Relief & Celebration

Dylan passed the Louisiana bar exam! They posted results today. Dylan was anxiously checking the webpage's "passed" section because he desperately wanted to buy I-passed-the-bar-donuts for his office. I called his work number, and he didn't answer; I called his cell and asked, "Are you out buying donuts?" "Yeeeeess!" "Woohoo!!" =) And now we're in the clear to really make preparations for our move to New Orleans. Lease is signed for a shotgun house on Algiers Point! Whoa. Things are gettin' real.

It's a beautiful ANZAC Day today, and Adeline's 3month birthday, and cousin Ahlwan's 1-year birthday. When it's lovely, warm, and sunny out, it's pretty easy to think how precious and sweet the kiddos are. I mean, I know that they are precious; but Wednesday and Thursday of this week were grey and rainy, and it's a lot harder to see through the bleak to the sweet. Today, though, man -- they're angels ;). Yesterday, in actuality, was quite nice. All 3 of us were lying on the floor, Ada in the middle, and I read Edward the Emu, oh, 6 times in a row to us. Paul kept requesting "eemooo, eemooo", so I kept on going. And Ada looked at the big, simple illustrations, too! It was a really sweet half-hour or so. Then, in the evening, Paul was helping Papa in the kitchen as I was nursing Ada on the living room floor, and he would run in to us, kiss Ada's head, pat my hair, then run back to Papa. Gah. Cute attack.

We've kept Easter on our minds this week via extra treats after dinner, and Paul likes to read The Tale of the Three Trees with me - he has his abridged, board book kids' copy while I have the big-person copy. We want to do something special for the Sunday dinners during Eastertide, but now all of a sudden there's so much to celebrate: dinner out tonight for the Bar, and this Sunday JPII and Pope John XXIII will be canonized! Wow! We'll have kielbasa & gelato to celebrate - yum.

And now for some outdoor kid love:

Happy Easter!

The Lord is risen - let the 50 days of Easter celebration commence!

Things have only gone smoother - or shall I say, been less of a roller-coaster - since the last post. Mike, Colleen, (goddaughter) Kate, and "Lil Bit-o-Honey" (due in May!) came to visit on a Saturday, Paul, Ada, & I had a pretty normalized week, and then there was Easter. And now here we are!

Last week seems Ada's hit her stride. In fact, the day after The Bivers were over, she even had her first laugh! Dylan would cough kind of at her / in her face, and she thought it was a riot; Dylan got a sore throat. She started smiling at random things and at us whenever we looked at her, she spent much more awake&happy time during the day, and she plummeted in crying time. She's also trying to work out a pretty even nap/sleep schedule; she sleeps from 9pm-ish for about 12 hours (with nurse breaks, of course), dozes for about 15-30min somewhere in the morning & again at lunch, then goes down for a good 2-3hours around 2ish. Not bad, I say! Even the thought of sorta finding a routine comforts and relaxes me. I knew I like a good pattern, but I didn't realize how much the chaos of an infant throws me off =).

Then on to Easter. First, on Good Friday, all 4 of us participated in the walking Stations of the Cross from St. Augustine's to St. Edward's here in town - a mile+ apart. Saturday we laid low, or tried to anyway! That evening got going with a few Easter preparations once the kiddos were asleep - decorating, setting the table, etc. Sunday morning was packed full! We started with egg-dying and hot-cross-bun-baking, then moved on to Mass preparations (it was so full we had to sit in separate pews), then a quick lunch before both Paul & Ada napped at the same time. Dylan and I had cuppas & snacks on the deck in the warm sunshine - aah! Then we had a roast lamb dinner. All in all, I'd say it was a beautiful day together.

Up from the Downs

Two weeks have never* been more different.

*ok, an exaggeration, but still.

Last week was the pits. This week's been not only just manageable ... but (mostly) nice! I didn't even want to post anything last week for lack of things worth mentioning except perhaps my dabbling in postpartum depression checklists to see what actually counts. I'd been thinking, OK, I'm 10 weeks postpartum ... when does the "blues" period technically end and something more serious start? What I found is that it's not that simple or clear-cut. And what I decided I really needed was a day spent with Colleen - and a naptime where all 3 kids slept simultaneously to gift us with a good ol' talk. She didn't necessarily say anything that others hadn't before - a lot of women feel like you do, it's just a phase, etc - but it's Colleen! And she does have a certain way of saying things that helps me get out of my head. Plus, since I know she's, shall we say, Irish-spirited?, I know she's not making light of what I relate to her.

So, that was Tuesday of this week after being mostly irritable, hard to please, and short-tempered with Paul & Dylan last week. Then, ta-da, Wednesday's 2-year-old tantrum comes, and I laugh, talk softly, and handle Paul differently ... getting better results; imagine that.

