It's never too late to be thankful...

For deep Thanksgiving talks with Pappy Ray, and for the opportunity and blessing it is to have four generations together around the Thanksgiving table. We don't take for granted how lucky we are to be able to do that. My mom and dad worked tirelessly in the kitchen to prepare an incredible feast.....incredible!

For the three blessings we hold in our laps. And for my sister, who I love and value more every passing year, it seems. She's a great mommy, a great aunt, and a great friend to me. And for the opportunity we have to love our children (and each other's) the way we do.

For the newest blessing to our family, who slept all the way through her very first Thanksgiving dinner. I have a picture of Joshua from his first Turkey Day that is identical. I'll post them side by side for your comparison.

For the love of cousins. These two...

...and these two. It was one of the highlights of my holiday to have a chance to meet and snuggle with Ridge. I cannot get over the size difference of these two babies. And guess who's older? The little runt in Shannon's arms is a week and a half older than Ridge, but he's got her by a MILE!


For moments like these on a quiet Black Friday morning. Joshua and Nana baking some cookies. Just like a Nana to make sure Joshua had some special treats that were safe for him to snack on, and involving him was all the better.

And, for the occasional squabble between our precious munchkins who are learning how to play together. They both think the toys at Nana's are theirs, and neither is too interested in sharing with the other. But we're getting there.

I know it's late...and most people have been long done with their "thankful" thoughts for the year. But it was such a blessing to NOT have the opportunity to post these pictures until now. It was so great to be out of the house and not be at my office or the grocery store, the two places I seem to go to be able to "get out".

Our trip to Lewistown was wonderful. I joked that I felt like I sat on my parents' couch for the entirety of our visit feeding Lauren, but to be able to be there with the hustle and bustle of the holiday going on around me was a gift. We were able to see lots of family, and really appreciated everyone stopping by to meet Lauren. We ate too much and laughed a lot...just the way it's supposed to be.

We headed home on Saturday morning and worked on getting unloaded and unpacked. Laundry is still in the works, which I don't quite understand since Mom was helping me to wash the kids' clothes as they wore them. But there's a multiplying factor to laundry that continues to boggle my mind. We then set out to get the Christmas decorations out for the inside of the house, and our halls were appropriately decked by supper time. We're enjoying twinkle lights on our tree as we speak (or type).

I have a few funny Joshua stories that I'll save for tomorrow that are definitely "bloggable". For now, I'm rushing this morning to get Lauren fed, the car packed up again, and get to the office for a day of finance work and then her two month doctor's appointment this afternoon. She has no idea what she's in for...and I'm already dreading the shots. But I can't wait to have some updated stats on our little girl to share. More on all of that.

Even though I was a little late with my post, I do firmly believe that it's never too late to be thankful, or to share our thanks for the blessings we've been given. And so, for our families who love us unconditionally and unfailingly, for our own little family here that continues to fill this house with love and laughter, for our friends and our home, our jobs and our faith, we give thanks to the One who gave it all to us. And now, our thoughts are directed toward this magical season we're entering into. And as Pastor Jamie's message yesterday highlighted, it's never too early to start preparing for something really big, like Christmas. We are...expectantly waiting and appreciating the spirit of Christmas.

Is there anything cuter than ruffles?

I'm going to go ahead and say no to that. I'm a convert...from thinking that little boys' things are about as cute as they can be to dressing my little girl in pink ruffles and nearly melting over how cute she was. You can't fully appreciate how adorable this outfit is in pictures, or without seeing the matching pink ruffles on the rear end of the pants! This outfit was a gift for Lauren from Emily, and I couldn't wait until Lauren had grown enough to wear it. Sunday for church was the day....and we LOVED it (along with everyone else at church who commented on how precious she looked)!

And I guess this is how it's going to be at our house..... pink on one side, football helmets and Matchbox cars on the other.

