Whew!

I didn't know I could exist on no sleep for so long. It's amazing how, when needed, the motherhood/fatherhood gene kicks in and takes over. It seems like all we've been doing is diaper changes, feeding and cleaning up round the clock. I keep thinking to myself that things will ease up, especially once both the kids are well again.

Poor Ian. He has been coughing for about a month. When we got home from the hospital, it got worse. The doctor put him on a breathing treatment and antibiotics. Fortunately, he seems to be getting better, except for a severe case of diaper rash due to diarrhea (a side effect of medications). Laurel must have caught a "cold" from him. She is very congested. We took her in to the doctor Monday after also finding she had a fever of 100. The doctor has us watching her and bringing her in if there is any change. We're also under orders to keep Ian away from Laurel. Yeah, like that's possible when he is so excited about the baby.

Our two sick babies have been so miserable. Paul has been helping out so much, and yet he has had a cold too. The man is amazing, and I'm ever so grateful that he is my partner. Thank goodness he took two weeks off work to help out.

Baby Sister Arrives!

Ah yes, the countdown is now over, our little papoose is here! Question is, was it a countdown for the baby, or the name? One would wonder after all the hassle we got about not deciding on a name before the big day.

Baby Sister was born 10:43 a.m. on January 19. She was (I say was because we all know how fast wee babies grow) 19 1/2 inches long, and weighed 7 pounds 10 ounces. She's a beauty!

As for her name, drum roll please...



Let me introduce you to Laurel Ann.







It's amazing that at just a few days old, we can tell how different she is from her older brother. Ian could care less about eating in the beginning (a much different story now), Laurel could eat ALL DAY! This is a scary thing when you're breastfeeding, YIKES! She's a little piggy, she even snorts to let us know she means business. Ian is a fairly mellow guy, Laurel is quite, how should I put it, feisty. Gotta love a spirited girl! She knows what she wants and is determined to get it. Of course at this stage of the game, it's pretty much just eating.

Bunko Surprise

I still can't believe the generosity of the wonderful women in my bunko group. I showed up to a surprise baby shower! They are truly amazing. Look at the wonderful items they gave to Baby Sister: lots of adorable clothes, bibs, balloons (everyone loves balloons, especially babies), and even a tiny baby-sized bracelet (look at the bottom middle of the picture). Too cute! Paul and I send out a huge THANK YOU to the bunko women for this sweet surprise!

Baby Sister Countdown: 1 day, Whoo-hoo!!!

Ga-ga-goo-goo

Cheerios Detonation

Ian and I got to spend a delightful hour of our day at the Toyota Dealership getting a seatbelt recall taken care of. Oh joy, oh joy. As we were loading up to head home, I realized it had been a long time since either of us had eaten. I found a Ziploc bag of cheerios in my purse. Being the good mother, I opened the bag for Ian and handed it to him. Then I began driving home. Suddenly it hit me, I gave Ian an opened bag of Cheerios! What was I thinking? Didn't I vow NEVER to let him eat by himself in the car again since our vacation to San Diego? Within seconds I hear, "Uh oh." At the next red light, I look back and sure enough he had dumped the entire bag into his lap. Hey, you gotta give Ian credit for recognizing there was a problem.




















Well, at least he got to have a snack on the way home.

Now, meet my new best friend...




Baby Sister Countdown: 2 days (is anyone else EXCITED like me?)


:-)

Baby Sister Doesn't Have a Chance

Last night, we had friends over. To Ian's delight, their daughter Riley, younger than Ian by 5 months, showed up. He kept slyly walking sideways over to her to give her a kiss. She wasn't too sure about this behavior and let us know with a pout and someone would rescue her. Well, eventually she warmed up to Ian, so he seized the moment and took that kiss. I don't think she was too impressed, but I thought it was sweet. (The picture is of Ian and Riley on Halloween. He sure adores her!)



Later, Ian did something a bit unusual to Riley. I don't know, I think he thought she was a puppet or something. He would walk up to her with a huge smile on his face, grab hold of her wrist and make her arm go up and down. Riley looked confused and kept looking to the adults for guidance. She kept standing there, letting Ian move her arm for her. She finally decided this was not cool, and got help by displaying another pout. Hurray, her mommy came to the rescue. However, once she was placed back on the ground to play, Ian would go back to her and start his puppeteering all over again. Riley obvious objected, and yet would not run away. So far, the only way she knew how to solve the problem was to look for adult intervention.

This is why I worry for Baby Sister. Just lying there, staying in one place will be her thing for a while. Will Ian see her merely as a toy to play with? My biggest concern is when we're in the van and they're sitting next to each other, Ian facing forward and Baby Sister facing backwards. Thanks to some advice from a friend, I realize I could separate them by putting them on the side seats and not use the middle. And yet I know that the middle seat is supposed to be the safest place in the event of an accident. But what if Ian IS the accident? Hmm. We will have to play it by ear and see what happens.

