I....S.....R

Infant Swimming Resource....heard of it?

I call it survival swimming. Seth's mom Lee used to teach it. Lila is now taking lessons.

When we (Seth, Lee, and I) first started talking about this I got panicky. But then we went to the pool one day and Lila had the most minor of incidents. She had on a swim vest, fell forward, and had a hard time getting back up. My neighbor Christy was in the water in front of her and helped her up. Like I said...very minor. But, being that we were at Seth's mom's pool where Lila will spend a lot of her little life my panicky feelings turned to curiosity.

I went to watch a few lessons by a few instructors. I only knew what Lee had told me. Lee went with me and helped me pick. And here we are almost finished with week one of four.

If you know nothing about these kinds of lessons I would be concerned to just tell you my thoughts. I wouldn't want to sway you one way or the other if you ever thought of doing them. Let me just say they are intense. If you don't want to be swayed I would advise you stop reading now.

Each lesson is ten minutes and you go every weekday for four weeks. Lila had gone with me to watch the lessons last week. Therefore, I'm sure on Monday she thought we were just observing again. Let's just say we both survived. Tuesday when we got out of the car she started saying (to herself) "it's ok, it's ok, it's ok". That's what I say to her when I'm trying to calm her down. We still survived. Yesterday when she figured out halfway there that we were headed to swim again she started saying (loudly) "Katie's house! Katie's house! Katie's house! Please go to Katie's house!". Surviving still...

Today she started crying in the car. Not the kind of crying that involves whining or screaming. The slow, quiet crying that is just plain heartbreaking. I texted Seth that she was breaking my heart.

Those are the bad parts.

Lila never has candy. I mean, with the exception of Christmas and Easter she doesn't ever consistently have candy. You can imagine that when she does have candy it's like I have just introduced her to Elmo. The instructor brings a gigantic container of lollipops and Lila thinks it is the greatest thing that's ever happened to her. While she was doing the heartbreaking crying I was promising her as many lollipops as she wanted. I started telling her all the flavors just hoping she would light up. Nothing.

When each lesson is over the child is lifted up onto the edge to lay on towels and rest. That is when I give Lila a lollipop. Today after she did amazingly well in her lesson and was laying on the side she started, in order, reciting the flavors I mentioned eighteen times in the car. I painstakingly tried to find each flavor.

While it stresses her out she tries so hard to do well. I can tell she wants to get it. In yesterday's lesson she struggled kicking her feet to propel her to the side. Today she had to wear tennis shoes in the pool during the lesson but she still couldn't connect the kicking with moving herself through the water. When we get in the car after the lesson I spend the entire ride telling her how well she did. Today I also talked about kicking just to see if it would stick for tomorrow's lesson. Well, this afternoon we played on the deck and she actually got in the little blow up kiddie pool, plopped on her belly, and started kicking while yelling "mommy I'm kicking!!!".

Those are the good parts.

Tomorrow I will get in with her for part of the lesson. Wish me luck! In case you think I'm crazy for doing this or you are just plain curious, take a look at the video below. I don't have to justify, but I'm willing to get through four tough weeks for the peace of mind that she could save herself from drowning. This video sold me on ISR. Updates coming soon!

Par tay

Lila's 2nd birthday party was a little over a week ago. We decided to throw conventional party planning out the window and wait to have her party over a month after her actual birthday. Between my cinco de Mayo baby and my kid destined to a life of birthday pool parties I would say it will all even out somehow...someday.

Lila has what some may call an obsession with Elmo. She loves Sesame Street, but she LOVES Elmo. So really the only planning that went into this party was the cake. And i didn't even do that. I didn't decorate. I barely got food in time. I invited the whole world and then got all stressed out about it because that's what I do. So I knew something had to be a sure thing. And boy was it ever.

Seth's aunt Janis did us the gigantic favor of making this masterpiece. I asked her to make an Elmo cake. What I got was the best kid's birthday cake ever.

To top that off, Lila's most priceless moment of the entire party may have been more overwhelming for me than it was for her. When things like this happen I feel like my legs get knocked out from under me and I can't catch my breath. There's a moment where everything stops and all I see is this perfect creation that Seth and I made. I want to run up and somehow convey to her that she is the best thing that ever happened to me. I want my crazy and intense staring to signal to her that turning two and having 40 people singing happy birthday to you while you stand next to the best Elmo cake ever is in fact as glorious as it feels...

...thank God we were able to capture this moment. Seriously, what am I going to do when she graduates or gets married? 

We have the best friends and family. The gobs of people that love this little girl need to know that we love you for loving her as much as you do. 

Here are a few more of my favorite pictures from the big day. 

