Baby Firsts

You know the usual: Baby's First Tooth, Baby's First Steps, Baby's First Christmas... Well, here's another one to add: Baby's First Action Movie. We recently switched from Blockbuster Online to Netflix -- yes, we succumbed. It's Blockbuster's own fault -- they kept reducing the # of trade-ins per month and raising their prices so that it wasn't worth it any more. Netflix has a distribution center about 40 minutes away, so we get their movies really quickly. So anyway Mr. Pickles decided to inaugurate his son into the world of action adventure by renting:



Live Free or Die Hard!! (Joseph slept through it, naturally.)

But to balance things out, he also rented:



Enchanted, for me.

I think those were about as extreme opposites as you could get -- I'm surprised the DVD player didn't explode from the matter-antimatter reaction!

One Week Old

Pant pant pant... we made it! Joseph is a great baby -- it's just all the doctor appointments and blood tests that were killing us! Of course, he's fine -- just a little yellow, like all my babies.

Here he is in all his golden smiling glory! I finally had a chance to get out all the boy clothes (how we have so many with two girls, I'm not sure). And the blue and stripes have started pouring in from friends & family!

Newborn yawns are so cute. (so are Mr. Pickles' ears on a tiny baby!)

I know, new babies look a little funny -- all puffy-eyed and jowly -- but I have to agree with Miriam: "I just love him -- he's sooo cute and sweet!"

I can't believe that enormous girl there was ever this tiny.

Mr. Pickles: "Dessert is served! He's so yummy I could just eat him up."

Better than plastic surgery!

I thought some of my girlfriends out there might get a kick out of this:

body measurements last week:
38-42-44

body measurements this week:
40-36-44

The BEST part is that I fit into my "fat" jeans! Woo hoo! That was a VERY exciting moment this morning. :) So long, tummy panels!

Day Four of being outnumbered

Hello, Internet! Ahh, it's good to be back. As we were driving home from the hospital on Sunday, it felt like I had been gone for weeks -- like I was coming back from vacation or something. For one thing, Spring has sprung. All the bulbs are up, the flowering trees are in bloom, and there's a green mist on all the branches in the woods. It made for a nice homecoming.

So, day four, and all is well! It's fun getting to know the newest member of our family. So far his personality seems to be the same as it was when he was Inside. When he was still a Bump he seemed to be a very mellow type -- never threw any wild dance parties, like Katie did. :) But he liked his comfort. Whenever I shifted position, like in bed at night, I would feel scrambling movement inside until he settled into another comfy spot. And he would insist on keeping his little feets in my ribs sometimes -- I could never knead them down because that's where they were comfortable, and by gum, that's where they were going to stay! Now that he's joined us outside we get to see all this stuff in action. For the most part, he's a pretty mellow guy. His needs are simple and easily met. He lets us know very decidedly when there's Something Wrong with the Universe (like the evils of Hunger, or Wet Diaper), but the instant we fix it he's happy again. However, should you disturb his comfort and dare to change said diaper, or worse yet, get him DRESSED, oh the horror! Torture! But then you pick him up when you're done and he's instantly calm again. I'm sort of waiting for the other shoe to drop -- for that one night when he wakes up screaming at 2am and can't be consoled, or we're in public and I can't get him latched on and he's hysterical, or something else Mr. Hyde-ish. But for now I'm enjoying his sweetness of temperament. :) He's sleeping on my lap right now -- like Miriam, he loves snuggling and sleeps best next to a warm body. We both LOVE the Moby Wrap. He feels like he's in the womb again, and I've got both hands free. Although I'm equally happy for excuses to sit down & hold the baby for extended periods of time. :)