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We got an early start this morning. to put it mildly. It was 7 am on Monday when I started this post and began uploading some pictures from the weekend. By then I had showered and gotten dressed, folded and put away two baskets of laundry, dressed Joshua and helped him eat his breakfast and had been playing Wizard of Oz with him for a good while. We happened to catch the Wizard of Oz on TV last night and it is literally all Joshua has been talking about since then. We had to turn it off during the part with the flying monkeys and the witch's castle because he got scared (frankly, that witch still gives me the creeps, so I don't blame him). But he seems a bit obsessed this morning and has been asking a hundred questions about why Dorothy had to bring the wizard the witch's broom stick, why the flying monkeys took Dorothy to the castle, why she needed to go back home, etc. etc. etc. ad nauseum. I figured my Dad and Aunt Libby would enjoy this newest fascination.

So, all of this was done before the little princess decided to wake. I finally woke her at 7 to eat....it was about me, not her. She had a great night--- went down at 9 peacefully, woke up from 2:30-3:10 to eat and then fell right back to sleep, and then had to be woken at 7. All nights are not like this, but on my list of things to be thankful for this year is most definitely a baby who is far easier than her big brother in the sleeping department (at least for now...I'm not so naive to think this will last forever).

It's going to be an exciting week with our trip to Lewistown on Wednesday afternoon. I can't remember when I've ever been this excited to go home, but I'm really looking forward to a couple of days with everyone and the chance to introduce Lauren to a whole bunch of family that she hasn't met yet. I just know she'll love everyone! Joshua is thrilled at the idea of going to Nana and Pap's and talks about it all the time. He mostly wants to watch The Polar Express with Pap (here we go with that again) and take a tractor ride. He's been very intrigued with the idea of Thanksgiving dinner and seems excited about that too, until we sit down at which point he won't be the least bit interested in eating, I'm sure.

As for today, it'll be a normal day (I almost wrote "quiet day" and then chuckled to myself at how UNTRUE that is) at home. There is more laundry to do and some last minute Christmas shopping orders to place. I think there should be an award for me accomplishing my entire list without having stepped inside of a store--- but to this point, all purchases have been made online and are showing up on my doorstep daily from Alan the UPS man. If only they were wrapped!

The Day I Felt Like A Bad Mom...

There have been a few times that I've felt like I could be put up for "Not-The-Best Mother of the Year" status.

Take, for instance, the time that about 8 or 9 week old Joshua somehow found a way to roll from the middle of a double bed onto the floor while I turned around to put on a pair of shoes to go to church. He was fine.....stunned, but fine. I, on the other hand, was a basket case. To this day, I can't explain how that happened. He was barely rolling over, but somehow managed to roll 3 or 4 times to get off of the bed in the literal blink of an eye. This particular time, I felt better only because my mother recounted the story of the day I rolled off of my changing table and hit my head on the radiator. Apparently everyone has moments like that. That would have made a pretty good blog if only I knew what a blog was when that happened.

Consider also the morning, while getting dressed, that Joshua got so excited at the prospect of his bottle that his head started bobbing, and he head butted himself directly into my thumbnail. That one left a nasty gash by his eye that needed to be inspected at the doctor's office for a potential stitch. Thank goodness no stitches were necessary, but I was convinced that Children and Youth would be on my doorstep to remove him from my care that day.

There was also the time that I started pulling out of the Staples parking lot only to realize that I had forgotten to buckle Joshua into his car seat. He was sitting in it, but strapping the baby in is usually a preferable way to travel. I learned that in my car seat technician course.

Or the time that I managed to somehow let him lose his beloved Bear at the mall during the Christmas rush. We called and called until finally, some very nice cleaning person at the Bon Ton found him under a rack on the overnight cleaning shift. Jason was able to make a trip to retrieve our friend and bring him home where he belonged, to the waiting arms of a very happy little boy.

Well, I can now add Wednesday to that list of experiences.

I've been resembling a 75 year old for the past 40 weeks or so. I made the decision not to do any hair coloring while I was pregnant, and the gray hairs on my head were prominent and strong in numbers. My hair was also long and straggly, which is why it found itself in a pony tail for much of the past 7 weeks since Lauren's birth. On my ever growing list of things to do has been an appointment with my hairdresser to remedy both situations. But being away from her for that length of time has been a real issue. I finally bit the bullet and scheduled an appointment for Wednesday afternoon. Grandma was going to come down and stay with the kids while I went to transform back into the 31 year old that I am (and therefore should reasonably look like).

I was a bit unglued about the whole thing, just because I was worried about Lauren's eating. She's been a little hesitant to take a bottle at all, although we've been working on it little by little and usually with some coaxing and a whole lot of patience, she'll drink eventually. I fed her immediately before I walked out the door and fully expected that she'd sleep peacefully until her next feeding.

When I walked in the door at 5:30, I found out that she had been screaming for the entire time I was gone, had refused her bottle completely and hadn't slept more than a few minutes. The look in her eyes as I fed her nearly broke my heart. She was looking at me as if I had totally let her down....left her to starve....though that was no where near the case. And so, I add the day I selfishly transformed back into a brown haired girl to the list of days I've felt like a bad mom.

Something tells me that there will be more of these.

Joshua has been playing a lot of doctor lately. Like his doctor hat?


I finally won the nap battle on Tuesday afternoon. He wasn't in his bed as I had hoped, but I guess this did the trick. We improvise around here these days.


Stretching in her sleep. I think that's how she's growing so fast!

Good News & Bad News

Good news....it doesn't look like I'm going to have to wear sweatpants to Thanksgiving dinner after all. Finally, my jeans are fitting again. This may not be news worthy to some (OK, or any of you), but to me it is and therefore I'm logging it here for posterity. Honestly, if I want to give myself full credit, my pants technically fit a few weeks ago, but I have come to the conclusion that being able to sit down and breathe are two things that I will not sacrifice for the sake of saying that I fit into my pre-pregnancy pants. I just won't do it. Although the weight from my pregnancy with Lauren has disappeared, that hasn't meant that everything was in the same place it had been previously. I blame Dr. Miller for not putting things back where he found them because it clearly could have had nothing to do with my obsession with all things sweet while carrying Lauren in my tummy.

For me, I feel like I've been trying to lose weight since I was about Joshua's age, so the idea of letting pregnancy take its toll on my body with the full responsibility for undoing the damage falling on my shoulders has not been a fun concept to wrestle with over the past three years. But I've learned that it's likely something I'll be grappling with for a long time to come- not because of pregnancy (let's be very clear that I do not anticipate THAT again) but because, for whatever reason, this is the body God graced me with and I'll certainly do the best I can. The good news is that if my daughter should have similar struggles (and oh how I pray she will not), I can certainly relate to her and help her to keep her self image as strong as possible, to save her the heartache it has caused me over the years.

Anyway...no sweatpants at the turkey table. Although I can't make any promises that Libby and I won't find our "comfies" sometime in the evening so that we can better experience playtime with the kiddos while they wreck havoc on Nana's house! Or because we ate too many filling balls and breathing in our jeans has become an issue.

The bad news is that I don't have any pictures of the kids this morning. I have spent the morning on puke duty. I believe Lauren spit up all of her night time feedings and both of her morning feedings so far today. I've come to the conclusion that she does this from time to time just to keep my milk supply in tip top shape. Top that off with Watson's contribution to the middle of the living room floor and I'd consider this a pretty darn unproductive morning. The Spot Bot is kicked into high gear to get the RED dog food puke stain off of the rug. And a load of laundry has begun to clean the supply of burp cloths again for the baby. And why have I not considered going back to work earlier than January??? Oh yeah....because I love this baby, and I love spending time with Joshua. But good grief...

So...what did you do this weekend?

Did you ever have one of those weekends where you feel like you accomplished a lot and did a lot of things, but then when you go to write about it, it doesn't feel nearly as interesting as it was in your own head? Well, we had one of those weekends at our house. There was lots of play time with Joshua, lots of snuggling with Lauren, lots of family time just to be together, lots of football. But if you're looking for substance or exciting adventures, I might suggest that you head on to the next blog you frequent to see if you can find some there.

However, I do have a couple of pictures to show you what we did this weekend.

We enjoyed our new living room setup quite a bit. See how we've moved into the 21st century with the television mounted on the wall? Honestly, keeping up with the times wasn't our objective with this little project. It was more like "the walls are closing in on us in this small living room with 8 million toys, soon to be 16 million toys when the baby gets big enough to play with things". Space was the objective, and swapping out the huge big screen TV for a smaller wall mounted one was a big step forward. Our electrician (yes, we've done enough projects at this house to be able to call him "ours") was here on Thursday and hid all of the cables and wires inside our walls for us and we've been breathing a bit easier ever since. This was one of Jason's brainstorms, and it was a great one!

