The Big News

I've not said anything here because I am terrified of jinxing it, but I can't keep it in anymore. I'm too excited.

It was unexpected (as some of the best things in life are; see photo below for proof):
But it's exciting, nonetheless.

Folks, we're about to be homeowners. Yep. Team Thomason is moving its home base about a mile west. We're buying a townhouse-style condo here in our town. We got an amazing deal and managed to make the financing work with nothing down (it's complicated and the result of (1) a half-hour long conversation with one of my contacts at a local community bank full of "what if we..." and some really awesome creative legal thinking - it was so fun and (2) an awesome seller who was/is willing to work with us).

OK, so, we're scheduled to close on July 1, but we're probably moving before that so our landlord can get our apartment rented. I'm sad to be leaving this apartment. We've lived here for three years, we have amazing neighbors and an awesome commute, and BOTH OF MY BABIES CAME HOME FROM THE HOSPITAL TO THIS PLACE - BWAHAHAHA! - but we are so excited to be paying "rent" to ourselves. AND it won't be much more expensive than our current rent, even with taxes, condo fees, etc. Score. AND I'm saving a ton of money on attorney's fees by doing most of the work myself (rock on!).

Plus, the new place has a pool. :)

It's a two bedroom with a finished basement we'll be using as a third bedroom, and it's perfect for us. It's move-in ready, but we can still make some changes to make it ours. It's only got one major flaw (we'll need to replace the 50-year-old furnace) but given that we're getting such a great deal, we'll take it.

All that said, especially in my line of work, I understand that it's not done until it's done. So we're cautious. But we're SO EXCITED!!!!

So - want to come for a visit??

Our daily schedule

I always find these posts interesting on other people's blogs, and I love looking back on them on my own, so here's a summary of what my day looks like with a toddler, a baby, and a Biglaw job:

5:30 am - I wake up, feed babygirl (lying in bed, snoozing)

6:00 am - Leah sleeping peacefully in my bed, I nudge Bryan to keep a hand on her and I get up and shower, etc.

6:30-7:00 am - Eden gets up. We eat breakfast together (I stop what I'm doing getting ready and eat with her. I eat breakfast every day and she eats breakfast every day, and we both eat cereal 99% of the time, so I have made a priority to eat with her at the table. It's our girl time together and we often have our best conversations at this time.)

7:00-7:30 am - Eden watches a little TV, does her morning routine (hand massage, getting dressed, hair, teeth-brushing, etc.) Sometimes Bryan handles this, sometimes I handle it; it just depends on who has more time at the moment. (Usually it's Bryan).

7:30 am - I try to pump.* Sometimes I'm running late and end up missing this (which means that the first time I pump at work it's a little ridiculous...)

8:00 am - Out the door. Walk to bus, take bus to train, train to downtown, walk to work.

9:00 am - At work. [Yes, I get up at 5:30 am to make it to work at 9. This is crazy.] Bill as much as I can until

11:00 am - Pump. Sometimes I try to get some work done while pumping hands-free, but it's difficult because the room I use is on a different floor, there's setup and takedown time, and it doesn't actually take that long to physically pump. So I end up billing maybe .3 hours.

11:30 am - Back to work, eat lunch at my desk. Bill as much as I can until

3:00 pm - Pump again.

3:30 pm - Back to work, eat a snack. Bill as much as I can until

5:30-6:00 pm - Leave work. (I know, I am really blessed to be at a firm/in a group in which this is totally acceptable. And I'm not the only one doing it. In fact, if I'm there until 6:30 I'm often the last one to leave).

6:30-7:00 pm - Arrive home. Grab Leah from Bryan and feed her while Bryan and Eden have dinner (usually - sometimes Leah's schedule works out so that I can eat with them and then feed her).

