This Changes Everything

Alain Price Bell was born at 2:50pm on Tuesday, November 26th. Taison helped deliver him, and he cried within seconds of coming out. We were shocked that he weighed 8lbs, even though it was still two weeks before his due date. He scored a 9 on his first Apgar, and a perfect 10 on the second. He's great at breastfeeding (I had a feeling he would be a good eater : )). He's just as adorable as his older brother was, but we don't think he looks much like Julian.

I can't even begin to capture in words how I'm feeling and what a wonderful adventure the last few days have been. So, I'll just start with my favorite pictures of Alain:

Out and screaming

First family photo

First time in daddy's arms

Best support team-still smiling after over 24 hours of labor

First time in grandma's arms

Happy and alert after nursing

 Waiting to go home

Leaving the hospital

First car ride (hat by Momma Scott)

Checking out the Rock 'n Play (he likes it more than it looks like he does)

Cozy

First Thanksgiving-mommy and daddy are exhausted but happy after a busy night of "cluster feeding"

Ready for first night at home-he slept a lot better than the previous night

First walk around the neighborhood

Parading down the hall with Coco's supervision

Taison and I have started saying to each other with dramatic exaggeration, "this changes everything". It does, though. Our lives have been turned upside-down in the most wonderful way possible with the arrival of our sweet Alain.

Ready

We've been ready to raise a child for a long time now. Of course, we know we have no idea what we're doing, but we're ready to learn. Taison and I have had some laughs this weekend as we've started to think past tomorrow to what it might be like to have baby at home. This article was particularly entertaining-we'll see how much of it proves to be true for us. There are so many unknowns in the days, weeks and months ahead. I could panic, but it's not worth the energy. I learned how to take one day at a time after Julian was born, and that lesson has proved valuable over and over again over the last year.

So, as I said before, we're ready. Momma Scott flies in tomorrow morning; Daddy and Coco will be here on Wednesday. Taison has a nice two-week long paternity leave, and was off this weekend for lots of honey-dos. I noticed a few days ago that my favorite Gerber daisy is blooming again (yes, in November). I take that as some sort of reassuring sign from the universe.

Our last monthly photo : )

Baby Prep

I'm so glad I was able to take the last two weeks off from work. This has been a nice time to decompress, rest, catch up with friends, cook, go to lots of doctor appointments, and to do some baby prep. We have re-learned how to use the car seat and unpacked the baby clothes. We've hung a few more things in the nursery and put together the Rock 'n Play (well, Taison did both of those by himself). We've started to get excited to meet this baby and bring him home.

Julian would have been 16 months old today. Because of him, I have an idea of what to expect when I go in to deliver his baby brother next week. Because of him, we were able to do essentially all of our baby prep in about two weeks. I am mommy to two adorable baby boys. The first will always live in our hearts and minds, and hopefully the second will live and grow in our home as well.

Mid-November Thoughts

This time two years ago, we found out I was pregnant with Julian. The following week was Thanksgiving, so we decided to go ahead and tell the family then. We couldn't pass up an opportunity to share the news in person with both sets of grandparents-to-be, both uncles-to-be and the auntie-to-be. Needless to say, it was a very special Thanksgiving dinner.

This time one year ago, I was tempted to skip Thanksgiving altogether. Instead, we hosted a low-key non-Thanksgiving dinner.

Now, we're about ten days away from meeting Julian's younger brother. I spent the day today washing the handful of new baby things we've bought or received, packing our hospital bag, and making macaroni and cheese to freeze for Thanksgiving dinner. I walked to our neighborhood dry cleaners this afternoon to pick up some of Taison's pants. It's owned by a cute older Korean couple. They know about Julian and have seen me every few weeks throughout this pregnancy. On my way out, they said, "Next time, we meet baby". I teared up a little, not so much out of sadness, but out of such great hope that they will get to meet baby, and that all of you will, too.

Last Day

Yesterday was my last day in the office. I woke up that morning feeling grateful and relatively calm given everything I wanted to get done by the end of the day. I had stared at that date on the calendar for so long, hoping that it would come a little faster, and that I would still be pregnant with a healthy baby when it did.

I didn't do a lot of goodbyes. It's kind of awkward for me to respond to all of the excited comments about "I can't wait to see pictures" and "soon you'll be a mommy" given my last experience with all of this. I already am a mommy, and I already have pictures-they're just not pictures that you would frame and put in your office.

I'm not sure what the next few weeks have in store. I wonder if I will start to feel more anxious now that I have more time to think about baby, or if I'll feel less anxious now that I'm done with work. Will I get more excited, or more impatient? Will I finally start "nesting"?

Whatever the next weeks have in store, I feel like I have started this new phase in a good place. I was lucky to end the day yesterday with dinner with Taison and then a concert (Britten's War Requiem) at Symphony Hall. It was a great performance, and a nice way to unwind after a busy week.

Kitchen Adventures: Everything Pumpkin

I've been obsessed with apples, kale and of course pumpkin the last few weeks. What little extra energy I have has been devoted to making apple crisp, kale chips, and everything pumpkin: pumpkin soup, pumpkin biscuits, pumpkin-pie oatmeal, etc. I think being pregnant has made me even more enthusiastic about fall-themed foods than usual. I even gave in to a couple of cravings for pumpkin-spice frappucinos on some recent warm days.

I bought a pie pumpkin on impulse a few weeks ago. It was nice decoration on the dining room table, but I started feeling like I should actually cook it since I had spent money on an edible pumpkin (and an organic one, at that). So, I embarked on my most labor-intensive pumpkin-related undertaking so far: Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good.

All cleaned out. It's been a while since I've carved a pumpkin, and I forgot what a pain it is to get all of those seeds and slimy strings out.

Fun things for inside the pumpkin: stale sourdough, prosciutto, shallots, sage and aged cheddar.

Stuffed and ready to bake (in my favorite orange pot, of course).

Time to eat! With sage-lemon roasted chicken and sauteed kale.

The thing is, pumpkin doesn't actually taste that good unless it's pureed and combined with lots of spices and/or sugar and/or fat. The stuffing in this recipe is good, and baking it in a pumpkin looks cool, but I wouldn't say it's worth the work of messing with the pumpkin. I'll stick with tastier and slightly easier to work with butternut, acorn and spaghetti squash (and canned pumpkin) for the rest of this fall.