"You are My Sunshine"

Our approach to bedtime has changed again with the addition of Nola. Most nights I read stories to Finn on the couch and then while I get Nola ready for bed Chris finishes off the rest making sure Finn gets his teeth brushed and then tucks him into bed with a song, a Bob Book and often a few shared giggles.

The other night I overheard a moment that made me smile and still does as I think about it again. Finn was cranking his music player which plays the tune "You are My Sunshine". He was varying the speeds and they were both making a game of singing away fast then slow, getting such a kick out of it. Those little moments are so special (for them - and me when I'm fortunate enough to catch a small "glimpse").

June Days

We are enjoying our summer! The heat has definitely set in with temperatures stepping up to the mid-nineties but we've managed to find our escapes - whether it is spending the hottest part of the day playing indoors, running through water outside or escaping into the nearby mountains.....

Nola is smiling more all the time and has begun to laugh/coo more frequently. She had her two month appointment last Friday. Three immunization shots in the thighs left her wailing and a bit out of sorts for several days - thankfully that has passed and she is back to her calm, sweet self. Her growth seems to be starting off like Finn's, and he definitely has his Dad's build. It will be interesting to see if she continues to follow Finn's growth tradjectory or ends up more petite in stature like her mom. For now she is long and lean: 25th percentile for weight (9.94lbs), 50th percentile for height (22.5) inches and 75th percentile for head circumference. Only time will tell....

Finn is my great helper. He is ever enthusiastic about rushing out the door in the morning to see if the chickens have laid any eggs then reports to Daddy when he gets home on whether it was a "two egg" or a "three egg day". Finn eagerly takes kitchen scraps out and makes great effort to ensure the hens receive equitable shares. Today we gave them a treat of mozzarella cheese. One of the girls has been laying thinner eggs and Finn wanted to make sure she got her calcium so he tore the cheese into small bites and strategically dispersed it to their anxious beaks.

We are working hard to play catch-up after such a late start to gardening this year. Chris assembled a great sprikler system for the expanded garden bed this weekend. With the regular watering (and the warmer temperatures) perhaps things will start taking off and our seedlings will not frizzle in the sun as soon as they pop out of the soil. Finn wanted to participate in putting the sprinklers together and testing them out. The past few days he has been out there next to me poking beet seeds into the dirt and covering them over so they can germinate, checking on how many potato plants have poked out of the ground, looking in awe at the purple sweet potato sprout just emerging, grabbing the trowel to transplant a pathetic eggplant so it won't be crowded out by the potato. It is so fun to hear him say, "I like feeling like a farmer"!

Rapidly rising summer temperatures and copious quantities of snow melting out of the Wasatch range have the local rivers raging. Finn has always loved the outdoors as much as we do and Chris knew that the striking power and velocity of a roiling river escaping its banks and crashing over rocks/trees was something that would completely enthrall Finn. He was absolutely right. Sunday we headed up Big Cottonwood canyon and hit the Mill B South trail (toward Lake Blanch) for our first hike with Nola and really the first hike where Finn had to do all his own footwork instead of being in a backpack. He did absolutely amazing, hiking over 3 miles, all-the-while his enthusiasm for everything around him overflowing infectiously. We didn't make it to Lake Blanch (we never expected to) or even to that magical spot just ahead that would provide us one last "good view" or even find "a shady, private place, with a rock to sit on, aspens, ripe strawberries and a lake to nurse Nola beside" but we enjoyed all we saw and our time together as a family. I can't wait to get out for our next hike!

June

This has been a crazy month:

