Shifting gears

It's been a little over 7 weeks since we welcomed our Adele. And today I realized that this week we've had a shift. We've made it past the chaos of transitioning to having two children, and when I wasn't looking, we achieved a new normal.
Different? Certainly, but happy.

Do you know what made me realize it? Bread. I baked bread today (gluten free, of course), and I don't EVER bake bread when things are chaotic. So we must have gotten there, to that normal place.

Thank you, LORD!

a good day

Before Adele was born, I thought nothing of doing most of my housework for the week on one day and play more with Hattie the other days. These days are different. I knew they would be. But it seems worth celebrating that dinner will be ready when Emery gets home and we've washed a couple of loads of laundry and done a little ironing. It is worth celebrating.

I also enjoyed phone calls with both of my brothers, and that makes it a special day indeed.

Mothering

I love being a mother. I love loving mothers on this special day.

But sometimes Mother's Day makes me feel a little sorry for myself because as my brother put it on facebook "my experiences with my actual mother were far from satisfying." He said it well, and he said it respectfully. Our mother wasn't involved in our lives, and still isn't. 
As a child, I craved normalcy in my family. I didn't want step-family and theoretical weekend visitations and emotionally volatile phone calls. I wanted my mother to be a mother, and yet, being around her was so exhausting that I didn't mind her absence.
The thought of posting a picture of my mother on this mother's day is almost laughable. And that makes me sad. 

But God sets the solitary in families. And He has blessed me with wonderful, strong women who, in the spirit of Titus 2, have taught me about loving my children and husband and keeping my home. Where one mother fell short, God has given me a handful of mothers in her stead. How amazing. I have many mothers, and I cannot feel sorry for myself when I think of that blessing.

Toddlerhood and Tuesdays

Y'all. My {bigger} baby is going to be two in an unbelievably short amount of time.

I'm not ready.


I love these days - even with their frequent need for discipline - but seeing her grow grow grow up makes me want to stick my pouchy lip out.

Last night she was singing her ABCs and Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. She also slept in her big-girl bed for the first time last night. She went to bed and stayed in bed like a trooper!

What a fast two years these have been! How strange that she has spent half of her life in this little house in Brandon.



It's true about first babies vs second. Hattie probably had 500 pictures taken of her by the time she was 5 weeks. Adele might have 50......and if we are blessed with more babies, they might only have 5 total.
And "sleep when the baby sleeps" totally doesn't happen when you have a toddler. 

Some friends of ours are going through a very sad time. I've prayed and cried for them because I've been there before.  My dad likes to say "You can't think and feel". Emotions aren't rational things, and that's okay. At the end of the day, God is still on his throne - and we can rejoice in that in spite of sadness.

In MS, we have Confederate Memorial day, and state workers get a holiday. This is one of my top ten reasons I like living here, maybe top twenty. Emery being home yesterday felt like we had an extra Saturday, and since we avoided all our Saturday chores and went to the Natural History Museum, this proved very beneficial.

Adele hit 10lbs last week! It always makes me so proud - as a nursing mama - to watch babies grow well. She's cooing and smiling more each day, and I fully expect her to roll over pretty soon. I've seen her come fairly close a few times already. :) Her skin color has been lightening up lately and she's looking more light she belongs to her pale parents, rather than islanders.
I love her fat cheeks. They are very kissable.

From the land of nap-time, one-handed blogging, may you have a happy and spit-up free Tuesday.
(because our latest jingle that Folgers won't want anything to do with is "The best part of waking up is spit-up on your shirt." except it really isn't....but when you have a three day streak, you've got to sing it and laugh and cringe a little.)
 

It's humbling

This parenting thing. Very humbling.

Because sometimes your baby's spit-up runs right down your shirt.

Because I couldn't remember Adele's name last night when asked for a solid five seconds. (Name? She has a name?).................at least the person who asked was gracious enough to write it off to exhaustion - though I didn't actually feel tired.

Because sometimes Hattie attempts to drink from a much too large cup and ends up soaked, and the baby wails, and after mopping up all the water the baby spits-up down your shirt (again) before you can even get the wet clothes off Hattie.

But these moments of calamity usually just make me laugh - after all is resolved, of course - because, well, what's the point if we can't laugh about our thoroughly imperfect life?
Don't let your pride get in the way of being able to enjoy life.

A merry heart doeth good like medicine.

Time to Think

I've been wanting to blog a little for a while. But you know life, and especially life with a newborn and a toddler...I don't often have any hands free to type.
I wouldn't change it a bit though.

Hattie learned to sing most of the words to "You are my Sunshine" this week. It makes my face hurt from smiling. And when she says, "Baby Dele, She's precious." I'm a melted heart mama.

Adele is a growing little thing. I can't believe we've been able to hold her in our arms for almost a whole month. She's running out of room for her toes in her newborn sleepers. :)

I love how infants look so relaxed when they sleep. Their arms tell the story. Out and up near the head, yeah, that's Good sleeping.

Are Clif Bars a food group? They have been for me the over the last month, especially when I get convicted about my protein intake for the day (um, or caloric intake for the day).



My brother graduates law school next month. A law degree is the equivalent of having one's doctorate, but instead of getting to be Dr. Jon, he just gets to be Jon, esq.  Which is still thoroughly cool, and I'm extra proud of his accomplishments.
Both of my brothers are extra cool, I've always thought so. And watching them raise their children confirms it altogether.
{I've got some pretty cool brothers-in-law too.}

A baby

 Our sweet daughter was born last week. She has captivated our hearts.

7lbs 12oz. 20 1/4'' long

Adele Elizabeth.

