Juliet: Our first month

Juliet's First Month

My goal is to take a picture of Juliet on the 29th of each month.  I'm not off to a very good start considering that I remembered this months photo session when she was already bathed, swaddled and being rocked to sleep.  But that's how I roll...by the seat of my pants.

I don't know if its because she's my third or possibly my last but I am totally enjoying every moment with this baby.  I don't feel rushed to get her to sleep, bugged when she wakes up early from a nap or roll my eyes when I have to change her diaper for the 3rd time in 20 minutes.  (I'm exaggerating a little bit but just go with me here:)  I'm successfully living in the now for the first (and probably the last) time of life.  I'm usually horrible at that.  And it seems to me that we all feel like that.  Joey wants to hold her as soon as he's walked in the door and changed out of his BDU's.  He holds her while I make dinner and while he eats dinner, and puts her to sleep almost every night.  She's totally spoiled:) 

 And Georgie wants to hold her like 15 times a day.   She gets tired of her in about 5 minutes because she's not aloud to walk around with her, shake her, hold her upside down or force stuffed animals and barbies in her face but then she's ready to go again about 30 minutes later.  

 Isaac seems to have found the perfect big brother balance.  He leaves her alone for the most part because she's usually sleeping or eating but if she's somewhere near his foot path he gives her a kiss and says, "ooooh she's so cute!"  The other day he said to me, "Mom, I don't want her to grow up and get all big and stuff."  "Me neither." I told him.  "She's so little and cute.  Why do we have to grow up?  I want us all to stay little forever."  Did he jump in my head?  I try not to say this outloud too much but the kid totally agrees with me!!  I was shocked to hear him say it.  I tried to give him my vote of confidence about how fun getting bigger is when what I really wished I could do was keep over and cry with him about it!

What We've been up to:

Juliet sleeps through the night about 40% of the time for the last 2 weeks now.  Don't hate me;)  We sleep together, she and I, in the queen size bed that's in her nursery.  I LOVE it.  She sleeps on the go in her car seat whenever we're running errands or at church, something my other two have NEVER done.  It's sooo nice!!  

When she was about 15 days old she had a fever.  We had to take her to the emergency room for a Lumbar Puncture and some blood tests.  We spent 48 hours in the hospital with her and discovered that she just had a UT Infection...nothing too scary!   For a few hours there I just knew that my worst nightmare was coming true and my child was going to die.  I cried off and on for the first few hours of our Emergency Room stay.  But, she's totally fine!!

She spent an entire day alone hanging out with Daddy while I went to Dallas to get Isaac from spending a week with my parents.  Joey was on call so he couldn't leave Altus.  She drank some bottles that I had pumped and Joey enjoyed spending alone time with her.  

I need to make an entire post about the dreamy time Isaac had with Gaga and Papa.  He cried so hard when he left them, as did my parents.  He watched shark week every night with Papa and came back a veritable dictionary of Shark facts.  More on that later.

Happy First month Birthday Juliet!!

Meet Juliet

Meet Juliet

Juliet is actually a really good baby...sleeps a lot, falls asleep fairly easy, nurses well, 

but if you're messin' with her, i.e. bath, diaper change, changing close, she's crying!  And she bleats like a little lamb when she cries.  It's pretty cute;)  So this picture really depicts the Juliet that we're all adoring right now.

And this one too...like all newborns, she sleeps alot!!

A rare, eyes open moment

Sweet Big Brother kisses

Squirmy, out of focus Big Sister kisses;)

All Is Right With The World

I'm feeling contemplative today and would love to get down some of our thoughts and feelings from our first few days with Juliet.

All Is Right With The World:
I don't remember it being instantaneous that the peaceful, serene feelings came to me.  Rather gradually  happiness seemed to envelope me and the words, "all is right with the world" came to my mind to describe how it felt.  I kept repeating them to myself and trying to relish in the perfectness that they described.   All was right with the world.  That is exactly how a new baby feels to me.  Any hard feelings that I'd held deep within the recesses of my brain seemed forgiven.  I loved everyone and everything.  My baby was with me and she was OURS.  It is an almost cleansing experience.  It wasn't that I didn't feel any sadness at all because I did.  But it was sadness born of love.  Though I had wanted a girl I still mourned, slightly, that my baby boy days were over.  I mourned for myself and I mourned for Isaac.  My heart sat slightly on pins and needles as I listened to Joey telling the kids that we'd had a girl.  Isaac had always said he didn't care what we had but I'd wondered if this was a defense mechanism.  Not one bit.  He was ecstatic to meet her, never making one comment about "boys" or regret.  He loved our baby for exactly who she was.  I think that will continue.

