Sea Monsters and Baby Diapers

I can't believe that we're at the end of summer.  The State Fair is here, the school buses are making their ways around the neighborhood, pumpkin spice lattes are back at Starbucks, and I've started keeping the windows open again instead of running the air conditioning.  I don't know when - or how - it happened.  I find it funny that a month of pregnancy can feel like an eternity, but the minute the kid is on the outside, time doesn't seem to stop moving forward at warp speed.  I can't believe that Baby Nora is going to be a month old on Sunday.  I can't believe that Jack is in preschool.  I see evidence of his learning every single day.  I picked him up from school yesterday, asked him what he did and he told me, "Guess what, Mama?  I do science with friends at school!"  He just loves his new classroom and all his new friends and teachers.  This makes me very happy and I'm glad we decided to keep him in school while I'm out on maternity leave.  

Anyways, the other night Jack and I went on a "nature walk" around our neighborhood.  Mostly, we just walked, looked for squirrels, talked about acorns and apples and looked for different colored flowers.  He told me that his favorite color is yellow (his mama's favorite too!) and that his favorite animal is a monkey.  His best friend is Johnny, and sometimes Cooper.  I can't get over how cool it is to be communicating with him on a whole new level.  He can tell me what he he wants (or rather what he doesn't want) and what he wants to do.  I just love how he's starting to form his own opinions (rather strong ones) and developing his likes and dislikes.  

As for Baby Nora, she likes eating, getting her diaper changed, the sound of the vacuum cleaner, being cuddled, a really good kick and stretch time, and sleeping in her car seat on the washing machine.  She's really not difficult to please.  

The one thing that makes me the most happy is that once their basic needs are met, their default mood is one of joy, love and happiness.  Nora is starting to smile at me and always brightens up (in my opinion) when she hears my voice.  Jack is just content to do his own thing and continues to bombard me with hugs and kisses.  Last night, he put his head in my lap, smiled at me, and patted my cheek.  Every morning when Jeff leaves for work, Jack tells him that he needs his hug and kiss and then directs him to give Mommy and Baby Nora a hug and kiss too.  We must be doing something right.  

Anyways, Jack has developed a fear of sea monsters.  I'm not really sure where this came from since I don't even think he knows what a sea monster actually is.  Goofy is scared of them in an episode of Mickey Mouse and there may be something about sea monsters on Jake and the Neverland Pirates.  I'm not sure.  But every once and a while, Jack will just start screaming about sea monsters.  I'm not really sure what to do about this, exactly, since it doesn't happen with any regularity - like at bedtime, for example.  I usually just tell him that there are no sea monsters and that I'll make sure they stay away.  This has appeased him, so far.

We had yet another great week too.  We stuck close to home on Friday and on Saturday, we went and met Aunt Lindsey and Friend Juliet at the State Fair.  I'm just going to say that it was a lot of work.  Fortunately, there weren't a lot of people there and it was fairly cool out, but still, it was busy.  Jack and Juliet are cut from the same cloth - meaning that they both love to run around (or away) and are constantly busy together and trying to find the next bit of trouble.  So, Aunt Lindsey is very pregnant, Jeff manned the double stroller and tried to control Jack while I took charge of Baby Nora.  Needless to say, it never really felt like we were ever heading in the same direction.  We were always chasing after the kids and I was trying to figure out how to feed my child discretely at the Great Minnesota Get Together.  

   

Jack really liked eating his cheese curds and chocolate chip cookies.  Jeff also took him down the giant slide.  While he loved this, we had to basically drag him away from it because both he AND Juliet started screaming "AGAIN!  AGAIN!"  and at $5.00 a pop, there wasn't any way we were going to throw money down like that to appease the kids.  

After the Fair, I took Nora to meet my Aunt and Uncle while Jeff attempted to put Jack down for a nap.  However, I think that Jack might have had a little too much sugar, so there was no nap to be had.  So, Jeff and Jack went to the gym and I stayed home with Baby Nora.  

On Sunday, we went for breakfast and then I went to see my girlfriend, Jenny, and her new house.  Uncle Alec came over and the boys went to work out.  I picked up dinner and we spent the rest of the night watching Pitch Perfect and the Frozen Sing-Along.  Watch out, we're exciting people.  

Monday, we went to Grammy Camp.  It was a pretty nice day and the boys went on a nature walk with my mom and sister while I stayed with the babies.  Jack found some cattails and kept calling them hot dogs - I think that I used to do this too.  We spent the morning playing out in the driveway and the boys always have so much fun together, although they usually end up fighting over the toys at Nana and Boppa's house!

