I can blog on three hours of sleep

Annabelle seems to be a pretty mellow kid, with one exception: she hates the flash of the camera. This has made it difficult to fulfill my blogging duties, but I have managed to capture a few images over the last couple of days.

Today is Annabelle's 17th day. She has been awake all morning (and most of the night, although we're not quite as happy about that). It's been fun to have her looking at us after two weeks of her being mostly asleep.



So far, the swing is not the magical thing it was for Delia, but Annabelle did sleep in it for a bit the other day.




Big sister didn't trust the batteries to swing on their own, so she helped.





Delia insisted I take this picture.





Our big girl



Our little girl

Attempt #2 to take both children out in public: success!

We went to Target today! Oh, please, no applause necessary. Thank you! Thank you, very much. Oh, you're all too kind. Stop, really.

Annabelle rode happily and quietly in the Baby Bjorn. Delia rode mostly happily and not quietly in the shopping cart. We bought diapers, Pull-Ups, milk, detergent. After we checked out, I was feeling pretty confident, so we stopped at the in-store Starbucks where I bought an iced tea. This means that I maneuvered the cart with ONE HAND out to the car!

I'm feeling capable today. Maybe I'll try to clean the house next.

Attempt #1 to take both children out in public: failure

I felt motivated to check some things off the to-do list today. I fed and changed Annabelle, got a snack and drink for Delia, changed her Pull-Up, loaded both girls in the car, and dragged the gigantic double stroller out of the garage. Off we went to the dry cleaner, where we dropped off some things at the convenient drive-through window.

The next stop was not as successful. I really wanted some frozen yogurt tonight to eat while we watch the convention on TV. We need fruit for the morning. We're running out of detergent. It was a small enough list that I thought I could carry everything in my grocery bag while pushing the stroller.

We arrive at the store. Sky looks threatening, but I'm invested in this plan now. Annabelle into stroller. Delia into stroller. I'm pushing the thing toward the store and to the left, but it will only go right. I look and look for a brake that needs to be released, but no luck. I'm pretty much pushing the damn thing in circles when a friend spots me from across the parking lot. She is gracious and helpful, even tells me I look great when I know I look like hell (baggy T-shirt, dark circles under the eyes, no make-up). We both try and try with the stroller, but no luck. I pull the car around, re-load the girls, and go home, where I may just sit and hide for the next year until Annabelle learns how to walk.

I am not a stupid person. I feel stupid today.

Thankfully, there are no photos to go with this ridiculous story.

The way we shop now

Well, it was a pretty crummy weekend. A big tree branch came down during the storm Saturday, knocking out our power, cable and phone lines. We had no electricity for 26 long hours. No air conditioning, no television, no lights. With a jealous, whiny toddler and a newborn, this was an added stress we did not need.

In the midst of this, we decided it was time to buy some furniture for the playroom. It's fun to sit on the floor and all, but a sofa will be better. David and Delia went to scout out some sleeper sofas so we can have guests come and stay with us in relative comfort.

Through the power of digital cameras, Annabelle and I were able to stay home and still have a vote in narrowing down the choices. On Sunday, after we viewed the photos, we had our first big retail outing with Annabelle in tow. It went quickly, and therefore pretty well.



I will blame the state of Delia's hair on the weather, but I have to admit that it has looked a little bit worse every day since Annabelle was born. Finding time for the simplest tasks has been a bit of a challenge.

Hanging out in bed all day

The girls hung out on Delia's bed this morning, then Annabelle helped me with the laundry this afternoon. We're taking it easy around here...

Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa!

We have been very well taken care of during the past week.

Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa for entertaining Delia while we were at the hospital and once we got home. The shower of attention (not to mention gifts) helped her make an unexpectedly smooth transition into big-sisterhood. And we are grateful for all your help with meals and projects around the house. It's wonderful to have so much support while we try to figure out how to juggle the needs of a newborn and a toddler.

