A view of the babe in my hospital bed. He was so teeny-tiny then...just weeks ago.
Home from the hospital at last.
Showing posts with label phoebe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label phoebe. Show all posts
April 17, 2011
Picture Time
I have been working on this post for days now, off and on...a few minutes here and there in the midst of my daily life with Phoebe and the babe. Doing the "Baby Dance", hangin' with Miss Phoebe, and taking care of our home (sort of) is quite the juggling act. So here are some pictures...finally!
A view of the babe in my hospital bed. He was so teeny-tiny then...just weeks ago.
Home from the hospital at last.
A view of the babe in my hospital bed. He was so teeny-tiny then...just weeks ago.
Home from the hospital at last.
Sweet time with Grammy!
Ah, time to relax!
Tiny toes!
"Kiss me!"
Sweet dreams.
His first dinner at Roy's.
And more...
And yet more.
"I love my sissy!" 
What a great little mommy!
Xee's mom made a beautiful, traditional Hmong baby carrier for us when Phoebe was born and now another for Ezra. Here is Daddy, carrying our big baby in it!
Phoebe dressed herself for our "grocery store" game. Quite a fancy do.
So cozy next to Mommy in the baby carrier.
Ezra's recent visit to the doctor for his two month check-up.
He weighed in at 11 lbs, and measured 23 inches tall.
HANDSOME little guy!
April 6, 2011
Small Voice, Big God
"Mommy, I heard God speak to me a little."
"You did?...In your heart?"
"Mmhmm. He said, 'I love your baby brother sixty-hundred times infinity'. "
"Wow. That's so cool."
"Yeah."
"So...what did God's voice sound like?"
(thinks for a sec) "Kinda weird!"
I believe...do you?
"You did?...In your heart?"
"Mmhmm. He said, 'I love your baby brother sixty-hundred times infinity'. "
"Wow. That's so cool."
"Yeah."
"So...what did God's voice sound like?"
(thinks for a sec) "Kinda weird!"
I believe...do you?
March 7, 2011
Pretty Woman
Well, we are officially knee-deep in dirty diapers and laundry, but loving every minute of it. Okay, almost every minute. I suppose I could do without the laundry. My eyes are a bit droopy, but I am savoring each moment with Baby Ezra, knowing just how fast it all goes.
I have to say that I am incredibly proud of our Big Sissy Phoebe. Things have been shaken up around here quite a bit and she has risen to the occasion. She loves to help change diapers, snuggle up next to Ezra, take pictures of him, and even helped out with his first real bath. She absolutely adores her brother. In her own words, "I am just so in love with him....I am so in love with him that I want to be married with him!" (She also wants to marry her daddy.)
This is an exciting time for us all, and a time of transition for sure. I would not be telling the truth if I said we have not had any feelings of frustration or jealousy around here...and we would then be a total anomaly amongst families everywhere. It is all too normal to feel a bit left out and neglected when a new person arrives (especially after over 4 years of being the center of the universe). And though I often write silly stories for your sheer amusement, this blog is truly more for us. It's a chronicle of our lives, and well, it wouldn't be complete if I didn't share all the details. After all, I want to look back and remember everything-whether it's good, bad...or ugly.
While I was pregnant, we anticipated how our lives would change with a new addition. We knew there would be excitement and joy, diapers and spit-up, and we were not naive to think we would not have a bit of "interesting" challenges with the adjustment. You just never know exactly what to expect, but there are a few things we didn't see comin'. "Like what?," you ask? Well, there's the vomiting, for instance. Not Ezra...Phoebe.
The first time it happened was in the hospital, the night Baby arrived. There was a lot of action going on, with me in a hospital bed, and Baby about to FINALLY arrive, and it being way past the bedtime. As Daddy tells me, it happened on the ride home (poor Daddy) while I was still in recovery. Phoebe complained that the car smelled like throw-up for days. I chided with Daddy that he shouldn't have let her have that chili from the hospital cafeteria, but still I wondered if it wasn't more than that....
With two more random incidents in the days to follow, and no other signs of illness, we realized that it was anxiety-induced vomit. Didn't see that comin'. Three times in a very short span. Poor thing. She was just so overwhelmed with it all. We all spent several days wondering if or when it might happen again, but thankfully the third was the last...so far. We kept a bucket near her bed and she slept on a towel for about a week, just in case. Just another jewel in our parenting crowns.
