Birth

It was about 2 years ago that I was born into motherhood. Writhing on the hospital bed, I thought I might surely die, but instead it was if there were two births that day. Celia made me a mother. She is still making me a mother. I have to dig deep, but there’s the possibility of greatness. And Celia reminds me that greatness is not in me, but comes through me.

I don't often do bold things like shower or eat an entire meal at one sitting or go to the store by myself. But I have better things to do. I get to read books aloud and change diapers, kiss a small forehead and leave projects unfinished.

And, I get to worry. I've gotten a good taste of the primary preoccupation of motherhood – questioning, second-guessing… I bend myself into knots with the constant weighing of pros and cons, often with no discernible “right” answer. I’ve read books about how to be a good mother, and I’ve worried about what others will think. I spend more time with my daughter than authors and neighbors, than anyone, actually, and I often instinctively know what’s right for her. But sometimes I still wonder…

Wonder about her greatness, though, I don't. She was, indisputably, born filled with it.

JEB

G G A G C B

Just warming up...

It's March. And someone has a birthday party this afternoon.

Feet

It's hard to believe these two feet are almost two years old now.

And possibly even harder to believe that there are two more tiny, pruny feet about to touch the Earth.

And, very hard to believe that these four feet have already left SO many footprints on our hearts...

JEB

Fact v Opinion

Fact: Celia loves Grandma Jan.
Opinion: Here, they look a bit like twins, simply separated by time.
Fact: This Japanese website generates a neat vintage photo. And it's free.
Opinion: It may be possible for Celia to look too cherubic, too angelic.

JEB

And the Oscar Goes to...

"Every girl deserves an up-do on Oscar night..."
These are the words I heard Andy utter as he came down the steps with Celia this evening, post-bath. And this is what I saw. How precious.
He even left some ringlet tendrils loose at the bottom. Just another perk of being married to a male nurse...
He totally deserves an award. Maybe not so much for hair and makeup, but for lots and lots of other things.
JEB

Canine Nanny

At my feet. Always. For some reason, Colby seems to think his proximity is necessary in the gestation process. He follows me from room to room, and is never more than mere inches away. He's a good boy.

We were wondering how in the world we were going to handle caring for both Celia and the new baby, but Colby has offered to pick up some of the slack...
Currently he’s working on discarding soiled diapers. It’d be awesome if he’d figure that out. It’d also mean that you might want to avoid his lavish kisses next time you visit.
Pretty good progress for a dog to go from this, a couple of years ago:
To this:
JEB

OhIowa

Cory and Bridget are home safely in Iowa now, and we already miss them.
There are lots of things that make it easy to glue us all together in a friend collage... dates at Spagio, nights out in Vegas, Diet Mountain Dew and Helluva Good chip dip, walks on the beach on Anna Maria Island, baby girls born the first week of March... Last week only added pieces to paste on an enlarged canvas.The week flew by -- We took the girls to the zoo, enjoyed an adult dinner out at Spagio, stayed in our jammies till lunchtime and took turns checking for holes in our eyelids... The dads spent an evening sipping beer at Barley's and the moms spent an afternoon getting pedicures... Celia and Ellie shared toys and watched Word World together. And it's true, they are both Sweet as Candy!
JEB