'Twas just days before Christmas

G said before we went to a Hanukkah party Friday :

“ I am excited to celebrate ‘harmonica’ with my friend Tal.”

A Christmas classic was born. The second of the week…

Tuesday evening, G stared as Chicken Cacciatore in the Christmas Pageant at school. It was a priceless performance complete with 2 -4 year olds picking their noses, crying and waving to their parents from the stage. Our little chicken (dressed in a mighty fine homemade costume) projected his two lines perfectly over all the noise. Ironically, the play was called Starry Night, Noisy Night.

Annual wrapping and wine drinking with gal pal Sarah was excellent. All wrapping is done... Just moved Halloween and Thanksgiving photos to computer to make room for the thousands that I am sure to take in the next few days. Bought a coffee cake at Costco and am calling brunch done. Need to make some jezebel and buy several blocks of cream cheese and boxes of wheat thins. Hostess gifts almost done… Things are shaping up. And there is a day or two to spare.

“Free and Easy down the road we go” into the Heart of Darkness… eh-hem, I mean, this joyous season.

No, really. I am looking forward to it… it’s always chaotic but in the best way possible. I know I would be miserable if it were any other way. Shrek the Halls (which we’ve watched 25 times so far) reminds me so…

Some of the fondest memories where once described as "incidents." Like the time mom went flying down the driveway and into the ditch on my new bike one beautiful Christmas day in Colorado. Or the time Laura nixed EVERY SINGLE gift that came out of the stocking Nennie thoughtfully put together for her. OR the time we stuffed like 17 people into our apartment for brunch... what were we thinking?

Yes, there was an “incident” (or two) last holiday where I totally flipped. Namely the "f’ing casserole"… Isn't at least one freak-out tradition?

How about an early New Year's resolution? When I start to lose perspective and worry about any of the things that can overwhelm a control freak just trying to make reality match the mental image of the perfect Christmas dancing around with the sugarplums in her head – I will embrace a three step method for dealing...

First, I will look to Deeda. My rock and smile store. I will perhaps roll my eyes or open them super wide. This unspoken "venting" may simply be required to ensure my head doesn't explode. He’ll smile and we’ll laugh but no one will know why… And I will remember why I love him and his total zest for the holidays so.


Second, I will look to my big little boy G. I will take in his enthusiasm and wonder… To see Christmas through the eyes of a four year old is such a treat!


And last but not least, I will look to baby B. Miracle. What a miracle! ‘Tis the reason for the season. In just nine weeks (time is flying by) he’s come so far. 13 lbs now. Smiling. And such a snuggle bear.

Happy Holidays! I will report from the flip slide on the success of the system. :)

what's the formula for success?

Friday

Quote of the day: “Jesus lives in the sky with God and Santa Claus.” We needed that giggle... it's been a long week.

Let’s hope this new formula brings some change about the casa. This is how it goes presently: B eats, spits up a bunch, hangs out briefly and then the gas starts. It comes over his face with the saddest most pitiful expression and then the crying. It’s horrible. Poor kid. Was seeming like he was crying a lot… wondering if it was just my perception or true, I started logging our days specifically...he officially cries if he’s awake. Long story short, today we made the formula switch.
Happy seven week birthday B! You’re growing waaaay too fast. You hold your head up like mad and you’re starting to share those smiles that take away all the frustration the crying creates.

G is on his best behavior these days. MOST excited ‘bout Santa’s pending visit. He keeps telling us he’s being a good boy… and he is all about the mams and sirs. It’s borderline kiss-ass… but I’ll take it. We should have been leveraging this all year long. At any rate, he’ll do just about anything we request right now. Let the dog in, go fetch a bib or burp cloth… Bedtime still leads to some stalling but the screaming fits we were encountering a couple months ago seem to be behind us (for now). I’ll say it again, that boy is soooo sweet.

