hungry or it will all go to hell.

Phew! Fortunately, the museum itself was just fine. I'm a mama who firmly believes in bribery, so butterfly and dinosaur stickers from the museum shop, conveniently located next to the exit, plus gummy fruit snacks for the car ride home made leaving in time for a nap amazingly easy on everyone.

One point for me!

It is NOT gas

Winner, originally uploaded by salutor.

Can you honestly tell me that this giant baby grin has anything to do with gas like Husband says? And why would a baby be grinning because of gas anyways? I say my baby is smiling on purpose because she's on her mama's lap with a belly full of warm milk.

So there.

New little sweetie

IMG_0367, originally uploaded by salutor.

Our sweet little girl finally decided to make her grand entrance! She was born at 1:11 pm on Monday, December 3rd, six days after her due date.

Labor took 9 hours and was made weird and fitful by the baby not dropping til the midwife broke my bag of water and I was totally dilated. Then toward the end she got stuck crowning, which felt just as awful as it sounds. After a gigantic push, the stuck half of her head, the rest of her, and a deluge of amniotic fluid, blood, and poop--the baby's, not mine--came out all at once. It wasn't pretty, but she got born!

Turns out that she weighed a chunky 9 pounds 7 ounces and had a 14 1/4-inch head circumference. Also, her shoulder was sorta torqued sideways which the midwife said was probably why labor progressed which such strange timing and why she was so hard to push out. I would definitely say this was my hardest birth, but she was my biggest baby so it's maybe not so surprising.

Things have been fairly relaxed around here today. Sister is at school, and my mother came to pick up Bean for the day. I've had a shower and found something that both fits and that I can nurse in, both of which seem like minor triumphs all on their own. Husband has been so solicitous and sweet and has said all manner of complimentary things about my labor. Our new little one is nursing beautifully, and I get the distinct feeling that she's happy she's here.

It's so nice to have another baby girl in the family!

Later

December 1st would've been a lovely, easy-to-remember birthday, but alas, that was NOT the birthday of our baby. December 2nd doesn't appear to be shaping up as her birthday either. This baby is officially 5 days late, and I'm feeling pretty damn down about it now. The waiting around trying to come up with busy work is hard. The pelvic pain, waddling, hormonal grumpiness, and water retention make it suck.

Husband and I thought she might be coming Friday night. I had pretty intense contractions starting at 9:45 pm, and since the midwife had stripped my membranes that afternoon it felt like things were happening down there. The contractions were 9 minutes apart and about a minute and a half long for two hours...and then just stopped. At the time, I was sorta grateful because I'd been up since 3:30 that morning, just unable to go back to sleep. I was exhausted, thinking it probably wouldn't go well with me that tired. I decided to lie down to rest and started falling asleep between contractions. Finally they must have just stopped coming and I stayed asleep. I woke up the next morning thinking, "Shit! I shouldn't have lay down! Maybe I could've kept it going!" But maybe I couldn't have. Probably I couldn't have. If I had any control over labor I would've had this baby a couple of weeks ago.

Anyways. It'll be exciting to meet this new little girl and see what she looks like and all. But really all I can think are more selfish thoughts about how much I want not to be pregnant anymore.