  

Around lunchtime, I took the kids to get their passports because we're taking a family roadtrip to Winnipeg in October - Jeff loves Canada, but why Winnipeg?  I couldn't tell you.  This was a complete trial of patience since Jack was hungry, tired and the lady at the passport office was not very nice.  Regardless, I got the deed done and we came home for naps.  I really needed one.  Probably more than Jack did.  

Anyways, after nap time, we went outside to play in the pool.  Jack loves his pool - I bought this tent contraption for Nora to lay in while we're outside.  So, she just chilled in her tent while Jack played in the water and Blue babysat.  As a side note, I swear if that dog had opposable thumbs, I would let him babysit.  

And yesterday, Jack went to school and Nora and I spent some time around the house, cleaning, washing clothes, and doing the grocery shopping for the week.  She was very helpful.  Actually, I put her in the Moby sling most of the time I'm doing housework and she likes to stick close to me while I clean.  

Anyways, at Target, I was standing in the diaper aisle, trying to figure out whether Nora still needed newborn diapers or if I should move her up to the next size.  She's not really gaining weight like her brother did (who ate so much at every feeding that he threw up) but she's getting really long.  She's already grown out of some of the newborn pajamas.  Plus, she poops like a champ.  Anyways, I decided to get the pack of 88 newborn diapers, and I figured I'd bequeath them to the next girlfriend with a newborn.  But then, I forgot how quickly babies go through diapers and, like I said, Baby Girl poops like a champ.  We're already almost a quarter of the way through the box.  So, after we got the groceries put away, we went and picked up Jack from school, and then played outside with the other kids in the neighborhood.  

Today, I am just relaxing - and enjoying the beautiful sunshine.  I dropped Jack off at school and went to Starbucks for my first pumpkin latte of the season.  Well, if I was being totally honest, I actually bought two because I figured I'd need one later!  We came home and went for a walk.  Seriously, it was the perfect morning.  

Now we're sitting on the back deck.  Nora is enjoying a good kick-and-stretch/nap and she's just happy to be hanging out.  

  

This weekend is obviously Labor Day but we don't really have any plans.  Actually, I think I'm going to put Jack in potty-training boot camp.  He starts soccer in mid-September and he's going to be a Tiny Tussler (wrestling, duh!) come November and I'm pretty sure he needs to be potty-trained for that.  I should note that the wrestling program is making an exception for Jack - apparently kids need to be four years old (I think) to wrestle, but the Wayzata Youth Program took one look at him and let him enroll.  I think this may be a pattern over the years to come.  My guess is that if he hasn't signed up for football by the time he hits high school, he'll be accosted and forced into the program by the coach.  My man-child.  

So, wish me luck on the potty-training front.  Hopefully Jack will learn and get the hang of it as quickly as he picks things up in school!     

Great Grandparents

I've been thinking a lot lately about how lucky Jeff and I are.  I've been watching the news almost ad nauseam and the constant coverage of all the unrest in Ferguson.  I don't know why it really surprises me, given what Jeff does for a living and some of the awful stories that he's told me over the years, but still it's got me thinking.  I don't know how we got so lucky.  Right now, I'm sitting on the back deck of a house that I own.  I have a car in the garage with a tank full of gas.  There's food in the pantry and clean water in our pipes.  I've got one child in a great school and another one sleeping next to me.  Both are healthy and happy.  My husband and I enjoy a happy and loving marriage and we have a tremendous, loving and giving family.  The unrest and violence upsets me beyond measure because I never want it to touch our world, even though it's likely going to be unavoidable, to some extent.  So, it's our duty as parents to raise responsible, respectful, and affectionate children.  So, when I see this, I figure we must be doing something right:

Jack is getting used to the idea that he's now a big brother, and really likes to be "helpful" in all sorts of ways.  It helps if I give him a job to do.  Like, for example, at bath time, he likes to hold her soap, put it on the wash rag, and help put on her lotion.  He likes to sit with me and "help" me feed her too - this is mostly him keeping me company and watching a show while Nora eats.  Coincidentally, she's timed her feedings almost perfectly.  I can keep Jack calm and she eats for as long as an episode of Mickey or Jake lasts.