Thanksgiving was excellent. Mellow for the most part and it was great of the fam to trek down to H-town this year… I learned some super trade secrets from Nennie (Master of the shrimp dip, cornbread dressing and sweet potatoes to mention a few of my favs). Deeda made the most excellent turkey in some new fangled ultraviolet cooker… We topped off our dinner with the Football game of the year and pie, followed by a New Moon movie brunch on Friday. A little dose of that Cullen vampire I adore… I think we should make it a holiday tradition forever more.

On Dasher and Dancer – Christmas is practically here. The tree is decorated. Tomorrow is tamale Saturday and my Amazon shopping cart is getting full. And as if that wasn’t enough, it snowed today in Houston. All day! Big flakes. Real snow, not freezing rain.

It was Halloween just a minute ago… time flies when you’re on maternity leave. Our days (and nights) are busy but not, if that makes sense. I mean, I am not napping or eating any bon bons… I also haven’t even managed to sign up for Netflix, much less watch all the movies and TV shows I had grand visions of catching up on… And I haven’t read any of the books I have on my list…or done anything with the thousands of corks I’ve been collected for some craft. I did take a day on Tuesday. I let the laundry go unfolded, skipped the shower, decided we’d eat pizza for dinner and put my crackberry away… I watched a whole movie (Marley and Me) with baby bear in my arms. It was perfect! Soaking up that baby smell.

Saturday

Uhm, this new formula stinks. No yummy baby smell. Smells like dog food. Literally. I gagged and nearly vomited when he spit that smell up on me overnight.

So we switched again. (shhhhh don't tell the doc) Now let’s hope this one works. Soy (play on word) far, soy good.

Welcome Barrett

I’ve started to do this at least five times and left the cursor blinking to tend to you know who…today , I picked back up about 10 a.m., it’s 2:10 p.m. and three interrupted sittings later, I am calling it done. It’s not complete. It’s not even close… but the blog feels like this big “to do” right now.

Barrett is 25 days old and catching up with the last 3 and a half weeks seems impossible in the windows of time I have. There are so many details in every day I’d love to record....from the dimples on the child’s hands to the fuzz that covers nearly his entire body…

Maybe later I can post details… for now, I will offer up the basics in hopes that I can mentally cross “blog” off my list of things to do for a few days.

Barrett Christian was born Friday, October 16 at 10:33 a.m. He weighed 9 lbs and 12 oz and was 21” long. Big boy! Beautiful boy (though I may biased). My regular doctor had the swine flu (I bet we laugh about that some day), so we didn’t know the delivery docs but it worked out just fine in the end.

Biggest baby on our hospital floor. But he didn’t look big to me. He looked tiny… ten tiny fingers. Ten tiny toes. Robust arms and a round face. Tons of dark hair- it’s nearly a mullet… Extends about ½ an inch down the back of his neck. I have to get a photo of that…

In the first few hours he looked totally different than G. By day two it was like déjà vu. I even kept calling him Grant. By week two, he’d transformed yet again… related to Grant but not his twin.

The hospital stay was a bit of a blur. But I have to make note of the first time the little Bear and I locked eyes. He stared at me for a long while, as if to say, “hi mom.”

We came home Monday to a sparkling clean house and a pumpkin cake baking in the oven. Proof that mother’s know what their kids need. Thanks mom. The coming home couldn’t have been more perfect!

Generally speaking, recovering from this C-section has been easier than carrying a nearly 10 lb baby around in my belly. I had good meds, which I realize now made me a little loopy. But they also allowed me to happily welcome a steady stream of visitors. At one point the day on the birthday, I counted 12 people in my hospital room. And it was a tiny, tiny room.

We are so blessed with family and friends who have come with gifts, food and hugs. So many people made special efforts to meet B, feed us and help big brother feel special ,too. I also can’t help but recognize with a big warm fuzzy heart how our circle of friends has grown since the time Grant was born. I’ll say it again, we’re so blessed!