Baby Sister Countdown: 3 days, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yakety, Yak

Ian loves the phone. It rings, he's tearing through the house towards one. Anytime absent minded mama or dada (mostly mama) leave one within reach, it's in his pudgy little hands, melodic tones sounding as he presses the keys hoping to reach someone, anyone. He knows that if he keeps pressing the buttons he's bound to get somebody. I just hope it's local and not China.

Unfortunately, he has not learned phone etiquette yet. Last week, he spent the day at Grandma Edie's. During his nap, the phone rang and my mom answered the phone in a different room so as not to disturb Ian's sleep. As she was talking, the other line picked up, and this boastful little voice chimes "Ello, aye," translation: "Hello, hi."Lots of babbling follows. Ian was so happy to finally answer the phone!

Yes, Ian loves the phone. In fact, he loves it so much, he pretends almost any rectangular object is a phone. Legos, blocks, straws at the restaurant, even his own hand. His favorite is a flip travel alarm clock. I think because it flips open, it reminds him of dada's phone. When we are changing his diaper, he likes to put the changing table's straps up to his ear and babble away. We ask who's on the phone, is it grandpa? That always cracks him up and gets him talking more.

For Christmas, Ian received two phones. This boy was in communication heaven! One was an Elmo (another love of his) flip cell phone. The other, part of a Winnie the Pooh book where the phone snaps in and out of the book and there are numbers you can dial to hear messages. He had both of these up to his ears at the same time babbling away. I honestly believe he had two different conversations going on. Oh how I fear his teenage years.

4 AM

Hi, my name is Tina, and I'm an insomniac. Yes, I need a 12 step program.

The millions of last minute to do things before Baby Sister arrives keeps popping into my head. I have probably been awake tossing and turning for at least an hour or two before now, and finally gave in and thought I'd get something accomplished. Evidently sleep is not on my to do list. However, I have done a load of laundry; sorted, thrown out, shred, and filed mail; emptied the dishwasher; cleaned a bathroom; and wrote down and prioritized all the things I want to accomplish this weekend. Darn it, I think I'm nesting.

Baby Sister Countdown: 5 days

Be Gone Grimy Grout!

We have white floor tile with white grout in our entry, kitchen, breakfast nook, laundry room and downstairs bathroom. Paul likes the tile. Me on the other hand, well...let's just say I look forward to when I'm working again, earning a paycheck, and can jackhammer it out. We're talking at least a decade from now, but one can dream. In the meantime, we have white tile.

Lately, actually the last year or so, we've noticed how gray the grout is looking. I spent a good two hours one day trying to scrub off the dirt and grime in just the bathroom. Yes, there was some improvement and I was feeling mighty proud of myself. But within a week, it started looking gray and dingy again. I can't see myself scrubbing like that even once a month, so I called in for help.

Yesterday, two guys showed up to scrub and stain our gray grout back to white. Let me tell you, I felt quite pampered in watching two other people scrub my floors! There they were on their hands and knees laboring, while Ian and I played. Ian wanted to help them, of course, but I intervened. He should learn it's ok to let others slave, umm, I mean help, while you relax.

These grout angels sent from home improvement heaven also repaired the grout in our upstairs guest shower. What a huge improvement! Before, we had dingy yellow grout that was partially covered by white caulk (thanks to previous owners). There were also spots where the grout finally gave way, leaving gaps between the tiles. Yikes! Thank goodness we took care of this when we did, or we would have a bigger problem later.

Now our upstairs shower looks almost new. The grout in the downstairs floors is actually glowing! I kid you not. I am one happy camper. Of course now I'm anal about keeping it that way. Poor Ian and Paul. Last night we had a rice dish for dinner. Ian tried to feed himself and rice went everywhere. I freaked out, and poor Paul had to wipe up the mess. Hey, I'm nine months pregnant and can't see my feet, let alone grains of rice lying on the floor. Paul, being the good guy that he is, cleaned without too much complaint. None, actually. I love that man! I give myself a couple of weeks once Baby Sister arrives before I finally give up on the floors. Hopefully, having stained the grout, it will be easy to return it to its glowing glory.

