A day in the life

Breakfast! Waffles are on the regular rotation along with oatmeal, cranberry bread with peanut butter and rainbow cheerios (nothing makes a child wake up faster than bright neon sugar coated o's)...

Playing side by side, kinda...

Always have fresh flowers in the home. Even in these tough times, it's the one luxury in which I continue to indulge. You can't have enough things to provide an emotional lift when home-bound with a toddler and infant in the dead of winter!!!

The bonding begins

It's a thrill to see my two girls together. I envision the paths they will take - I cannot know how rocky or smooth they will be; only that their paths are eternally intertwined. Hurrah for sisters!

J's big 4-0!

It's tramautic yet unavoidable. The day you turn 40. I try to dull the pain with braised short ribs and a good wine. And a visit from a good friend.

Christmas 2008

Our first live Christmas tree! Of course 3 days after Jimmy set it up and we decorated it I found a spider in the tree and told Jimmy to take it outside and burn it. Luckily he didn't listen. He and my pospartum hormones are old friends and they have an unspoken understanding.

Sophie arrives

The contractions started 4:30am the day before thanksgiving. By 7:30am I was 10 cm dialated and at the hospital. One hour and a half later, after having declined pain medication (long story short: the nurses insisted I could push a few times and have the baby in a matter of minutes rather than wait around for the anesthesiologist), and having pushed for 30 minutes with not much progression, I teetered on the brink of sanity from the pain of natural childbirth. So in I pleaded for a c-section...and lo and behold..

Sophie was weighed in at .1 less than Katherine at 6.8 lbs. Both were around 75% for weight, but 95% for head circumference (please tell me that's why I've struggled and failed to push both of them out). While it was a vague suspicion in my mind before, I am now convicted of this - I am not cut out for labor. So I'm done!

Ah, there's nothing like a hard day's work. I need a vacation.

The baby shower (the last milestone before D-day!)

The spread (creme brulee french toast - can such a perfectly indulgent thing exist??)



Me looking rather shaky holding my friend's 12-week old son (apparently it's not like riding a bike).

One of the last few pics as a threesome! Ah K, you look so at peace while I tremble within.

The ladies who made it all possible. I can't tell you how desperately grateful I am to personally know more than 1 other mom the second time around.

Professional pictures - better late than never??

We finally got around to having a professional photographer take some family pictures of us because 1) he offered the service for free (neighbor who needs to build his portfolio) but 2) he was more interested in snapping shots of my big belly than getting heirloom quality family shots.

These are the only pictures where he doesn't make me flash my belly. Anyway, I realized afterwards how badly we need quality professional pictures of our growing family so I will have to remember to add this to the to do list once baby #2 arrives (right after #42: brush my teeth and #43: return to the land of the living).