Flashback Friday: August 2006

So this week, for Flashback Friday, I'm going to post some never been seen photos from 5 summers ago. Pictures of the days leading up to, the days of, and the days directly after- Miss Eleanore's birth.

I didn't even know I had these pictures, until just now. After they were all taken, they were uploaded onto Christopher's Mom's laptop, and then mostly never seen again. I remember her uploading them onto photobucket for us a year or two or three ago, and sending me the link. I found the link, saved the pictures to this computer, and- well, lets go back to August 2006...







No I know, none of those are very flattering pictures. I had gained a horrible amount of weight, I was on bed rest, and- did you see the one where I was caught off guard while playing dress up in Hubby's uniform? Tee hee.



This picture was taken the day that I went into labor. Christopher was in tech school, and even though my preeclampsia required me to stay in my bed, his squadron was on lock down (somebody had gotten a DUI, or done something equally stupid- nobody could leave their buildings for days) at his training base, so I went to see him. It was a weekend, and I wasn't allowed into his Dorm room. We parked it in the lobby of his building, me surrounded with pillows and water bottles, him in full uniform because that was part of the group punishment. We ordered a pizza and played scrabble. I remember being as uncomfortable as a pregnant lady can be, but I wanted to be uncomfortable there, with him, rather than all alone back in my empty apartment.



My water broke around 1am. I was a day shy of 38 weeks.

And while someday I'll type out my full birth story (and I guess I'll probably have to re use these same pictures), for now I think we'll just let the photographs do most of the talking.



20 hours after arriving at the hospital, Christopher was suiting up in his fancy disposable scrubs, waiting patiently to reunite with me down in the operating room...




And then before we knew it, we were more than just Christopher and Tia. We were a family.



Welcome to the world, Miss Eleanore Sue.



Christopher slept on a tiny little pull out bed (obviously not made for Sasquatch).



And he changed the first poopy diaper. Yeah Daddy!




And in the end, we bought her home, and watched her grow into the beautiful little lady that she is today.

Such beautiful memories. But time sure has gone by faster than I ever imagined it would.

Can you believe, that in just a week and a half, 5 summers later, we'll be doing this all over again, but with our third?

...blows my mind.

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If you're new to Flashback Friday, don't be shy! Heres how we do it-

Grab an old photo (or if you're like me, a bazillion), write a little bit about it, and link up! We love love love to invade your personal Polaroid history, so don't be shy, post your photo, and expect a lot of comments starting with "awwwwww". Unless its a sad post, and then... well those might start with "awww" too. I swear, most weeks I cry at half of your flashbacks (I know, I'm pregnant, so-). Anyways- (please please, because this helps spread the word!) don't forget to either text link back to this post, or grab one of our buttons from down below. Can't wait to see what y'all have to share with us!!

Operation: Love Lovey

I remember everything that I get in the mail. I remember opening every package, pulling out every piece of wrapping (the air filled plastic pockets, the styrofoam popcorns, bubble wrap, confetti, newspaper- all of it), and writing every thank you card to send off in return. I'm very appreciative of everything given to me and my children, everything has meaning.

When I was pregnant with Charlie, shortly after finding out that we were having a boy, I received a package at my doorstep from my wonderful Grammy, filled with handmade burp cloths, and this thing (which would later become known to us, as "Lovey")...



Now I'm not one for decorative things, especially pillows (in my way, in my way, in my way). I've always tossed them to the side, and then they end up cluttering either the floor or a closet space. So what was I to do with this half dog thing, sewn onto what could only be described as a baby body pillow??

I tossed it to the side, naturally- into the pack 'n play it went.

Well. Soon that pack 'n play became Charlie's downstairs sleepy time area (nap times, quiet times, I-have-nowhere-else-to-put-you-so-you'll-sit-here-for-now times), and one day when I peeked in on him, to see how his slumber was going, I noticed that he had wrapped his entire body around the pillow, hugging it with all of his might.

"Awwww!", I said out loud. He had found a friend.



Little did I know, that pillow would become much more than just a friend, but the two of them become companions. Soon the pillow had to start going from the pack 'n play into the bassinet with him. And when he moved from the bassinet to the crib, the pillow went there too. And I'll never forget the day that I realized that the pillow was not just a pillow, but... Charlie's Lovey.

He had just woken up from a nap, and when we came downstairs, I just could not comfort him. For an hour, I must have pulled my hair out trying to figure out what was wrong with this child. "Why are you crying? Why aren't you happy? I've given you milk, I've snuggled you, your diaper is clean, we're watching cartoons, what is wrong with you?!" ...and then it dawned on me (as I thought back to an episode of Imagination Movers). I scooped him up, and we darted up the stairs together.

You should have seen the look on his face, when I pulled Lovey out of his bed.
The happiest little boy EVER.

Charlie had found a Lovey.



As hes grown older, Charlie's love for Lovey has intensified, and the two cannot possibly be separated, for anything. His Big Sister had a similar relationship at this age, with her blankie, which I have to constantly remind Christopher of as he gets frustrated with the situation at hand.