On Saturday morning, Joshua was all decked out in his football jersey. He happily declared it Penn State day upon waking up. He and Lauren played on the floor for a little while in the morning. For some reason, the baby was content to lay on the floor and look around for 20 minutes or more...so we went with it. Her legs and arms were flying around and she was cooing up a storm.

In the afternoon, Daddy and Joshua headed outside to rake some leaves. Josh was hard at work and loved the chance to get outside for some fresh air. We did that again for a long time on Sunday afternoon, although I don't have any pictures of that.

While they were outside, Lauren and I made a big pot of homemade chicken noodle soup that we all enjoyed very much. And I snapped some pictures of her while she was sitting in her seat watching me cut all of the meat off of our chicken to put in the soup. I thought this one looked like she was going to knock someone out.



This was from Sunday morning. I thought she looked like Popeye...

We all managed to get out the door and make it to church on time on Sunday morning as well. In Earth shattering news, Joshua went to kids church all by himself (well, he took Bear with him, but I don't think that counts as not being a big boy) which allowed Jason and I the opportunity to be in church together for the sermon. It was great. Lauren ate right before we left for church and then slept on my shoulder for the whole service. She was definitely hungry when we got home, but she made it 3 hours between feedings when she needed to. Good girl, Lauren! On the way out of church, Joshua held up the line of people trying to shake the pastor's hand by asking him 74 questions. We now know his favorite color and what color car he drives (two of his favorite questions for everyone these days). He also decided to tell him that Lauren is a baby and wears diapers, but he's a big boy and has learned to use the potty. I'm sure that was something Pastor Jamie was dying to know. Everyone humors Joshua pretty well, but some of these "going out the door" conversations with the pastor have been comical to say the least.

On tap this week... a hopeful playdate with Darla, Sydney and Daphney, my long awaited haircut and color on Wednesday afternoon and Lauren's first likely feeding with someone other than Mommy (I'm already having a small panic attack in my own head about this one), a few expected visitors, Christmas shopping (I love the Internet) and building excitement about our first road trip as a foursome to be in Lewistown for Thanksgiving. It's a thrilling life, huh?

Worried about poop...

For me, being a mom has been a lot of things. Before Joshua was born, I actually was told or saw a quote that has stuck with me. Whether it came from a wise friend, an email forward or a Hallmark card I'm not certain, but it's been so true. It was something like, "The decision to become a mom is the equivalent of choosing to forever have your heart go walking around outside of your body." Something like that. And how true that's been for me, and so many other friends who have described the experience similarly. These little people are born, placed into our arms, and we're forever changed. Mostly, it's been in a good way and I wouldn't go back and change it for all the tea in China.

You're probably wondering what a serious quote like that has to do with a blog post whose title includes the word "poop". Well, let me see if I can take you on my train of thought. This may be a glimpse into my thought process that proves my insanity...I'm not sure. But we'll see how I can do.

For me, one of the biggest changes of motherhood has been the constant feeling of worry that I have felt since finding out that I was pregnant for the first time in January of 2006. In an attempt at full disclosure, I should point out that worrying was not new to me. It's something I've practiced and practiced and practiced all my life. Frankly, it's something most Richards are really good at. I can remember worrying about things when I was in elementary school--- like forgetting my gym clothes or my umbrella, like how I'd do on a test or an assignment, like worrying what others thought about me, when my friends weren't the least bit concerned. This didn't resolve itself throughout the rest of my education and probably was heightened in college when there wasn't anyone else around to worry about me, so I felt the need to do it all for myself and everyone else around me (although I now know how silly it was to think that no one was worrying about me...my parents surely were in their very own panic attack at having me away from home with 40,000 people they did not know and likely would not have approved of). Jason distinctly recalls my "speeches" to him via IM when we were in college. He'd be telling me about his plans to go out to a party on a Friday (or a Tuesday) night at which point I'd begin to worry about him. (Who's driving? Don't you have classes tomorrow? But you're not 21 yet!) I worried about everyone. So the idea that being a mom heightened my sense of worry wasn't really a shock. But the things that worry me have been comical.

