Very pregnant thoughts from a very post-pregnant mom

I'll go ahead and admit I had a good amount of apprehension about having a daughter. We had Jett - our sweet, fun, lovable, easy-baby, handsome little son - and that's all we knew! Fortunately, God has given us little humans two (of many) things: 20-week sonograms to reveal the sex, and another 20 weeks to get used to the answer.

When Caroline was born, I couldn't imagine a different outcome ... nor did I want to; the one we had was - is - perfect.

I see television shows, posters, ads, books, magazine articles, etc, etc, with moms and daughters featured... B.C. (Before Caroline) I thought, "good for them, I have Jett!" But now, A.D. (Anno Daughter), I think, "I'm in the club!!!" and that makes my heart happy. Very happy.

And then I get to watch Jay with Caroline. There is a change in his whole demeanor the moment he takes her in his arms, and a different inflection in his voice when he talks to and about her. And THAT makes me smile.

And THEN there's Jett, who is all about kissing the little sister. I don't know if he'd be the same way with a little brother but, as it IS a sister, it's all the more endearing. Part of that picture is the fact that the first person Jett truly addressed, by name (and label), was Caroline. When he sees her or something associated to her (such as a sock, a blanket, carseat, bottle, etc) he points and says, "Yahwahyahwah ... SISsee". Always the two. Always cute. :)

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I suppose there are multiple points to a blog - in today's case it's to share some "emotional" updates, and also to share more general updates. Here's the latter:

Many have asked, "SOOOoooooo, how's it being the mother of two????" I replied to someone the other day without actually thinking with, "it's fun!". I had to take that back immediately, else suffer the guilt of a big fat exaggeration on my conscience. I concluded with, "Um, challenging and rewarding."

The facts of the matter are: 1) Caroline eats, sleeps, poops, and cries. Not much going on in the reasoning and conversations departments. 2) Jett is nearing two years of age. Not much going on in the reasoning and conversations departments there either.

So what that boils down to is lots of formula-mixing, spit-up clean-up (Caroline has "happy spitter" reflux, so it's a constant battle), poop-wiping, meal-fixing, toy-pick-up, eye-poke-blocking, tantrum-squelching, and finger-pointing-plus-grunt- deciphering. Yes, a veritable cornucopia of "Fun". On Friday I was suffering from a serious case of Adultless Conversation Psychosis, which resulted in no less than five phonecalls to Jay, hard at work AT work, before noon -- no, stop, make that before 10:30am -- to impart meaningless pieces of information. He probably even felt stupider by the fifth call, as if I had sacrificed some of his brain cells for the sake of a two-way conversation. No, stop, make that a one-way with acknowledging grunt responses. At least I got a "hello" and "goodbye".

But don't let me fool you, for long. The challenges are indeed met with rewards, such as big-brother-kisses, laughter, obedience, and true childlike wonder and curiosity on the face of my toddler. These things are just some of the few ambrosias of motherhood.

Another one is Afternoon Naps. For everyone.

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I do love being a mother and am thankful to have two healthy, beautiful children. I am thankful to have a husband who loves me and our children, and works hard to provide for all. And I love that Jay's provision permits me to refrain from a "day job" - because I hated working. Loved my bosses, loved the work, hated having to show up by a certain time every day. What about breakfast?, you ask? Well, yes, the kids DO require proper nourishment and clean diapers by a certain time every morning ... but I don't have to THINK very hard doing those things, now do I? Nor do I have to personally be showered, dressed, and driving in traffic ... or leave the house, for that matter.

And there are two more things that I love: 1) I love sleeping for six or more hours at time, regardless of what time I go to bed; 2) I love fitting into my "thin" clothes...

These last two luxuries are currently "unavailable" to me. Just the other day I was thinking how much I admire-hate women who ACTUALLY look like they never even resembled something pregnant. Some of you have been kind (blind, but kind) with post-pregnancy-flattery. To you I say, "What you don't see won't hurt you." Poor Jay, he doesn't have it so good. Come to think of it, therein lies the beauty and brilliance - all rolled into one - of separate walk-in closets. Crisis averted.

