Better late than never

I'm finally sending out the first batch of birth announcements (Abraham through Gentry) tomorrow. I had hoped to get these in the mail quickly after Andrew's birth, but alas nearly 6 weeks have already come and gone. It occurs to me that nearly everybody on my mailing list has already heard the news. I wonder how long it will continue to be tradition to send out paper-based announcements, when there are so many quicker ways to spread the news? Well, there is something nice about a stiff card beautifully printed. I hope to address and stuff the remaining announcements on Friday in the car on our way down to Southern California, and drop them in the mail from there. Here is the picture we are including with the formal announcement.

A day in the life: Saturday June 24th

There is nothing particularly unusual or fascinating about this day, but here it is. A day in the life:
7:19am: Julia wakes up. I get up with her and we have a bottle of milk on the couch. (This makes it seem as if we've all been sleeping until after 7am... it should be noted that I was up with Andrew nursing at 1:30 and again at 4:30 -- when he wouldn't go back to sleep. I finally put him in the swing at 5:30 which sent him --and me -- back to sleep.)
7:34am: Andrew stirs. I go get him and nurse on the couch and turn on Dragon Tales for Julia.
8-9am: We all have breakfast (Kix for Julia, her new favorite cereal) and start getting organized for the day.
9am: Julia goes to swim class with Daddy where she is gradually getting used to the water and putting more and more of her face in each week. Meanwhile I am staying home with Andrew, getting ready for our next outing.
10:15am: Arrive at the park for Riley's first birthday party. Julia has a great time. Highlights are blowing bubbles, the cupcakes, and the Aussie party game "Pass the Parcel." Andrew sleeps through nearly the whole thing, waking up at the very end. I nurse him in the park and he goes back to sleep.
Noon: We stop by Whole Foods on the way home from the party. Julia helps by taking each grocery item and dropping it into the cart behind her. (That's why our crackers are always broken.)
1:20pm: Julia has fallen asleep in the car and we gently transfer her to her crib for a nap. Andrew slept through the grocery outing and is still sleeping. Jeff wisely takes advantage of the quiet moment to get a nap. Meanwhile I expect Andrew to wake, starving, any minute, so I don't nap, and instead finish unloading groceries, clean the refrigerator, and blog pictures from Riley's party. Of course Andrew sleeps on. (Why didn't I start napping when I could have?!)
2:20pm: Andrew wakes up, and I nurse him. We change diapers and hang out together on the deck where it's nice and warm but breezy. The rest of the household is still sleeping.
3:30pm: Julia and Jeff wake up and we spend the rest of the afternoon trying to simultaneously keep the Julia and Andrew happy and entertained while also trying to get a few things done around the house.
5pm: Mom and Dad arrive to babysit. It will be a very rare night out for us, and the first since Andrew's birth.
6pm: We have dinner with Ken, a colleage of Jeff's, and his wife Dianne. They are hosting us at their house and Dianne turns out to be a gourmet chef. We have a spectacular meal and entertaining conversation.
9:30pm: We arrive home. My parents report that Julia was distraught at our departure and refuesed to take a bath or put on her PJs. And Andrew was a bit fussy much of the evening. My parents must be tired but they don't show it. Bless them. We send them home with many thanks.
10pm: We get Andrew to sleep, and I pump EIGHT ounces (that's a lot), a sign that I've been away from Andrew for a long time.
10:30pm: I blog the last part of this entry, and head to bed. Lets hope for a good night's sleep!

Riley turns ONE!

This morning we attended Riley's first birthday party at Stafford Park. Here is Jody and the birthday boy:

Jody had a fun party table set up for the kids. With Jeff and Julia are Michael and his daughter Jackie:

And here's a close up of the birthday boy:

And here's Andrew, sleeping through the whole thing.
 

It's all relative

Julia's cute tiny feet are one of my favorite parts of her body (along with her belly, her cheeks, her adorable little derriere, etc.) The other day Julia and Andrew were lying down next to each other and I realized her feet didn't look so tiny anymore, at least not next to his. It's all reltaive. Here's a picture of their cute feet. It won't be long that Andrew's feet are smaller than Julia's, I have a feeling!
 

Andrew loves his Benne!

Mom came over this afternoon to help out and she charmed Andrew all afternoon into alternating states of sleep and happy alertness. He even smiled a few times, a new skill he's just acquired. 