Lauren has been a poop every time you change her diaper kind of girl ever since we've met. Usually she pooped WHILE you were changing her diaper. I always thought that was sort of her little joke and if she could chuckle, she would have, just to see me scamper around to get a diaper fast enough to avoid an outfit change. Being the worrier that I am, breast feeding has been an interesting lesson in trust and patience for me. But I always knew that as long as diapers were wet and dirty (and trust me, I have the counts, sizes and frequency of what is "proper" all noted for reference) that things are going OK. Well, the little lady threw me for a loop over the past couple of days and has changed her pooping ways. It was enough to make me almost call the doctor on more than one occasion. (Until I talked myself out of it due to not wanting to be that mother who calls in about her baby's poop.) So our 8-10 dirty diapers a day went down to none since Saturday, and then one on Monday and Tuesday.

This mother worry had me Googling things that I never dreamed I'd Google. (And just as a side note, I wondered what on earth moms did PRIOR to Google for situations like this!) Apparently this is normal and babies get really good at absorbing all of what they're eating at this age, so there's less to waste. As long as she's wetting diapers which she is with unbelievable frequency, and she doesn't seem to be in pain or changing her behaviors otherwise, we're fine. But good grief. I was shocked at how quickly I went into a state of panic over pooping.

And if pooping is going to do it to me, what in the world is my life going to be like when I've got REAL things to worry about----- like driving, or dating or seeing them get their hearts broken for the first (or 10th) time. Luckily, practicing on things like poop breaks us all in little by little.

So, did I connect the dots on that one?

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In other news, Joshua went to his 3 year checkup yesterday at the doctor's office. We had talked lots about it, and he was slightly less hysterical than on past trips. I still stand by my creative idea that pediatricians should have two offices--- one for sick visits and shots that looks just like a regular doctor's office, and one for well visits that resembles Chuck E Cheese. There should be a big slide that you come down into a giant ball pit when the nurse calls their name. They could slide right into their exam room and have a grand old time. Serve snacks. Give out balloons. Make it fun. Maybe then they wouldn't have the association of the 27 shots they've received since they were miniature that all comes flooding back to them upon entering the door to the facility. But I digress.

Josh weighed 29.75 lb (27th percentile) and was 39" tall (83rd percentile). His BMI was 13.6....0 percentile. It was suggested to us that we feed him more. I was half annoyed at the comment, although I was also fully expecting to have the conversation. I kindly suggested that the doctor was more than welcome to join us for dinner (or breakfast or lunch) anytime to give us some pointers on how to get him to eat more. He said that he's not really concerned, and that they worry far more about kids who are too heavy than too light. Joshua is probably just going to be a long and lean kind of kid, at least for this part of his lifetime. Otherwise he checked out just fine. I had a good chuckle when the nurse was talking through the developmental milestones with me. She asked if Joshua knew one color. I just laughed and said, "Uh huh". Although I was surprised that she would have needed to ask when he had just responded to her with a full dissertation on how he was doing and what all his morning had entailed when she asked how he was when exchanging pleasantries. His heart was broken when it came time for his flu shot. I hate that his checkups coincide with the annual flu shot timeframe, but not enough to pay two $20 copays to bring him another time and keep the association of the checkups shot free.

While we were at the doctor's office, Lauren spent a snuggly hour with Grandma. She was asleep with a full belly when we left and was just beginning to stir when we arrived back home. I believe both she and Grandma had a ball.

Milestone-wise, Lauren has begun smiling at us when she's happy and has begun cooing the sweetest little sounds with her raspy voice. Oh how it did my heart good to see that first precious "on purpose" smile on Friday. It's infrequent, and I've yet to snap a picture of a good one, but she's starting to show that precious personality that I can't wait to get to know. She still enjoys being held more than I would personally prefer, but I'm giving us both some slack on that by remembering that she'll only be this little for a little while. And if she wants to spend that time close enough that I can smell her sweet baby breath while she sleeps, that's 100% fine by me. The cleaning might not be getting done with the regularity I would have hoped, but I'm in love with this precious little girl, and that's WAY more important than empty laundry baskets.

And now, to end the most rambly post ever...here are a few pictures.

On Monday afternoon, we went to Darla's house to let the kids jump in their bounce house. This was snack time. We played in the leaves, jumped in the bouncer and played with every toy and yard tool they had. The little babies were in our arms enjoying the snuggles. I have yet to actually touch baby Daphney, but hope to by the time we put the kids on the bus to kindergarten.

