Miss Chub, weighing in at a shocking 9 lbs. 11 oz, got to take her first real bath today because her umbilical cord finally decided to fall off.  Gotta love those fat cheeks.

I know, this is a silly thing to write a blog post about, but you have to understand, I’ve never put a dress on anyone but myself before!!!!  So putting a dress on Ladybug last Sunday was a totally new experience.  Newborns and dresses are… comical.   They can’t stand up so you can’t get the full effect of the dress.  And then they are often wrapped in a blanket or buckled into a carrier so you can’t even see the adorableness.  I have to say it seemed like a lot of work (it’s never easy to dress a newborn) for not a lot of show.  But hey, I got some great pictures, right?  Here are the results.
 

 

I wanted to share some of these fun pictures but don’t really have a rhyme or reason to them… Just fun.

 
Family “Togetherness” in the modern age

Reading with Grandma

Lego Patriotism

In a Tight Spot

An impromptu Family Portrait

 
Mama and her girl

For Grandma W                                         A Bear Bottom

 
Fuzzhead the 2nd

WARNING: I warned you in my last post about over exposure to pink, but this one is truly dangerous.  So beware!

One of my favorite parts of having a baby is the quilt that Rock’s mom makes.  Here is Ladybug’s.  I LOVE it! 

And just because I can’t resist taking pictures of her… here’s some from this afternoon’s photo shoot.  She’s still in onesies because that’s all that fits her!  But we reached 8 lbs this week!
 
 


  


We love our Ladybug!

Today, July 26th, is our 9th Wedding Anniversary. This date is hard for me to remember sometimes because there always seems to be something going on the 26th that has nothing to do with our anniversary. Sometimes it’s family reunions, twice now it’s been a new baby. We’re often celebrating birthdays or traveling on this day. And I’m not really good with remembering numbers-that’s Rock’s forte. But I remembered today as I was looking at our wedding picture on the wall in our bedroom. It’s been a while since I’ve really looked at it. My waist is thicker than it was then. His hairline is thinner than it was then. We’re less good looking then we used to be I suppose. But I can say after nine years that I am truly happy in my marriage. And I’ve learned through talking with friends that I have the world’s best husband. He is a man who does far more for me than is the norm and he deserves some recognition. His ego is already quite large, but I will risk making it bigger just this once to tell him why I love him more now than on the day this picture was taken.

Dear Rock, I love you because….
You still, after 9 years take me on a date every weekend.
And many of them are very creative dates.
You do the dishes right after dinner even though I’m the crazy one who wants them done then.
You change dirty diapers-sometimes two a day on weekends.
You bring me flowers, still.
You do the Costco shopping every Saturday when my pregnancies make it hard on my back.
You listen to me when I need to talk, even when you’d rather be sleeping.
You run the house the first three months and the last 3 weeks of every pregnancy.
Then you run the house some more after each baby comes.
You clean the toilets.
You send me to the Seven Senses Spa at least twice a year.
You watch the boys for entire days and sometimes whole weekends to give me a break and time to recharge myself.
You take the beds and cribs apart and move them and put them back together again every time I come up with a “better” way of sleeping the kids.
You IM me from work.
You let me pick Italian food 75% of the time when we go out to eat.
You watch one more episode with me when I want to keep going even when you’re tired.
You mop the floor before company comes-just because I’d like it done.
You love me unconditionally.
You make fresh guacamole every Sunday for dinner.
You tell me I’m beautiful.
You are patient with my worrying.
You fix my computer problems and are patient with me when I want to throw it across the room.
You hold my hand.
You still like and appreciate my cooking even though you get fancy catered meals at work.
You’re planning a wonderful 10th anniversary get away to the beach a year in advance and even though you hate the beach.
You are patient and levelheaded when I’m not.
You love me in all senses of the word. Thank you for making the last 9 years so happy for me. Thank you for sharing the hardships of parenting and adulthood and life in general and making them easier for me to bear. You are the best of men and I love you.

Happy Anniversary.

WARNING: The following blog post may be hazardous for those who become nauseated  from exposure to large amounts of pink.

Ladybug’s first week at home.  

First day home- Mr. Pres gave her a treasured teddy to sleep with. 

Couple more Big Brother pics from the first day home.

  
 


Ladybug’s fan club
 

I have one of these for Go Go and Blue Jeans too, so I had to get one with Ladybug.

 
 

Her favorite place-in my Moby wrap.

So far she’s a great sleeper and eater.  A very calm, peaceful baby.   I think we’ll keep her.

All of the boys adore Ladybug (Liberty). They practically smother her every chance they get. I worry she won’t make it to the age of 1 month, let alone 1 year. Ironically enough, though, the one that is the most gentle and sweet with her is Blue Jeans-the 2 year old. He’s just unsure enough of her that he manages to be gentle. He calls her “Baby Libby” and always wants to share his blanket with her. Whenever she cries he worries, “Baby Sad!”. He always wants to hold her, but upon being given her to hold he nervously says, “All done”. If he doesn’t get to kiss her goodnight he becomes hysterical.

