'Ere you leave your bed.....

Special request to all my blog readers....Please pray hard for me Tuesday!!! I am taking my board recertification exam. It is a nasty little thing that I have to do every 6 years...this is my first recert. I am praying for a baby that sleeps well tonight, doesn't mind the bottle tomorrow, and enough pumped milk to meet her needs. (Bad mommy didn't start pumping until last week. After all the pumping I did while working with the first two, I just couldn't bring myself to pump sooner that I had to....One week of strep throat later and the freezer isn't exactly full...)

At this point I just want to take the test and call it done. I don't even care if I pass, I just want to be done. OK, so that's a lie, but something about saying it makes me feel more in control.

Here's to multiple choice!!!

Fluorescent Musings.....

Have you ever wondered how somethings that go in one end of a tube a beautiful, pure, soft white, can come out the other end fluorescent yellow? I mean really, imagine the physical and biochemical principles that must be taking place here. I'm not talking about some hideous huge machine either. I'm talking about my sweet, tiny, little daughter who is right now sleeping oh so sweetly on my lap, smiling those sleeping little dopey smiles. However, an hour ago, she was a demonstration of magical biochemical phenomenon as she took 3-4 ounces of white, pure breast milk and turned them in to glow-in-the-dark fluorescent poop. I won't even get into the physic of the explosive emptying of her colon (in the diaper, up the back, down the leg, ... in her hair!?!?) NASA should study how infants accomplish this transformation of matter....we could probably use the same principle in reverse and turn nuclear waste into gasoline....

Time keeps on tickin'...

So I have blown my goal of blogging at least twice a week. Perhaps I will make that one of those on-going goals.....

We took some pro-pics of Alyssa a couple of weeks ago and they are gorgeous (of course!!!) Our package luckily came with a disk with ALL the pics they took. And I do mean ALL.


First, some out-takes.....Goofy...

Goofy ... (and yes, I am too lazy tonight to go back and rotate the image)

Goofy, yet teetering on the edge of cute (yet again, too lazy to rotate)


Just cute...I love pics like this.


And now, the gorgeous.....

This is just her personality...Just hanging out in whatever location or position she finds herself in with an attitude of "I'll just make the best of it." She is the most easy-going, contented baby ever.

Jason's personal favorite. He loves how sweet and peaceful she looks. He had it made into a black and white for his office. (Yea, she already has her dad wrapped around her finger..)


First pic of the shoot. She's here, she's warmed up, she's reading for her close-up...



The close up!!! This was the day after she started giving some real smiles...I so glad we caught a little one.


That's that.....More later......

Now with pictures!!!!

Ta-Da.....We have released the many pictures from the rouge camera and are now able to post them for your viewing pleasure. So without further adieu.......


Alyssa's Birthday Photo....She looks very intent.

I love this picture!!! She just looks so peaceful.

The Tremendous Trios first meeting!

My girls. Aren't they gorgeous?

Alyssa's coming home outfit. We took the kids to pick it out and there was a heated debate. Abrielle wanted pink, purple, and frilly, Carsten wanted brown. It's his favorite color--brown like the chocolate in harlie and the Chocolate Factory. This was the diplomatically chosen happy medium. Too cute!!


Aaahhhh Sunday morning. Aren't they clean? Aren't they pressed? Don't they look like little angels? (Doesn't Alyssa look a bit squished?)



Happy Halloween!!! As Carsten put it "My pumpkin is the scary one, Abrielle's is the happy one, and Alyssa's is asleep."

At the pumpkin patch. I have no idea what is in Abrielle's hand...maybe it's a ghost!!!


I had to throw this one in. Able to reach fruit snacks three shelves up, drink chocolate milk in a single gulp, and carry 7 stuffed animals friends all at once....This is "Super Princess!" She can be spotted at various locations around Round Rock including the grocery store and Target as she insists on always wearing her uniform as to fully protect her secret identity.

More pics to come......

The Young and Jaded....

Ok, so I'm still having technical difficulties, so no pics, but I had to get this off my chest. Carsten lost his first tooth yesterday. He has been complaining of it hurting all week and yesterday it was so loose I told him I could probably just pop it out of there. (I was half joking.) He, however, was intrigued and told me to "go for it." Yes, that's a quote---"Go for it." So I reached in with a paper towel (because that's what my dad did), gave it a little wiggle and twist, and out it came. We then held pressure on the hole for minutes (man did that little thing bleed) and called the grandparents and dad. I then proceeded to remind him to put it under his pillow tonight for the tooth fairy.

