Fourth Trimester

Greetings all!  I have emerged from the complete and total energy suck that is two children/recovery from childbirth to bring you this blog post.  We have been, by and large, keeping holed up together figuring out this family of four thing.  For those of you not immersed in the world of babies like I am, the "Fourth Trimester" refers to the first 3 months after the baby is born, when he is still basically an extension of my body.  We are smack dab in the middle of the Fourth Trimester.  It is a really beautiful time, so I thought I would share with you some snapshots I have taken in the most dramatic way possible: in black and white.

Lest the pictures below fool you, our transition to a family of four has not been entirely seamless.  There have been days when it is just hard.  Those are the days when I throw my hands up and say "we are absolutely not having any more kids!"  There have been days when Elliot gets overwhelmed and tantrums like no other.  And there are days when I wonder if I could go back to work, just for the day, and let these kids be someone else's problem for a few hours.

But then there are the other times.  The ones that fill my heart more full than I knew was possible.  Those moments when I see Erik tenderly holding both of our babies, or Elliot gently putting Liam's pacifier back in his mouth and kissing him on the forehead.  The times when Liam curls into me when I pick him up or lays his head on my chest and falls asleep.  These moments so overpower the tantrums, the long nights, the endless laundry.  It is such a special and short time.

During this time, Elliot has started preschool!  She goes two days a week in the mornings.  She was so nervous the first day I thought she was going to make herself sick.  But she did very well. And, I'm not going to lie, I really enjoy the break and the chance to bond one-on-one with Liam.

My baby bear.

 

This is Liam on January 10th, one month old!  I can't believe soon it will be two months!

We are not always sleeping peacefully!  Ironically, I was attempting to get a shot of him in his shirt that says "Awesome" but he was having none of it.

Even though some days are difficult for Elliot dealing with her new brother, she absolutely loves and adores him.  One of my very favorite things is watching their relationship develop.  I am so glad they have each other.  Every night Liam gets in Elliot's bed for prayers and story time.  It turns out, that is a golden opportunity for me to grab the camera.  The following photos are from those times and I love, love, love them.  Almost as much as I love the people in them.

Well, I better get back to the fam.  Stay tuned, we've got something exciting coming down the pipeline.  I can't say what it is just yet, but I suspect the next blog post will be the big reveal :).  

From "Vegas, Baby!" to Vegas baby...

I guess what happens in Vegas doesn't always stay in Vegas!  You could say, we hit the jackpot and didn't even know it until two weeks later!  Are there any other cheesy Vegas-isms I missed.  Probably, but you see what I am doing here (and probably more information than you wanted, haha).

 

We were so pleased to become "Facebook Official" last week in announcing our new addition, but I have been meaning to elaborate a little with a blog post.  I also needed a forum to showcase my "Big Sis" photo shoot shots that didn't make the cut but were still so adorable they had to be seen.  Unfortunately, so far this pregnancy has been rough with round-the-clock morning sickness and intense fatigue that I do not remember having with Elliot.  This makes it difficult to accomplish simple tasks, like brushing my teeth, let alone writing.

 

We are so very excited about this baby.  He or she was a long time coming.  I have shared in previous posts about our struggles to conceive, followed by miscarriage, followed by more struggles to conceive.  There are never guarantees in life, and I know it is still early in the pregnancy (almost to second trimester!) but whatever happens we feel so blessed.  Last night I got to listen to Elliot's sweet voice telling one of her long-winded stories while feeling the first flutters of life in my belly, and felt so much gratitude to God for giving me this life, with my precious babies and amazing husband.  We will always feel grief over the baby we lost, but our rainbow baby (that's what they call babies that come after a miscarriage) has taken some of the sting out.

 

Elliot teeters between being really excited about the baby, to seeming to not really understand what is happening.  I think when we told her she expected the baby to come, like, immediately.  And when it didn't, she kind of lost interest.  She will occasionally make statements that when the baby comes she will be like Elsa, because Elsa is the big sister.  I don't think it has even occurred to her that the baby might be a boy.  Either way, I know she will be an awesome big sis!

 

 

In this one she is touching my belly.  Notice I am already showing...a lot.

An action shot.  She is jumping up and down in this one.

 

Thank you for all the kind words and support on our Facebook post.  Please continue to keep us in your prayers.  I definitely miss the luxury that I enjoyed in my first pregnancy of not worrying about every little ache and pain.  More updates to come in the future!



What a Girl Wants

It has now been two months since the bambina has entered our lives and she has become pretty good at communicating what she wants (and doesn't want!) with us. For example we know she wants:

to lay on her changing pad and chit chat with anyone who will listen,

to go swimming whenever possible,

to sit like a big girl,

to have a comfortable place to rest,

to be silly,

to spend hours playing,

to share secrets and naps with her bestie,

to coordinate her outfits,

and to discuss celebrity gossip with her aunt.

However, she does not care for:

being dressed in a huge, puffy (and I assume itchy) dress for her baptism,

being shoved into her car seat in the same huge, puffy dress for the long (5 minute) ride to church,

the first dip,

being dressed like a nerd (eww, Mom, it looks like I tucked my shirt into my jeans!),

or wearing the adorable, hot pink, baby flip-flops that Mommy carefully selected and pictured her wearing while traipsing about town on our errands, accepting compliments left and right from passersby.  In fact, she rejects all shoes, which might be part of the reason she is screaming in her baptism photos...hmm.

But one thing for which I am grateful is that no matter what, sometimes all a girl wants is her Mommy.

Happy two-month-day Baby Girl!  We are so glad you came along!

You be my sugar baby, I'll be your sweet iced tea

If you've never heard this song (Honey Bee, Blake Shelton) then you are missing out!  Actually, it has been stuck in my head for about 3 days now and when I was trying to come up with a title for this post it just kept circling around so there you have it.  It might have something to do with sweet tea being my absolute favorite liquid right now.  Or maybe that I find Blake Shelton to be a little bit delicious.  But I think mostly it reminds me of my husband because it is all about things that go together.  Here, see for yourself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZjosn2u1gA&ob=av2n

We may not be sugar baby and sweet iced tea, but we can definitely pull off Chandler Bing smile and crazy eyes.  I was asked by my cousin to send a picture of Erik and me together with the belly for my upcoming baby shower.  A simple enough request, right?  For most people that is true, but for me and my strong and steady it was mission impossible.  We are extremely awkward picture-takers.  Both of us are afflicted and I fear the baby has no chance.  We do ok if there is someone else directing the shot, but when left to our own devices...well, you'll see.  It doesn't help that I am, how should I put this, somewhat less photogenic than I was 8 months ago.  No one told me you slip out of the cute preggo phase when you enter the third trimester!  Anyway, we did the best we could, hilarity ensued, arguments were rampant, and here are the results:

Jessica: What?  You can't see your face!

Erik: You told me to kiss you!

Jessica:  Hmm...that's true.

Jessica:  Erik, why are you standing like that?

(Also note what a terrible background this is, lol)

Whoa double chin!

Admittedly, this is the best one of Erik.  Note how we "fixed" the problem from the last picture by taking everything off the door.  Only to be thwarted by Toast running in and opening it as the timer on the camera went off.

So we decided to move the shoot out to the living room.

I think we can all agree I am way too much of a whale from this angle.  I can't believe I am putting it online actually.

My personal favorite.  I call it "I want to steal your baby!"

Finally, we decided to go with this one.  It was really a lesser of all evils kind of situation.

Awkward Family Photos here we come!