Happy 1 week birthday!

In keeping with tradition, those of us old enough to chew our food enjoyed cupcakes for Hyrum's one week birthday last Friday.

Evelyn enjoyed it much more this time around, I think.

We also got hot dogs. Just because we like hot dogs.

A few pictures from the last week . . .

Hyrum with his lovey; hopefully these two will eventually become good friends.

These two are already on their way to being good friends.

13 days to go!

We met with movers this morning and are set to move June 7, which will put us at 7 months, 3 days in this apartment we thought we'd been in for 2 months. Or approximately the length of a pregnancy from mid-first trimester to this . . .

On a separate note, never go into labor and delivery even slightly dehydrated if you're planning on having an epidural. Getting the necessary pre-epidural IV can be a real pain, literally. I was a "hard stick." This basically means that by the time I was discharged, I had been stuck six times:

1. blood draw in triage before they knew they were admitting me (right elbow)
2. unsuccessful attempt to insert IV by nurse 1 (right forearm)
3. unsuccessful attempt to insert IV by nurse 2 (left forearm)
4. unsuccessful attempt to insert IV by anesthesiologist (also left forearm)
5. actual IV (right hand)
6. blood draw to test for anemia (left elbow)

Seriously, learn from my mistake. Drink a lot of water right before you go in. And if you happen to sit in triage for 7+ hours before eventually being admitted and induced, keep on chugging.

(Photos courtesy of Kathryn)

First meeting

Personally, I almost never watch videos of other people's kids on their blogs, but I've been told our parents enjoy the occassional video of E (+ H), even if it's some what long.



John took this in the hospital when we first brought him in to meet her.

Suriviving so far

Although I think my son's masculinity was initially offended when I made him go home in a pink carseat. But then he liked it so much that we're thinking of asking if we can keep it for another week or two until we move for naps. After all, real men can make pink work.

Introducing

Baby Hyrum (aka The Brother)

Middle name TBD

May 21, 2010

6 pounds, 2 ounces

19 1/2 inches

Handsome.

Of course.

City Baby

Sunday, I was at a goodbye party for a friend, talking with another city mom who also grew up far away from the land of subways and taxicabs. "I'm from North Carolina," she said. "Some days, it seems so strange that all this is normal to him. But he's a city kid. He's really growing up here."

I feel the same way. It stuns me a little sometimes that I ended up here, that this is home to me. I'm at about 8 years in the city. I have lived here longer than I've lived anywhere else. Dated my husband here. Got married here (well, technically in Nauvoo, but while we were both living here). Bought my first home (and my second, soon to be home) here. Had a baby (soon to be two) here. But still, I feel like my daughter is a "native" in a strange way I will never achieve.

As she grows older, the feeling only strengthens. You may remember that a few months ago, I jumped my first turnstile? Well, turns out my turnstile jumping days are over almost as quickly as they began. A week or two ago, Evelyn and I were going into a station, and I swiped and pushed the turnstile without realizing that the booth was unoccupied, and therefore, I had no one to let me in through the service door. While I was pondering the mechanics of trying to jump a turnstile at 35.5 weeks pregnant, Evelyn took the initiative, ran under and opened the door for me. "I helped Mommy open the service!"

She can climb four flights of stairs without resting.

She knows which trains are which. Twice now, John and I have accidentally gotten on a 3 train instead of a 1 train coming home from the Lincoln Square building on a Sunday. Both times, Evelyn told us we were on the 3 train in time for us to transfer back to the 1 and save ourselves a long walk through a sketchy neighborhood. She often calls out a heartfelt goodbye to the A train as we ride up in the elevator. "Where is the A train going?" I ask. "Uptown," she replies. Duh, Mom.

And today, she happily sat and watched Shirley Temple in her stroller until the battery died while I met various workers at the new apartment and ran errands in the rain. Who needs a car with a fancy built-in DVD player anyway? All we need is a better battery.

How is this even legal?

Dear NYC Department of Environmental Protection,

Is it really necessary to dig up the street in front of my apartment every night and then fill it back in every morning? If no, please cease and desist.

If yes, is it absolutely essential to leave the siren-like yellow flashing lights going all night on your loud/heavy machinery located less than 20 feet from my bed? If no, please turn the lights off.

If yes, must you then jackhammar incessantly between the hours of midnight and 2 a.m. mere feet from where I'm trying to sleep? If no, please never do it again.

If yes, please understand when one of these days I snap from lack of sleep, storm out of the building, and throw myself into the middle of your work area in order to make the insanity stop.

Thanks very much,

The 37-weeks pregnant woman just inside the nearest window to your work site

Run of good luck

Yesterday, I got a new apartment and new shoes. Technically, I bought the apartment and the shoes last week, but possession of these items was delivered to me only yesterday.

I have included a picture of the shoes and not the apartment because pictures showing the current condition of the apartment won't appropriately convey the fact that this is GOOD news. It's a bit of a mess.

More good news? I don't have to fix the mess myself. Our contractor brought guys in and began "Renovations: Phase I" this morning. As Evelyn put it, "Those mans are goin' to fix the paint on our walls; isn't that nice? And then it will be all clean!" Some things will have to wait until after we move in, and some things will have to wait another couple of years after that, but the stuff that needs to get done now is underway while I do nothing other than write checks and post to my blog. I love it!

Look how happy we are! Not even annoying errands---including a trip to the bank

and my 6th call to our health FSA administrator about a fax I've now sent 5 times---can drag us down! Although excessive use of exclamation points in this points might make us feel foolish when we read it later.

Why I haven't bought an expensive camera, part 2

1. My friends are talented, and I'm not, so their pictures would turn out better anyway.

(35+ weeks)

(Courtesy of Kathryn)

2. Why take high quality pictures when you can instead capture each day's precious moments in such fine form on a Blackberry?

(Just kidding about #2.)

Note to self: Next time, have talented friends take pictures with their expensive cameras while your makeup is still fresh and save the BB pictures for the end of a long, sweaty day.