And lastly, this is what we are referring to as her "paparazzi moment".

The littlest Burrow

Here is the long overdue birth story of our little Evelyn :-) I can't recommend more highly having a birth photographer. In fact, I can't recommend more highly MY birth photographer and friend Sarah Wise. She took the pictures in this post. I didn't know what to expect from the pictures, but I can tell you I was more than impressed and pleased. There are so many pictures I could add. However, while I am not very modest I also don't want anyone to be weirded out. So, if you want to see more and/or you or someone you know is truly interested in birth photography let me know.

I felt certain the week of Evie's due date that we would go right past it. I saw the midwife on Wednesday and when she told me there was no change from my one centimeter I braced myself for the waiting game. I went out to dinner with some friends and told them how sure I was it would be a while.

That night I had a hard time going to sleep. I fell asleep only to wake up to a contraction around midnight. This was nothing new. Twenty minutes later the same thing happened. This went on for about three hours. Again, I wasn't thinking anything of it. There were many nights previously where I convinced myself baby was coming. But, around 3 am I got irritated by the in and out sleep and just got up. I went to the kitchen and emptied the dishwasher. Around 3:30 am the twenty minutes apart went to ten. Only then did I let myself think it was time. I realized my house was a disaster and started "cleaning". I mean, someone was coming here to watch Lila and I couldn't very well just leave things as is. Plus, it passed the time (and pain) brilliantly.

At 5 am or so I called the doctor's office and spoke to the midwife. She told me take my time, take a shower, and then head on over to the hospital. I woke Seth up, he called his mom to come over, and I got in the shower. From this point on things went really quickly. I got panicky and stood in the driveway waiting for Seth's mom to get here. I had visions of giving birth in my driveway and this may or may not be when I turned into mommyzilla. I'm pretty sure I bit Seth's head off a few hundred times in the 15 minutes from here to Northside.

Once in a room and in a bed the contractions were much different from what I remember with Lila. However, with Lila I was induced and had more back labor than anything else. Birthing Evie taught me what contractions really feel like. The nurse started in on the questions and I again got panicky. I couldn't understand a word she said. I want to say she was Jamaican maybe? Anyway, I'm pretty sure with every question (and contraction) I said "what??" and she had to repeat herself. I began to prepare myself for lots of miscommunication. But, once I got the epidural and really focused on what the nurse was saying we were good to go.


Evie was born just before 10 am. She came very quickly which I couldn't have appreciated more. Right after Lila was born they whisked her away because she wasn't breathing right away. I didn't get to do the whole holding the baby skin to skin and feeding right away. That has always bothered me. With Evie I pretty much pulled her out and brought her up to meet me instantly. It was a completely different experience. There is just nothing more amazing than that moment. Seth was leaning over us and my heart was overflowing with the the fact that our little family quickly and wonderfully became four.

This is one of my favorites. I love how little yet how much you can see.

If I'm being honest I was almost sure we were having a girl. So much so that when she was born I don't remember the "it's a girl!" moment being as prominent as it was with Lila. I guess I felt I already knew. These guys maybe weren't so sure :-)

It was a perfect day. I am so glad I wasn't induced this time. I am so glad that unexpected things happened like my dad being in town. I am so glad that Lila got to have a blast with her grandmothers while we got to take the time to enjoy Evelyn. But mostly I am just so lucky to have two happy, healthy little girls now. Here are a few more of my favorites from the day...

Another favorite...she has no idea just how much these women will teach her.

And of course, our baby meets her baby sister :-)

Our life in one photo

This is what Seth's nightstand looks like today. I noticed it right before getting in the shower and my first thought was just how appropriately this sums up life for us these days. Let's dissect:

*If You Give a Pig a Party
Lila's current favorite book (along with If You Give a Moose a Muffin). We actually have a stuffed animal of the pig and moose (and mouse too :-). She walks around saying "pig a party" when she wants to read it. I LOVE THESE BOOKS. Someday I will come up with a children's book that will be that brilliant.

* Red Cup
This cup with a lid is my lifeline. No it doesn't have coke or coffee in it. Just water. I would love for it to be iced coffee or Diet Dr. Pepper :-) But water is what keeps the milk coming on the regular. I pretty much feel like I could float away all day long. The cup is the kicker. The lid/straw means little feet can knock it over, little hands can carry it around, and a certain little girl can feel special drinking "mommy's water".

* Travel size packet of Butt Paste
enough said

* The Happiest Toddler on the Block
A MUST read. Some of it is hokey and a lot of it is impractical to me at times. But the premise is helpful and the ideas are solid. I'm "reading" this one but somehow it ended up on Seth's nightstand. He's reading one or five of the other assorted books you see.

