My friend got engaged!

I know this blog is about our family, but friends are family, too. This is one of my best friends from college, Pauline, my tennis camp buddy. We also were DJs together (parties & campus radio station) at college & we each visited the other when we lived in Asia in 1994 (me in Thailand, P in Hong Kong).

She got engaged last weekend to her boyfriend, Andy.

YEAH! I am so happy for her. She deserves the most happiness!

I love an occasion to get together with my Wellesley friends, their partners and children. There are so many of us now. I also look forward to seeing Pauline's parents and sister and probably some of my other friends' parents. 2010 is going to be a busy year since we all turn 40 too. We have a plan to celebrate that event together - not sure how, we're still brainstorming, hopefully a spa somewhere, WITHOUT children or spouses. : )

Congratulations, Pauline and Andy!

P.S. They're moving to Memphis in August 2010!!!

"Wicked" is AWESOME!

I saw the musical last night with my friend, Niki!

It was the last official part of my birthday celebration.
I asked Jai for TWO tickets so I could invite a friend.

I didn't know how much the tickets are!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YIKES!
It was so worth it.

Niki hadn't seen it and we had a GREAT time!
Thanks for being my guest and for being my friend, Niki! : )
Thanks for the COOL Hello Kitty gifts as a thank you. Love them!

Thanks, Jai! You are the best husband.
I'm glad Julia slept (eventually!) after we left for the theater.
Pick out a movie so you can be ready to leave when I get home on Thursday.
Get some sushi at Watanabe and see some sci-fi flick and get some popcorn! : )

Drive-in

We went to the drive-in last night in Franklin, KY.

This has become an annual summer tradition with our couple friends, Kevin & Anne Marie. We carpool since it is $12 a carload, more the merrier and save on gas, too.

K & AM met at our wedding; they were both attendants in our wedding party. Kevin went to high school with Jai; Anne Marie and I met about 8 years ago through a mutual friend. They got married the summer after us; Jai and I were attendants in their wedding party. I was Anne Marie's Matron of Honor. : )

The last time we went to the drive-in was June 2008; Anne Marie was about 8 months pregnant. I was about 3 months pregnant and we told them our happy news!

This year we had 2 additions in Sam (11 months) and Julia (6 months). Carpooling was a new challenge since we have car seats to consider. Also neither of us has a vehicle that holds more than 5 - no mini-van yet. Jai knows I love mini-vans, wanted one even before we considered having children. He doesn't understand; I try to explain my time at Oasis Center and driving young people to service learning projects in vans. I guess it's a practical thing.

$12 is a good deal for the 3 of us, especially since we don't have to get a babysitter. It costs $7/person for a matinée (show before 3pm - RIP OFF!) at Regal Cinema now.
Bonus - you can bring your own snacks.

However, we like to talk, catch up with our friends, while driving to Franklin, so we brainstormed some solutions. None of us could think of someone with a van to borrow. Renting one seems to defeat the purpose of saving money.

Final solution: Kevin borrowed his dad's Cadillac which has a front seat that fits 3 people, adults only, though comfort seemed an issue. The children in their car seats were in the back. Somehow Tara got selected as the person to be in the middle of those car seats.

It was an adventure. We enjoyed our time in the great outdoors under the stars as we watched "Night at the Museum 2." We ate our snacks. The babies fell asleep in their dads' arms.

One of our favorite lines was a comment to the 'Oscar the Grouch' character: "you're not so much evil ... more grouchy." : )

A few weeks ago we saw was "The Hangover." That was HILARIOUS! Bonnie & Buddy watched Julia. THANK YOU!

However, before that, the last movie we saw was "Benjamin Button"... in February. OMG! That is a LONG time for us, especially Tara.

I suspect that the drive-in will be a frequent destination for our family. Next time I'm getting a funnel cake. I could wait for the State Fair, but that's September. Why wait! : )

GMS visit

I didn't write about my first visit to work with Julia because that was the day of the doctor visit and the weight issue. However, today's trip to Goodlettsville Middle School was no different in terms of the quest to love on Julia. She gets tons of compliments - beautiful, precious, adorable, gorgeous. I try to be clever and say "Julia would say thank you if she could" even though a plain thank you is expected. Someone even commented on her brilliant book-handling skills which might be advanced for a 4 month old.

My two immediate co-workers who witnessed and experienced most of my pregnancy are truly hilarious about who gets to hold Julia first and how long. They also monitor other people's interactions with her, even with Niki! Actually it is kind of nice to have someone else police other people with the baby.

However, their interactions with each other about Julia are the most entertaining. The following are some of their comments:

"I don't want to wait to hold her and then she'll be all tired and cranky ... like last time."
"I can hold Julia while you two catch up."
"If she wanted a white lady to hold her, she has Grandma Bonnie."

(one of my co-workers is black and one is white) (that is my favorite quote!)

We all are excited to have me return to work in a few weeks; however, I suspect they really want Julia to come, too! : )

Crisis of Weight

Some of you might wonder why things have been so quiet. Well, Tara and I had to tackle our first postpartum crisis. Last month when Julia went for her 2 month checkup she was severely underweight - 1st percentile (.pdf)- which classified her as "failing to thrive". This was despite all the other criteria which said she was fine...length, head circ, mobility, alertness, demeanor.

