birth day

I saw a show today on Discovery Health called Birth Day. It was about a woman who was having a scheduled c-section with her second baby and then a tubal ligation. I used to tease Greg about getting a little queasy when I made him venture to the other side of the drape to get a picture of Sophia and Naomi as they were delivered. In fact, I was kind of mad that he didn't take any pictures of Nicholas right as they pulled him out.

Having seen a c-section from the other side of the drape, I now understand how he feels. Yikes. I'll stay on my side of the drape, thank you.

i want my mommy

After being with us for the past month, my mom left for home this morning. I cried like a baby. And I got all sad and teary on the way home from picking up Nicholas. I think he thinks I have gone crazy, just as he predicted a few weeks ago. Maybe the hormones haven't leveled out yet, or maybe I just got too spoiled by my mom taking care of all of us for the past 4 weeks, or maybe, in the end, we all just want our mommies. She came the Saturday before Naomi was born and helped me get things ready for when I would be in the hospital. She shopped, cooked, cleaned, did laundry...everything. While I was gone, she organized all of my closets and drawers and all the random crap laying around in our house in a couple of days--she got done in less than 4 days what I had tried to do for months. When I came home from the hospital, my house was so clean, I almost didn't recognize it. For the whole month, she made sure everyone ate and was always there just to hold the baby. Sometimes, you just need an extra set of hands to hold the baby so you can take a break, eat, go to the bathroom, shower, tend to the other kids, run an errand, whatever. And before my parents left, they made sure that we had enough food in the house to last us for another month since they know Greg has a ton of work to do and it takes me forever to leave the house with a nursing newborn.

I realized while my mom was here that she and I are more alike than either one of us would admit. We're both a little stubborn and tempermental at times, and at the end of the day, I wish I could do everything as well as she does.



My dad was able to take a week off from work and he drove up last Saturday. He helped out with picking up the kids from camp and he did a lot of holding with Naomi and Emma while my sister was here. Babies love my dad -- he has an amazing ability to calm them down and get them to sleep. And he's always happy to just hold them, too. See the exercise ball in the picture above that my mom's sitting on? Well, we learned early on that Naomi, then Emma, both liked to be bounced on the ball. So whenever the babies got fussy, my parents wrapped them up in a blanket and then bounced and bounced. And bounced.



And last Sunday, Melanie and the kids came over for dinner and it was the first time in a long time that all the grandkids in the family--all 8 of them--were together with my parents at the same time. Nicole, the oldest, is on her way to BYU Idaho today and in another few weeks, the rest of Puyol and Melanie's kids will be back in Shanghai. As we have gotten older and more spread out, it has become harder to get together, although we try to get together for family events whenever we can. We'll see almost everyone again for Naomi's blessing in August, so we're excited for that.

Anyway, I am grateful for my parents and for all that they do for us. The funny thing is that no matter how much they do, they always feel like they don't do enough. Maybe I don't show enough gratitude. One day, I got all annoyed with my mom because she didn't think I was eating enough and reminded me I needed to eat so I can take care of Naomi. For some reason, this made me mad and I sort of snapped at her. Later, when I went to apologize, she reminded me that as much as I love Nicholas, Sophia, and Naomi, she loves me as much because I am her Naomi. It sort of put things in perspective for me. I can only hope to do as much for my children and be as good to them as my parents have for me.

partners in cuteness

This past week, my sister and her baby Emma came to visit us while my brother-in-law was at Scout Camp and traveling for work. We were all amazed at how big Emma had gotten in the past month since we last saw her--she's right where she should be, but compared to Naomi, Emma's 12 pound body looked huge compared to Naomi's 7.5 pounds. Granted, my sister and I spent a lot of time watching TV and eating while nursing babies, but we also got in a little shopping, a little crafting, and some good catching up with our mom and our sister-in-law Melanie whose family is back in the states from China.

One night, after Nicholas and Sophia went to bed, we left Emma and Naomi in Greg's very capable hands to go to Target. In the hour or so that we were gone, both babies had woken up and started crying. Greg put Emma in a sling so he could walk her to sleep and held Naomi on his other side and gave her a bottle. By the time we got home, Emma was fast asleep and Naomi was content just hanging out with her dad and cousin. Earlier that day, Hyeson and I left the babies and Sophia (who was napping) at home with just my mom while we went to pick up Nicholas from camp. We were gone only 10 minutes, but when we came back, both Naomi and Emma were screaming at the top of their lungs and my mom was busy getting both babies changed (since they both decided to poop at the same time) and Sophia was helping her keep the babies entertained.

We went shopping in the morning and both babies had fallen asleep in the car on the way home. We couldn't resist taking a picture of them sleeping quietly in their carseats. We all decided that having both Emma and Naomi home at the same time was probably the closest thing to having twins and that's no easy task when they both need something at the same time. Now that Emma's gone home, we sure do miss her and can't wait to see her again next month when they come for Naomi's blessing.

hurry up and wait

As it seems with most things, we were late getting to the hospital to have Naomi. Part of the problem was that we left later than we should have. The other part was that while we knew kind of where the new Prentice Hospital was, we didn't know exactly which street it was on. So we kept going down the wrong one-way streets. Greg finally dropped me off and went to park the car.

Once I got upstairs to Labor & Delivery, I realized that perhaps we hurried up just to wait. After I checked in, I waited in the lounge for Greg. And once he got there, we waited for another 20 minutes. I started wondering if perhaps they forgot about me, or if I had been rescheduled for showing up late. So instead of asking, we decided to look up baby names on the internet (I love this new hospital!) and took the only pictures of me (obviously) pregnant this time around. In fact, I don't even know if I have any from my pregnancy with Sophia, and with Nicholas, we took one as we were heading out to the hospital. So, just in case this is our last baby, I obliged and Greg took these as I was waiting at the hospital.

more naomi

Does no one understand that I am clearly unhappy here??

She likes to sleep in someone's arms - a little hard to get things done this way.

Sleeping with her hand tucked under her head - just like her dad.

getting to know naomi

In the past week since we've been home, here's what we have learned about Miss Naomi:

1. She likes to eat. And by eat, I mean, she likes to nurse all day and all night, if I let her.
2. She likes to eat. And when she's not nursing, she likes to eat her hands. Or the mittens or socks that cover them.
3. She likes to scratch her face. And no matter how much I try to file down her little nails smooth, she manages to find a scraggly bit that's just big enough to gouge her little face.
4. She likes to poop...which brings us to #5.
5. She does NOT like to get her diaper changed. Rarely have we had a change where she is quiet. See #6.
6. She has lungs like no other and she likes to use them. We think this is because she is just getting some practice for when she has to fight for her rights against her big brother and sister in a year or so. I am convinced when the windows are open that our neighbors think we are either beating her or neglecting her, neither of which, of course, is the case. We are merely cleaning her poopy nether-regions.
7. She is usually quiet when Nicholas or Sophia hold her. We think this is because like all siblings, they have a secret language where they are plotting against their parents.
8. She doesn't open her eyes very often, as Sophia will tell you, but when she does, she's pretty stinkin' cute.
9. Like her daddy, she likes to sleep with one arm under her head.
10. She's really loud...did I already mention that?

cute babies

Nicholas said to me the other day as he was holding Naomi, "Mom, how did we get such cute babies?"

"I don't know, Nicholas...but somehow, I ended up with three super cute ones."