7:30 pm - Eden takes a bath, Leah's playing. Then Eden's bedtime routine (hand massage, jammies, hair, teeth-brushing, etc). This is when I get some quality time with one or both kids. I either do Eden's routine or play with Leah (or both!), depending on the night. Bryan and I rotate who puts Eden to bed, based on the sleep consultant's recommendation, and it's kind of nice to have scheduled individual time. Usually at least once a week Bryan has something going on in the evenings so I end up putting them both to bed, but that hasn't been too much of a problem so far...

8:00 pm - Whoever is putting Eden to bed reads her 2 books, then we all read her Bible together and then pray as a family. (Eden always wants to pray for the same 4 people. So we do.) Usually at some point during this timeframe Leah goes to sleep as well. Her bedtime routine involves laying her in her bed. Much faster. She doesn't even really need a pacifier anymore except to show her she's tired. She spits it out and gets her thumb when she starts to get cozy in her bed.

8:30 pm - Both girls asleep. Hopefully. Time for relaxing, catching up with Bryan, etc.

9:00 pm - If both girls are really asleep, either log back in and work or watch DVR. Or Modern Family on DVD. (Why haven't we been watching that show all along? It is awesome.) Or just hang out and talk to my husband. You know, that guy that I had these two beautiful babies with? :)

(Love this picture so much - it's the background on my phone right now...)

It's a crazy crazy day, but it's also so amazing in almost every way and I wouldn't change it. Except maybe I'd spend more time at home and less time working, but who wouldn't? And, while I'm not married to my job for forever, for now it works for us and allows me to provide for my family in a way that pretty much no other job can. (That's my working mom mantra of the week).

Unsure...

I'm not sure how I feel about Osama bin Laden's death. Actually, I know I feel a little conflicted.

Mostly I feel shocked, stunned that someone who has had so much power over the psyche of this world for so long is no longer in it. I'm not sure what a post-bin Laden world looks like. Am I happy? That's complicated.

I feel relieved because his reign of terror is over.
I feel cynical because his followers will most likely just pick up the torch. And even more so because it is a reminder of the human condition apart from God - we are capable of terrible, terrible things.
I feel worried that this very event will spark backlash.

I feel glad because he was finally captured and is no longer capable of the mass destruction he caused, and hopeful that it will end even a little bit of the terror in the world today, even just in people's hearts, healing the victims of 9/11.
I feel sad that his life is over, because I believe all life is sacred and created by God (he was also knit together by God in his mother's womb), and knowing where he is now makes me uncomfortable rejoicing at his misery. I know that he caused misery for millions, but I'm not sure that makes me happy that he is in hell. Plus, as so many have pointed out, God does not rejoice in the death of anyone.

But part of me also is happy he's in hell. But I think that might be a tiny manifestation of the same part of me that makes humans capable of those terrible things he did.

I think I would have been a lot less conflicted, and almost entirely rejoicing, if he'd been captured alive. Out of the picture but not killed by human hands.

I know this is rambling but so is my brain. I've been having these conversations with myself for 36 hours now...

Training

So... I'm training for a triathlon.

Which means I must learn to swim 1/4 mile, bike 10 miles, and run 5K. One right after the other. I'm pretty sure I'm crazy for agreeing to do this, but my thinking was (is) that it will be a great motivator to get to the gym, get back in shape. Now that my gym buddy left, I needed something. My friend Connie did this tri last year and has been trying to get more people to do it with her this year. So I agreed. It's on September 11. Yikes!

I started training a couple of months ago and now I can officially say I've run 1.75 miles at once, which I couldn't say before. And I've swum 250 yards (which doesn't seem like much, but WOW swimming is EXHAUSTING!). And I've biked about 3 miles. This considering I hadn't worked out at all in a year, and I could maybe do 1/3 of that when I started out, so I'm feeling pretty excited. Alarmed at how out of shape I was/am, but excited nonetheless. Progress excites me.

You know what else excites me? This shiny new thing my awesome husband surprised me with for our anniversary (despite the fact that we agreed we were NOT buying each other gifts):

:) LOVE LOVE LOVE it. :) It's super lightweight and shiny and smooth and it's beautiful.