While we're on that subject, another couple of advantages of separate walk-in closets are:
1. Ladies, you can put off telling your husband how you went out and bought some new clothes without discussing it first - just hide it amongst your existing clothes and, WAHLAH!, Instant-"Oh, that old thing?". Jay, if you're reading, I'm just being hypothetical.
2. The funky smell that emits from hidden and long-forgotten gym socks won't permeate those hidden-but-new duds of yours. Again, hypothetical, of course. If you who are reading happen to be not-yet-married or newly-married, your turn will come. Respectably, you can think you will or try to put the kibosh on this eventuality .... but don't get your hopes up. Think positive and just be glad your man's a man. And get your own closet.

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So, concluding thoughts?

...Use hyphens and dot-dots wherever possible - they make for great phrasing and streams-of-thought. Strait from the mouth of the Master of Paper-Writing-Evasion. If you've graduated high school and have finished any required college courses that necessitate the use of correct grammer and punctuation, you're home free to write however you want. You betcha.

...Love thy friends and in-laws. They might just babysit for you. And they'll fib to your face and tell you how flabuless you look.

...Don't forget the closet. Or at least some good air freshener.

The End.

Summer Update-08

So I've reduced myself to a biannual bloggership ... thanks for your continued interest! :) Do you ever wonder why some things get procrastinated to the bitter end? And usually they're important things - for instance, in our case, they are "good news" things!

As you can see on the very subtle photo, above, of Jett - we're expecting another baby! ...in two months! And it's a girl! Yes, we are all excited (Jett is, too, he just doesn't know it yet) - Precious Perfect is expected to arrive September 26th. I am not-so-secretly hoping, however, that she'll come early like Jett did - I hope that's not too much to ask!? We'll announce her name after she arrives (she may be six months old by then) - some things must remain a mystery! :) She'll be taking over the nursery, as Jett gets to move downstairs to his big-boy room. And just to alleviate any concerns that I'm getting all soft on you, the nursery is staying the way it is ... pale turquoise-painted walls, and lots of bold colors. The little pink you'll see on or near her will be in her rosy little cheeks :)

Life around here has had nary a dull moment. Jett only takes one nap a day now, and so is constantly on-the-go. I am usually able to sneak a nap myself in the middle of his playtime ... he just ignores me and works on his daily mess-making - it's hard work! Jay had a very busy, travel-filled spring season at work. Then, he had ankle surgery in early June, leaving him at my mercy! Mmmwaaaahaha! We survived our month at home together and he's back at work, happily (for both of us). Jett and I DID love having so much time with him, though - great family bonding time before the little sister comes and stirs it all up! We continue to do little things here and there in the endless pursuit of a "finished" home ... draperies (to replace the assorted $2 sheets pinned over the windows), repainting walls & new furniture (Jett's big-boy room), rearranging this, garage-selling that ... it goes on. But that works for me - I love my "projects"!

Jett is very talkative (just doesn't say any real words) and VERY communicative. He understands about 99% of what we say to him (as is evidenced in his subsequent actions/reactions). It is such a joy to communicate with your young child and know that he/she "gets" it. Really, it is just another testament to the miracle of human development - God has designed us so incredibly!

Just about two months ago, Jett discovered balls ... his first was a basketball at Jay's parents' house (Bebe and Papa). He kinda swatted at it for a little while, rolling it and picking it up ... it was no time before he was smitten. Ever since then, it's balls, balls, balls - any shape, any size. He doesn't SAY the word "ball", but the love is clear. (Haven't we all said, "actions speak louder than words"???). He likes to throw them, too. Of course, the throwing is by no means limited to balls ... pens, paper, telephones, measuring tapes, puzzle pieces, magnets, remote controls ... anything he could deem as "toy", however briefly, it's flying across the room. Usually the trajectory is in a strait line from his highest reach to about three or four feet in front of him on the floor, ending in a "thud". Nothing has been broken yet, knock on wood. Although ... I'VE broken one or two items by stepping on them - things that shouldn't have been on the floor.

That's about it for now. You can view "recent" pics on our photo web site - the link is in the upper right-hand corner of this page (under "Pictures, pictures, pictures!")

We hope you are all doing well in your respective neck of the woods!