• Nola Mae has continued to grow and become more awake and expressive, and we're all settling into our family of four (er, five...sorry Hudson). It is amazing how time flies with the second and how there are days that I feel like I barely get to hold her. The real challenge has been trying to tackle house/yard projects (see bullet #2)...things like dog-hair management tend to spiral out of control. Erika has been amazing in that regard: losing one job (teaching), but picking up three: Finn, Nola, and part-time work for a science museum. But, we're happy...especially with how calm she is (unless she's hungry!).
• We were saddened to have our good friends from across the fence move to Portland. We sadly deconstructed the gate between our yards, but happily moved the fence - acquiring some of their expansive back yard. Many hours went into moving the fence (thanks Chip!), but we couldn't be happier with our new bigger yard and are grateful to them for making it happen.
• With the extra land, we accelerated our plans to add three new additions to our family: 3 chickens in a hurricane-proof coop. Our amazing neighbors helped build it (including supplying a 1/4" sheet of aluminum for the roof!) and after just a week or so, we took on our moving neighbor's chickens. They're psyched about their new digs, and after a brief period of contemplation and discussion, have been rewarding us with three eggs a day.
• Last, but not at all least, Finn turned 4! The weeks or so building up to his birthday were amazing: he was thrilled to be turning four and happy to no longer have to tell people he was three and three-quarters. The weather held and we celebrated outside with a pool and a bunch of his friends. He is one amazing kid - who continues to surprise and amaze us with his creativity, questions (though exhausting at times!), comprehension of complex things (e.g., photography, neighbors moving and us taking their chickens...), his calmness around and love for Nola, and appetite for learning (officially read his first word a few weeks ago).

Ok, the photos:

Sweet Nola Mae...sorry if we leave you in this seat a lot.

June blooms.

The upper deck....the new 19' added to our yard, which we're "turning into a farm" according to our upset neighbor (actually, he's right)

Our new garden space. Saying "our" as opposed to "E's" is a big step for me...finally taking part ownership of the garden. Carrots, potatoes, lettuce, squash should be "harvestable" come November.

The coop. At three organic eggs a day, our break-even point is mid June of next year in case you were wondering.

Sir Pecksalot...our most consistent layer (nickname Miss Laysalot).

Pool party! Total craziness.

Finn on his 4th.

Cake pops! These were a huge hit with kids and adults alike.

Blowing out the lighter (too windy for the candles).

Nola taking it all in with mom.

The whole crew of moms and kids (minus Ann/Anya, Renae/Kaya and a few others).

Sun Sun Sun Here It Comes

OK, we're a few weeks behind, but this is too priceless to not share. Check out Finn jammin' on his last day of preschool. Watch as much as you can bear, but at least wait for the pan right and then back left...cracks me up every time.

Chris

School's out for the Summer

Summer is officially here. Finn had his last day of pre-school, complete with a grand finale class performance. They sang "Here Comes the Sun" and "Down By the Bay" with fun props and "moves". I hope we can once again figure out how to post video clips because it was priceless to watch Finn strum his guitar and wiggle to the beat.

His teachers sent home a packet of his collective works from the year along with a packet of photos. I can't believe how much he has grown (physically, mentally and emotionally) over the school year. His handwriting continues to improve, he is starting to visually recognize numbers and is showing not only an interest but a striking adeptness for learning to read. I don't think Finn fully grasps what summer means yet. He is excited to be home every day but I am sure he will miss seeing his friends and teachers.

Nola continues to grow...... she weighed in at 9lbs 3oz at my 6 week postpartum exam.

5 Weeks

We've been meaning to post some photos and thoughts on how a month has flown by, and here we are already at 5 weeks. Nola is doing great and seems to be growing incredibly fast (she had gained a pound at 2 weeks!). Right now she seems pretty entertained by food (nursing), sleeping, looking at your forehead and intently tracking your movements, moving her head all around, and wildly swatting and talking at her toys (definitely a DuRoss).

Here are some photos from last weekend when she was actually a month old.

And of course hard to believe this guy is ALMOST four

(three and three-quarters he likes to say)

Mother's Day

Weeks Two to Three

Change is slow, or not as readily apparent, when you are with a newborn every day, staring into their eyes and marveling at the wondrous life in your arms. I'm sure that watching growth through our intermittent photo postings the changes are much more drastic.

Friday we went to Nola's 2 week appointment (at 3 weeks). She weighed in at 8lbs 3oz and measured 21 inches. Our little girl is indeed growing. Looking back at the photos or reflecting upon how tiny she was, dwarfed in her car seat, at her two day pediatrician appointment I see the changes in size, scale, expressions, alertness, interest and increasing strength.

Transition from Three to Four

.........and Hudson makes Five.......