And here's my favorite girl....so sweet!!

Three Kids...Three Grown Ups

I've been saying ever since we found out that we were pregnant with Lauren that I had no intention of getting outnumbered by children. And I still don't. In fact, I was so thrilled when my mom decided to accompany Libby and Brooke to spend the day with us on Saturday so that there wasn't a chance of Libby and I being outnumbered (not that we couldn't have handled it, but we would have spent the majority of our day chasing after one or more of the small people). We had three children, and three grown ups. Perfect proportions if you ask me. We didn't always take care of our own children---- it was a bit of a free for all. Everyone was asking, "Do you have her?" "Are you OK with him?" "Did he eat?" "She might spit up." "I think that potty chair might need to be emptied." "She might need a diaper change." And whoever was closest was the one who handled it. I'm becoming a believer in communal living after having spent the day with my mom and Lib. There were even moments where I had NO children pulling on me or being held over my shoulder. The freedom was just what the doctor ordered.

I almost didn't want to let them leave to go home. The thought crossed my mind to hide my mom's keys. I decided against that on the principle that it just wasn't nice....but I really was considering it out of my own selfish enjoyment of their company. Living an hour away makes me so thankful for the time that we do get to spend together. We're already looking forward and counting down to Thanksgiving for our first "road trip" to Nana and Pap's house, and a few solid days to spend with everyone. It's going to be awesome.

Here are a few pictures...

Joshua and Nana with one of at least 11 lollipops that he opened, licked and then threw away.

Drum time. Joshua's theory on sharing is "What's mine is mine. And what's yours is mine." So he was having none of letting Brooke play drums with him. Aunt Meg to the rescue with a big soup pot and a wooden stick. Voila...a second drum. Brooke seemed just fine with our makeshift solution. It was loud, but they were happy.


Here's Brooke taking an early interest in potty training.

And...after Nana gave Joshua an early bath to help me so that I didn't have to juggle both kids at tub time, Aunt Libby was giving him some loving. And as usual when Aunt Libby is involved, there was much giggling!

After they left, I had promised Joshua a special night with Mommy while we waited for Daddy to get home from the Penn State game. He was so exhausted from playing hard all day that he was asking to go to bed at 7. Knowing full well that that was going to mean that he'd be up raring to go at 3 am, I managed to hold him off with a little movie party (Horton Hears A Who) and a nice ice cream treat. We giggled and had a grand time. Daddy arrived home around 8:30...just in time to play a little football with Joshua and then cuddle with Lauren while I read two pages of a book to a very sleepy little boy who quickly drifted off into dreamland.

We did not manage to get to church yesterday---- schedules just didn't allow it. I hated to miss it, especially after we had such a great time with everyone at the spaghetti dinner on Friday night, but will look forward to getting back next week. We did some work around the house yesterday and I took the kids outside for a while to enjoy the unseasonably warm November weather. Our outside time even included a walk around the development with Joshua in the stroller and Lauren in her sling. It was wonderful, knowing how lucky we are to have a few of these nice warm days just before we fall into the depths of the cold cold cold weather which defines winter in central PA. I personally love winter, but it's a whole different challenge with a 3 year old who doesn't understand the concepts of frostbite and pneumonia.

It was a great weekend! This week is a little busy, which I'm loving. I think we have something to do every day except Wednesday, which will allow me to focus on the chores that day (hopefully). I'll try for lots of pictures...

God Bless...

...this mess.

This is how the living room generally looks during the day time. We usually get it cleaned up and put back together by the time Jason gets home...usually. I just found this particular mess especially horrid and thought I should document it.

...the little boy who saw fit to line up his Matchbox cars in a straight line. No question about whether he's going to be the typical first born Type A personality, huh? He gets it honestly...from both sides.



...this precious little boy who is starting to get back to normal a little bit more. He's crying less. Throwing fewer temper tatrums (he must have sensed that I was on the edge the other day...my bags were packed to run away from home). He's sleeping a little bit more through the night. Yesterday he sat so nicely and made some art projects with me. He was practicing his cutting and also his letters with his dot art markers. What a fun time we had. This was also after we had danced to some kids' CD's that were sent to us from some friends. It was a super morning.


