Loving Fall and Falling in Love

My favorite time of year is here. The last two days have been cold and rainy, the kind of days when wearing sweats and watching movies the entire day is totally justified. I've put away all the shorts and t-shirts, we had our first hot chocolate of the season, turned our heater on for the first time and my pumpkin scented candle is lit. And then there's this little pumpkin... who I can't stop kissing and smelling and snuggling

(even when she does keep me up until after 2 in the morning).

10:20pm - 1:39am

Nurse, burp, change diaper, snuggle, swaddle, turn out the light, crawl into bed, hopes are high, whine whine whine, turn on the light, unswaddle, check diaper, change diaper, bounce bounce bounce, search for paci, swaddle, lay down, turn out the light, cry cry cry cry, wait, more crying, turn on the light, change diaper, nurse, burp burp burp, cry cry cry, wake up Jake, bounce bounce bounce bounce bounce, turn out the light, crawl into bed, hopes are high, cry cry cry CRY, nurse, burp, bounce, whine, bounce, whine, bounce, whine, change diaper (the girl can poo!) feeling tired, feeling desperate, get the hair dryer, works like a charm. Asleep at last (until 4:20 am)! This picture was not taken in the middle of the night.

A couple weeks ago, the door on my half-size, bottom-of-the-line oven fell off. But after a phone call to our landlord who promised to replace it while my mom was here, plans were resurrected to bake our booties off. That was 12 days ago. When the first time frame he gave came and went, we called to check up on things. He gave us a second window of time, promising to definitely be here on Saturday, the day my mom went home. No homemade power bars this time. Jake called on Sunday and got an answering machine. We finally heard back last night and were told he could bring it to us right then but it's not clean 'cause he got it off of craigslist. Really? Or he could clean it up and bring it the next day. Well buddy, chances of you (a) cleaning it appropriately and (b) bringing it tomorrow are very slim. Bring it now. He showed up with this piece of hud.

I was in tears, probably due to heightened emotions from my lack of sleep and general hormone wackiness. I was disappointed. Disappointed that we waited so long only to be brought a dirty oven. But, fortunately, my mother taught me how to clean and Jake thinks I can clean anything (just ask him about our first apartment in California when I took a razor blade to the shower). And, after seeing that the self-cleaner was set to take three and a half hours, I knew I could clean it faster and better. So, armed with boiling water, Lysol, Soft Scrub and four Magic Erasers, I set to work. An hour later, I hadn't made much progress. I grabbed a spoon (I'm not weird, I'm creative) and that grime was comin' right off. It was slow though, since a spoon's surface area isn't very large. I asked Jake if we had a paint scraper. Oddly enough, we do and it worked like a charm. I was done in exactly two hours.

It's not perfect but I feel better serving things from it. And there are several good things about it: it's full-size, which means all my bakeware will fit in it as opposed to only the one cookie sheet that fit in the dinky oven; the dials are in the back, out of reach of little hands; it's glass top for easy wiping; the temperature is set digitally - no more guessing! Lasagna anyone?

Tubby Time!

The minute Callie's belly stump came off (those things freak me out) I was ready to dunk her in the water. I love a freshly bathed baby who smells like baby lotion and is all snuggled up in pajamas with feet. Callie loved her bath - didn't fuss at all. Jenna was a good helper, too. She was so gentle pouring water on her sister's tummy. My girls are so sweet. Check out the pictures below - I'm sure you'll agree.

To have a loving relationship with a sister is not simply to have a buddy or a confident -- it is to have a soulmate for life.

-Victoria Secunda

The Birth Day Photo Essay

Rated G for all audiences.....

Tuesday, September 8, 9:30 a.m. Go time.2:31 p.m. She's here! 2:45 p.m. Just under 8 lbs.
3:00 p.m. The new Barnes baby.
3:05 p.m. SO glad Grandma's here! 7:30 p.m. Amy, Melissa & Jenna meet their new niece and sister.
7:42 p.m. Meeting "the sister."
Wednesday, September 9 Still no name....
Thursday, September 10, 12:35 p.m. FINALLY going home (with a name).
12:45 p.m. Waiting for baby Callie.
Home at last!

You make me smile....

Please stay for a while.

Introducing....

Callie Sue

September 8, 2009

2:31 p.m.

7 lbs. 15 oz.

19 3/4 in.

All kinds of shows

Saturday we enjoyed an air show on Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland. It was awesome! People watching was almost as good, especially the lady in hot pink walking her huge dog with ribbons in it's hair. We couldn't stop talking about her and the fact that she told us to leave her dog alone when it escaped and started sniffing out our site. Uh... ??

The airplanes rocked and Jake was in heaven. When one snuck up behind us and the girls all screamed because we thought we were under attack, he just laughed and wondered out loud if they'd do that again. I seriously thought it would send me into labor.

Jenna put on her own show for us. No music required for this little chica.

Just Jenna

The Birth Day Eve

in all my swollen glory

Saturday is a special day

Me: Jenna, are you happy today?

Jenna: uh huh.

Me: Oh good! What makes you happy?

Jenna: Grandma.

And she'll be here SATURDAY!!

Let's get this party started!

The last Tuesday evening before baby #2 (still nameless) arrives!