4 weeks and 10 minutes old

4 weeks ago, we were just meeting Elsie Rebecca. At this moment, she was 10 minute old. What a sweet memory.

On Sunday I dressed Elsie in an outfit I wore when I was her age. My mom did an awesome job at saving her favorite of my outfits and now I get to put my little girl in them, 31 years later.

the county fair

Saturday was a pretty perfect day. We planned on going to the fair for just an hour or two, and ended up staying half the day. We watched the 4H champion animals auctioned off, shared a bag of mini donuts, watched Ivar eat corn, saw all of the farm animals, took in the arts and crafts building, caught the tractor parade (!!) watched some young girls ride their horses through an obstacle course, and one of us cried hard when it was time to say buh bye to the cows.

...we had to get a picture of the ladies with the pink tractor. :)

the whole blog truth

I've mentioned this before.

Blogs are never the whole truth. There are lots of reasons for this...but today I'll focus on just one: I tend to blog based on pictures I have taken. And I only get the camera out for moments I would like to remember. Days like Saturday are filled with great pictures: a blissful day at the Dakota County Fair filled with tractors, corn-on-the-cob, cows and very, very happy children.

But days like yesterday, a run-of-the-mill Monday, the camera never comes out. No pictures are taken and the day goes by unrecorded.

But Monday happened and was just as much a part of my life as Saturday was. So today I am going to record it in words.

My Monday really began early Sunday morning with Rory and I both wide awake with an upset Elsie from 1-3 am. We were trying to figure out what I ate, why she was so gassy and were pleased by the Olympic reruns to help distract us from our upset baby.

Sunday night had a similar wakeful time, leaving me completely wiped out by the time Monday morning came around.

My plan from the moment I got out bed was to keep my pajamas on and to wear my glasses so that I would be ready to take a nap when my kids did.

Why that is the recipe for a train wreck day, I will never know. But it always is, isn't it? Because Ivar never napped. And at 7 pm, I finally resolved that the nap was not going to happen for me either.

The day never really started. I was putting out little fires here and there, tending to a crabby boy and a don't-put-me-down baby girl. We moved from room to room, leaving messes in each one. And finally the day was over.

Did I take pictures of any of this? No. Because my family wasn't quite what you would consider photogenic. But if you want to take a mental snap shot, you can picture me with my long bangs I am trying to grow out, stuck in my eyes all day. With big dark circles under my eyes and a nursing bra that had a broken clip on one side and tank top covered in spit up. And the odds are very good I am popping a donut hole in my mouth.

Obviously that picture isn't going on the blog. (Well, maybe just the donut holes...yum.)

Just keep this in mind as you read my blog, or anyone else's, or as you look at perfect facebook pictures, witty and clever twitter updates and everything else we throw out there to project ourselves as nothing less than perfect.

Ivar discovers corn on the cob

Turns out he likes corn. A lot. He ate two ears on this park bench at the Dakota County Fair. A very happy and full-of-laughter moment for all of us.

squeaker

Elsie,
You are so noisy at night. Your dad said to me a few nights back, "it's like we have a smoke detector with low batteries." And it sort of is. You squeak, grunt, gurgle, swallow, cough, coo, sigh and smack your lips all night long. Our little squeaker, we love you so much.

We thank you for your sleeping habits. So far, so good. You are a joy to feed (after some serious hard days in the beginning) and I treasure our special nursing times with me half asleep in the glider rocker in your nursery looking out over our new yard. It's good stuff, Elsie. And I am so glad for the good reason to sit down every three hours and to put my feet up. God knew what he was doing when he built in this regular rest time into a mama's daily routine.

You go with the flow, and are pretty kick back. But you also let us know when it's time to pay attention to you and give you some snuggles. After a crazy first three weeks of moving houses and getting settled in, it is time to stay put and snuggle. And that's the plan from here on out. I can't wait.

You could not be any sweeter little girl.
We love you so much.
Love, your very happy mama