I also broke the no-gift rule, and bought him a new wallet (which he desperately needed, because he's used the same wallet for about 9 of the 10 years we've been married). I was feeling quite excited and happy to surprise him, and then when I did he said, "Oh I feel so bad, I thought we weren't getting each other gifts," to which I responded that I didn't expect a gift, we'd agreed not to get each other gifts, and I'd been wanting to get him a wallet anyway for a long time. Stinker had a brand new bicycle waiting for me in our bedroom. :)

OK back to the training thing. I'm now soliciting training tips. I've downloaded a training plan from the all-knowing Internets, but I'll take tips from anyone willing to dish them out!! Anyone out there done a tri before?

Three Months Old - Already?

Leah Bear,


You are three months old, and it has FLOWN by. Yesterday you were a newborn, and today you're an infant. You smile and coo (you're very vocal, and love to have conversations!), and just this week you actually giggled for the first time. That was a very welcome treat, because I've gone back to work now and I miss you (and your sister, and your Daddy) all day. It was very hard to come back to work, especially knowing that the demands of my job will very likely keep me from you much more often than I'd like. It's been almost a week and things are going fine so far, but I miss spending my days with my sweet little baby girl!


You are such a delight, Sweet Girl. You are the easiest baby I have ever met. You're perfectly content most of the time. You have been fighting something viral that keeps kicking in a fever, and we know when you start to get hot because you start to fuss a little bit. Not scream or even really cry all that much, but just get a little discontent, just enough to let us know you're uncomfortable.


You haven't rolled over yet, but you're awfully close. You get to your side from your back and just sort of hang out there. On your tummy you're usually more interested in balancing on your belly button or eating your hands than rolling over, so I bet that takes a little longer (though, yesterday morning was an exception and I really thought you might do it - I was afraid to look away!).


Speaking of your hands, you've mostly given up the pacifier except for a few sucks right at bedtime. But you've discovered your thumb and you LOVE it. Sometimes you wake your Daddy and me up at night because you're sucking so loudly! You're consistently able to get your hands to your mouth now when you want them, and you're grasping toys and bringing them to your mouth as well.


You sleep through the night now, eating at about 7 and then again just before I go to bed (I wake you and "dream feed" you in your sleep - I LOVE that time together, because you're so peaceful and the house is quiet and it's just us), and then you usually sleep until 5:30 or 6:00 (and then go back to sleep for another hour!). You're not on too much of a regular schedule throughout the day just yet, but you're getting there. You're at least eating pretty predictably, which is really nice for your pumping mama.


You seem to really recognize the members of our little family, and light up when you see us. But, without a doubt, Eden is your favorite. You see her and you're instantly smiling. She's constantly saying, "Mommy, look at that pretty smile!" She loves you very much too - and you are often both found lying under the arches of your play gym, smiling and cooing a each other. I sure hope that you continue to be great friends.

I love you so much Little Leah. I am so happy you've joined our family; you're such an incredible joy, and I like to call you my favorite surprise. Keep growing big and strong and smiling like you own the moon.


Love you babygirl,
Mommy

Ten.

Ten years ago tomorrow I became Bryan's wife.

It was crazy. We were eighteen. We had no idea what we were doing. We've had a rough patch here and there, but at the end of the day we are best friends and partners in this life, and I love him more deeply now than I ever imagined I would back then. Crazy? Yes. But I wouldn't change it for a second.

In the last ten years we've made too many memories to count. A little trip down memory lane:

Here's to 70 more, my love.

Labor Music

Hello from windy, cold Oklahoma! (What???) I'm sitting in our hotel room waiting to be sure the girls are asleep before Bryan and I start watching more of Season 1 of Modern Family on DVD (thanks Meg!!! You were so right!!!) so I thought I'd blog a little...

