Visitors from Australia!

How busy our lives have been! We've been very excited to have had Granddad and Grandma visit from Australia. They visited the week after Sebastien was born and spent a week here during their grand 'round world holiday. We spent time at a Hayrack ride picnic, Monday Mania, and generally running around to make sure we got out of the house each day (for Alex and mummy's sanity). They also bought Alex a pair of red sparkly shoes that have only been off her feet for baths and bedtime...very much loved shoes!

There's no place like home, there's no place like home...

Anyone reading this blog should know all about Alex's shoe fetish (no, I'm sure she's adopted - no wait, I have stretch marks to prove she's mine...) and this fetishist has her very own enablers. No, not her mummy, but everyone else in her life. Having just had a visit from Grandma and Grandad, Alex is now the proud (very proud) owner of some red sparkly shoes a la Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz.

She has worn them at least every other day ever since she got them. To be fair, Grandma did try to steer her towards the BLACK sparkly shoes - but I figure that's just because I happened to be there - Grandma looked like she was having way too much fun!

I'm feeding him mummy!!

These were the words (very delighted and excited indeed) that I heard as I brushed my teeth, leaving Alex and Sebastien alone in the living room...can you imagine the 101 things that immediately flashed through my mind?!

As I raced into the other room I was greeted with this image - so I had to take a photo. Alex has absorbed more of her brother's arrival details than we'd thought! At least it was an unwashed finger and not the contents of the fridge or pantry (or toybox)!

Alex's new trike!

So, Alex's reward for going 7 days without wetting or dirtying her pants or nappy was a trike - strategically placed in her room up high so she could see it but not play with it. But it's taken quite a while to get there - and we're not completely there yet. But she did do 7 days and now is a proud trike owner, "parking" it next to Daddy's in the bike rack. We were getting a little worried that it'd snow before she got the chance to ride it, but here we are at the start of Autumn and all's well.
Her legs are only just long enough to reach the pedals - she can pedal along the flat but if there is a bump, she just can't make it over it. She just needs an extra 1/2 inch in her legs and she'll be right as rain. But she is very proud and happy with her bike - it even has a registration sticker just like Daddy's!

Oh, and this trumped Sebastien's arrival - at least for the moment!!

Three become Four

The new family - just before we head for home.
I'm a big sister! I want to hold him "by myself"! He's looking at me!
Mummy, Alex and Sebastien - let's head for home.
Father and son. Taking a break on the couch/bed in Carle Foundation Hospital.

Sebastien Nevin Graham...Come on Down!

At 14:04 on Sunday September 23 2007, Sebastien arrived to join our family. Although the labor was only a little shorter than it had been with Alex, at least this time round there was no drip and hardly any electronic fetal monitoring to tie me to the bed.

Vital Statistics: length 20 inches, weight 8 pounds 7 ounces

What to do with 5 minutes alone and a pen...

Well, give Alex sufficient time and an available pen, and she tattoos herself! Yep, both arms and legs - I guess I should be happy that the shirt missed out on some pen action...

She even added "nailpolish" on all her fingernails - ever the girlie-girl. So here's a photo of her looking proud as punch about her activity - I asked her daddy to get the camera once she'd come in to show me her efforts (I was napping - good thing too cause Sebastien arrived the next day).

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

And the third bed was just right...

Nothing much to this one, Alex's bedtime routine includes a story and she's taken to asking Daddy to read to her in bed. A mean feat given her bed is a toddler sized one! She's aware that Mummy is "too big" to read in her bed so instead we read on the Mummy's "animal chair" - a recliner with an Ark theme quilt (made by my grandmother) on it's back. Note the princess quilt on the bed - we're still very much taken with princesses...especially Cinderella!

Career Matchmaking

Try this out:
Go to www.careercruising.com, enter user name "nycareers" and password "landmark". Then go to Career Matchmaker and see what comes of it.

My top ten, based on my answers, were:
1.Plumber
2.Furniture Finisher
3.Picture Framer
4.Bicycle Mechanic
5.Musical Instrument Builder and Repairer
6.Massage Therapist
7.Glazier
8.Sign Maker
9.Electronics Assembler
10.Upholsterer

But once I chose a level of education (university) that I was interested in (because I already had) they were:
1.Human Resources Specialist
2.Midwife
3.Occupational Therapist
4.Foreign Service Officer
5.Probation / Parole Officer
6.Clergy
7.Auditor
8.Speech-Language Pathologist
9.Special Education Teacher
10.High School Teacher

Then I cleared it back to the original and answered additional questions, it became:
1.Foreign Language Instructor
2.Translator
3.Naturopath
4.Paralegal
5.Editor
6.Adoption Counselor
7.Certified Public Accountant
8.Human Resources Specialist
9.Communications Specialist
10.Writer

This last list is probably most what I think of. Out of the 10, I think I've thought about pursuing 6 of them - not bad really. The second list I'd thought about 3 of them, certainly better that the first list of which I thought about zero!

What about you?

