The weekend in pictures...

This weekend, the whole family got dressed up to go to an 11 a.m. wedding.
(People with multiple children will know what kind of preparation that entails.)

But we did a terrible job taking into account the fact that Saturday was also the frikkin' Baltimore Marathon. So we were literally thwarted at every turn by roads closures and runners. Literally.

Thankfully, we were in two cars, so eventually, Lester just went on to the wedding himself and the rest of us turned around, went to the Red Canoe and had a muffin. All dressed up and slightly irritated, yes. But then... pumpkin muffins! Holla!

The boys looked sooo handsome in their button-up shirts and sweaters. Too bad they were covered in muffin 5 minutes later. Also, these heels were killing me! Ugh!

Lester said the wedding was really authentic and beautiful and it made him a little sentimental. This is the text message he sent from the reception:

Awwwww!

Later, Matty-Matt came to visit!

Of course, I had JUST put Clair and the boys down for a nap. So Clair missed her BFF. But at least that meant I got to have Matty all to myself!! He's AWESOME.

Matthew brought his Mom and Dad, too. And his big brother Russy, who absolutely loved, loved, loved Sara!

Russy and Sara ran and played non-stop. Do you hear me? Non-stop.

Russy played with the cat so much and so hard, as soon as he left, this happened:

Now I know what I have to do to get Sara to chill the eff out. Get a 5-year-old!

 A
nd still later, we all went to a playdate at Stacey's house. It was a ton of fun and noise and baked ziti and apple pie and ice cream. We loved every minute of it (except for the minutes when Cary was crying and Dean was screaming. But other than that...)

Kelly and Clair (who was starting to get sick, I think.) Also, Clair has no idea but she is sitting next to her future husband!

My friend Kelly came to the playdate with my sweetie-pie Naomi, and when it was time to leave, this happened. Unprompted. And repeatedly.

Check out Dean's form. Some things can't be taught, people.

We have always said that these two are betrothed. From the womb, we have said this. And Dean just keeps proving that we were right. Check out this photo from August, 2011. I think this might also have been unprompted. But even if it wasn't, you see who responded to a directive to "Give Naomi a kiss," and who just stared into space.

Why does Naomi always have the same face when Dean rolls up for a smooch?

Saturday night, Clair got sick. She had already been a bit snotty -- as are all the rest of us -- but overnight, she got so bad she couldn't sleep, and we had to suction her out at 4 a.m. FUN!

All day Sunday, she was miserable and barely napped. I felt sure she'd sleep at night, because she was so tired at dinner, she fell asleep in her highchair! (This would never have happened with C&D. They never slept anywhere but their beds. Ever.)

But she was so phleghmy and snuffly and coughing and hacking all night, she couldn't sleep. Even when I brought her in our bed, she was slightly happier because she got to lie on me and be comforted, but she literally kept us up just about the whole night. MORE FUN!

Lester stayed home with her today because I am super-swamped at work. I felt so bad leaving my poor sick baby. This is pretty much what she looked like when I left.

Finally, finally getting a little bit of rest, poor thing.

But later this morning, Lester sent this picture of her all cleaned and dressed and I feel much better that she feels much better! (Hooray for smartphones!)

Such a happy baby girl -- even when sick!

Now, let's see how tonight goes.  (Anyone want to invent some Baby Sudafed+Ambien? I'll be your first investor.)

Catching up in between feeding and napping

This blogging while parenting a new baby is proving more difficult than I thought!

It's been so long since my last post, I have so much to say, and of course Clair just woke up from a nap and is only being stalled temporarily from screaming by a glorious pacifier, so I don't know how much time I'll actually have.

But here goes.

Since last we met, a bunch has happened:

1. My Dad had his 60th birthday, and I took Clair down to D.C. to meet him for lunch to celebrate. It turned into a full day, as we picked up my middle sister, Kadija, from work so she could come too, and then the two of us went to visit our baby sister, Tahira, who had come home the day before from the hospital with her new baby, Matthew.

Check out Clair and Matthew together for the first time. She is SO much bigger than he, and only a month and a day older. But I suspect this won't last long, as Matthew's Dad is pretty big guy.



2. Our family noted that it has been a year (as of yesterday) since my brother Rashad's near-fatal car accident. This is cause for much rejoicing, and we're planning a big Easter-dinner celebration to really mark the occasion.

Here's Clair and her Uncle Rashad. This picture totally brings tears to my eyes, as there were many moments a year ago when we had no idea if he'd live or die. And here he is holding my unexpected baby daughter! So many miracles in this one photo, I can't even DEAL!
(Rashad calls her Lil' C. Why? I have no idea. But he has nicknames for everyone, so this is par for the course with him. I think it's cute...)



And here's Clair with her Uncle Haleem, my other brother. We don't get to see too much of him, because he is always off doing single-guy-with-no-kids things, so we will cherish this photo as evidence that he and she did, in fact, meet! And he fell in love instantly. (Of course.)



3. I got a little over-zealous with my newfound non-pregnant energy and decided to buy a bunch of organizational things at Target to try to make my house NOT look like a tornado hit it, and all the carrying heavy things and working has me feeling oh-so-sore. I had been feeling much better, but now I am having trouble sitting up in the bed again. So today, I am taking it easy, despite the fact that it is BEAUTIFUL outside (77 and sunny), and I really want to be outdoors with my boys. But come next week, back to getting my house in order!!!

