1 month old

It is true what they say about your second child. By the time Norah was one month old we had taken hundreds of photos and done like 8 blog posts. Poor James. We don't love him any less, we just don't seem to have the same kind of time (where did this last month go?!). But, baby James turned 1 month old this week, and that definitely deserves some documentation.

Current stats:

weight: 9 lbs. 13 oz.
height: 21 1/2 inches

50th percentile in both categories. You might call him an average James. We just call him our little love.

James Is Here!

With much anticipation, James Paxman B. arrived 1:33am Sunday, 9/19/10. He was 7 lbs 4 oz at birth. Behold:

Here he is a few minutes into life.

20 inches of awesomeness.

Extreme closeup! Who does he look like most? Let's get a larger sample size to assess:

With eyes open! I'm predicting brown eyes like his mom.

Sarah Jane's mother Cathy also was born on the 19th of September. Happy birthday Grandma! It should be noted that 4 hours after being requested, Cathy arrived to the hospital from Utah. Impressive. Most impressive. And most helpful.

Some of you may be wondering how the delivery went. It's really not for me to say, but we both agree that things went smoother than last time. But it's really not for me to say.

Enough said.

...And on the other side. Thanks for bringing this baby into the world! Bless the bearers of children.

Relief and exhaustion. And Lansinoh. But doesn't SJ look great?

Father and son.

Not a lot of drama with this kid so far. He didn't really cry upon arrival, and so far he doesn't fuss much. I'm crossing my fingers as I'm typing that he will continue to maintain a mild temperament. At least for a while as we adjust to life with two children. Speaking of which, here's Norah on the big day.

So far she's been great around him. Not great when not around him, but she has been a good big sister.

And he's a good little brother.

These days James can most often be found in bundle/burrito mode zonked out. But who knows; when we're asleep he might stop his "I'm just sleeping" act and sneak out for a night on the town.

Anyway, welcome to our family, James! We love you and are so glad you're here.

Pre Delivery Post

We just recently had a baby, people. But before we give you the details, it's worth posting the events prior to the arrivals. Well, some events. Tasteful editing is always desirable in these situations...

For the record, the cleaning itch did come the night when labor started. Would she have kept the baby in longer if she hadn't vacuumed? We'll never know.

A couple of things: first, with experience comes wisdom. The In N Out move was a good one, despite the contractions that came before and after this video that may have freaked out folks in the car behind us. We didn't really eat for another 12-14 hours.

Second, we're so glad this happened on a weekend (though secretly I kind of wish I got a call in the middle of teaching class where I'd have to dash out of the room saying "Class, we have to end right now cause WE'RE HAVIN A BABY").

Third, I do have to say, this post is very reminiscent of our prior pre-delivery post, except California style.

Summer Happenings Part II

It is the end of August, Nathan is back in school, so even though it was 104 degrees here not 4 days ago, I guess 'summer' is coming to an end. Here's a little more of what we've been up to this summer:

At the end of July we had Nathan's parents in town for a couple of days. We loved having them here, but I think I speak for all 3 of us when I say, it wasn't long enough. We hope they come back soon!


Since they arrived shortly after Norah's birthday, they came baring gifts. A cute baby doll in a stroller. Norah loved it! Well... she loved the stroller. She immediately took the baby doll out and put her beloved 'Piggy' in, and declared it "Piggy's Stroller." (Let's hope she's not so dismissive with another baby due to arrive here any day.) She's been loving pushing Piggy in that stroller ever since.

In early August we headed back to Utah for one last visit before I reached my 'no fly' status, and so we could see L & B before their little one arrived and they leave the country. Check out these two 'babies in waiting:'

(It should be noted with great enthusiasm that baby Ethan Thomas Miller arrived last Thursday! Congratulations Bret & Laura!)

We've been lucky to travel to Utah a lot this year, so Norah is very familiar with going there and what is there. She is obsessed with this yellow construction hat at my parent's house, and the very first thing she does every time we go there is find this hat and put it on.


Nathan's grandparents have a cabin up Provo Canyon, just down the river from Sundance resort. Both Nathan's mom and Nathan spent many summers up at the cabin growing up, and Nathan's grandparents, now in their nineties, still spend every summer there. It is a special place, and is where we blessed Norah two summers ago. It is one of our favorite places to visit in the summer, and we are always glad when our trips to Utah can include a visit to Wildwood.





We loved capping off our summer with a trip to see friends and family. We were lucky to get to see many good friends:



And to spend great quality time with family.


We had a great time!


The rest of our summer has been filled with various activites. One of which is Norah's newest obsession, jumping:

And with temperatures in the the triple digits the last 2 weeks, there has been a lot more of this:



and probably too much of this:

This Month Is Such a Special One...

So, in our family we affectionately call July the 'Month of Fun' since all 3 of us have birthdays in July. I realize that going forward we may have to refrain from referring to it as that so as not to make certain imminent newcomers to the family feel left out, but until then, behold the Month of Fun...

I am usually especially great at documenting Nathan's birthday because it falls on the 4th of July, but this year I guess I was a real deadbeat wife, because this was all I managed to capture.




We did have a really fun day though, barbequeing and watching fireworks with friends, and celebrating our first Fourth of July in California.

Norah's birthday was a lot of fun. She woke up extra early that morning :), she must have known it was a special day. We started the day opening presents, then went for a fun family hike up to a waterfall (one of Norah's favorite hikes), came home and made Mickey Mouse pancakes and then crashed before the birthday party that evening.




Her birthday happened to fall on one of the hottest days we've had this summer, so what we had hoped would be a nice evening in the park turned out to be pretty sweltering. We appreciated everyone enduring the heat to come support Norah and eat melting popcicles with us. She had a great time.




Norah had very few requests for her birthday, but one thing that she kept asking for was 'a pink cake with two candles.' Wish granted.

And since I wasn't sure everyone would want bright pink cake (including myself) we had a back-up to share with friends.


For the past couple of years my birthday has sort of gotten lost in the shuffle of bigger life events such as the birth of our first child, and moving our family across the country. So this year it was fun to be able to spend my birthday just hanging out with my two best peeps. The bonus was that our BFs the Mills happened to be in town too!

We spent the morning in Santa Monica having brunch and walking around the Farmers Market, and then the rest of the day taking great naps, great walks, and going out for ice cream. It was a really perfect day.

Until next year 'Month of Fun.' Or as we'll probably call it next year, 'July.'