Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

If you are a new mom, operating on a total of about four hours of sleep a night, you might be tempted to buy yourself five minutes of peace and quiet by giving your 2 1/2year old a pair of safety scissors, a stick of glue and a stack of construction paper. You will tell her to "go to town" and watch as she cuts and glue to her heart's content. You might see this as an opportunity to take a potty break and leave her unsupervised for about ten seconds.

You will regret this.



It will take you a few minutes to realize that you are looking at a pile of hair. Real hair. Not Barbie hair or My Little Pony hair. Arden's hair. You will begin to exclaim, "OH, Arden!" as you try to process what's just happened. The 2 1/2 year old will think she looks very beautiful and will tell you over and over, "I so pitty," as you frantically search her head for the origin of all that hair. You will find it directly on top of her head, about half an inch from her scalp.



You will eventually realize there is nothing you can do about the bald spot on her head so you will take a picture and put it on your blog. Then you will hide all the safety scissors in the house--and the glue, just in case she decides to get creative with all that hair.

Pictures--Because Words Require More Sleep Than I'm Getting

Look, Ma! No wheels!


Have you ever seen anything sweeter? You'd never know that just minutes before she was screaming so loud that Arden ran and hid in her room and Claire asked if I was going to do anything to make her stop.



Arden may not be the youngest anymore, but you can be sure she'll find her own way to be in the spotlight...

Kid's Say the Darndest Things--Post Partum Edition

Arden, upon seeing Claire getting to hold the brand-new baby sister first: Hhhhheeeeyyyy! I want to hold that!


Claire: Mommy, did you get some stitches after they took the baby out?
Me, hesitating: Yeeeeesssss....
Claire: In your belly button?
Me: Is that what you think?
Claire: Yeah.
Me: OK
Claire: Then did they have to push your belly button back down when they were done?
Me: Ummmmm....That's pretty close to how it happened.


Claire, looking at my tummy: I thought they took the baby out.
Me, surprised: They did. She's right there.
Claire, poking my tummy: Then what's this?


My nephew, Connor, looking at my tummy: Is your baby still in there?
Me: No. Your daddy is holding her.
Connor, poking my tummy: What's this?
Me: Well, unfortunately it just takes a little while for big baby tummies to go back to normal.
Connor, looking skeptical: So you don't have another one in there?


Claire, getting too up close and personal while I was nursing Amelia: What's she doing?
Me: She's eating.
Claire: No, she's not. She doesn't have teeth.
Me: Well, she's having milk.
Claire: From where?
Me: From me.
Claire: Yeah, but where does it comes from?
Me: From Mommy. She gets her milk from me.
Claire: I know. But where does it come from?
Me, sighing: Claire, it just comes from Mommy's body. When you're a Mommy, you'll have milk in your body too.
Claire, impatiently: I know it's from your body but WHERE is it coming from?!
Me: From my boobies, OK? She gets it from my boobies.
Claire, smiling triumphantly: I knew it!

Introducing Amelia Brooke

After a longer than anticipated labor, Amelia Brooke was born last night at 5:03. She weighed in at 8 pounds, 8 ounces and was 20 inches long. She looks a lot like Claire did as a newborn (a fact that makes Big Sister Claire very proud).

Speaking of Big Sisters...They thought she was pretty cool.


I happen to agree. Welcome to the world, sweet girl!

Ten Plus One

Yesterday, Jason and I celebrated 11 years of marriage. How is it possible that we're old enough to have that many years behind us? Oh, right. I was a child bride.
This year, with the impending arrival of the child-who-won't-leave-my-womb, was a little more low key than last year's celebration.

Still, dinner and a movie and a quiet house without the girls was more than enough this year (thanks, grandparents!).

Happy anniversary to my best friend! Every year is better than the last. I love you!