G is about the best big brother I can imagine him being. He runs to get things we need, he asks to hold his brother, kisses him gently, talks to him and perhaps the cutest of all, brings him toys to play with… The moment we put our eyes on Barrett was tearful and amazing and all that you can’t even begin to really imagine. The moment Grant met him was equally as wonderful.



I believe it was day 7 or 8 that I officially gave up breast feeding. In actuality, I think it was day four. It just took the extra days for me to admit it to myself. For some readers this may seem like TMI, but it’s an essential part of the story of the last several weeks.

I didn’t want to give up. I had studied up. I had called for consultants. I had promised myself we’d give it the old college try. I also promised myself, I wouldn’t make myself crazy about it… and then I found myself going crazy about it. It was making me and Barrett cry. So I had a talk with myself (and several friends) and gave it up along with that cloud of guilt that somehow appeared again, even though I thought I knew better this time around.

And to all that I just have to add that this motherhood gig is complicated. The animal instinct to protect, feed and nurture is intense. And it kinda messes with your mind… I think it’s because it overrides your mind. It’s instinct to some degree, which can feel out of control sometimes. And let’s face it, this mama has some “issues” with” out of control”... but motherhood has really made me better. Really. It has. Really.

We had the most wonderful Halloween. As per our usual, it was a week-long celebration. We paraded in the park, attended G’s school performance, the annual Bromley block party and trick or treated in the hood. G’s Spiderman costume got plenty of use. And he had some awesome Spidy moves to go with it.



Grammy got to meet B on Sunday after Halloween (special thanks to her taxi service). Then, they left on Tuesday. And here it is a week later and I don’t know what we’ve been up to… days fly by. I planned a quick outing to the office the other day. Planned to go around noon, thinking it might be fun to grab lunch with the girls and catch up… It was four before we made it the 2.5 miles down the road to the office. Four! Such is life with a newborn. Gotta roll with the flow.

Saturday we took both boys to the zoo and later took in a movie thanks to an impromptu babysitting offer from Grams. It was a great day! Though I was totally exhausted Sunday, it was a glimpse of “normalcy.” I am still looking for my groove… trying to figure out how to feed baby, bathe baby (and myself), take a walk or do some of a handful of other projects I’d love to cross off the list. But I am also working to take time to breathe, to stare at B, watch a little daytime television and soak up that baby smell…it’s a special mix: part spit up, part J&J lotion…I don’t know how or why it smells so good!

catching up before baby brudher arrives

Getting ready around here.
This is a photo of G testing the infant seat. Wow! He's grown up. It's gone so fast. Bet the next three years go equally as fast. Fastening our seat belts...

Two people have asked in the last few days if I am carrying twins. Uhm, no. But Friday is the big day so I guess the lower and humongous belly is what’s throwing them.

Finished up at the office on Monday. Spent yesterday at the doc and hospital doing pre-op blood work and so forth. Friends of Red hosted the fall community meeting last night…A success!

So, as of this morning, I am officially done with obligations outside of my own personal agenda which includes puttering around the quiet house, resting up and taking in the U2 concert tonight .

It’s 11:25 a.m. on Wednesday, I am still in my P.J.s. I have organized the pile of papers in the home office (makes me happier than you can imagine). I have burned the last 6 months of photos to a DVD and I am cleaning up the computer desktop (almost makes me as happy as cleaning the actual desktop) to make way for MORE PHOTOS! AND I am catching up on the blog. Bliss.

The recap of recent events:

Elbow Blues
Deeda busted his elbow in a freak dog/opossum wrestling match on our fence line. He tripped over the gas meter in the dark… He never fell, but waving his arms so crazily is apparently all it took to create a couple hairline fractures likely caused by immobility resulting from two sizable bone spurs on the right elbow. Too many throws from home to second base in the earlier years perhaps? Who knows? What I do know is that a subsequent injury was created when he was feeling well enough to forget his elbow was hurt, which led to an apt. with the orthopedic doc and recommended surgery. So, we have a lame duck who, I will say, is getting better about taking his Advil.

