Anna Kimball Doescher

was preparing to make her arrival just a week ago today! Much to my relief, she made her entrance into this world without any drama, awakening me with a few minor contractions at 2am, letting me fall back asleep for a bit, then summoning me to the hospital at the respectable time of 9:30am. Three hours later I was pushing, and only for 10 minutes at that, and then there she was!

We told the doctor we wanted Matt to share the news with me and announcing whether we had a son or daughter. So I couldn't see Anna Kimball when he gave her anatomy a concentrated stare, just to make sure he had things correct, and happily proclaimed that it was "Anna Kimball."

That's not what I was expecting to hear (and no, this is not where we give away our boy name ... must keep saving it!), but it really didn't take long for the news to set in and for it to seem just right that Emery would have a sister (a sister! she is so lucky!) and that Matt would now be vastly outnumbered by the women of the house. Thankfully, he's such a good sport about it all and just so happy to be with "his girls."

I finish with a few pics from this week, but first want to say that we really aren't sure if we'll be calling her Anna or Anna Kimball. I thought I had convinced Matt that it would be Anna Kimball, but right there in the delivery room after she arrived, Matt calmly insisted that he would just be calling her Anna. That Anna Kimball is a lot of syllables.

Well, I love the way Anna Kimball sounds, but he does have a point. I'm even having trouble saying it all the time. So, we'll just have to see what sticks. If all else fails, maybe she'll just be AK!

We're having fun ...

But I think I'm ready for Baby D #2 to make his/her arrival now ... Whether Emery is or not, now that's another question ...

Not ready to have this baby!

My due date is January 17, less than two weeks away and I am definitely not ready to have this baby. I mean yes, I do have diapers on hand, sleepers washed and folded, new bathtub purchased, etc. but I have literally been on vacation since Henny and Papa arrived and begun helping out with so many of the tasks involved in caring for a toddler and keeping a household organized and fed ... and why would I want that to end ahead of schedule?!?

I wish I had some fabulous pictures that document how wonderful this vacation has been, but I've been too busy not doing my normal routine to get any good ones taken, nor have I spent nearly as much time with Emery as I usually do, hence a lack of photo opps. Am I starting to sound like I'd rather not be mothering a toddler and a soon-to-be newborn? If so, that's not the case ... I'm just realistically acknowledging that it simply won't be possible to rest and run the errands I want to run, when I want to run them,  have extended periods of alone time, etc. etc. etc. in just a matter of days.

So for right now I'm going to thoroughly enjoy every second of this brief respite ... pray like mad Baby D #2 has no intentions of showing up early. Did you hear that ____ _____? (blanks are for the still top-secret names!)

I can't believe it

I think between Matt and myself, we've said "I can't believe it" about 331 times in the last 24 hours, because yesterday, Matt accepted a job offer at Volkswagen that will take us to Chattanooga, TN!

Matt's been looking for a job since mid-September and in October, we began to get VW and Chattanooga on the brain. Both make sense for us in so many ways, and now that it's finally happened, we're stunned. There were days when something like this happening just felt impossible, but we kept hoping and praying for a miracle. And I took a lot of deep breaths.

Well, we got our miracle, and another miracle is (hopefully!) quickly on its way .... Baby D is due in just under a week. We can't believe it!!

Do you want to hold the baby?

I'm really looking forward to holding our baby. I know this goes without saying, but I feel that I need to say it because it's accompanied by a confession - I don't always look forward to holding other people's babies.

It's not that I don't want to! I love newborns and infants. To all my friends who have had children, know that I think yours are adorable and are just begging to be held, rocked and cooed over.

It's just that I don't usually feel up to the challenge. For me, when I'm with a new mom and she's holding her peaceful, content baby and then asks me if I want to hold her, the first thought that usually runs through my mind is "Why ruin a good thing?!" Here you have this baby finally quieted down and satisfied in your arms, as only a mother can do, and you want to pass her off to me, who's probably only logged 53 minutes of baby holding time in her life, and risk getting her all riled up and into an inconsolable state?

To me, this does not seem like a good idea. I really don't want to be that person who made the baby cry. Of course no one will blame it on you, but come on - it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the baby was perfectly fine in mom's arms and most likely would have remained that way if she just stayed put.

Yet, often I will still say "Yes!" with a big smile and hold out my arms, while I'm really sitting there thinking "What position am I going to hold her in" or "Wow, her head seems wobbly but I feel like she's old enough to support her head - what should I do," or "Hmm, 'mom' seems to be looking at me funny - does she not like the way I'm holding her baby, but is too polite to say anything???"