If we get in the car without Lovey-
If we go into the store without Lovey-
If Charlie gets knocked down or hurt in any "oh you're fine, its just a little bump" kind of way, and Lovey isn't within arms reach-
If Charlie doesn't feel well, and Lovey isn't there to comfort him-
If we forget Lovey upstairs-
If Lovey falls out of the crib-
If (God forbid) Lovey has to take a bath in the washing machine-

...seriously. You'd think this child was being tortured. The two just simply cannot be separated. And that, is that.

Want to see what happens if something comes between the two? If Lovey is inside and Charlie is out?



This. A whoooole lotta pouting. Complete misery. A halt to all activities. Life suddenly comes becomes nothing more than agony.

And while it makes me crazy sometimes, I understand.

I still have a Lovey.

Right, I know, I'm 26 years old, but- I still sleep with the same teddy bear that I've had since I was 2 or 3 years old. The dang thing isn't much more than a pile of matted threads by now, having fallen apart in nearly every way possible, but I love my "Jingle Bear" very much. And while I can easily walk away from him and my life would still go on- that wasn't always the case. When I was younger, I would have DIED, had Jingle Bear gone missing.

Luckily though, there were duplicates, of Jingles. So if that had ever happened (which maybe it did? Once or twice?), had Jingles in fact gone missing, there was a plan B. Swap him out. When I was that young, I probably would have never known.



The other day as we were leaving the Walmart parking lot, Charlie began screaming "Lubies! Lubies!", in his somebody-shot-me voice, and my mind immediately flashed to the worst.

Oh Lord. We've lost Lovey.
"Stop the car! Stop the car right now!", I started to yell. And I wasn't kidding, I was literally ready to jump out of the van and run back into the store. I'd go through every aisle 1,000 times if I had to. I cannot imagine life, without that anxiety causing yet equally loving blue puppy dog pillow.

So as Charlie sat there screaming, and Christopher looked for a parking spot- I frantically started organizing what I'd do, if Lovey was lost for good.

And friends, I'm not kidding when I tell you that I started to have a heart attack. I was pouring sweat, I couldn't breathe, my heart was racing-

We, would, be, screwed.

Charlie's everything would go from this...



to this...



Can you imagine looking at that face every day?

We *found* Lovey, by the way. He had slipped out of Charlie's lap, and fallen between his seat and the door. Thank goodness it was only a scare! BUT-

I'm begging you friends. BEGGING YOU. We can't go through that again. We can't through that for real.

Help me find another Lovey?
Help me find a backup?

I don't care how much it is. I don't care if I have to travel to China to get one. I don't know what I'd do, had we REALLY lost that pillow.

Help me?



I've already preformed surgery on Lovey's arm once. It came off completely, in the dryer, after Charlie took him swimming in the kiddie pool out front (despite my best efforts). And I'd gladly sew that arm on over and over and over again. But what do I do, if Lovey goes missing, and there isn't an arm to sew?

Help me find a backup Lovey!?
I'm desperate.



Clearly, things like this, prove to us how bat-crap crazy we Mother's can get, when it comes to just how much we love our children.

*EDIT: Lovey has been FOUND! My amazing friend Tina, located the maker of Lovey by doing a yahoo search (wow google, really? way to fail me). The only problem we've got now, is that Lovey really is made in China (see and I thought I was totally joking when I originally said I'd travel that far), and so far we only know how to buy 2400 of them at a time. I've sent an email to the maker, asking them about how I might be able to go about finding out how to buy less than a billion, so now the next step, is locating a retailer to buy one (or ten) from.

Click here to see Lovey's catalog page.

Thank you everyone for your ongoing help. Thank you thank you thank you.

An Actual Wordless Wednesday, Maybe?

(Its not that I don't have anything to say, tonight. Because I do. I have more than enough words bubbling right beneath my tongue, trying their absolute hardest to explode out of my mouth, wanting nothing other than to just be heard. But as I sit here with my fingertips hovering above the worn out keys on my netbook, I find that my thoughts are stuttering, and drowning under the need for my mind and body to rest.)

(So hows about a set of pictures from this morning? Maybe we'll have an actual "Wordless Wednesday", this time around?)

(Some chalk. A pair of stunning blue eyes. And the most gorgeous I'm-only-smiling-because-you-told-me-I-wouldn't-get-a-cookie-if-I-didn't, smile that I've ever seen...)

You Know What I Never Blogged About?

So as I sit here uncomfortably on the couch, with a mountain of I-can't-seem-to-kick-this-cold dirty tissues piled ceiling high next to me, I wondered to myself ..."what could I possibly blog about?".

I opened up my Flickr account, skimmed through the pictures, and then came across a set that somehow never made it into a post.

October 31st, 2009.

Really? I didn't blog about Halloween?

Well. Since I've got nothing better to do (other than pick up the 900 books that kids pulled off of the bookshelf and littered the living room floor with), and I'm trying to take my mind off of these probably-aren't-productive contractions, I think I'll share this photo set with you...

Isn't Christopher so cute? He made pumpkin pancakes for the kids.



Eleanore had requested to dress up as Tinkerbell. At the time, she had been watching the movie over and over again, so who was I to tell her no.




