I’m so proud of my daughter.  I love her tremendously.  And I’m only two years into getting to know her. 

Happy Birthday (yesterday), Grace. 

My two-year-old!

My two-year-old-ham.

Homemade cakes!!!  Mom made, Gracie approved.

Gracie’s sweet new ride.

I need a babysitter tonight (Lynnwood)

Please email me with your name, number, and a reference (or brief description) of babysitting history.

ALSO, if you have a little one you can definitely bring them with you, but please make sure they wont wake my children up. I don’t feel comfortable having people babysit my kids when their awake

Anna is two months old and neither Paul nor I can account for the last nine weeks of our lives.  They’ve been a blend of adaptation and joy and tiredness and survival and awe. 

Anna had her two-month check up with Dr. Welsh yesterday and all looks great!  Though she suffered through her first cold last week, doctor says he wouldn’t have known it if I hadn’t told him about it.  Phew.  Infants and snarfles are a horrible horrible combination.

My little monkey weighs in at 11 pounds, 8 ounces, and gave the ruler a run for the money at 23 1/4 inches. 

Almost 7 weeks.  We’re all a little on the happy side since Anna slept through the night last night, waking at 5:20 AM to eat and then go back to bed.

(I made these in my belly.)

(Pretty happy about getting to look at her all day long.)

(I think she looks more and more like her handsome daddy.)

(She’s a great night time sleeper.  Thank you Jesus.)

Thank you “Kristen” for some great pictures of my baby.  You’re spectacular.

So, until then, it seems right to play catch up with real life and share what is current.

I’m still prego.  This was taken a couple weeks ago, at 36 weeks, and right in the middle of a fancy schmancy sinus infection.  It’s hard to look blissfully pregnant when your face feels it might drop off at any moment, leaving only the giant roll of cotton and mucus that’s been plaguing you night and day on top of your neck.  I did my best, but even Paul admits, “You look tired.” 

We were all pretty tired.  Grace had just recovered from her cold, I had mine, and Paul, still recovering, was remembering the part about later pregnancy where his wife begins to snore. 

We survived the “heat wave.”  Of course, it was nothing like last summer’s 110 degree days, thank you Jesus.  Yet,  95 is still fairly warm for us.  Paul bought me a portable air conditioner so that we can at least keep the back of the house cool and sleep at night.  We love it.  We also got a kiddie pool, or “pooOO?” as Grace calls it, for back yard refreshment.

Unexpectedly, the extra pool water came in really handy when our water line busted. 

On Friday morning, Paul took me out for a cup of coffee and a cruise around the neighborhood to see if any good garage sales were happening.  Upon our return, we noticed quite a bit of water in the street.  Also, a water turn-off tool in our carport.  And then our fabulous neighbor pulled up on her bike.  She’d been out looking for us, or for someone who could find us, to inform us of the Old Faithful impression our back yard had been doing in our absence.  Seems we’d nearly flooded the street. 

Our main water line was busted.  Bugger.

Thanks to our incredibly fast and hard working friend, who I won’t mention by name because he would be so embarrassed to receive the public recognition, we got our water line fixed by 1:00 PM the next day.  It was such a relief to have RYAN DACEY here when we needed him.  And I’ve never seen a straighter trench dug (BY HAND!) so fast in my entire life.  He’s a serious example of incredible work ethic, skill and efficiency.  We are so very thankful for him. 

Baring any further interruptions, I think our lives have returned to normalcy.  I’m about 38 weeks baby-chub, though encountering a serious spell of denial that we’re going to actually birth a baby in the next couple of weeks.  Paul has recovered his sense of humor as well as his health.  In fact, today he was released to do any physical activity he desires and he’s free to lift things that are more than 25 pounds.  Yay!  Yay!  Yay!  Oh, bliss to see my love getting stronger and healthy!  And Grace continues to grow and bring incredible joy and laughter into our home every day.  We can’t wait to see what it’s like for her to transition into big sisterhood.

We’re back?

I’ve reorganized the girls’ (THE GIRLS’!!!) dresser drawers to accommodate both of them and when I pulled out Grace’s first onesies to pass on to her sister, my jaw must have dropped a mile.  How was she ever that tiny?!  Then I started to realize that this is really happening and that in a matter of ten or eleven weeks that little onesie will be filled with a new Majack.  I’m not denying that I’m excited.  I am happy and excited.  I just also need to admit that I’m a little scared occasionally and am surprised to be experiencing some of the same nervousness about my ability to “do this” that I had the first time around.  The dichotomy of simultaneously experiencing maternal confidence and maternal doubt/anxiety is interesting to sit in.

Ready or not…

1.  Everybody got to stay in bed until 8:00 AM.  Typically, Grace wakes whenever her little heart pleases, but doesn’t get out of bed until 7:30 when we have breakfast.  Yesterday, everybody got to sleep in till 8 and it made for the start of a glorious Saturday.

2.  Paul and I got to sit on the couch and drink coffee together. 

3.  Around 9, we threw on something decent, jumped in the car and drove around Enumclaw and Buckley in search of garage sale treasures.  Though our only find was a tomato plant that needed a home, we did get to A.) sit on a great leather couch, B.) experience the sense of victory that comes with not giving in to the mutual impulse to buy said leather couch, C.) see one of the most beautiful country garden estates with an amazing view of Mt. Rainier,  D.) share another coffee from a quaint Buckley cafe, E.) drive around together discussing whatever came to mind and listening to our backseat parrot.

4.  In the afternoon, Grace took her regular nap, and Paul and I got to work in the front yard together renovating our flower bed.  For me, it was two hours of uninterrupted dirt bliss.  I wore my floppy sun hat.  I squatted over weeds and thought about random things like roots and giving birth.  I grew red-faced and giddy with exertion.

It was a blissfully fun day.   

Gratitude to Grace for sleeping in and to my best friend Paul for being such an exceptional playmate.  Though I’ve just sort of been waiting for an opportunity to kill the dog today, remembering the joy of days like yesterday makes me feel a little silly.  I think I’ll take this quiet moment to go back to bed for a few minutes and this time I’ll wake up on the right side.

On Friday in the wee hours of the morning, my mom, brother and nephew arrived for a weekend visit.  Though we did get our naps in, it was a full weekend of visiting, cookie baking, and Trader Joe’s perusing.  It was wonderful to see them, but more exciting to have the opportunity for Grace to spend some time with her Montana family and especially her cousin Tristan.  Gosh, he’s handsome.

Our second event occurred last night when Grace’s furniture underwent a little rearranging and she spent her first night in a toddler bed!  In anticipation of her sister joining us in July/August, we wanted to give Grace plenty of time to get acquainted with her new dream sleigh, but really, she barely seemed to notice the change.  Perhaps there are a few benefits to having another child while Grace is still so young…

Either way, she woke up this morning happy and contentedly exploring a favorite book whilst awaiting Mommy’s arrival to signal the beginning of our day together.  What a great way to start the day!  For both of us.

Third, it is my mom’s birthday!  Happy Birthday Mom!  We wish we could be there to celebrate the day with you, although I’m sure you’re hard at work counting beans or discussing payment options with someone who likes the privilege of running water delivered to their homes.  We loved having the weekend with you!

In celebration of your birthday, Grace is going to go have a wonderful nap in her big girl bed, right now.  Nigh-nigh!