Introducing Our Own Party of Five

In the looooong hiatus from this blog, we have had quite a few changes in the household. Sadly, we lost my Aunt Gail in February. She was a huge, daily part of my, Josh and Max's lives. We miss her and are still in shock from the loss. Odd as it is to say it, we have also received an enormous blessing in this sadness -- the addition of Gail's only daughter, my first-cousin Jordan Link, to our family. Jordan just turned ten a few weeks ago. She stayed at with my grandparents during the weekdays until the end of the school year so she didn't need to switch schools. She was with us on the weekends and school holidays, but officially moved in full time with us on June 10th.

Just three days later, on Friday, June 13th, we welcomed another new daughter...Claire Estelle. So far she is quite different from her big brother -- she weighed in at a tiny (compared to Max's 9 lbs 13 oz!) 7 lbs 9 oz, she sleeps aLOT, she is laid back, and has skinny feet! Josh's mom stayed for two weeks to help out and then my mom stayed for a few days. I don't know what I would have done without them, especially since I am not supposed to be picking up Max while recovering from my C-section. Jordan is also a huge help entertaining Max while I am feeding Claire. It is amazing how innate Max's affection for his little sister is...gentleness, however, has not come as naturally. He loves to kiss her head, hug her, and 'pet' her; he also tries to burp her after her feedings. He immediately had a name for her and asks for her immediately (well, after 'Dad') upon waking up. This week we are on our own for the first time during the days. Next week Jordan will have day camp so I will test being on my own with a toddler and newborn without any 'mommy's helper'. The upside will be the quiet naptimes though (is ten too old to insist on afternoon naps?). I am adjusting to not having any quiet alone time during the days...but the tough part is the 10 o clock bedtime for Jordan. So much for getting things done after Max goes down at 8! Josh says I need to come up with a different 'system'...I fear it will require even less sleep on my part....

Jordan is an excellent 'journal-er' so she has been tasked with helping update the family blog. What a great addition to my and Josh's failings in documenting life's milestones. Below is Jordan's first post about our daily activities:

Chronicles by Jordan...
Today I woke up around 8:00 and we all got ready for church. I learned about patience with Ms. Jenny and Mrs.Annie. We decided we all need some of that. Speaking of patience, today at Rack Room shoes, I was trying on sneakers. Max started screaming and Claire started screaming. The guy that worked in the store probably thought we were crazy. So at one point we had two screaming babies and Josh and Lara were yelling at me to pick out a pair of shoes. After I finally picked out a pair a pair of shoes, Josh grabbed the box and told me to wear them out of the store. When we all piled into the car, Josh said,"I don't even know how much I payed for those things." I was so worn out and confused but somehow I love my new kicks. When we got home, Max started stuffing diapers in his shirt. He took all the diapers out of his shirt and then Josh put one diaper in Max's shirt. Max said more. Josh put in a second diaper. Max wanted more. Josh put in a third diaper. They kept on going.

[Entered on Monday] So later that night, Josh, Lara and I played Kings in the Corner. Josh won all the games. Of course. By that time it was time for me to go to bed. Lara read the bible to me and I fell asleep. I woke up like thirty minutes after that. I went upstairs and said to Lara," I can't sleep, will you pray with me again?" So she came downstairs and prayed with me again. I fell asleep to someone reading the bible my CD player. Apparently Lara said I woke up again and went upstairs and stood at their door. Lara opened the door and there I was with my crazy, messed up, sweaty hair, and in my pj's. I said," I don't know what to do, I can't sleep." Lara took me downstairs and played the bible CD again. My eyes were closed and Lara just stared at me, I opened my eyes and said," What?" Lara said," I'm just sitting with you." She left and we both said goodnight to each other and I fell asleep for the rest of the night.