It's been an adjustment learning how this whole newborn thing works again. For example, yesterday we were trying to leave the house for his first appt. with the pediatrician, and everything that could happen trying to get a baby ready to go somewhere happened. I fed him, but he was extra hungry and took so long that I didn't get lunch; I got him dressed, and then he spit up all over everything; I changed his diaper, but then he had an explosion just as we were trying to leave; then he spit up all over everything again and had to be dressed again. It was pretty ridiculous. Fortunately Mr. Pickles was taking care of the girls, otherwise we would have been much later than 15 minutes. (plus he made a sandwich for me to eat on the way, what a good hubby) It's going to be interesting trying to get everyone out of the house when I'm flying solo! How do all you moms of three do it?!? I'm beginning to understand why all the mothers of large families that I know have such well-developed senses of humor. :)

So far the girls have adjusted really well to having a new baby. For one thing, they're both totally in love with him. They think he's just so adorable, and tell us so. The other night when they were getting ready for bed, I put Joseph down in his crib. Miriam was supposed to be washing up, but she went over to the crib and was just starting at him. After a while Mr. Pickles called to her to remind her of what she was supposed to be doing, and she said, "I know, but he's just SOOOO cute." Melt, my maternal heart! The girls have both been so helpful too -- more than willing to fetch and carry and even help each other out. That's been tremendous. Initially I was concerned the most about Katie being jealous, but of course she's normally so independent that Mommy being occupied most of the time now hasn't seemed to faze her at all. Having Daddy home all the time helps immensely too.

I must say that I am LOVING being not pregnant any more! I never got to the point where I was desperate to get the kid out of me -- I never reached that level of discomfort, thankfully. It was mostly little things that got to me -- like when Joseph dropped, my knees began to suffer separation anxiety. And feeling like my hip bones were going to relax right out of their sockets was getting old. But mostly it got really annoying when I started growing out of even my maternity shirts. Fortunately I managed to keep so busy right up to the very end that I never felt time weighing heavily on my hands.

Now that he's out, however, I'm rediscovering all the joys of non-pregnant life that I had hitherto forgotten. Like taking deep breaths, for example. And hearing out of my left ear again. And being able to use the bathroom at infrequent intervals like a normal person. And being able to see my feet again, or bend over from the waist, or sit with my legs crossed -- just lots of little things. :) But of course, most importantly, I love getting to see the little person whom I've been renting living space to for the last 9 months. He's a total doll baby (complete with full head of hair) and we adore him. I'm sure some of you mothers THINK you may have had the cutest baby ever, but I'm sorry to inform you that you're mistaken. Joseph is by far the most scrumptious and beautiful baby ever to grace our planet with his presence -- and I'm his mother so of course my judgment is completely balanced and impartial.


Mother and Child by William Bouguereau (from art.com)

A Very Different Date Night

This past Thursday, March 20, started like every other day. Miriam woke up at 2:00 a.m. because the wind blew so hard that it shook our home's siding. Miriam woke me up again to say that her leg or something hurt. I decided to sleep in their room thinking that it was the only way she would go back to sleep. Katie woke up balling when I took the comforter off their bed to stay warm (and she was clearly not using it). I tried to sleep but kept getting woken up by a.) the siding rattling, b.) the girls arguing over something, or c.) Miriam touching my head as I tried to sleep. After 2 hours of this I decided to go back to my bed. I just couldn't sleep, so I decided to make myself some coffee (used in very drastic circumstances such as these) and headed to work.

Fortunately, despite the lack of sleep the girls were pretty good for Mrs. P during the day.

I decided to come home early to take a nap before we all headed off to Holy Thursday Mass and the beginning of the Easter Triduum. I woke later in the afternoon to hear my wife say that the contractions were pretty serious that day. I got the girls ready for bed, and they asked why we weren't going to Mass. I told them that "Mommy might have the baby tonight, so it was better to stay at home and let her prepare." To which Miriam replied, "We don't want to go to Mass if Mommy will have the baby there." Miriam paused for a moment, smiled, and then said, "That would make the priest laugh!"

The doula actually called us soon after the girls were in bed to see how Mrs. P was doing. Contractions were irregular, so the doula recommended a couple exercises to avoid an OP baby (which implies a misaligned baby, and backlabor, and much more pain) and then some much needed rest. The exercise did it's job to reposition the baby, and so the much-needed rest became the much-anticipated labor.

