Here are a few pictures of our precious Isabel taken when she was about a week and a half old.
Friday, January 25, 2013
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Stella's Story Part II: Oh the Horror
So when I last left off Stella had just kept us up half the night with her antics climbing out of her crib.
Thank you to everyone who sent suggestions on how to deal with her climbing out of the crib. We received a wide variety of suggestions and I've listed them below in case anyone reading this finds themself in a similar situation.
-Put a tent over the crib (we looked for one and the cheapest one was $70 online, we decided we were too cheap to buy one)
-Take the bottom out of the crib so the mattress would be lower and she couldn't climb out (we were excited to try this one out but it wouldn't work with either of our cribs)
-Turn the crib around so the higher backside of the crib would keep her from getting out (she was too strong)
-Military School (they said they aren't equipped to deal with this type of situation!)
-Let it go, she will get out of her crib and there isn't much you can do about it except accept the fact that this is just the start of us losing control and worrying about our little girl as she grows up. (because we were out of other options and this one was free - we went with it).
So the next night I thought we totally under control, after a little back rubbing she went to sleep like a little angel, we were letting go and it was working. Unfortunately I think we missed her tag-teaming to her sister Isabel who kept us until 5 a.m. crying 'like a baby.'
The next night Stella was back on duty. We thought that if we just waited it out she and Abram would get tired of running around his room and rough housing. Josh went up to check on them and Abram asked him to find his flashlight. Josh came downstairs to look for it and when he returned to their room to tell him he couldn't find it, he instead found Stella who had Abram pinned down and was shining the flashlight in his face and giggling. Abram had enough of that and he asked to go sleep in Stella's room because he said she was too loud. We thought that once Abram was out of the room Stella would calm down but she kept going strong. Josh finally went up to check on her only to open the door to something he could never have imagined. If he had thought it was possible, he would never had opened that door. What he found was Stella running around the room, without her diaper on, the smelly, foul, contents of which were all over the room, and all over Stella. Oh the horror. When he returned downstairs after a lot of cleaning and bleaching he was so pale he looked like he'd seen a ghost. I think it was the ghost of himself before he entered that room.
In the days since this incident we moved Stella back to her room, removed all traces of fun (books, toys, etc) and outfitted her in a onsie that snaps (she hasn't figured out how to undo snaps...yet) and so far, she has stayed in her crib with her onsie keeping her diaper and it's contents, in place.
Thank you to everyone who sent suggestions on how to deal with her climbing out of the crib. We received a wide variety of suggestions and I've listed them below in case anyone reading this finds themself in a similar situation.
-Put a tent over the crib (we looked for one and the cheapest one was $70 online, we decided we were too cheap to buy one)
-Take the bottom out of the crib so the mattress would be lower and she couldn't climb out (we were excited to try this one out but it wouldn't work with either of our cribs)
-Turn the crib around so the higher backside of the crib would keep her from getting out (she was too strong)
-Military School (they said they aren't equipped to deal with this type of situation!)
-Let it go, she will get out of her crib and there isn't much you can do about it except accept the fact that this is just the start of us losing control and worrying about our little girl as she grows up. (because we were out of other options and this one was free - we went with it).
So the next night I thought we totally under control, after a little back rubbing she went to sleep like a little angel, we were letting go and it was working. Unfortunately I think we missed her tag-teaming to her sister Isabel who kept us until 5 a.m. crying 'like a baby.'
The next night Stella was back on duty. We thought that if we just waited it out she and Abram would get tired of running around his room and rough housing. Josh went up to check on them and Abram asked him to find his flashlight. Josh came downstairs to look for it and when he returned to their room to tell him he couldn't find it, he instead found Stella who had Abram pinned down and was shining the flashlight in his face and giggling. Abram had enough of that and he asked to go sleep in Stella's room because he said she was too loud. We thought that once Abram was out of the room Stella would calm down but she kept going strong. Josh finally went up to check on her only to open the door to something he could never have imagined. If he had thought it was possible, he would never had opened that door. What he found was Stella running around the room, without her diaper on, the smelly, foul, contents of which were all over the room, and all over Stella. Oh the horror. When he returned downstairs after a lot of cleaning and bleaching he was so pale he looked like he'd seen a ghost. I think it was the ghost of himself before he entered that room.
