The Arrival!

Wombles

Hello again! It's funny to me now that just over 12 hours after that last post, our little rascal made his debut. We are occasionally referring to him as "scooter"-- once he decided to join us, he didn't tarry too much. If you are interested in more of those sorts of details, see the bottom of the post... here are the first-day photos!

Family of Five!

His middle name is after his Dad, of course...I hope Wombles grows up to be just like him. I have always had intense admiration for J.D., and that has only grown during this pregnancy, for his heroism and sacrifice.


Pixie is a proud--and prime--big sister.

After repeatedly checking to be sure that the baby was "out of Mama's tummy" and "bo--orn," Bud was ready to inspect the toes. He's been talking about putting little shoes on the baby for a couple of weeks now.

J.D. came back to visit later Monday night, and got some eyeball-to-eyeball time with young Wombles.

On Sunday night, after deciding that the babe was definitely going to be late, we got to bed at a decent hour. Around 4 am, my water broke, but no contractions; since I'd never had my water break before, I had no idea what I was supposed to do. It didn't qualify as an "emergency" (to me), so while I waited to see whether anything would happen soon I started to fold laundry (J.D. picked up Aristotle, figuring correctly that there wouldn't be much time to finish class prep on Monday). Around 4:40am I realized that contractions were starting; we got to the hospital with my mom around 5:30am (my dad stayed with P&F); and Wombles was born at 8:36am!! His cord was wrapped twice around his neck and once around his body. We had known something was up but the nurses and doctor did a great job of not letting me get nervous about it. In fact they were completely wonderful. The delivery was definitely the best yet.

He is a big, healthy boy who likes to sleep a lot and has decided that eating's not too bad, either. Pixie and Bud are being wonderful, and are besotted--all kinds of sibling kisses. We feel so blessed.

We are also blessed that Mom was able to stay and help. Thank you Nona!! And DD, for sharing her with us!

Homecoming and early shots coming, soon. Thanks for sharing in our joy!!

F.C., for the five of us!

Not Yet...

Hello, everyone. Yes, today is the due date, and no, there isn't a baby yet. We will let you know when the rascal arrives!

We are enjoying a visit with my Mom and Dad, and we're all acting like we're not waiting for something to happen. Pictures soon. :)

Due!

I don't know whether you can read my shirt or not, but it reads "DUE / Santa Barbara" and was given to me by a friend in the neighborhood here. So what if I'm not technically due for another 9 days. We're all hoping for an earlier arrival, especially as the little due dude has settled into pinching a nerve in my back that can at times make walking difficult. Pixie and Bud are being super-champs about having a limpy, gimpy Mom...and J.D. has been downright heroic. Anyway, so I'm feeling due! :)

Besides feeling the Irish are due for a win tomorrow (Michael Hart nothwithstanding), this week Bud was overdue for a haircut. J.D. came home on Wednesday and gave him one in the backyard. I love this shot with the shadow of the scissors...

Halfway through?

Last weekend we took a family trip down to the wharf, where J.D. outfitted the kids and let them fish. Pixie was pretty easily distractable...

But she still got (as she emphatically and repeatedly referred to it) a "little nibble". She was actually right--she caught a tiny crab, which was very exciting.

Bud's first trip fishing

OK, this is J.D.'s idea and caption:

"C------n on the Carry"

(Last weekend, the false labor must have had us a little bit giddy!)

Cheer, Cheer for old Notre Dame

The crew in "The Shirt" 2007

I know I just posted, but about an hour of false labor tonight (9/8) has me wanting to get caught up with things a little bit. I packed my hospital bag this afternoon, cleaned out and organized the pantry last week, and we--hooray!--have the nursery all set up. The garage is, alas, still full of boxes...

So, we're all pretty disappointed in the luck of the Irish so far this season. Is the only balm that Michigan is having just as hard of a time (and they with higher expectations??) This is apparently the first time in history that both programs have started 0-2 the same year. Good thing we play them next weekend. Someone has to snap this losing streak! It reminds me of my senior year of high school, when our last game was homecoming and we were playing the cross-town rival...who also happened to have no wins on the entire season. Yikes.

We think that Bud is finally "getting it" that a baby brother is on the way. I think it has been the combination of spending time with a baby boy from down the street and seeing the tiny little baby shoes in the nursery closet (these were Bud's, but he was too big at birth to wear them. I'm hoping this one is under, say, the nine-pound mark!!). So what if half the time he says the baby is in his own tummy? He can make it poke out alot like mine.

As I type, we are 14 days out from "the date." We haven't been early yet, but this time I'm kinda hoping...we'll see!

Remnants from Hurricane Deane gave us a rare sunset


P& B view the penguins at the zoo from underwater


Pixie tucks Bud in on his first night in the toddler bed...

...And where we found him when we came in to check later that night

Flora's Visit

We had a great time with our niece, Flora. Besides an exciting trip to the zoo (the lioness above was not messing around--some camp kids had really irritated her--good thing there was glass between us! You should have heard it when she batted at the glass) we bopped around town and took a fun nature walk. We've been to the zoo several times since and still haven't seen the male lion. Maybe he's scared of the lioness, too.

The Chinese alligators are runts compared to what we have down in South Georgia (or maybe this was a baby)

Bud LOVES the elephants

A rare misty-moisty day down at the coast. The fog did burn off while we were down there, but the difference from normal has a beauty of its own. There wasn't much swimming until the sun came out.

Bud was more into swimming in the sand.

Oak-tree-playhouse amigas and chalk artists extraordinares, Pixie and Flora got to share lots of time together. We're so grateful! We miss you, Flora!

Recent Happenings

Our "Dr. Seuess Tree" next door

Hello, everyone! We have been settling in more and more, although I've hit the point of diminishing returns on unpacking. Will the garage ever be empty of boxes? Will the avocado tree ever be planted? I will let you know if either happens!

I was inspired anew yesterday when in a friends' garage that actually had room for two cars to pull in, and boxes all neatly shelved on the side. They have been here for three years, though...

Bud's recent adventure with a kid fork. He has now officially graduated to using the grown-up variety! (We still give him the plastic ones sometimes, but he likes to bend those in half).

My favorite folks at the beach. The kids had a great time at the ocean--Pixie in the water with J.D., and Bud (like me) thinking the water too cold for swimming. This was the day I lost Pixie's glasses in the ocean...

J.D. and Pixie heading out for a Saturday morning "date" to the Wharf

We're all pretty excited about the new picnic table. We even have breakfast out there sometimes! On this particular morning, Bud ran and put on bumblebee rain boots so he could get outside as soon as he found out we were having a "picnic"



Smoke from the Zaca fire, as seen from our front porch last Friday afternoon



You can never have too many avocados! No, really! (Forget milk and honey, give me fresh guacamole)

The scene at the crib

Last week, I finally got to talk to my friend Kim on the phone. As I called, I thought I heard Bud waking up...but then there was silence for half an hour. Back to sleep, of course, I assumed...wrongly. He had reached from his crib a box in which was wrapped a fragile item, and with some delight (apparently) had dismantled the whole, scattering the shredded paper hither and yon. When I finally went in to check on him, I decided to deal with it in a few minutes, after I hung up...

A ridiculous plan, as all of that shredded paper was clearly too much fun to scatter around in a private ticker-tape parade. I didn't think to get the camera until AFTER we'd started cleaning up, by the way...

We are enjoying a great visit this week with our niece. I hope to check in again soon, but this should you give you a picture of what our last few weeks have been like! J.D. starts teaching next week, so summer is offically coming to a close...with "junior" close on its heels. We're inside the 5-week-out mark now. I'm not sure which is a bigger day on the calendar for September, Notre Dame's home opener v. GA tech, or our due date of the 23rd! (just kidding). Since we don't have cable, we are joking about scheduling the delivery so that we can watch the Michigan game in the hospital... :)

More soon...I hope

Wildlife in the West

Our none-too-welcome "squatter"

Just a short note to comment on the wildlife we're enjoying (or not, as the case may be) in our new home. Within the first few days, we were serenaded by the flock of feral parrots that roams the neighborhood, as well as a pack of coyotes that roams Parma Park/San Padre National Forest (just north of us). The bounteous lizards were obvious from the start (on seeing them, Pixie usually says, "A lizard! Don't tell Aunt Natalie!"). J.D. called me on the cell phone from about 30 yards away to come and see the 3-ft king snake slithering across the path as he and the kids walked back from the playground; our neighbor has spotted a bobcat; we have a local screech owl; there are apparently outdoor rats that live in the undergrowth; we have a "gopher town" in our own yard; and the California quail have been fun to watch strutting around out back. By far the most exciting (!) was the discovery of two black widow spiders under our back porch eaves. The one in the picture above had a main body easily the size of a dime. I had never seen one before, and found them quite sinister. J.D. dispatched them both, and we haven't seen any since... Not quite the urban living I was expecting!

more local wildlife

Pixie's four-braid day. The day before, she had wanted three braids (a little trickier). But we went back to clips yesterday when she asked for five. Maybe next week...

Dandelions really have become my favorite flower (it's a good thing!)

Smoke from Zaca invading the sunset last night

For those of you following the news, you may have heard of the "Zaca fire" in CA (it's been burning since July 4th, and they don't expect to contain it for about four more weeks, so it's become newsworthy). It is still about 8 miles from us ("a good two-days' burn")--there have been favorable winds for most of the week--but fire trucks from all over have been cruising the neighborhood this week to be familiar with the area in the event that it is necessary. !!

Thanks for checking in!