Now for a fun exercise:

Here is Eli, nearly 6 weeks:


And Linden, nearly 6 weeks:


Yep, definitely related!

So I've not been blogging in the last couple of weeks because I've been trying to get some pictures of Linden smiling.

Do you remember that old WB cartoon with the guy who finds the dancing frog and tries to show it to people? But every time he gets the frog in front of a crowd, the frog sits there like a lump so the guy looks like an idiot. Yeah, that's sort of how I feel about Linden and her smiles. Sometimes, when we're alone in the house, she'll smile and talk and gurgle at me for long stretches. It is a beautiful smile, I promise!! But when I get out the camera or when someone else comes around, she turns back into a little chunky lump (a cute chunky lump, of course) and refuses a repeat performance.

Anyway, here are some photos of the best smiles I can capture. They aren't my best work, but heck, she's a cutie.

Drat! I tried to upload a video of Linden but Blogger's not working properly. I'll try again later.

The boys try out the tire swing

Baby in lap

























Bubbles in the yard. Yes, that is a flyswatter. They make great bubble wands! Eli calls it the "flapper".

We had a great visit from the Simmons side of the clan this weekend. Grandaddy, Aunt Jaime, Uncle David and cousin Hunter came down from North Carolina and Virginia to play with us!

Linden and Mommy spent most of the time hanging around the house since we're still not terribly mobile yet, but the rest of the gang spent a fun day at the zoo and also nearly wore out the playground with all of the little boy play. Eli and Hunter, eleven months apart, get along gangbusters and spend a lot of time tumbling around like little puppies.

And of course, everyone had a chance to squeeze in baby Linden. She's so squishy and squeezable, it is hard to resist. Ach, those cheeks!

We're rockin' and rollin' here at Casa YoSim. Linden is three weeks old and growing like a weed. A pudgy weed, but a weed, nonetheless. She topped ten pounds last week, the little piglet. She's a much different baby than her brother was, very easygoing and easy to please. she sort of rolls along with us, letting us know when she's hungry (which is most of the time) but otherwise just watching the chaos go by. She's a joy!

Eli is adjusting a little better each day. He is so sweet and gentle with his sister. He is a great big brother and we all hopes he keeps up the wonderful attitude he has towards her. He is still a bit wild and unpredictable (he's two for crying out loud) but as long as his energy is directed into something active, he is pretty good. We're getting there...

More pictures. She's a beauty!

I just looked waaaaay back in this blog to try and remember what I blogged about when Eli was a week old. Linden is wonderful, beautiful and perfect but, well, she doesn't do much. Not much to report.

She sleeps a lot, and even manages to get some shut-eye at night, often in her own bed. She's a sweet little thing, relatively calm with few big productions (other than those in her diapers--good heavens!).

We had her one week doctor visit today. She checked out well. She's gained a pound since we left the hospital (she was 8 lbs, 8 oz when we left) so she's topped 9 1/2 lbs. Big girl!

Eli's doing alright. He's acting up a bit, nothing major, nothing unexpected, but it is tiring, nonetheless. Bedtimes are especially tedious. We know this will pass and that he'll get adjusted, but it is still hard to take.

Linden Holly has arrived! I haven't gotten the pictures downloaded off my camera yet (there are tons of them, she's beautiful!), but I will post them as soon as I do.

Linden joined us at 12:37 p.m. on Friday, May 15. She was 8 lbs, 14.9 oz, 22 1/4 inches. At least tow of the baby nurses commented that they had never seen a baby this long in 25 years of nursing. She's a string bean, for sure.

She is, of course, beautiful beyond measure and clearly brilliant, even at 5 days old. She's a decent sleeper for a baby and a voracious eater. In short, she's perfect!

Eli is totally smitten with his new little sister and thinks she has come home for his own personal entertainment. He loves to kiss her and pat her and really wants to hold and carry her (um, no). He can't wait to teach her to talk, play tennis, eat ice cream and use the potty. He calls her "Baby Sister", which may stick for the rest of her life.

He is transitioning into big brotherhood pretty well, although he is clearly having a hard time getting used to his new position as NOT the center of the universe. He's been a little louder and busier than usual and has a hard time calming down, but we expected this so we're trying to take it in stride. From a mother's point of view, it is a little hard to watch, my little guy is now the big guy and he doesn't really get it. He can't snuggle with me like he wants to (I'm too sore!) and doesn't understand why he has to wash his hands and be gentle. He doesn't really get the new rules and even though he tries, he doesn't really like them, either. We'll get there and our family will be stronger for it, but it is hard to watch him struggle through it.

