Tiny Tidbits, Part 1

Every day Nancy Rose says something worth repeating. This week, I hope to post one quotable per day. Here is Sunday's:

"Moooooom!!! I have a booger in my mouth!"

It's official; we have a nose-picker.

Trying to Understand....

Nancy: "Mom, are you nursing?"

Me: "Yes."

N: "Are you a nurse?"

Me: "No."

N: "Are you a Mommy?"

Me: "Yes."

N: "Are you a Mommy pretending to be a nurse?"

I know, sweet girl. So confusing.

Bringing Thomas Home

I've been spending my time in between feedings deciding if I will go to the bathroom, take a shower, brush my teeth or eat. There is little time to do much else. I have manage to pull a weed or two on my way to the mailbox, and the girls and I made necklaces this afternoon to kill time before Daddy got home. Is it really true that boys are more high maintenance as babies than girls? I'm starting to believe it. He is cuddly, though, and I take every chance I can get to let him sleep in my arms (when I'm not too busy coveting sleep myself).

We've had amazing help from friends bringing food and groceries and carpooling for us so that I can truly stay here and rest and take care of the kids as much as possible, and for that I am so thankful! I could not do it without them! And for a totally capable and competent husband that knows the drill inside and out and just takes charge. I wake up from a nap on the sofa, and look over and see stacks of neatly folded laundry and a sleeping babe in the bassinet, a quite baseball game on in the background. These days are truly precious.

Tomorrow, remind me that I said all that....

Poppa's the Man.

Kate's homemade birth announcement.

Mommy #2 and Mommy #3 keeping watch.

Introducing Thomas to the Gainors on Skype! Definitely a highlight for me!

Aunt Carol, with cousins Paige, McKenzie and Lauren.

McKenzie and and Zach with Thomas

A hopeful cousin Zach. Just wait a couple of years, Buddy. You'll have so much fun!

Uncle Scott, Ryan's brother, trying to taint Thomas's orange blood with a little mountaineer. We're okay with that.

My grandmother, "Monie", and her first meeting with great-grandbaby #7.

Sweet Dreams....

Charles Thomas Burns Arrives!

Charles "Thomas" Burns arrived on May 24, 2010 at 2:13pm. He weighed 7 lb. and 10 oz. and was 20 1/4". I'm putting this up mainly because people keep asking for more pictures, so I'll start with our hospital moments and progress as we add more pictures of our little man.

I was induced, a platelet count thing, so Ryan and I woke up at 4am on Monday morning, had breakfast at 4:45, and were off. It was weird waiting around to be put into major pain, dining on eggs and toast with coffee in a quiet house before we went to change our lives. We'd never experienced the "this is the day our lives will change" due date, it was hard for me to wrap my brain around.

Had a great experience at the hospital, and we are settling into somewhat of a routine that includes lots of tv for the girls, lots of naps for Thomas, phone calls and cards and meals from sweet and thoughtful friends and family. This time is going by quickly, he is already 8 days old.

Ryan's mug was a Christmas gift from Kate, mine a gift from my friend Brandy when Kate was born.

I love this picture. I think he liked the bath, as long as he was snuggled on his tummy!

Going home.

What Happens in Bed, Stays in Bed.

Nancy sleeps with a menagerie of animals, somewhere between 7 to 12 at a time. Most of the time they are all sanctioned to the foot of the bed, save for one chosen one for the evening that gets to cuddle with her. A few times we have found her surrounded by all of them, stuffed under the covers at her feet:

We have had a few crazy weeks here in the Burns home, to the point where our 6 year old asked us the other night at dinner, "Why are we always so busy, always going here and there and doing stuff?" Nancy can't quite express her frustrations so kindly and verbally, but we think after what we saw last night, she is trying to send us a message:

The Beginning of the End

Here is our new son or daughter. This image was captured over 7 weeks ago and the change between then and now is significant enough to jolt me into the reality that I am, in fact, pregnant. I'm not going to talk about our new addition - we'll be talking about him or her for years to come. Let me bask in the glory of all the attention, sympathy and non-verbal "Bless her heart" looks I can these next 9 weeks and I'll be more than excited to give our new child the next 30 years after that. Deal?

Things have changed drastically since the beginning of February for me, for us. I kept warning others, mainly to remind myself, that come the end of February the glow and energy of trimester #2 would be replaced with the sweat and weariness of trimester #3, which I fondly refer to as the "beginning of the end". Thankfully, I've found I've been laughing more than crying at myself, which shows that God certainly has a way of graciously preparing a woman for change as a new life grows and takes over her body. Here are the things that keep me humble, and giggling:

I drop everything. Everything.

