Party of Four

Oh my. Would you believe me if I told you it had been five weeks since our second daughter was born? FIVE WEEKS? It's one of those crazy things where I sometimes stop and say to myself, "Wow, these weeks have flown by!" and I sometimes say, "Wow, only five weeks? It feels like she's been here forever." (That's possibly the lack of sleep talking - dozing in two hour stretches can sometimes make your brain do funny things.)

And so it goes.

I don't really want to bore you with all the minute details of Amelia's birth, but there are a few key points I'd like to highlight and remember. The first one being, clearly, that I really don't recommend spending your last baby-free night sleeping in a tent out in your backyard. It obviously wasn't planned that way - my due date was still over a week away - but I can remember sleepily thinking to myself as I was peeing in the yard for the third time that I would be really pissed if I wasted my last precious night of uninterrupted slumber in a sleeping bag in the freezing cold with a toddler who kept stealing my blanket and a husband who snored through it all. Wouldn't you know it, my water broke the next afternoon.

Waking up to this pretty much made it all worth it, though.

Amelia knew what she was doing, however. In fact, her timing couldn't have been better. Almost my entire pregnancy, my father-in-law joked that September 30th would be a perfect day for her arrival - his birthday, too. And since we never got it together to send him a present, our new daughter knew just how to make us look like the best gift givers in the history of ever. I think the lady from the birth records department came to our room no less than five times, only to be turned away because we hadn't made a final name decision. After consulting many, many people (including all of our nurses and the poor birth records lady), the choice was clear. Amelia and her Opa (Albert Jacob Arends) share initials, and her middle name, Jacoba, is from her great-grandmother on his side. We've been calling her Mia more often than not, and Anna still sometimes throws in a Joey - what she called the baby all throughout my pregnancy.

It also worked out that my sister and brother-in-law were in town. Without being too graphic, let me just say that when your water breaks and your sister arrives minutes later with adult diapers in hand, you know some kind of fate was involved. All kidding aside, having them and my parents here was incredible. I was an emotional wreck, trying to bake cookies and snuggle with Anna and pack my hospital bag, and they were here answering my questions and cleaning my kitchen and letting Mike and I have some quiet time before we left for the hospital. My sister might want to seriously consider a side career as a doula...

And then she was here. And all those things people say about your heart growing even bigger than you imagined it could proved to be true. For me, I am finding it so much easier to just enjoy Amelia because I've experience first hand how quickly it goes by. Yes, I was exhausted when they placed her in my arms for the first time. Yes, she didn't want to be put down, preferring to snuggle against one of our chests. But those things will change. We will eventually sleep. Soon enough she will be a toddler whose idea of cuddling lasts about 3.2 seconds. With Anna, it wasn't always easy to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I see it now, and if the tunnel lasts a little bit longer it wouldn't be such a bad thing.

We're settling in. We're adjusting. Our first night home from the hospital our poor dog got locked out of the house all night. And on our first outing as a foursome we drove away from the gas pump without paying - luckily the nice policeman who knocked on our door was very understanding (And in all fairness, Mike did swipe the card. The machine didn't read it. Swearsies.).

We're taking it one day at a time and basically just doing what all other parents try to do - get both kids to nap at the same time. (Victory is mine today! Hooray!)

Baby "Joey" on Halloween

Welcome to the world, Amelia. We are so very, very glad that you are here.

Eviction Notice

Editor's Note: I wrote this post last week, thinking I would get around to editing and finishing it sometime this week. It turns out that our baby had different plans - Amelia Jacoba Arends arrived Sunday morning. I guess she was listening!

In the weeks leading up to Anna's birth, I can remember feeling fairly calm. Yes, I was excited about meeting our new baby. But I also knew that life was about to drastically change, and I was content to enjoy my last few days of baby-free time. Mike and I went out to nice dinners. We went to the movies. I spent leisurely hours at Barnes & Noble with stacks of gossip magazines by my side. The new little person would make his or her appearance eventually, and I was in no rush to offer an eviction notice. It probably helped that it was also the holiday season, so there was Christmas shopping and decorating and baking to keep me distracted. It also probably helped that we had the nursery done in October, so I had nothing to stress about - other than if I had read every single page in every single pregnancy book I owned. (For the record, I had. Twice. I found my copy of "Your Pregnancy Week By Week" last week when I was straightening up our bedroom and the last chapter I read this pregnancy was "Week 14". Oops.)

Once the contractions started? Well, let's just say I felt a little more along the lines of, "Baby, please come out. Like, NOW."

This time around, though, my emotions have been a little more conflicted. On the one hand, I'm not sure I'm ready to let go of the life I have now. (Remember? We talked about this - I'm slightly sentimental.) But mostly I feel like this pregnancy has been dragging on forever. Yes, it's true that we really have no names picked out (there are a few front runners - more on this subject later). Yes, it's true that until a few days ago the new baby's room didn't have a door and there were random hammers and tape measures strewn about. Yes, it's true that starting all over again at the newborn stage terrifies the crap out of me.

But despite all of that, even though I haven't read a single page about preparing for child birth this time around or don't have our hospital bags totally packed and ready to go, I know that the minute that little baby is placed in my arms none of it will matter.

People always say the babies who aren't born first tend to get screwed when it comes to things like baby books or number of photos taken. But it seems to me they have a huge advantage in the fact that their parents already realize how much they are going to be loved. Mike and I have talked so many times about how, having been through it once, it will be so much easier to deal with sleepless nights and poop explosions and crying jags because we know how much we love Anna and we also know how quickly it goes by. (Someone please remind me of this in a few months, though, ok?)