I really haven’t seen much in the way of acting up or jealousy from him… until yesterday. Whether this is jealousy or just a smart little boy who knows when mom isn’t watching because she’s busy taking care of the baby, I’m not sure. It may be some of both. Here’s what Blue Jeans has been up to while no one was watching. Keep in mind, these all happened in a 2 day period.

1. Poured half a gallon of milk into the full sugar container (gallon size)
Exhibit A-cleaned out and EMPTY sugar container.

2. Poured the entire box of q-tips into the sink
Exhibit B

3. Dumped an entire Costco sized bag of fishy crackers on the floor
Exhibit C

4. Dumped a whole package of graham crackers into his “lunchbox” and hid to eat them
Exhibit D

5. Poured a water bottle on big brother’s scriptures
6. Disassembled the standing lamp
7. Upon being told no after asking me for a juice box, he gave me that sly look that I now know means trouble. We later found the empty juice box.
In addition to those things, he has decided to play covert operations on more than one occasion. When asked to come here he runs around to some other place in the house and flattens himself against the wall and hides until you come find him.

I will admit that Grandma and I have gotten to talking at different times this week and have paid less than adequate attention to our little Dennis the Menace a few times, but I shudder to think about what he’ll come up with next, especially once Grandma leaves and it’s just me against him!

It really IS a girl!!!

Lady Liberty arrived Friday July 9th 2010 at 9:28 PM. She weighed 7 lbs. even and was 19 inches long. She was 13 days early just like her brothers before her. She looks exactly like Go Go did when he was born. She’s got strawberry blonde hair that will undoubtedly fall out in a month or two, but I’m thrilled to have something to stick a pink bow in!!!

The boys got to meet her yesterday. Having all of them crammed into our little hospital room was quite the circus. After getting to hold her…

They decided the rest of the room was more interesting.

And for anyone still left in doubt…

Rock and I are having a hard time remembering to say SHE instead of HE! It’s pretty sad. I wonder when we’ll get used to this!

Her brothers adore her and can’t hold her enough. They are fascinated by this new little creature in our home.
She is One of a Kind and we are so glad she’s here!

Rock and I have a very hard time choosing baby names.  We NEVER agree and so we don’t even start looking until we know what the baby is going to be.  He likes unusual names and I like normal ones.  It is a miracle we have named 3 children.  And once we do decide on a name we usually keep it quiet until baby is born, much to the chagrin of our families.  But this time our boys have literally been praying we would agree on a name, so when we finally did, we figured we should tell them….and YOU!  
This week we gave the boys the letters to her first name (we’re still working on a middle name) and told them to figure it out.

Here’s what they came up with!

 
So in honor of the 4th of July and for those of you who have been wondering, here it is.  Unusual enough for Rock and meaningful to me.  As many of you know I love US history and have been studying it a lot this year.  I am so grateful to our founding fathers and for the principles of government and freedom that they gave to us.  Our Liberty is very important to me and I want to do all I can to teach my children to appreciate it.  I think too many in my generation and the next don’t appreciate it and aren’t defending it against those who would take it away surreptitiously.  So this name just seemed perfect to me for a baby born in a time when our Liberty must be defended in a new way.  One of my favorite quotes from Ronald Reagan is,

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free. 

But enough of the soap box.  Rock likes the nickname Bree, I like Libby.  I’m doing her room in ladybugs, so maybe we’ll call her Ladybug or Breebug.  Who knows.  Here’s a sneak peak at her room.  It’s not what I’d do if we owned the home, but white walls will have to do for now.
  

Stay tuned for pictures of  her when she actually arrives!  And let’s hope she really IS a girl!   

I just finished writing a thank you note to Mr. President’s 1st grade teacher to thank her for all her hard work, patience and love for him this year.  It’s the first time I’ve been on the writing end instead of the receiving end and I balled like a baby as I wrote it.  It has not been an easy year for Ms. V.  She struggled with many of the same things in teaching Mr. President that I did and that led me to send him to public school rather than keeping him home and teaching him myself.  Because I have been a teacher and know how hard it is to teach some kids while still loving them and helping them to enjoy school, I appreciate her work more than the regular parent I think.  Because I know what that struggle is like as a public school teacher and as Mr. President’s mother, I just can’t thank her enough. 
The phrase, “Those who can’t, teach” has always bothered me because I know how much work good teachers put into their jobs and their students.  I have my beef with the public school system, don’t get me wrong.   I know there are many teachers who don’t work hard at all not to mention all the bureaucratic garbage that exists in the system.  And I still hope to someday try homeschooling again. But there are so many of us who can’t teach our own kids though we’d like to and it is a great blessing when you get a dedicated, loving teacher who is willing to work with your child even when it’s hard.  My little boy learned to read and love it this year.  He learned to love writing and he made some good friends.  I know there will be teachers who are not so loving and patient with my child.  He is a unique challenge.  But I’m grateful that for at least this first full year in school, he had a great teacher.  Thanks, Ms. V.