4. Speaking of the boys, they are just getting so big and awesome! They are starting to tell "stories" about things that happened or things they'd like to happen. The stories have few, if any, verbs, mind you, mainly nouns, but you can certainly piece the tale together. One such exchange might go like this:

"Big Truck Book. Broke it. Dean. Mimi take it. Time out!"
or
"Outside, puh-leeeez. Park. Children. Later. After nap. Puh-leeeez."
or
"Bathtub. Upstairs. Mommy comin' too. MOMMY!! Comin!!"

It's so great to hear them start stringing so many thoughts together. We can actually have conversations! Last night at dinner, Cary told me he wanted a "new bib," because the one from lunch had "rice on it." (Hello, Mr. Neat-n-tidy!) So I got out two new bibs, one yellow and one blue. I handed Cary the yellow one and was about to hand Dean the blue one, when Cary said, "No! Blue one! Blue bib. No yellow one!"

This is the first time he's shown a preference for one item of clothing over another one. I was shocked. Who knew he cared which color bib he wore?

This, my friends, is so much better than screaming incessantly without words. I simply handed him the blue bib instead of the yellow one, and all was quiet at the table. Oh, the wonders of communication!! I know parents of older kids lament the nonstop talkativeness that comes with age, but I can't wait! (Will this come back to bite me? I'm pretty sure it will.)

Here's a cute video of Dean, attempting to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and you can actually hear a little bit of an actual tune!



5. I am failing miserably at the "get-Clair-on-an-eating-and-sleeping-schedule" attempt. Not only does she eat and sleep when she darn well feels like it, she also still sleeps in our bed! ACK!
Do you know how opposed to this I am? And how powerless I am to stop it?
The problem is that she will sleep in her crib, but only after she is REALLY REALLY asleep. That means I have to hold her for 20-30 minutes to make sure she's knocked out before putting her down. During the day, I can do it. But at night, while lying in my bed, eyes weighted down, back hurting etc., it's really hard to hold her that long without falling asleep myself. And when that happens -- usually long before 20-30 minutes has passed-- I just lie her down in the between us and try to steal a few winks, too.
And then, when she does go down in her crib, even during the day, she never sleeps as long. She tosses and turns and frets, or sometimes wakes fully and cries to be held. Again, during the day this is bearable, but at night, I am so darn sleepy that I just want her to sleeeeeeeep (please dear Lord, let her sleeeeeep) so I allow her to snooze in between Lester and me at night. And for about a week now, that has meant at least one 4-hour stretch of sleep per night, usually between 2 and 6 or 3 and 7. Do you know how good those four hours feel? Let's just say I'm happily sacrificing my ...er..."romantic" life, ahem, by having her in the bed with us, just so I can keep those lovely four hours of sleep. That should give you an idea.

6. The boys and I (and Michelle and Clair) have been doing good with the getting out and about, enjoying this early Spring. And I am so struck by how much more like boys my boys are, and how much less like babies. At the playground, they actually interact with other children. They run from play area to play area, climbing and exploring and sliding. They fall, get up, brush their hands on their shorts and keep playing. Their knees are dirty -- or skinned -- when we get home. They have that outdoor smell at the dinner table. I can't get over it.

7. Lester and I are doing much better, now that both of us are getting a smidge more sleep (those four hours, I'm telling you!) and also now that we have determined that we HAVE to take even just a few minutes at the end of the day to stop, touch, and be together, without phones or Facebook or newspapers or anything in between us (although sometimes Clair is with us, but that can't be helped). This is working wonders, folks, and I urge you all to try it. Take 15 minutes and just lie on the bed together (not in a ...er... "romantic" way, necessarily -- unless you both want to, in which case, hells, yes!!) and hold each other and chat, or doze or watch HGTV or the Real Housewives of Atlanta and just BE together. Hold hands, or intertwine legs, or just lie cheek-to-cheek. It really makes a difference. We honestly don't get to do this every day, with all that we have going on, but just the few times a week we've done it has lifted the tension and re-introduced intimacy and made things so much lighter and sweeter. I highly recommend it.

OK, Clair woke up, drank her bottle, I had lunch and washed her up, and now she's asleep again, so that's my cue for a NAP.

I promise to get to reading all my friends' blogs soon. I miss you guys!

St. Paddy's Day surprise: Matthew is here!

Clair's soon-to-be BFF Matthew was born yesterday, St. Patrick's Day. I told my sister he's her little good luck charm! Awwww.


(Yes, Matthew's sleeper says "Kiss Me, I'm Irish." That's his big brother, Russy. And Tahira will probably kill me for posting this photo of her. Oh well. I think she looks like a little swollen version of my Mom here. So the photo stays.)

Matthew is a total sweetie, with huge hands and feet, despite being 4 weeks early. He has the teeniest little cry, which cracks me up, especially since Clair's wail is piercing and has been since birth.



Looking at him -- all 6 lbs. 8 oz. of preciousness -- I can't get over how big Clair has gotten in just one month. It is really amazing how fast they grow and change.

See for yourself how much less of a newborn -- and more of an infant -- she looks now:

Welcome to the world, Clair's new bestie. Can't wait to hang out with you and watch you grow! Auntie loves you!!