I was so excited leading up to Anson's birth, and I wished I were with Bags when she was having contractions and trying to figure out if she was in labor. I required constant updates from her on the day she ended up being induced. Mamo was able to be there when Anson was born, and Dustin's parents went out shortly after Mamo left. Then Bags was on her own for one work week until I arrived. The timing ended up being perfect. Dustin left for a conference in London the Sunday after I got there and was gone until Friday night (the night before I left). Dustin thanked me very sincerely for coming and said, referring to the week before I arrived, "It's been bleak." Bags was pretty much living on the couch nursing constantly, so grocery shopping and cooking weren't really possible. Newborn life is tough.
Bags's routine at that point was to stay up until around 11:00 P.M. or midnight with the baby - after his last feeding of the day - and then stay in bed as long as possible in the morning. The Saturday after I arrived, I woke up early (around 7:00 I think), despite not having gone to bed until after 1:00 A.M. Bags and Dustin were still hibernating, so I decided to go for a run. The temperature felt nice at first, although I learned within 10 minutes that humidity makes running a lot harder. The scenery totally makes up for it, though. I couldn't get enough of the green.
I got back and showered before Bags and Dustin emerged, so I felt productive. Later that day I fetched some groceries, and we made fajitas for dinner. Anson did some chilling in what Bags calls "the taco."
He's so cute and so, so tiny. It's weird that I brought home a newborn about his size last July, and yet I already forgot how incredibly small they are.
Sunday Dustin went to church, and I kept Bags company at home. We watched a talk from general conference, although Bags realized as it was ending that she'd already seen it. She and I share memory issues.
For dinner, I made Mediterranean pork with whole wheat couscous, green salad, asparagus, and broccoli. Dustin was very grateful for the vegetables (and the rest of the meal), as they'd been heavy on carbs and lacking in nutrition in recent days. I have to say, cooking is more enjoyable when the people for whom you're cooking are appreciative. (I'm looking at you, Ever and Wren.)
Bags and I spent an inordinate amount of time decided what treat to make, finally settling on these chocolate sugar cookies with mint frosting and chocolate glaze:
Bags figured we should take Dustin's work trip as an opportunity to make things we love and he doesn't. Dustin doesn't like mint chocolate or pumpkin, so later in the week, I made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. I left bags of both types of cookies in the freezer for Bags to enjoy, although I did some serious damage to the pumpkin chocolate chip cookies before I left.
With Dustin out of our way after Sunday evening, we started watching a lot of trashy 90's TV (a teen show that shall remain nameless) while Bags nursed or we otherwise dealt with the wee child. The first few days I was scared to get too close to Antone* on account of my sleep deprivation-induced sore throat. Eventually I decided it seemed to be a chronic ailment that wasn't turning into a serious illness, and Bags admitted she'd like me to change diapers. I started doing so, although I still didn't do as many as I should have. (It's confirmed: boy diapers freak me out.) Other than that, I did more grocery shopping, cooked as much as I could (leaving a bunch of food in their freezer), did dishes (their dishwasher broke right before Antone was born), cleaned a very little bit, and generally just tried to provide moral support.
We stayed up super late every night, and then I had a hard time sleeping when I finally did try to sleep. After a few days of that, I decided I wasn't going to sleep at all on that trip and stopped trying. One night Antone wasn't going back down very well after eating, so I took him through the night after his feedings. I also took him a few times during the day so Court could nap. I got in a couple more runs and took Tony on a super-long walk one day (almost six miles). Most of my jaunts ended up being longer than intended because I could never find my way back to Coco's house - even with the map in my Nike Run app. Once or twice I had to pull up driving directions and have the phone lady narrate my way back to the house. While I was out, I couldn't stop taking pictures of pretty houses and lovely, green streets.
Very few pictures were taken in the home, but I did get a couple of cute photos of the new mom cuddling the wee one:
How adorable is his little face?