Preparing for a little brother

Part of helping Alex with the imminent arrival is her helping us prepare - folding clothes and working out which drawers are Sebastien's, bringing out special baby toys, getting his bed ready etc. So this morning Alex and Daddy spent some time putting the pack'n'play together, complete with bassinnette and change table. Alex immediately wanted to get in it and needed to be convinced that it really was just for babies and not for little girls.

38 weeks and counting...

OK, so I'm over the "no photos" thing and decided to post this last photo of me pregnant. I just asked Alex where Sebastien was and she told me my tummy - and Brett caught this photo. I'm really impatient now, as Alex was 12 days early which means in 2 days time for Sebastien - but he looks like he's way too comfortable there and looks to have no intention of following his sister's eagerness to "escape"...here's hoping!

Turkey Run State Park - More time off for good behaviour

Today Lys got more time off for good behaviour as the impending arrival of Sebastien approaches. Alex and I took the bus to Turkey Run State Park in Indiana early in the morning to experience some 'nature'. After the 90 minute bus ride we were ready for a 'little walk'.The day started off well, enough, overcast and warm. Perfect for a stroll in the 'Spooky Forest' with our new new friend - 'stick'. We chose a walk that Alex could get her teeth into with lots of stairs to climb and even a ladder or two.
However, by the start of the second hour the heavens opened and the rain coat had to come out. For someone who likes pink though this was more a cause for celebration than sorrow. It also created lots of muddy puddles to 'avoid'.The raincoat did a great job of keeping her clothes clean. Now I just need something for the rest of her.

30 Months Council Of Friends

So we've graduated from taking the "Council of Friends" photo monthly (up until HRH Alex turned 2) to six monthly. Here is the most recent one taken on 2nd September 2007 when Alex was 2 1/2 years old. We find the most fascinating thing about the photo now is the number of friends she's accumulated over the time - and the fact that we haven't bought any of them ourselves! Of course, we used to measure her against "Big Bear" to see how big she was getting, but now it's more a case of how much bigger than him she is!

I've been tagged...

My friend Donita tagged me to blog 8 things that people don't know about me...what she doesn't realise that back in December (yes you read that right) I started a post about 50 things about myself - which is still in draft form! So I've decided that whilst 50 things may be beyond me, 8 things I can definitely do. So here goes:

1 When I was little I loved frogs. I'm not sure why, perhaps it was because when I visited my Poppie, we could lift up some concrete bricks in theirbuilt-in BBQ and usually find one, or two. I still have a soft spot for them, especially green-tree frogs.

2 When I was younger (and had no fear) I loved to hang a blue-tongue lizard on my shoulder - my parents even have photos of this. No chance of that happening now - I realise that they can bite!!

3 I have a stationery fetish. No really, I loove stationery shops. Pens, paper, assorted bits and pieces - it all is immensely attractive to me. So much so that I decided long ago never to work in a stationery shop as I'd never take home any pay!

4 I don't know what I want to be when I grow up, I mean when the kids get to school. I'm pretty much resigned to being a SAHM until Sebastien hits kindergarten, but I'd like to get back out in the workforce in some capacity, if only for my self-esteem (earning some of my own money). So I'm trying to work out what I want to do when that happens...

5 I'm a "no-ironing" kind of gal - anyone checking out what I (and Alex) have been wearing the past year could tell this - although I tend to steer cleer of cotton etc that needs ironing in the hopes that I can escape it indefinitely...

6 I have severe house envy - moreso because both of my sisters are now homeowners in Australia. Just something I pictured having done by the time I was 30...maybe now 40...

7 I can't remember the last time I went out to see a movie in a theatre (other than the 3 times we went as a family to a kids movie to see if Alex'd sit through it - no she didn't) and I'm not sure if I've missed anything.

8 Oh, last one. Hmm, my favorite fruit is mango - definitely an "eat it naked in the bath" kind of thing - and unfortunately Alex also enjoys mango so I now have to share :(

So there it is - 8 things that I managed to write down. Nothing earth shattering, but then again, who has time to be earthshattering?!

35 gone 35 to go

Well we've hit the 35 weeks, 35 days to go time for this pregnancy. Although let me tell you that 35 days sounds like a loooong time to me. My doctor had Brett and I guess a delivery date and, well I guessed the earliest at 13th Sept, he guessed next at 22nd September, and she guessed the due date. I know that I'm just asking for an overdue baby given I've been ready for the past month to have him! We shall see.

Alex is getting used to the idea of Sebastien actually being here in person - she has visited the hospital and attended a big sister class. She still wants to be held like a baby and (occasionally) feed like a baby - something I'm not encouraging. But she's also making leaps and bounds in being a big girl, trying to help with everything and insisting that Sebastien stop kicking mummy.


Last night she fell out of her bed for only the second time since she moved into it - boy did she make a loud thump! Luckily no "ows with blood", and she slept soundly til after 8am this morning which was a nice change from the usual 7am wake up call.