Fall Update

When I claimed I had fallen prey to the gods of blog, did you think I was going to worship them, too? And by "worship", I mean actually keep you all current and regular via web posts? Even the wisest of you should know me better than that. I love you, but only the Dog Whisperer Cesar Millan can teach an old dog new tricks. (My latest hero, by the way. I'm even thinking about submitting a video of Lulabelle peeing on the floor to see if we can get a visit from the man himself!)

Okay, enough about me, who of you cares about her anyway? The topic of the year: Jett. As in "Son-of-Jay-&-Emily Jett". That's the only important title we have anymore. Don't worry, we talk about him about 98% of the time, too, so we can relate.

Crawling:
Jett's crawling abilities have been honed to perfection. He crawls over things (dogs), around things (people), under things (tables), through things (legs). He pulls up on anything stationary, even semi-mobile, such as our pant legs. One of the most amusing (in a cute way) things to watch is Jett hauling off away from you - his little bottom wags back and forth like a super-charged pendulum.

Grabbing:
He grabs at everything that catches his eye - especially blinking, sparkling, shiny, and hairy. Yes, hairy. This includes both Lulabelle and Jay. Arm and leg hair are grabby-favorites. (Glad I don't qualify). It always makes me chuckle when he goes for it - not sure why Jay doesn't laugh as much.
Jett also does this flappy thing with his hands - imagine waving in the air, but lower the arm and put an object in front of the hand. Bingo. I'll call it the "flappy-grab".
Another trick that pleases Jett is the "grab-rake-pinch". This is a combination of the grab and the flappy-grab with a fingernail twist. It is things like this and dirty diapers that inspire the regular upkeep of the Fenlaw Baby Spa at Santa Monica.

Chewing:
Anything that Jett manages to capture in his little hands immediately falls victim to the eight little enamel-coated chisels in his mouth. Four up top and four on bottom, people, front and center. Oh, they're really cute (really) when he's smiling, but just wait until they close down around a small hunk of your skin. I just wish he'd translate these mad chewing skills to his food; we're still mashing that stuff up. I'll spare you the category called "Gag Reflex".

Favorite Toys:
As soon as I wrote this category title I realized how would I name the toys? So I'll just keep it to one in particular here and for the rest you can have a look at the pictures on the photo-web site: Jett is pictured with many of them in his mouth. One that I can entitle is "wooden blocks" - pretty strait-forward. They're those colorful, old school, 1 1/2-inch-square blocks with animals, numbers and letters engraved/carved on each side. Grandma Genevieve gave those to Jett. My question is this: is it possible to actually sharpen teeth whittling away on wood?

Scooting:
For those unlearned in baby development terms (I was you only 10 short months ago), this means the child is holding onto something and walks alongside it, still holding on. I'm told it is a close predecessor to walking. No "yikes" here, we are very excited about Jett taking his first steps!!!

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In other news, Jay turned 30 yesterday, Nov. 4th. He's now the oldest member of our family.

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I hope this was an enjoyable update for some of you loving beggars out there (Sarah) - I hope you feel caught up! Again, my apologies to those who would have liked something in-between August and now. Too bad so sad, you're stuck with me.

love, Em/Jay/Jett/Lulabelle!

Crawling & Crushing

Well, people, it has finally happened - our little man is now a crawler! And I don't mean the creepy kind ... on Saturday, Jett made his first real strides and he's officially mobile! We watched with awe and I must admit, I got a little choked up (but don't worry, I didn't cry, for all your hardhearts out there :). He is not exactly chasing Lulabelle down the hall or anything, but he is moving and we're just putting him on the floor as much as possible so he can practice!

Now then, girls, get your kleenexes out because Jett has his first crush. Yes, it's true, I saw it with my own eyes tonight: we were kicking back on the bed this afternoon so I could watch a Tivo'd program on Alison Krauss and some new compilation album she's made. It was an hour long and Jett was wiggling around and making curious baby noises whilst I enjoyed one of my favorite singers - there were short interviews with her, band members, and guest duet artists and, of course, studio performances. Jett would be playing and noise-making and then every time Alison would start/be singing, he was as still as a rabbit, raptly watching and listening. That's right folks, he's got taste in women AND singers! Lucky me, I can now play her in the car instead of nursury rhyme songs. Yaaaaaaay! :)