At 12:00 a.m. we woke up the girls to get them ready. It was funny to see their different reactions. Miriam was very tired and barely spoke, and while Katie was also very tired, she was making jokes about different things in the room. Wish I could remember what she said, but I do remember laughing outloud several times. She was so funny, and she knew it!

We drove to the future godparents to drop the girls off. We gave them the lowdown on the girl's daily schedule and what was packed in what bags. As we walked back to the car we felt like we had just dropped them off at the babysitters, and Mrs. P said, "Ready for our date night?"

5 hours later into our date night, Joseph Michael was born. The doctor did not arrive in time, and Mr. Pickles almost had to catch the baby. Mrs. P did so well during the labor, and it really was a great date night. :)

Here are few snapshots from the last couple days.














Mother and Child















25 minutes old with a strategically placed foot


















One pooped pater


A proud sister

Miriam keeps telling everybody who will listen that she was "right. I said it would be a boy!" Yes you did, and you never changed your mind.



All of the siblings

This next picture is probably the best picture I have of him. The color is a little bright, but it's the most accurate picture I have of his face and hair color. It was taken in natural light and without a flash. Yes, he is pretty blonde, much like Miriam was when she was born.


And here's a quick movie of Katie holding him. It's interesting to see these hiccups outside of Mrs. P. It gives me a perspective on what she went through when he was inside.


The last couple days have been pretty busy, and as of Good Friday I had only gotten 5 hours of sleep in 2 days. I'm looking forward to resting tonight and arising to celebrate the Resurrection tomorrow morning!

Thank you all for your past and continued prayers!

Happy Birthday Miriam!

Today Miriam turned six. If you didn't know that, it's only because you haven't been around her for the last, oh, month or so. She's been counting down the days -- practically the minutes -- until her birthday. Whenever someone asked her how old she was, she'd invariably reply, "Five, but my birthday is coming soon and I'll be SIX!" All day yesterday she reminded me, "Mommy, today is my last day to be five, and then tomorrow I'll be SIX!" At the grocery store yesterday, whenever we passed someone in the aisles she'd say that to me, no doubt for the stranger's benefit. (I wish I were as excited about my birthdays now!)

So after all the hype and expectation, how did her sixth birthday go? Well,

-She woke up to see number 6 balloons decorating her room.
-I made all her favorite foods -- crepes for breakfast, hotopuses for lunch, and tomato soup and grilled cheese for dinner.
-She got to open her cards and one present after breakfast.
-She got to wear one of her new spring dresses (with a sweater).
-We went swimming at the local Rec Center this morning (until Katie's lips started turning purple).
-I didn't make her take a nap, so she could play with her presents while Katie & I rested.
-We made popcorn and watched a movie in the afternoon.
-She talked on the phone FOUR separate times today.
-She opened the rest of her presents after dinner and loved everything.
-In lieu of birthday cake we had pound cake w/mashed strawberries -- with a candle stuck in her piece.
-She picked the story tape to listen to while Mommy & Daddy were washing dishes.
-She chose to watch Daddy play one of his video games after dinner, instead of having story time.
-During family Rosary she sat in Mommy's lap and led the very first decade -- and then got to fall asleep in Mommy's lap, feeling the baby moving.


So all in all, a fabulous day if you're six. Once she wrapped her arms around me, sighed with happiness, and said, "This is the best birthday EVER!" (I think that was at about 8:30 am, after we had crepes for breakfast and I let her wear her favorite new dress -- so we were off to a good start!)


After dinner we conducted a little interview with Miriam, age 6 (an idea totally lifted from Son Baby):

So Miriam, how do you like being 6?
-A LOT!

