What Einin might be thinking...

Really, this demeans us both. Actually, no, it demeans you more. After all, I'm a baby and can't stop you.

Hilarious Mommy and Daddy, why don't you go get ANOTHER glass of wine.

Play now while you can because, once I can use these arms and hands, this whole house is toast.


What I was thinking...

Thank you Einin for making me laugh. I had a really, really hard day. I needed a good laugh tonight and it's times like this that make all the hard stuff melt away. The simplest things like your brothers playing in the tub, talking and cleaning their plastic crabs with toothbrushes and shampoo and you with this hairdo make life so sweet.

About 2 weeks before Einin was born, I started having elevated blood pressure readings. This was a shock because I have always had great blood pressure.  I had been working-out throughout my pregnancy and hadn't gained too much weight. I didn't have high BP with my previous pregnancies either. The only criteria I met for pregnancy induced hypertension was that I was 40 years old. After a few days on bed rest, a reprieve from bed rest and a subsequent trip to the hospital, the doctor urged us to induce labor to be on the safe side. So, on October 25th, we checked into the hospital bright and early to have our baby girl.


(1 day old)

The labor was forced and painful.  Seeing as it was my last pregnancy, I had hoped for a slow, steady and natural birth. Instead, it was induced and intense but, in the end, she was there in my arms. She was healthy and my blood pressure was immediately back to normal.

Then came the blur of sleepless nights, constant nursing and life in pajamas. I don't think I have ever watched so much HGTV in my life. Little things like a long, hot shower became luxuries.

(3 days old)

(6 days old)

Then she smiled at me. After so many weeks of pouring all of my energy into her, some of it came back. It was a miracle moment.

(2 months old, not her first smile but one of my favorites)

Just before Christmas, around 9 pm on a Sunday night, she woke up with a fever. Thankful to call our pediatrician a friend as well, I texted him asking what we should do. After a little bit of back and forth and a few more temperature checks, she and I were sent to TX Children's Hospital's emergency room. They did a few preliminary tests and then came back for more testing. They did a spinal tap on her. They left us to wait for results dropping scary potential scenarios, like spinal meningitis. The image of her laying on the table after that procedure is one that will be burned into my brain forever. We waited for almost 2 hours for the test result. That was one of the longest nights of my life. I just sat there holding her thinking to myself that I could lose her. By the wee hours of the morning, we got the prognosis. She did not have meningitis (so grateful!) but did have a urinary tract infection and we were being admitted. They put an IV in her tiny little hand and sent us to the NICU. Thanks to the amazing doctors and nurses at TCH and to my amazing friends and family, we went home 4 days later with antibiotics.

A few days later our house was filled with family celebrating Christmas together. A week after that, it was Christmas day, our first Christmas with three kids.

And now, it's 2012 and Einin is a little over 2 months old. She is this amazing, snuggly, bright eyed little wonder. She is a gift and I am so incredibly grateful.

Today, while stopped at a red light, I looked in my rear view mirror at my car full of kids and just smiled. The boys were deep in discussion about how to get me or their Dad to touch the trick pen Sayer had that shocks you and Einin was crying (she hates her car seat). It was everything that the last few months have been, perfect chaos.

Thank you universe.

Last week Steven and I got to see our little girl in all of her 3 dimensional glory. It was amazing! I made the appt. on a whim not realizing just how incredible it would be to see her like that. She looked like she could be born that day. At first she was a little shy as you can see. She hid her face behind her arms and hands. All it took was a few sweet words from Steven and she opened up.

We were both blown away. There she was...even more real than she already was for us. It was magical to see her move and feel her move at the same time.

She looks so much like Finnian in this picture. We are both more anxious than ever to meet her and see this sweet face in person. Right now 7 weeks seems so far away but I'm sure it will fly by. For now, we'll just have to be patient and enjoy this sweet little smile.

He was saying to Finn, "you know, I could just do this all day" to which Finn replied with peaked interest, "what are you doing?!".

I love that he could do that all day. He was picking tiny creatures out of the kelp. He showed us a leaf with eggs on it, tiny crabs, krill and a baby nudibranch! We'd seen a nudibranch on the Discovery channel but not in real life and not under a microscope.

It's days like this that reaffirm in my mind why we take this trip. Where else would we see a baby nudibranch?! I love that the boys get to see someone so passionate about picking things off of leaves of kelp. I love that they get to join in. You never know where or when that spark of interest will be lit. I've heard scientists and artists interviewed and recounting when they first found their passion and often it's in tiny moments like this.

(taken at the Ty Warner Sea Center in Santa Barbara)

After Marfa and White Sands, we stopped in Tucson and Sedona. Sedona was really beautiful! We took an extra day off from the drive and hung out at the resort. I think we all needed a day off from driving. The resort had a little mountainside trail with all sorts of cactus and native plants and it ended in a pretty waterfall. We found a little friend at the base of the waterfall too.

The desert is the place to study animals and their camouflage. It was pretty cool to see all the different lizards and how they blend in with the trees and rocks. This little frog blended perfectly with the rocks by the fall. We also saw wild pigs!

After Sedona we headed to Vegas. Steven and I were both reminded that we don't really like Las Vegas. I know lots of people love it but I guess we're not those folks. The kids loved the Bellagio fountain, the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay, seeing the lights (pyramids, castles, Eiffel tower, etc.) and eating gelato downstairs at Bellagio. Even with all that, I could tell it was not their favorite stop either. They had way more fun hunting lizards!

All of these were shot with the G12. It's really proving to be a great point and shoot.  It does NOT handle noise well at high ISO's but other than that, it's great! I played with slow shutter speeds a little while waiting for the water show at the Bellagio.

The kids have been falling into bed most nights and Vegas was no exception. They were literally begging us to get back to the hotel and into bed. The first days here have been much the same. They're having tons of fun and are worn out by the end of the day (dogs included!).