For The Record

I just want to let people know ,if they were wondering, that it’s just Ada. Kay is her middle name, after my favorite Great Aunt, but it’s not a May-Jean or a Bobby-Sue, we’re not that far out of town.

Love, D

Three new galleries

Ada has gone on her first trip (to the ocean!), met a whole side of the family at once, and started a long lifetime of gardening. Oh, and she is still the cutest thing you’ve ever imagined.

See it all in three new galleries:

• Trip to NY and Florida
• Being cute at three months
• Helping in the garden

Mud Season

Spring is finally showing it’s bright face up here. Ada’s wondering what the big, shiny, round thing is up in the sky. Unfortunately, when the sun starts showing up around here it also means that it’s tax time. I suppose life moves on. Jason’s started our garden seedlings which cheers me up every year. Summer will be here soon. 

This Saturday the three of us leave for a big trip to Long Island, Philadelphia and Florida. Don’t ask, our trip plans just kept snowballing. My family on L.I. will finally get to meet Ada, all 12 pounds of her. Also, I’m so excited to introduce her to the ocean! Can’t wait to see her reaction to that. Nibs is still so young that everything seems pretty good to her. She’s only now becoming very interested in her surroundings and her playmates, me and Jason. I’m so honored.

I’m sure we’ll have many great pictures to add from our trip but here are a few from this week.

Denise

March

 Whoo. We had some technical trouble with our camera, but now we’re back up and running. This will probably turn into a family blog eventually. It occurred to me that posting Ada’s growth and development updates every week into her teens may not be all that healthy. For now it’s still fun.

Nibs is still a happy little cherub. Poor girl is on her second cold but taking it like a trooper. I’m becoming a bit paranoid checking on her breathing patterns in the middle of the night because of this cold though. Need to reeelax.  She is growing fast, 11.5 pounds now at two months. I guess that’s the way babies do it. I’m quite thankful that she’s such a strong little babe.

Denise

Super Smiles

Especially on the changing table. These pictures from last week are my absolute favorite so far. Ada’s just had a blast with my mom on the changing table.  She thinks Pita (Grandma’s new name) is so funny, as you can see.

  Mom even babysat for us! I left Nibs for the very first time for more than a half hour. It was very nice. We went to a party and when the subject of baby CPR came up, I needed to go home. 

Also, I have a picture of our new cool sling. Kristen, my sister-in-law, made us a gorgeous baby sling. I’m excited to covertly nurse Ada in it plus she can be in just about any position in it. She seems to like it just as much as the Bjorn, which also has been a life saver. Kristen and Andre have their slings, pottery and glass jewelery for sale at clearmountaincraft.etsy.com

Denise 

A Ten Pounder

That’s right we’ve hit the 10 lb. mark plus 21 inches, the wonders of breast milk. Brother Andre, Kristen and the kids came to visit the other day and Ada got to meet her cool cousins, Nora and Pascal. We miss them up there in Minnesota. Mom drove up yesterday for another fun visit. We’re painting the town red for a few days. I might even get to go on a date with my husband while she watches my little Nibs. Ada’s somehow acquired an unfortunate nickname. Nibs might be here to stay, to early to tell. 

Ada has a new skill, smiling and laughing! It’s amazing to watch, well as her mother it is. It might bore the pants off anyone else. I managed to get some fleeting smiley moments in these photos. 

Much Love, D

Fun Week 6

Mom, Dad and Aunt Donna came for a visit last week we all had a grand time.  I’m enjoying my new and growing mobility with Ada. Cheers, Denise 

Big night out

Last night we hauled Ada out into the 2 degree evening to have dinner with some friends here in Plainfield. As predicted, she slept through the entire event. I wish that I could have.

More pictures from this week here:

One month!

Alrighty… we made it to a month. All is well. We’re settling into a nice pattern now. Here are some new photos from the last week or so:

To Parents

I have new found respect for parents everywhere. Parenting is a hard job. I seem to remember hearing this before, but not really paying attention. But now I understand and am paying attention and this is just the beginning. I suspect that raising children will be the most challenging task of my life, and I really love it so far.

My cousin Becky emailed me the following thread on this subject. It was so inspiring that I just had to post it here.   

Denise
The Invisible Mom

    It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I’m on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I’m thinking, "Can’t you see I’m on the phone?" Obviously not; no one can see if I’m on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all.  I’m invisible.  The invisible Mom.

    Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this?  Can you tie this?  Can you open this?
    Some days I’m not a pair of hands; I’m not even a human being. I’m a clock to ask, "What time is it?"  I’m a satellite guide to answer, "What number is the Disney Channel?" I’m a car to order, "Right around 5:30, please."  I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She’s going, she’s going, she’s gone!
   

   One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England.  Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put togetherso well.  It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my out-of-style dress; it was the only thing I could find
that was clean.  My unwashed hair was pulled up in a hair clip and I was afraid I could actually smell peanut butter in it.  I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, "I brought you this." It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe.  I wasn’t exactly sure why she’d given it to me until I read her inscription: "To Carol , with admiration for the
greatness of what you are building when no one sees."
   
  In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names.  These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.  They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.  The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.  A
legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, "Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof?  No one will ever see it."  And the workman replied, "Because God sees."
   
    I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, "I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you’ve done, no sequin you’ve sewn on, no cupcake you’ve baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can’t see right now what it will become."
   
    At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction.  But it is not a disease that is erasing my life.  It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness.  It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.  I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder.  As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on.
The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.
   
    When I really think about it, I don’t want my daughter to tell the friend she’s bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, "My mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table."  That would mean I’d built a shrine or a monument to myself.  I just want her to want to come home.  And then, if there is anything more to say to her friend, to add, "You’re gonna love it there."
   
    As mothers, we are building great cathedrals.  We cannot be seen if we’re doing it right.  And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.