12 Pounds of Perfect

Alice had her two month check-up today and the doctor pronounced her "perfect"--as if I wasn't aware of that already. She is now 12 pounds and 23 inches long. She had to get three different shots and one oral vaccine, so I was prepared for crankiness.

I caught a break and got sleepiness instead. (I wish I could have caught a break on the car repairs, too, but it looks like we will be shelling out $1300 for a new compressor. At least the mechanic wasn't having to yell over a screaming baby when he broke the news.)

A couple of pictures from the weekend:

Correction

As I was talking with my friend Alicia yesterday, I realized that what I said about reality shows in my other post was not exactly true. I don't watch shows like Survivor or Big Brother, but when I'm at my parents' house (they have cable, we don't), I do watch a few shows if they're on: 16 and Pregnant (makes me feel good about my parenting skills), Jon and Kate Plus 8 (makes me feel good about my marriage), and 18 Kids and Counting (makes me feel good about just having two kids). After thinking about it, it does seem kind of like a voyeur thing, but as Sheri said in her comment, they (bloggers and the people on TV) are inviting you in, so it's not the same as peeping through the curtains or something creepy like that. In a month or two we'll be moved into the new house and not spending the night here all the time, so then I'll be able to say I don't watch reality shows!

Inside Edition

Kitchen cabinets

North entry looking into the kitchen

Front entry

Living room

More of the kitchen

Blogs

I have never gotten into reality shows, but I love reading blogs. Jay doesn't get this at all. He thinks I am some kind of voyeur or something. Maybe so. I enjoy seeing what's going on in the lives of these people. I like seeing their vacation pictures and what they've been doing in school. I'm easily entertained.

I currently subscribe to 54 different blogs. There are people I've known since elementary school--or before--(Angie, Rachel, Jenny), people I've known since high school (Jimmy), people I've known since college (Julie), and people Jay has known for ages, but I've just met (Brenda). There are the people I "know" online: Heather, Michele, and Jennifer, to name a few. There are the ones that just about everyone knows (Elizabeth Foss, Dawn, Matt Logelin), and the random ones I've stumbled across somehow (Steece's Pieces).

Almost all of the blogs I read have something to do with kids and/or homeschooling. Surprising, huh?

My most favorite blog lately is one I have written about before, A Familiar Path. Unless I'm imagining it, Melissa used to have the line "You've probably been there, too"--or something close to that--on her header. And boy, have I. As I read her entries, I find myself shaking my head and thinking, "I so know what you mean. Really." I laughed until I cried the first time I saw this picture. And who can't identify with exploding boobs? Seriously, if you didn't go read this blog the last time I talked about it, you need to head over there now. You can thank me later.

Earning Her Keep

She sure is helpful.

The Greatest Gift

Some people might say that the greatest gift is love, or some other intangible thing like that. Love is nice, but it's the wrong answer. The greatest gift is a bouncy chair. Even though I have just about crippled myself on this chair fifty times in the two weeks we've had it, I still love it. Tonight Alice hung out with me while I watered the lawn.

And she takes tons of naps in it--that's where she is right now.

And it's good for getting pictures of smiles.

Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa!

Alice's New Bed

We're not really a crib family. That freaks some people out, which I can sort of understand since everyone has their "freak out" things about raising children--mine are bodies of water and motorized vehicles. We are an "everyone needs sleep" family, and for us, this is how we can all get some sleep.

When Alice was born, I was planning to put her in the pack and play. You can see how that turned out. It looks like it's holding some laundry in this shot.

When we finally took it down last week, this is what it contained: diapers, a sling, dolls, socks, toys, etc. Handy.

We have a history of this. If you look to the left, you can see the co-sleeper we got for Jack. It was handy for holding my cell phone, books, and as a butt-ledge so I could scoot over further. It rarely held a baby.

When I was pregnant with Alice, my sister asked if we wanted to borrow their old crib. I asked Jay if he wanted to and he gave me a look like I was nuts. "Where did Jack sleep? Where do you think this baby is going to sleep?"

So we didn't take the crib. Alice and I slept on the futon and at some point in the night, Jack would usually wake up and come in and lie down at the foot of the futon. And of course Boris was in there, too, somewhere. Jay was spread out in bliss in our bed, all alone.

Since the house is going on the market this week, Alice and I have moved into the master bedroom and Jay will likely seek refuge on the futon. (Boris is now sleeping at Grandma and Grandpa's house.)

Here was the scene this morning. How are these kids going to survive going to college and having to sleep in twin beds?