As the afternoon progressed and they kept her away from us for tests, a bath, measurements and screenings I began getting antsy to hold her again.   When we finally got our time with her I couldn't nestle close enough.  I had forgotten how soft a baby is, how sweet they smell and how much I would want Juliets tiny little face to bury itself into my neck and breath her shallow, warm breath.  My heart is a defenseless little puddle held by the chubbiness of her cheeks, the poutiness of her lips, the blackness of her eyes and the flatness of her ears smooshed so delicately against the sides of her head.  To kiss her is to soar.  I can't get off this high that she brings.  It is GLORIOUS!!  Dare I say I want to do this 10X more?  Have I forgotten, already, what it is to be pregnant?  ...Some great love that makes you forget that!!  But we have a little piece of heaven in our home.  And that is a great love.

Her Name:
The name Juliet struck me one day about 4 or 5 months ago and while we vascillated and continued to look for others up until her birth day, it seemed to stick.  I had wanted to use the middle name, Nannette because it would have been more after my Mother since she goes by Nann but Juliet doesn't go with that very well so we settled on Nina.  Nina is my Mom's first name, my grandma's first name and the middle name of my favorite cousin, Jillian.  Juliet is a fourth generation Nina.  I've decided that for giggles we'll have to get pictures taken of the four of them at JC Penney or Olan Mills the next time we're in Houston;)  Wouldn't that be hilarious!!  It seemed strange to call her Juliet at first, probably because we'd never called the baby anything when it was still in the womb...we hadn't had time to get used to it.  Plus, its three syllables and a bit sophisticated...to call something squirmy, and squishy that squeaks by a name that Shakespeare wrote with seems a bit strange.  But its settling on her nicely.  I shorten it to Jet sometimes and she's been called Jules by a few as well.  I like them both for nicknames.


Thoughts on "waiting":
Joey and I decided that if we ever had a third child we would wait to find out the sex because, conveniently, we have all the necessaries for a boy or a girl.  We proceeded with that decision when I became pregnant with Juliet.  I am so glad to have done it that way but wanted to point out the one downfall of that decision.  I didn't feel as connected to the baby while I was carrying her.  I couldn't really imagine her, her name, her interactions with our family, how she would dress, the things we might do together etc. because She was an It.  My imaginations of It were more vague, less reliable, and honestly much fewer than I remember with the other two.  But the excitement leading up to the birth, the curiosity, the discussions/guesses and, of course, the delivery made up for it.  I was concerned a bit by my lack of connection but about two days before she was actually born, it came.  I became MUCH less concerned with "un-pregnanting" myself and obsessed with anticipation of having a Baby again...my baby!  My Mom cut the chord and when Juliet was placed on my chest my heart yearned for my second little girl, instantly.  Once again, heaven entered into the picture.  It was as if heaven came out of my womb;)  (how's that for melo-dramatic!!)  I wanted to kiss and squeeze her but refrained from disscusting the nursing staff by putting my lips all over her adorable cheesy, bloody, grey/blue body.  I let them wipe her down a bit and began planting the kisses on her head and cheeks.  All my MOm, Joey and I could do was smile, laugh, kiss her and make observations about her looks.  None of us could stop smiling.


The kids came for a visit:
The thing I noticed the most when the kids walked in was that the peace was with them too.  They had sincere, calm, pleasant smiles.  Not over excited, obnoxious ones.  They too wanted to be quiet, hold her, look at her, reflect.  Especially Isaac.  "Don't you just love her, Isaac?  Do you feel that in your heart?" He said yes and I could tell he meant it.  They brought her some gifts, a "Thank Heaven For Little Girls" jumper to be brought home in and a soft pink pig that makes oinking sounds when you squeeze its sides. They wanted their pictures taken with her and kept their soft smiles all the while.  They didn't want to leave us and kept asking when we were coming home.  They were going to miss us, they said.  Isaac called us the next day about noon-ish and said, "When are you coming home?  You said you'd be home after lunch and we ate lunch like 5 minutes ago!!"  So cute!  We got home around 1:30pm.  He saw us drive up and must have been waiting at the window.  Georgie "checks" on Juliet constantly.  Every morning since we've been home she comes to my bed as soon as she wakes up to "check" on her and lay down with her.  So sweet.

Joey said to me the other night as she slept on his chest, "I just love her, I'm so glad we had her.  I'm smitten."  And that about sums up how we all feel.  Thank heaven for little girls;)  Thank heaven for Juliet!

Juliet Nina Merback

She is here!  July 29, 2010 at 12:43 pm.  7 lbs 10 oz, 20 in.  

