Eli's big sister, Tabasco, is a very small dog. I say "big", but that is a bit of an overstatement since Eli already outweighs Tabasco by a pound. Tabasco, though, is older and knows more tricks. And she doesn't wear diapers. Thank goodness.


Tabasco wasn't sure what to do with Eli at first, since her favorite laps are now often occupied, but after a good thorough sniffing, she has decided to let her new little brother stay so long as he doesn't squeak her toys.

Stay tuned, Gennie the Greyhound will meet Eli in the next week or so.

Going out for a walk is one of our new favorite things to do. Eli was born at just the right time of year--the weather is PERFECT for walking.

Thanks to many generous friends with growing babies, Eli has been the recipient of several fantastic hand-me-downs (thanks everyone!). Among them: a Baby Bjorn, Kevin's carrier of choice, and a sling, my personal favorite. Eli is exceptionally stylish in either, natch. His parents , on the other hand... well, we try our best.

He's here! He's here!

World, meet Ellis Justus York-Simmons, better known as Eli.

Eli was born on Thursday, September 21 after a looong labor that ended in a c-section. He spent a few days in the NICU to adjust to the world (it was, after all, much more comfy on the inside).

Now he's home and happy as a clam. A screaming, pooping clam, but a happy clam.

Welcome Eli! We're glad to have you.

This is a shout-out to Sharon, who checks the blog regularly (hourly?) to see if the baby has arrived.

No. He hasn't.

But thanks for your faithful support. Watch this space!

This MUST be what they call nesting.

We're three days past the due date now, with no sign of arrival. This is not worrisome, but does make for a strange way of living. Kevin and I did so much work in advance to get everything as ready as we know how and now we're in an odd limbo of sorts: nothing scheduled, not much to do, can't really make plans... New territory for us.

So we've resorted to tackling some of those household tasks that we've put off for months, things that may or may not have needed to be done, but sure are nice now that they are finished.

I, for example, removed all of the vent covers from around the house, washed and disinfected them and laid them out to dry in the sun. I read the "advanced" instructions on the video camera. Kevin did many hours of yard work, including tackling an enormous privet hedge that was trying to eat the house.

If this kid doesn't come soon, I'll start alphabetizing the canned goods or cleaning the windowsill with q-tips.

Thank goodness we still have three discs of Lost, Season 2 still left to watch or we'd really be sunk.

The due date is tommorow. That is kind of scary, but mostly pretty grand. I'm definitely ready to NOT be pregnant! Here's hoping that the little guy shows up on time or nearly so, otherwise, I might start going a little bit batty.

5k and counting

Forgot to mention that we waddled a 5k on Saturday at the neighborhood park festival. Kevin ran with our friends Timothy and Beth. I pushed Timothy and Beth's son Paul and walked with Erin and her daughter Baikal. We had a great time!
Next year, I'll be running in the jogging-stroller division!

Our new camera works!


Here are some nursery pictures:


The crib, all decked out. We never figured ourselves for "crib set" kind of folks, but the turtles slayed us, so we gave in, hook, line and sinker. We're such suckers!












The toy chest, from Kevin's babyhood. Made by his grandpa, painted by his wife.

















Bamboo for luck!











We both know that it won't look this pretty for very long, but it has been fun gathering stuff from around the house and around the family to put up in there. Things you can't see: a folk painting of Kevin's hometown, a watercolor painted by my grandmother, some Honduran art and of course, our new beloved La-Z-Boy chair, ugly as sin but soooo comfortable!

I've been washing tiny little clothes for days, it seems, matching up little bitty socks and sorting things by size. Getting ready is more fun than I thought it would be. Maybe it is the two-weeks-away nesting syndrome, but I'm actually enjoying the process of getting all of this little stuff ready!

Yesterday we visited the fire station in our neighborhood where the lovely fireman helped us install the carseat since we, while not exactly clueless, are definitely amateurs at such things.

Crib: check
Carseat: check
Diapers: check
Baby: Still working on that one...

Still nothing exciting to report.

The little guy is in there, kicking up a storm and bruising my internal organs. We've got less than three weeks to go. The countdown continues.

Someone favorably compared me last night to the prow of a great ship. I'm accepting it as a compliment, although at other times in my life, I wouldn't have been so sure.

This is the story of a crib...

So we decided to celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary with a lovely dinner at a neighborhood restaurant followed by a few hours of crib assembly. If there is ever a "Survivor: Married Couples", this should be one of the challenges: assemble a six-million-piece crib on the night of your anniversary. Surely many people will be voted off the island after that.

Lucky for us, we are still married.

Kevin's brother David and his wife Jaime had already taken all the parts out of the box during their visit last week, so all we had to do was check to see that everything was there and get assembling.

It was not the MOST frustrating thing we have ever done, but it definitely makes the top ten list. In the end (2 1/2 hours later), after much crawling about on the floor, loosening and unloosening, a few choice phrases known previously only to sailors, we do indeed have a crib. And it even has a drawer!

Now all we need is a mattress and a baby.

Six weeks to go!

Well, okay, six weeks and two days and that is to the actual due date which, from what we hear, is really only an educated guess.

I've given in to the idea of a blog. I'm still not entirely sure what we're going to write about, but it seems like a great way for our friends and family far away to get a peek at how the baby (six weeks away!) is growing and how we're all learning to take care of each other.

I have no illusions that this will be the most brilliant writing ever or even particularly clever, but I'll put up of lots of pictures of the little rugrat and I promise to bore you to tears with all of the minute details of his life.

I don't plan on blogging much in the next couple of weeks, since the star of the show isn't actually born yet, but check back from time to time and we'll occasionally entertain with the foibles of getting ready for the grand entrance.

Enjoy!