"Mom, the tooth fairy's not real." Gasp, skipped heartbeat, halting of the universe.
"Of course the tooth fairy is real."
"No it's not mom."
"Why do you think the tooth fairy isn't real. Did someone tell you that?" ('cuz if they did, boy am I going to let them have it....)
"No, I just know it in my head. The tooth fairy isn't real."

Long pause......

"Carsten, the tooth fairy is just as real as Santa Claus." (This was said in the my most firm and resolute voice.)

His response...pause, smirk, walk away.....

What would you have said? This is my first child and his first tooth. What about the far reaching implications this could have---the Easter Bunny? Santa's Elves? the Great Pumpkin? the Monster that takes toys that aren't put away at night?

What the Tech????

So....I know you are all anxiously awaiting for photos of my sweet little Alyssa, however......I am currently encountering technical difficulties. My sis-in-law Deana was kind enough to let us borrow her super nice digital video/still camera to record every moment of Alyssa's first month, but I don't have the books on how to download everything onto my computer. I keep trying to schedule my personal tech assistant (Jason) for the job, but it just hasn't happened yet. So...until then I will tell you what I love about my Alyssa!!!

1- She has the brightest, most alert eyes EVER!!! Even when she was first born, her eyes have been bright!!!

2- When she is in the state between sleep and awake, she makes the sweetest and silliest facial expressions--usually including a big huge grin which seems like a preview of grins to come and gets me excited.

3- She loves to be held. Ok, so this one also frustrates me sometimes, because I really do mean it. She LOVES to be held---as in she frequently HATES to be put down. But when I hear about friends who swear their babies weren't cuddlers and didn't really like to be held and snuggled, I am really grateful for all the snuggling I get to have, everyday, at all hours of the day and night, while trying to multitask and make dinner/dress toddlers/pack lunches/brush my teeth/apply deodorant.........

4- Her spit-up doesn't stink. If you have ever had a baby with reflux you will also appreciate this. Carsten and Abrielle both had reflux as infants and the smell can be pervasive. Rotten curdled breast milk smells roughly like rotten eggs. However, my sweet Alyssa's spit-up does not seem to stink if less that 24 hours old (don't take a whiff of the laundry hamper) and I really appreciate that given #3 above. She spends a lot of time near my nose and all I get is sweet baby scent.

5- She makes me a quieter person. I can't yell at my other kids when she's in my arms and does not like the loud noise. I have found myself yelling a lot less, especially during the dreaded bedtime rituals.

6- She makes me remember where we came from. Just a few weeks ago her spirit was in the pre-existence. I think she was excited to come to our family; that she was anxious to have a body, that she was nervous to leave the beauty and peace of heaven. I also think about how much she was relying on us to teach her and help her return.


7- She has long curly eyelashes. They really frame her bright eyes and...Gorgeous!!!

8- She brings out the soft and calm side of Carsten. Yes, said calm. He'll sit and hold her hand for hours. He naturally lowers his voice when he's close to her. He's the best big brother ever!!!

I will have to post more later---Alyssa must have sensed I was blogging about her and is demanding my attention. I had the nerve to put her down so I could type with two hands.

Forever and Ever and Ever and Ever and Ever......

There is a very bad thing about having your children early. Ok, so medically speaking there are a few very bad things. But psychologically speaking for subsequent pregnancies there is one very, very bad thing........if that one goes to full term you are pregnancy forever!!! Carsten came at 35 weeks, Abrielle was 36 weeks. I am now at 38 weeks and counting. My feet are having a competition with my belly to see who can get the biggest (score 1 for the feet today) and I'm getting a little irritable. Ok, a lot irritable, but only after 5:30 pm. It's my witching hour. Watch out. I will post comparative pics soon so we all can have fun.

On the good side, the kids are getting sooooooo excited for the baby. When the doctor walked into the exam room today, Abrielle looked him right in the eye and said in her stern little estrogen laced voice "Are you gonna get that baby out today?"