more coming

This is a pic my mom-in-law took for us when they were here a few weeks ago. I don't want to write more about this right now because there are a lot of good pics that haven't been uploaded yet.

I have been listening to "This American Life" online (check out http://www.npr.org/ and look under their programs tab) since I spend a lot of time sitting and nursing and day time tv is not that great. I have mostly been listening to their favorites list and there are some really good thought provoking shows there. My favorite right now is the one called "My Pen Pal", which is about a little girl who started writing letters to General Manuel Noriega, who was the leader of Panama at the time and considered a dictator, drug runner and murderer by the USA. I don't want to share too much, it is definitely worth listening to, but it made me think about what kind of impact each of us can have if we push ourselves to keep an open mind and dare to listen. There are also a lot of more simply amusing episodes, but most do have something to think about somewhere in there. Would you rather fly or be invisible, and what does that say about you?

I have one more week off from work, very sad about the thought of being away from PooBa so long at a time, but it's a part of the way we are currently living our lives and I think that a part of me will enjoy being back with my co-workers and patients. I guess I just need to get past the guilt of not always being there and remember that most people now grow up with working Moms, including my mom, and aren't damaged at all by that fact. Still, I feel like being selfish. I don't want to miss out on anything, his first word or step or anything. It helps to know that he will always be with either my mom or my husband, always will be in a warm loving environment with more than enough attention focused entirely on him. (-:

Poo Ba smiling...

PooBa is almost smiling for real now, I think he actually is about half the time but he hasn't quite figured out how to do it whenever he wants. He is definitely getting the hang of it, though, and over the last few days the number of smiles I have gotten has gone up significantly, but there are still times when he looks like he is trying so hard to smile and can't quite get there. This video was actually taken last week when it was still pretty much all gas related but I wanted to post it anyway for my sister far away. (unfortunately you can hear Oprah talking about puppy mills in the background.)

Five Generations!

I have a great grandmother who is 96 years old, 97 in June. She lived in her own home until about 2 years ago when she moved into assisted living. Less then a year ago, on the weekend we found out that Poo Ba was coming, she fell and broke her hip and eventually moved into a nursing home. We never expected her to still be here to see Poo Ba. I go to visit her every week with my mom like I have since before my great grandpa died when I was 15. She wasn't always awake but when she was I would show her my growing belly and we would talk about the coming baby and about how things were when she was a young mother. She used to crochet lace around pieces of flannel for baby blankets and each grandchild and great grandchild got one. She can't crochet anymore but she has a few extras so one day I picked one out for Poo Ba. The pictures below were taken the first time I took Poo Ba to see my great grandma. My grandma, mom and sister who lives in Vermont were also there so we got a 5 generation picture. Grandma was so awake that day, and every other time I have brought Poo Ba since she has perked up When we come. She has held him with a little help and she has kissed him. I write special things down in a book for him and I wrote to him that these are very special kisses. It's amazing that Great Grandma is still with us, even more amazing that she knows who Poo Ba is, but it is highly unlikely that she will live to see any other great, great grandchildren. He is probably the only one lucky enough to be held and kissed by her.

family pics

Four generation pic from my dad's side.

My WHOLE family, if you thought we were big before take a look now!

Poo Ba!

Some More Pics

Here are a few pics of family with Poo Ba.

These are Tim's hands below.

more pics of my son

This is Poo Ba's daddy holding him soon after he was born.

This is from the next day.

We had a lot of visitors, these are just a few. Below are a few of my cousins. Eli is the youngest and he was trying to figure out the family relationships to my son. The funniest thing was that this made my youngest brother an uncle and Eli went to church the next week asking where uncle Wes was! When someone tried to explain that Wes was still his cousin he was insistent that Wes was an uncle now, not a cousin!

Both sets of grandparents came but I have other pictures of the rest of them that I will post later.
Faby and her daughter also came.
This is us on the second morning after Poo Ba was born just before we left to go home. My mom and her mom spent one whole day cleaning our house and getting things ready for us, thanks!!!