Are you going to start liking all those foods you don't like now that you're six?
-No, not until I'm grown up.
So, age 7?
-No, 13!

favorite color: pink & purple
favorite movie: Jonah (Veggietales)
favorite song: Poor Wayfaring Stranger
favorite person: my cousin Edy
favorite thing to do: color
favorite princess: Sleeping Beauty
favorite book: Big Sister Now
favorite food: mac & cheese
favorite video game to watch Daddy play: the Fox Game
favorite video game to play: Sponge Bob

If you could do anything in the world, what would it be?
-ice skating

If you could buy anything, what would it be?
-a bicycle -- a pink one with butterflies and little wheels on the back

So what's your favorite birthday so far?
-six!

What do you want to do for your seventh birthday?
-hmmmm, go swimming

For her sixth birthday, however, she did go ice skating. We had her party last Saturday -- earlier rather than later Just In Case. Earlier in the year I gave her option of having a birthday party and inviting 6 friends, or going someplace fun with just one or two. After her super-fun experience ice skating for the first time on New Year's Eve, she chose that for her birthday party.

Miriam with her friends, Anne and T.T. Katie and I sat it out -- Katie can't skate, and I shouldn't. :) So Mr. Pickles played chaperone.

It took them about 5 minutes to get all the way around the rink the first time! After that they all felt more confident and could skate holding hands, or the wall.

This happened a lot.

Meanwhile Katie was having fun on the bleachers.

Too cute not to post. :) (incidentally, it's weird seeing Miriam be the short one!)

Katie found some "snow" at the entrance to the rink! Eventually so did our girls -- T.T. got Mr. Pickles down the neck with a snowball.

Look what I got Mommy!

After skating we came back home for cake.

Have I mentioned before that Miriam is really into princesses? This was her consolation for not having a whole cake with a huge Cinderella face printed on it. I couldn't resist the clock.

Happy Birthday, princess!

The princess with her court.

Her highness reclining after a busy day. :)

Unfortunately, the next day she was a mess -- her abdominals were so sore it hurt her to move! Poor kid. But I'm guessing all in all she thought it was worth it.

Happy Birthday, sweet girl. We're so glad God sent you to us!

Ahwooga!! Ahwooga!!

Yellow alert! Had my 38 wk OB appt today, and learned some exciting things: the baby's head is engaged in my pelvis (which explains why I've been going to the bathroom every 30 minutes again, and why my pelvis feels like it's... full) and I'm dilated 1cm. Woo hoo! One cm! Exciting times! Of course, I could still be walking around feeling like the baby's head is hanging between my thighs for a couple weeks yet. But I doubt it....

So now I just need to:

-vacuum the house
-clean the bathrooms
-install the carseat
-call the pediatrician
-finish packing
-finish my Easter dress
-start Miriam's flower girl dress
-dust
-polish the piano
-do all the laundry
-paint all the baseboards
-organize all our photos
-go grocery shopping

...you get the idea. :)

As far as baby stuff goes, we're set. The car seat's in the car and the bags are packed, which is more than we had ready when Miriam surprised us. :)


The crib's all ready.

...complete with test baby

My nursing corner is all ready to go, with my deluxe leather lounge chair from IKEA. (Katie is demonstrating that Mommy's lap will always have enough room for her.)

I've got a new baby carrier, the Moby Wrap, provided by some FABULOUS friends. Miriam makes a great model, with the help of a zebra. :) I had originally wanted a Maya Wrap sling to replace (or supplement) our other one, but a friend loves her Moby and highly recommended it.

Itty bitty diapers! You forget how teeny they really are. It's like they're made for dollies. (Behind it you can see my new gender-neutral Boppy w/taggies -- made by one of those fabulous friends!)

Speaking of dollies, they make excellent models for babies. :) I practiced smocking by making a dress for Madeline, to get a feel for how it worked before I made a new baptism outfit for the REAL baby. (since the one Miriam & Katie were baptized in is almost 100 yrs. old and starting to show its age a bit...)