In the days since this incident we moved Stella back to her room, removed all traces of fun (books, toys, etc) and outfitted her in a onsie that snaps (she hasn't figured out how to undo snaps...yet) and so far, she has stayed in her crib with her onsie keeping her diaper and it's contents, in place.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Nana Cam
Nana has been busy snapping the pictures below during her stay. I can't believe it's been a month already - we've been quite busy as you can see in the pictures.
I plan on posting an update to Stella's bedtime antics but I'm going to head to bed now - stay tuned it will be worth the wait!
I plan on posting an update to Stella's bedtime antics but I'm going to head to bed now - stay tuned it will be worth the wait!
Monday, January 7, 2013
Waving the White Flag
Stella has always had a fighting spirit but so far we've been able to maintain the upper hand as parents. Mainly because she has always been a good sleeper - giving us time to recuperate each night.
Two weeks ago we moved her into Abram's room and they had been sharing the room just fine - Abram in the top bunk of a bunk bed and Stella in her crib.
Sensing our weakening physical and emotional capabilities with Isabel coming home and interrupting our blissful full nights of sleep - Stella made her move.Tonight she catapulted herself out of her crib. Josh ran upstairs when he heard a loud thud. Thinking she or Abram had taken a fall from their beds he was surprised to find them both in the closet playing with toys and the noise was something they had pulled off a shelf. He stuck them both back in bed and we prayed for the best. Not more than 3 minutes later she was out of her crib again and this time was already up in Abram's top bunk. I think Josh probably lost 3 years off his life when he saw her up there.
She wasn't messing around so we fought fire with our sleep deprived attempt at a small glass of water. Josh took off the side of her crib making it into a toddler bed and took Abram's bunk bed ladder down and put Abram in the bottom bunk. There - at least no one was going to get a concussion falling out of bed. We figured they would still get out of bed but hopefully be safe.
I went up to change into pajamas about 10 minutes later and screamed as I entered our bedroom to find Stella drinking out of my glass of water and swinging around the breast pump that she had turned on and Abram giggling maniacally from under our sheets. We had not seen this counter move coming.
This was it - I felt a little like Grover's futile attempts to not turn the page in "There is a Monster at the End of this Book." If you haven't read it - it's a classic. Anyway - we put them back in their room and now fortified it like Fort Knox. Josh got out the baby proofing supplies that we never had to use when Abram was little. He put child-proof door knob covers on Stella's old room, the hall closet and the bathroom and then put a gate up in the hallway to block them from getting into our room and the stairs. We thought we had it covered. Josh stayed upstairs just to make sure. He watched in wide-eyed amazement as our sweet little girl marched out of the room she shares with Abram and tried to open the door of her old room. Seeing a small obstacle in her way she easily crushed the door knob cover until it fell off the handle. Josh couldn't believe his eyes. He quickly reassembled it thinking that he hadn't put it on tight enough the first time. Stella didn't even take a breath before busting off the darn thing again and heading into her room.
Seriously.
After she made short work of the door she headed to the gate and was pushing the correct buttons to undo the gate when Josh stopped her again. As I'm typing this Stella is screaming at the unfairness of the situation while Josh attempts to keep her in her room.
We discussed adding higher bars to her crib but we soon realized that what we were imagining was more cage like than crib like and that probably wouldn't fly. We welcome any and all suggestions on how to keep our little princess safe and secure.
Just as a reminder - here is a picture of our little angel when she is happy.
And this is what can happen when she is angered.
Please help us keep her happy and answer our plea for some type of containment plan. E-mail suggestions to jlivermo@gmail.com or sscomstock@gmail.com. Floor plans are available upon request.
Two weeks ago we moved her into Abram's room and they had been sharing the room just fine - Abram in the top bunk of a bunk bed and Stella in her crib.
Sensing our weakening physical and emotional capabilities with Isabel coming home and interrupting our blissful full nights of sleep - Stella made her move.Tonight she catapulted herself out of her crib. Josh ran upstairs when he heard a loud thud. Thinking she or Abram had taken a fall from their beds he was surprised to find them both in the closet playing with toys and the noise was something they had pulled off a shelf. He stuck them both back in bed and we prayed for the best. Not more than 3 minutes later she was out of her crib again and this time was already up in Abram's top bunk. I think Josh probably lost 3 years off his life when he saw her up there.