The doctor suggested that we supplement with EBM. She wanted us to do 3 oz, 3 times a day and come back in a week for a weight check. Tara did that and through the extra feedings and lots of spitup Julia gained half a pound, which proved she could gain the weight. Dr. Robinson suggested we repeat another week. In the mean time Tara got more info and we started feeding Julia smaller supplements more often. Again we did it and Julia gained almost 1/2 lb. We have continued to do this until this weekend. In the last week Julia gained 5 oz which is the low end of the normal range for breastfed babies.

So one her 3rd month birthday Julia weighs 9lbs 7oz. She's still smaller than many but she is gaining weight and as you can see by the previous video and this photo she is bright eyed and bushy tailed.

This post doesn't touch the emotional toll this process is taking on Tara. I have stated for years that she is the stongest person I know and this process has brought her to her knees. DO NOT let anyone fool you, breastfeeding might be natural but it is not easy.

There are all sorts of things you can't factor in and if you've never breastfed before its almost impossible to figure everything out. Believe me when I say that you will most likely be the exception to ever suggestion you get about how to breastfeed. The stories will sound similar to yours but they will not be. My suggestion mirrors what I read on DIY Father this week. Listen to the suggestions but do your own research and follow your gut.

As for me? I'm struggling too but I feel it pales in comparison to Tara. I am attempting to keep everything grounded, not let the frustrations get in the way of us being parents. I am attempting to keep Tara, me and Johnders fed. I am attempting to keep our dog from losing his mind. All the while I am clenching my jaws (Literally. This is how I react to stress.) and powering through.

Thanks to Edgehill UMC, Goodlettsville Middle and other friends for keeping Tara and me fed. Its appreciated more than you know.

Wellesley College Baby Grand Slam

This year 4 babies (3 girls and 1 boy) were born - hence the Grand Slam reference - within my group of college friends. The current tally is 9 babies. Now we have 6 prospective Wellesley College students for the classes of 2026-2031! : )

When I announced my pregnancy to them, Christine's January baby was here and I knew of Deidre's impending July baby, so I framed our baby news in the sports context of a hat trick. Then Nancy emailed us all and said a Grand Slam was more appropriate since she was also pregnant, due in November. The Grand Slam analogy is more apropos because Pauline (my original tennis camp buddy) actually completed the tennis Grand Slam by attending all 4 tournaments: Australian Open in January with Pete (a friend who we met in college), French Open with Lisa, Wimbledon with Tara and US Open with Lisa & Pete (I went with P & P in 2007).

7 of us lived in the same dorm (Munger) our first year at Wellesley College, actually 4 of us (Tara, Elizabeth, Nancy, Deidre) lived on the same floor. We've stayed in consistent contact for the past 20 years. It is a joy to see one or more of each other during the year. Sometimes they are spontaneous opportunities & more join the reunion, like with tennis camp & GS tournaments.

In addition to attending our class reunion every 5 years (most of us go), we usually try to create mini-reunion moments every 2 years.

2002 we rented a house on Martha's Vineyard for a week - last reunion with no children born yet
2003 we went to PA for Nancy's first baby shower
2005 my wedding in Nashville!
2006 we rented a house in North Carolina's Outer Banks for a week (17 total =7+5 spouses+5 children
2007 photo above is WC reunion: Lisa, Christine, Tara, Elizabeth, Pauline (Deidre left early, Nancy's husband's college reunion was same weekend)
2008 Pauline, Lisa & Tara (plus Susie) went to tennis camp together
2009 where will the group go...other than tennis camp! Elizabeth might join us plus HER sister. :)
2010 we've discussed a women-only reunion ... we all turn 40!
2012 our next WC reunion

There have been interesting connections with all the babies.
2 natural, 2 C-sections
2 to start & end the year - 1 baby in January, 1 in December
2 first time babies, 2 additions
2 "same" middle names - Francis (the boy) & Frances (Julia - obviously)

What a bountiful year of Wellesley babies! : )

Baby Shower #2

Thanks to the G-ville crew for getting together a great show.
Niki, Tara P., Kris are Tara J.'s co-workers; they live in East Nashville/Madison area so we're neighbors as well as friends; Kris & Tara J. carpool 2 days a week.

Thanks to everybody who came and shared their loot with us.

Thanks to Bonnie for the new plant Aster Oblongifolius "Raydon's Favorite". I missed GroWild's sale day, but Bonnie went and picked up some cool stuff.

Go to Christopher Cotton's flickr for photos...

One down and another to go (for me)

Thanks to all of the Edgehillites who showed your love and support this past weekend. The baby shower was great. One of the attendees said we will have a well-read but naked baby. We got a bunch of great books and some clothes. It was funny.

I will miss the one at Tara's work, but we have one at the house next week and that should be pretty crazy.

Tara's side note: It was great! It was lots of fun, got to visit with some friends I don't see often. The clothes we received were "green" (either recycled (barely used) or organic/fair trade) items which was awesome! We actually have a few clothes from that consignment sale I went to in August. I got an email about another consignment sale in mid-November. I'll be taking a power nap to make that event - you know it! : ) I'm looking forward to the shower on Oct. 18 at our house. We worked on the nursery over the weekend, putting gifts away. We still need a crib and bassinet, but there's always Craig's List and Freecycle so we're going to evaluate our needs after the 3 showers.