So, on Thursday morning, we went back to the pediatrician for a weight check.  Babies are supposed to gain about an ounce per day.  She was 7lbs., 1oz. when we were at the pediatrician the first time, so we were hoping for a weight of 7lbs., 8oz., obviously.  Well, Baby Girl has been doing her job because she weighed in at 7lbs., 13oz., which is roughly a daily gain of 1.5oz.  I'm not sure how she does it - she seems to poop around the clock, so I was kind of surprised that anything actually stayed in her.  The good news is that I don't have to wake her up any more to eat.  Hooray for more sleep!  Nora was not impressed by this fact:

 
Anyways, Grandma Jersey came into town on Thursday afternoon.  I pulled Jack out of school to go and meet her plane.  He was so excited to see her, although we were pretty close to nap time, so he saved most of his enthusiasm for when he woke up.  Anyways, while he slept, Grandma Jersey got to meet and bond with Baby Nora.

After Jack woke up, Grandma Jersey took Jack up to the park to play and I joined them shortly after Nora finished her afternoon snack.  We played for a while and then came home to have supper.  On Friday morning, we all piled into my car and took Jeff to the airport and then the remainder of Team Storms went out for pancakes and to the zoo.  Unfortunately, Jack came down with some kind of stomach bug and pooped - all day long.  He pooped at the restaurant and had pooped through his outfit by the time we got to the zoo.  So, Grandma cleaned him up while I figured out how to set up the double stroller - this was no small feat, let me tell you.  Also, learning how to "drive" that thing is embarrassing.  I'm going to give my kids brain damage with everything that I'll hit steering that contraption.  I'm going to take it to the State Fair this weekend and I'm already nervous about how many people I'll run over.

So, we did the zoo and the splash pad and came home for a nap.  I ran out for Chinese food and we spent the rest of the day hanging out at home.  On Saturday, we went down to the Science Museum to see the Dinosaur exhibit.  I think that Jack might be about a year too young for it - but we did see the Dinosaur movie, and he sat still, for the most part, for the entire thing.  I think he watched most of it too - although Grandma and I spent most of the time with our eyes closed so we didn't get sick.

Afterwards, we ran over to Cosetta's and got some take-out before going home for naps - and we all needed them.  I was totally exhausted.  When Jack got up, we had some play time together - we played Superman/Pirates and Hide and Go Peek.  Grandma Jersey took charge of Nora, which was nice because I got to spend some one-on-one time with my little man.

We also went outside to play in the pool for a bit as well.  I found a tiny frog jumping around in the grass.  I thought Jack would get a kick out of it, but when I showed it to him, he screamed (literally) and backed into the far corner of his pool.  He can watch dinosaurs eat each other, but a tiny frog scares him.  Go figure.  After that, we got into our jammies, made popcorn (don't worry - the eating of popcorn was supervised) and watched Happy Feet.

On Sunday, we had planned on getting donuts and walking around one of the lakes, but the weather was kind of crummy, so we hit up an indoor play area.

Jack had a total blast and I got to play with him for a bit too.  It's nice being able to run and jump around without a huge belly in the way!  After nap time, we went to get Jeff from the airport and introduced Grandma Jersey to the Jucy Lucy.  If you don't know what these are, come visit and I'll show you.

Jeff took Grandma Jersey to the airport on Monday morning.  I was so sad to see her go.  I loved having her here.  It's nice to have another grown-up to talk to and pitch in with helping wrangle Jack.  Also, she might be a baby-whisperer.  Not that Nora is really all that fussy, but the minute Grandma picked her up, she was perfectly happy.  Anyways, Jack, Nora and I went to my parents' house on Monday for Grammy Camp.

The boys played outside all morning and if you can't tell, they played hard - that's sweat, not water, soaking my child.  We went home after lunch so I could get the kids' passport photos taken before our family trip to Canada in October - we're going to drive to Winnepeg.  Now, doesn't that sound exciting?  I've heard it's like the St. Paul of Canada.  That's a joke, mind you.  Anyways, we came home and took naps (me too) and Jeff came home early.

Yesterday, Jack went back to school - I was so nervous for drop-off, thinking he'd pitch a fit seeing as how he'd been home for four days and had gotten lots of attention from everyone, but he ran down to his classroom and by the time I'd gotten there, he was already telling Ms. Lauren all about his weekend.

I think he really likes his new classroom - there's constant activity and different things to do.  Plus, I think he's learning a lot.  His counting has gotten better (although he keeps missing 3 and 4) and he's got all kinds of new songs that he sings around the house.  He always seems happy to go to school too.