Occasions, Classes & Secrets
G got dressed up fancy for Cousin James' Baptism. And Grammy came in to stay the weekend for the same occasion. G was so proud of his tie. It really was nice to have Grammy here.

G also attended big brother class at the hospital where he learned to hold a baby doll, put a diaper on and all about being a “Super Sibling.” Perfect for our little superhero lover… He had a blast! At the end of the class each child got to go to the front of the room, receive a T-shirt and certificate, and then say if they were having a brother or a sister and what the baby’s name would be.

We were anxious to hear the name he tossed out since we’d been talking with him about two different names. The child didn’t hesitate. And the name he said is the name we’ve chosen… G has been far more consistent than mom and Deeda, who mulled on it for several more weeks, but the deed is done. He has a name.

Keeping this secret has proven difficult for little man. Couple weeks he ago he thought he was alone with Nanna and he blurted it out. Little did he know I was within ear shot in the kitchen... He didn't have time to repeat himself before I arrived in the living room with wide eyes, and I don't believe Nanna heard correctly... Then, just yesterday, he was alone with Grams in the car and he told her he knew a secret. Good for Grams for telling him it's important to keep secrets... That's some real willpower. All will be known in due time!

Back to sibling class... To finish the class we took a tour which included a peek inside the nursery. G saw a new, new, new baby getting a bath and kinda made a face at it, like “that’s not cute at all.” Had to giggle. He was right. They all look a little alien at first. What was cute is what G said when we loaded back into the elevator with the class.

He asked, “Are we going up or down?”

“Down,” I said.

“We’re downloaded,” G said.

Priceless! "

Mission Float Test Accomplished.
G passed three float tests at Houston Swim Club this month! He officially graduated his dolphin class and we’re on swim class hiatus until further notice. We have to admit we’re happy to be done… Wednesday nights have been chaos for a long while…

I am not sure who was the most proud, G, his teachers or his parents. He floated bravely… His teacher Charlie had told him to think “happy thoughts.” So when he finished the first test, he told us that’s what he did. Water would splash over his face and he would quickly wipe it away and then put his hand right back behind his head. By the third test he was floating in long sleeves, pants, tennis shoes and socks! We have video of that too but it's too large to upload...Need to work on that... G got a certificate, ribbon and the Houston Swim Club bell (like the one they ring when you pass the float test).

Kidnapped!
Last Saturday I was kidnapped for a surprise non shower-shower / girls night out that totally rocked. Mani, pedi and dinner among all my best girls was such a treat. Erika and Andrea masterminded with Laura and Christian's assistance... So fun! Thanks to everyone who came and collaborated. It was a special night.

No Line on the Horizon.

Picking up where I left off. Writing this at 9:58 a.m. Thursday… T-minus 24 hours to “show time…”

It’s been the year of concerts for the Dionne’s. First George Strait. Then, Depeche Mode. Last night was U2. In a last minute decision we bucked up and bought tickets. I am so glad we didn’t miss it! Amazing! Wow! Never seen anything like it. Love the music and the band themselves…

Add to the memories I associate with their songs that range from junior high to the the present day, the fact that the band uses their stage/voice positively and you can’t deny U2 is incredible. And add to that the most amazing set, lights and imagery ever … and add to that a shooting star in the sky nearly on cue… I mean, it was an experience.

G stayed with Grams and Pops while we took in the show. Grams had some classic G’isms to report this morning.

“When my mommy’s belly pops baby brudher will be here.”


They have a fish named Shamu and one named Shamwow (as in the as seen on TV product) in their pond. G apparently named a third Shampoo last night. He’s quick!

And with that, I will sign off for now.

Baby updates to come soon!

Proof of Belly

I promised. I hate to put it here now, but someday I'll probably be glad.

A belly shot from a really nice girl who took my photo at Depeche Mode and actually emailed it yesterday. That was August 30. So, I was 32 going on 33 weeks. You can see the band in the background... :)

Photo two. Significant because this green shirt is maybe my favorite maternity shirt and one of about three things I can wear at this point. This photo was taken at about 36 weeks.

