Like Father Like Son

Jaysa and I made fun of Baby Ben's toes, especially how his big toes seemed to be twice as big as his other toes. So Daddy Mike had to whip off his socks and claim paternity. As you can see, Ben got his toes from his daddy.

I have heard that nature ensures that fathers can find their babies by making the baby look like the father for the first year or so. Obviously even if Ben is upside down in a hole, Mike will be the first man to run over and pull him out.

How To Take A Picture

Back when I was trying to take a good picture of myself, I tried to show Bill it was the camera that took bad pictures and not myself that was the problem. He seemed skeptical, so I shot a couple of shots of him to prove my point.

Damn, why does the camera take good pictures of him, but not of me? I'll have to work on this.

One Of These Things Is Not Like The Other

Look real good at the faces in this picture and guess who may have passed a little wind?

The New Arrival

After an all-nighter and 3 hours of pushing with no progress, the doctor encouraged Jaysa and Mike to have a C-section. Mike and the baby were sent to the nursery where I was able to get the first picture of Baby Ben through the nursery window.

Here's some shots from today after he's been able to gussy up a little and get a feel for all the new faces staring at him. He's 7 pounds 12 oz with the longest big toes ever. Of course he's adorable.

Grandma Nancy held his feet while I snapped some shots of those toes. He balled them up before we got a good shot, but his big toe is twice as big as his other toes on each foot.

Mom, Dad, and Baby are all doing well. Sister Dee is staying with friends and has quite a surprise when she gets home.

Baby Watch Day 11...Last Day

Jaysa's laptop died yesterday, so that's why you haven't heard from me. We're at the hospital. They say a picture is worth a 1000 words, so here's a fortune of them... Jaysa is looking perky in the first, but then it goes downhill. The last is the clock showing the time they gave her the epidural. More to come. To quote Jaysa when Mike asked her how it was, she said "Birth...with the constant feeling you want to pee and poop and the contractions kicking in? Is this the best mother nature can do?"

Valentine's Day or Waiting Day 9

So even though his wife is 9 days overdue and pees every 10 minutes, Mike is still the romantic who smuggled home a bouquet of flowers last night and hid them in the closet until this morning when he surprised his lovely wife with them.

He even asked her to "...be my valentine again?" It was very heartwarming to witness.

This old lady was wishing I could have a do-over with Bill. Years ago he sent me a beautiful box of long-stemmed red roses, but I soon taught him to not waste money on flowers. Maybe I should not have killed his romantic streak so throughly. It sure was nice to witness this 11-year tradition with Jay and Mike.

Meanwhile, we're on day number 9 of the waiting for baby game. And, when I say "we" of course I mean poor Jaysa is doing the suffering while Mike and I are enjoying watching her waddle around.

Calendar Girls

Somehow the dogs in this family are better dressed than the humans. Here's Dee sporting her Christmas gear and looking really happy about having to wear it. In fact, if you could read her mind I think it would be x-rated.

Next up is Bailey girl sporting next month's Easter outfit. Once again, happiness does not ooze from her dismal face. Unlike Dee, who only thinks bad thoughts of her humans, Bailey probably gave many four letter huffs to her slave Jaimee.

While the girls chose holiday gear, Mr. Wrigley obviously prefers a more laid back approach to life. From the photo below, it appears he's ready for vacation. Of course, he deserves it after the year he's had watching over his new baby girl.

Tale Of Two Lilys

This is the year our family gained two new members, both named Lily. They kind of resemble each other in a happy-go-lucky, always smiling way. Baby Lily came first, although Doggy Lily is older.

They both have big grins and lots of pretty white teeth, and sometimes they stick their tongues out. They also tend to crawl around on all fours, but this similarity might be ending soon as Baby Lily is learning to walk and get around pretty well.

Unfortunately for Baby Lily's family, she's at that stage where she likes to be the center of attention and can't understand why anyone would want to ignore her and play video games. Doggy Lily already has the maturity of motherhood and is more of an equal to the adults in her family, therefore she takes a more sit back and wait attitude. Doggy Lily was adopted by Jenny after she had a litter of puppies. Lily must have felt really mistreated when she had to watch all her little ones being given away and then end up being given away herself when her original family couldn't keep her.

Jaimee also adores her Baby Lily, although the word "mistreated" could never be applied to Baby Lily. As you can see, she is the princess of her castle and her lowly subjects are no longer safe from her grasping clutch.

