Washing off the Blood Spatter

It's been an exhausting 8 weeks. Life with a newborn and a 9 year old boy with ADHD is wonderful but REALLY tiring. She's sleeping better but still on a newborn schedule, and Jonas has had a rough week at school. I've hit the invisible wall that all parents of newborns come to. I tried to phone it in on Jonas last night and it came back to bite me in the butt.

After falling into bed for a few hours of much needed sleep, while Steve took his usual late night feeding shift, I awoke to the sound of Jonas crying in the hallway at 12:26am. Without turning the lights on, I asked what was wrong. He said "A chair fell on me." He was sobbing and, since there is no chair anywhere near where he was sleeping, I assumed that he had just had a nightmare. He said his lip hurt so, trying to keep my eyes closed and at least pretend I was still sleeping, I suggested that he get a glass of water. (A cure all remedy from my own childhood.)

Then he said "It makes the blood taste worse."

Wait. What? Blood? Blood!

Queue the instantaneous alert status.

Did you know that kids' faces bleed a lot when they're cut? I forgot for a moment. I actually, truthfully considered that he might have had a run-in with some Freddy Kruger-like creature from the netherworld.

Long, blood-spatter story cut short, he somehow managed to scratch his cheek and lip while pretend camping' on his bedroom floor in his sleeping bag. In retrospect, Freddy Kruger is low on the suspect list. More likely it was his finger nail, the sleeping bag zipper, the handle on his crank flashlight or his cat.

Regardless of the culprit, he's going to tell the kids at school "You should see the other guy!" That ought to put a damper on the bullying.

Cheers!

Easter Road Trips

Easter is right around the corner. This year, that means some road trips for us. We opted out of travelling at Christmastime, so we're hitting the road to see family over the next three weekends. It's a chance for Abby to meet her sister, as well as more of her aunts, uncles and cousins. Of course, Jonas, Steve and I are looking forward to seeing everyone too, especially Tasha.

One of the things I love most about these trips is seeing my nieces and nephews. They grow so much between visits. Seeing it happen through pictures on Facebook is great, but it doesn't compare to seeing them in person. My nephew's logic, my niece's charm or the whit of a teenager, for instance, just can't be conveyed in pictures. After all, pictures are meant to preserve memories, not make them.

Of course, we all do the best we can. Between jobs and kids, there aren't enough hours for our day to day routines. Despite our best intentions, we find ourselves letting more time pass between calls and visits than we want. This holiday is another chance for us to make some those memories together and I can't wait. Cheers!

Wordless Wednesday: The Illusion of Sleep

Seven Weeks Already?!

As week seven of Abby's life draws to a close, I thought I'd check in to let you know that we're doing pretty well. Life with this newborn isn't complicated, it's just exhausting. It sort of feels like one really long day. She's feeding every two or three hours and hasn't mastered the art of putting herself to sleep unless she's in her car or vibrating seat. She likes her soother but is still learning how to use her fingers, so she needs help when she wants it but it isn't in her mouth already. She's generally a happy baby, and is working on her gorgeous smile, but her days seem to start at 3am and she has a seriously fussy period every night from about 5:30pmish until 8:30pmish. This all makes for lots of fits and starts of sleep during the night, and results in a very tired mom and dad. 

 

Jonas has been on March Break this week, and we've been mixing having fun with working on his history project for school. Much to his chagrin, he woke up on day one of the break with the Chicken Pox, so we've been mostly cooped up inside. We are going to end the week on a couple of highs though, before we clamp down this weekend to finish up his project and get him ready to give his presentation on Monday. He left yesterday morning for a sleepover at his best friend's house and Steve is going to take him out for a boys night at the movies tonight. He was almost literally bouncing off the walls in anticipation. I can't wait to hear all about it later today.

I'm sure it's going to be non-stop action around here when Jonas gets home. I have to admit that I'm not keeping up with him as well as I'd like to these days. Just like Abby is struggling to get herself to sleep, so to am I. One sage piece of wisdom that's given to every new mom is to "sleep when the baby sleeps". I haven't mastered this. I seem to get my second wind just as she settles into sleep and I am not inclined to let her cry it out, especially when the boys have to get up for school and work in the morning. I'm working on it, and am doing well to steal a little time for myself in the tub every night. Steve has been great about taking over the evening shift so that I can shift gears for a little while, and I am truly blessed to be in this with him.

 

Cheers!

Edited to correct the grammatical mistakes of the sleep deprived. ;)

Wordless Wednesday: Two Weeks Old

 

Abby had her first photo shoot with Auntie Anne yesterday!

Thank you so much for these wonderful keepsakes, Anne.

Wordless Wednesday: Snuggle Time

I love these moments!

What's in a Name?

"So," said that doctor, "What are we calling this gorgeous girl?"

Choosing Abby's name was not easy. There are just so many options! Some of them got thrown out quickly, and others quickly rose to the top of the list. We had a top three or four list all along that was pretty consistent, and we had middle names picked out right away.  We never really certain about her name though, until we saw her for the first time.

For her first name, we wanted something that wasn't currently being used by somebody in our lives. I always envisioned naming my daughter Lillie, but Abby and Jonas's cousin claimed it first, so to the baby name books we went.

Both Steve and I liked the name Abby from the outset, but thought Abigail sounded a little old fashioned for us, so Abigail moved on and off the list, as we seemed to change our minds every time we thought about it. And then Jonas suggested Gabrielle about a week before she was born. We realized that it would be shortened to Gabby, and had reservations about combing that nickname with her genetic predisposition to be a talker. The more we considered Gabby, the more Abby shone through. When she was born, Abby just felt right. No formal Abigail, just Abby.

Abby's middle names were chosen quite easily. We wanted to name her after our Grandmothers, so we chose Mae and Lillie, after my Grandmas Symonds, Martin and Gertie. (I tried but Gertie got four thumbs down from Steve and Jonas every time I suggested it.)  Of course, her last name is Blanchard, so she nests nicely into Steven's family tree.

So Abby Mae Lillie Blanchard it is. She hasn't complained about it yet but I'm sure that day will come. I'll smile and nod, kiss her forehead, and then tell her to be glad that we didn't keep calling her Esmerelda after she was born.

Cheers!