Sorry.

One hand typing here. Crazy life. Busy busy. Hazel is fantastic and amazing and beautiful and perfect. She is the best and most loving and helpful big sister there ever has been. Not a trace of jealousy or anger at all. She is talking full sentences all the time and busy as can be. She made a great escape from her crib, so we took her to Ikea to test out all of the new big kid beds. She picked out a red one with a dog and cat on it and has been sleeping wonderfully at night but not so wonderfully during the day. Elias is still getting up twice at night to eat which isn't so bad considering he has been eating almost every 2 hours in the day. He is chunking up nicely, weighing in in his 8 week appointment at a whopping 11 pounds, 13 ounces- more than a pound heavier than Hazel at the same age. He is stuck to me all day, every day and we spend a lot of time sitting around. Everyone comments on how clingy and cuddly he is, but thankfully learned this month to sleep in the co-sleeper instead of on my chest at night. He is like glue, and kind of cranky most of the time. He is also very hot and sweaty! The other big news is that we are the most recent victims of the recession-almost-depression; Jamie was laid off because of restructuring in his company the week he returned from paternity leave. It's been a month now with both he and I at home and we are still reeling and trying to negotiate this whole, huge, scary unknown but hopeful that we will land on our feet someplace better than where we were. Keep your fingers crossed. It's a mixed bag- scary to have things be so uncertain with a new baby, but lucky to be able to spend so much time together when the kiddos are little. We will see.... For now, it's time to go to bed because Mister will be up in a few more hours, hungry as a hippo, and Hazel will be up at 6:00 screaming, "DADA! COME!"

Testing out one of the beds at Ikea. This one was a no-go. We decided to go with the Kritter model because of the "picture of the dog and cat. On it."

Grouchy Elias. In a vest.

Crabby Elias. In a hat.

Hazel's haircut with pigtails.

Two minutes ago, crashed out on dada for a change, showing off the chunky wrists and pudgy cheeks.

And Beginning

Welcome to Elias James Donovan, who born January 28th, 2010 at 10:31 PM. Weighing in at a measly 7 pounds 15 ounces after my fears of a 12 pound baby were thankfully unfounded. Apparently I was measuring 43 weeks pregnant when I was 39 weeks pregnant not because of a large baby, or too much fluid, but because of a gigantic umbilical cord that was a whopping 2 pounds! The clamp didn't even fit around it. I was admitted to labor and delivery at 8pm with mild and irregular contractions and two and a half hours later was holding my baby. No pain medications, not like there would have been time even if I had wanted them, and I gave birth standing up, like a cow in a field after pushing for twenty minutes. It was very intense, and very cool. Elias did great, and has a bit of facial bruising as a badge of honor of his Bad Ass Birth. He looks just like Hazel when she was born, but with a lot of black hair and darker eyes.

So far he has been even more mellow and sleepy than I think Hazel was, and that's saying a lot. I don't know that his eyes have been open for more than ten minutes total today, and he has only cried twice. He has already been sleeping for five hours at a stretch at night, and I have to wake him up to feed him. He is a great eater and has been working hard on his pacifier and is the jumpiest baby I've ever seen, startling constantly, wether or not there is even a stimulus. Keep it up, kiddo. I hope he is as good of a sleeper as his big sister.

We came home from the hospital today, and Hazel has been having a difficult time. She is very fussy, sensitive and hyper. She has not removed her pacifier from her mouth for even a second, and has not put her "beeko" down. She has been vacillating between clingy and angry with us, curious about the baby and jealous that he has socks. Things will be ironed out in time, but this is not going to be an easy transition and the poor thing is breaking our hearts in the meantime. My mother took this picture of her in the hospital room, paying me a visit. Heartbreaking, no? Especially wearing her big sister cape, and big sister shirt.

We are trying to get her back into her regular schedule as soon as possible, back to normal life. She has been "helping" as much as she can and getting lots of extra attention. Thats really all we can do at this point! Someday she will be happy with her little brother. Unless she is like me, that is... cross your fingers, folks.

Summer Vacation in Sebasco, Maine

This summer we took a little family vacation to this cool old-fashioned family resort place straight out of Dirty Dancing but without all the drama. It's called Sebasco Harbor Resort, and it was the perfect place to go with kids- very child-friendly and tons of activities for all ages, a self-contained little resort right on the ocean at the southern tip of a peninsula near Bath. We had a suite with a porch and kitchen, there's a playground and ice cream stand, three restaurants and ginormous salt-water pool. Anyway, we highly recommend it- there was even a full service spa on site pour moi.

Enjoying her post- clam bake watermelon.

A biologist brought some animals over for the kids to have a "touch tank" experience. Some of the poor deprived kids from the midwest and New York had never seen a starfish before! Hazel found the hosts secret stash of un-banded baby lobsters in a bucket under the table, and bravely reached in, picked one up, and tossed it into the tank all the other kids were playing in. She screamed, "Everyone get your hands out of the tank!" when she saw it in there. We are just lucky no one lost a finger. She is so fearless!

They did the clambake up right.

Eating watermelon and watching the Acadian music.

So much fun.

Stunning deserted beach.

Her first real clam-bake.

Self explanatory. Nothing better than lobster on a beach in summer.

A disastrous nap-time three-hour cruise around Casco Bay.

The view from our room.

Updating Pictures While Snowed In with a Sleeping Baby

I realize how far behind I am. Frankly, I hate being pregnant and it's doubly hard with crazy toddler Hazel Porkpie, so I spend all my free time sleeping. Or staring at the wall. I really need to update some pictures. We had a lot of adventures this summer, and no I'm not going to post any pictures of my belly.

Goggles and splashing in the dog bowl.

In the woods one afternoon.

A rare sighting of mama.

Exploring.

Roasted corn at the Tunbridge, Vermont Country Fair

Always so happy...

Splashing around in the shallows at the Lake House in Maine.

Picking blueberries.

A summer afternoon walking around at Appleton Farms Grass Rides with friends.

Hazel and Gage exploring.

A reggae concert in town to benefit our local wolf sanctuary, Wolf Hollow.

Hazel's favorite summer past time.

Very serious about mowing the lawn.

A minke whale.

Hazel's first whale watch was a disaster- too long, too loud, too much. This was right after she puked in her dads shoes.

Beautiful Thatcher Island off the coast of Rockport.

The Cox Reservation in Essex has an art show to benefit the Trustees of the Reservations every year.

Making friends with some bug sculptures.

"Oh, hi!"

With dada, one of many days this summer at the wading pool in Bradley Palmer State Park.

Playing with cousin Owen.

Armenian eyes.

The lawn can't be mowed enough.

Leaving the wading pool after a long afternoon, and stopping to look at a snake on the path with her friends Liam and Beatrice.

With her friend Henry on July 4th.

Calling for back-up with cousin Owen.

A luncheon with cousins Owen and Lorna.

Stuffing cake at cousin Lorna's first birthday party.