Here it is in all its glory, mostly finished! It's really hard sewing for someone whose measurements you can't take! I'm not totally 100% satisfied w/it -- but I suppose that's what I get for trying to make it using 3 separate patterns. :) The baby will probably be swimming in it -- the smallest pattern I had was for 6 mos. -- but I can put some tucks in to shorten sleeves and legs if necessary. I also didn't want it to be too frilly, in case we have a boy. But it still looks cute from a distance. :) And it will only be used once every 3 years or so, so really, does it matter? :)

Speaking of the baby....

Here's a little sample of what it's like having an alien living inside you.



And yes, it feels as weird as it looks.

Our baby for not much longer!

Here's a little post devoted mostly to Katie. Sadly, our camera died right around her third birthday, so we weren't able to take any pictures of her party. :( But here she is shortly afterward, on Thanksgiving.

Look at me! I'm cute and three!

Wait, HOW old did you say I was? (love our resident ham there) (she gets it from her father, FYI)

Pre-haircut, reading her new book to her pet turkey (which she LOVES).

post-haircut, dressing her turkey in a dolly shoe for a hat
(yeah, she is a short hair kind of girl, don't you think?)

Another of her gifts. Okay, CAN you get any girlier than this??

Katie really got into the birthday thing this year, especially the rights and privileges pertaining thereto. Several weeks after the fact, we would hear things like: "It's MY birthday so I pick a book to wead." It took her a long while to understand that a birthday is for one DAY, not the rest of your life. Sometimes I think she still doesn't get it.


Mmm, good to the last drop. Katie has inherited her mother's devotion to chocolate.

I just can't think of a caption funny enough to go with the face. I have to laugh every time I see this picture -- it's such a typical Katie mad face.

Miriam fixing a minuscule cup of tea for Katie. And yes, that's real tea (with lots of milk and sugar). They love it. Of course, I caught Katie using her spoon to eat the sugar from the sugar bowl later, so I'm not sure just how much in her cup was actually tea, and how much sugar.


A while back I remember Miriam going through a phase of extremely violent imaginings -- involving lots of scary beasts and swordfighting and killing. Now Katie is going through the same things, so I'm guessing it's a phase typical of this stage of childhood. Katie has taken to telling very involved stories, mostly enacted through playing with her stuffed animals and baby dolls. But every once in a while when I'm doing something mundane like washing her face after lunch, this kind of thing will just come spilling out in a very animated manner:
"Three little piggies jumping on the bed! And the wolf came and blew down the bed. And the prince came and saved them. And the princess saved them too and they got married but they were scared of the witch so they ran away and hided in a shadow of a dark cloud."
Another recent story involved some bees buzzing around and an alligator who was scary and a hunter who killed the mean alligator -- it just went on and on and I didn't have time to write it down! It's fun watching what her brain is coming up with these days.

I'm trying to enjoy her preciousness as much as I can now, because I know that in a few short days she's going to grow up overnight (in my eyes), since she won't be my baby any more. This was the hardest adjustment for me after Katie was born -- I just didn't feel the same towards Miriam, and went through a mini-mourning process for that lost relationship. I now understand why youngest children tend to remain the apple of their mother's eye -- there was never another baby to take that place away from them. I can't wait to have another baby, but I know I'm going to miss that relationship with Katie. *sniff*

2 hours and $170 later...

...our front doorknob looks like this:


Yes, for the first time in Pickles history, I locked myself out. I blame the foggy-headedness of pregnancy. :) Fortunately our lovely neighbors were home so I was able to call a locksmith right away -- plus the weather was nice so the girls could run around and pick flowers and have stick sword fights while we waited over an hour. (15 minute service my foot!) It's kind of scary how easy it was for the locksmith to open the door. The knob was so old that he had to drill it open -- it took all of about 3 seconds, maybe 4 to open it. Certainly gives you a real feeling of security to know how easy it is to break in to someone's house. :) Good thing we have so little of value to worry about. We'd probably have to pay a thief to break in and steal our TV. (even though we love it for its faithful service over the many, many years of its existence)