Archive for August, 2005

Nothing much has happened in the last week, just settling into a routine: feed Eliza, read to James, fold laundry, wash dishes, repeat. There are lots of other things that need to be done, and even more things I would like to do, but there is simply not enough time for extras right now. I always wondered how people managed two kids (or seven!). I'm sure there are some "supermoms" who manage to do everything and then some, but I think most of us just barely get by, trying hard to catch up and then something happens that sets us back again. But for now, everyone has something clean to wear, a clean dish to eat on (even if all they get is a sandwich), and life goes on.

In other news, James has been his usual precocious self—I went out to get the mail the other day, and when I came back in James came running around the corner, saying, "Mama! Mama! I thought you went to work." Then this morning James was looking at a book about Winnie the Pooh while I changed his diaper, mumbling something about Tigger and Piglet. Then he looked up at me and said, "It's hard to read a book." Yes, James, but you're not even two!

Eliza loves to smile at me (and sometimes other people), and she has started making sweet little noises sometimes. This is what makes all the hard work and lack of sleep worth it! Children really are a gift from God!

What tiny hands you have

James seems to be falling into his role as big brother quite well. He realizes that most visitors to our house are there to see the baby, and as soon as they come in, he proudly points to her and says, "That's Eliza!" He tells me when she's crying, and the other day he informed me that she "had a bad dream" when she woke up crying. He also likes to brush her hair, always very gently. He accepts the fact that she has stuff that's hers—he picked up Eliza's pink elephant recently and said, "That's Eliza's elephant?" "Yes," I said. He hugged it and said, "I love her elephant." I think he loves her, too.

After ring

Before ring

Ring

Joseph and Nicole

In case you haven't heard, my big brother Joseph recently became engaged to Nicole Jackson from Coalfield, Tennessee. The two of them had come to Little Rock for a visit and to meet Eliza. Joseph was taking pictures of Nicole at the Old Mill in North Little Rock, and snapped a photo as he surprised her with the ring. The look on her face is priceless! Their wedding date is set for December 31st of this year. Congratulations to them!

It has been a while since we have had time to sit down and write an update. Between feeding Eliza, trying to keep James happy, doing a minimum amount of housework, and catching some sleep when I can, there's hardly time for anything else. I am actually trying to feed her as I write this. :) I finally put up some more pictures on our gallery. We are doing really well, just trying to learn how to get by on 6 or less hours of sleep at night. Eliza has started smiling at me sometimes—it is so cute! James is crazier than ever, but he has adjusted well to not being the only child. Jay has been busy with work and trying to keep our finances in order. Overall, we are just trying to keep up with life as it flies by!

One of the developmental milestones James has passed in recent months is that of being put to bed merely sleepy, instead of having to be rocked and sung into a stupor. One nice side effect of this is the opportunity to start the tradition of a bedtime prayer. Once we got used to the concept, they usually go something like this example from a couple of nights ago:

• JAY: Dear…
• JAMES: God!
• JAY: Thank you for…
• JAMES: For Mama, an' for Daddy, an' for Mama, an' for Daddy, an' for Eliza, an' for el'phant, an' for bom-bom, an' for milk, an' for apple juice, an' for Eliza's swing, an' for Mama, an' for Daddy, an' ...
• JAY: [slightly loudly, to break the cycle] ...in Jesus's name…
• JAMES: A-men!

At this point, James makes a big production of hoisting his head up off the pillow and propping himeself up on his elbows for a kiss, after which he collapses over on top of his stuffed elephant and slaps the button on the cribside music thingy that has come to be known as the "bom-bom", in honor of its languid synthesized percussion rendition of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.

It's interesting to see what elements of the day make their appearance. On this day, we had gotten the infant swing out of the closet and reassembled it in the living room for Eliza's snoozing enjoyment. James was apparently very impressed. Other items similarly appreciated have included "outside" and the "Mayo van".

Don't look now, but we have kids.

Lauren and I had that realization the other evening after we got James and Eliza both in their car seats and buckled in, and somone said, "Okay, the kids are ready." We had one of those paradigm-shift moments when something you're already aware of becomes completely, totally real… I not only married my fiancé, I've got a wife! We not only made it through our second pregnancy; we've got kids!

We haven't posted anything here in the last week because we haven't done anything extremely interesting. Last weekend we visited Memphis to let Lauren's grandparents and family see Eliza. We set a precedent by road-tripping up there when James was almost a week old, and had no good reason not to do it again. Eliza had her two-week checkup on Wednesday, and tipped the scales at an impressive 6 pounds 3 ounces. (We also learned that her last weight measurement before leaving the hospital was 5 pounds 8 ounces, something we had neglected to ask at the time.) Other than than, we've just been sort of hanging out. I worked half-days some of last week, and am back at work full-time this week. Eliza has been sleeping four and five hours at a time most nights, so we're doing a little better than we were with James at this point. She doesn't always go back to sleep easily after her middle-of-the-night feeding, and having James wanting breakfast at 7:30 keeps Lauren from snoozing on and off until noon like she did sometimes with James, though, so she's still a little weary most days.

But other than that, life is just sort of good, in a slightly-tired-all-the-time, sink-full-of-dishes kind of way. And we have kids!