Adele's was our first hospital birth experience. It seemed so surreal packing up and driving to the hospital in the middle of the night. None of the hospital people seemed to mind that I had to get through the contractions before I could resume answering their questions and whatnot. I appreciated that. 

We were admitted an hour and a half before Adele made her appearance. The Dr. didn't make it in time. She was born on the birthing ball (which wasn't what I'd intended....but once I started pushing she was out in 8 minutes, so I didn't have much time to think about positioning).

It was such a fast labor. So fast and so intense. 

Honestly, I didn't even realize Adele's head was out until I heard her cry. That seems absurd, but it's true.

Our nurse didn't realize at all how quickly things were progressing. All of the sudden, she's yelling for "Everyone to get in here, NOW!" But by the time a dozen or so folks came rushing in, there wasn't anything for them to do. Adele and I were settled in the bed getting to know each other. The Dr. did show up shortly after. He didn't seem to be offended at all that I'd delivered the baby without him, and I appreciated that too.

I'm so thankful to have our sweet girl here and healthy. So thankful to finally get to know the baby that's been wiggling around inside of me for many months past. I'm thankful for my family. My family of four. 

Hattie is a precious big sister. She hasn't quite grasped how to be gentle enough with Adele, but she is trying. She enjoys shaking her hand and giving her kisses and poking her face.

We've enjoyed having Emery's mother in town for the last three weeks. It's been a blessing to have an extra set of hands, especially since Adele's arrival. {It's also meant that we've had a guest in our office space...and one doesn't feel too much liberty to spend time blogging while in someone else's room.}

I'm off to kiss my baby's fat cheeks. Breathe in her baby smell. And tickle her double chin.

Oh hey.

No, I didn't fall off the face of the earth. And no, I haven't had the baby yet.

So, hello, forty weeks pregnant. It's nice to see you. I'm not going to pretend I don't love telling people my due date is tomorrow and watching their reactions. It's pretty hilare.

We went to our first big consignment sale this morning. It was GREAT. I'm sold. Especially on half-price day. What a grand invention, and it was so well organized and non-chaotic...I'll take that over thrifting any day!

In other news, we had BBQ for lunch at Emery's new favorite BBQ place: Dickeys. And while the food is delicious, you get the added pleasure of smelling like BBQ for the rest of your life....or until you take a shower, and even then you can smell the smokiness in the vapor around you. I wish I didn't smell like barbeque.

These days....

These days I'm so clumsy that if I happen to be pregnant for another four weeks (heaven forbid!), we probably won't have a single glass remaining in our cabinet.

And my arsenal of shirts long enough to cover my belly is dangerously low.

And I'm so forgetful that half and hour after telling Emery I want to keep Hattie off of dairy for a while so she can get rid of her lingering congestion, I offer her milk with dinner. Oye.
    --->I did write in big letters on our dry erase board not to have any dairy today though, and so far we've stuck to it. However, without the dairy I'm very certain I won't achieve my protein goals for the day...because I can't seem to remember how get hardly any protein without dairy.

And my OB said that he was going to be out of town all next week, which just adds one more layer of complication to the potential of having this baby next week, so I guess I'll wait. Or she'll wait. Or both.

I decided that having a baby is kind of like being engaged. The longer the engagement, the more you'll spend on the wedding (in my observations); similarly, the more impatient one gets about having a baby, the more money she'll spend while she waits.
Pedicure. Big sister kit. Spring decor....nothing we really need, but that I still want.


Hattie has been growing so much lately and has started saying little sentences. She also talks more about what she's thinking rather than just talking about her surroundings. Her friends from church come up very regularly. "John. Pyles. <giggle>. Friend." "Da-vid. Preach." And our family members, especially those we get to skype with, get talked about often too.
She can sing her do-re-mi's and knows most of her shapes....I guess we could have her reading the shape notes if we put our minds to it. :)

Children have such beautiful minds. I love to listen to how they associate things and have such a fresh perspective on everything surrounding them. I love that Hattie and I can ride down the road and be as excited about tractors, planes, trains, and fed-ex trucks as we are about our destination. I love how she stops and listens to the dogs bark down the street or the car horns or sirens. I love to see who she chooses to wave to as we run errands (usually older black ladies).
I love being a mama. Thank you, LORD, for giving me such an inestimable gift. And please help me to be patient as we await the arrival of our newest addition.

March 4 and Mondays

I like March the 4th. February seems to need the first three days of March to make up for not having the 29th, 30th, and 31st days.
Kind of vindictive, no?

But today is March. Breezy and warm and gorgeous all around.

It's also a happy Monday. I love to get busy on Monday mornings and get the house back in shape after a restful weekend. Mondays mean Hattie doesn't get as many stories read to her or block castles built, but she's usually right along side of me folding clothes or 'sweeping' the floor, and I don't think she minds.

I was sick yesterday, sicker than I might have realized. I entertained the notion of going to church, but I got all tired out while trying to get dressed Emery gave executive orders for me to stay home and rest. Rest I did, and I barely got out of bed at all while they were gone. More than that, I didn't even feel well enough to read or anything, I just laid there and slept, which is very unlike me - even on sick days. Today, I'm mostly better, but certainly feel like I need to go a little slower than usual and give my body time to convalesce. {I'm not actually doing a good job going slower, but I am sitting down when I get winded.}

Baby Girl and I have made it to 37 weeks! I'm not feeling very patient about meeting her, but when I look at our schedules, I have agree that her due date would be the most optimal time for her to be born, and I'm praying we'll all be over our colds and thoroughly healthy by that time.