…you know what I mean? But no turn on the catwalk, sorry.
I’m pretty sure I never thought I would say those words.
But to start from the beginning – I have a stupidly full inbox. Like, something like 5,000 UNREAD messages. Mostly because I don’t bother opening or deleting the emails from Orbitz, Zappos, travelocity, or any other site where I’ve randomly bought something/visited/registered-to-win, and then never taken myself off the mailing list. Silly, really, because I’m sure plenty of “real mail” is lurking in that mess, but such is life. For some reason, I randomly opened an email from Kaenon, a sunglass company whose emails I get because, after buying a pair very very cheap at a music fest I turned around and lost them 10 days later when diving into Lake Michigan after a frisbee. Boo. I attempted to guilt them into sending me a new pair, but no luck. All that I received was a “sorry, here is the website to buy a new pair,” and a weekly round of emails that I don’t open. But a recent one advertised a contest – all you had to do was “become a friend on facebook and submit a photo of yourself wearing the sunnies.” I happened to have an adorable photo of Austin and I, right before I took said dive, so I went for it.
And…I didn’t win. But I was a runner-up, and made the poster, which is perhaps just as cool. Check this out!
Totally made my day! I’m pretty proud that we’re the only finalist that isn’t doing something sporty. Honestly, I can’t compete with guy-who-just-summitted-Everest (or whatever mountain that is) or a gigantic fish in the sporty department (those were the two winners). But darned if we aren’t the cutest finalists!
Just to be nostalgic yesterday, I was flipping through pictures of Austin at 2 months. He is so big now, I can’t remember what he looked like as a baby. And just by chance, there was a whole series of him wearing the same suit that Wes happened to be in (poor Wes, he lives in his brother’s hand-me-downs). I was floored – I honestly couldn’t tell if the picture was of Austin or Wes!
Check this out:
Above: baby #1 (please ignore shoddily-placed shoulder straps on the carseat – I’m was about to fix them when a fit of smiles came to visit, and I had to run and grab the camera….),
And…baby #2:
Aside from the fact that baby #2 decided to be squinty-happy instead of wide-eyed happy, you could convince me they are the same kid – and I’m their mother! Genetics are freaky.
FYI – Baby #1 is Austin – photos taken when he was six days shy of two months old. The ones of Wes are taken at 2 months and 12 days. And I am so happy we no longer have that carseat with those crappy straps…
I’m Wesley, and I’m nearly a month old. And my mom is dressing me like an idiot – today she put me in a pair of pants that have a bear on the tush. Rumor is, my Aunt Katie bought this for me. When I’m older, I’ll get her for this one.
I’ll also get my mom for sharing this:
(Remember how I said he make “Man-Sized” noises? I meant it! This isn’t his very best work – he was a little camera shy. My favorite is how relaxed he looks at the end once he’s done his business…)
But since, really, life is pretty good for me right now – I can eat, sleep, and do my business wherever and whenever I want – I’ll keep my complaints to a minimum.
Except one thing – someone tell mom to lay off the Asparagus – I know it is the first fresh veggie of the year and all, but too much of it gives me a belly ache and keeps me up at night, which I know upsets mom since she brags that I am such a good sleeper.
Bye-bye for now,
Wes
(Side note from mom: have you heard of Elimination Communication, or the Diaper Free Movement? Basically, parents forgo diapers and use cues from their babies to get them to an acceptable place to do their business when the time comes. I really wonder how this is possible, since, in my experience, my wee ones usually do this either during or RIGHT after a meal – leaving little time to save them from soiling themselves (and me, and the couch or wherever I’m sitting…). But they claim it works…Oh, and Wes – got the memo about the Asparagus. I guess 1/2 pound (more of it?) a day is too much? I’ll scale back. )
We had an epic weekend for the Mair family. My sister was in town visiting from Denver, we celebrated my upcoming 30th birthday (30? really?) and of course, mothers day, which is always more special when you are the proud mother of a perfect newborn. The weekend was full of food, gator rides, fighting over who got to hold the baby, and adult beverages that I am now allowed to consume, in small quantities of course.
We finally got to the champagne toast to baby Wesley – I never felt up to it in the hospital!
Katie met her nephew (doesn’t she look good with a wee baby??)
Everyone oogled over the new baby
Much parting was done – can hats optional
My dad with the little guy (This photo was taken at 2 a.m.)
Austin got plenty of time in on the tire swing
and rides in the wagon
was picked on plenty by his daddy…
and cleaned up nicely.
Unfortunately, all this play time didn’t add up to much sleep – especially after Austin decided to be a night owl and keep me up till 4 a.m. on Friday. Wes and I have a nice day of down-time planned – filled with naps, catch-up on Hulu TV shoes, and many snacks of milk for him and coffee for me. Thanks everyone for a fantastic weekend!
My computer is acting up horribly (argh!) so this will be short. Plus, my sister is coming to visit us (lets be real, to visit Wes) from Colorado tonight, and the weekends of Katie visits are always GOGOGO, so I NEED to get a nap in so that I can keep up.
