Lucy Claire

Our little Lucy joined our family December 10, 2009.

All 7 lb. 8 oz. and 20.5 inches of her.

She is the perfect addition.

I've been thinking over the past week about Lucy's transition to this world. Her birth was such a disruption to her existence. Without warning, she was removed from the comforts of the womb and plopped into a cold, bright and loud world.

She was no longer part of me, and endured the unpleasantness of newborn medical procedures.

It's just not a warm welcome for a daughter from heaven.

But she was handed first to her father, who introduced her to me. Held by arms that would love and protect her forever.

And welcomed home by two doting, loving, big sisters.

She is part of a family who adores and loves her to no end, and will direct and pad her way through this world.

Welcome, Lucy Claire. You are home now.

Clues

You know your husband has spent way too much time away from home this past year when:

One
The staff from the hotel he frequents sends a hand-signed holiday card. Residing there for 4+ months apparently makes you family.

Two
His employer honors him and his co-workers with an award called the "Perseverance Award"

with the following description:

In recognition of an employee or a team of employees who exhibited remarkable tenacity and overcame seemingly insurmountable obstacles through unwavering resolve, vision, and dedication to their duties to accomplish particularly difficult or contentious projects.

I attended the Department of Justice Civil Division Awards Ceremony on Thursday, where the Attorney General, Eric Holder, was present.

Brian and the team shook his hand and posed for a picture with him. It was an honor, and made me proud to have Brian representing our country’s interests.

There are few people who have worked harder than Brian on this Idaho case—talking with his colleagues reinforced to me how heavily he is relied on (not that the long days and nights didn’t tell me that) and what an invaluable attorney he is. And while he is the first to point out that I persevered right along there with him, I was delighted to see him be recognized for his hard work and so proud to be his other half.

Baby? What Baby?

Have I mentioned I'm having a baby in 3.5 weeks?

It's mind boggling, actually. I have no idea where the past 9 months went. With the first two girls, it seems I somehow had the time to massage the idea of having a baby--I read frequently about the do's and don'ts of mothering, shopped for maternity clothes, obsessed over what I needed for the upcoming arrival, took "last-time" getaways with my husband right before the births, found time for pre-natal massages, took pregnancy yoga...you get the idea.

This time around, perhaps I've skimmed the baby name book once or twice (Brian and I are notoriously last-minute namers), I did borrow some great maternity clothes from some girlfriends, have attempted to make a massage appointment and did actually locate a box of 0-3 month clothes last night.

I like to think of the discrepancy as not so much a lack of interest in our 3rd child, but rather an increase in confidence about my parenting. I do know that a nursing newborn requires little more than clean diapers and a bunch of sleepers. Parenting/baby books are useless to me now--I've either already incorporated the advice or messed my older two children up. I know well what a C-section entails--it ain't pretty, but 4 days recovering in a hospital by myself does have its appeal on some days. I have missed the massages, and I giggled way too much through pregnancy yoga (picture large-bellied women all doing the "tree" pose) and even fell completely asleep once during yoga nidra. My friend Leslie had to wake me while the class waited patiently in tadasana, watching me rouse from a really good nap.

The difference is also in my level of business--taking of care of two children and trying to find time to pursue my other interests doesn't leave me with much time left to dwell on my growing fetus. However, the last week or so, this pregnancy, tired of being an afterthought, has demanded some attention. It has made my back ache, my legs swell and my heart burn. It doesn't let me sleep and according to my husband, it makes me snore when I do (I'm still waiting for proof). So...the next few weeks may be a bit of a physical challenge, so the busier the better as far as I'm concerned.

A few recent adventures:

Ella had a day off school, so we headed to Glen Echo Park. We caught a showing of "Go Dog Go" at Adventure Theater, which was mindless and plotless, much like the book. I shouldn't have been surprised, but I was...they could have thrown in just a little bit of plot for the sanity of the adults.

The beauty of the park, however, made up for it

and you can't go wrong with an empty stage. My girls most certainly wouldn't let a good stage go to waste. There are always dances to be done and songs to be sung.

And they swung and spun until their little tummies could tolerate no more.

Some good quality ladies time is most definitely a perfect distraction. A Friday night cooking class at L'Academie de Cuisine in Bethesda, the ladies and I concocted: Blackened Catfish Fingers with Calypso Sauce, Beer Batter Fried Cod with Tartar Sauce, Sweet Potato Latkes, Honey Poppy Seed Coleslaw and Pumpkin Mousse with Ginger Cookies. Delish!

Jenny, bless her heart, took most of the fish responsibility. My major responsibility was the pumpkin mousse, which is rich and indulgent. I also learned that it is actually possible to create in the kitchen without use of a Kitchen Aid mixer. I remade it for Sunday dessert.

Here's the recipe if you're looking for something festive and sweet:

1 cup pumpkin puree

3/4 cup sugar

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 Tbsp. melted butter

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Method:

Sitr together the pumpkin and sugar until smooth and creamy

Add the cream cheese and stir that until smooth and creamy

Add the vanilla and melted butter. Combine completely

Whip the cream and fold it into the mixture. Chill.

