a bag of chips

Milestones.

Our boy, Aidan, turns four years old tomorrow.  His sweet baby sister was a month old yesterday.  Happy birthdays, my loves.

n.

Love this little layout of our little baby.  Just wanted to share.

But what about them?

Okay, no, I haven't forgotten about Aidan and Makena.  My smart, silly and adorable almost-four-year-old and almost-three-year-old.  Big brother (again) and big sister.  They are adjusting well (mostly) to their new roles and to the new little being in the house who takes up lots of mom's time.  They enjoy the baby's farts and burps and are really, really trying to scream less when the she's in the same room. 

Aidan is going to be four years old in a week.  Yes, that's Halloween.  He's as big as the average seven-year-old and his agent will be contacting the Los Angeles Lakers next week to start contract negotations.  (Look out, Shaq.  Aidan's growing up.)  He's totally potty trained now and even wears undies to bed without accidents. He sings songs with me in the car and it melts my heart.  So he's a bit tone deaf and mumbles through most of the words, but as a music lover, it is my dream come true.  I love hearing his voice singing along with the "Life Would Be a Dream" song from the "Cars" soundtrack.  Shabooms and all.  Love that kid.

Makena is our spunky girl.  She's full of sass and she's not afraid to use it.  She stands up to Aidan and I love that about her (but don't tell her I said so).  She has this Dora shopping cart which she pushes around the room, serving coffee and tea Nurse Ratchet style to anyone who happens to be sitting nearby.  Even the baby.  She's regressing a little bit in some areas since Nadia arrived, but she growing up so fast in others.  She has an amazing sense of rhythm and loves to run.  Seriously.  She's like Forrest Gump.  Run, Makena!  Run!

So, to give them both their fair share of attention on the old blog, here are my two older beauties. 

Three weeks and a day.

I can't believe it's been three weeks already.  She's gained a whole pound since her 1-week check-up, has her first cold, had the worst case of baby-neck-crease-stink (my mom dubbed her Stinkerbell), and now drinks 3 to 4 ounces per feeding.  Today she sorta liked her bath which means she only screamed bloody murder for about half the time.  She loves being in the sling (see links below right to some fab sling makers) and will spend an hour just looking at my face, even smiling now and then. 

Dear hubby was traveling most of last week and my wonderful, savior of a mother came to lend a hand.  She is awesome.  She's imaginative and patient with the kids and with me.  While she was here, she tripped on a toy while holding Miss Nadia and fell.  Hard.  But she tucked and rolled and baby never touched the ground, never even made a peep.  The whole two seconds it took for my mom to trip and fall replays VERY slowly in my head several times a day and I'm so amazed and so thankful that she risked her own life and limb to make sure my baby didn't get hurt.  It's a parent's and grandparent's worst nightmare to fall holding a child.  But her instincts took over and everyone is okay.  Way to go, ma.  Love you.

Today, during this photo shoot, Nadia pooped and peed twice.  My dear hubby snapped the shots (with careful direction, of course) of our baby girl in my fugly man hands, cleaning us both up as we went along.  So, my patient friends and family, here is the baby eye candy you've been waiting for.

Enjoy!

Checking in, etc.

Well, Miss Nadia is now two weeks old.  We're figuring out so much about her:  she hates baths, loves to be held, loves looking into our faces, hates diaper changes and clothing changes, thinks her big brother and sister are quite goofy, likes music and patterns and riding in the car. 

But do you think I've got a recent picture of her?  No (she says sheepishly).  Yes, that's right, I'm a photographer with a new baby and I've not picked up my camera in almost a week.  It's been dreadfully overcast this weekend and I really, really had planned on taking some photos with hubby's help.  But, alas, Mother Nature had other plans.  So, hang tight.  Those of you jonesing for some baby eye candy will soon have your fix.

And, of course, a little layout to share.  This is for the Scrappin' Trends design team and this month's feature is Cosmo Cricket.  This layout features their "Wanted" line (along with some 7G's, Heidi chippies and MM tiny alphas).  Isn't it darling?  The moment I saw this paper with the cowboys on it, I knew I had to use this photo of my darling nephew, Dylan.  He's the rootinest, tootinest cowboy in the wild, wild West.  (Click on layout for larger view.)

She's a week old.

She's back to her birth weight and got a huge thumbs-up at her one-week check-up on Thursday.  She's slurping through 2.5 to 3 oz every 3 hours or so and wets and messes just like she should.  She prefers the Boppy to her cradle and loves to look at faces.  And she's trying very hard to develop a finger-sucking habit, which is fine by me since you can't forget to pack extra fingers as you're racing out the door.

B accompanied us to the doctor's appointment on Thursday and she's doing really well.  We hope to see her again tomorrow. 

I took these photos on Wednesday when she was 5 days old.   She is the most beautiful baby.  (Sigh, smile.)

Big Announcement!

As if my year can't get any better, Simple Scrapbooks has asked me - ME! - to be a 2007 Simple Gal.  I can't believe the talent that makes up the list of nine amazing women, and that I'm among them, well, let's just say that my first reaction was utter disbelief.  Are they kidding?  Did they get the wrong gal?  ME?  Really?!?  The shock still hasn't worn off.

A big congrats to the eight other 2007 Simple Gals:

Tia Bennett
Darci Dowdle
Teresa Olier
Cheryl Overton
Stacey Sattler
Margie Scherschligt
Amy Stultz
Amy Williams
Yolanda Williams

Wow.  I'm so totally freakin' excited. 

Lucky.

The fabulous Effers latest dare caught my eye.  Why?  Because I'm feeling lucky.  We have two awesome kids who are stepping up to the big brother and big sister challenges with flying colors and a gorgeous new baby who belches like a beer-bonging frat boy.  Do I feel lucky?  Yeah.  You bet I do.

Welcome, Nadia.

Introducing Nadia Catherine.  She was born Friday, September 29, 2006 at 8:16 PM.  She weighed 6 lbs 6.2 oz and is 18 inches long.  She is beautiful.  Her birth was beautiful.  She and I both cried like babies when she was born.  I stopped crying long enough to cut the cord and watched my daughter take her first breath and cry her first cry.

B was incredible.  We got to the hospital around 10:30 or so but it wasn't until about 1:00 PM that she received the pitocin to get things started.  She got her epidural around 3:00 PM when things got uncomfortable.  Then the doctor broke her water around 6:00 PM and she went from 4 cm to 8 cm dilated in a minute, and was complete by just around 8:00.  Four contractions and pushes later, Nadia was born.   So amazing.

B has remained happy, cheerful even, through this entire process.  She is happy and comfortable with her decision to place her baby with us.  And for that we are all so blessed.  We look forward to seeing her sometime this week.

Thank you, dear friends and family, for all your prayers and well wishes.  God was listening.

So, without further delay, here she is: