Twins

So far, Eliza is pretty much an exact replica of Baby Liam. She’s a screaming, dark-eyed mouth-breather, just like her brother. And just like her brother, she woke up with her eye gunked shut on day 9. Matching blocked tear ducts…how sweet.

Here they are with their matching angry faces:




And here they are with their matching pacifier faces:

Eliza Jayne

Here she is!


Baby Eliza was born yesterday at 4:01 p.m. She weighed 7 lbs. 1 oz. and she was 18 1/2 inches long. She came out screaming her head off and didn't stop for a full 3 minutes at least. Also, she had her umbilical chord wrapped around her neck, so I take back all of that "stubborn" stuff I said about her not turning during yesterday's procedure.

Hoping I'm Tough Enough

I’m two days from my due date and I found out yesterday that my baby is breech. Surprise! So now I’m on my way to the hospital for a potential baby-flipping procedure. If it works, I’ll be home later this afternoon, still pregnant. If it doesn’t work, I’ll have a c-section this afternoon.

Wish me luck!

UPDATE: My fetus is totally stubborn, so the c-section is scheduled for 3:00 today. Yikes!

The Bartin Family

I watched Kat’s two oldest kids yesterday afternoon while she and her Ben went to one of those free lunches where they try to sell you something. It was really fun for me, because they entertained each other and Liam, so I pretty much had the afternoon off.

Maggie is 3 ½ going on 25, so we had some great conversations about shoes, hairstyles, and her future. My favorite thing she said was that when she grew up, she was going to be a mom. I asked her how many kids she was going to have, and she answered, “I’ll have a baby named Martin; he’ll have an older sister named Lartin and a brother named Artin; and I’ll have a husband named Cartin.”

What a dream. I can’t wait until she meets that Cartin fellow and convinces him to marry her and write a poem out of their children’s names.

Spray 'N Wash

I can’t believe that I’m 29 years old and up until yesterday, I had never used Spray 'N Wash. I recently heard that it’s good at getting baby poop out of clothes, so I bought some over the weekend.

As it turns out, that stuff is pretty miraculous. It took chocolate out of my white shirt yesterday and mascara out of my carpet today. I can’t wait to see what spills tomorrow brings, just so I can test out the Spray 'N Wash.

Nursery Projects, Part III

My last nursery project started with this frame from Ikea. I painted it white, but couldn’t figure out what to put in it. Then, while it was disassembled and lying on the floor, I accidentally stepped on the glass and broke it. Luckily, Schmath was there to suggest a memo board. Works for me.


Now I think the nursery is finished. Won’t it be cool if my baby ends up being a boy instead of a girl, and I bring him home to this?

Nursery Projects, Part II

Have you tried shopping for pink curtains lately? They’re just not that easy to find. So instead I bought a king sized flat sheet from Ikea and a giant blackout drapery liner, cut them both in half, and sewed them together.


Next I bought this laundry hamper from Babies R Us:


But the pink didn’t match right, so I got some fabric and made my own version:


Then I went to JoAnn’s on Monday, since they were having a big President’s Day sale, and found some scrapbooking paper, photo box lids, paper maché letters, and ribbon, and got all crafty. Ben came home just as I was finishing up and said, "So I guess you decided on a name?"

Nursery Projects, Part I

Since we’re less than 5 weeks away from my due date, I thought it might be time to start getting the nursery ready.

So first I sold Liam’s crib and bedding for $250 on Craigslist and bought this crib and this bedding for a total of $323.


Then I sold Liam’s dresser/changing table for $40, bought this one off KSL for $30:


And turned it into this:


Then I sold Liam’s rocking chair for $75, bought this one for $35:


And turned it into this:


So far I’ve spent a total of $23 (plus paint and fabric, but who counts paint and fabric?). Now I just need the weather to warm up so I can finish painting my last few projects. Pretty pleeeeease, weather?

Ballerinos

While we were in Denver dropping Liam off last week, my sister-in-law, Monica, gave me a whole bunch of baby girl clothes, including tights in every size imaginable. Naturally, I had to try the tights on our boys to see how cute they’re going to look on my baby girl.


Liam thought they were pretty neat. As I was putting them on him, he said, “These are the kind of pants that Brenda wears to church.” And everybody knows that Brenda is really cool.

Still Jealous 5 Days Later

Look what you get to do in the Bahamas if you're not pregnant: