tiny sweet Brynn

Here are some pictures of my niece, Brynn, from three days ago. I got to hold her for the first time since I got over my cold, and she is a TINY little princess. I liked these photographs of her and thought I would share.

Brynn with Rachel & Ava

Brynn with her daddy

Now if only I could hold my other new niece...

her new favorite activity

climbing up this step stool

Success!

Cosette also enjoys climbing stairs. She does not enjoy falling down them, though she does think she can go down them...head first.

Cosette also had her well-baby check-up today. Here are the stats:

Height: 28 inches (between percentile 10 and 25)
Weight: 19 pounds (between percentile 10 and 25)
Head: 18 inches (between percentile 50 and 75)

You could compare these to her 9 month stats here.

Henri at 12 months
("I really can't see any resemblance at all," their mama says tongue in cheek.)

Henri's 12 month stats:

Height: 30.5 inches (between percentile 50 and 75)
Weight: 22 lbs 6 oz (between percentile 25 and 50)
Head: 19.25 inches (95th percentile)

Johnny says the kids are blessed to have my generously proportioned head; he thinks they will be smart. I smile coyly.

Cosette Abrielle is 1 year old!

at birth
about 2 weeks old

today

Cosette's Pink Party

for your shopping entertainment

How is a mother to shop with her two young children at Trader Joes & Super Target when the baby no longer is in an infant carrier car seat? I should have brought my wrap to carry Cosette around in. Since the cart at Trader Joes can only carry one child and the carts built for preschoolers at the particular Super Target I was at would only carry two preschoolers and no babies, Henri walked at both stores.

Overall, he did a good job, holding onto the cart and staying nearby at Trader Joes. But then began the entertainment. It went something like this.

Run in place with your head down;
Flop your body to the ground;
Stand up; run down the aisle;
Slide on your belly & go a mile!

over and over and over again

This continued at Super Target. Henri got many laughs and smiles. I got comments about his energy (one older couple said it wasn't fair that children got all the energy when they needed it) and how my kids must be a handful. Since he was staying nearby and not bothering anyone or the store shelves, I let him do his thing. He eventually got out of line at Super Target, and I scooped him into the cart basket. I know, I know. The picture on the cart shows a big "X" over putting a child in the basket, but I had to do something! After the basket, he moved into Cosette's spot as she got tired and I had to carry her around the store in my arms.

While he can require a lot of attention at times, my boy is hilariously funny and full of energy. We love you and your "creative movements" Henri.

8th Tooth

Lower-left-of-center tooth cut through yesterday.

pictures to post, things to do, but...

I do want to quickly announce the birth of my little niece. Johnny's sister, Kristin, and brother-in-law, Matt, delivered their first baby last night.

Iris Grace
5 lbs 6 oz
19 in

Another tiny baby girl: first from my sister and then from Johnny's sister. My babies were not big (6 lbs 4 oz & 7 lbs 13 oz), but they were not so small.

Oh how we wish we lived closer to Matt & Kristin, but 2,000 miles is too far to visit often. They started a blog at http://irisgracewilliames.blogspot.com/.

Iris is named for Johnny & Kristin's maternal grandmother. Here is a picture of Grandma Iris with her 7 1/2 month old great-granddaughter, Cosette, this last summer.

Baby Iris' middle name is also Matt's mother's middle name I believe.

Oh-oh

Or as Cosette says with no tone to her voice, "Oh."

Henri at 11 months

why? why?

Why must the 3 year old boy wake up his sister from her morning nap for the 2nd day in a row while I'm drying my hair?

Hearing Cosette screaming at the top of her lungs, I walk out of my bathroom and into the hallway.

A boy, skipping toward me waving a handful of wooden spoons, says, "Cozy woke up!"

"Henri, did you wake her up?" I asked.

Henri: "Yes, I did. Because she wanted to wake up."

Why? Why? Why?!

visiting Auntie Kristin & Uncle Matt

While I folded clothes in our unfinished basement this morning, Henri sat in his car and announced that he was going to visit Uncle Matt & Auntie Kristin, who live on the west coast.

He zoomed across the basement, stopping near me, and saying, "We're here! Mama, you be Auntie Kristin! Auntie, Kristin, look what I brought you. A remote control and a Mary Poppins video."

Because what else would you bring your Aunt & Uncle after driving 2,000 miles?

You may remember that Johnny's sister Kristin & her husband Matt are expecting their first baby soon (a girl). I'll keep you posted. They are holding Cosette in the picture above when they visited us over New Years.

I have a cold

Maybe I got it from my Papa, who maybe got it from my brother.

My mama has a cold now too. Maybe she got it from me.

Brynn comes home

My sister and brother-in-law took their baby girl home Saturday night. She weighed in at just over 4 pounds. We got to visit her on Sunday at their new home on a lake.

the haircut

After pushing his hair out of his eyes constantly for days, Henri finally conceded to a haircut last Tuesday.

BEFORE

He could model this look, don't you think? :)

But this face is a more normal look for my boy.

AFTER

I just don't feel like I've got any good pictures from that night. See the previous post for his "after" haircut.

writing with frozen blueberries

a favorite treat of Henri's

Is it really Wednesday already?

Thanks to those of you who prayed about our showing. We did find out that the Realtor did not bring his client into the house, but they did drive by. With 34 showings set up that morning, they didn't go into every home. The client didn't like the location of our home.

My brother-in-law fixed my car yesterday, so I'm off to the grocery store today. Thanks Tony!

imagining

Imagine waking up Friday morning and getting out of the shower after an up and down day emotionally to a telephone call that informs you that you have 90 minutes before a showing on your home. Our 3rd showing ever since we put our home on the market at the beginning of May! We felt compelled to accept it.

Scrambling

I felt like crying. So we scrambled cleaning up as fast as we could, and Johnny asked if the Realtor could push back the showing a bit. The showing was at 10:00am. Johnny wasn't going to work. He was cleaning up. Our office/guestroom/Cosette's room was filled with computer items and office papers. I called my gem of a friend, Rachel, to beg for help. She obliged, and helped dress and feed my children while Johnny and I picked up, straightened out, and cleaned. (I wish I could say I kept the house picked-up all the time, but I don't.)

Around 9:30am, we got a call that the showing could be pushed back to 10:45am. Hooray!

Vacuuming?

I started vacuuming and THE VACUUM CLEANER BROKE! The upright part separated from the floor piece. Thankfully, all I had to do was push it back together. But I couldn't pull on the vacuum, just push it, or it would separate. I had to fix it many times.

Rachel had to leave to take Ava to preschool. We made her late. I'm so grateful for her help. She even arranged a pretty centerpiece of fruit on my dining table.

Windowing

Okay so that's not a word. Johnny was loading up the car around 10:15am. He came in laughing. "Guess what we forgot, Honey?"

"What?" I asked suspiciously.

"We forgot about the sash guys!"

Following Johnny inside the house were two men with a new window for our basement. It had been leaking, and I completely forgot about the appointment and to check my calendar. They thought they could get the new window in before the showing.

We waited while they worked quickly. The kids were loaded up and we were ready to go. It was 10:50am, and they were done. They gathered up their things and left. Whew!

Waiting

Since my car was outside our home and not working, Johnny took off the day from work. He drives a car with a manual transmission, and I cannot drive a stick. I've tried, but I just cannot coordinate it right.

We decided to visit my sister and our niece, Brynn, and drive a half hour north. Johnny got to see her as she wore her sunglasses and basked in the lights.


I saw her the night before with eyes wide open as the little pumpkin looked around, but I didn't get any pictures. She's doing good. Jaime's doctor said that developmentally, she's at 37 weeks. She's just tiny. The doctor suspects Intrauterine Growth Restriction. They're testing her for different conditions to ensure that's all it is. She's eating really well. Tony and Jaime headed home today, but Brynn is staying in the hospital until she starts to gain weight. (Most babies lose weight in the hospital). They're not positive as to when Brynn will get to leave, but it looks like it will be sometime mid to late week. (So soon!)

The end.

P.S. We got home, and there was no business card left from the real estate agent, no indication that anyone had come into our home. Johnny drove me 20 miles to work Friday night, picked me up, and drove me out there again this morning. Then back to work just 3 miles away this evening and back again tomorrow morning. My car goes in on Monday. Brynn's daddy, my brother-in-law Tony, is an auto mechanic and offered to look at it then.

skunks are cute

2004 skunk #1:


This year's skunk #2

my brain is tired

Many things happened today from the birth of my niece (she's beautiful with dark rabbit-like hair and big dark eyes) to the jumping of my car (it's not working and sitting in front of our house). Plus many other things came up one after the other that affected me emotionally, spiritually, and intellectually. It's been one of those days where you feel different emotion after different emotion, both positive and negative (pity, excitement, shame, joy, impatience, fear, gratitude), that you can't process it all and feel paralyzed. Nothing tragic happened. Many good and wonderful things happened. Just a lot happened, and many I need to deal with tomorrow and within the next few days. I'm not trying to complain, but I fear it may be sounding like a complaining post. Ahh, for some wisdom and peace. But you know how it feels. I've been asking the Lord to drive me to my knees in prayer more often, and it's days like this where I sense he might be doing just that.

It's a...

GIRL!

My sister Jaime and her husband Tony gave birth to their 2nd child this morning at 9:52am.
We praise Jesus Christ for:

Brynn Noelle
3lbs 14oz
16 inches

Big brother Chase (3) is very excited to have a baby sister.

She was born 4 weeks early, is in the Level 2 nursery but doing fine. Please pray that Brynn will nurse and continue to do well so that she can leave the hospital sooner than later.