So a little throw-up isn't so bad, huh? How about a little bit of a yucky attitude? To be expected too. Yep, more than vomit has spewed out of our darling Phoebe's mouth in the last month. As kiddos go, there are always surprises around the corner, and my Phoebe has not disappointed in that department. I will highlight a couple of strange things she has said here. After all, she might want to hear about these gems in the future. At least, I will likely want to remind her of them if or when she ever has children of her own...it's my duty, is it not?
A couple weeks ago, we were hanging out in her room while Ezra slept. We had been doing school and an art project, just having a good time. Then I reminded her that she needed to tidy up her room. Now, Phoebe is a great little helper. She loves chores...she likes to dust, do dishes, and is always asking if she can mop the floors. But cleaning up her toys? Not so much. But, she had promised it would be done that morning, and I was going to hold her to it.
Her response to my making her clean should have given me a good laugh...but instead it made me cry (darn those hormones!). She paused her not-so-valiant cleaning effort to say, "Sometimes (long pause), I think of you...kind of like Cinderella's stepmother."
"WHAT!!!??"
At first I just stare at her and wonder where this came from since we don't own any Disney movies. And then....then I see the wry smile on her face and realize she meant it as a joke and like I said, it should have given me a really good laugh (which it very much does now), but now I feel the burning hot, hormonal tears stinging my eyes. I spin on on my heels in dramatic fashion, head to the bathroom, where I proceed to sob uncontrollably for a minute or two, then gather myself and get back in there to "encourage" the cleaning business. I feel a bit like Claire Huxtable as I growl under my breath, "You wanna see mean...I'll show you mean. You've never seen mean. Stepmother, hmph! After all I do for you..."
A few days later, Phoebe and I were watching a show together on the Food Network. She loves cooking shows, especially what she calls "cake shows". A commercial came on and I paused the TV (gotta love the DVR), as we do not like to watch commercials around here. Once again, I am enjoying some lovely time alone with my wonderful daughter and I don't expect the following curve ball....
The commercial was a cosmetics ad featuring Julia Roberts. I just happened to pause it on a close-up of her face. Phoebe said, "Ooh, she's pretty."
"Yes, she is," I replied.
"Prettier than YOU are."
Huh?
(What, with my milk-soiled night dress and my disheveled hair, puffy eyes, saggy belly, and not-so-fresh armpits? I stare at the screen at Julia and think maybe I need to include the word "airbrushed" in our vocabulary list this week.)
....A bit stunned, I pause for what seems like forever. Then I turn and look at her and even she looks a bit confused and bewildered by what just came out of her mouth. She quickly tries to recover by saying, "I was just...I mean...I just was saying that she is pretty, Mommy." (Now, if you know my Phoebe, you know that this girl showers me with compliments every day and is quite gracious to everyone around her, so this was quite uncharacteristic of her.)
This time I didn't cry. I did, however, take the opportunity for what I like to call a "teaching moment". Though I was laughing inside, I knew that this little jab at Mommy was coming from someplace deep inside her, with a whole heap of emotions at the root. Ah, human nature is so clearly displayed in a child. They are raw and transparent and yet, mysteriously complicated little creatures. They are human.
Later I privately shared this little nugget with Daddy and his eyes got wide, then he laughed, of course. Then he said, "I don't think Julia Roberts is that pretty. I don't know why she is such a big deal."
"Thanks, Honey."
"No, really. I just don't think she's all that great."
"I know. She's not me."
"Exactly...she's not you."
What a guy.
The next day Phoebe and I were baking cookies and she said that no other mommy makes the goodest cookies as I do. And she added, "You are the most beautiful woman in the whole world...You are the bestest mommy in the whole universe."
Well, there you have it folks. In the eyes that matter, I am, in fact, prettier than Julia Roberts.
I have to say that I am incredibly proud of our Big Sissy Phoebe. Things have been shaken up around here quite a bit and she has risen to the occasion. She loves to help change diapers, snuggle up next to Ezra, take pictures of him, and even helped out with his first real bath. She absolutely adores her brother. In her own words, "I am just so in love with him....I am so in love with him that I want to be married with him!" (She also wants to marry her daddy.)
This is an exciting time for us all, and a time of transition for sure. I would not be telling the truth if I said we have not had any feelings of frustration or jealousy around here...and we would then be a total anomaly amongst families everywhere. It is all too normal to feel a bit left out and neglected when a new person arrives (especially after over 4 years of being the center of the universe). And though I often write silly stories for your sheer amusement, this blog is truly more for us. It's a chronicle of our lives, and well, it wouldn't be complete if I didn't share all the details. After all, I want to look back and remember everything-whether it's good, bad...or ugly.
