Groundhog Day Blizzard

I have to admit I was a bit skeptical about this snow storm living up to all the hype, but it did in fact turn out to be a blizzard. The second shot is the view from our porch.

Mike ended up going to work at about 3am to assist with a variety of village related things. I guess there were quite a few people who needed emergency shelter after their power went out. I'm so thankful ours stayed on.

Mike thought ahead and parked one of our cars in the village parking garage the day before the blizzard's anticipated arrival so we would be able to get M to daycare. Our street is typically one of the last plowed and was already impassable by car when he left for work (he walked). Good thinking!

After about 5 hours of work he retrieved the car from the village garage, parked the car on a nearby street that was somewhat plowed, walked down our street to our place, got M and all her stuff and carried her and her bags two blocks to the car while being careful not to trip in snow up to his knees and higher. M thought the whole thing was hilarious. He took her to daycare and returned to work.

He stopped home for a quick bite to eat around lunchtime and then set out with his shovel. Our lovely neighbors happened to be finishing up with their snow blower about this time and insisted he use it instead to clear our driveway and walks. I'm so glad because by this time he was 13 hours into his day (it was only 2 pm) running on 3 & 1/2 hours of sleep. If it wasn't for that snow blower he'd be sick by now for sure. At least with that help and a subsequent night of rest (albeit one with sporadic newborn crying), he has a fighting chance.

When the sun came out the following day the amazing sight was INSIDE our house! Maddie and Capisce sunning themselves just a few feet from each other. Our cat rarely goes anywhere near the pup even for a few seconds let alone several minutes, but I guess the sun's warmth was just too good to resist.

New Blog

Check out the difference in the amount of hair Maryn had (pictured first at 6 days old) compared to Isla (10 days old)

You may or may not have noticed that Isla has her own blog. There is a link on the right hand side of this page under My Blog List. Since this has sort of been M's baby book, I was hoping to do something similar for Isla for the first year. The plan is for M's blog to morph into a blog about both kids, while I's will primarily be about her during her first year of life. After that, I'm planning to go back to one blog. We'll see how this goes. If it's too much of a pain or isn't working I may reevaluate the plan.

S I S T E R S

I have a wish for my sweet girls ...that this be the beginning of a beautiful and fulfilling life-long relationship.

Sure there will be challenge and conflict along the way, as there is in most worthwhile relationships, but hopefully their sisterhood will evolve into a friendship rooted in compassion, mutual respect, and fondness for each other.

Against All Odds!

That's right! More than 80% of us (many of you didn't publicly cast your boy vote) were wrong.

Our sweet little girl Isla Eleanor arrived at 10:00 am on Wednesday, January 19th weighing 10 pounds 2 ounces and measuring 21 inches! Her first order of business was to prove her mother wrong. I must admit, I kind of love that.

Lets clear up the pronunciation question first. Isla is pronounced eye-luh as the "s" is silent. I came across it 7 months or so ago when I heard an interview with actress Isla Fisher. After discussing it with Mike I was reminded it wasn't the first time I'd heard it. His brother knew a girl with the name although she spelled it differently. I remember liking it when I heard it then too, but not being in baby naming mode at that time hadn't stored it away from all those years ago.

I realize our name choice will expose her to a lifetime of correcting mispronunciation. I can certainly relate. I can count on one hand (with fingers left over) the number of people who have correctly pronounced my name after seeing it written. Probably more frustrating is that even after I correct people they still often get it wrong because they are familiar with the name Bridget and have never heard Brigit (pronounced with a hard g instead of a soft g). Hopefully it won't bother her too much. Yeah, there are times it can get a little irritating, but honestly I'm so used to it I hardly notice it anymore. Those that I love and care about know how to say my name and that's all that really mattered in my book.

Her eyes are currently blue but darker than M's were in the beginning so perhaps they'll become brown. M's hair was very dark in the beginning as is Isla's, but Isla doesn't have nearly as much of it.

Isla and I came home last night. I've been bedridden for a few days now due to a spinal headache. Hopefully it will resolve sometime this week and I'll be able to enjoy more time with Mike and our girls soon.

Great Grandma Foster & Family

I didn't have my camera on me for all of our '09 summer trip to Ohio to visit family. I found some picts my mom had printed in our basement recently.

Hope to see you all again this summer!

Little Brother or Sister?

What do you think? Cast your vote in the upper right hand corner of the blog.

We're so excited to meet our new little kido! I wonder, will I be saying the kids when discussing my children in the near future, or will I refer to them as the girls?

Early on in this pregnancy I had a slight suspicion that this might be a little boy because I had so much "morning" sickness w/ M and hardly any with this one. But there are so many women out there with kids of the same gender who say the pregnancies were SO different that I wasn't convinced.