To my, perhaps limited, knowledge there is no illustrious guide documenting how to transition from life with one child to two; no definitive text describing how to prepare for the changes as parents or how to prepare the first child for their new role of older sibling while ensuring continued growth as an individual. For now I will put my faith in the same maternal and paternal instincts that got us through the first time and keep my ears out for any good advice out there. We'll surely make some great discoveries in both areas of success and things to learn from. Who knows, maybe I'll even document them and pass them on or maybe I'll just get caught up in experiencing the joys of every new day.

Photos of Birth and First Few Days

Sorry, but I have to redirect you. I've been unsuccessful in uploading photos to this blog, please check out my Picasa Web Albums for a whole mess of photos - from birth to today!

Also, check out Facebook (shouldn't need an account) for more photos:

Pictures of Nola
Pictures of Finn and others enjoying the Salt Lake Spring

Week One

Here we are at the one week mark. Nola continues to sleep away much of the day and the night, awaking to nurse every 2-3 hours now instead of the every 5 hours during her first few days. She definitely is a good eater.

We've run the range of good nights to long nights but as a whole she is a very calm, content baby. She squeaks, coos and sometimes grunts but doesn't cry much. Being the scientist I know that correlation does not always mean causation but the two most difficult nights spicy dinners - of course another discounting factor is that this is two nights out of a grand total of 7 nights so not exactly a significantly sound sample size/data set.

Our first round of help has come and gone. Finn reveled in the time with Grandma and Grandpa and we were so thankful for all the help with shopping, laundry, cooking, cleaning, baby holding, entertaining, school shuttles.

Life at home has been eventful yet pretty sedentary. A trip to the ER the day after we returned home from the hospital confirmed a blood clot in my left calf (thankfully superficial and needing nothing more than self-monitoring, heat, elevation and ibuprofen). Since I was dizzy upon arrival the doctor ordered a series of tests involving poking and prodding and even more waiting (blood draws, EKG, vitals, IV). The test results concluded my hematocrit/hemoglobin levels were extremely low (likely explains why I blacked-out the first time I got out of bed post delivery). So per ER doctor and midwife orders I have been taking it easy, seldom leaving the couch. Chris has been impressive taking on 98% of the diapers changes, swaddling, bedtime routine with Finn, playing with Finn, refilling my water, serving snacks/lunches/dinners couch-side and keeping the household running smoothly inside and out - all that and still managing to squeeze in a little more work on getting the basement closer to ready to move our bedroom into. Did I say impressive yet?

Nola's First Day

We're finally home with Nola! But before I get into how great it is to be in our own (very clean - thanks Donna, Matt, & Finn!) home, let me lay out the back story.

E and I wondered if Nola and I would be sharing a birthday, but that didn't come to pass. Instead, after mild to moderate contractions that evening (13th), E woke at ~2 am with fairly strong contractions. With the distant memory of E's 18-hour labor with Finn, we tried not to get too excited...timing contractions, packing, talking, etc. Pretty much ignoring our midwife's recommendation to not hang around the house too long, since labor with the second has a way of progressing more quickly compared to with the first. But over about 30 minutes E progressed from one stage to another, suddenly becoming very serious. A this point she was working incredibly hard, and then started feeling hot and sweaty, and felt like a bowl movement was coming on...uh oh. With contractions about 4 min apart and lasting over a minute, we quickly loaded up in the driving rain/sleet/snow and made way for the hospital. Later E told me that she was having serious self doubts right before leaving the house - a good sign that things were moving toward the end game! Upon check-in (~3am) she was 8cm dilated and expertly weathering strong contractions. Our awesome midwife showed up, E weathered a few more contractions, and then started pushing. About 20 min later, after a short, but very-intense (drug-free!) labor, Nola was born (4:05 a)!

We are so happy to report that she is happy, healthy, beautiful, and perfect in every way. Here are some photos from her first full day.

Finn finally getting to meet his baby sister. He was really cute - excited, cautious, and curious. He's going to be a great big brother.

E soaking up the Nola time. How special she is to both of us.

Nola. In DuRoss fashion nicknames to follow. So far, tossing out: Nol, Noly, Noler, Nellie.

She's a sleeper (at least during the day)

It was great to have so many visitors. Here Nola is meeting Chip, Audrey and cousins Ruby and Owen.

Mom and Matt. A special thanks to them for taking triple duty with meals, Finn-entertaining (and explaining, I'm sure), and house/basement details.

My special girl...can't seem to hold her enough.