December
December brought its usual whirlwind of holiday activity. Elizabeth turned 6, which makes me feel rather old. (I told Elizabeth this the other day, and she reassured me, "You're not really THAT old, Momma. Thirty is still really far away from one hundred.")
We celebrated Christmas in our usual manner: Christmas Eve with the Olsons, complete with
I wasn't fast enough to get a photo of the casserole, but here's a cast photo of the nativity. This is truly the highlight of the Christmas season for me. I get such a kick out of it, and every year it just gets better. . .or at least, more entertaining. . .as we add more grandkids to the mix.What made this Christmas especially fun is that Elizabeth is really starting to catch the excitement of choosing gifts and then keeping the secret. After Elizabeth received a Zhu Zhu Pet for her birthday, Anna began pining away for one of her own--so Elizabeth decided to give her one for Christmas. Throughout the rest of the month, whenever Anna would sigh wistfully and proclaim, "I just reeeally want a Zhu Zhu Pet. . .", Elizabeth would smile oh-so-sweetly and say, "Well, maybe you'll get one for Christmas." The look on Anna's face Christmas morning when she unwrapped "Peachy" was priceless:
On New Year's Eve we stayed home with the girls and celebrated with fondue. . .or, as Anna called it, "fun-do":
Can't argue with her; eating chocolate-dipped Rice Krispie treats is pretty darn fun to do.January
At the beginning of January I finally got around to making an appointment for Anna with the ENT. We weren't too surprised when he recommended a T&A (tonsillectomy + adenoidectomy). Just two weeks later, Anna and I were up bright and early and headed to the new Primary Children's outpatient center in Riverton. They really do go the extra mile to make the whole experience as kid-friendly as possible, and Anna had an absolutely wonderful time. . .until the actual surgery, anyway. She got to ride in a wagon, put on special hospital jammies, play with all sorts of new toys. . .how fun!
When all was ready for the "procedure", she got to ride a little car down the hall to the surgery suite, where she got out, hugged me, and followed the nurse into the operating room without so much as a backward glance.Less than an hour later, they called me back to the recovery room, where Anna was just waking up. This was the worst part; I can only imagine what was going through her head as she woke up. I imagine she had the vague suspicion that she'd been completely duped--she'd been having such a fun day, and then those nice nurses and doctors had gone and done something to ruin it all. Once she was lucid enough to talk, she kept telling me, "I'm all done with this. Let's go home now."
She was a lot happier at home, but the first few days of recovery were pretty rough. Thankfully, she was back to her usual self within a few weeks, and now she sleeps/eats/breathes so much more comfortably! February
By February, Jared and I were both in full nesting mode. I expressed the urge by cooking and freezing 15 meals, purging the closets, stockpiling groceries, and scrubbing the house top to bottom. Jared, on the other hand, preferred to nest with the aid of a jackhammer and pipe cutter:
Laying the groundwork for the new downstairs bathroom. . .
Like last year, we made a cake on February 19th in memory of our little William. It's hard to believe it's been 2 years already; it seems like just yesterday. I had hoped to have the new baby before William's birthday, especially since by then I'd be past the point when I delivered my girls--but this kiddo had other ideas. . .
As the 40th week of my pregnancy started, I was getting impatient. Jared tried to encourage me by saying the baby would be here "any day now", but after a few weeks of hearing that I quit listening to him. My due date came; I spent it cooking meals to freeze and cleaning like crazy. I had some contractions start up at bedtime, but they never got closer together and they eventually fizzled out around 4 AM. Feeling rather let down (and huge, and just plain grouchy) I went to church. The umpteen comments I received there ("You're still pregnant?!?", "Aw, I was really hoping you'd have your baby this week.", "My daughter doesn't believe me that you've only got one baby in there.") didn't do much for my mood, and by bedtime I was feeling mighty discouraged. So discouraged that I refused to pay attention the contractions that started again late that night. I finally started to believe something might be up around 3 AM, though, and Jared called my mom to come sit with the girls. We arrived at the hospital around 5 AM, and our little boy made his debut just after noon:
Monday, February 28, 2011
Benjamin Everett Olson
Due to a slight fever and some concerning blood test results, Ben had to stay in the hospital an extra day to finish a course of antibiotics. Thankfully, aside from that he was perfectly healthy and was able to stay with me between IV rounds, and I was allowed to stay the extra night in a boarding room down the hall from the nursery. By Thursday morning he had finished the antibiotics and his initial blood culture had come back clean, so we headed home.March
March flew by in a blur of diaper changes, baby-snuggling, endless laundry, and pinkeye (both girls caught it, but we managed to avoid giving it to Ben--phew!)
Somewhere amid the chaos, Jared turned thirty-two. We celebrated with a special dinner at home, including a chocolate cake lavishly decorated by the girls (it's just not a birthday cake without two pounds of rainbow sprinkles). The years have been kind to Jared, but he hasn't evaded them completely. A few weeks ago, Elizabeth was hanging out on our bed with Jared and I heard her counting. Jared asked her what she was doing, and she informed him that she was counting his gray hairs. She found twenty-six. I think she overlooked a few. ;)
April
We're adjusting to life with three. It's definitely been a challenge; now that we're outnumbered we've had to switch from a game of one-on-one to playing zone defense. It seems like the hampers are always full and the floors are always dirty--but I'm learning to be a little more "Zen" about it all. The girls adore Ben, although Anna still is a little confused: she tells me when she grows up she'll be Ben's mommy. For now she's getting lots of practice; from dressing to bathing to burping, I'm not allowed to do anything without her help.
And Ben is such a peach. His sisters had him beat in the sleep department at this age, but by day he's such a placid little fellow. He loves to snuggle, which I just relish, and I'm completely smitten with the faces he makes:
His usual expression: curious but skeptical.
Motherhood is hard work, but I get paid in baby smiles. Life is sweet.
4 comments:
I approve of Ben's facial expressions. The Scandinavian look of disapproval. :)
Love that face! I also love that you remember William on his day. Ben is a lucky guy to have so many people to love him..and your girls are crazy about him! (So is his Nonny even tho he barfs on me every time I hold him).
LOVE the old man face :)
And, yeah, you HAVE to be Zen about the house, etc. or you will go nuts. Love you, Olsons in all your adorablity.
stedleys
noinc
How do they come up with these great word verifications?
"The Stedleys live next door", "Oh, I have noinc in my printer"
demed
Joe is going to demed school on the hill.
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