Baby "Steps" & Baby Teeth

I found yet another tooth yesterday at lunch - bottom right (#3 on the bottom). Apparently it broke through overnight; we didn't even see it coming! So that makes seven teeth now. The days of all that cute gummy gnawing on our fingers - gone. Now that we have teeth, the gnawing is more like gnashing; I'm running for the gumming ring. Oh, but the smiles are still cute, just different. I love the gummy smile, but the toothy grin is so sweet! We'll do whatever it takes, short of standing on our heads, to get a smile or a laugh. Jett is ticklish under his arms and on the inside of his thighs and if you get him at just the right moment, he'll just bust out with an hearty laugh. It's awesome!

Meanwhile, this morning, I spotted him put one hand forward and one knee forward - half of a crawl! But then he went back to his tummy in defeat. Just like his mom: if it's too hard to get perfect on the first try, then abandon ship, stick with what you know. Until the crawling is in full effect, Jett steadily moves around like the break-dancers of the 80's: spinning around and backward on his stomach, feet kicking, arms flailing.

First Ever & Early August Installment

I'm finally caving to the world of blogging ... I figure it might just be a good way to let myself off the hook when I am overdue a Jett update (since he's the only person in our family who's of any interest to y'all ;)) - this way you can just do random checks! I can't make any promises of blogging-awesomeness, but I will try to at least satisfy your basic Jett-fix needs :)

I'm starting out with a re-do of our most recent email. Sorry, I gotta start somewhere!

Well, I’ve been remiss about sending you updates of our precious perfect little boy … I think the last one I sent was in April! Many of you have seen Jett since then and have witnessed some of his new “tricks”, but for many of you, far far away, you’re missing OUT! Please allow me to give you a little run down here, and then please feel free to browse this fabulous web site thingy that a friend of our introduced us to. It’s awesome – you can view pictures WITHOUT having to sign in!!! If you’re anything like me, having to sign in (and give some fake email address and password and register, etc, everytime and have to remember the fake email address and password…) doesn’t really work for me so I miss out on many cute pictures of our friends. But on this Google Picasa, you can make your pictures public and just copy and paste the web site address. Two words: awe some.

Here’s the web site addy: http://picasaweb.google.com/jefenlaw
You should just be able to click on that link. If it doesn’t work easily for you, then I’m sorry, I don’t know what to tell you, I’m not that smart. Email me.

Jett is now 7 months old, about 22 pounds, and a little over 28 inches. He’s our little “Cinderblock”. Awwwe. He currently has two bottom teeth, and two side-top teeth have just broken through (so if they grow any more before the two middle top teeth come in, he’ll have fangs), and we can see the two middle-top front teeth just below the surface. Teeth everywhere! What a difference teeth make in his appearance – we’ve gone from gummy baby to toothy smile! Ooohh, but you know how cute WE think he is! J Jett is able to hold his own bottle for an entire feeding as long as he’s leaning back. What a luxury THIS is … especially during the 7 o’clock feeding when mom can barely open her eyes, much less hold a bottle. Of course, he also eats really quickly, so that luxurious 7am snooze lasts about 10 minutes tops. Feels more like 2. Seconds that is. All in all, bottle-holding is awesome.

Jett is also eating solid foods now. And by solid, I mean very squishy and not solid. He loves squash and sweet potatoes. And pears. And peaches and bananas. Something tells me fruit is not going to be a problem. It’s the vegetables that may pose a challenge – much like they do for mom. He actually gagged – gagged! – when we fed him green peas. Can you blame the poor kid? The pictures in which you see him eating geen mush is green beans – those are acceptable to us. I can hardly wait to feed him brussel sprouts. Mmmm, those were MY favorite when I was young and ate three foods (mac & cheese, mashed potatoes, and chicken drumsticks).

We are also on the verge of crawling. Jett is up on his hands and knees, doing a little rocking. Mostly he is still doing the “superman push-up”: pushes up on his hands and then lets go down to his tummy and kicks out his legs and holds his arms out front or to the side. He IS mobile, but in a backwards directions. The superman pushup gradually moves him backwards and around. I’m expecting life to be very different when he actually moves forward and with purpose and intent. Yikes. Look out Lulabelle. Good thing she can run fast.