To appease you

Keturah at 1 week old

1 1/2 weeks

K is 2 1/2 weeks

3 weeks

3 weeks

So life is good. Understandably, I'm a little busier than pre-baby, but other than that, there hasn't been much of an adjustment. I've been ignoring the computer--given some free time, I'm going to choose sleeping or something over blogging--sorry.
But, anyway, there are the pictures and I'll try to be better in the future.

Rhonda

The new baby girl...

I know the pictures stink, but I've never claimed to be a photographer, so you'll have to deal.
Wouldn't you love it if that were her name? I think I've only known one Rhonda in my life. She was the bus driver when I was little. One time she caught my brother and I throwing rocks while waiting at the bus stop so she told us to knock it off--from that day on I hated her. That is just a name that you love to hate. Even the Beach Boys were saying "help me".
Anyway, back to the baby. Her name is Keturah Nicole. Her birthday is Feb 27 and she was 6 lbs 4oz--same as her bro. As you can see, she also has blondish hair like her bro.

With dad

With Bekah

With Alex

This is me trying to get her profile (I thought that if nobody else did, my mom would appreciate it).

Life has been good the last 3 days. The kids are constantly asking to hold her and they just laugh when she cries. Alex is really gentle and loves to talk to her. Matt caught him whispering to her, "Keturah, I'm going to go help mom for a minute. I'll be right back." He also got a picture off of the fridge and told her, "Look, Keturah, Bekah drew this for you and mom. " He's an awesome older brother (at least to babies). Bekah likes to hold her and help take care of her, but isn't quite as aware of how fragile she is. She's getting better at not poking her though.
Matt was able to come away from the hospital with only some badly bruised fingers. I've got a pretty good grip when I want to :) As for me, I'm really glad it is all over with and I can enjoy the kids.

Krazy Kids

I suppose it is time for a new post. I kept putting it off in the hopes that my next one would be a picture of a wrinkly little baby. But, alas, this is not to be had just yet. So what you get are a bunch of weirdo things that the other kids say.

Bekah asked me why there were bowls in the sink. I said they were waiting to be washed. Alex told me that was impossible because bowls don't have heads. Apparently you need a head to be able to wait for something.

So Matt comes home one day and is just lounging on the bean bag and everyone knows that if you lay down, the kids in the house will most likely attack you and make sure it is not restful. So I tell Bekah not to jump on her dad's face. Her solution? "Okay, I'll jump off of his face."

Alex had been crying about something--he then complained that he was getting "eyeball drops" on him.

Matt was being random and looked at Alex with his eyes crossed. Alex told him, "Your eyes look like chicken eyeballs."

A shot from when we had a warm day and took advantage.

Boys in the Hood

My sister Mary says, "Mom and I have decided that Bekah is a tom boy. "

Um, yeah, ya think?

Bekah is not a girly girl. We tried at Christmas and her birthday. She got a princess costume, princess shoes, a princess cup, etc. But for the month or so since then she has been either Batman, Megatron, or Darth Vader. She growls at and chases boys that are twice her age or more (alongside Alex, of course). We thought that Alex would have lots of fun with a brother, but I guess he already has one. So maybe it is good that there will be another girl around.

Alex is always a character too, but he changes his name so much that I can't keep track. People will tell me that they said to him, "Hey, Alex" and he growled at them and said his name wasn't "Alex". So then they ask me what his name is--and it usually some kind of transformer--but I tell them it doesn't matter what they call him as long as it isn't "Alex". Bekah has figured this out and uses it to push his buttons. When she wants to bug him or gets mad at him she says, "Your name is Alex. I'm only going to call you Alex". He takes it pretty hard and has a massive breakdown, screaming and protesting that he is not Alex. I love that his name has become a form of punishment. Oh well.

Sweet Dreams

I thought maybe someone may have missed my unsurpassed talent for poetry.
Actually, most people seem to think that I'm incredibly depressed with little will to live. That is not the case--I just felt like whining a bit about my least favorite lunar cycle. But thanks for helping me stick it out. Anyway, I had another bout of insomnia last night and coming up with this helped keep me entertained. I know I've done chocolate in the past, so I wanted to think of something else. I thought, what is as essential to life as chocolate? Duh! The thing that I had wished I was doing that very moment: sleeping! So here goes:

O Sleep, my friend,
Why did you leave me?