Pictures to come!!

Still no baby. Much like her brother, who was nine days late, she's taking her own sweet time getting here. Six days late and no sign of arrival.

I'm getting desperate. So desperate, in fact, that I took the advice of a friend and went out for eggplant parmesan at a restaurant on the outskirts of town. Apparently, this dish has a history of helping women go into labor in 24 hours. Old wives' tale? We shall see, but they have a wall of over 300 photographs of babies born 24 hours after eggplant parm was eaten by mama. Sign me up.

Kevin's response to my request for this dinner adventure was, "So let me get this straight: you want to drive 25 miles in rush hour traffic, outside the Perimeter, to eat Italian, which you don't really like, specifically eggplant, your least favorite food, because it MIGHT send you into labor?"

"Um, yeah," I replied.

The eggplant parm was actually quite good, even though I hate eggplant and don't really like Italian.

AND, if I go into labor, we get $25 off our next meal and a free baby t-shirt.

Come on Baby Sister!!

Eli has recently begun to enjoy accessorizing himself. It was not raining the day he decided to wear his frog boots to the store.

And I don't have any pictures because I was laughing too hard, but earlier this evening, he brought me a piece of pink tulle that had decorated the top of a baby gift. He asked me to tie it over his eyes with a bow in the back. Tulle is transparent, so he could see through it. He ran around the house in his cammo underpants with a big floppy pink bow tied around his head, randomly stopping to dance and shake his tailfeathers.

Weirdo.

I recently got a call from Eli's preschool teacher. I'd only dropped him off about 45 minutes before, but she sounded very concerned.

Teacher: Um, Noelle, Eli took a fall and I need you to come over and take a look at his eye.
Me: Oh? What happened?
T: Well, I think he's fine, but he fell and hit his face on the edge of a table.
M: Oh no. How?
T: He was playing baseball inside.
M: He knows better.
T: That wasn't the problem.
M: Oh?
T: He fell because he was wearing high heels while he was playing baseball.
M: (silence, muffling my hysterical laughter)

Eli was totally fine but did sport a colorful shiner for a couple of weeks. Here it is at about day 4.

Well, Baby Sister hasn't made her appearance yet. The due date is tomorrow but there's no sign that she's going to keep that appointment. And so we wait.

This afternoon, I casually said (in the direction of my belly), "Alright, Baby Sister, time to come out!" Ever since, Eli's been calling out "come out of there and play with us, Baby Sister!!" It is really funny and, actually, kind of helpful. Maybe Baby Sister will actually listen and come on out... that'd be great!

Eli loves his Grumpy. Grumpy loves his Eli.
There are the two in their matching outfits (though Grumpy is admittedly not sporting Spiderman) watching the Masters after a great Easter meal.

The fam, with strategically placed Easter basket.

Happy Easter everyone!

We had a great Easter yesterday. I was at church all morning (ahhhh, the life I lead...). Kevin brought Eli for our family-friendly service. He behaved beautifully and even took Communion like the big boy that he is.

Int he afternoon, we went to Grumpy and Grandmaman's house. The Easter Bunny, aka Grandmaman, hid a bunch of jelly-bean-filled eggs around the house and Eli had a field day looking for them. This is a previously untested activity but he took to it like a duck to water (there's candy involved, what did we expect?).

Laurie getting krazy with the krazy glue.















Beth made little baby t-shirts with animal decals.



















Laurie made thank-you cards with fancy envelopes--pre-stamped!!
















The spread-- yum!


















Courtney's French onesies














As part of my education into the world of little girls, Erin made a bow holder. Eli, lover of all hair clips is definitely going to be jealous.


Erin made leftover bags to take home. Lunch the next day!



Conventional wisdom divided on the subject of showers for second babies, but when my friends Erin and Courtney suggested a small "craft night" baby shower for me, we all agreed it'd be a great opportunity to get together some of our overworked mommy friends for a relaxing night of friendship and creativity. Courtney and Erin did a great job pulling it together and everyone had a fantastic time. The crafts were AMAZING. What a talented bunch of friends I have! Thanks, everyone!