The car seat and the baby swing might not be totally ready, but our hearts are.

So with that in mind, Baby, I'm giving you the go-ahead to make your appearance. Just give me a few minutes to brush up on when it is, exactly, that we're supposed to get to the hospital...and don't be offended if you find a screwdriver in your crib.

The last photo of our family of three, right before Mike and I left for the hospital on Saturday night.

Such A Nice Way

Babies are such a nice way to start people. - Don Herrold

It seems I have a knack for being pregnant for all of my sister's big life milestones.

I found out I was pregnant with Anna just a few short weeks before Kristin's bachelorette party in Las Vegas and was at that lovely "Is she with child or did she just drink too many beers?" stage of pregnancy for her wedding. So when I found out that Kristin and Drew were going to be parents, my first thoughts (after, of course, sheer and total excitement at becoming an aunt) were of how I could steal their thunder. Just kidding, obviously. But, as luck would have it, those two life-changing pink lines showed up just five weeks later.

Being pregnant at the same time as Kristin has been so much fun (except for the times when she's all, "Oh, I just ran five miles! I feel amazing!" and I'm all, "Oh, I just barfed! And then I took a nap!"), and I am so, so excited that our babies will be close in age and that Anna will have not one, but two little ones to boss around at family gatherings.

So despite my very best efforts to one-up them once again (I was hoping for twins!), yesterday was all about showering Kristin and Drew with all kinds of love for their new baby boy. And it was such a special day.

Mason jars painted on the inside with craft paint, tied with twine. Flowers from Costco and pennants made from bamboo skewers and scrapbooking paper!

"Wishes for Baby" cards purchased on Etsy here. Filled out by all the guests and put together in a photo album. 

Candy goody bags - labels printed with a free template from this site. 

Pennants made with scrapbooking paper and twine. Candy game (in the back) taken from  here.

Beautiful and delicious cupcakes made by the talented Angela Munsell. Cupcake toppers are scrapbooking paper and toothpicks!

Can you tell I was excited about the cupcakes? I am pregnant, after all.

The cupcake baker and her adorable son!

Special thanks to Trista for taking pictures while I was playing hostess!

She's a natural.

Not that anyone had any doubt, but the whole day was such a sweet reminder of how much love and happiness this little guy is going to be surrounded by. It was so neat to see all these people in one room celebrating the new life Kristin and Drew are bringing into the world, and I can't think of two people who will make better parents. Baby Boy Stanton is one lucky kid.

Thank you so much to everyone who came to celebrate and made the day so special!

And Kristin and Drew - I love you both so much and can't wait to be an auntie! Also, if you could give me a heads up if you're planning any big life milestones in the future, I'd appreciate it. I kinda want to get an idea of just how many times I'm going to need to be pregnant, mmkay?

Noodles!

Now that the cat is out of the bag, so to speak, I want to make sure that this space doesn't become all pregnancy, baby, blah, blah, blah. Yes, obviously, I will write about my excitement and fear and all the other fun things that go along with bringing a person into the world - how could I not? But for today, I thought I'd share another of my favorite recipes. Especially since I finally feel like actually eating and cooking again.

I think I was first inspired to make this after reading a recipe in the Rachael Ray magazine. I kind of took what she offered and changed it up a bit to fit our tastes. It's an easy, quick meal that is awesome for summer, and it's totally toddler approved. It's also awesome because you can throw in whatever veggies you might have on hand. And the leftovers (if you have any) are delicious the next day - perfect to take to work or eat in the driveway while your kid creates masterpieces with sidewalk chalk!

Cold Asian Noodle Salad

What you need:

(Since this is not an actual recipe, my measurements aren't too exact. Sorry!)

1 package of Soba noodles - you could use rice noodles if you want to go gluten free, or even regular spaghetti would probably work
Ken's Lite Asian Sesame salad dressing - or something comparable. I also have made dressing from scratch using tamari sauce when feeding gluten-free eaters. Probably better for you, but I'm lazy!
Spinach, chopped - a couple of big handfuls
Carrots, grated - I used probably 7 or 8 baby carrots.
Fresh cilantro, chopped - a big handful
Peanuts, chopped - a handful
Green Onions, chopped - two or three
Any other fresh vegetables you want to add - this is a great way to sneak veggies in. I usually add an orange or yellow bell pepper, but I forgot to buy one. I usually add fresh basil, too, but I haven't started my garden yet and the basil at the grocery store didn't look that great. I bet cucumbers and tomatoes would be delicious!
Cooked Chicken - again, I'm lazy, so I used a rotisserie chicken (also, I'm struggling with raw meat these days), but you could save money by cooking your own.

What you do:

1. Prepare the noodles according to the directions. Soba noodles are super fast - they cook in about four minutes. Drain and rinse in cold water.

2. Chop or grate all your veggies and herbs and the chicken.

3. Mix it all together in a big bowl and pour the dressing on top. I just eyeball it - I try to go on the light side, that way you can add more if you want more flavor. Give it another stir and you are good to go!

Warning: Lady & The Tramp inspired eating may happen as a result of serving this meal.

Enjoy!

And not to be all pregnancy, baby, blah, blah, blah on you, but we're super excited because tomorrow we have our big ultrasound. Spoiler alert: not finding out the gender! Yes, yes, I know that this will drive most people crazy. But what can I say? We love a good surprise. And the color yellow.

Happy Wednesday!