It is best with something like a sugar cookie along with it...I didn't love their recipe, but let me know if you want it and I'll be happy to pass it along.

And of course, we had to partake of our masterpieces.

We were quite the team! And I do think a maternity apron would have been a bit more flattering.

My brother Drew was in town last weekend and we enjoyed hanging out with him. I have to say that my brothers are dynamite uncles. They are so good to my girls. It overlapped with my parents' big raking weekend. It is a massive project, and given that my parents have conflicting ideas of how it should be done, it gets interesting. For some masochistic reason, Russ loves doing it too much to pay someone to do it.

We chipped in, but the girls mainly just wanted to be tossed around by their Uncle Doo-Doo. (The name was coined from Ella's early talking days, where she couldn't say "Drew", but came out with Doo-Doo instead. Needless to say, the name stuck and is the way Samantha has learned to say his name as well.)

One additional reason for the minimaal focus on childbirth is that Christmas has to be done before hand. I am in full swing Christmas shopping and preparations. I've never put up a Christmas tree prior to December 1st, but this might be the year.

Next weekend is the big Christmas chocolate dipping extravaganza. On Friday, sister-in-law Janene flies into town, "the machine" comes out and we dip like crazy for two days. The massive chocolate production won't exactly be helpful for post-baby slimming, but tradition triumphs.

This past weekend, my mom and I made three batches of fondant, 1 recipe of caramels, 1 recipe of toffee and 2 recipes of truffles...we truly think my Grandma is smiling at us from on high. We've never done it without her and they all turned out splendidly. This Christmas will sure feel empty without her. Thank heavens for our third little girl coming just in time to take the edge off the void of not having Grandma here this year. I like to think that Grandma kissed this baby girl on her way out of heaven, and bestowed just a touch of her own spunk and kindness.

Hopefully, a taste for chocolate, too.

October Happened

How is it possible that the first week of November is over and I haven’t done a late-October post? October is my big month! My favorite month! Time continues to escape me.

First of all, it must be noted that I’m now officially well into my 30’s. 32 to be exact. 30 and 31 are sort of dipping your toe into the decade. But 32—I’m swimming in it now. I'm glad I have an older husband to always help me feel young. :) Brian always wipes his brow the day after my birthday, given that he has Ella’s birthday, our anniversary and my birthday all packaged into October.

We had a lovely celebration the day prior, which most importantly involved Brian cooking and not me. My mom provided a delectable chocolate cake with ganache frosting and a heath bar middle. Truly rich and indulgent. In the last couple of years much of her cooking now comes from Bon Appetit, and we often benefit greatly from this little hobby. She brought her masterpiece, along with a bag of candy pumpkins (a traditional accessory on all my birthday cakes) and asked if I REALLY wanted the pumpkins on it. In other words, was I going to insist on corrupting a gourmet cake with those pumpkins?

Absolutely.

I was spoiled with my token jewelry from Ella, a new book, gift certificate for new clothes post-baby and a certificate for a 60-minute pre-natal massage from my Mom—my Exponent friend Jonette is a CMT and has magic hands. I can’t wait. Oh, and the cute fall placemats on the table are from my mother-in-law—she knows I heart fall.

And then dinner out on my actual day with with kids, was a bit painful and did not win any awards for children’s best behavior. But again, another evening without cooking is always welcome.

In other October News…

Samantha has decided that butter knives are the answer to most of life’s problems. She pulls them out of the drawer to attempt to open toy kitchen food, cut real food and pry open drawers. It’s rather amusing.

Ella completed her first ever soccer season. Once we established that the object of the game was to get the ball between the two red flags and not simply to get it out of bounds, she improved tremendously.

We apparently need to work with Samantha on sideline cheerleading techniques.

The medal placed around her neck was as good as gold. She was so proud of herself and is looking forward to spring soccer!

Halloween is always multi-eventful. I’m glad the girls get multiple opportunities to show off their costumes, but I’m always a little partied out by the end of the month.

Festivities included:

The Pumpkin Selection

Pumpkin Carving

Which somehow induces a great deal of silly-ness.

And Samantha, who really will try anything. At least she knows now that raw pumpkin guts are not her thing.

Our ward Halloween party (unfortunately, for the second year in a row held in our church because the farm was rained out). Samantha outright refused to wear her witch costume, but I talked her into a Halloween shirt and headband.

Ella working on the pinata, which proved to be both child and adult-proof.

Elementary School Party and Parade

Costume clarification: after purchasing Ella's fairy costume, I was informed that she was to be a RAINBOW fairy. Brian bought her rainbow wings when they were out shopping one day, but given that I was short on time and creativity, a rainbow sash tied around her middle seemed to fit the bill.)

Trick-or-Treating (post-party at our neighbor’s)

Samantha enjoyed feeding Carri her candy as much as eating it herself. Carri also made me watch the Nicholas Cage movie, "Knowing", which was way freakier than I had bargained for. I now "know" it was beyond my thrill threshold.

And fortunately, Ella has since given up the routine of sorting her candy on a daily basis (the Harry Potter cape somehow makes it more festive).

October has now been documented to the best of my ability. We'll see how November goes...