We've been through a lot,
How can you deceive me?

I thought we were close,
Good buddies, like kin.

I invited you over,
Why won't you come in?

I saw you next door
And all down the street,

But I am alone and
Must admit my defeat.

I feel so distraught,
downtrodden, dejected,

My eyes sting from your absence,
As if they're dissected.

And then it dawns on me,
As I turn on the lamp,

You're with everyone but me--
Why, you dirty little tramp!

Janu-weary

As a rule, I am not a big fan of the month of January. It is depressing coming out of Christmas vacation, daunting to start a whole new year, and debilitating with the bitter cold in the dead of winter. There aren't any good movies coming out, the few t.v. shows that we watch are on hiatus, our gas bill doesn't seem to reflect the fact that our house is an ice cube, and of course, it is time to start thinking about taxes. I don't watch the super bowl, I think the academy awards are useless and a total waste, and I'm not at all excited about some upcoming issues in politics. I love snow and rain, but this winter has been almost devoid of either of those, so we just get brown and cold. Needless to say, I am tired of this month and it is not even half way over.

Yep, this about sums up how I feel.

That is my grandma. She's hilarious.

There are many more things I could gripe about, but in an effort to not make this 100% negative, I'm just going to list a couple of things that make life worth living for me when it is a Monday in January and I'm 7 months pregnant with unexplained pains in my shoulder and cold, cracked, dry fingers to type with. (In no particular order)

strawberries
chapstick
my husband
his back massages
chocolate
naps
my health
slippers
family
working cars
the color red
Alex
Rebekah
this nameless baby
a safe home
cereal
my grandma (especially that picture)
clean sheets
friends
baby wipes
pillows

Well, I feel a little better... but, could someone press fast-forward til February?

In case you were wondering....

This is how Christmas was for us:
Filled with smiles and fun.
It was very laid back and just fun to hang out with each other.

The stockings


Two of Matt's favorite things: his new beanie and Alex's Transformer Bumble Bee.
The kids love everything and still do play with everything about evenly. Although, since the transformers were introduced to Alex's collection, we have all been given new transformer names. Alex is Optimus Prime, Bekah is Megatron, I am Jazz, and Matt is Bumble Bee. The reason I mention it is because if you happen to talk to Alex or Bekah, they will correct you if you address them by these human names. They told me I couldn't wash their hair in the bath because robots don't have hair. They stopped arguing when I said, "Robots don't have buns either". Even still, Alex prays for "Jazz" to have a new baby (who is Starscream, btw), and for Megatron (Bekah) to be nice.
Now you'll either have an itch to go watch the movie, or never see it again. Ha ha.
So after playing with new stuff for a while, we went to chat with a lady Matt knows through a school program that didn't get to see her family for Christmas (she's 92). It was a fun visit and Matt and I agreed that she reminded us of my Grandma. That was as close to being with family as we got. The kids were great letting us just talk to her while all their new toys sat at home just begging to be played with. Once back home, we made a super yummy dinner that we all devoured with pleasure.



More stuff




So my big present was a trip to Kansas City to see the Nutcracker Ballet. We went the day after Christmas while Brent and Angie babysat for us, for which we are forever indebted to them. We did some shopping when we got there. Matt got a new pinstripe suit and I got some maternity clothes. Matt had a hotel reserved so we checked into our 14th floor room and got ready for the ballet. Then we went out to eat at Chili's. I know, real classy, but it is still one of my favorites even after working there, so it must be good. After that, we went to the ballet. The dancing was great, of course, and I liked the choreography and the overall professional quality of it better than the Sacramento Ballet. Matt enjoyed the music and some of the dancing.
The next day we went to Costco, which is always a treat, and then headed home.
Oh, and the reason I'm not in any pictures is because I'm always the one taking them.

The new suit