Today, I ran a few errands, got Nora's birth announcements in the mail, wrote a few thank you notes, and the cleaning ladies came.  My girlfriend, Tia, came with lunch and now we've got workmen dismantling the gazebo out back.  Tomorrow, Jeff and I need to go apply for Jack and Nora's passports - we've got to do it together so the government knows that one of us is not trying to sneak a kid out of the country and I'm meeting another girlfriend for lunch on Friday.  We're going with Aunt Lindsey, Uncle Brendan and Friend Juliet to the State Fair on Saturday and my aunt and uncle are in town this weekend.  We're going to try and visit a few more friends on Sunday and then we'll hit repeat - we've got big plans!

So, like I was saying, I really feel fortunate with all the love we've been shown in welcoming Baby Nora into this world.  I'm so appreciative of all the gifts, cards, calls, visits and dresses we've received - in fact, here's a picture of Nora in her latest gift from Cousins Debbie, Gianna, Daniella, and Maria:

I'm thankful for grandmas who come into town to help a nervous mother of two.  I'm grateful for grandparents who can get down on the ground to play with their grandchildren.  There's a song from the Sound of Music that keeps replaying through my head that pretty much sums it all up, for me at least:

Perhaps I had a wicked childhood

Perhaps I had a miserable youth

But somewhere in my wicked, miserable past

There must have been a moment of truth

For you are here standing there, loving me

Whether or not you should

So somewhere in my youth or childhood

I must have done something good...  

Week One

So, we've rounded out week one and are barreling into week two of life as a family of four.  Life is going pretty well, for the most part.  There are the anticipated hiccups getting Jack used to our newest family member.  The one good thing about it all is that Nora is an incredibly easy-going baby.  Seriously, she is amazing.  I thought that Jack was a great baby - and I think that Nora is better.  

Anyways, the first week of maternity leave was pretty great.  I've been walking just about every day, running errands and taking care of chores that I've let slide for the past several weeks (or months).  The days seem to just fly by.  I get up and get Jack ready for school, stop by Caribou for an iced coffee, come home and go for my walk.  Then by the time I'm showered and dressed, I'll do a few things around the house and have some lunch.  Then, Nora and I will run out for a little bit and do some errands, come home and get supper ready and then my boys are home.  Then its bath and bedtime.  

Nora has been doing pretty well at sleeping for longer stretches of time at night - and during the day, frankly.  She wakes once or twice to eat and then falls back asleep.  We went to the pediatrician on Thursday and she's gaining weight which is a great thing, but I've still got to wake her up to feed her during the night - I honestly think she'd sleep through the night if I let her.  But otherwise, she had a great check-up.  She's measuring in the 98th percentile for height but only the 31st percentile for weight - long and lean!  Blue continues to keep watch over his new charge and likes to lick her head an awful lot.  

Anyways, our weekend has been pretty great - for the most part.  On Friday night, I picked up Jack from school and we came home to have supper.  I told him that, as a special treat, we'd make some popcorn and watch a movie in bed.  Well, we polished off one bag and he asked (nicely) for some more, so I went downstairs to make another bag.  Anyways, I hear him crying from the bedroom, "my nose, Mama, my nose!" so I went back upstairs and looked at his nose to discover that he'd shoved a popcorn kernel up his nostril.  I got that out, but then I looked again and saw another one up there.  I did some Internet research and figured out how to get it out - which meant I had to plug the "unaffected nostril" and blow air forcefully into his mouth.  Well, I got three more to shoot out.  The next morning, we were brushing his teeth when a fifth one shot out of his nose.  Then, Jeff blew into his mouth and got another one out.  I thought that was the end of it, but he sneezed this morning and another one came out of the other side of his nose.  So, we went to urgent care where they pulled out three more - one more from his nose and one from each ear.  So, in the span of roughly four minutes, Jack managed to shove ten popcorn kernels up his nose.  Awesome.  

Anyways, so that happened this weekend.  Jack also managed to get into my make-up bag and draw cat whiskers on his face with my eyeliner too.  They were really great whiskers too, and I was kind of sad that I had to take them off.  And then, as I was drying my hair on Saturday morning, he runs into the bathroom with the plunger stuck on his face.  I started screaming and then immediately employed massive sanitation procedures.  So, we got dressed and went out for breakfast.  Then, we took Jack to the Children's Museum - it was hard to get a good picture of Jack at the museum because he didn't stop moving for a minute.  

  

Afterwards, we came home and took naps - Jeff is really getting into this newborn thing, especially when the baby is completely content to just rest on her daddy's chest.

