Abstract Art

The night after my Mom left(a couple weeks ago now), I was getting ready for bed (and feeling really sick) and Zach was taking care of Charlotte. The boys were playing with their stamps and ink pads on the floor. This is the result.


Footprints on wall


Footprints up and down the kitchen


Footprints around the table


Footprints on cupboards and major appliances. There is still one on our washing machine that I missed the night of.

Apparently this was mostly Ben's work, but Sam did admit that he helped a little.

And, for good measure, here's a little picture of Charlotte taken the same day.

RQ & GQ

Audubon, New Jersey
March 13, 1971

Forty years ago today my parents were baptized as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They were high school sweethearts. Roger was a jock with seven varsity letters. Georgeann was the captain of the cheer leading scad. The missionaries found them and taught them the gospel. The above picture is them on the day their baptism. (Also, weren't they total hotties? And I wish I had that coat. It is awesome.)

A few weeks ago both my parents were here to help us out with our new, darling Charlotte and our amazing Benjamin and Samuel. Right off of that wonderful and extremely helpful visit, I wanted to say how grateful I am for my glorious parents and the life they have given me. And how grateful I am that they made a decision 40 years ago that blessed my life so much.

So, thanks guys. You are awesome!

One Month

Some little things about Charlotte after her first month with us:

- She doesn't cry very much, but she does make a little grunting sound when she is hungry or upset.
- Due to the above, Zach has nicknamed her "piglet"
- Her neck is very strong. She was holding it up all by herself even in the hospital. All the doctors and nurses were impressed. Now she is starting to push herself up off of things.
- She has her "social smile," though she doesn't pull it out too often
- She has a dimple in her cheek.
- She doesn't like to have her clothes changed. At all.
- She likes bathes.
- She is a big spitter-upper.
- She likes to cuddle.
- She is fascinated by her brothers and doesn't seem to mind their very active and energetic love.
- She has long eyelashes.
- She has long fingers.
- She has long arms.
- She has a long neck. (Though it's hidden under some chubby folds)
- She loves to eat. A lot.

Talkies

Benjamin in Grammie's swimming gear, which he wore to swim around the bathtub.

Ben: Mom, I have the hiccups and now I don't want to keep them!

Katie: Sam, could you give Charlotte's diaper a sniff and sea if she's poopy?
Sam: (sniffing tentatively) No, I don't think so
Charlotte makes a loud pooping sound
Sam: Ah! We got one!!

(while playing with his toys)
Ben: Oh no! I'm stuck in a girl movie!

Ben: Mom, I could only put one toy away.
Katie: Why?
Ben: Because I don't want- because it was too hard.
Katie: Sound like it might be just because you don't want to.
Ben: Yes. You're right.

Sam: Which shoes do you want for Charlotte?
Katie: How about the little gold ones?
Sam: Oh good! I was hoping you would say that!

While playing with action figures
Ben: Can you be in the shape of a triangle when you're acrobating?
Sam: I don't know.
Ben: If you can't say, "oh, man!"
Sam: What do I say if I can?
Ben: "Whoo-hoo!"
Sam: Oh...Whoo-hoo!

Ben: I can do whatever I want whenever I want!
(this about sums up Ben the last couple of weeks)

The Story of Charlotte

I woke up earlier than usual to call the hospital and ask if there was room for us that day. There definitely was. I hung up he phone and told the boys, who had come into our bed during the night, that their baby sister was going to be born today. Can we say, excitement? They have been waiting for this forever! I wanted to get ready right away, but for some reason we did't have any hot water, so I settled for attempting to clean up as much as possible, still considering the possibility that my water would break on it's own or my contractions would start or something, but nope. Zach took the boys for a run and I cleaned up and finally got some hot water to take a shower. We dropped the off at the Lloyds house after Zach had given me a wonderful blessing.

I was being induced because she was a day overdue, but mostly because my kidneys had started to hurt me (similar to the pain that I had to be hospitalized for with the boys) and I didn't want to be on morphine when Charlottle was born because it makes me very loopy.