She wasn't messing around so we fought fire with our sleep deprived attempt at a small glass of water. Josh took off the side of her crib making it into a toddler bed and took Abram's bunk bed ladder down and put Abram in the bottom bunk. There - at least no one was going to get a concussion falling out of bed. We figured they would still get out of bed but hopefully be safe.
I went up to change into pajamas about 10 minutes later and screamed as I entered our bedroom to find Stella drinking out of my glass of water and swinging around the breast pump that she had turned on and Abram giggling maniacally from under our sheets. We had not seen this counter move coming.
This was it - I felt a little like Grover's futile attempts to not turn the page in "There is a Monster at the End of this Book." If you haven't read it - it's a classic. Anyway - we put them back in their room and now fortified it like Fort Knox. Josh got out the baby proofing supplies that we never had to use when Abram was little. He put child-proof door knob covers on Stella's old room, the hall closet and the bathroom and then put a gate up in the hallway to block them from getting into our room and the stairs. We thought we had it covered. Josh stayed upstairs just to make sure. He watched in wide-eyed amazement as our sweet little girl marched out of the room she shares with Abram and tried to open the door of her old room. Seeing a small obstacle in her way she easily crushed the door knob cover until it fell off the handle. Josh couldn't believe his eyes. He quickly reassembled it thinking that he hadn't put it on tight enough the first time. Stella didn't even take a breath before busting off the darn thing again and heading into her room.
Seriously.
After she made short work of the door she headed to the gate and was pushing the correct buttons to undo the gate when Josh stopped her again. As I'm typing this Stella is screaming at the unfairness of the situation while Josh attempts to keep her in her room.
We discussed adding higher bars to her crib but we soon realized that what we were imagining was more cage like than crib like and that probably wouldn't fly. We welcome any and all suggestions on how to keep our little princess safe and secure.
Just as a reminder - here is a picture of our little angel when she is happy.
And this is what can happen when she is angered.
Please help us keep her happy and answer our plea for some type of containment plan. E-mail suggestions to jlivermo@gmail.com or sscomstock@gmail.com. Floor plans are available upon request.
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Introducing Isabel
We would like to introduce the newest member of our family - Isabel Mary Livermore.
She was born early in the morning on December 29th and weighed 7 lb 12 oz and is 21 inches long.
We are very happy she arrived safe and healthy!
Some of you may have received our e-mail announcing her birth and our first shot at a name 'Eleanor Mary.'
I promised an explanation so here is my best recap of why we changed her name:
1. We were very, very tired.
2. I liked the name Eleanor for a long time and it was on our 'list' of names when both Abram and Stella were born. I really, really wanted to use the name.
3. We were very, very tired.
4. We had to give a name to the Social Security lady so they would let us out of the hospital.
5. We had not slept more than an hour at a time for 36 hours.
6. Isabel was not on our list - we had never even discussed the name but a few minutes after she was born I turned to Josh and said, "what do you think of Isabel?" I have no idea where it came from but it just came out. When both Abram and Stella were born I turned to Josh and asked him, "What do you think their name is?" and in both cases he was ready with his favorite name, "Abram Comstock" and "Stella Suzanne." In both cases I had not liked the names Abram and Stella and we went around and around with other names but in the end - went back to those names he said immediately after birth. It is Josh's thought that the first I heard/said immediately after birth sticks somewhere in my subconscious and I couldn't let it go - so no matter how much I wanted her to be Eleanor - she is and will forever be Isabel :)
7. Mary is the name of my maternal grandmother and Josh's aunt. We couldn't think of two more beautiful, strong women to name our precious baby daughter after.
8. We were so, so, very tired!
Since the tiredness hasn't worn off the rest of the captions will be brief and probably filled with mis-spelling.
Isabel - still in the hospital.
One very excited big brother.
What a beautiful new sister.
One tired but proud papa.
Napping with nana.
Sweet baby sleeping.
A glimpse into our new life.
Sisters
Josh and nana kept the kids busy making ginger bread houses that Uncle Andy sent.
Yummm - just one bit.
Yummm...maybe one more bite.
I just wanted one last bite!
Please!!!!
I think I'll just help myself!
Finished product - happy children and messy house!
Why do you keep bringing them home?? Aren't we enough?
Isabel has found the best seat in the house.
Such a hard day.
Blissful sleep.
Come visit us and our new baby sister!!!
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