Last night, we had some friends up to meet baby Nora last night.  They have two little girls who were all about holding her, and Jack finally decided to take a turn.  It looks like he's been watching his daddy, doesn't it?  He looks like one proud big brother if you ask me.  

This morning, Jeff had to go to work, so I've been handling things by myself today - let me tell you, it's a lot of work.  We went to church and then over to my grandparents' for breakfast.  Then, of course we had to head to urgent care and now we're all home, enjoying some downtime and then I told Jack we could ride his bike if the weather holds.   

And, as much as it pains me to say this, I think my temper is shorter.  I don't know why, but I get more frustrated with Jack when he doesn't listen to me (which is all the time, for the most part) and when he gets wild.  We had quite the battle over nap time today, and I'm feeling incredibly guilty right now.  I'm anxious for him to get up so I can make amends - although I don't think I'll make it up to him with popcorn.  

This week, Grandma Terry comes to visit on Thursday and Jeff goes to Washington DC for a wedding on Friday.  I've got a doctor's appointment on Tuesday and Nora has a weight check on Thursday.  Hopefully, she'll be back to her birth weight so I can let her sleep for longer stretches at night.  Other than that, we're going to enjoy the last few weeks of summer and these weeks of leave.  

And then there were four...

It's amazing how much life can change in such a short amount of time.

The Details:

Eleanor Hartley Storms

"Baby Nora"

Born July 31, 2014 at 3:11 p.m.

Weighing 7 lbs., 4 oz. and 21" long

The Story:

I woke up on Wednesday morning and started timing contractions shortly after that.  They really weren't all that consistent, but they were real and so I decided I'd head into the office and if they progressed at all, I'd head home.  So, I worked for about two hours.  The contractions would start and stop.  My mom called and I ended up meeting my sister, parents and nephews at the splash pad for about an hour before heading home to rest.  I came home, did some stuff around the house and around 2:00, the contractions started getting regular.  I decided to go on a walk and the contractions picked up.  I came home and called Labor & Delivery and they told me to come in.  So, I made the calls and put the troops into action.  Jeff headed from the office to the hospital and my sister came up to get me and pick up Jack from school.  We went and checked in and it was the same story - the contractions were regular, but things weren't progressing.  We walked around the hospital for a bit and then the doctor decided to put me on "therapeutic rest" hoping that if I relaxed a bit, I'd start dilating.  It totally didn't work.  So, we spent the night in the hospital and I woke up around 5:00 on Thursday morning, still in the same predicament.  Well, I decided that I wasn't going to leave that hospital without a baby, so I asked for Pitocin.  That made the contractions more intense, but I STILL didn't progress much, so around noon, Duckie came in and broke my water.  And that got things moving.  Jeff and I walked around the hospital wing for a bit and then I came in and bounced on the labor ball.  The contractions really picked up steam at that point and so I got into the tub.  I labored in the tub for about a half hour before I finally told Jeff that I was tapping out and called for an epidural.  

The anesthesiologist came about a half hour later and the epidural only worked on my right side - I could still feel everything on the left side of my body.  My nurse checked me for dilation after the first epidural and I'd only made it to four centimeters, which is really nothing in terms of "active labor" and so the anesthesiologist came back and moved the epidural up a few levels in my spine.  Well, that worked - kind of.  I literally could not feel a single thing from my shoulder blades down, but I had this intense pressure and a desire to push.  I asked my nurse to check me again and she looked at me, and told me gently that I still had some time to go, but I asked again, telling her that I wanted to push.  

Now here's the funny thing - shortly after Duckie broke my water, he told us a story about his earlier days and a prior patient of his.  He said that he had broken a woman's water and was going through what she should expect over the next several hours when she started telling him that she needed to go to the bathroom.  Duckie kind of brushed it off, but he said not ten minutes into talking things over with her, there was crying from underneath the bed sheet and this woman had delivered her baby in the span of ten minutes, give or take.  Fortunately, my nurse was there and heard the story, and she made some joke about how lightning could strike twice, but still said that I probably would be laboring for a few more hours yet.  

So, she humored me and checked me.  She then looked at me and said, "Now don't be alarmed, but I'm going to call a staff alert - you're there and you need to start pushing because the baby is crowning."  So, she called the alert and our room was flooded with about fifteen nurses and doctors all scrubbing up and going mobile.  It was kind of crazy.  I was in "active labor" for all of ten minutes.  Which really isn't bad, when you think about it, but I have to tell you, it hurt like hell.  And the worst part about it was that I'd just gotten the epidural and couldn't feel a thing, which made it really difficult to figure out how to push.  Still, I pushed through about ten contractions and then she was here.  

