Best January face....

Another I Heart Faces photo challenge today. This week's theme? Best Face in January.

I scrolled through the pics and came up with this one. Not traditionally beautiful in the sense that Aviecakes is smiling up at the camera, all adorable in frills and lace. Definitely not a sweet baby portrait most people would have matted and framed. Instead, she's devouring her lunch in a don't-come-between-me-and-my-tourtière kinda way. But her eyes!

The midday light from the window just made her eyes sparkle--like two little blue gems staring out from a sea of mushed up potatoes, corn and ground pork pie. That's love right there, folks.

Either we have a future gourmande on our hands or a little girl with a VERY healthy appetite. One way or the other, 15 years from now, she will hardly be impressed that I published this pic....

It's People's Choice Award, so anything goes. Keep your fingers crossed that I get a vote, peeps! (And, if you want to vote for my pic, head on over to I Heart Faces. Mine is #439.) Got feedback? I'd love to hear it.

Happy Monday, folks.

It begins anew

Today is my first day home alone with two-week old Avery. Sadly, pressing filescalled Hubby back to work a week early, so he started back today. He wasn't happy about it. The sun is shining and he thought he still had a week left to get all he wanted to do accomplished. And, secretly, although he may not admit to it, I think he misses his girls. He had been looking forward to his paternity leave for some time. For him, it was a much-needed vacation. Now, a vacation interrupted. He'll take the remainder of his paternity leave some time down the line, but it's not the same.

As for Brooke--she is in her last week of daycare. She wasn't too happy about it either. She has always loved daycare, but since Avery was born, she hasn't been thrilled about going there. I think she's caught on to the fact that Mommy, Daddy and Baby Sister were all at home, and felt that she was missing out on whatever fun we were having while she was gone. We kept her out of daycare last Friday for that reason. Hubby knew it would be his last day of vacay for awhile, and we wanted to make it a special day for her. (So, we took her to the mall. I know, I know! A two-year-old at the mall? Well, we got her her first haircut, she visited the fountain and wishing well, rode a mechanical horse, ate french fries at the food court, enjoyed a lollipop, rode the elevators and escalators and--in short--had a ball!)

As of Monday, she will be home with me, too. Originally, I wanted to keep B in daycare a few days a week, as it would give me some more time to focus solely on Avery, as well as the freedom to get some non-toddler-friendly activities (like grocery shopping!) done. I even thought about how nice it would be to take a mom-and-baby swim class. But, part-time daycare does not appear to be an option available to us at this time, so Brooke will be home with me for the next year.

I worry that she will be bored with me. She loves daycare--the social interactions with the other kids, the trips to the park, the songs, the crafts, the games in the driveway, the mini-parties for every holiday and every child's birthday. I wonder if she will miss the other kids and the constant fun that comes with daycare. I'm not certain if Avery and I can hold a candle to all of that, but we'll try!

As for today, I return to the life of a stay-at-home Mommy. I forgot what it was like to grab a quick shower while the little one is napping, to make medical appointments and fill out newborn paperwork, to hang up countless tiny sleepers on the clothesline, to pick up strewn toys, souces and receiving blankets, to pause only long enough to make a sandwich, so that I can enjoy it while watching her sweet sleeping face. I gotta tell you, it might not sound like it, but frankly, I look forward to a year of this.

Awww...Avie is waking up. Duty calls.

P.S. I am now back to my pre-pregnancy weight (no, I'm not gonna reveal what that is!)--which means that I have dropped the 28 pounds I put on for Avery. Hopefully, I can keep this up! ;)

Welcome to the world, Buttercup!

Simply put, our lives have become blissful. Not to say that our lives were not fortunate, beautiful and pleasant before--but Avery's quiet and content presence seems to have happily filled the space we had reserved for her in our little family. She is 11 days old and pure delight. I am truly blessed. We all are. Welcome home, sweet baby girl!


Avery Breeze Spring (yes, we know how granola the name is--perhaps Hubby and I are treehuggers at heart?) made her appearance as quietly and simply as she has done all things so far. The delivery was easy enough--not nearly as dramatic and exhausting as B's was--because the epidural worked (well, mostly!) this time around. In fact, it worked so well, that it left me with an epidural headache that would not recede five days later, so back to the hospital I went for an epidural blood patch. Two epidurals in five days = good times. (And a guaranteed backache!) More about the delivery in a subsequent post....

Our lovely little girl looks very much like her mischievous big sis--only she was born with reddish hair and an angel's kiss on her forehead. I am in awe that she was inside me for so long and that we knew each other without ever really knowing one another. And, frankly, I still cannot believe that Hubby and I could create such a beautiful little being. It seemed like we lucked out with B, but here we are again with another gorgeous little girl. We are all in love with the little buttercup! And, already, she is proving to be another very easygoing baby.

I hate to make other parents' jealous, but the truth is I had a very easy time with Brooke when she was a baby--she started sleeping through the night at three weeks and was just such a happy little girl! I was never sleep-deprived. I never had to deal with a colicky child. She never got ill. She rarely cried or fussed or puked. Beyond the first two, her teeth never seemed to bother her. She transitioned from bottles and souces and big girl beds without any problems. I never worried that she was not eating enough or wasn't developing properly.


From the horror stories I read about to the trying times friends and acquaintances relayed to me, I knew I was super lucky to have had such an easy baby, and I often thought that Fate would screw me with the second child. A hellion child would be my comeuppence for having dangled my easy child (figuratively speaking--not in the Michael Jackson way) in front of mothers with sleep-refusing, illness-infused, allergy-ridden babies!

But, here she is and A is nothing but pure sweetness. And, I hate to say it (but really, I don't mind at all and am gloating as only a new mother can!), but at 11 days, my little Avie has already pulled two 6-hour nighttime stretchs in a row!! If this isn't a fluke--and she keeps it up--she will have topped her own sister in sheer easiness. Love it!

And, love you, Avie. The world is a brighter place with you in it. I consider myself beyond fortunate to be one of your guides in discovering it....