It will be so much easier to complete my to-do list...

...with all this extra time in the middle of the night! During our last night in the hospital, Annabelle went to the nursery for five hours in a row. When they brought her to me to nurse, it took me 20 minutes to convince her to wake up and eat.

On our first night home, she has refused to sleep anywhere except on one of us. We have been taking two-hour shifts. I've tried to prop her up on her Boppy pillow, snuggle her into her car seat, and lay her on her back. No luck.

On the positive side, I now have time to update the blog! Perhaps I will balance the checkbook next, or maybe grade some essays. What did you accomplish at 4 a.m., hmm?












Thank you, Dr. Straughn. We had a positively pleasant labor and delivery, at least when compared to the way Delia entered the world. Notice that Annabelle is asleep in this picture.




This is Annabelle's first ride in the car. We had to put socks over her hands because she was scratching her face. Notice that Annabelle is asleep in this picture.



Daddy carried Annabelle into the house for the first time. Notice that she is, once again, asleep in this picture.





Once we got home, we pulled out Delia's first photo album so she could see pictures of the day we brought her home. Annabelle looks a lot like her big sister did back then. Notice that Annabelle is sleeping in this picture, too.









Delia has reacted really well to her baby sister so far. She wants to hold her and is excited to help change diapers. Once again, Annabelle is sleeping in this photo.


It's 4:07 now. Delia will be up in two hours, and I'm sure once that happens, Annabelle will once again decide she would like to be sleeping. It is day one at home. Here we go...

...and tomorrow we will be four.

We're scheduled to have this little one sometime tomorrow. It's strange to know the date ahead of time, but it has made lots of logistical things easier. Grandma and Grandpa came into town tonight to help us out with Delia, so there will be no middle of the night phone calls to our generous friends down the road.

Delia has been freaking out a bit, probably because her mother has been freaking out a bit. Today at school, she hit another girl and then said, "My baby sister will be born tomorrow." There is no subtlety to her anxiety. It's pretty clear.

There is no subtlety to my anxiety, either. AT&T still hasn't fixed our phones. It has been a week. Why can't the phone company provide phone service? At one point today I yelled at a guy in their call center and told him he had until 5 p.m. before I canceled our account. At 5 p.m. I called back and cried while I begged some other guy to please, please fix the darn phones.

I'm looking forward to some nice, relaxing time in labor tomorrow. :-)

My next turn on this blog will be to change the title and post some pictures of our new baby and our two sweet girls together.

The update

There is no update.

"Candy" seems disinterested in all the predictions that were made regarding an early arrival date. In any case, we have an appointment for Thursday morning to go give her a gentle push. At most, we have four more days until we are a family of four!

Kid-free playgroup

Thank you to the RPC for a lovely baby shower.

You all look fabulous and tan, and I look round and 15-months pregnant, but I'll post these pictures anyway.

It was wonderful to get together without the kiddos, and I know "Candy" will get a lot of use from all of your thoughtful gifts. We are lucky to have found such good friends!

Where are the photos?

Sorry for the lack of pictures lately. The camera is safely tucked away in the hospital bag, and I am afraid that if I touch it we will find ourselves in the hospital with no camera with which to take "Candy's" first photo.

So here is a photo-free update instead. Delia has adjusted pretty well to the new house. We moved on Wednesday, and last night we pulled into the driveway and she said, "Is this home sweet home?"

Her first night in her new room was a bit rough, though. At 5 a.m. Thursday we heard her screaming. I ran down the hall (not easy to do at 9 months pregnant) and saw Delia's little feet kicking frantically against her pillow. Her head was tucked all the way under her covers and she was yelling, "stuck!" It was hard not to laugh.

Delia has her own bathroom in the new house, and she loves it. She picked out a butterfly shower curtain and she's using the big potty in there. David helped her down from it on our first day here. She walked out of the bathroom and yelled, "Next customer!" Where does she get this stuff?