One I didn’t take

I processed the photo (nice job eliminating those under-eye circles, right?) but credit goes to Anthony for the shot itself.

We have neighbors!

Such a lame post topic, but I’m so excited I couldn’t refrain.  We live in a great town and have some wonderful friends here, but our exact house location, while not remote, is a bit lonely.  The house next door on one side is vacant and for sale – and the precarious shape it’s in paired with its  unrealistic asking price lead me to believe it will remain in its current state for some time.   The two houses beyond that are occupied, but in the 4 years we’ve lived here we’ve never even laid eyes on their occupants.  And we’re outside a lot.  The house directly on our other side is also occupied – by a lovely retired couple we’ve met several times and with whom we are friendly, but the house itself does not feel neighbor-y.  We can’t see it from our house so it’s almost like it’s not there.  The house across the street has not been used as a home since we’ve lived here.  It was owned by the church down the street and used for Boy Scouts meetings, Sewing club meetings, etc.  When the church put the house up for sale a couple months ago we were semi-excited, but didn’t know what to expect – the place hasn’t been lived in for years so we weren’t sure if a person or family would buy it or if the zoning could be changed to commercial or what.  Anyway, it sold pretty quickly and yesterday I saw some folks working over there so I walked over.

I am so thrilled to report that the house’s new owners are a lovely young couple.  9 months pregnant no less, so their baby and the Bear Claw will be only 6 months apart.  I can’t believe our luck.  Assuming they are relatively normal, non-freaks, I think it will be amazing to have neighbors right across the street.  Suddenly, it feels like a neighborhood – just a little bit.

Capacity

Here’s something amazing:  people – even experienced (and by experienced, I mean old) adults like me – have an amazing ability to continuously adapt and expand personal capacity.   You work full-time and are amazed you can find the time to cook and read a book, you get a pet and somehow do all those things AND walk the dog, you have a baby and yet again are able to adjust and expand to suddenly include all the baby-related tasks (and there are LOTS).  A second baby?  You do it again.  Sure some things suffer and your attention to detail may not be as tack-sharp as it once was.  But in general?  Everything gets done ok.

Having returned to work a few weeks ago, I am once again learning this lesson.  It’s not immediate, and it’s not without some aches and pains (in my case 4 weeks of sickness) but it happens.  Already I can feel that we’re nearly 100% fine – we get to rhe office with 2 kids in tow, do a decent day’s work, come home to cook and eat a meal together and even have a few hours to relax and enjoy our evenings.  The children are clean and happy.  The house is messy, but not dangerously so.  The food isn’t as gourmet as I’d like, but it’s homemade.  We’re doing it.  And before we realize it, everything will be so second nature I won’t even remember ever struggling.  I never would have thought this possible, but here we are.

Does this mean we can handly a third baby? 

Bathroom – 2 months later

I can’t believe it’s been 2 months since I last posted.  Sadder yet, my last post was about the bathroom remodel and here we are 2 months later and it’s still.not.done.  It’s been a very trying time around here…imagine weeks on end of driving to my mom’s house to bathe the entire family.  Imagine shoddy work, an ego-maniacal subcontractor and money we barely have just flowing endlessly.  Sounds like a wonderful idyllic paradise, right?  Well consider yourself jealous because this has been our lives for the past 2 months.  Awesome.  The good news?  I believe that at the end (and there must be an end, right?  Like, soon?) we will have a nice bathroom…at least nicer than it was.  That’s not saying much, but give me some credit for trying to be positive, hey?

Bathroom

Having a one bathroom home is awesome.  It breaks down barriers, really.  It encourages intimacy.  Who would favor solitude in the bathroom when teethbrushing and showering can be family affairs?  Hermits, I guess.

Even better, is having a one bathroom house that was last updated in 1960.  Besides the stylin’ (pink) decor, there are charming physical attributes a bathroom of this vintage offers:  tiles popping off walls, cracked plumbing, single non-grounded outlets…imagine it!  It’s amazing.

So, the time has come – sadly – to remodel our aging gem.  We’ve put this project off mostly due to financial concerns, but also in large part because of the hassle.  It was the tiles popping off the walls in the shower that finally pushed us over the edge and now the fun begins.

