Fingernail Painting

Jeremy's never done this for me...


But...maybe that's okay.

Chunky Monkey

Some of you will remember that when Carolyn was a baby, I stressed about her weight just about everyday. I worried that she wasn't nursing enough. Jeremy set an alarm to wake me up to feed her at night (thank goodness the lactation lady told him that was just not necessary).

It all started with her two-week checkup. I had a pediatrician I knew little about, and I left the office crying after he told me that Carolyn was crying because I wasn't feeding her and she was at an unacceptable weight. Needless to say, I never saw that pediatrician again. We promptly switched and our new doctor was much better. He assured me that some kids are small and Carolyn was growing and developing just fine. I quit worrying about her when we moved her to solids and she ate so much we switched her to table food to save $15 a week in baby food. She eventually gained the twenty pounds necessary to go forward-facing in the car. At 18 months, and just by a hair. But it all ended well.

So Blake had his two-week appointment today. Although he's a marathon nurser, I admit to some anxiety because of my previous experience with a small child. But not this one. He hadn't been weighed since we left the hospital (8 lbs 2 oz.), but now he is a robust 9 lbs. 8 oz. How nice to have a baby that gets fat like all those other babies. How nice to know he gets enough to eat and isn't hungry. Here's to many more appointments where my child does not slide off the growth chart!

Sister Love

He's Here!

Blake Lawrence Horner

Born 15 December 2008 at 8:24 pm. I know that technically it was my due date, but I was done with this pregnancy weeks ago.

A little bit about Blake: he's blonde, he was 8 lbs 12 ounces (!), he seems lengthy at 20.5 inches and, like Carolyn, he has his Daddy's eyes...

Plus, I think he's pretty great...

but so does Carolyn, which is mostly wonderful. When she came to the hospital, right after telling me hi, she said, "I want to hold him." She climbed right up and gave him a sweet hug.

Now that we are home, she wants to hold him, rock him, hug him, kiss him. Someday, like when I get free babysitting out of the deal, I will appreciate her natural maternal instinct. For now, it just makes everything harder. Maybe I'll teach her how to change diapers soon.

P.S.: Those cute bows and hairdo are courtesy of Rachel, who had Carolyn for three days. Apparently, aunts can convince Carolyn to do things that she would never put up with from Mom.

Snow!

This is not common out here for us in Portland. Carolyn was so excited though. It was quite the effort to get her to church today instead of letting her play outside. Luckily, we are in Oregon, so they cancelled church after Sacrament Meeting. We were home with plenty of time to change and play before nap.

Of Hair and Creme

Sometime this summer before I decided to cut Carolyn's bangs I had spent quite a bit of time trying to find a salon to do it for me. I have no talent at cutting hair. But I couldn't justify the expense, especially because it was really just her bangs I wanted done.

Then months passed. And her hair got more out of control. I really don't know how to explain it. She has curly hair in the back and a little on the side, but the top layer all around her head is straight. It won't curl for anything. Also, if I gelled her hair, it would look really cute for about 10 minutes. 5 if she sat in her carseat. Then it would fall out and look silly.


We really needed some help. So I took her to a kiddie salon today. Yay for chairs that look like airplanes. And for big screen TVs showing movies. And hair people who can cut hair while their subject is trying to look at everything in the store at once.



Carolyn did a great job and her hair looks great. What I love the most is Bouncy Creme. Apparently, this is what we have been missing her whole life. It defines her curls, stayed looking nice after car seat rides, and wasn't all crunchy. Now I just have to find the energy to go to a beauty supply store to buy some.

Grandparents

Jeremy has been encouraging me to get to Olympia to visit my grandparents for months. But I never felt good enough to take that on. I get one day a week with Jeremy to help around the house, and I needed the weekend to recuperate and gear up for the following week with Carolyn. So, finally, when Thanksgiving weekend came around, and Jeremy had an unheard of four-day weekend, we made the trip up to Olympia. I am so glad we went. We just went for a half day, hoping that Carolyn would sleep on the way home for her nap. We should've known better than to hope for that. I wish we lived closer, or that Carolyn were more adaptable to sleeping in unfamiliar locations.


We had a wonderful time, capped off by a delicious milkshake from Eagan's, and were able to make it home without too much of a problem from Carolyn although Jeremy did have to sit in the back with her. Thank goodness for spouses that don't get car sick. Just thinking about making a two-hour drive back there makes me nauseated.

Nothing New

So...I've been meaning to blog. Really. But there just hasn't been too much going on here. We are mostly in a holding pattern. We don't make real plans because I keep hoping I'll have a baby. Well, I don't. The best thing is Jeremy is off for the next month for all intents and purposes. I am really looking forward to having him around to finish all the things I haven't been able to get to.

Maybe soon I'll have more pictures. We have some exciting things coming up this month. My sister is moving in with us short term while she figures out where she wants to live. I am thrilled about this because when Jeremy returns to work, it will be straight into busy season. My entire family is coming here for Christmas. We did it two years ago and it was a lot of fun. And, of course, the new baby. There will be lots of pictures once he arrives.

So stay tuned...