Ashley and Juliet are both doing very well.  Things could not have gone more smoothly.  They should be home tomorrow, so more to come shortly.

Our Song..

My Mom and I always had a song.  "You Are My Sunshine" were her pet words for me and we sang it together all the time.  Everytime I hear it I think of her.  It's a tradition between us that I've always appreciated.  When Isaac was born, I began singing it with him.  I sang it with Georgie at first as well but spent a couple of years on the lookout (pretty passively, I'll admit) for another song that would be unique between she and I.  Because Georgie is a cheerful, cutsie little dreamer this one reminded me immensely of her when I first heard it.  

"Cuppycake"

You're my Honeybunch, Sugarplum

Pumpy-umpy-umpkin, You're my Sweetie PieYou're my Cuppycake, GumdropSnoogums-Boogums, You're the Apple of my EyeAnd I love you so and I want you to knowThat I'll always be right hereAnd I love to sing sweet songs to youBecause you are so dear




Up until today, "You Are My Sunshine" seemed perfect for Isaac and I.  But when I listened to "The Luckiest" by Ben Folds again this morning I changed my mind (it's been a while).  The first verse and chorus seemed so appropriate for my thoughts of him and of being his mother.  It is a love song but...we love each other, right?  And the first verse could definitely be about any kind of love;)  We listened to it together this evening and he agreed...this is our song;)

"The Luckiest"

I don't get many things right the first time

In fact, I am told that a lot

Now I know all the wrong turns, the stumbles and falls

Brought me here

And where was I before the day

That I first saw your lovely face?

Now I see it everyday

And I know

That I am

I am

I am

The luckiest

I think I'll start this new baby off with "You Are My Sunshine", just like I did with Gigi and Isaac.  It seems to have become the tradition;)  As we get to know each other a little better each day or each year, I'm sure I'll stumble upon some musician with the perfect words and melody for US.  I can't wait;)  For now I'll just be here with my Cuppycake, waiting for my Sunshine, reminding myself that I am "The Luckiest".  Aren't I clever;)

Summer Crafting Fun

If your kids are crafters and you haven't already checked out:

Do it...NOW;) 

The kids and I are working our way through the age appropriate ones on this list.  We began our trek when we got home from Utah so we haven't made it very far yet. The craft we did today was such a hit that I had to blog about it.

Marshmallow Shooters! 

 All four of us (Isaacs friend, Brett, was over) were practically on the floor laughing

 at the stuff that was going on around here.  

The craft was pretty easy to do.  We bought the PVC pipe and connectors this morning, came home and I cut them with a handsaw in under 30 minutes (I won't tell you about all the mosquitos that I slapped while sawing...ewww  And did you know that hand sawing requires some core muscles...I don't have any!!  Theres' a baby squenched in the middle of them.)  The kids helped me sand the ends, we soaked them in soapy water for a bit, let them dry and then assembled them.  The kids were able to put them together almost entirely on their own.  After this, we busted out the mini-mallows and began firing.  

Georgie came up with the grand idea of shooting multiple marshmallows at the same time.   A machine gun if you will!!

As you can see from this pictures background there are no marshmallows scattered about my floor as one might expect.  The kids were quite diligent about eating up after themselves...ha!  And now I have three half eaten grilled cheeses strewn about my lunch table.  Marshmallows for lunch anyone!!

Introducing Puddles

Introducing Puddles

Our first Family Pet

Meet *Puddles, our new Hermit Crab

*Picture is not an actual representation of OUR pet;)

On Saturday I came home from the Gym to find Isaac and Georgie ecstatic about a pet FLY??! they had caught and built a Lego house for.  Something was wrong with its wings.  A few minutes later the fly was miraculously healed and disappeared.  They were quite distraught about it.  

"We finally had a pet, Mom.  Where will we find another one?"  almost in tears.  I suggested they check their piggy bank and see if they had enough money to buy a fish.  They did...why the heck not!  How much work could a fish be?  Plus, I figured a low maintenance pet could be a good experiment in resposiblitiy. (..and possibly a good first lesson on death:}  Lets hope not;0)   The following MOnday, after doing a little research about low maintenance house pets we headed to the pet store.  We had fish and hermit crabs on the brain.  My vote was for the crab because it seemed a little more "scientific" in its lifestyle. 

Once the kids compared the crabs to the fish they too wanted the Hermit Crab...

"Please MOmmy!!"

"Yes??  YAY!!!"

So, alas, we are pet owners!  Who knew that kids could get excited about a crab?  But I have to constantly be telling then to leave poor puddles alone!  After all, he is a hermit!!

Welcome to the Family, Puddles!