While I was pregnant, we anticipated how our lives would change with a new addition. We knew there would be excitement and joy, diapers and spit-up, and we were not naive to think we would not have a bit of "interesting" challenges with the adjustment. You just never know exactly what to expect, but there are a few things we didn't see comin'. "Like what?," you ask? Well, there's the vomiting, for instance. Not Ezra...Phoebe.
The first time it happened was in the hospital, the night Baby arrived. There was a lot of action going on, with me in a hospital bed, and Baby about to FINALLY arrive, and it being way past the bedtime. As Daddy tells me, it happened on the ride home (poor Daddy) while I was still in recovery. Phoebe complained that the car smelled like throw-up for days. I chided with Daddy that he shouldn't have let her have that chili from the hospital cafeteria, but still I wondered if it wasn't more than that....
With two more random incidents in the days to follow, and no other signs of illness, we realized that it was anxiety-induced vomit. Didn't see that comin'. Three times in a very short span. Poor thing. She was just so overwhelmed with it all. We all spent several days wondering if or when it might happen again, but thankfully the third was the last...so far. We kept a bucket near her bed and she slept on a towel for about a week, just in case. Just another jewel in our parenting crowns.
So a little throw-up isn't so bad, huh? How about a little bit of a yucky attitude? To be expected too. Yep, more than vomit has spewed out of our darling Phoebe's mouth in the last month. As kiddos go, there are always surprises around the corner, and my Phoebe has not disappointed in that department. I will highlight a couple of strange things she has said here. After all, she might want to hear about these gems in the future. At least, I will likely want to remind her of them if or when she ever has children of her own...it's my duty, is it not?
A couple weeks ago, we were hanging out in her room while Ezra slept. We had been doing school and an art project, just having a good time. Then I reminded her that she needed to tidy up her room. Now, Phoebe is a great little helper. She loves chores...she likes to dust, do dishes, and is always asking if she can mop the floors. But cleaning up her toys? Not so much. But, she had promised it would be done that morning, and I was going to hold her to it.
Her response to my making her clean should have given me a good laugh...but instead it made me cry (darn those hormones!). She paused her not-so-valiant cleaning effort to say, "Sometimes (long pause), I think of you...kind of like Cinderella's stepmother."
"WHAT!!!??"
At first I just stare at her and wonder where this came from since we don't own any Disney movies. And then....then I see the wry smile on her face and realize she meant it as a joke and like I said, it should have given me a really good laugh (which it very much does now), but now I feel the burning hot, hormonal tears stinging my eyes. I spin on on my heels in dramatic fashion, head to the bathroom, where I proceed to sob uncontrollably for a minute or two, then gather myself and get back in there to "encourage" the cleaning business. I feel a bit like Claire Huxtable as I growl under my breath, "You wanna see mean...I'll show you mean. You've never seen mean. Stepmother, hmph! After all I do for you..."
A few days later, Phoebe and I were watching a show together on the Food Network. She loves cooking shows, especially what she calls "cake shows". A commercial came on and I paused the TV (gotta love the DVR), as we do not like to watch commercials around here. Once again, I am enjoying some lovely time alone with my wonderful daughter and I don't expect the following curve ball....
The commercial was a cosmetics ad featuring Julia Roberts. I just happened to pause it on a close-up of her face. Phoebe said, "Ooh, she's pretty."
"Yes, she is," I replied.
"Prettier than YOU are."
Huh?
(What, with my milk-soiled night dress and my disheveled hair, puffy eyes, saggy belly, and not-so-fresh armpits? I stare at the screen at Julia and think maybe I need to include the word "airbrushed" in our vocabulary list this week.)
....A bit stunned, I pause for what seems like forever. Then I turn and look at her and even she looks a bit confused and bewildered by what just came out of her mouth. She quickly tries to recover by saying, "I was just...I mean...I just was saying that she is pretty, Mommy." (Now, if you know my Phoebe, you know that this girl showers me with compliments every day and is quite gracious to everyone around her, so this was quite uncharacteristic of her.)
This time I didn't cry. I did, however, take the opportunity for what I like to call a "teaching moment". Though I was laughing inside, I knew that this little jab at Mommy was coming from someplace deep inside her, with a whole heap of emotions at the root. Ah, human nature is so clearly displayed in a child. They are raw and transparent and yet, mysteriously complicated little creatures. They are human.
