Archive | Gil

life lately

March 11, 2013 at 5:01 pm

Well, it’s been three weeks and still no internet in our house… sigh. I see the Telecom truck in our neighborhood regularly, but the fire must have done some serious damage as they still don’t even have an estimate about when it will be fixed. “Domani, domani, tomorrow, tomorrow, they say.

But life has been busy and full with my mom visiting from Virginia and we’ve made do without internet quite well (to my own surprise). Now we’re enjoying a beautiful getaway in a rented villa on the Sicilian coast. More pictures later this week! For now, here are a few more Instagram photos from around home in these early weeks with little Gil.

sweet sleeping newborn
& big sister love in the morning

one of my favorites from these early days
& miso soup (hard to find in Italy so this will have to do!)

my sweet little family
& Saturday morning means pancakes and eggs for breakfast!

my little love
& he looks like he’s up to something

ok, can’t get enough of the sister/brother snuggles!
& perfect little hands in the lamplight

reading, knitting, and snuggling with a wide-awake newborn… lasted about as long as it took to take this picture
& I spent hours of my day (and night) walking this little man to sleep

reading by the fire
& oh that precious smile!

Siena and Lena appropriated the toy basket
& just walkin’ around my house with a baby in my arms

journaling and coloring on the balcony on a sunny February morning
& somehow he stayed awake through all of Moonrise Kingdom

chubby chubby cheeks!
& Lena teaches Gil how to wear Mama’s glasses

7 :: in family, Gil, home sweet home, husband, Instagram, Lena, life lately, motherhood

a newborn photo shoot… or at least an attempted one!

March 4, 2013 at 1:27 pm

Don’t you just love those darling cheeks?!

I borrowed a couple of props from a friend to take these newborn photos of Gil. Unfortunately the photo shoot did not go quite as I’d hoped. How do photographers keep babies happy long enough to get those gorgeous photos?

Here are a couple outtakes, just for laughs. So far my fellow is not a big fan of hats!

And here is how the photo shoot ended… and that’s indicative of how most of life is these days, too. Gil loves to be held. Oh well, though it often becomes tiresome in the moment (or hour… or hours…), I’ll hold him while I can. These days will be over too soon!

10 :: in Gil

life lately

February 28, 2013 at 10:07 am

Wow, I took quite the blogging break here! Our internet went down on Friday morning and — after a million phone calls and several no-shows from the Telecom technician — I learned it was because a neighborhood fire took out the line. The whole neighborhood has been without internet for almost a week. Welcome to Sicily… or just welcome to life?! I’m sitting in the library on base now enjoying a sleeping baby as I type.

To catch us all up on life, here are some photos I took with Instagram since Gil came home. You can find me on Instagram for regular updates around our home. Thanks to my iPhone, I still have some internet access over 3G even when our wireless is kaput!

Gil in his car seat on the way home from the hospital
& Lena sees Gil at home for the first time. Snuggling with my baby after we brought him home
& family story time begins… for the rest of their childhoods! Elliott got called into work for several hours when Gil was 3 days old and I was on my own with two kids. Yikes! We survived… with a few tears and a bloody lip.
& reading a story to her brother. “Hi, Geeel,” Lena says excitedly every morning
& those tiny, precious little hands! Greeting him after she woke up from a nap
& “Hold it?” she asks and puts out her arms to cradle him. Dance party in the kitchen to Fun’s “We Are Young”
& giving Gil his pacifier while I change his diaper. Father and son
& wide awake at 3am! New family normal: holding a baby, playing games with a toddler, and folding laundry
& Gil’s first ride in the swing (ie. the lifesaver). Kiss!
& I enjoyed reading Wild by Cheryl Strayedwhile nursing Gil that first week.

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I’ve missed you all! What have you been up to this past week?

8 :: in family, Gil, Instagram, life lately

this morning with my babies

February 13, 2013 at 10:31 am

Well, here we are on Day 3 of Week 1! And so far we have survived and generally managed to have some fun while doing it. We continue to be cared for so well by meals from friends and play dates that happen right in my home so I don’t have to go anywhere. I feel so loved by my community and thankful for this season of life, despite the fact that caring for two children 24/7 is one of the hardest things I have done in awhile. No matter how each day goes, though, I am always so grateful to see Elliott walk through the door.

Since right now both kids are napping (!), I thought I’d share a few photos that I took this morning. You can’t see Lena’s runny nose or mine, or the pile of dirty laundry, or the blocks that Lena threw instead of stacking them, but all those things exist, even though they’re not the most fun things to photograph. Enjoy the beautiful side of the morning with me!

One strategy I am employing this week is to pull out a new toy for Lena each day. This started with a bag of used toys I bought from my friend Rachel, but then we were surprised by some gifts from friends and family. Today we opened up these beautiful blocksfrom my friend Jen. Thank you so much, Jen… we love them!

Thank you all for your comments and advice after my last post! The sleep is getting a little better but we definitely don’t have a routine down yet. We’re working on it as we get used to our little man and his needs. Gil surprised us by being so different from Lena. From Day 1 in the hospital she would just curl up next to me and sleep the whole night through with occasional nursing, but Gil nurses next to me and then bursts into tears! Why, buddy? We’re figuring out his needs along with our own and trying to come up with a system that works for all of us.

Anyway, since you are all so full of such wonderful advice, I’d love to hear any fun activities that you have developed for your toddlers. I’m thinking of making her some play doh soon. Today she had fun watering the plants for me with a bucket of water and a cup. I sat down in the sun with my reheated cup of coffee and enjoyed all glorious 10 minutes that that lasted.

And so we go on!

11 :: in Becoming a Stay-at-Home Mom Series, Gil, Lena, motherhood

ten o’clock an all’s well!

February 11, 2013 at 10:31 am

Good morning! Well, here I am… flying solo. Elliott is back at work and this is the first day of my first week as a mama alone at home with two babies.

Friday was actually my first solo day, and I would not call it successful. Lena threw the temper tantrum of the decade, Gil fussed a lot of the day, we spent a good 5 minutes all bawling together at some point in there, and I might have sent a “mayday!” message to Elliott sometime around… oh… 2pm.

So far today has already been better. We’ve missed Elliott this morning, but we have survived. Breakfast, playtime, and nap time have happened without drama. I even managed to wash the dishes after breakfast (which, as you know, I have given up doing with two babies unless all the stars align). We have some friends coming later for a play date, my friend Jen is dropping off dinner, and all in all… we have a lot to be thankful for on this first day of our first solo week.

Well, okay, Lena is currently calling “Mama… Mama…” instead of actually napping, Gil is due to wake up any moment, there are toys all over the living room, and I’ve misplaced my cup of coffee somewhere in the chaos but… you know. Perspective! Attitude!

I will admit that this day is a welcome relief from the whole weekend, which was not so pleasant. I’ve had a bad cold and so have been foggily stumbling through the weekend with a dripping nose and dull headache. We didn’t sleep much at all on Friday night until around 3:30am Elliott asked me to go sleep on the daybed in Lena’s room in order to at least sleep for a few hours. I don’t like the idea of sleeping in different rooms, or of sleeping away from our baby, though. We both agree that we want this to be as temporary a solution as possible.

What did you do in order to sleep when you — or your friends or family — had a newborn? Any tips you can pass along?