Welcome Paula

Dear Paula, 

    Here is a little story about how you joined our family. I hope you can read it someday and that it makes you feel loved, because you truly are.

   It was a Friday night--your "due date," in fact, and I was looking at the ends of my hair and thinking how dry they looked. I decided to put some mayonnaise on it, since I heard this was a legitimate remedy, and was rubbing it in when your dad came in the bathroom asking if I could come down to the basement and help him with one of his projects. He of course made fun of me for putting foodstuffs in my hair, but I still went down to help him anyway. 

   Afterward I was upstairs straightening things in the bedroom when I felt a familiar sensation in my belly where you were residing at the time--it reminded me of the early contractions I had with previous pregnancies. That made me think of one nurse's advice after the very speedy delivery of Mika: "If you ever have any more babies, you should come to the hospital as soon as you feel that first contraction."

    Then I remembered I still had mayonnaise in my hair. 

    I hopped in the shower to wash it out and dressed quickly, wondering if it really was hospital time or if wishful thinking had just caused me to imagine that contraction, it being my due date and all.

    But I kept having the same sensations, and as short and erratic and "not textbook" they were, there was something urgent about them so I finally told your dad a little after 10pm. Soon after, we were driving to the hospital, grateful my parents could be home with Ramona and Mika (although we didn't bother to wake them and tell them where we were going).

    At the hospital, the nurses did not seem to think you were in much of a hurry to come out. I was told to go for a walk right there on the labor and delivery floor, and that they would come in and check on me at about 2am.

    Well, you were out at 1:17am. I'm sure most of the building heard when it happened--I was howling like Tarzan as you made your descent, and by the time it was push-time I was vocalizing more like a maniacal Jane.

"Look, Ivy," I heard your dad say to me, pulling me out of labor-mode and into that beautiful moment of renewed motherhood. I opened my eyes and saw your perfect, purplish, 7 lb, 9 oz body emerge, and sighed with joy and relief. The doctor (who had arrived at about 1:15, giving him just enough time to pull some gloves on) handed you right to me and I got to hold you there on my chest and look you over, still in amazement at what had just occurred.

Your daddy got to hold you eventually as well--he is one proud papa.

 

 Here you are when I saw your eyes open for the first time:

And here you are again:

 

 

When the sun came up that morning--the first day of winter--a shimmering layer of frost had settled on the grass, trees and roofs, as if to welcome the new season.

Jii, Baachan, Ramona, and Mika came to meet you for the first time and helped you open your birthday presents. 

Below is a mommy-daughter portrait Baachan took of us. I am pretty sure I have my hospital gown on sideways, but at least there is no mayonnaise in my hair.

And here is an attempt at a family portrait before visiting time was over:

I was so happy to have our family all together for a while--but I also really enjoyed getting some exclusive Mommy + Paula time in the hospital room during our stay. You are such a delightful, cuddly little baby.

We also squeezed in some Mommy + Daddy + Paula time that evening, celebrating your birth with hospital dining at its finest (really, it was the best hospital food I've had).

 

 

You were scheduled to come home from the hospital on Sunday afternoon, but feeling that was too long to wait, Ramona and Mika requested another visit in the morning to come and see you again. They each got to hold you for the first time.

 

 

 

 

It's obvious that they are both so pleased to have you as their new little sister.

They were practically bouncing down the halls toward the elevator when it was finally time to strap you in your car seat and bring you home.

 

At home, your bassinet was awaiting your arrival, adorned with pink paper chains and pictures (thanks to Baachan and Ramona).

You haven't been with us long, but already you seem to fit right in. We hope you stay for a long, long time.

We love you, Paula Naomi!

Love,
Your Mommy

Staying home for the holidays

As one might suppose, we have no plans for traveling this holiday season. In fact, with the baby due any day now, we've made very few plans at all--our schedule has been almost completely clear. But I did sign up at the last minute to play some Christmas music for a mini-concert at Respite Care last Saturday. One kid was so excited to see my cello, he came right up and practically stole my bow from me.

Otherwise, we've just been home--accepting visitors from Illinois! My parents flew in on Sunday night and have been immediately put to work (and play) between my final nesting projects and the girls' demands for attention.

Jii helped the girls put together some miniature snowmen, scraping together what snow remained from the little storm more than a week ago.

 

 

  

He also helped me wash the minivan and clean out the entire garage.

On Monday night, we gathered together in the music room to play Christmas carols for family home evening. 

 

Ramona performed Jingle Bells again, and also Silent Night.

 

Baachan and Ramona have been busy making little paper crafts to decorate the dining room wall.

 

Tuesday evening, Paca stopped by on his way to Utah. He is going to help out as Connor recovers from his tracheotomy. It was a short visit, but the girls made the most of it and climbed all over him.

 

 

 

 

 

We finished off the night with some egg nog ice cream and strawberry ice cream.

The next day was cousin Connor's sixth birthday--sadly spent at the hospital in lots of pain. Here is the most recent picture of him Crissy has posted, the day before the trach went in. We are praying that he gets some relief soon.