* A can of dusting spray and an orange cloth (hidden under other things)
Apparently this is where the dusting stopped. The sad part is, I have no idea when that was or how long it's been there.

* A remote control
Look closely. It has eyes. It's watching you. In case you didn't figure it out it's a toy. We do have a TV in our room, but the remote for that one is missing...or someone may know where it is. I do not.

* Assortment of books
Seth is an avid reader. He has either read or is reading all of these including the Dr. Seuss ABC book. Really though, I wish I had his dedication. No, I wish I had his attention span. No, I wish I had his level of intelligence to actually read and finish more than one book at a time on minimal sleep.

And just to make you smile, here are my littles smiling at you ;-) Sorry for the picture quality or lack of.

Fastest post ever

I know I have been neglectful...I don't really have any down time these days. SO, here is the fastest update post ever:

* We are making strides with Evie's reflux and getting sleep. It's one day at a time. She isn't throwing up as much since we switched to Prevacid, but she is pretty tortured sometimes after eating still. BUT, she is starting to smile at us which makes the rest just melt away.

* Lila has been a dream lately. Truly a dream. She is so unbelievably good with Evie. She's always helpful and talks to her like she's been here forever. She's just as happy as can be even though mommy is very preoccupied sometimes. We are transitioning to the big girl bed which is going great at night but not so great at nap time. Potty training is like this big, bad cloud looming in the distance that I am running from...

* Seth's work is slowing down. We went on a half date (one child went with us, one did not). That is Seth and Evie on our half date to the drive-in up there in the new header. Isn't he so stinking cute? We thought it would just be perfect to go see the Hangover sequel since Lila's first movie was the original. BUT, Seth had his heart set on the X-Men movie. Evie didn't seem to notice either way.

* I finally feel like a human being again. No more fevers. Lots more energy. I actually went to my glamorous second job of cleaning doctors offices for the first time a week or two ago. It's amazing how much faster things get done when you aren't as big as a house trying to scrub toilets.

* We helped throw a big old bash for the fabulous Kim Warren to ring in her dirty thirties. I got to pump in a stall in a bar bathroom which I've never done before. Kim was all sorts of surprised and had a fantastic time. It was a great big night out for all!

Ok, that's all the time I've got for now. I promise someday there will be lengthy posts with pictures about Evie's birth, Lila's birthday, Kim's party, Lila's party (coming this weekend), and whatever else has happened that I would love to have the time to blog about. And maybe someday there will even be a holla hump day returning...thanks for hanging in there ;-)

A Day

These days are tough ones. It would be really easy to get lost in the sleepy exhaustion and forget just how lucky we are. I have more support and love around me than I know what to do with. My kids are healthy and happy and we have everything we could possibly need or want.

If you're a long time reader of this blog you know that Seth volunteers at the Muscular Dystrophy camp every summer. For many years he had the same camper named Jonathan. There is an age limit at camp and Jonathan "outgrew" it a few years ago. Seth still made an effort to be a part of Jonathan's life and they remained close. Today Jonathan passed away.

I need to tell you a little something about my husband. He's a joker. He likes to push people's buttons sometimes and be a smarty pants. But don't let him fool you. He's a bigger softy than any man I know...and a stronger one as well.

I have been sick pretty much off and on since I had Evie. I won't go into all the details, but the lack of sleep has made it hard for me to get better. Yesterday I kind of hit a breaking point and called Seth pretty much in hysterics asking him to come home for a little while. He promptly showed up, I took a shower, and all was well. He came home last night and gave Lila a bath as cheerful as could be. He ended up on the couch in the den sleeping with Evie next to him in her papasan chair (the only place she sleeps well right now) so that I could go to bed normally and sleep for a while.

Jonathan was not doing well for a while. This week things really went downhill. Seth left at 4 am one day earlier in the week and went down to Dublin where Jonathan is from to spend time with him. Needless to say, amidst my neediness, the loss of a dear friend, and actually doing his job Seth has been a rock. I am just so very lucky. But really, we all are.

Early yesterday morning I decided to randomly take pictures all day with my phone. I carry my phone everywhere because I have this fancy little app that I log Evie's feedings into. Anyway, I was realizing that being tired and frustrated needed to be overshadowed by the fun and fantastic moments of the day. This was my way of making sure that I didn't get caught up in the tough parts and take anything for granted..

We started with some art...

...followed by Lila decorating with puffy stickers while mommy fed the baby...

...followed by bath time for baby after a massive diaper blowout and barf-fest...

...followed by fun by the pool ;-)

(I'm pretty sure she's thinking "why on earth are we sitting out here sweating...I just got clean")