Newborn Pictures

Charlie had his first photo shoot last week with the wonderful Veronica. Click here for a preview.

Baby Charlie

As you already know Charlie joined our family on the 19th, right on schedule. I was scheduled to be started that morning and my water broke the night before, so I got the best of both worlds. I was all packed and ready to go but got to go on my own, bonus. We got to the hospital just after midnight and he made his grand debut by 4:15. What a champ.

He has been a dream. Eats, sleeps, and hardly ever cries. I was fully prepared for, and willing to endure, a hellish few weeks but was very pleasantly surprised that not all babies are like Jackson was. A true Christmas miracle.

At first I thought he and Jackson could be twins but he is developing his own little persona more and more as the days pass. What I little cutie.

Jackson seems to be adjusting well, I guess. Is simply ignoring his existence considered adjusting well? Either way it works for me. They have the rest of their lives to get to know each other.

He has had a busy first week with all the Christmas festivities and but I have felt great and he is a trooper so we made the rounds.

Charlie with Santa at three days old.

He's Here

Charlie William Drake

Born: December 19th 4:17 am

7 lbs. 2 oz.

21 in

Nevers

Before I had kids and especially while I was pregnant with Jackson, I thought I was going to be a great parent. Admittedly, I was often critical of tantrum throwing two years olds in the store, or shoeless, cape-wearing, menaces running a muck in public. I thought, I will NEVER let my child (fill in the blank). As a parent I will NEVER (fill in the blank). Why doesn't that mom just (fill in the blank)? It seemed so easy. If only they (parents of unruly children) could see as clearly as I.

Well, if you are like me these presumptuous assertions went out the window on about day 2 of parenting. It boils down to survival, both for you and your children. Avoid major injuries--to your children and others. Try not to break things. Get some sleep whenever you can and the rest....come what may.
What caused this ranting you may ask. Well, I was struck with a poor parenting/white trash moment as we were finishing some Christmas shopping this weekend. Case in point....

Yes, that is an entire bag of Funyons that my child is eating as we perused to aisles. Not only did I let him polish off the bag but we has specifically stopped at the local Maverick on the way to the store with these delicacies in mind. Ya, pretty white trash but worth the public ridicule and a blissfully uneventful day of shopping. I am officially the mother I NEVER was going to be. I have learned that choosing your battles is way more important than public appearances, right moms?

PS Only two more days!

PPS mmmmmmm Funyons.

Ready When He Is

Alright folks, the final countdown has begun. Only 11 more rings on the proverbial paper chain. Yep, we will be welcoming our newest addition next week! In preparation I went over my to do list before he gets here.

Christmas presents bought and wrapped........check.

Baby room set up and ready.......check.

Move Jackson out of the baby room.............working on it.


Big as a house....................check, check.

I am careful not to turn too quickly these days in case young children are near by. Don't want the little tykes to be broadsided by the wide radius of clearance that I require.

In all honesty I am so excited, nervous but mostly excited. Two seems a little overwhelming but I am sure we will be fine. Maybe Jackson was sensing my trepidation and decided to help me out. He has been so good and fun lately. Seriously, he has made me even more excited to have another one to play and laugh with.

Welcome to Holland

This past week has been a struggle with Jackson. The pinnacle coming on Thanksgiving day. I will spare you all the boring details but let's just say that Thanksgiving was spent driving around to divert meltdowns and eating reheated leftovers at the counter. I have a feeling holidays/any social gatherings may be a struggle for years to come. I had a little meltdown of my own this week and complained to Mark that I could accept Jackson's struggles but that didn't mean I had to enjoy it everyday. I know, I think the pregnancy hormones are contributing to my lack of coping skills these days.

On Sunday a friend, much more in tune than I, gave me the sweetest story. She said that she had been holding on to it for awhile and just felt like she needed to give it to me that day. I touched me so much that I thought I would share.

WELCOME TO HOLLAND
byEmily Perl Kingsley.

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......
When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."
But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.
So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.
But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

Really?!

Last weekend Mark and I went to a Jazz game and in all honesty, despite my best efforts, I was a little grouchy. I had worked all day, foot-fat was spilling out of my shoes, my back hurt, I had a headache, and I felt as big as a Buick, but I went. I was determined to enjoy the game, sat down, and then the Jazz made their first basket..... much to my astonishment, the woman next to me had fastened a full size cow bell to a lanyard around her neck and rang it incessantly with every point or good play. The Jazz dancers and time-out entertainment were also privileged to her fanfare. I tried to discreetly plug my ear and turn away from her but really, a cow bell 12 inches from your head is not going easily into the night no matter what I did.
Finally at half-time after I traded Mark places to at least put some distance between us and wouldn't you know......she feel asleep! Yes, during the game, fell asleep! All tuckered out from the ringing. She would awake occasionally when the cheering got really loud, ring the bell, and then back to sleep. Really?!
As proof, here is a picture I discretely took with Mark's phone.