Thanksgiving

Bryony was five days old on Thanksgiving Day. She spent it like this:

But thanks to my mother, the rest of us did get to enjoy a (somewhat) traditional Thanksgiving meal:

Jake carved the turkey:

 

And Abby performed her Preschool Thanksgiving song for us (I only caught the 2nd half):

Bryony's Birth

Here are the first few pictures:

And here's a little help with her name:

1. pronounced 'Bry-uh-knee'
2. it's a turn-of-the-century botanical name - the Bryony plant is a vine
3. it's a literature name - read the book or see the movie 'Atonement' by Ian McEwan
4. it's more common in the UK than in the U.S.
5. check out these 2pgs:
http://appellationmountain.net/2010/01/06/name-of-the-day-bryony/
http://xanthelinnea.wordpress.com/2009/08/06/name-of-the-day-bryony/
6. The Royal Navy have used it for 2 battleships:

Introducing: Mini-Madonna #2

Bryony Ann Madonna

born Saturday November 20th 2010 at 2:53pm weighing 6lbs 12oz

End of Pregnancy

Work threw me a surprise baby shower - it was really nice for Bryony to get some things that weren't already Abigail's once.

diaper cake

Abby with all the gifts

And, one of our last days out to the park as a family of only three:

2 days before Bryony was born

Big Sibling Class

My posts are going to be all over the place because I'm still catching up on things that happened before Bryony was born. Don't worry, I'll catch up to real-time. Just not that quickly because there's a 7wk old running my life for me now :)

Anyway, just three nights before the baby was born, Abigail took a Big Sibling Class at the hospital (just in time it turned out!). Matteo was there too in preparation for his younger brother on the way. Both of them were among the youngest but they did very well. They learned about what's going to change at home (some interesting comments at the breastfeeding part) and left with a Certificate to prove they were prepared to be a Big Sister/Brother. It was particularly fitting for Abby because she's been telling us for a while that she wants to be a doctor when she's grown up so she LOVED the part where they got to wear scrubs and visit the maternity ward to see a baby born just that day. Here are the pictures!

bringing a baby doll to practice putting on a diaper

Dr. Abigail

cutest doctor I've ever known

The Moonlit Cage

I didn't expect this book to slow down my path of reading as many books as I can this year. But I finished this one today after starting it in ... June! And, actually, I can only partly blame the book itself - I mostly blame my work; which has consumed my summer, and September, and October.

Anyway, this was a long old read for me, and my interest sort of died along the way. I didn't like it nearly as much as The Linnet Bird, which I think most critics agree is Linda Holeman's best. It wasn't bad - just sort of dragged out, maybe? I'm moving on to a totally different genre next. Assuming I'll have time to read AT ALL once Mini-Madonna #2 comes home :)

Abigail's Two Stories

At school, they have started asking the children to stand up and tell the rest of the class a quick story. Here are Abigail's two stories:

1. The monster will scare away the pumpkins. And then all the other kids run away. They just run away to there. My friends run away too. The monster follows them. They run even faster. The monster gets them and eats them all up. The monster is happy. The End.

2. Leaves grow on trees and then they started to fall down. Then it was Halloween so the leaves got on their costumes. They had lots of fun. When they got back home, they ate all their candy and then they got tired from eating all the candy. The End.

Pregnancy Progress

Mini-Madonna #2 is threatening to come early. Too early. But I am not panicking too much because Mini-Madonna #1 did the same thing and still ended up being three days late. In fact, I spent the last month of my pregnancy with Abigail anxious because I kept being told 'any minute now' and I over-analysed every movement. I am not going to spend this November the same way!

Having said that, I am 3cm dilated, I am cramping/contracting and OB does have me on modified bed-rest to make sure that Mini-Madonna #2 makes it at least another two weeks. I think it's pretty safe to say we'll be having a Thanksgiving-Turkey-Ball instead of a Merry-Christmas-Miracle. Either way, I can't WAIT to meet you my new Darling. xxxxx