New Terrain

It's hard to believe we've only had Miriam for a little over a week. So far she's a happy, laid back baby. Meanwhile Reuben's been on the rocky path from single child to brotherhood. If anybody wants to give me some tips on how they introduced a new baby or how it's possible to keep two children alive under the same roof, I'm all ears. Send me an email. It's taken some adjusting but Reuben is doing pretty well. We've been grateful Aaron's been able to spend some good quality time with Reuben which has helped ease the transition. He's a great dad.

Miriam is doing a great job being a newborn. She sleeps and eats like a champ. When she is awake she's incredibly alert. It's fun to watch her study her world with her bright eyes. I swear she already smiles at me. Here are a few recent pics.

As for me, I've got one crazy bad case of poison ivy. I accidently kneeled against a leaf while playing at the park two weeks ago. I got a small reaction about the size of dollar coin. After I gave birth the reaction exploded. The skin puckered an angry pimply red and Huge blisters erupted across my shin, then up my thigh. Everything started seeping fluid. It's ugly, so ugly I'm not going to take a picture but if you google poison ivy, the nastiest image that pops up will be what my leg looks like. Really. I think I'm going to scar. And sadly it's made me unable to take anything but cold showers. Brrr. At least it's summer so cold showers aren't as miserable as they could be.

Other than that I'm feeling better and stronger every day. I can't wait to start taking daily walks with Reuben again. And ride my bike. And do yoga. And play basketball. And soccer. And volleyball. And Run. Woo-hoo! Only five weeks to go!

Meet Miriam!

Miriam Jane Cummings was born at 8:07 pm on Friday July 23. She weighed 7 lbs 5 oz and was 20.5 inches long. She has her daddy's feet and her Mama's birthday.

Happy Birthday

Looks like today is the day. We're heading to the hospital.

Lost Bragging Rights

Tomorrow is my birthday. I expected I would have had my baby by now. I kind of hoped I would because then I would have had the bragging rights of having Reuben at the age of 25 and Baby 2 at the age of 26. But it's looking like it's not to be, though I'm having some pretty strong contractions. But that's been happening for the last three weeks.

Still I don't mind the extra time. It's easier to take care of a baby inside me than out. And I was able to wrap up two major work projects earlier this week which was absolutely miraculous and has me feeling eerily ...free! I LOVE finishing work projects. I love being paid.

I'd kind of like to make a Charleston coconut cake to celebrate but I'm debating wether it's worth firing up the oven in the middle of the night. It's too hot during the day.

Rainbow Reward

The moment Reuben and I stepped outside to take our evening walk it started to rain, no, pour. But I didn't hear thunder so we went anyway, ignoring the concerned stares from the folks passing by in their cars. I know those people wonder why I subject my child to crazy weather, but really Reuben is a lot happier outside no matter how atrocious the conditions. If I had turned around and kept him inside he would have spent the rest of the evening standing at the door and reminding me we should be "Outside! Outside!"

Along with being cooler, it's pretty fun to take a walk in the rain. In about ten minutes the rain lifted and we had the park to ourselves and this gigantic rainbow appeared in the sky. I convinced Reuben to take a break from digging up rocks (his current favorite playground activity - who cares about the equipment?) to notice the giant apparition. He seemed mildly impressed. He stopped digging for about twenty seconds. You can see some of his favorite rock finds and the rainbow in the picture below.

Summertime and the livin is easy

There's not much better than a cold ice cream on a hot summer day. Today Reuben and I walked to our awesome local convenience store which sells soft serve ice cream. While we were in the shop a guy came in, bought a scratch off lotto ticket, and won $500. To celebrate he bought our cone for us, gave each of the clerks a $25 tip and explained how to pick the winning numbers. After he left the clerks told me the guy is a regular and he wins ALL the time, at least once a week. Seems like a good guy to know.

So who are the people in your neighborhood?

Uncanny Resemblance

Reuben just received a Toy Story book from his Oma Rosalie. When I showed it to him he examined it closely, furrowed his eyebrows in concentration then pointed to Buzz and declared definitively "Dada." I laughed which made him look up and frown to show this was a serious matter and repeated "Dada" "Dada" pointing to Buzz each time. I said, "Ok, fine, there's Dada." He then studied Woody intently, looked up at me, back at Woody and pointing to him said "Mama." He then began to repeat over and over "Mama" "Mama." He proceeded to pick us out on each page.

So there's a peak at how Reuben perceives of his parents. Aaron's a confident, strong chinned, super hero, spaceman and I am a lanky, sharp nosed, slightly twitchy cowboy....? Still, I like that he thinks I'm the tall one.