And finally...God bless this little angel. I took a picture of her snoozing away this morning. Last night I was sure it was going to be a horrible night because she had snoozed in Jason's arms the better part of the evening. Generally that doesn't bode well. Much to my surprise, when I laid her down at 9:45 she stayed asleep until 3:15. I had woken up at 2:25 with...well...soreness from being so full. When I went to check on her, I really struggled with the idea of waking a perfectly asleep little baby and eventually decided not to after starting at her for a few minutes. She was just too peaceful. Shortly after that, she woke up on her own, ate like a champ and went right back to sleep. I didn't hear from her again until 6:15 when she started to stir.

And I have no idea why this picture is sideways. The mysteries of Blogger, I suppose. But she's still cute and I just had to show off those bright stripes.

We have a big weekend on taps here. Tonight we're headed to church for a spaghetti dinner for people who are new to the church in the past year or so. It's such a nice gesture. Joshua is excited to eat noodles. I'm anxious to get out of the house and get to know some more of the people from the church a little better. Tomorrow Jason and a friend of ours are headed to Happy Valley to enjoy the game. Oh how I'm jealous. But, I'm just as excited to spend the day at home with the kids, Libby, Brooke and it's rumored that my mom may join them. We'll have a great time, and I'll be thrilled for some additional energy and attention for the kids. I'm missing Brooke something fierce as well, so I can't wait to see her. Sunday we may not venture to church due to the rest of the commotion going on, but I'm sure we'll be busy. There are groceries that need to be purchased and bathrooms that need to be cleaned. By then, I'm also certain that there will be a load or six of laundry that need some attention.

For now, Mommy duty calls. Happy weekend!

As good as new...

...or so they say.

It appears that all is back to normal post delivery according to Dr. Miller yesterday at my post partum visit with him. I find it funny, however, that a man would tell me that I'm as good as new when I don't quite feel that way. Although he's seen scads and scads of women, I'm sure he doesn't fully appreciate the irony of that statement having never actually done it himself.

Lauren and I headed to my appointment and were nearly late due to her having an unusually large appetite right before it was time to leave. Figures. When we finally did get there, we were the top interest of every pregnant mom and expectant grandma in the waiting room. I can distinctly remember being one of those moms, although I was never quite as outgoing as these ladies were. You're sitting there in the midst of this great anticipation, and in walks someone for their post partum checkup with their perfect little bundle, all wrapped up in pink or blue. It was like you could suddenly fully anticipate what your life was going to be like as soon as your baby got here. Everyone wanted to look at her yesterday and they were all asking questions about life with a new baby. I actually found it kind of funny, being that this is our second trip around. All of the things they were asking flashed me right back to being pregnant with Joshua and desperately trying to wrap my head around how things were going to go once he got here. They wanted to know how she ate, how she slept, if she was our first, how I was feeling, how she was delivered. None of which were questions I would I have likely asked a complete stranger in the waiting room of my OB office. But for the 15 minutes or so that we waited, we shared what we could.

Dr. Miller and especially the nurses were quite smitten with Lauren. She didn't give her best performance and, in fact, screamed her brains out the entire time that we were there. She wasn't happy to be sitting in her car seat while I was doing what I had to do. As soon as I picked up the seat and started moving with her, she was fine. Amazingly, amidst the howling, we were able to take care of all the business we needed to.

While all this was going on, Joshua was at home playing with Grandma. His turn to venture out with Mommy alone comes next Tuesday for his 3 yr checkup...wish I had something more fun to offer him. Perhaps I'll come up with an idea between now and then.

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Just a few pictures...

This cracked me up yesterday... such a sleepy girl!

Our belated birthday visit with Grandma and Grandpa on Sunday. Now that everyone is healthy, we could all get together again.

While Jason and Lauren had some time together on Sunday afternoon, Joshua and I "blew some stink off" outside. Joshua was fascinated with the leaves that had fallen in the yard, and picked them up one by one to put in his wheelbarrow. He got bored before all of the leaves were picked up and never did get enough into a pile to jump into.

And one more of Lauren...just for good measure. I can't wait to be able to take pictures of her when she's not sitting in that pink seat.

