Tuesday: Rye is Born

Yesterday morning, I woke up and was going about my business and getting the lot of us ready for swim and deciding whether I had time for a run without the jog stroller or if I needed to wait for Ivan to wake up. As it turns out, my sister's water broke in Birmingham (where she lives;it wasn't like she was on vacation). Now, if there is one thing that I have learned about my family, it is that no one misses a birth. We like to be there to say "hi" before you go into labor. We like to languish away in the waiting room, and then we like to be the first ones there, maybe knocking the traumatized dad of the newborn out of the way, after the birth. So, when Caroline's water broke, I had to put my emergency childcare plan into place. It is UNFORGIVABLE to take your child to visit a newborn in the hospital, so I had to leave Ivan. My plan worked and I made it down to Birmingham right after the c-section.

Everything was just the loveliest of family moments, and we enjoyed ourselves and had a great dinner. I slept at my sister's house with her dog (a terrible bed-mate, by the way) and got the rest of the house ready for the baby. My mom and I washed clothes and what not.

I fell asleep watching Intervention and Hoarders on television. CONFESSION: I love to lay in bed and watch television in my pajamas. I LOVE IT!!!! It is a rare occurrence, as consideration for my usual bed mate is often a concern.

Anyway, my alarm went off at 6:00AM. I have it set on a nuclear fall-out setting, so I feel a genuine concern about the apocalypse when it goes off in the mornings. I am always afraid that something more gentle would not encourage me out of bed. Anyway, I jetted over to the hospital to see the baby one last time, before sprinting for the car and hurtling home.

I headed back home and made the drive is two-and-a-half hours, all the while listening to New Moon. It was actually my second listen, I am slightly embarrassed to tell you. I think I talk a big talk about all my big books, but deep down inside of me, I want to listen to New Moon, twice.

Anyway, once home, I traded off Ivan with my husband and spent an hour reading books and learning to say his new cousin's name "Rye". We lucked out with the one syllable, and Ivan got it down pretty quickly.

After this, Ivan spent a blissful half-hour chasing our cat with the vacuum cleaner, before going down for his nap. During nap, I scurried about cleaning our house, which was a FOUR STAR DISASTER. It is downgraded to a two-star disaster, but as least I can walk and see the dining room table. Ivan and I had a nice jog stroller run afterwards, and I came back home to get ready for work.

I then headed into work and stopped by the mall to pick up a couple of shirts which I am giving to myself for Christmas.

Work was nice and I came home with a lovely amaryllis for the holidays!!