Everybody ought to have a Moom

I'm thinking I might make all my post titles references to musicals. Props to whoever gets this one, unless you're in my immediate family. Of course you get it.

So my mom was here for 10 glorious days. In that time, she did the grocery shopping, went to Target and Costco a couple of times, cooked dinner, made me take lots of naps, took Annabelle all night every night (except for nursing, but Annabelle is a much faster eater than Mabes, so I wasn't up much at night), cleaned, played with Mabes, and held Annabelle a lot (she's a very cuddly baby). And though she brought a book and her laptop to work on her Orlando scrapbook when she had downtime, apparently it wasn't enough, so she bought curtains and rods and replaced the lovely 80s-style curtains that came with the house. (I was going to, but since I was 35 weeks pregnant when we moved, I hadn't had a chance yet.) Dave laughed when I told him her plans and didn't want her to feel like she had too much to do. I just said, "yeah, but I talked her out of repainting--she was planning accent walls!" My mom loves projects.


My mom, pushing Mabes in the laundry basket. After a while, she got tired and Mabes didn't understand...
...so my mom hopped in and had Mabes pushed her.

Reading with Grandma

When it was time to take my mom to the airport, of course I cried. I couldn't blame it on being tired, but post-partum hormones certainly don't help when you just want your mom around and you have to send her home. Thankfully, Mabes put her arm around me and said, "I know you love your mom and you will miss her. It's okay..." Thanks, Mabes.

And the next day, Laura flew in. Sarah had warned her of of hormonal craziness, so Laura was prepared to cook, play with Mabes, and let me do my thing. Since I was now doing the night shift (come back, Moom!), Laura would get up with Mabes so I could sleep in. Very nice.

Playing Mario Cart (it's spelled with a K, right? Stupid intentional misspelling...) with Auntie Bora. Mabes was always Princess Peach, Laura was always Toadstool. Mabes now calls Toadstool "Aunt Laura."

Reading with Aunt Laura

Laura even let Mabes play with her camera. This opened a whole new world for Mabes. She took pictures of everything, exclaiming that it was the most beautiful picture ever (Laura! The TV! Her bike! The chair!). I'm waiting for Laura to post Mabes' photos...

Mabes taking pictures wearing the hat Aunt Laura brought her

Between Christmas, Annabelle's birth, and visitors, it's been a busy few weeks. But we're slowly settling into our new routine. Mabes continues to be a great big sister and is very helpful--she gets really happy when there's a diaper for her to throw away. Annabelle is a fantastic baby (keep it up, little girl!). A few times, Mabes has said, "our little girl cries a lot!" Um, no, kid. She barely cries at all. I realize this will probably change, so for now, I'm just enjoying it!

Oh, and I told a few people that when Annabelle was born, a couple of nurses commented that she might have some strawberry blonde or red in her hair. I looked over and just thought, "No, ladies, she doesn't have red hair. I know redheads, and that most certainly isn't a redhead." Kind of like when people tell my sisters that they (the random brunette my sister may be talking to) are redheads, too. Really? Because if you have to tell someone you're looking at that you have red hair, you don't actually have red hair. So I wasn't going to be that mom--"Well, it looks blondish brown, but in the right light, it's sort of red. Can you see it? Really, it's there!" I've just been telling people it's light brown, but since mine and Mabes' hair was brownish, fell out, and came in light blond, we'll just have to wait and see what Annabelle's hair does. So we will. But in the meantime...
This is totally unretouched. In certain lights, there seems to be some red there. Can you see it? Zoom in. Call me crazy--I'm already laughing at myself.