Now that I'm typing this confession, I'm realizing that it might indicate I won't be one of those moms who lets other people hold her baby. And let me just assure you - you are more than welcome to hold my baby. You also have complete freedom to say "No thank you!" Believe me - I will understand.

Registering made easier - but at a price

I fell for giggle.com. I know I said I wasn't about to get sucked into baby registry mania, and I still think I'm keeping my sanity, but I have to admit, giggle.com is enticing. It markets itself as a "new parent store." One that weeds out all of the overwhelming choices and presents you with only the best strollers, car seats, bottles, etc. How nice! Instead of 44 monitors to choose from, you only need to choose from 4!

Of course it only weeds out the priciest items, and I'm realizing is really charging you a premium for doing the work of sorting out the 40 monitors they've decided aren't worth purchasing, and so I'm trying to keep my wits about me as I peruse its offerings. Of course I believe Baby D. deserves only the best, but I also hope he/she learns from an early age that all that glitters (or I suppose giggles in this case) is not gold. It sure is nice to look at, though!

Sometimes jellybeans for breakfast isn't a good thing

When I was little, one of my favorite books was "Jellybeans for Breakfast." I don't remember all the details, but I think the gist of it was what would happen if parents vanished and children could do whatever they wanted to? Well, they could go to the moon for the morning, live in treehouses and drink out of acorn cups and of course eat jellybeans for breakfast!

Today, though, I got confirmation that children don't really know what's good for them and that eating jellybeans for breakfast is disgusting. I had to eat 18 jellybeans in 5 minutes flat at 7:20 this morning, in order to get tested for gestational diabetes. It was either eat the jellybeans or drink some horrid glucose potion that I had been warned was pretty terrible. And I'm sure it is ... it's just that stuffing your mouth full of jellybeans 30 minutes after you wake up probably isn't much better.

I hope to be able to read Baby D. my favorite book someday (although I doubt I'll be buying it - it's now out of print and more than $100 on ebay), and you know, I might even let my child gorge him/herself on jellybeans for breakfast one morning - just to learn that sometimes grownups really do know what's best.

Football fields of crib sheets

When it comes to registering for Baby D, I feel totally paralyzed. I went to Buy Buy Baby a few weeks ago, and when I saw a football field length of crib sheets, I started to wish I was giving birth 20 years ago, before the advent of the Internet and snazzy little laser guns that make it possible for any ignorant mom-to-be to build a registry list of 100+ products in eight minutes flat.

Now of course I want to be sure Baby D. has all that he/she needs, and I'm sure that involves crib sheets (although I've heard some newborns do just fine in a dresser drawer on top of some towels), but I'm really starting to wonder if it has to involve a registering as if I were getting married all over again.

And yes, I've heard the advice that you should just bring someone with you who knows what they're doing, who can tell you what you really need, what you really don't need, etc. But isn't every baby different? Every mother I've talked to seems to have a completely different opinion on what kind of stroller worked best for her baby/family, so how do I even know if the mother of my choice is going to line up with my lifestyle and my baby's personality?

I haven't yet come to a decision on what I'm going to do, but I have a feeling I'm going to wind up registering for a few critical items and figure out the rest as a I go along ... after all, isn't it most important for the mom-to-be to remain as relaxed and stressfree as possible? If so, then I'll take a prenatal massage over a laser gun any day!

Lots of news

I've been debating how to share some of the "bigger" news that we have to report. Since I just don't have the energy to come up with anything clever, I'll just be frank - I'm nearly 17 weeks pregnant and our house is for sale!

These circumstances coupled with the fact that Matt is looking for a new job are about all the change I can handle right now. I feel, though, that I'm managing it all with uncharacteristic optimism and peace. Someone pointed out to me that I might be one of those rare women whose hormones actually balance out during pregnancy. This I have never heard of, but if it means more peace and less pessimism, I'll take it!

I've also recently developed an addiction to playing solitaire on my phone. I've probably played it 98 times in the last week, mainly because I just can't win. And I hate that. Every time I'm so close to winning, I have the superstitious thought "If I win, this means we'll sell our house." Or, "If I win, this means Matt will get a great job."

Ridiculous, I know. While sometimes it feels like the odds are stacked against us, I'm beginning to get the feeling that we'll actually sell our house and Matt will get a great job, and the baby will even be born before I win a game of solitaire.

And you know, that will be just fine with me!