The bathroom will be torn down to the studs – walls, ceiling and floors ripped up and rebuilt.  It’s a big project, but I’m looking forward to the end result.  I mean, if you have to share your personal space with a husband and two kids, it might as well be darn pretty.  And clean.

The Opposite of Fat

Ugh.  I have never been thin…not at birth, not at 4, and not at 34.  Thin – it’s just not my thing.  Usually I’m ok with this, as ok I suppose, as any woman ever is with her body.  I want to be a good role model for Bam-Bam and the Bear Claw regarding food and body image, etc.   But, I digress.  The issue I have today is that the Bear Claw is tiny, tiny, tiny.  After setting expectations high with her immense birth weight of 10lbs. 5oz. she’s now only a puny 11lbs. 12oz. at 8.5 weeks old.  That’s really a pretty sad weight gain.  The irony of it is that she’s breastfed.  So the food that keeps me “well-rounded” shall we say, does not seem to be transferring well to her.  It’s worrying, it’s disappointing and I’m just sad about it.  Her doctor wants us to give her some formula after every other feeding to see if she’s still hungry after nursing…in which case my supply is low and she’ll need to be supplemented if I can’t get my supply up to meet her needs.  I don’t necessarily mind that – I want her to get the calories and nutrients she needs no matter what, but after struggling with and finally getting breastfeeding right, I hate to think it’s not sufficient.  But I just want her to be healthy…so I will focus on that.  We take her for a weight check on 11 April.  Fingers crossed for some fattening in the meantime.  And I mean for her, not for me.

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Things Girl

So the Bear Claw as she’s now known is not…shall we say…inherently feminine about the face.  People constantly think she’s a boy.  Maybe it’s the hair.  I don’t know.  I can dress her in pink and give her a pink pacifier and still everyone thinks she’s a boy.   So when my friend started selling homemade bows, I decided that elaborately girlish decorating of the child might (just might) help the average person accurately detect her gender.  In any case – check out these bows…so cute.  You might just want one for yourself.

New Camera

I’m very, very embarrassed to admit that since I began developing an interest in photography (an interest which has resulted in a couple decent pictures and thousands of crap ones) I’ve spent quite a bit of money; a trend that I’m keeping up, apparently.

I have a very nice camera already – two in fact.  I have a small collection of lenses and a nice flash…but could I stop and maybe develop my actual skills a little?  At least to keep pace with my equipment?  Now, really – what would be the fun in that?  So last week I decided to dip into my savings (because it’s not like I’m earning any interest recently, I mean really – it’s almost more sensible to spend than it is to save these days…) and buy a new super-duper camera.  So in a couple days I will be the proud new owner of a Nikon D90.  I could really not be more excited.

In my defense, I’ve decided to sell my other two cameras and will be making back over 2/3 of the cost of the new camera, so it’s not really that bad…right??  Hello?

And my final rationalization…who could not want to document these two as well as possible…?

Happily Ever During

Ok, so it’s been a pretty long time since I posted…well, that’s because we had our baby!!  Little girl arrived on 31 January and to everyone’s surprise she was even bigger than her brother - an immense 10lbs 5oz and 21 inches!  Labor was only 3 hours total and because I’d progressed so quickly, I wasn’t even able to get an epidural.  I still can’t get over it.  The experience was just amazing.

Recovery has been fantastic, I’ve been able to breastfeed and best of all – I’m not depressed!!!  It’s such an unbelievable relief that everything is going so much better than expected. 

Bam-Bam is adjusting beautifully.  The first week was a little rough – but now?  He’s becoming such a fantastic big brother.  He kisses his sister, helps us with diaper changes, and always looks for her when he comes into a room.  It’s the sweetest thing to watch.  I can’t wait until she’s more interactive – I think he’ll just love it. 

So here are the requisite photos…more to come soon.

New Photos

I’ve somehow managed to hardly post any photos lately despite the fact that I’ve been taking tons and really working on my skills with the camera and with Photoshop.  I think I’m getting a little better finally!

Here are some recent pics of my favorite boy.