Then something happened near the beginning of my 3rd trimester. I developed PUPPPs (pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy)! Thankfully it's not harmful to the baby. They say it isn't harmful to the mother either .. I guess they mean long term, because it certainly feels awful, has taken over my life and makes me nuts. After more than 6 weeks of dealing with this, I can say with confidence that if I had a choice, I'd gladly take 6 months of morning sickness instead. My arms, legs, feet, hands and most recently stomach and hips itch constantly with an intensity that occasionally makes me run to the freezer (at work or home), grab ice, and rub it directly on my skin until it's numb. Oh, sweet relief! But of course that only works for a short time. Yes, I've tried everything. Right now it seems as though Dandelion Root capsules & tea, Omega-3 pills, Aveeno anti-itch cream (right after a lukewarm shower with Pine Tar soap), and periodic applications of Sarna and ice to get me through the most intense spells make it bearable. Of course after a while it just becomes normal and you forget what it was like not to itch all day. I've never had poison ivy (I was immune as a kid-not sure if I am still), but Mike tells me it doesn't even come close to this. Did I mention I break out in itchy hives several times a day and have scratched my skin until it bled? Gross!

Okay, so why does this make me think I must be pregnant with a boy? They don't know why this condition happens, but it only happens in 1% of pregnancies. They think something interferes with the livers ability to do its best work. It typically runs in families and is carried down through the father's side (thanks dad!). Most women that acquire this lovely condition are pregnant for the 1st time and/or are carrying twins (no, I'm not having twins although I am measuring much larger this time even though I've gained less weight). Also, and here's the kicker, 70% of women who get this give birth to boys. There is a theory that something in male fetal DNA is a skin irritant. So now you might be thinking, well, there is still a 30% chance you could be having a girl. Yeah, it's possible, but consider this last thing. Both of my sisters have each had 1 baby. Codie and I both gave birth to girls and had no PUPPPs. Nieka, on the other hand, had a boy and she got PUPPPs the week before she delivered O. Hmmm

My doc prescribed a low dose of steroid that they say is safe for pregnancy, but I just can't bring myself to take it. If looking at the history of prescription drugs in this country has taught me one thing, it's that what they believe to be safe can change. Since this isn't harmful to me or the baby, I'd rather wait it out. It typically resolves within 2-3 weeks of delivery although my sister's lasted 3 months postpartum ... but I'm not going to think about that right now.

So ... boy or girl?

You know what I think ... but I've been wrong before.

Emphasizing Books

Maryn has lots of books! We've bought a few but most have been hand me downs, loaners, or gifts. Her great aunt S often gives her really interesting 2nd hand children's books as gifts, some of which are more than 50 years old... love that!

She just loves books so we try to keep collections in several rooms. I like the idea of making them available for whenever the mood strikes, no matter where she is in the house.

It's also exciting to see her begin to handle paper pages more carefully.

Most of her books are stored in baskets. A few are in both bathrooms for reading during potty practice if she is interested. We have a large basket in our bedroom that she chooses from before bed or on a lazy weekend morning and there are some in her bedroom too.

We have a small bedroom off of our family room which we've designated as the playroom. There's an awkward space right next to the door created by the back of the built in fireplace to the right. Our TV is mounted over the fireplace in the adjacent room and during the remodel we had a tube placed in the wall that fed into the playroom where we planned to house the DVD player. So Mike, wonderful as he is, designed and built a kids bookcase for this space with a shelf at the top to keep the DVD player out of her reach. I am so impressed with the results that I just had to share. I really love this type of book storage for young kids. She can see all her options, although she can't reach them all quite yet, and the cover art brightens up the room.

Cultivating a love for reading and a love for books has always been high on our parenting agenda. Though we certainly don't want to force the issue, I'm hoping we are able to create an environment that will facilitate this. We take regular trips to the library sometimes visiting those in other cities. Maryn sees both of her parents reading (and discussing) a variety of material in different settings. We sometimes listen to audio books in the car, and M got a tape player for Christmas from her grandpa & nana D for all those classic children's audio books at the library that are still on cassette. We have a habit of reading and enjoying books with her throughout the day and we plan to read aloud to/with her well beyond the point when she is reading on her own. There are many great resources out there that helped shape our views on this topic. One of my favorites is The Read-Aloud Handbook - what a gem!

Reading certainly could be a real challenge for M. I've heard feedback from parents of children with ACC about their struggles with reading for a variety of reasons: visual processing delays, trouble tracking through midline, feeling like they are poor readers if they are slower than their peers to learn, etc. These are all potentialities that I believe would be better addressed in a non-traditional schooling/learning environment, but I digress. Regardless of the path her education takes I hope she continues to love books throughout her life.