Stylin'

What happens when Mommy does your hair after your first bath:

What happens when Daddy does your hair after your first bath:

Our newest addition

is finally here! Do you want the story? It begins on a dark and stormy night. You laugh, but it's true. My water broke at 2:15 am in the middle of thunder and lightning and pouring rain. A house on the way to the hospital was hit by lightning and went up in flames and even the hospital was hit. We arrived to "code red" status and fire alarms. But no worries. Labor and delivery was nice and peaceful.

Skipping now to the necessry information and the best part--the pictures. Our new little guy

made his entrance promptly on his due date, July 21, at 12:45pm. He weighed 8 lbs, 8 oz and measured 21 1/2 inches.

Meeting baby brother

Coming home

July Poem of the Month: "The Ninth Month"

Guess what the poem of the month is about this time?! It's a fitting end to my first poem of the month about this pregnancy. I love this poem because as uncomfortable as I am right now, there really is nothing like the experience of "being a duplex," of feeling the "tapping friendly on the wall," and of the "sweet proximity." And I am counting on the fact, as my children grow up and gradually away, that these bonds of love and labor will reach beyond a block, a mile, a hemisphere.

"The Ninth Month"

by Carol Lyn Pearson

Being a duplex,
I have been happy, my dear,
To loan you half the house.
Rent-free and furnished
as best I could.

You have been a good
Tenant, all in all,
Quiet, yet comfortably there.
Tapping friendly on the wall.

But I hear
You have outgrown the place
And are packing up to move.
Well, I will miss
The sweet proximity.
But we will keep in touch.
There are bonds, my dear,
That reach beyond a block,
Or a mile, or a hemisphere,
Born of much love and labor.

I approve the move,
And gladly turn from landlady
To neighbor.

Dear Baby Boy,

We need to have a little chat. Here I am, a week away from your due date. Note my stern face. (You should be on the lookout for that in the future.)

For contrast, here is a picture of me just before your big sister was born at a nice 7 lbs 15 oz. Notice the smile. It's probably because I was not carrying a massive amount of weight around on my front. (You should know that it's not very comfortable.)

Let's just say I'm getting a little concerned. We first started putting in our official requests for you about 2 1/2 years ago. I had hoped the delay in actually getting you was due to a backorder of healthy, reasonably sized, cute, calm, non-colicy, sleeping-through-the-night babies. That's not too much to ask, right? Again, to me, you seem to be growing beyond the "reasonably sized" option, which makes me concerned about the possibility of the others as well. So, you have a week (more or less--hopefully not too much on the "more" side). Please do not grow much bigger.

Thank you,

Your loving mother

You aren't really free until . . .

you can jump on the couch. So says Sweetie in regards to the 4th of July. So, she will celebrate the holiday but please keep in mind that she is not really free.

Despite the sad, oppressed state that Sweetie finds herself in, we did manage to celebrate the 4th of July. I am sad to report that I failed to play Neil Diamond's "Coming to America" for my children. Oh well, there's always next year. And hopefully next year won't find us in the firework-forbidden, sparkler-forbidden, heat-ridden desert for the 4th. Because it's just not very fun to watch fireworks when you yourself feel as though you might catch fire just from sitting outside.

But we did our best this year and it was actually a really good 4th. We ate our share of pancakes at the ward breakfast, we swam, we ate our share of Scooby Snacks (as the pic of Mister below attests), we swam, we ate our share of burgers and steak, we swam. And we made a few festive hats, we tried to make some festive homemade suckers (but our experimental flavoring didn't go over so well, as you can see in the pic below), and we set off a few fireworks that were left over from last year.

1. holidays with family, 2. freedom and opportunities, 3. date night to see Wicked with J