And thought it's not doing me any favors, I can't leave out this photo from last night. 39 weeks at U2. T-minus one day until scheduled delivery.

August in a nutshell

The thing is, the busier we are, the more I have to update and the less time I have to do it! Thanks to the three day Labor Day weekend, here's last month's news.

The youngest first. Here’s a photo of the little Mr. from week 32. You can see his hand is next to his cheek. His eyes are closed...

It was great to get another look at him. At that point he was weighing in at approximately 5.5 lbs. give or take 12 oz. This puts him in the 90th percentile on weight. I would worry but I recall they projected G would be more than 9 lbs according to ultrasound and he was born weighting 8 lbs 3 oz. So who knows…

33 going on 34 weeks now and counting. It ain’t pretty. I wish I had posted a photo of my tummy somewhere about 25 weeks. Now it’s just huge. I will eventually take a photo and post it anyway as proof that it, indeed, isn’t pretty and so someday the little kiddo can look at the photo and pretend to understand what it must have been like for me to carry him around at this point…

In a nutshell, I feel pretty darn good. In the evenings I love watching my belly move around as he kicks and repositions. I really feel better than I did with Grant. Namely because I am still just grateful as all get out I am not pricking my figure and reporting glucose levels four times a day. But also because my ankles are only swollen beyond recognition some days and the heartburn is only unbearable part of the time.

Sleeping is really the biggest issue (especially when the heart burn/reflux kicks in). Most nights are pretty predictable though. I am up for potty breaks every 2-3 hours (great training for what’s ahead). The real joy is getting up from a horizontal position. It’s kind of like being a turtle on its back. It’s some combination of rolling and rocking that lands me on my feet. Then I hobble a few steps on my weak feeling hips to the bano. During the days my hips are fine but they ache like mad at night… especially if I sit on the soft sofa… Yet, I long to mush on the sofa…

The child remains nameless but so everyone can stop worrying, we have narrowed it down to two (sometimes three) combinations that we like so much we just can’t decide. I am to the point that I want to give ourselves a deadline so we can just be done with it. But we just can’t seem to let ourselves decide. It’s really hard. And you just don’t want to screw such a big brainstorming project up…

*****

In life outside the womb...to say the last month has been super busy would be an understatement. To recap briefly, Communications Plus is celebrating 30 years in business. We made a weekend retreat to Austin complete with spa day weekend before last… last weekend we hosted a party for clients and friends to celebrate AND relocated back to the Main Street office all on the same Saturday. Seems our cute little spot on the Village was never permitted correctly by our landlord. Inspector violations have been snowballing since May but the icing on the cake was an order to vacate from the City. Enough already.

We topped off that Saturday of fun with a trip to see Depeche Mode at the Woodlands on Sunday. Of course, the show didn’t disappoint. It was fantastic! And I can tell both boys when they are crazy for some band in their teen years that I saw my favorite band when I was pregnant with each of them… Truly devoted. I am.


In between all that Deeda has made two trips to Austin for work and he’s putting the finishing touches on a touch up project turned to a full-fledged painting project in the baby’s room. Grams made a crib skirt (a.k.a. tree skirt) to match the bedding. And with a few minor accessorizing details left, we’re about ready to roll in the nursery. Next up, I am going to wash the infant wardrobe so it’s fresh. Bought Dreft yesterday at the store. (Just one side note on that, I can’t believe the price of that stuff! It’s like $10.)

*****

G-man is doing great. What a sweet, good and smart boy he is.

This week was his first week in the fours class. He was a bit confused on Monday… He wondered if it was his birthday since he was going to the fours. I think he’s got it straight now but he does continue to say, “ I am four now.” I think he just wants to pretend he’s four… sounds good to him.