We got right in and right into a room and they started me on the pitocin and then nothing happened for a long, long time. Besides having a lovely nurse to chat with. After several hours with minimal progression, my doctor came in a broke my water. About an hour later the contractions started to get very strong and I got the blissfully wonderful epidural. The anesthesiologist must have concluded that I was in a lot of pain, even though I was trying to put on my brave face (I don't know why I do this. Am I trying to prove that I am above labor pains? Because I am not. Not even slightly.) and he gave me a kind of epidural that works very quickly because you get a direct shot of the medicine into the back. It took a while to set up because, according to him, I have very strong tendons, which is a good thing for me, though I'm not sure why.

It started working almost instantly and was awesome. I rested and slept for a couple of hours and then Zach and I watched some shows together. I started to feel pressure and it got stronger very quickly. Even after trying the button the pain was pretty strong, so I requested a booster. He gave me two, but they didn't work. Very sad. But, by then I was having to stop myself from "bearing down" because she was coming so quickly.

I only ended up pushing for about twenty minutes or so. (*Update* - when I went to my six week appointment I found out from my doctor that I only pushed for ten minutes!) Zach was stroking my forehead and holding me and being amazing. I'm not going to say it wasn't extremely painful, because it was. But then it was over and they laid this purlpey-red absolutely perfect creature right on my chest and I saw my little Charlotte.



So utterly amazing.



Daddy and Daughter



Ben (holding Charlotte) and Sam are absolutely in love with Charlotte. They adore her. They give her kisses and tell her how cute she is and help me pick out her clothes. Actually, they are pretty strong willed about what clothes she should wear. Apparently, Charlotte is the cutest when she is wearing dresses. Sadly she only has two, but they want her to wear one of those every, single day.





A picture Sam took of Charlotte's hand. Really quite amazing, I think.



Charlotte Lucia.

Charlotte Lucia

Born February 10th at 10:35 PM.
Weight: 8 lbs 4 oz
Length: 21 inches
Status: Absolutely perfect.

More details coming soon.

a few remarks on pregnancy and what not

38 Weeks

I know that I haven't done a very good job of documenting this pregnancy. At all. I think there are about...four photos of my tummy. And that's allowing that someone somewhere may have taken a picture that I'm not aware of. So, here is a quick sum up of the last 38 weeks.


38 weeks with Baby Girl


38 weeks with the twins (this is right before we got into the car to go and be induced because they were late (37 weeks is full for twins). Just a little perspective for you). I was about 10 centimeters bigger. I was extremely uncomfortable.

First trimester: I was extremely food and smell sensitive, which is something I didn't experience with the boys. I couldn't even think of breaded chicken, something I love, without getting queasy. The smell of garlic, something else I love, almost made me sick all over our stove (luckily not, because I wouldn't have been able to cook on there again). For several weeks I carried a large hunk of ginger around in my pocket to smell, for when I got queasy. But I only got "sick" a few times. One of which being a memorable trip to Costco. And I was tired. Tired in a way that I could feel in my bones. I slept for very long periods on the couch and the boys watched way too much TV. I guessed, correctly, that it she is a girl and there is only one.

Second trimester: Awesome. Besides some general tiredness, I was almost a normal person. Zach makes pasta for practically every dinner because I'm too tired by that time and he is too busy for anything more elaborate. He is awesome.

Third Trimester: Bleh. I've gotten big enough and swollen enough and awkward enough that I feel generally miserable. All this is accompanied by fits of energy that make me scrub our cupboards and vacuum all the baseboards and sew ruffles on onsies. And then collapse in a heap afterwards. Everyone keeps telling me how cute I look, but I don't feel cute at all. And my back hurts a lot. And everything else, too. I am both super excited to meet her and feel extremely unprepared to go back to the baby days, which are all a bit of a blur with the boys. I'm glad we took pictures.


A picture Sam drew for me of our family

You may be wondering how the boys are handling all this impending change. Well, they could not possibly be happier. They kiss my belly and say hello and ask her what she is doing. They talk about what she will do and what they will help her to learn (laughing is a big one). I don't know how their expectations will match up with reality, but to be fair, I don't know that about my own expectations, so that's pretty standard.


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