Think she’ll like him?
I have been craving baked goodies since I’ve had Wes – not sure if it is the sleep deprivation, hunger from nursing, or just holdover from being pregnant and feeling like I deserved a baked goodie every day, but cookies, cakes, and pies have been calling my name – loudly. Today, I listened….the cookies I made the other day were certainly healthy, but tasted “healthy”, and weren’t scratching my “baked goodie” itch, so to speak. So…a slightly healthy banana bread came into being – that I slathered in REAL BUTTER as soon as I got it out of the oven. Moderation, my friends….
Whole Wheat Banana Bread
1/3 cup applesauce
3 1/2 medium very ripe bananas, mashed (probably 1 3/4 cup worth)
1 t vanilla
1/2 cup brown sugar (would have used honey, but I was out – used it all up in those darn healthy cookies)
2 eggs
1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 t cinnamon
1/4 cup buttermilk (could use regular milk, or just hot water – or even omit (especially if you use honey) – this recipe was pretty moist!)
Preheat oven to 325. Mix ingredients together, in order…till combined. Pour into greased bread tin ( you could also make into muffins and bake for a lot less time, but then you have built in portion control and I wasn’t into this today). Bake for 60-70 minutes. Since your oven is going to be on for so long, do what I did, and kill a few more birds with that stone- roast your veggies for dinner (in this case, sweet potato, zucchini, green beans, and carrots) at the same time. That way, you can eat a bunch of veggies BEFORE digging into the banana bread, and perhaps you won’t eat the whole loaf This doesn’t taste “healthy” unlike most of my other baked goodies. You could add chocolate chips or walnuts if you wish, but don’t you dare bring me a loaf with walnuts in it – ewww. I’ll gladly sample a choc chip loaf if you’re in the mood to bake..
P. S. Carrots roasted till slightly browned (tossed in a dab of olive oil and salt) are FABULOUS – and I bet if you call them
“carrot fries” and serve them with ketchup the kiddies will chow down…
There are endless terms of endearment for a wee baby. “Bub,” “Bubby,” “Little Cutie,” “Bug,” “Peanut,” “Little guy,” and “wee one,” are terms that get frequently thrown out around here. But we have a new one that seems to have stuck, and I can’t stop laughing about it – “Tennis Ball Head.” Lyndon decided yesterday that Wesley’s head looks and feels exactly like a tennis ball. Round and fuzzy…kinda hard but also kinda soft. For some reason the analogy stuck.
I woke up in the middle of the night to pee and immediately though “how is tennis ball head?” and then I had to laugh, out loud, because of all the adorable names you can get away with calling a baby, Wes gets stuck with “tennis ball head?” poor bubby.
We’re finally back home and settled in – and I’m so thankful! We actually got home yesterday afternoon, but I was too tired to do anything but eat cookies and cuddle with my boys.
All in all, Wesley’s birth experience was a positive one, but certainly had its ups and downs. I have fantastic friends and family, and their love and support was incredible through the ride. We snapped one last belly picture:
and were on our way…
Thursday Morning
I slept horribly Wednesday night, which is to be expected, I suppose. I had dreams all night long that we had a girl, and thus was fairly convinced as such heading into surgery. When I got up at 5:15, I quickly checked facebook, and was thrilled to see I had the little magic “32″ in the upper right hand corner – that many well wishes for our big day! It really put a smile on my face and helped settle my nerves. I love those little red circle on facebook, saying “somebody loves you…” but I digress.
Anyhow, we headed in and everything went as planned in the morning – check in, hook up to the monitor to make sure baby is OK, wait nervously for the anesthesiologist..
During and after my last C-section, I spent a fair bit of the day getting sick. Not so pleasant, so I was anxious to make sure the anesthesiologist knew of my problems with the medicine and hopeful that we could do something to make the experience a bit more pleasant this time. She assured me that they would keep on top of it – that probably I was reacting to the morphine pain drug and that she would keep it to the bare minimum so that my nausea wasn’t so bad. Although I wasn’t keen on the “bare minimum” of pain medication – if I have to be cut open and have a planned birth, I would like to at least reap the benefits of modern chemistry, but I suppose a bit more pain is preferable to upchucking all day.
Anyhow, all went as planned – I was rolled off into surgery, Lyndon changed into his scrubs to meet me later, and they hung up that “blue privacy sheet” that saves us from seeing my innards. The anesthetist had warned me that the nausea side-effect from administering the spinal block was something they couldn’t do much about, so I wasn’t surprised when the only a few seconds after the spinal took effect I was getting sick. Good news was, I felt much better afterwards, and they were prepared for it so I didn’t have to just puke on the side of the table (lyndon put his arm in it the first time – ewww….)