Baby Sister Countdown: 6 days

Pink Laundry

I've finally attacked the growing stack of clothes we've accumulated for Baby Sister (sorry, we've still not decided on a name). Some of the items have been donated from an unknowing Ian, a lot of the items have graciously been given to us by family members. Of course I had to purchase some myself after cruising some of the baby stores. How could I resist the cute little outfits with bows and ribbons? Anyway, back to laundry. I had enough pink articles, that I did an entire load of just pink. Too cool! As I started folding the clothes and organizing them by size, I realized how excited I'm getting about her arrival. Looking at the socks, I could barely imagine how small she must be, especially when compared to Ian who still resides off the chart for height! I can't wait to hold her and look into those huge, unfocused eyes. I can't wait to have her sleep in my arms. I've really missed that, since Ian outgrew that stage long ago. I can't wait to hear her voice, when she cries that newborn cry that makes everyone turn their heads and sigh "Aww." I can't wait to see her stretch, the way only newborns can, and for hours at a time!

People warned Paul and I that the time with Ian would go by incredibly fast, and it did. I realize how lucky we are that we get to go through all the different baby stages again, but this time with a little background knowledge. We have done our best to enjoy our time with Ian, and I hope we are able to continue this with Baby Sister in the mix. We keep getting asked if we are excited about the upcoming arrival, heck yeah! Are we fearful, heck yeah! Someone told us that once you have two children, the parents are outnumbered. To this I say, bring it on Baby Sister. I'm still going to enjoy every moment.

Baby Sister Countdown: 7 days, Yikes!

Let the Renovation Begin!

Hooray! Paul successfully tore down the two full length mirrors in Ian's future bedroom. The wall doesn't look too bad and should be fairly easy to fix (I say this before actually being attempted, we'll have to wait and see). The first mirror was a real pain to take down. Unfortunately, I had given Paul some suggestions I had read online. He scored the mirror with a glass cutter, used tape to keep shattered glass to a minimum (HA!), tried using wire and a thin saw blade to cut the adhesive (no effect, in fact the saw just tore up the drywall more), and finally shims and a hammer to pry the mirror away from the wall. The glass broke wherever it wanted in small chunks. The second mirror was much easier. He taped it completely over and then used a hammer to pry it away from the wall. The entire mirror came off in one piece! Oh joy! Lesson learned, never listen to me about house projects. A little caulk, a lot of spackle, and even more paint... we may have a bedroom! Keep posted to see how it's going.

By the way, Baby Sister countdown: 10 days

Grandpa's Little Farmer

Paul's dad loves to garden, so of course Ian does too. Here Ian and Grandpa are eating freshly picked corn and discussing what soil amenities are needed for next time.

Gardening is becoming a wonderful ritual whenever Ian is at Paul's parents' house. There is a certain little bucket that Ian knows is his to take to the garden. He goes out with Grandpa and picks peas. Then he proudly takes his bucket in to show Grandma, who helps him open the pods. Believe it or not, he eats the peas! What a great way to get Ian to eat his veggies!

Two Week Countdown

It's official, we have only two weeks before our baby girl makes her debut. I swear this morning she was just going to pop out as she internally kicked my ribs. I laugh at whoever said that the baby's movements slow down in the last month due to lack of space. HA! Baby Sister lets her presence be known! I can't help but think of the scene from Aliens where the alien pops out of the guy's chest and then runs off.

We call her "Baby Sister" due to reserving the right to change our minds at the last minute. This seems to annoy everyone, even my own mother. Hey, it wasn't too long ago people didn't even know the sex of the baby until delivery. At least we let everyone know it's a girl. Paul and I just haven't been inspired. I'm sure once we see her we'll know. So in the meanwhile, people, especially my friends, keep throwing names at me. I just keep shaking my head and thinking I probably did the same to them.

Two weeks and a million things to do. The biggest project is getting Ian's room ready so we can move him out of the nursery. If it were a mere paint job, I know we'd be done. However, having to tear down two full length mirrors has made us serious procrastinators. Not exactly our idea of fun. The phone call from Costco furniture telling us Ian's bedroom set will be here Monday has definitely set things in motion. This weekend should be a lot of fun.

In two weeks I'll get to hold Baby Sister in my arms! Paul and I recently were looking at video of Ian when he was first born. It's hard to imagine someone so small and fragile. Newborns are so funny looking with their big alien eyes, and yet so sweet with everything else so miniature. I just love that button nose.

I can't wait to show her to Ian and see his reaction. We talk to him about her and he kisses my tummy, laughs, and then very sweetly says "Bye, bye." He probably doesn't have a clue. It doesn't matter, I still think he'll make an awesome older brother.

'Lil Squirt

Here is a modest picture of Ian having fun in the tub. He has recently learned of squirt toy fun and humor. His aim is terrible, which adds to the excitement. He never knows what or who he might target, including himself, which really gets him to giggling. Nothing and nobody is safe, we all pretty much get wet. So maybe now I can convince Paul of the urgency in removing the carpet in the bathroom and replacing it with tile.