You don't have to worry about Doggy Lily either. She has settled in and is part of the family now. Her mother, father and brothers all adore her, and she will never have to fear losing her new family as she has become their princess too... and is working on becoming the queen!

Who's Your Daddy?

Ben, today is your due date and the first thing you'll see is the face of your Daddy. I was thinking you may wonder who he is. Well, first of all we have to discuss your Mama. Mama likes to take it easy and eat chips. She always has and always will. That's why your Mama was smart enough to pick your Daddy for her husband. You see, your Daddy is the active one who will make sure you get your share of the adventures in life. He does that for your Mama and everyone he comes in contact with, and he will do that for you.

Your Daddy is not one to sit around and play bongo drums and explore his navel. Nope, that's not him.

He's the one that gets everyone up and dancing by leading the conga line!

He knew someday you would join his life, and he knew he had to prepare as best he could. So here are some of the things he's done to prepare for you.

He's learned to talk baby talk...

He's explored the ocean to make sure it's a safe place to take you (and obviously he's checked his goods along the way to make sure he was protecting them as best he could for your conception)...

He's practiced being the disciplinarian by keeping the younger family siblings in line...

He's practiced being a cowboy so he'll be able to tell you stories of cattle drives and nights beneath the stars until your old enough for him to take you along...

He's wined and dined the older siblings, not so much because he enjoyed it, but so he can be on the lookout in the years to come for family members who might try to be a bad influence on you when you're in your late teens

He's put on a few pounds during the pregnancy so your Mama didn't have to. It was a sacrifice, but someone had to keep the bad stuff out of the kitchen!

No man wants to be the only male at a baby shower, but he was a champ. He joined in and pretended that he'd rather be there than out playing a round of golf with your Grandfather. I even heard him try to guess the answer to a game or two, now that took real courage with all the women calling out their answers as loud as possible.

He's almost worn a path in the carpet practicing pushing your stroller, so I hope you get here soon.

You can't ask for a better father. He's all prepared as you can see...

...and Ben, you'd better hurry because poor Dee can't take much more of this!

Remember When?

Remember when eating was such a joy? And, remember when cleaning up was even more fun?

I've Seen This One Before

Lily's mom took this picture of her little one on the prowl. The look in her eye makes me think she's trying to get something quick before it gets snatched away and put up for safety.

When I looked at this picture, I thought to myself, "hmmm, I think I've seen this one before."

Yep, right behind Jaysa there's a hand ready to snatch the doll away. Looks familar doesn't she. It's easy to see that Lily takes right after her mama in both looks and personality.

Isn't She Lovely, My Little Baby

My oldest daughter Jenny has always been a doll. I especially like her in bangs and always cut her hair with bangs when she was little. For many of the past years she has not worn bangs, and since she's always had an independent streak I tried to keep my suggestions to myself. Unusual for me I know, but sometimes it's better to be quiet.

I can't tell you how happy I was when she decided to change her style recently and went back to wearing bangs like in these pictures when she was little.

I was looking at her pictures last night and thinking she really doesn't know how pretty she is. It's too easy to sell yourself short and to see only your flaws. I wish she would see what we, her husband and her family, see. After all these years, she still has the great big chocolate brown eyes and silky dark brown hair she was born with. Back when she was little I used to dance her around and sing "Isn't she lovely, my little baby..."

When I see this picture, that song pops right back into my head and we're doing the dance again.

From Time To Time

In an earlier post, I talked about how my sister-in-law Karen sat with me when I was in labor with Jaysa. Karen would wrap her arms around her stomach and rock back and forth each time I felt a contraction. I laughed, she groaned. Thank you Karen for doing all the work while I got the beautiful baby!

At that time, Karen was a young newlywed. Little did she know that she was actually pregnant while we shared those hours of my labor.

Nine months after Jaysa was born, Karen gave birth to her own daughter, Cheryl. I'm sorry I wasn't there to keep Karen company as she had done for me, but we had moved to California by the time Cheryl was born. Karen brought Cheryl to see us when she was about a month old.

Since she and I are divorced from the two brothers we were married to, I haven't seen Karen in a long time. Only our daughters are connected to the family now.

It was a treat for me to see that one of the cousins who threw Jaysa's baby shower was Cheryl. She's grown into a beautiful and talented young woman, just like her mother. Cheryl is seated on the left in the picture below.

I wonder if she knows that she was there with her mother that day long ago? Two women and two babies, lives interwoven from time to time.