Is this how I hold him, Mom?

Poor Ian - he looks so pathetic and helpless (like he is, when at Leah's mercy). Leah has started acting more interested in Ian. She often wants to "hold" him and help me take care of him. She sometimes will walk up to us (me, sitting on the couch, holding Ian) and try to take him off of my lap. She is most interested in sharing his pacifier with him. If it's laying on the couch, she eyes it from across the room ("I spy with my little eye..."), darts over, her hand shoots out to grab it, and then she runs off, too fast for me to catch her. She thinks its the best game, mostly because she gets to suck on a passy.

Dr. Evil?

Michael and I have recently had an "Austin Powers" marathon (should I really be admitting that??), so when I got this picture of Ian, I immediately thought of Dr Evil ("one hundred billion dollars..."). Here is our little guy. I think he's looking a little like Stephen, no? Maybe it's all the middle of the night feedings when sometimes I go to switch sides and I can't remember if I already nursed on both sides or just the one. Yikes.

For the record, it takes much longer to get a blog post done when you're only using one hand to type and one hand to hold the baby. But I digress...

So I realize my blog has been quite neglected lately, with all the baby-having and adjusting to life with two kids that's been going on around here. I'm going to try to get back on the wagon and use more blogger and less facebook (which is so easy to upload pictures, it feels like I'm cheating).

Here are a couple of pictures of Leah from Sunday. I made her dress this week (which I'm proud to say was finished by Saturday afternoon - I'm usually pushing midnight or later!). Unfortunately, as you'll read below, I perhaps should've worked on it a little longer.





Funny story: this fabric (I think it's called "linen-look" at Joann's) unravels quite easily, much more easily than the cotton I usually use to make her dresses out of. I noticed as I was dressing her at 8:52 on Sunday morning (church starts at 9!) that I had missed a bit of the side seam when I was sewing the front to the back. This is just fancy talk for what basically amounts to a hole in the side of her dress. In my defense, it was quite small and we were t-minus like 6 minutes for church. So, I just figured I could fix it later, hoping beyond hope that Michael wouldn't notice. I mean this kind of craftmanship would give him ammunition for years. As it turns out, the hole got larger as the day at church wore on. Michael did notice and continues to doubt my sewing abilities. And when I picked Leah up from nursery, one of the leaders said, "I think Leah might have torn her dress". How sweet to not say, "um, Becca, it appears that you need to go back to sewing school to learn that you shouldn't send your daughter to church in a holey dress (I couldn't help saying that, he he )". I haven't fixed it yet, but I did inform Michael that sewing is a skill that is developed as you sew. So, I have to keep on making things that might 'look' homemade to get a finished product that isn't noticeably homemade, or maybe could be described as 'handmade' rather than 'homemade'.

he's almost as big as Leah

Here's a picture I took of Ian yesterday after church. He's hit the point where he will respond to you when you talk to him and smile a lot. Since we're his parents, we think it's pretty much the most awesome thing in the world. You know how that goes.

Ian's photo shoot

My brother Mark and his family drove all the way from North Carolina to visit a couple of weeks after Ian was born. Mark's wife, Keyla is an amazing photographer and she got some great shots of our new little boy. She worked so hard while trying to get him to pose just right! If you live in NC and you haven't had your family's picture taken in a while, hire Keyla. She makes everyone look good!



We were happy to have them visit. Leah wasn't so sure about having to share her toys with Isaac (their 3 year old), but we had fun. Michael and Mark are secret bff's, and they were able to spend many hours playing video games. We visited the aquarium and the Selena Museum. We were sad to see them go. It was a fun visit.

I knew I never liked shopping at Motherhood Maternity...

Two stories to tell this morning. The first one goes along with the pictures, so I'll tell that one first. Before I do that, here's some details on little Ian: he weighed 8 pounds, 1 oz and measured 21" long. Almost a pound and a half more than Leah!! I knew I was bigger with this one. He came very quickly (we were quite happy with that) and he's been a great baby so far. He latched right on about 30 minutes after he was born. The only struggle is keeping him awake so he'll actually eat. We feel so blessed to have such a sweet, healthy baby. And in comparing him to newborn pictures of Leah, they are like carbon copies except for the dark hair. We'll see if that sticks (Leah hasn't stopped looking like Mee-shell since birth).

So, if you know me (and you do, if you're reading the blog), you know that I sometimes struggle to get things together. Easy things. Like finding a cute outfit to bring my newborn home from the hospital in. Other people make this look easy. When Leah was born she was so tiny she wore preemie clothes for about 3 weeks. So I thought I would be smart with this one and buy a couple of preemie outfits for his trip home from the hospital. I thought he was bigger and probably wouldn't wear them as long as Leah did, but I felt sure they would work for the first couple of days. So, baby comes and it's time to go home. I get his little sleepers out (3 to choose from, all preemie sized. Could I not have brought a couple of bigger things to choose from???) and none of them fit. He's skinny enough, but he's just so long. What to do?? You can't take the baby home naked. Don't worry - Michael took charge and goes out in the hall to find some scissors. He cuts off the feet of his little dog sleeper and comes back in, proud of himself that he preserved the cute doggie feet. And sure enough, the sleeper works. But you'll see in the pictures that where the little feet are supposed to be hit him almost to his knees. I hope he'll get his height from me. Judging the size of his feet, I think he will.

Ok, second story. This one is a bit more tragic. I have heard that wearing a belly band, like a compression band can help your belly return to normal faster after a pregnancy. I have been meaning to get one, but just keep forgetting. So, last night Michael and I went to the mall to get one. Because this belly needs some help! So, keep in mind that I'm only 3 days past giving birth. I walk into Motherhood Maternity and ask about the belly bands. She starts to show me and I'm asking about what size. She says to me that I need to wait to have the baby and then see what size I am. I told her (with clenched teeth, I'm sure) that I had already had the baby. She asked when. I told her on Monday. Then she had the nerve to ask me if I had a c-section or if they had kept me an extra long time at the hospital. No, I answered to both of these. Then she asked, "Well then why are you just here buying this tonight?" Did you not hear me lady??!!!!!! I said I just had a baby. They're not like cabbage patch dolls that you bring home from the hospital. You actually have to care for them around the clock. I'm going to have to assume that this person has never actually given birth or taken care of a baby ever in her life. I think my shopping experience might have gone better if she had.

Ian Alexander