Happy Old Year

From there Daniel would like to wish you a happy old year.

And show off his cute dimple, of course.

Are we there yet?

Never fear

We are here.
Just so you don't worry.

We made it east on schedule...
maybe I'll take out my camera some day...

Pack

Next time I pack for a holiday with a less-than-a-month old, I think I shall actually do some packing before the last day.

I'm stiff.

And not done.

No pics today 'cause the camera is in the bag. Lest I forget it.

Blue blue green Christmas

Phil is at a work Christmas "do" right now.
I am at home with the kids
Who aren't listening to me
And are fighting with each other.

I am SO not jealous.
I guess I could clean the house
Or feed the kids.
Or pack for Wednesday...

Instead of moping.

Before the fall

of my pride:

Behold a perfect domestic scene.

(Nathan made the irons for everyone)

Then I was busy cleaning up a "mess" in the bathroom,

Leaving the youngest one rather vulnerable.

He was rather shaken in his rocking chair when I came back.
Poor guy!


I doubt that it was enough to cause damage...
but as a mother, I like to worry anyways.

More nice newborn pics

I got a CD with all the pictures on, and here are most of them:

Details at Three Weeks

Is it safe to give details at three weeks postpartum?
Am I mentally stable enough to trust giving out "personal" information?
(oh wait...I've never been "mentally stable enough")

THREE WEEKS?
Has it really only been three weeks since
The memorable day of Daniel's birth?

Three weeks ago we didn't even know who you were!
Three weeks ago we'd never hugged or kissed you before.
Three weeks ago we were sleeping through the nights...
(oh wait, that's just my tired mind misremembering things)

Life has been:

Blissful.
Yes, really, I mean it.
I am blissfully happy to have another child.
Blissfully happy to hold him and care for him
(as inadequately as that might be)
and watch him grow.

Frustrating.
I am tired of my kids not being perfect.
I am tired of me not being perfect.
I expect too much of either them or me...
and all too soon, I'm angry
and saying things I shouldn't
in tones that I shouldn't.

Fascinating.
So many things going on.
So many little people
changing in so many ways.
If only I could absorb it all.

My little monkeys are growing so fast.











Daniel details:
We went in for an appointment at the midwife's yesterday. Daniel is very healthy. What a blessing! 11.5 pounds by now, pretty much. Newborn clothes are too small already. He sleeps a lot, and is occasionally alert and social.
He loves being held.
He loves nursing
(as much and frequently as possible).
He loves sleeping.
He hates his chair.
He hates being on the floor.
He hates to be alone.
He doesn't sleep through the night.

So, to sum it up--if I hold Daniel he sleeps and is happy. If I put him down he wakes up and is grumpy. I feed him, he goes back to sleep. I put him down, he wakes up and is grumpy. Do you see a pattern? Good thing I love to hold him. Good thing I really would rather hold him than clean up the house. Good thing I've been getting a lot of dinners still.

And NO he does not sleep through the night. In fact, he sleeps worse at night now than he did the first half of his life. But I don't expect anything until he's half a year old. I am a realist.
I'll love him anyways.

Sunshine and Rozes

It's rainy and cold. But outside only. Isn't winter lovely?
Snow on the ground (which hasn't even melted yet) and a chill in the air.

I'm even wearing a sweater and sipping a cup of tea.

If I had been feeling grumpy(which I wasn't since I just had my rest and three of four kids are STILL sleeping) this pic would cheer me up right away.

Matthew is such a lively goon. The older he gets, the more obvious his "monkey" personality is becoming. This is his "cheese" for the camera. Scrunched up eyes are mandatory, if you were wondering. Matthew is really really good at doing exactly what Nathan or Melanie JUST did when I told them off for it. And his favorite word is still "no!" He's been much more talkative since Daniel came home.
"Da-yow Bee-bee!!"

He loves his brother. Almost to death. ;)


Melanie, on the other hand, shows hardly any interest in Daniel--comparatively speaking. I thought she'd be more motherly, but maybe she figured she did that for Matthew as a baby, now it's Matthew's turn to do it for Daniel. She's got better things to do! She does think Daniel is handsome (but she even thinks Grandpa is very handsome...so she has very odd standards :p ) and is very concerned if he cries really loudly.


Big brother Nathan, when he is behaving himself, takes his responsibility seriously. He now has an official chore and he is thrilled about it. He's lousy at it--vacuuming--but he loves it anyways. I think I'd better hone his skills a bit. He also will try and console Daniel by chatting to him when he's crying--whereas Melanie and Matthew will run and get ME if they hear him crying.


As for Daniel he's just fabulous. After all, he smiled at me this morning!!!! What a lovely guy! He was filling his pants at the time...but STILL, I think he meant it(the smile) just for me. I'll find out tomorrow if he's growing, how much, and all that fun stuff. Last week his night time sleeping skills deteriorated a fair bit, and he was unhappy unless nursed every hour during his awake time in the day. Maybe he was having a growth spurt, or maybe he was continually hungry. He also filled his diaper a lot--mostly tiny little sneaky ones five minutes apart--and I missed a few of them--so he had a bad rash--which is almost gone now.

So it seems to me that we're all somewhat settling in

(somewhat being the key word)
to life with Daniel.

Sleep and play

I really really am grateful for the (almost always) two hours

of "nap time" that I get every day.

Some kids sleep

and some play.

And I get to rest. I sure need it most days.

Quitter

Daniel isn't sleeping as good at nights anymore.
Neither am I.


So I gave up trying to please him sometime today and gave him
the soother.
Only just for a little while though.

Babies, they can grow on you.

Well, they have grown on me, anyways.

Isn't he really cute and cuddly looking?
How could anyone just leave him in that chair all by himself?
Such a warm, soft little snoogie bear!

Routine has changed a fair bit since Daniel has arrived. Mostly, it means I'm doing very little housework, and when I do it, it's much later in the day when Daniel is napping, and not feeding. I find that when it's my nap time (which I have extended from one hour to two hours of "down time" with a tiny bit of sleep time in there) I have a hard time resisting that cute little baby asleep in his chair.

Sometimes I pay the penalty of having woken him up--since I pick him up so I can cuddle with him while I'm resting.

I think my maternal instincts have increased. What do I mean by that? Well, let me tell you: I never used to like babies. Helpless, awkward and floppy is what they were. Give me a toddler any day. A walking, talking, cute little character for me please. One with a bit of independence. But after each birth, I have found, that my own babies aren't nearly so bad as I thought they would be...and what do you know, by the time baby number three is getting toddlerish I'm sad to see the baby gone out of him! Will wonders never cease!

We love Grandpa too.

A lot has happened in the last two weeks. Yup, tomorrow Daniel will be over two weeks old. So hard to imagine!

Grandpa did a lot for us while he was here.

We'll miss you!


We have a winter storm alert for here (not that it means much), but it makes me wonder where Grandma and Grandpa are, and how they're faring.

Baptism

What a blessing to have a child baptized!


We are in awe of God's mercy, and the abundant blessings
He has poured out on us!

As you can see, it's not easy to get six people to look at the same time...
but Phil and I tried.


We are so pleased to have family (and friends) there to
witness the baptism.


Daniel in a dress:

He was unimpressed.