Announcing....

Emiline Rhys Ludlow

May 28, 2010 2:15 am
8 lbs 6 oz 20.25 in
medium brownish wisps of hair, eye color undetermined

born in the caul (i.e. my bag of waters/amniotic membrane didn't break during l&d and she was inside it. It was like opening a present in the strangest wrapping!)

We'd have been more on the ball with our online announcement, but there was a problem coming up with a name...on the plus side, you'll get more pictures for your patience!



My birth "attendants": Mom on the left and my midwife on the right.

Daddy and his girls. Jane meeting her baby sister for the first time.

Emiline started to cry and Jane said "My baby cry, hug!"


Emiline had been out cold before her big sister showed up. Jane started talking and Emiline's eyes popped wide open.


And here she is today at home before church.

Score!

We didn't get a lot, or any, big baby gear besides the basic crib, stroller and car seat. And /jane didn't like the swing I borrowed from my sister much (or this typical 1st time mommy didn't really give her chance to like it what with all my holding her all the time and all) and she had no use for the bouncer we borrowed. But I'm fairly sure Rhysinor will have more time to appreciate the swing, so I've been on the look out for something that will work in our apartment and that was REALLY cheap. I'd troll craigslist obsessively for a few weeks at a time and hem and haw over options, I'd started to drive by garage sales and poke into Once Upon A Child when I could (they were actually the sorriest looking option, until today that is!!).

FINALLY after nearly giving up, I found this:

for a grand total of $9.42 (I had a punch card and a discounted gift card from last Christmas). It's in GREAT condition, folds up pretty small... and I secretly think the price was mislabeled, but I'm thrilled. WOOT, WOOT! SCORE!

Not Yet

So I had an interesting night Wednesday; or a fun Thursday morning. Fairly sure something laborish was going on-- my entire torso felt like it was in knots and was about to explode via implosion. There were also the moments when I timed actual contractions (or the peaks of the weird feeling), nothing too serious at 8-ish min apart. I really WAS trying to relax and sleep, but it wasn't happening, so I got up and did stuff. Mostly I was worried about bringing a baby home to our master bedroom, since we'll be sharing for awhile, and my room has been on the bottom of the list AND it's been the dumping and sorting ground for the massive filing project I hope to complete before Rhysinor makes her lovely appearance...

So yesterday that was the focus. I had one of my old primary students come over and help for a few hours and now I feel the room is at least not scary if not slightly welcoming. More to do of course. I told my delightful little helper that if I had any intuition of the pregnant kind, I would say this baby is coming soon--especially because the laborish stuff went on all day. But I thought Jane was a boy (which she's not) and that she'd come early (2 weeks late)...so yeah.

Last night I slept great and today I feel "normal" at least so far ;-) So much for intuition and horrah for time to get stuff done!

Naming Game

It's not a very fun game these days. Eric is so picky and I can never talk with him seriously about names, because apparently it requires too much brain power and he's stalk piling all of that for finals. We have no short list. We really like Rhys and then we have a handful of names that are on a "kinda-like maybe" list, names like Elinor and Caroline and Mabel etc. We like them just kinda. I texted that list to a few friends and the winner is.....my amazing friend Holly Green! Here is her suggestion:

Rhysinor Carolinnea Maisiebel Ludlow

Congratulations Holly! If I was a cool blogger this would have been a give away and I would send you a prize in the mail. How 'bout a birth announcement?

Falling Down

Eric told her to say "grrrr!"

You know, if we could all retain that toddler persistence to learn and accomplish and grow our whole lives, we'd all be celestial by now--perfect and brilliant, etc. Take learning to walk or run. I read an article that talked about how many times a toddler falls in learning to walk, it was something ridiculously high.

Jane is finally getting into her gross motor development. Daddy "taught" her to jump the other day, not that Jane can jump, but she tries and says "jump" and laughs. She also likes to run and will repeat the word over and over as she waddles down the hall or where not. This has meant more falls lately as she tries to master this skill (or because her shoes don't fit?)

The other day, to use an Idaho phrase, she totally biffed it off the curb coming out of the post office and ended up with a scraped up face and a bloody nose. It all healed incredibly fast and barely bruised, so these pictures, taken a day or two later, are mostly cute because apparently Eric can get her to smile.

I know, I know, you can barely see it up there below her eye!
It was a little gruesome at one point, but it healed amazingly fast.

Let's hear it for Toddler Tenacity!!