The same day was also Jii's sixtieth birthday. He didn't exactly get the party of the century, but we did a few little things to celebrate. Hopefully he had a good day.

Mika entertained him with PEZ dispensers and puppets while Ramona was at preschool . . .

 

 . . . and the weather was so nice, we all made a trip to the neighborhood park after lunch.

 

 

Ramona helped me make a chocolate cake for him . . .

. . . which we ate after dinner, popcorn, and a movie (Jii chose "The Fox and the Hound").

Happy Birthday, Jii! We love you.

 

Today was Ramona's preschool Christmas party. With no imminent labor signs, (and free childcare for Mika) I was able to go and spend some time with my little big girl.

At the party, she made a bag of reindeer food and a Santa face, decorated a sugar cookie, and played some snowman games.

At the end of the party, the kids donned some elf hats and put on an epic performance of "Jingle Bells."

Now we are on break from preschool until January, and just get to enjoy one day at a time as the season unfolds. Life is good here at the Dixon home--baby Paula, you really should come and join us!

Getting with the times

Up until a month ago, these were the cell phones Forest and I used:

They worked fine . . . but they weren't very smart. Now we have joined most of the rest of the world and purchased smartphones. So long, flip phones of yore.

Up until yesterday, this was the TV we used:

It also worked fine . . . but wasn't smart, or flat, or fancy like the TV's that have been trending for quite some time now. So look what we picked out as an early Christmas present to ourselves this year:

Mr. Smartflatandfancy! (perfect for watching Strawberry Shortcake).

I can't say that any of these upgrades have drastically improved our quality of life. I'm not aware of many electronic devices that can. But they are kind of enjoyable to have, and I have to admit that I now feel a little more caught up with the times.

Christmas cramming and jamming

Around this time of year, people like to ask the question: "Are you ready for Christmas?" I'm never sure exactly what this means--I suppose it means something different for everyone. At any rate, for me personally, I have felt an increased urgency to be "ready" this year . . . because in addition to the standard December 25th deadline, I also have a more ambiguous deadline surrounding the unscheduled events of labor, delivery, and new baby. Although it's hard to feel truly prepared for the birth of a new child, I have made an effort over the last week to get most of the holiday preparations squared away so they don't get left hanging if I for some reason pop earlier than expected.

As a family we've also tried to cram in some other activities to celebrate the season and thankfully I've found time to keep my fingers on my cello as well. Last Friday I got to play some Christmas tunes in a string quintet, providing background music for our church Christmas party. Then my friend Paige and I kind of flew out the door to make it to our orchestra concert shortly thereafter.

It was a frigid night, but we still had a respectable number of audience members, and pulled off the performance despite being short a rehearsal. Before our final piece, Maestro Silvestri decided to call attention to the two visibly pregnant women on stage, who happened to be the concert master and me. (How embarrassing). Sheri is due December 24th, just four days behind me, so we are both up for possible "Christmas babies." Here we are below with our baby bumps popping out of concert attire following the performance:

The next day was "Date Day" for Daddy--Forest got to spend some one-on-one time with each of us girls in the house. Mika accompanied him on a trip to Lowes (pretty lame, I know--but she didn't seem to know any different and was happy to drive the blue car cart). After Ramona and I attended a Ladies Christmas Breakfast hosted by my lovely neighbor across the street, Forest took her to see the much anticipated movie "Frozen." It was Ramona's first time experiencing a movie theater, and it all seemed to be quite magical for her. I'm glad she enjoyed herself--she had earned this privilege through improved behavior and dedication to house chores the last week and a half.

Then it was my turn--Forest took me out for dinner that evening and we got a chance to appreciate some quiet time together (when I wasn't making trips to the bathroom).

 

Last night we were invited to another Christmas party--this was at the home of my friend Marian who is the stake Relief Society president at church and my current "boss." We were asked to bring a dessert to share, and Ramona was eager to make another batch of snowflake-shaped cookies, so we came up with a platter of finger-food type treats.

 

 

After dinner, we all gathered in the living room and Marian passed out some chimes and Christmas carols for us to (attempt to) play. Even Ramona and Mika were included in this activity (when Mika wasn't busy playing with the nativity set). Next, Judy and I got to play my favorite arrangement of "O Come O Come Emmanuel," and Judy performed "Sleigh Ride" for solo piano. She let our girls add some percussion by playing the jingle bells together.

 

Then Marian read us a Christmas story and shared a spiritual thought while the little ones colored pictures. For a finale, Ramona got up to plunk out part of "Jingle Bells" on the piano. It was all a very special and Christmas-y evening.

Yes, the countdown is on, for both Christmas and baby #3, but I think we are finding ways to enjoy this time as well. If nothing else, it is probably the relative calm before chaos. As I type this, I realize  I should probably be in bed right now, capitalizing on that "calm," instead of being up writing a blog post. Maybe I'll go back to sleep after one more trip to the bathroom . . .