Weighing in at 8 lbs. 15 oz. and a dazzling 21 1/2 inches long, our little Avabean came into the world at 7:45 p.m. on Wednesday, December 17th, 2003. Maddie and I went to visit the Gessner fam (I think the word "fam" needs to be upgraded to "clan" now...) on Saturday and spent the whole day running around being crazy. Well, Maddie and Juli were nuts. Trace and I sat around, I helped make the girls' lunches and pretty much did all the chasing up and down stairs, as Trace is pretty much stationary for the next week or so.
I wish I didn't have a job so that I could just hang out there and play nanny for the next, say, fifteen years. Trace and I always said we'd live near each other when we grew up and had babies, and even though things didn't work out *quite* like I expected on my end, we're still super close and I wish this closeness was a little more of the geographical variety! I WANNA SEE MY GIRLS! After Saturday, I can't help but think about moving closer to the clan. I know it'll never happen (can't stand the 'burbs, and Rockford ......ew.....), but a girl can fantasize, can't she?
I'm compromising by having Juli stay the night sometime in the next few weeks, just to have a big sleepover/slumber party, although I doubt there will be much slumbering going on. Looking forward to the mania. My neighbors are gonna be pissed, which in turn makes me happy.
Maddie opened all her Yule gifts on the eve of Solstice. She loved all her presents (especially the Hungry Hungry Hippos game from me and the Nemo stuffed animal from Ryan). Ate lots of chocolate, stayed up late, and the "Solstice fairy" (aka Me) stuffed a stocking during the night for her to awaken to in the morning. Fun stuff. She's on a steady diet of apples, yogurt, and chocolate for the last three days. She won't stop playing her new games for anything else. Oh well. Gotta let the kid be a kid every now and then.
Xmas in Rockford tomorrow, then Paw Paw on Xmas Day. My uncle Kevin will be coming into town from San Francisco, which is exciting. Can't wait to see him. Also looking forward to trying to get my great-grandfather's banjo from my grandma ;). Andy is starting a country band, and whether or not I'm ever good enough to be in it, I'd still like to learn how to play. She doesn't play anymore - her hands are too arthritic - so I'm sure she'd be more than happy to give it to me, knowing that it will be put to good use.
Still bouncing back and forth between emotions, and the holidays aren't really helping much. Part of me just wants to stay home and finish off that bottle of rye, but I know that's a bad idea, and I really do want to see Maddie enjoying her first "real" Xmas. I'm sure I'll have Jan to be jaded with tomorrow evening. :) As her Xmas card to me says, "Looking forward to family, food, presents, and BOOZE."
I miss Kurt.