Long awaited

Have you been chomping at the bit? Desperately hoping to see pictures of our new little bundle of joy? Holding off calling me a lazy ass for taking 2 weeks to get these up? Well, wait no more my friends. There's a new album featuring, for the first time anywhere, Eric William Brown.

Nice Try, Sweetie

If there was any doubt about how much Lauren had accepted Eric, she put those to rest a few days ago. Eric was crying, as 2 week old babies tend to do. Lauren obviously felt mommy was being worked too much, so she thought she would pitch in. She climbed on the couch, grabbed mommy's boppy pillow and placed it around her waist. She then lifted her shirt and said, "Come here, Eric". I laughed, Debbie cried a little (those happy tears she gets on occasion, not the sad tears). All I could think was, "Nice try, sweetie. Daddy would do the same thing, but Eric wouldn't like getting hair in his mouth."

Transitions

I'm sure you all are wondering how Big Sister Lauren is dealing with this new intrusion into her life. The phrase that best sums up our current situation is: "So far, so good". She has been truly loving towards Eric and has shown a desire to help in many different ways. When we go to change his diaper, she comes along and helps by handing us stuff. When he starts crying, she looks at mommy and says "I think he's hungry" (aka "Get off your butt and feed him so he'll shut up"). She gives him kisses and pats his head very gently. We just couldn't be happier and she seems to be enjoying the new addition too. I'm pretty sure having Grandma and Grandpa here has helped. I've also made sure to spend a lot of time with Lauren, particularly today when the temperatures rose about 70. We had lots of outside time. So, she's being good about Eric for now. We'll see if this continues, but I'm glad we got this time of peace and quiet.

I have reached a conclusion

It hasn't taken long. One week to be precise for me to reach a conclusion. As far as babies go, girls are easier. Never once when changing Lauren's diaper did I have to worry about whether she had "unfinished business" or not. With Eric, it's an almost certainty. I had to run out and buy 16 washcloths for the express purpose of containing said business from removing the paint from the wall. Then, today he hits me with a double ... no ... triple whammy. It was my turn to change Eric's diaper and I was ready. I opened his diaper and placed a washcloth over him to catch any remaining action. None came, so I went about finishing the diaper change. Just as I was about to close and lock the hatch, he let loose with a stream, hitting his face and onesie. As I start cleaning up, I hear the unmistakable sound of poop flying out his backside. Not normally a problem, unless one hasn't had the chance to reinstall the diaper. The changing pad did not survive the encounter. While dealing with this little debacle, Eric decides the first round wasn't enough, so he let loose with another stream. I don't think I ever had to deal with that when changing Lauren. Like I said, baby girls are easier.

No Good Choice

Soon, I will bring you the story of Eric's birth, but tonight, I want to talk about my choices and how every one of them sucked. On the surface, the choice seemed obvious at the time. I thought I could garner a decent evening by keeping everyone as happy as possible. Alas, that was not to be.
Lauren was in a bit of a cranky mood so I had already decided taking her to the hospital would not be a good idea. She had already said no and her listening skills were diminishing rapidly. My In-laws were going out to eat and, having decided to go, I felt Lauren's behavior would make dining out an absolute nightmare. I told my in-laws to go have a nice dinner, I would stay home with Lauren and their dog, Sable.
My second choice was how to handle Sable. I could put him in his crate, where I knew he would whine and cry and make a general ruckus, thus causing my night to suck. I could also let him roam free, where I knew he would pace a lot, but that would be it.
See? Choice seems pretty obvious, doesn't it? I chose to stay home with Lauren and let Sable roam around the house. Five minutes after my in-laws left, I hear Lauren ask "What's that" and see some rather nasty looking things at her feet. I then realized Sable was not pacing around the house. He had decided to express his displeasure with the situation by pooping on the rug. Lauren, not realizing it was there, then walked right through it. All while I'm cooking dinner. I quickly grab Lauren out of the mess and take off her socks. I then put Sable in his crate and proceed to clean up the mess as best I can.
I was made about this until I realized what choices I had:

1. Take Lauren to dinner with my in-laws and have a horrid time as she squirms and squeals and generally makes a nuisance of herself.
   
2. Stay home with Lauren and keep Sable in the crate where he would whine and cry and yelp all night (causing Lauren great consternation) and making a nuisance of himself.
   
3. Stay home with Lauren and let Sable roam the house where he would poop on the carpet, but then willingly and quietly accept being in the crate the rest of the time.

Given those choices, I still like number 3 the best. Even though it sucked, my guess is it was the least sucky of all the choices.

The Brown Family just got 33% bigger

Ladies and Gentlemen -

The management would like to announce the following:

Now appearing on the main stage of Plant Earth, in a debut performance:

Mr Eric William Brown. Weighing in at 8 lbs, 10 oz; measuring 21.5 inches; this dyanmo is ready to meet the new world (as soon as he finishes his nap). Mommy and baby are doing just fine.

The family is excited to have this new addition and look forward to the special talents he can bring to the table.

A Date with Destiny

No baby yet, but we have a date. Debbie is having contractions right now, having reached 2 cm and 50%. The doctor was pretty pleased with her progress, so he decided it would be good to schedule an induction for tomorrow morning. So, while no news right now, there will be an important announcement in the coming day or 2. Stay Tuned!

We're All Synced Up Again

Happy Legacy Daylight Savings Time!!! Every one should have the correct time again. The times on our alarm system and our house phones are back to normal after 3 weeks of residing in a benign tear in the space-time continuum. Only 6 more months till we go through this again!