Alex is still upset that we don't go out to nearly as many places as we used to, and is always saying "no go home mummy" when we're heading back, usually for lunch. I'm seeking out possible preschools for her, but because she is only 2 1/2 and not fully potty trained it is somewhat difficult. She's definitely keen to go to school though and wants to especially catch a yellow school bus. We deal with that by catching the local bus to visit daddy's work at the university which she loves - both the trip there and the visit.


And because I don't really have a photo for this entry, I thought I'd add a photo of Alex as a baby, and then at 13 months...

A Real Haircut...after almost 2 1/2 years!

Well, we did get Alex's fringe (bangs) trimmed at around 12 mths so that she could actually see to do things, but really she hasn't had a haircut at all. So last night we took a photo after her bath of just how long her hair had gotten. Quite long really - and she really likes having her hair "done" each day, sitting still to let daddy practice and mummy direct.








And although we were talking all day about having her hair cut, when the time actually arrived at 4pm this afternoon and we were sitting waiting in the salon (watching another lady have her haircut finished) Alex declared that she wanted to go outside and that she didn't want her hair cut. Hmm, so in the end instead of mummy being able to take photos of the event (like I did when she had her fringe cut), mummy sat on the seat with Alex on her lap (well, on what is left of it with Sebastien in residence) to give her courage. And all in all Mary Jo did an alright job - talking all the while with Alex, distracting her by counting things and telling her colours of things whilst she trimmed Alex's hair. And the final result? Well you be the judge - still a bit of length so Alex gets her hair "done" each day, but a neat and tidy "do" just right for the end of summer. Not bad. And Alex got a pink lollypop (sucker) for her efforts. So as we went shopping next, I managed to snap a photo of the finished effort - complete with smile and lollypop!

Moving to a big girl bed

For all of this year, Alex has been sleeping on a double futon mattress on the floor - getting her out of the pack'n play. She has made excellent use of all of this space, generously sharing her bed with her inner circle of the Council of Friends. However with Sebastien's arrival fast approaching, it was determined that HRH would have to move onto a "big girl bed".

So it was that we procured a "big girl bed" - and finally sold the futon - thus making way for the construction. HRH was excited to be a part of the construction, poking bolts and assorted hardware into various places of the bed, holding bits and pieces so daddy could tighten it all together.

And then the "big girl bed" finally made it into her room. Now we were a little concerned about where all her friends would sleep - but this hasn't been a problem as she moved them herself into the same box as the rest of her friends and insisted on sleeping in her bed all by herself. Still with "cloth" but none-the-less furry friend-less. And it has really opened up the space in the room now that the futon is gone! Now we are crossing our fingers that when Sebastien moves in, in about 2 months time, that the two can co-exist peacefully...stay tuned!

Potty Training...take it or leave it.

Well, after a concerted effort over the past few months - mainly spearheaded by daddy - we had a mini win over the past weekend. Alex finally "produced" in the potty instead of just sitting on it and singing songs. A minor victory that was accompanied by much clapping of hands, celebration, and her being "allowed" to wear "Big Girl Princess Underpants" - at least until she doesn't keep the princesses dry, then back to a nappy.
She seems just as excited to see a result in the potty - although we're a long way yet from being potty trained. And anyway, we're kind of feeling that it's all come together too late - for when Sebastien arrives, we are anticipating a regression of sorts. But in the meantime, here's "cheers" to our Big, Little Girl!

Delivery envy, and the obligatory pregnant photo...

OK, so after a few requests I've relented and decided to post evidence of Sebastien's impending arrival. As most of you know, I hate being the subject of photos - with a passion. But this photo captures the essence of being almost 33 weeks pregnant.

Of course, many of the women I know who were pregnant have either delivered, or are just about to - leading to a severe case of delivery envy on my part. I think it's just that it's so darn hot and humid here at the moment, not something that I am at all comfortable with even in an unpregnant state! So my doctor admonished me when I stated matter-of-factly at my last check-up "this baby could arrive at any time and it would not be too soon" - only 50 days to go...

Time off for good behaviour...

This past weekend, Alex and Brett drove to somewhere in Wisconsin to go cycling and camping (one night). They left at 5.30am and got back Sunday afternoon. Leaving me with time off for good behaviour!

There was no way I was cycling (my Dr had already admonished me for cycling a month ago...) and with the heat and humidity at the moment, I had no yearning to sleep on the ground...in a tent...so I voted to stay at home.

Brett managed to shoot a few photos - the first is one of the tunnels Alex loves so much.




The town where they ended up was very much like Switzerland - even down to the Swiss flag flying in the park!








Alex insisted in sleeping in just a diaper - and apparently it was cold enough to warrant a blanket...she came back with many mosquito bites and a sprained finger...not too bad for a night away in the "wilds"!

And as for me, what did I do? I had to resist the urge to catch up on all the housework that has sorely been lacking lately - and restricted myself to the laundry, sweeping the floor and then spent the rest of the time scrapbooking the last few pages of Alex's first year album - HOORAY!