Speaking of pretending, the kid has come into a new phase of pretend play. The cars or whatever he’s playing with have conversations and stories… Today he got a couple plastic dinosaurs from the “dollar spot” at Target and he had them talking to one another all afternoon. Oh the joy $1 can bring!

He’s still super excited about baby brudher and he still wants to call him Buzz. Yesterday he kissed my stomach totally unsolicited. He also told me twice yesterday that I was “cute today.” Love it! Especially because Deeda has been totally in vogue lately. G and I finally enjoyed some much needed time together yesterday. I think we read 12 books in a row and then I started teaching him to play go fish and crazy 8’s. He thinks it’s great. Our games end up being matching games but he’s getting it and he can show off how well he knows his numbers while we’re at it. He’s also very into letters these days. Asking all the time,” what does that name start with?”

It’s exciting to see his interest in learning. This afternoon he and Deeda were going over train vocabulary. Tender box, funnel, couplings and cattle pusher. I guess they learned these things in a library book a few weeks ago and then Special Agent Oso was talking about some of the same words on Disney Channel this morning… seriously. Some of these are new to me!

He also started computer classes at school this week. Once a week he gets to go to a special class. Then we can log on from home and play games as well. He loves it because for once he’s allowed to touch the computer. They talked about “home row” this week. Yesterday we were reporting on computer class to aunt Laura on the phone. G was holding my blackberry and he said, “I see home row right there on your phone mom.” Geesh…

Swimming lessons are coming along and along. We’re hoping he can take his float test by the end of the month and then we’re taking a break from the Wednesday night rat race for a while. After a week of private lessons at the neighborhood pool we saw major progress and this past week at Houston Swim Club, I saw big arms like I’d never seen him make before.

Going off the diving board is his favorite thing. He pops up and gets to the side “all by himself.” Which is one of his most used phrases at the moment … He likes to cut his waffle all by himself with a butter knife and he does a pretty good job of it. He can also get totally dressed and pretty much brush his teeth , all by himself. All skills that I know will come in very handy in just a short while.

Which reminds me… Couple weeks ago he wanted to call Grandaddy and Nennie to talk about barns. Not sure how it all relates, but he also reported to them that the toast popped up “all by itself.” And “could they believe that?” He was sincerely reporting the most amazing thing he’d seen all week… I mean, the pop up toaster blew his mind. So, he doesn’t know it all just yet… and there are still those moments of total wonder that remind me, despite how it may seem a lot of the time, he’s still just a little boy.

*****

September first came with a cool front. Not cool enough to amount to true heat relief but cool enough to feel as though fall will actually come. Bring it on. We're ready... College football was on every other channel this weekend so even if the weather hasn't changed, I can hear fall in the air. Deeda even got to take in the first game at College Station on Saturday. I am dying to make a pot of soup and wear something with sleeves. About time to hunker down... So excited!

*****

On a final note, G says he’s going to change his brother’s diapers… and I thought we really had something great going with him being able to let Dee dog in and out of the back door. This is something to consider...

If you want bootiful hair

Tucking G in last night. He was playing with my hair. Pulling it really, but he means well...

He says, "Mom you should get a muppet to make your hair bootiful."

I say, "A what?"

He says, "A bum pit."

One more time, I say, "What?"

And then it comes to me... he's saying "Bump It."

I nearly rolled out of the bed laughing. If you don't know, a Bump It is the latest in a long line of hair clips such as the bannana clip and topsy tail... It's an "as seen on TV" product designed to give your hair style extra lift in the crown, a la teasing and White Rain used to do... Today we have Bump Its.

We TiVO Spiderman cartoons for G. We watch the same ones over and over. On the Sandman episode, just after the Amazing Trains video commercial is, you guessed it kids, the Bump It commercial. The kid is paying attention.

He says he's going to get me a Bump It for my birthday. Well, he didn't say that, but the conversation ended like this:


"When is your birthday, mom?"


You could see the wheels spinning... Deeda, if the bump it comes up around the time of my birthday, if he remembers on his own... dial the 800 number. I've got to have it. Just priceless.