Mom to the Rescue

All in a day's work!
How have we survived so far?  For those of you who are wondering... I've had LOTS of help, and so far, it has made the transition "doable."  First of all, my mom became the live-in maid and child-care provider the first week.  She not only did all of our laundry and cooking and cleaning, she also spoiled Brooklyn with lots of love and attention.  Then, as if that wasn't enough, my mom took Brooklyn back with her (on my mom's birthday - "Happy birthday, Mom.  Here, babysit my kid for a few days!") to spend a few days until Stephen and I could return to her house on Thanksgiving.  Besides that, I've had lots of friends bring us dinner and even more of them have volunteered to watch Brooklyn or help out with anything and everything!    

Brooklyn has been quite the "helpful" big sister.  She very proudly introduces her brother to the doctor, church friends, Stephen's co-workers, and anyone else who shows a moment's interest in him. 

This is Stephen with 3 of his favorite things!  (Okay, so one thing, and two people.)  His kids and probably an episode of The Office, Chuck, or My Own Worst Enemy, or any number of football games.  It's so crazy to think we have TWO of our own children now!  If we keep this up, they're going to outnumber us way too quickly - yikes!  I feel like I've already lost control.  

Thanks for making us all look bad, Evelyn!  You've got to know that you've at least set a precidence that NONE of us will probably attempt to follow due to our inadequate patience, tolerance, and overall ability to deal with all of the stress of having children or the energy to keep up with all of them.  I'm sure when Stephen comes home from work sometimes and sees how little I've accomplished during the day, he probably thinks, "My mom did this for years, and she never seemed to have a problem with it!"  Enough already.  Evelyn, we praise and adore you!

Here is Ian wearing the bili-light that helped his jaundice.  What a good sport.  I hated that thing!  You can't see it very well, but there was this thick black tube that connected a wide blue light belt to a metal box!  The belt with blue lights was supposed to stay wrapped around his waist with this totally useless tape.   It was definitely made holding, cuddling, and nursing feel a little unnatural.  He also looked like an alien because he was glowing neon blue beneath his clothes.    

Some more glamour shots

Dad and Mom sent the flowers on the right (Thanks!) and my boss sent the ones on the left.  They really brightened up the room :)  The rest of the shots were taken at 2am when Ian was wide awake.

Ian James Badger

Today at 4:03AM, we welcomed the 8 lb 14 oz, 21 inch Ian James Badger into the world!  It all began last night about 9PM after having a delicious pizza dinner (Coincidentally, Brooklyn was born after pizza night as well).  We got some things ready and I tried to get a little sleep before Desirae woke me up at 2AM.  By that time the contractions were pretty steady coming every 3 minutes.  We called the doctor and she told us to come on over to the hospital.  

We arrived at the hospital just after 3AM after dropping Brooklyn off at our friends, the Southwicks.  Desirae really wanted to get an epidural this time, but she was already dilated to a 5 or 6.  And the only anesthesiologist in the hospital was down in the OR for a C-section so Desirae missed out on that pain killer.  However,  she was pretty tough enduring the contractions with minimal screams and irritated comments about the anesthesiologist not coming.  But in the end, Desirae cried tears of joy as Ian was placed into her arms.  It was a great moment as most of you know.

 

Glamour Girls!

We visited the Mac Fam. once again this weekend to get my car fixed, to celebrate Halloween, and to have a sweet baby shower!  So, here's the scoop:  Brooklyn is totally spoiled with tons of attention from her Aunt Pip (especially now that Pip knows she's having a girl) and her "Neenie" (my mom).  It's probably a good thing we went up there for Halloween because those three gals got way more into the costume and make-up thing than I would have on my own.  Here's a little glimpse of the beauty parlor action on Halloween night in my mom's living room.  Yes, Brooklyn WAS the feature make-up artist for my mom and Pip.  Fancy Nancy definitely would have approved, "Ooh - la - la!"

This next picture captures Caden's sweet love for his cousin.  Maybe it's because no one in his immediate family has hair that is not DARK brown, stick straight, and about 1 inch in length (okay, so Carol has a little longer hair than that) that he was so fascinated with Brooklyn's hair.  He probably brushed it continuously for about 5 - 8 minutes.  I had to laugh at my brother's echoing reminder to his son, "start from the bottom!"  That's what my mom always used to tell us because we had such long thick hair that would get so tangled up!  We were well taught about the effective way to "detangle" our wild hair.  Obviously Calvin did learn a few things from the females he grew up with!  :) 

Brooklyn didn't even flinch the whole time, unlike her "composure" when I attempt to brush her mop!

Another picture of Brooklyn and her new best buddy, Rylie.  When Rylie comes to our house, the first thing to come out is the dress-ups.  When we go to the Southwicks, Brooklyn always finds the my little pony miniatures.  Anyway, this one night it was getting late and I decided Brooklyn should get ready for bed.  What else to entice her to do this than make it an extension of "dress-up" time.  The girls got into matching one-piece p.j.'s and had to pose for pictures by the piano with their must-have, well-coordinated purses.

Here's a picture of Brooklyn with her preschool buddies.  I don't know what to say about this other than, the girl has her own "unique" style.  Her character in this shot could best be described as "Wild-haired Wanda strikes a pose on park bench with other normal 3-year-olds."  What a gal - I don't know where she gets this from - really!

Update Continued

A couple weekends ago we attended a How to Host a Murder party, thanks to the careful planning of our good friend Spiffany! (She's on the left in the black formal.)
The theme was an archeological dig. So, I was an archeologist, Stephen was some army guy, tiffany was the daughter of a really wealthy guy who discovered the dig, Nora and Jennette (on the other side of me) are world travelers. Adam (with the top hat) was an actor, and Mark was some cowboy type person, I think.

We visited the CalPoly Pomona Pumpkin patch with Brooklyn's cousins Caden and Caleb.

Brooklyn got a few battle wounds from an early morning wagon ride that ended with a sprint to the finish line (the grandparents house) by the three kids.

We've also visited my parents a couple of times. As you can see, Brooklyn gets no shortage of love and attention from them.

We've also made some new friends. Brooklyn says Rylie is her "best friend." The two of them have gone shopping with me and Lori a couple of times, and they always seem to find the most hideous princess-themed item that they "really want." Good thing Christmas is around the corner, my favorite comeback is, "You'll have to ask Santa for that," and then of course I hope that Brooklyn forgets about it in a couple of months, because basically Santa's already decided what he's getting for her, and it's not a light-up "We love to sparkle" hoodie!

More Updates

We've been racing a pretty cool pine-wood derby car. No rewards, but all smiles from the little kids. Stephen was the creator and designer of this mock Lightning McQueen....Brushing up on some Guitar Hero skills.

...or pretending to keep up with the big people

...Going to B.J.'s with our friends the Rodneys and the Nelsons

Update...Finally!

It's been a while since we've posted, so here are a few snapshots of our activities this past month!
Keeping cool at the kiddy pool during the hot days of a heat wave. (Jonathan, Brooklyn, Gabe)

Creating body artwork out of our potty-training reward stickers. Yes, Brooklyn has officially received a diploma from Desirae's School of Potty Competency, with only a few relapses here and there. Night times we're pretty good, but not 100% yet.

And of course, modeling for the next "Toddler Hair Styles that Kick Booty" spread of Parents magazine.

More to follow!