Odds and Ends

Ella is in labor right now-how wonderfully exciting to think that we'll have a new member of the family in just a matter of hours. I'm so thrilled for Ella and Dicky....and for Leo to be a big brother!

This weekend has been fun, but long. Stu, Nora and I all have the same cold so the energy around here has been low. Poor Nora's nose was stuffed up so much that she barely sucked on her binky today-i think it made breathing difficult for her. Kinda nice to see her for longer periods of time without her binky. (Patrick would disagree-he is against any measures to limit binky time).

The baby years are exhausting. People see Stuart and they say "Oh, I miss those years-those were so fun" and it makes me wonder how I'll look back at childrearing during these first formative months. Perhaps we tend to remember the good points-and selectively forget the evening fussiness, mid-night diaper changes and feedings, holding, walking, carrying. That way mother nature ensures that we'll have more kids! Sorta like how we forget the pain of childbirth. Pretty amazing how fast those memories fade and before you know it, you're thinking about more kids!

Today Patrick took off for 5 hours to go rafting-fun for him-see photos and stories below. I, meanwhile, was behind with two sick kids. I was a little upset about the lack of help until my friend Alexis came by with food from Crab Festival. We ate yummy deep fried goodies, held the kids, chatted and laughed. By the time Patrick came home I wasn't as concerned about the large chunk of time I had by myself. And I was glad his rafting trip was such a success. (Zoya)