Almost everything I drop stays where it lands, with the exception of car keys and knives. The house is littered with papers, chapstick tubes, socks without mates and tiny hair rubber-bands.

With the exception of the workers at Nancy's mom's day out program, strangers are finally asking me "When's yo baby due?". Apparently there is now no question of if I am pregnant or have gained massive amounts of weight, but those teachers at Nan's school are still scared to ask. I wonder if I'll have to wait for them to ask until they see I'm carrying a car carrier with an infant in it into the school to drop Nancy off.....

Heartburn wakes me up at 2:30am. And again at 5am. Just like our new baby will once it arrives.

I can't catch my breath, and my 6 year old can out-walk me.

I caught Nancy Rose using the heating pad for her back, eating a snack and watching tv. When caught, she confesses "whew, I needed a rest."

Since I can't bend at the waist well, sometimes I find myself with my head inside the dryer trying to pull the clothes out. And then find I can't get out by myself. Ryan is often called from his desk to my assistance.

My shoe laces are tied to the inner part of the shoe towards my arch, and I know my toenails will not be trimmed until June.

If I have a shirt I like to wear, I will not wash it because I know if I do, it won't fit the next time I go to put it on.

Once a secret I tried to keep, I'm no longer ashamed to say I'm in pjs by 4pm most days.

I've started to daydream about sleeping on my stomach again, no longer giving my husband side-hugs and lying on my belly on the floor coloring with my girls.

I my hormones are so crazy, I have used shampoo only 3 times in the past month and have almost no need for face wash. Nonetheless, my hair is dry and brittle and my face ashy and flaky. My nose bleeds daily and my nails are growing at warp speed.

I fall asleep spontaneously, usually without realizing it. I realize it once one of the girls wakes me up, in my face, saying "MOMMY! Are you tired!?!"

Ryan's gazes of affection have slowly turned into pouts of sympathy, with eyes that say "oh, baby, I'm so sorry."

All these, and much much more that I won't share for fear of getting too personal or sounding like I'm complaining, I do believe are ways that mothers are prepared for welcoming their new child into the world. By the end of this pregnancy you better believe I will be more than happy to welcome the temporary excruciating pain of labor in exchange for this daily morphing and grating sacrifice of my body and sanity to grow a living creature. And really, when I look at the picture of that little face, I know it is all well worth it.

Nancy Is Three!

The main reason I am posting is because I feel very obligated to share about our second child's most recent birthday before our third child debuts. Whew. And y'all can forget about seeing Christmas - those pictures were boring anyway.

February 17 was Nancy Rose's 3rd Birthday! I remember (better than I remember with Kate) holding her in the hospital, she was red and screaming for 30 minutes straight, and Ryan and I looked at each other and thought "uh oh. too late to take this one back!" But she calmed down very quickly after that, and was the absolute easiest, most laid back and content baby I had ever had. I am hoping she gets one-upped come May, though. For her birthday dinner, Nancy requested nuggets, apples, peanut butter, Cheetoes, shredded cheese, carrots, and applesauce cake. I decided to divide all this up over the course of a couple of days, because the combo to me sounded like some kind of daycare snack-time on steroids.

Nancy has brought us so much joy and laughter! She filled our home immediately, and it feels like she has always been with us; I guess in a way she always has been, since Ryan and I knew we'd have more than just Kate and had been anticipating another child in our future since Kate was born. I just didn't know it would be this good, this much fun, or this much hard work. Nan's eyes are always smiling and she is great at finding ways to may fun things more fun. Nan, I could eat you up I love you so!

Eating "breabast". I wonder how long I can get away with Valentine's themed parties for her, complete with discounted paper goods and free leftover Valentine's balloons.

Trying to make 3. I love how she has to curl the fingers on the other hand at the same time.

Oh, my baby Nan! You are a big girl now!

Our "friend Belle", not our "dog Belle". And Belle's little sister Lucy in the background. Belle and Lucy did not nap later that afternoon because of all the sugar from the party! Sorry Elizabeth!

The party girls, minus our friend Amelia, who had a cold.

It's my party, I'll cry if I want to.

Birthday Round 2 - Family Dinner, complete with applesauce cake. Kate did the heart decorations all by herself! And that's Nancy's Great-Grandmother, "Monie", trying to avoid being in the picture, to no avail.

My folks got our family tickets to the circus, which was in town just a couple of days after Nan's birthday. She loves animals and the zoo, and now loves the circus.

If you saw this, wouldn't you have an expression like...........

....this?

Thank you, Mo & Poppa!