We moved to our postpartum room a few hours later and everyone came to visit - my parents brought Jack from school, and my sister, nephews, and grandparents all stopped by.  Jack was pretty stand-offish that night - and considering the hormones I had flowing generously through my system, I got pretty upset.  But, I can't really blame him - he usually gets mad at me when I leave him.  So, everyone stayed for about an hour - my parents and brought us some pizza, so I wolfed that down and then we tucked in for the night.  Jeff and Jack stayed for a little while longer, but eventually my boys had to go home and go to bed.  

Jeff came down the next morning after taking Jack to school, running into the office and going to the gym.  He stayed for the day and left around dinnertime to pick up Jack.  We left on Saturday morning and spent the rest of the day cleaning up the house, putting things away, doing laundry and just adjusting to our newest family member.  Our friends, Lindsey and Brendan brought dinner up on Saturday night.

On Sunday, we went out for our first breakfast as a family of four.  Afterwards, we headed to Target.  Now, let me tell you something - Survivor doesn't have anything on this new kind of Target run.  You want to get people to break?  Send them into Target with a 2.5 year old and a newborn and see what happens.  Fortunately, Jeff manned Jack and I took charge of Nora - we've adapted to a man-to-man defense in the Storms household as opposed to a zone defense.  We managed Target relatively easily and came home to hang out and take naps.  

My grandparents came up later to visit and my girlfriend, Molly, came up to take a few newborn pictures of Baby Nora.  For the record, Jack was napping this entire time which is why he's not in any of the photos.    

Anyways, Uncle Alec and his girlfriend, Sara, came up for dinner and to meet Nora.  

And then today was my first "official" day of maternity leave.  My sister and her boys came up this morning to hang out and then Nora and I went on a walk.  Jeff took Jack to school this morning and spent the day at home to help me out, although I have to say that so far, this newborn baby thing is a breeze.  Nora sleeps.  A lot.  I usually have to wake her up to eat and she seems fairly content to be swaddled and sleep in her bouncy chair and she really likes to be held.  We're getting the hang of breastfeeding and she seems to be pretty happy to be on the outside.  Lord knows that her mama is happy she's out.  And for the record, I happen to think she's totally awesome and I've been enjoying my time getting to know her.        

As for Jack, like I said, he's adjusting.  He's been getting a lot of attention from his daddy, which seems to help things a lot.  He likes to give Nora things.  He likes to bring her a pugger, and cover her with a blanket.  He hasn't really gotten the concept that he needs to be gentle around her, and around me when I'm holding her.  Yesterday, as we were heading out for breakfast, he kept telling us that we were taking Baby Nora home, so he really hasn't gotten the concept that she isn't going anywhere.  However, as I was getting Nora dressed this morning, he followed me into her room and turned over one of the galvanized buckets in her bedroom so he could stand on it and watch me change her diaper and put on her clothes.  He's interested in everything that I do with her, and I'm trying to tell him what I'm doing and why I'm doing it.  He'll get there - and my girlfriend Molly said that the good thing is that, eventually, he'll get to the point to where he doesn't remember a time before she was here.  That makes me kind of sad, I guess.    

I just can't get over the differences in my two children - one is huge, the other seems like a doll.  One is active, busy, and energetic while the other one is quiet and fairly easy to manage.  However, the one being in our house that got with the program fairly quickly is Blue.

He knows where his bread is buttered, that's for sure.  He's playing the part of the sentinel and is very vigilant in keeping watch over his new charge.  He's pretty apprehensive of the guests we've had over the past few days and he keeps watch over her day and night.  Right now, I'm sitting on the couch, Nora is in her bouncy chair (sleeping, of course) and Blue is on the other couch, just watching her sleep.

I do have one unrelated little tidbit about Jack - he's named his willie.  Which I find a bit odd, but whatever - he's a boy.  I read somewhere that about 90% of learning to live and raise little boys has to do with managing body parts, bodily functions, and their fascinations with the same.  So anyways, Jack's willie is called Olaf - obviously from the Disney classic, "Frozen."  Oh well.  It's funny and something I don't really want to forget.  

And so, that's about it, I guess.  We go back to the doctor on Thursday for her check-up and we've got a few visitors yet this week.  My parents are on an Alaskan cruise until August 15th, and Grandma Jersey comes in to visit at the end of next week as well.  I'll keep the pictures coming, of course.  Thanks for all the calls, presents, and visits.  They are absolutely appreciated and treasured.