Three of my friends are having babies (hopefully, probably) this month and one asked for ideas for a labor playlist. My husband being the music lover he is, I had two, and I still have them on my phone. I still use them for relaxing with the bambina (who is totally awesome, btw... More on that later) or training for my September triathlon (More on that later too...) Anyway, I thought my reply to her might be interesting or useful to someone out there in Internetland, so here it is!!

Bryan made me 2 playlists: Labor Pains (chill) and Labor Pains (fight). I wanted relaxing music for most of labor and inspirational music for the big show. :)

Here's what he put on there (a tribute to our very different musical tastes):

I. Labor Pains (chill):
Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing (Sufjan Stevens)
Gleypa Okkur (Olafur Arnalds)
Let My Words Be Few
Talk Show Host (Christopher O'Riley [a guy who plays Radiohead songs on the piano])
Joy (George Winston)
Forever (Ben Harper)
Let it Be Me (Ray LaMontagne [This one puts Leah to sleep now and I love singing it to her!]
In These Arms (The Swell Season)
Glimpses (Peter Vantine)
Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space (Spiritualized)
When All Around Has Fallen (?)
I Can Fly (Peter Vantine)
(Nice Dream) (Christopher O'Riley)
The Distance Beyond (Peter Vantine)
Center (HFC Rehersal Disc)
Some music from the "()" album by Sigur Ros
Praise to the Lord
Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) (Chris Tomlin)
We Fall Down (Passion)
Motion Picture Sountrack (Christopher O'Riley)
Wild Child (Enya)
Hazy (Rosi Golan feat. William Fitzsimmons)
Haegt, Kemur Ljosio (Olafur Arnalds)
Before the Throne of God Above (HFC Rehearsal Disc)
Tunglio (Olafur Arnalds)
Variations on the Kanon (George Winston)
Pu Ert Jordin [or something like that...] (Olafur Arnalds)
Andvari (Sigur Ros)
Kjurrt (Olafur Arnalds)
Let Down (Christopher O'Riley)
Svefn-g-englar (Sigur Ros)
The Humpty Dumpty Love Song (Travis)
Homecoming (Peter Vantine)
Wonderful Maker
Peace (George Winston)
Undan Hulu (Olafur Arnalds)
Thanksgiving (George Winston)
Holy, Holy, Holy (Sufjan Stevens)
Bulletproof (Christopher O'Riley)
Pu Ert Solin ([again, something like that] (Olafur Arnalds)
The Problem of Pain (William Fitzsimmons)
Exit Music (For a Film) (Christopher O'Riley)
Cuttooth (Christopher O'Riley)
A Day WIthout Rain (Enya)
Everything in its Right Place (Christopher O'Riley)
Loftio Verdur Skyndilega Kalt (Olafur Arnalds)
Pau Hafa Sloppio Undan Punga... (Olafur Arnalds)
No Surprises (the String Quartet tribute to Radiohead) [All of this Radiohead stuff I made him skip as it came on when I was in labor - I'd told him he could put A COUPLE on there. Clearly, he overdid it. :)]
Window (The Album Leaf)
There There (Christopher O'Riley)
Amazing Grace (Sufjan Stevens)
Prayer (Peter Vantine)
[There was also a lot of Mozart on there but I'm not exactly sure what it was so I didn't include it here - there were 66 songs total on this list! It was the major part of the evening of course!]