Lyndon came in, and they got to work. I was so anxious! But the procedure is so quick, and not a few minutes later, they said “Lots of pressure, lots of pressure….It’s a Boy! and he has a huge bottom!” I kid you not. The first descriptive words about our son weren’t “he’s perfect” or “ten fingers, ten toes” or “he’s so cute…” Poor kid – “he has a huge bottom!” were his welcome to the world. That, and his mother getting sick….again. It seems Wesley was “locked and loaded,” ready to come out on his own very soon, and so they really had to yank to get him out. All of that pressure made me get sick again, so as they were proclaiming the large size of our wee one’s bottom, I was simultaneously bawling and getting sick.
Lyndon was worried I was sad that he was a boy, and that was why I was crying. Not the case – I just felt so guilty that I was yacking as he entered the world! I was actually not at all surprised when they said “it’s a boy.” There are so many boys in the family (Wesley is the fifth boy on Lyndon’s side – no girls yet!,and the 11th of 14 on my side, and the sixth boy in our close group of friends – no girls yet). We were all relying on statistics to bring a girl into the picture, but I felt a flood of relief – somehow, a boy seems easier – so far, I know what to do, and we have all the clothes and toys and…well, Austin gets a brother!
Anyhow, after that was the worst part of all. Lyndon and Wesley were whisked away to go get Wes’s vitals and weight, etc…and I was left alone with the doctors. They fixed me up and got me into recovery, where I had to wait 30 or so VERY LONG minutes till I could get in with my family and hold the baby. It was horrible – I felt sick, I couldn’t stop crying, and I was alone with a nurse who couldn’t stop talking about how fantastic the Lord is. I know she was trying to make me feel better, but I just wanted her to shut up and take my blood pressure and get my back to my family. There were two highlights – first, one of the nurses (a male one, at that!) came in and said “Wow, you look so skinny!”, and then the OB nurse (at the prompting of my mom, who isn’t known for her patience) finally called down to say “get her back here, her baby is HUNGRY!). Thank you mom!
They finally decided I was recovered enough, and wheeled me back in, so we could take these pictures:
Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, baby, and Mama, in that order.
The rest of the day was a blur. The family all went home – to give me time to rest and to rest themselves, and to fetch Austin and my 98 year-old grandma to come up for visit #2. I still spent the afternoon getting sick, despite reduced pain meds and nausea medicine. Thankfully, I was feeling well during the visit of my grandma and Austin. The moment Austin met Wesley was precious – probably a highlight from the day:
Grandma loved him
Our good friends Jen and Dan, who have a son who was born the EXACT SAME DAY as Austin, also came up for a visit:
And that ends day one. I had a horrible night that night (really, all three nights, thus my exhaustion yesterday), but those are stories for another day. This is too long as it is! If you’ve made it this far, you’re a trooper.
I was lucky enough to spend Easter with two of the cutest little boys – Austin of course, and my cousin’s son, Will (who is just two months younger than Austin). It was a great day – beautiful weather, awesome food (the family gave the traditional Easter ham a pass and made BBQ ribs on the grill – and they were fantastic!), and good family fun. I died laughing when I showed up at my grandma’s to be greeted by Will in a pastel sweater vest – I had purchased one for Austin from goodwill just for the occasion, and he was happily sporting his as well! Ironically, Will’s also came from Goodwill – we are a family of bargain hunters.
Aren’t they cute??
The day started with Austin’s first Easter Egg hunt – and first (mommy sanctioned, at least) bites of artificially colored candy. He was a happy camper!
but as to not overload him with sugar, we soon moved on to another favorite: Easter eggs filled with roasted broccoli. Seriously.
Yes, he ate it and loved it.
I am notoriously BAD at baking bread, but had found a recipe in Saveur magazine for a braided cardamom bread called Pulla that I was dying to try, so that was my contribution to Easter (Recipe HERE). It turned out BEAUTIFUL, and although not a “healthy” bread, it was tasty and completely worth it. I was very proud of myself:
How pretty is that?
I think the key was investing in new yeast – every other time I’ve tried a yeasted bread, it has flopped, literally…and this rose like a champion. Thank goodness – it has a crowd of over 20 to please!
After our tasty meal, we took the boys outside for an Easter Egg hunt and some bubble blowing:
Inside their Easter eggs? Sticker, bouncy balls, and a few cheerios.
It was amazing to me how much fun I had watching their joy – at the bubbles, the eggs, the bouncy balls…and even at the broom (both boys took turns sweeping off grandma’s patio) and the leaves. Chasing Austin and Will around really was a “breath of fresh air” in what is sometimes a stale family holiday. Instead of eating enough to cause a food coma and then rolling on to the couch, we got outside and chased happy kids around. It was a great day!
Austin is our little firecracker, born August of 2008. Lyndo is the loving dad, who hails from Australia but fits right in here. And we welcomed little Wesley on Earth Day 2010. I work full time at a fantastic non-profit, attempting to balance family, work, and life.
This doesn’t taste “healthy” unlike most of my other baked goodies. You could add chocolate chips or walnuts if you wish, but don’t you dare bring me a loaf with walnuts in it – ewww. I’ll gladly sample a choc chip loaf if you’re in the mood to bake..