I won't deny that warmer weather has played its part. Snow has melted, and breezes are warmer, so little Ada doesn't "oo oo oo" every time it blows, and then scream. I was afraid she didn't like outside ... and that just wouldn't fly with her big brother who *must* be outside. Once last week, I was, pardon, damned if I do, damned if I don't. Paul screamed to get out or Ada screamed once we were out ... question of whose cry is worse to endure, ugh.

In the last two weeks since posting, we've gotten a bit more of a rhythm down around the Knoll house. Lil Bit has calmed her evenings (yes!), Paul is easy to bed at 8, and then Ada has gone down (more or less) around 9, woken once to nurse, and then slept til 9 or 9:30. I like this schedule! Being too close to the forest to see the trees, I needed to have the goodness of our schedule pointed out to me. But I get it now, so we're good.

Last week's blah-state:

Watching Thomas...

Naptime at the Bivers:

This week's outdoors play/nap:

Postpartum crazies

Tired and shoulda gone to bed a while ago (down #1), I ask Dylan to remind me about details of this potential getaway week in July because that's nice to think about before bed. He does (up #1), and then I remind myself that this means Adeline will live in routine-less chaos until then (down #2). There's so much going on between now and when she's 6 months old that there's no time to cater to the details of when she's napping (down #3). We have to pack this house, find a new one, unpack there, welcome Susan & Gerry, go to the beach with the Brauds, go to Philly for a wedding (!), keep unpacking, and then have another week somewhere else (down #4). Then I told him, "By then, Ada's 6 months old, and summer will be almost over ... which doesn't happen in New Orleans! <insert awesome happy dance here> (up #2,3,4,5)

The "ups" win.

Success after a hard week

Friday was excellent. It was made possible, of course, by 2 morning cups-a coffee and an afternoon tea, though, after an impossible (slight exaggeration...) 2 nights with Adeline. Given her pretty good track record, Thursday night's cry-eat-scream cycle that lasted hours seemed ridiculous, and we only slept from 2-5am. So back to the good day, right? The Momtime group I go to Fridays was cancelled for Spring Break, so we improv'd our own Momtime, complete with a quiche, monkey bread, coffees, and fruit. Heidi+Molly and Nicole+Will were over for most of the morning. It's great to see Paul play with a little boy! Seems all his contemporaries are girls, and he discovered that a friend loves cars as much as he does? Wow! Shortly after they left, I put Paul down for his nap - just put him in bed and walked out! - and I nursed Ada down. Both. Kids. Asleep. Simultaneously. I was so excited I couldn't sleep, so I read instead. It was awesome. After naps, there were lots of coos and laughs; Paul's even started laughing at Ada's funny noises. Dylan came home in the evening, we had our Friday skype session with Susan & Gerry, had a fish dinner, and put Paul to bed at 8. And Ada went down at 9:30 after only mild evening crying. Whooooa - quiet house at 9:30?!

We slept great - all of us. It's incredible what that can do! We sat down to a blueberry pancake breakfast and enjoyed a little outside time - it got into the high 40s. Spring's definitely near, so say all the budding trees and grass, even though there are still mounds of collected snow.

The uplifting tail of the week came after a pretty rough one for me. I'm sitting here trying to think of what to relate that could've been "that bad", and nothing is even coming to me. Perhaps I blocked it out or perhaps nothing was really all that bad; I just felt worn out and that "is this how my life is going to be forever?" feeling.

But with days and nights like yesterday's and today's, I hope so!

I forgot to mention the 2 month check-up (and vaccines! which added to the week's sufferings, I'm sure). Adeline weighed in on Tuesday at a whopping 9lbs 13oz, is 22 inches long and has a 15 in head =). Atta girl!

(For comparison's sake, and since they have the same birthdate, Paul, who was 8#4oz, 21.25" long, and had a 14" head at birth, weighed 11lbs 8oz & was 24" long at 2 months.)

3 weeks down

Eventually I'll stop counting the weeks managed but probably only once it feels more normal, which will likely include cooking again, nap routines, etc. <--- I wrote that sentence as early as Monday or Tuesday and saved it as a draft, but here I am on Saturday the 22nd already feeling a bit more normal. The meals brought by the Momtime-moms have finished, and I'm already seeing bits of time where I will be able to cook. Focusing on that may seem silly to some, but preparing the family meal together with Paul was such a focus of our day before Adeline; and doing it together was always satisfying because he could be included and "help" while I could spend time "playing" with him as well as doing something productive and enjoyable myself. I've really missed it. I did take just him grocery shopping once, and that was nice! Funny how taking a toddler to the store seemed so easy when just 3 months ago it was a bit difficult.

Now, to recount the week ... welp, the weekend started with a touch of mastitis. I rolled my eyes in yet-another-thing fashion, but keeping it empty and using a warm compress actually fought it off! Hoorah. We were late for Mass - again. Been the trend for, oh, 'bout 8 weeks now. We celebrated St. Patrick's day (barely) with homemade shamrock cookies and a Finnigans. (Sidenote: another reason I'm antsy to get back in the kitchen is so that we can get back on board with following the liturgical year feasts via FEAST! We'd only just begun at Advent.) Dylan spent Wednesday in the Cities for a lawyer continuing education thing ... which made my day very long. He's been very giving, though, in taking Ada in the evenings, and I've gone to bed shortly after Paul this week. Starting to kick the fatigue, I think. We've been working on his bedtime, though, too, trying to back it up. I've long since limited his nap to only an hour and a bit so that he can go to sleep at night at a reasonable hour, but we're still getting him down just before 9 sometimes. He's nuts. We're trying. 

Paul. Paul is the best big brother. Have I mentioned that before?? He swayed to music holding his baby doll like I held Ada, and he tried to share his pancake with her. He always has to kiss her g'nap or g'night, and he even airplaned his own cookie to himself. Ok, so that doesn't have to do with being a brother, but it's pretty funny. He also participates on Skype a lot more now - he says "herrrOOOO ___", and says most of our families' names! Then he promptly says buh-bye. We'll work on that. He's been saying so much lately. Oh, and we gave him his 2nd haircut. A much better one since I've had much more practice on Dylan since the first (mistake). 

Adeline is growing; gosh, she's growing. She smiles! But only when I make "seriousface" at her. And she coos, too. She's been with us a whopping 8 weeks now - an old pro. Really, though, those eyebrows and contemplative looks - we can't get over them.

Perhaps I should mention - officially - that we're looking to move to New Orleans. Before June. We're scouting the local realtors' websites for rentals, and we've decided to put off buying until we know the areas well and Dylan, ya know, has a job. 

2nd week alone success

The difference between Pre-Kids and Kids

• pre-kids: appointment at 10:05. Current time 9:35. Oh, good, I can make a quick grocery run before getting to the doctor on time.
• with kids: appointment time 10:05. Current time 9:35. Oh-mah-gosh, let's go! Shoot, we're gonna be late. Man, diaper change. Shoes? Ok, where's your coat?

That was our scene on Tuesday before Paul's 2-year check-up. We did actually barely make it in time. And then had to wait. In any case, Paul's healthy! He's a little skinny-man =), but we knew that. He's 26 lbs, 34 inches tall, and has a noggin the size of a desk globe at 20 inches. That's the 20th, 25th, and 85th percentile, respectively. Lots of brains in there. And he's so sweet - he curls up behind the nook of my knee with his Decke (blanket) when I nurse Ada on the sofa. I made a memory there, for sure.

Adeline sure is changing! She's even given us smiles and, I believe, a first (precious) coo.

This is how I've managed so far: Paul gets up around 7ish, and we dress and get breakfast just the two of us. Afterwards is my "Paul time" until he cries out excitedly "Beebee!" at hearing her cry. Lil' Bit stays asleep until about 9ish when she either wakes up on her own or I need to wake her (for a doc visit, Paul's class, or Momtime ... seems I wake her on those days, but when she has all the time in the world, she wakes herself then anyway). She nurses and then sleeps more until Paul's down for his nap, which has worked out very well, if I may say so myself. Even if she'd been awake and stays so through lunch, Dylan bounces her over lunch, and she falls asleep. Then, she conveniently wakes about 20-30 minutes into Paul's nap, leaving me with that time to doze myself. Yes. When she wakes, she nurses and then has some "free time" on the floor in front of the fire. Once Paul wakes, we either read, play, or head outside for a walk. A walk? This week's had walking weather, I know! There were 2 days in the 40s+, so we met (very pregnant) Heidi and little Molly for a walk on those days, Paul in the Burley & Ada in the Moby. We all anxiously wait for Dylan to get home, and then there's family play time ... more like getting ready for dinner and/or doing laundry and, this week, giving haircuts. 6 o'clock is dinnertime - delivered twice this week, thank you!! - and we've been working on backing up Paul's bedtime, so he's bathed at 7 and is hopefully asleep by 8:15 or so. Little Miss Adeline is a night owl, though, and keeps us on our toes - literally. Making laps around the dining table - until about 10 or 10:30. Then she gifts us with a 4-6 hr stretch of sleep.