A popsicle hits the spot on a hot hot day

Today was HOT HOT HOT. Julia was smart enough to get naked and eat a popsicle. The perfect way to beat the heat!
 

Andrew and Hannah, at 4.5 weeks and 8 days

 

Jocelyn's Graduation Party

Congratulations to Jocelyn on her graduation from Stanford this weekend! Here is the new graduate at the family graduation party, holding Andrew with Julia looking on:The Prolific Oven comes through again with a darling graduation cake. Nathan and Julia both ate a whole piece each and loved it. (So did Mommy.)
Here we all are at the table enjoying the delicious brunch:
And here is the Sullivan-Ross family all together. From left: Cheri, Jocelyn, Brian, and Valerie.

She gets what she wants

Hanging out with Pooh at 4 weeks old

 

Nana and Bump's Visit

We had such a nice visit with Nana and Bump. Here is a collage of pictures from our weekend.

Daddy's Girl

Julia put on her special new "Daddy's Girl" shirt for Father's Day (a surprise from Mommy), and how true it is. And Julia brings out the best in her Daddy who loves playing with Julia at the park.
 

Nana meets Andrew for the first time

Nana and Bump (Julia's name for Grumps) are in town this weekend to visit Julia and meet Andrew. Here's Nana's first encounter with our little guy -- and Andrew seeing the first of many happy Nana smiles. 

Andrew's Nursery

I just love how Andrew's nursery came together, so I had to capture it for the blog. Note that Julia was helping me with the photo shoot and got distracted by the challenge of climbing onto Andrew's changing table. So, this is Andrew's room, despite the fact that Julia is in the pictures. : ) 

Blog readers come to see the real thing -- (i.e. Cheri, Brian and Val come to visit!)

My Aunt Cheri and her family are among my most loyal blog followers. I'm flattered that they read the blog on a regular basis, and today we had a huge treat. They came all the way from Illinois to see Julia and Andrew in person. And that gives me the opportunity to make them the stars of my blog. Jocelyn is missing because she is graduating this weekend, from Stanford (Congratulations!!!), so we'll have to post pictures of her after Monday's graduation party.

Welcome, Hannah!

Introducing Hannah Grace, my new neice, born today, June 13th at 12:12 pm. Here is Hannah at just a few minutes old, with her mommy and daddy:

And here is a close up of the adorable Hannah. She is one of the cutest babies I've ever seen!

Jeff, Julia, Andrew and I all got to meet her today. Julia was quite awed at the sight of her new cousin. Andrea's labor was relatively quick and easy (relatively being the key word) and she and Hannah appear to be doing great so far. Congratulations to the whole family on their new addition! 

Grumps makes an unexpected visit

Paul unexpectedly flew into town and was able to drop by to meet Andrew for the first time, and see Julia who stayed up late to hang out with "Bump" (for Grumps) in the backyard which was SO much fun for her. It was a quick but great visit, and it made us look forward all the more to next week when he will return with Susan for a longer visit.

How we spend our evenings...

Evenings are tough times for Andrew. Sometimes, sucking on a pinky finger is the only thing that will calm him down (other than nursing, which I can't do all evening long!) Hopefully this evening wakefulness/fussiness won't last long. I'm trying in vain to remember when Julia became such a great sleeper. Julia goes to bed easily and reliably at 7pm, and sleeps until 7am without waking up. She didn't start out that way, though. I remember many long evenings of the pinky, the swing, late night walks in the stroller, etc. So just because Andrew is having trouble getting to sleep now, it doesn't mean he will forever, I keep reminding myself. Meanwhile, though, if you're wondering how we spend our evenings, this captures it pretty well:
 

Andrea gets practice with a newborn

Three days before her due date, Andrea came by to see us. It should be only a matter of days (or hours?) before Andrea has a tiny one of her own. If her baby comes on schedule, the cousins will be 3 weeks and 1 day apart. 

The juggling act

In a typical evening scene, Jeff is soothing Andrew, balancing Julia who wants to be on Daddy's lap too, and also managing to have a conversation with his Mom on the phone, all at the same time. Good juggling, Jeff! (After putting down the camera, I rescued him, taking Andrew away for a little Mommy-cuddling.)