II. Labor Pains (fight)
You Are My Joy (The Reindeer Section) [LOVE this one for havin' a baby!!]
Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble
Open Your Eyes (Snow Patrol)
I Need Thee Every Hour (Jars of Clay) [My favorite hymn, and OH SO APT for labor]
1901 (Phoenix) [Another band I made him skip every time, mostly because I don't love them and I wanted stuff I LOVED - I had zero patience for being annoyed by music].
O, For a Thousand Tongues to Sing
I Will Lift My Eyes (Bebo Norman)
Comin' Up From Behind (Marcy Playground) [This is the song I used to listen to before every.single.law school exam. :)]
Saeglopur (Sigur Ros)
All Over the World
Chasing Cars (Snow Patrol)
How We Operate (Gomez)
Salvation is Here (Hillsong)
Indescribable (Chris Tomlin)
Blessed Be Your Name
Marvelous Light
God Will Lift Up Your Head (Jars of Clay) [there's a line - "Through waves and clouds and storms / He gently clears the way / Wait 'cause in His time so shall this night / Soon end in joy" - LOVE it. For me, the visualization of labor was all about a short time of suffering ending in pure love and joy. This part of this song was perfect for that.]
Fitzcarraldo (The Frames)
Jesus Paid it All
Majesty
Winding Road (Bonnie Somerville)
You Are the Best Thing (Ray LaMontagne)
The Highest and the Greatest
Birthday (The Beatles)
Be My Covering (Bebo Norman)
Life on a Chain (Pete Yorn)
Keep on Pushing (the Impressions) [HA.HA.HA...]
O Praise Him
Praise is Rising (Hosanna)

One Month Old

Sweet Leah,

You were officially one month old yesterday! (I would have posted this yesterday but I was saying goodbye to your Uncle John and Aunt Kelli. They moved to Texas yesterday and we were all pretty consumed with saying goodbye.)

You're such a great baby. We are so blessed to have you. To be honest I am a little afraid of it, because I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop! But so far, we've been so incredibly blessed. You continue to nurse very well, to sleep very well, and to delight us with your sweet, easygoing personality. You love to be held, and often want to be bounced or rocked to sleep. You'll cry and fuss, and then all of a sudden fall asleep - all at once. It's kind of funny.

You're a big girl. At your one-month checkup, you weighed 10 lb 2 oz, which puts you somewhere around the 85th percentile for weight. You are a whopping 24 inches long, which puts you around the 95th percentile for height! Your torso is very long- you're outgrowing onesies right and left!

You have what I call a "witching hour" in the evening. It used to be at least an hour of crying and fussing until you fell asleep, but lately it's more like half an hour or 45 minutes, so we're cutting it down!

You sleep well at night, waking up to nurse and going right back to sleep. You and I are up for about 15-20 minutes, usually. It's usually twice a night, but occasionally only once (!). You surprise us with a 5, 5 1/2, or even longer stretch between nighttime feedings every couple of days. A few days ago, you stretched it to almost 7 hours! I was excited about that!!

You continue to be a pro at tummy time. You're turning side to side and lifting up your head. You don't mind being on your tummy. You'll spend half an hour or more lying there until you get bored and want a change of scenery. Several times you've gotten so comfortable you fell asleep!

But the best development of the last month just happened a few days ago. You smiled!! A real, solid, responsive smile. Your sister was the (completely unaware) recipient. Then you smiled the next day at your Daddy. And then you smiled yesterday at Aunt Kelli. And today, I finally got in on the action! :) We haven't gotten a picture of the full smile, but we've gotten a few pictures of the half-smile. We'll work on that.

We love you baby girl. Keep growing big and strong! And keep smiling - it's beautiful!

Love,

Mommy

Two weeks!

Sweet Leah,

I can hardly believe it's only been 14 days since you were born. You are already such a part of our family it almost feels like you've been here all along. For the first several days after we brought you home I had stuck in my head the last couple of lines of the theme song to the Wiggles - it goes, "We’d like you to clap and sing and dance along too / Now that everybody’s here, That’ll be so easy, That’ll be so easy, That’ll be so easy to do." It's the "Now that everybody's here..." part that got me. You're here now, and it really does feel like you were always meant to be here. (Please forgive the Wiggles reference - you have a big sister who loves them at the moment...)

You're such a good baby. I realize that you're two weeks old, still very much a sleepy newborn, mostly just eating, sleeping, and pooping, but you're still such a good baby. You have nursed well from the beginning (and efficiently since we got home from the hospital and you started eating "real" milk!), you've slept well from the beginning (you're now in the habit of giving us one 5-hour stretch at night!), you're strong (you picked up and turned your head side to side like a pro your very first session of tummy time), and you are super cuddily! (And, much to your Daddy's chagrin - he handles output, I handle input - you poop a lot!)