Nephew time:
This gorgeous house is going up in that favorite neighborhood of mine, and I thought maybe Jim and I should buy it (for millions of dollars):
Jim sent me updates from the home front. He took Ever shopping and bought her some clothes/swimsuits, including this dress:
He also ended up getting Wren a few things, I think so she wouldn't be left out.
Tyna started climbing stairs.
She was pulling to stand all the time, and the wood box was a favorite hangout.
She fell there one day and got a cut by her eye.
Ever and Wren gave a concert, during which Wren beautifully sang, "Jesus be kind to everyone."
My favorite was when Jim had Wrenny do "This Little Piggy" for me over Facetime. The way she said "mowket" was the cutest thing ever. I had her do it for a video after I got back, but it's not her best work:
I had hoped that Jim would have a really hard time while I was gone so he would feel my pain and think I'm amazing. Instead, he did lots of things out of the house, went for runs, fed the girls restaurant/fast food nearly every day if not twice a day (despite the fact that I left a bunch of home-cooked food in the freezer), and had a grand time. The girls seemed to do fine on the flexible sleep schedule, and Jim learned that they are better and easier to care for when you're out doing things (as compared to when you're homebound). Totally true. He did things I never can do because of nap schedules. He took Big Blue (the minivan) into the shop a couple of times for different things. He'd drop Ever at school, take the van in, go for a long run with the double stroller while the van was being worked on, and then pick up Ever. The night before I returned, he took the girls out for pizza and ice cream and then let them watch a show. I don't know if anyone was very excited about my return.
JoAnn watched the girls one day that week, and Jim went to Ever's class that day wearing his lab coat and stethoscope to talk to the kids about being a doctor. Mrs. Reese had told me early on that she'd love to have Jim come in. She tries to get different professionals to visit and talk about their jobs so the kids' minds are opened to more possibilities and they start thinking about what they'd like to do. She also had a dentist and a fireman visit this year. Jim wasn't super excited about it, but when Mrs. Reese brought it up at an open house the week before I left, he agreed. We realized that week I was gone would be the perfect time since he had work off. He said it went fine, and it was fun for him to meet Ever's classmates.
Jim said that Wren tried his patience (toddlers!), but he told me completely seriously that Ever was perfect the entire week I was gone. He said a couple times he had to ask her twice to do something, but then she did it. Tyna, of course, was great. He'd trade with me and be the stay-at-home parent any day. And maybe he should be. Ever was giving me trouble the first morning after I returned. I asked her why she listens to Jim and not me. She said maybe it was because he did more fun things with them, like go to restaurants, the park, etc., and she would do what he asked because then they would get to do those fun things. I know I'm not supposed to let my kids make me sad - or at least I'm not supposed to let them know they make me sad - but I was really upset by that conversation. I felt like an unloved failure. But I got over it. Mel Karner says Christian has told her a couple times that he wishes she would go to work and Derrick would stay home, so at least I'm in good company.
Anyway, it was lovely to spend time with Courtney and Antone. I didn't have any helpful advice about what to do when he fussed or how to get him to sleep, and I wasn't as productive and helpful as she has been when she's come to us. Nevertheless, she said just having me there helped lighten the atmosphere. Jim reported that everyone thought he was amazing for taking the week off to care for the kids, and it's true. He is the best, and I love how much he loves Coco. The girls got to enjoy good daddy time, and I got a week with my sis. I also got to read a bunch in Team of Rivals (the book I've been trying to get through for a decade) on my flights - and a little while I was there. I was very inspired to keep going and finish it off when I got home, but I think you can guess how I've done with that. Someday...
* Grandma Hastings used to be obsessed with a Star Valley boy named Anthon. She desperately wanted my cousin Danielle to marry him, but Dani had no interest. Grandma bugged Dani about him for years and years, but she always messed up his name, calling him "Antone" instead of "Anthon." It drove Dani crazy, and it was hilarious. So while in Virginia, I decided Anson's nickname should be "Antone."
