30 Days

Today is June 1st. On the last day of this month (unless she is a plan-spoiler like her older sister,) our new daughter will be born. Of course we look forward to that day with excitement and joy, but I will confess that I always also dread labor day--or at least the six weeks that follow. The last 30 days sends me into a frenzy of to do lists and anxiety.

You see, as much as I adore having a new baby, as much as I weep at the miracle of each new birth, as much as I treasure holding that special little child in my arms, I am a wreck after I have a baby. I am not one of those girls who bounces back, showing up at parties in cute clothes when the baby is a week old. Oh, no. When I have a baby, I lock myself in the house, avoiding contact with everyone except my mother, whom I cling to pathetically, and anyone who brings by a meal. I don't get any projects done for a LONG, LONG time, and don't want my picture taken for a year.

So, knowing that I'll accomplish absolutely nothing except for keeping my children alive in the weeks following her birth, my last 30 days are for scurrying around, trying to cram in everything that I won't get to later. Here's my list:

• Get the girls' closet organized, with a wire organizer and cubbies added for new baby's clothes, blankets, burpcloths, etc.
• Buy the fabric for the new bedskirt and cribskirt (anyone have a Joann's coupon sitting around?)
  
• Dig out the newborn baby clothes from the garage (which are hiding behind a barricade of my mom's stuff); determine which, if any, can be used for a summer baby. Wash them.
• Take a weekend getaway with my husband. Sleep in. Read a lot. Pay attention to him. Eat out. (scheduled)
• Look for acts of service to perform every or most days for other people.
• Go to the temple two more times. (scheduled)
  
• Take the kids swimming as much as possible.
• Win free ice cream for a year.
• Have at least two playdates for my kids every week in June at my house.
• Get my ironing pile down to nothing or at least down to the week's Sunday clothes.
• Take my boys to art camp, twilight camp, and swim lessons (scheduled).
• Help my sister with her new baby, coming soon . . .
  
• Help my mom get settled into her new house, coming soon . . .
  
• Read the new writing curriculum I bought for next year.
• Research and order a science and Latin curriculum for next year.
• Visit the new homeopathic/holistic pediatrician and make sure he's the right fit for us.
• Post on my blog more often.
• Plan and execute Sharing Time every Sunday in June.
• Stop eating so many sweets--getting down to one a day would be a good start!
• Drop off some stuff at D.I. and the recycling center.
• Finish ancient India and China chapters in history.
• Finish up math curriculum for the year (Henry has one more lesson, Kimball has five.)
• Mail off a package to Scrappy that was mis-addressed at Christmas time and still sits in my bedroom.
• Make more pickles (love this recipe from Prudence Pennywise).
• Get a pedicure.
  

This list is sure to grow as quickly as I check things off, but I have learned (with one preemie and one baby who decided to be born 8 days before her scheduled c-section, baby shower, and my hair cut-and-color) that we will all survive if the list doesn't get completed. Still, I will be plugging away at it, come what may, for the NEXT 30 DAYS. And hopefully, when labor day comes, I'll be able to relax and enjoy it as much as my hormones will let me!



What are you doing in June?

The baby who slept

Three years ago this week, we welcomed our third baby into the family. I had a great deal of trepidation in the weeks before Ian's birth, and none of my anxiety was about childbirth (after all, it was a scheduled c-section. What's scary about that?) My transition to two children, two and a half years previously, had been difficult for a number of reasons. But that post about Henry's first months is for another day. The point is, I was scared to death that I would have another baby who cried a lot, required me to change my diet dramatically, never slept, and that I would spend six months struggling with post-partum depression. Could I dare hope that this baby would be an "easy" baby, like those I'd heard about before?
Some of you will say that there are no easy babies, but I beg to differ. If you start off with a preemie who doesn't know how to eat and is easily overstimulated (and turns out to be on the autistic spectrum a few years later,) and then follow that up with a baby who has colic and wants to be held at all times, awake or asleep, then a third baby who sleeps a lot, eats quickly and greedily, and has an even temper is easy as can be. And Ian turned out to be such a child. Thank goodness that he was, because I still had my hands full with his older brothers.
Ian has continued to be a complete delight to his parents. We fiercely love all of our children, but it has been easy to enjoy Ian because he is almost always light hearted, rambunctious, hysterical, and the boy can sleep! By the time he was seven weeks old, he was sleeping 12 hours straight at night--that's without waking up to eat-- and taking two naps a day. He has also been so flexible in his schedule. Of course, you will say, the third child has to be flexible. You are always having to wake them up to pick up someone from school or go on a playdate. That is true, but not all children who have their sleep disrupted regularly do so without being miserable to live with.
Ian also seems to be about as typical as a little boy can be. He is into pirates and cowboys and trains and dinosaurs. He takes imaginative play to a level that I haven't witnessed with our other children. He demands that we sing to him before bed. His favorites: Sweet Baby James and Ragtime Cowboy Joe, although he does also request the "Dog Bites" song (My Favorite Things). And he makes us laugh every day.
So, as we celebrate his third birthday (with everything cowboy) this week, both Jared & I feel so grateful to have this little guy in our lives. Each of our children teaches us different things and in different ways. I think that Ian has helped us to relax and to relish.
Happy Birthday, little cowboy. We love you.