I made a big poofy tutu dress out of green and yellow tulle. I made her a pair of wings out of some bending wire and knee highs. A splash of glitter here, a strand of ribbon there.

But of course, putting the costume on her, watching it all come to life, was my very favorite part.

I made Charlie's costume too, can you guess what he was?




Well he was supposed to be Peter Pan. But... I think he looked more like Robin Hood. Oh same thing, right? Thank you.



I think at that point, Charlie was still recovering from his battle with swine flu/pneumonia, and wouldn't sit in the stroller. He wanted to be carried the entire way, and by nobody other than me.

So thats exactly what I did. For the entire 2 or 3 miles of our candy collecting. I spoiled him with my hip.

(Peter Pan doesn't have a feather in his hat, does he? Dangit.)



I love this picture of Christopher stopping to adjust Eleanore's wing strap.

Oh, can you tell who Christopher is?

...



Well he was my Rock Of Love, of course.



Heeeee. Look at little Charlie's face, as he goes for a handful of Sister's tutu dress. Sneaky sneaky, little man.

I know I could have saved these for a Flashback to be more fitting, but- as soon as layed eyes on the pictures, I was just all too anxious.

Oh, and I was a cat, by the way. I don't know any cats that wear bow ties, but... meow?

Bean's Room

It took everything that I had in me, today, to come out of hiding. I've spent most of my day either laying in bed, or laying on the couch- both of which have become my own personal drool pads. I went to bed last night with a scratchy throat, and within 2 or 3 hours, it felt like I was swallowing razorblades. I've been licking tylenol like ice cream, and even called my doctor to beg for a z-pak (because I know that no matter where I go- walk in clinic, ER, base hospital- thats all they'd be able to give me), but because I didn't have a fever (4 tylenol at a time had better rid me of that, at the least), they wouldn't prescribe it to me.

So here I sit, both babies in bed (Christopher tucked them in and read them stories while he was home on his lunch/dinner break- God Bless that beautiful man), a half a box of tissue (it was full this morning, but, my nose decided to join in on the party) beside me, I'm about to go for round 3 of 4 of four more tylenol to numb the face exploding pain, and... ok I seriously just forgot what I was going to type.

Long story short- ...blah.
Blah about sums it up.

Even thought I feel like I've been hit by a pollen truck, or maybe bitten by a strep throat snake- I have to show y'all what we've been up to.

Christopher took leave most of last week, so that he could help me dig into my nest. Everywhere I look, all I see is dirt. I've been complaining nearly non stop about all of the things that make me want to get down on my hands and knees and start scrubbing. I've been going on and on about everything that needs to get organized- I've been driving everyone, including myself, crazy. Well finally Christopher took a few days off from banging around on airplanes and their parts, to come home and help me move heavy furniture from one side of the house to the other.

One of the things that we finally accomplished, was putting together Bean's room.

Well, Beans corner, in our room.

None of my kids have ever had a "nursery". I'd like to look back on memories of painting bedroom walls pretty shades of blues and pinks, but the reality of being a military family is- we've moved 5 times since Eleanore was born, a nursery has never been in the cards for us. When we got pregnant with Evelyn, we were given the opportunity to move yet again, into a house down the street, a 4 bedroom, but... really, I'm sick of moving. So instead of moving all of our belongings into a house with an extra bedroom, we just moved all of Bean's things, into our bedroom. We'll gladly share our space with her. This is our home. We don't want to leave it just yet.

When Bean isn't sleeping in our bed with us (I have such a hard time putting the babies down in the early days), she'll be sleeping in her Brother's old Pooh Bear bassinet, over by the window, under the beautifully handmade (by my good friend April) sign that simply reads, "Bean".



We'll change her on this changing table, the same one that both of her siblings used. And when we have pictures of her being held by all of her loved ones, we'll pin them up on her cherry print photo board (made by her Aunt Jessie).



All of her things are neatly stacked on the shelves below the pink fabric covered changing pad.



A basket full of teeny tiny newborn sized diapers.



A diaper that fits in the palm of my hand. Its hard to believe that Evelyn will be so small.



A basket full of pants. Pinks, stripes, polka dots. Pants that Eleanore wore, pants that Charlie wore, pants that have never been worn.



Hats, baby legs, socks, and little footies. That hat on top there, was sent to us by a friend all the way from Norway. The socks and booties belonged to Charlie. The leggings were $3 each on Etsy, I had to buy two pairs. And just today, in the mail came a box from a friend in Louisiana with more socks, lots and lots of socks- that we'll soon be adding to the basket.



Blankets to wrap her in. Some handmade, some gifted. All warm and comfortable.



I pushed all of my clothes in the closet to the side, just like I did when Charlie moved in, and we hung up all of Bean's dresses, onesies, and sleepers. Most handed down from Big Sister Eleanore, some sent to us from friends and family, some found at garage sales. All just waiting to be worn.

What should Miss Evelyn wear home from the hospital?



Maybe this? What do you think?

So. There you have it. The grand tour of Bean's little corner.

Only 14 days (until our scheduled c-section), and counting.

I get more and more anxious by the day.