Today

There's no denying that these past few days have been rough. I have been hormonal and exhausted and have felt buried under the amount of housework that I not only have to do now, but with panicked thoughts of how in the world I will do it when I go back to work on September 1. I know that it's much too early to be thinking about then, which my brilliant and beautiful best friend reminded me will be so much different than now, but still... the thought of it makes me want to lay down with a cold cloth on my forehead and take a nap.

Like most of the country, we have been hot in Lexington. Hot and humid and sticky and ugly and I haven't been able to get out like I want to, especially with Miller. As awful as it was being so pregnant with Sophie through the month of August, walks with her through the crisp autumn air was a delight.

Today, it was in the upper 70's/low 80's with very little humidity. It was pure bliss and we all took full advantage.

I find great release in pulling weeds (oh, poke weed! The bane of my existence!) and was able to weed my entire flower bed without suffering the aches and pains of pregnancy. Take THAT sciatic nerve! Getting into it was so cathartic after these days of feeling so funky.

While I weeded, Roy installed new gutters on the back of the house - just one of the many house renovation projects going on at the moment - and Miller held a blanket down like he'd been doing it his whole life.

That there is the pile of weeds I raked up, not including the tree-like pokeberry that already had been put in the Lenny.

And here's my little man, over 1 month old. We're still eagerly awaiting his first smile. He has such a serious look about him, like he's already trying to figure out some mathematical equation that I will never understand.


Wendy had a job today too, her favorite job, standing guard over the child(ren).As a happy aside, I have been asking for a clothesline for quite some time, but I'm not sure Roy ever believed just how badly I wanted one. Our yard is sooo small and we needed one that we could easily put up and take down.

Finally.
It really is the little things.

three weeks

Our Miller is 3 weeks old today. It all at once feels like yesterday and forever ago. As of Tuesday he has gained over 2 pounds, a confirmation to my perception that he is always eating. He can hold his head up surprisingly well and loves to look around with a wide-eyed intensity - at least during those still brief awake periods. He doesn't cry very much and we are starting to hear the occasional little ooh, which makes me even more excited for the weeks and months to come.

It's amazing to me how our kids personalities are apparent so quickly after birth. We saw in Sophie her long attention span, the old soul looking out of her big brown eyes, and her intensity of love and affection. At almost 4 she will break into any conversation to tell someone she loves them and will repeatedly leave her seat at dinner to kiss me or Roy.

In Miller I see a fierce streak of independence. He loves to be held and toted around in the carrier, but he needs his time alone. Tonight I was struggling to get him down. I wasn't very careful about my diet today, tempted by all the fresh produce at the farmer's market (and the chocolate ice cream cake at my nephew's 7th birthday party). I'm guessing my milk wasn't quite to his liking this evening.

Finally, after trying pretty much everything I could think of, I swaddled him and laid him down in the cosleeper. Lo and behold, the kid just wanted to be left alone. I think we can all relate. Already at 3 weeks, this boy's personality is shining through. I can't wait to see what else is in store.

around here

I regularly lose track of what day it is.

I swept the floor while listening to a book on tape. This was one of the best parts of my week.

Someone asked me what my schedule was these days. Schedule? Right.

Last night I got about 3 1/2 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Now THAT is a luxury.

Sophie continues to go to preschool every day so we can get to know the newest member of our family and when I pick her up, the first words out of her mouth are, "where's Miller?" But we need the time - I need the time - to be still, to enjoy the newness of him, to marvel at you moms who did this with little ones at home, while behind on sleep and chores and sanity.

But life continues, regardless of whether I know what day it is and whether I get another load of laundry done and despite the lack of sleep.

Ah yes, this beautiful life goes on.

someone else's birthday and lots of pictures

Mom stayed an extra week after the rest of the crew left, and other things happened too - namely mom's BIRTHDAY which we celebrated at the Ginkgo Tree (again!) and with a simple birthday dinner cooked by my wonderful husband. (despite the picture, it was more than just Derby Pie and Tres Leche cake)

And of course, there were lots, and lots, and lots of pictures.

The Fam

In the days leading up to Miller's arrival, we had a lot of welcome activity. My family was in town for an ISWNE newspaper convention in Richmond that began Tuesday and we were fortunate to spend some days with my brother's family leading up to it.

The unseasonably hot temperatures lent themselves to some serious playtime in the fountains in downtown Lexington - but the girls needed Uncle Jeremy to get the ball rolling.

When we got caught in a sudden downpour, Jeremy and I ran for cover while the girls continued their play time in mother nature's sprinkler.


Mom and dad got in on Tuesday, so we went to Mellow Mushroom for some easy and laid back catching up.

I was also dying to take the fam to The Ginkgo Tree at Ashland: the Henry Clay Estate, so we went for lunch Friday and took in the gardens.

Miller arrived just in time to see Jeremy's family leave for home, but not before appearing in the first of many family pictures - even if it was in the hospital.

Amazing

how this:

becomes this:

six twenty six twenty ten: the first in a series

I've spent a lot of time in the past 3 1/2 years thinking about the morning Sophie was born. The process was intense, gratifying, and the 8 hour delivery was, in my mind, about as perfect as it could get. I was prepared, with my second birth experience, to have to digest the labor; meditate on it and its detail. I expected it to go fast - 3 to 4 hours - and was mentally prepared to deal with the chain of events that would take me to the hospital.

Call my mother in law to be here with Sophie
Call my mom to meet me at the hospital
breathe...
breathe...
breathe...

*****

At 2:30am, Saturday, June 26, I woke up angry. I had had a dream in which I went into labor and when I awoke with not a labor pain, not a sign in the world that I was going to have this baby 2 days after his due date, on the full moon in which I had been SURE was going to spawn his birth, I was upset. As a general rule, my hunches are wrong and I ignore them. But I had a hunch. Sophie was born on the full moon and I thought surely the full moon would once again bring on my baby's birth day. I was angry at myself for listening to this hunch.

Then, 30 minutes later, at 3am, I had a contraction and my water broke.

Elated, I went into the front room to look out the window and bask in the moon's glow and thank her for her power. I decided to wait until my second contraction to wake up Roy and, ten minutes later, I patted him on the shoulder and told him he needed to get up.

Two minutes later, I had another contraction.

One minute later, another.

After a few minutes of this, I panted "Call your mom" and Roy was on the phone, making the planned calls. After another few minutes when I was standing in the dining room, panting and clearly wanting/needing to push, we called our wonderful neighbor (who was also on standby) to come wait for Roy's mom.

We drove, Roy being exceedingly patient, to the hospital. This was at approximately 3:45am.

Roy ran into the ER and said, "My wife is in labor, I need a wheelchair" and the woman, who he said acted as though she hears this every day and was in no big hurry, came to my aid. She saw me, contracting and leaning against the brick wall and I said, "This baby is coming NOW". Her eyes widened and she ran back inside to get help.

We were escorted rapidly to labor and delivery, who had been notified of my arrival, and I found my way onto a table where I heard, "fully dilated, fully effaced, plus 3". The OB said, "you can push anytime" and with that - one hearty push - Miller James Cornett entered the world.

2 days after my due date.
1 hour and 8 minutes after my first contraction.
20 minutes after leaving the house.
8 minutes after entering the ER.
6 minutes after entering labor and delivery.


We are, to state the obvious, the understated, the words-cannot-describe emotion... we are so glad he's here.