Later I privately shared this little nugget with Daddy and his eyes got wide, then he laughed, of course. Then he said, "I don't think Julia Roberts is that pretty. I don't know why she is such a big deal."
"Thanks, Honey."
"No, really. I just don't think she's all that great."
"I know. She's not me."
"Exactly...she's not you."
What a guy.
The next day Phoebe and I were baking cookies and she said that no other mommy makes the goodest cookies as I do. And she added, "You are the most beautiful woman in the whole world...You are the bestest mommy in the whole universe."
Well, there you have it folks. In the eyes that matter, I am, in fact, prettier than Julia Roberts.
February 23, 2011
Phoebe's First Ballet Recital
Ole'! Just before the concert, I asked Phoebe to pose for some pictures and she said, "Urgh, I don't want to." Somehow I managed to twist her arm...seriously, do you think this girl has a problem performing?? Wow!
The girls did a number to a song from Don Quixote. They were all so lovely in red.
Um, this is a ballet recital, right? So sassy!
Her teacher was so impressed that I got her cute little bob into the shape of a proper bun. I told her that I have a wee bit of experience doctoring short locks into a formal ballet do. Phoebe looked so mature. Her daddy and I gasped at how grown-up and lady-like she looked.
Waving to Mommy and Daddy just after the finale. 
Her and best-good friend Gwynneth. They are like two peas in a pod!
February 1, 2011
Welcome To The World Ezra!
Alright, it has been a whole 5 days since the birth of our beautiful son and you all been waiting for me to post some pictures already! Thanks for being patient, as posting pictures takes a while...well, with the nursing, and the diapering, and the napping (me too, thanks to my Mom), the swaddling, the snuggling, the kissing...
We have waited a long time for the arrival of our sweet boy and have kept his name in the vault for not only the duration of my pregnancy, but for more than five years. We chose it when we chose Phoebe's name, and we held onto it dearly in our hearts, believing God had a plan for a son in our future. So it is with great joy that we welcome EZRA JAMES HER. Enjoy the pics!
Since our Honu was with Phoebe during our hospital stay, we thought he might want to keep Ezra company as well.
Happy Daddy!
Ezra says, "Um, excuse me...this is a private moment."
Ready to leave the hospital, Ezra is dressed in the same outfit Phoebe came home in.
Buckled in and set for his first car ride.
All cozy with Grammy.
Oh how precious new life is. We are so thrilled that Ezra is with us and are so blessed to welcome another happy, healthy child into our family. Mommy and baby are resting as much as we can, but we love visitors, so please make an appointment to see us soon! More pictures to come.
We have waited a long time for the arrival of our sweet boy and have kept his name in the vault for not only the duration of my pregnancy, but for more than five years. We chose it when we chose Phoebe's name, and we held onto it dearly in our hearts, believing God had a plan for a son in our future. So it is with great joy that we welcome EZRA JAMES HER. Enjoy the pics!
Grammy arrives from the airport to help out and welcome baby brother. Phoebe and her are so excited to see each other for the first time in over a year.
The three of us before my surgery, waiting for the big moment of baby's arrival. Although we had hoped for a natural birth, like his big sister, Ezra was taking his time coming out and we just could not wait any longer to meet our little man.
Daddy poses with Phoebe all set in his gear...btw, he asked to take it all home with him for doctor play at home with Phoebe. She was so thrilled!
Just minutes after Xee cut the cord-Ezra was born on January 26, at 9:35 p.m., weighed 7lbs, .6oz and measured 20 1/2 inches long.
I finally meet him face to face. What a joy!
Phoebe and Grammy meet him.
Love at first sight!
Proud Big Sister enjoys holding her baby brother.
Sister smooches :)
It's late and my two babies are both nested up with me in bed, fast asleep.
Snuggly-Buggly
Since our Honu was with Phoebe during our hospital stay, we thought he might want to keep Ezra company as well.
Happy Daddy!
Ezra says, "Um, excuse me...this is a private moment."
Ready to leave the hospital, Ezra is dressed in the same outfit Phoebe came home in.
Buckled in and set for his first car ride.
All cozy with Grammy.
Oh how precious new life is. We are so thrilled that Ezra is with us and are so blessed to welcome another happy, healthy child into our family. Mommy and baby are resting as much as we can, but we love visitors, so please make an appointment to see us soon! More pictures to come.
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