We took you to the pediatrician today and you got a clean bill of health. You've gained back all the weight you lost at the hospital and then some (you were down to 8 lb 5 oz at discharge, now you're a robust 9 lb 2 oz, the 75th percentile!). You're long - you were 20.5 inches long at birth, now you're 22 1/4 inches, also about the 75th percentile, I think. Your head is right around average.

One of my favorite discoveries about you so far is that you have dimples in your cheeks. I'd forgotten that your Daddy has dimples - he's had a beard for nearly seven years now so I haven't seen them in a while, but you reminded me. They are beautiful and make your sweet, chubby cheeks even more kissable.

You've started to look at us now. When you're awake (a little rare, admittedly, but it does happen!), you catch my eye and I can't help but anticipate that first real smile. Tonight the two of us had some quality alone time (Eden is in bed and Daddy's out with the guys), and we started at each other for quite a while, you making funny faces and me trying to mimic you. And then we cuddled and rocked and bounced when you got fussy and ready to sleep.

Your big sister adores you. She asks for you first thing in the morning - "Where's Leah? I want to hold my baby." You tolerate her for now. You don't fuss when she holds you, so I suppose that is a good sign. One of these days you are going to love her. Trust me. And then you'll both be teenagers and things will get spotty. It's OK, it's what sisters do.

I can't wait to see what you'll look like as you grow, whether you'll look like Daddy or Mommy or Eden, or just some new combination all your own. (My guess is the latter!). You're doing great, little girl. We love you so much already, and we are so thankful that God gave us such an amazing surprise - as your Daddy said while we prayed over you a few days ago, He knows what we want so much more than we do, and we are so thankful that He knew we wanted you, precious girl. We are so, so thankful that He decided to bless us with your presence in our family, and we're so glad you're the one completing it.

Love,

Mommy

Peanuts and Chocolate

Quick story.

Bryan, Leah, and I went to the mall today and I saw a snack machine with a huge M&M sign so I decided I wanted some peanut M&Ms. The machine didn't show any prices so I plugged in $1, pushed the button, and it asked me for 25 more cents. $1.25? For M&Ms? OK, fine. I plugged in another $1, pushed the button. It says "Please wait." Then spits out my $.75 change. Then says "Please take your snack." But IT NEVER GAVE ME MY SNACK.

I was not about to spend another $1.25 for peanut M&Ms, so I fumed and let it go. We walked a bit further and Bryan spotted one of those stands with a bunch of bubble gum machines. Turns out, there was one with peanut M&Ms. For $.50. So, seriously jonesin' for some peanut M&Ms, I plug in my $.50, turn the crank, and out pops TWO peanut M&Ms. Seriously? OK, now I think the universe is angry with me. I just paid $1.75 for two M&Ms.

We wrap up our mall visit, me frustrated about the whole situation, but whatever, we're headed to Sonic for lunch (a real treat, because there is only one Sonic in Massachusetts, (and it's only been there for just over a year), and it's quite a hike for us). So at Sonic I order my super delicious cheese coney and tots, and because I'm frustrated about the M&Ms, I order a Reese's blast. The person on the other end of the line informs me that the ice cream machine is broken so they can't give me a blast.

At this point Bryan is basically rolling on the floorboards laughing. I am NOT amused.

We head home. On the way we pass a McDonald's. I politely (AHEM) request that my laughing husband stop briefly at McD's so I can get the McDonald's equivalent of a Blast (a McFlurry I think?) and the menu politely informs me that they only carry Oreo and regular M&M McFlurries.

At this point Bryan can barely drive.

Two seconds later he stops at a gas station and I make him go inside and get me some freaking peanut M&Ms, so I don't go postal if the station is out.

I down the M&Ms in the car. Honestly? They're not that great. But hey, I won the war.