Not too much to report from this camp this morning. Joshua is building things on his Handy Manny tool bench while Lauren sits happily (for the moment) in her seat looking around. It's a rarity to have two hands with which to type, so I'm savoring the moment. (Any typos you've seen in recent days stem from the fact that all of my posts have been typed one handed. The hunt-and-peck typing method gets really old really quickly!) Grandma is on her way so that I can go to my post partum check up with Dr. Miller this morning. I can't believe that it's already been 5 weeks since my surgery. The time is flying by so quickly. I believe Lauren will be accompanying me to the appointment just in case it takes longer than expected. Can't have her separated from her food supply for too long, and it would be just my luck that someone would be in labor and need his assistance when I know she's screaming her head off here at home. It'll give Joshua some one on one time with Grandma anyway, and I know he really looks forward to that.

Otherwise it'll be another day just like every other. Change the baby. Feed the baby. Get the baby to sleep. Play with Joshua. Empty a potty chair. Make some lunch. Start some laundry. Clean something. Pick up some toys. Make whatever we're having for dinner. Wash some dishes. Repeat over and over and over again. The repetition is almost maddening if it weren't for the fact that the kids thrive on routine.

For now, Lauren is calling for me and Joshua is too quiet. That always makes me nervous. Better see what he's into...

Trick or Treat!

The ghosts and ghouls were all over the place in our neighborhood on Trick or Treat night! We decided to go a bit more along the "adorable" line of costumes and ventured out with the cutest clown on the block, though. Don't you think? And Lauren even got to come along...dressed in her own little Halloween outfit and riding right up next to Mommy in her sling. She slept for most of the adventure.

Joshua had never been Trick or Treating before, so we were impressed with his mastery of the concept. After a few houses, he was remembering to say "Trick or Treat" and the all important "Thank You" when he was done. We commented about his conversation skills, though, because he was the only kid we saw who wanted to stand and chat with the neighbors after he got his treat. I have no idea where he'd get something like that. :o)

Highlights for him included visiting with the firefighters who had parked their truck right up the street from our house to hand out glow sticks and Jr Fire Fighter stickers. They even let him sit in the front seat of the truck to try it out. He thought he was hot stuff. Unfortunately, there was also an injury while we were out Trick or Treating and there needed to be an ambulance and police cars on the street as well, so he got quite a kick out of seeing the flashing lights. I'm afraid he thinks that Trick or Treating will always include visits from emergency personnel.

He did pretty well on the peanut situation. We had long talks about how Mommy and Daddy would have to check his candy when we got home to make sure that it was safe for him. Truth be told, I had an identical jack-o-lantern full of safe candy for him to make the switch if everything was bad for him. Amazingly, lots of our neighbors were handing out things like Smarties, Tootsie Rolls and lollipops and he did a pretty good job of picking those things. Only about half of his stash had to be thrown away. It did break my heart, though, when he walked up to the one house and when picking his treat asked them, "Does this have peanuts in it?" I'm proud that he's starting to think about those things, but it makes me oh so sad at the same time.

We came home and let him dig into the safe pile. It served a great purpose, though, because the sugar rush he was on allowed him to stay up later to transition into the daylight savings time change. I vote for having "fall back" on Trick or Treat night every year for that exact purpose!

It was an exciting weekend all around. The Trick or Treating was super fun. And then, to top it off, we managed to get our family of four to church yesterday morning for the first time. It felt so good to be back. Everyone was so excited to see Lauren, although we allowed no one to touch her or really even breathe on her for that matter. Her feeding schedule worked out great and she ate right before we left and then slept on my shoulder for the whole service, which included communion. She managed to go 3 hours between feedings (a miracle!), and although she was mad as a hornet on our 47 second ride from church to home, we made it without me spending the entirety of the service in the nursery feeding her. Jason ended up going with Joshua to children's church, which I'm sure was NOT a highlight of his weekend, but Joshua seemed to have a good time. Miss Sarah was the latest victim of the swine flu, so I knew there was not a prayer of him staying in there with a "substitute" on his own after not having been there in over a month. So, we'll ease him back in and hopefully one day can leave him there without tears again without us staying. Hey, a Mommy can dream, right?

And so, Halloween weekend of 2009 is history. Can't wait to see everyone else's costumes!