All Things Supercinski

I was able to get away last weekend with some of my dear girlfriends from college days. I had a wonderful time catching up in person with these sweet ladies I don’t get to see very often. I appreciated the break and the one-on-one time with Annalise that seems rare these days.

This is Lacy, Erin, Kelly, Myself and Vanessa. Annalise and Lacy’s daughter didn’t make it into the group shot.

I had such a great time, but the best part of my weekend happened when Josiah and Thomas got home from church. While Josiah was eating his lunch, he said, “Siah so, so, SO happy Momma come home!”

It’s really, really hot outside. Since I am in no place to take a newborn and toddler to the public pool, we have found some fun ways to cool off and socialize at the same time, thanks to our local municipalities.

Sometimes when we go to the splashpads, Josiah barely gets wet. Whatever. He takes the job of turning it back on when it turns off very, very seriously.

He gets all red-faced and sweaty when he gets hot, very much like me and very unlike his barely sweating, never red-faced father.

Here we are with quite a few of our friends one day–it looks like the moms are sorely outnumbered.

We managed to make it to the Farmer’s Market last week, and Josiah loved every second of it. I let him pay the farmer and carry home our finds. Here he is showing off the longest green bean I had ever seen.

These were delicious green beans, though amazingly long. I also stocked up on the best honey ever from a local beekeeper who sells unprocessed honey while sporting a cool beekeeping hat.

It’s that time of year once again… SUPERCINSKIAD! If you have no idea what I am talking about, then you can read more about it here, here and here. We are now in our fourth year of annual competition overload. Everything goes down this weekend, as it has every year of our marriage during Independence Day holidays. I’m guessing it will continue for several days after the weekend is over… things are a little more hectic lately.

All this prolactin surging through my system has made my competitive desire extremely low (can you believe it?), but I’m holding on to the hope of regaining the title. In discussing our ground rules last night, we agreed that we would take turns wearing Annalise in the Moby to preserve fairness, but not during leg wrestling (shh, don’t tell my midwife). We’ll still be playing the Olympic theme song during opening ceremonies and medaling. Oh to be a fly on the wall during it - you’d get a good laugh!

Stay tuned for results whenever we get done.

I’m thinking that He just might. Both of our kids have been born with them, a hairstyle of choice perhaps? Or maybe this is what I get for all the mullet-spotting Bethany and I did in college.

Josiah about a month old:

Annalise about a month old:

It’s amazing how little “free” time you have with a newborn who needs to be held most of the time! Here are some pictures from the past week, enjoy!

Annalise is a very alert baby when she is awake. She is awake for 45 minutes to an hour at a time, then must be bounced/rocked/swayed to sleep or she screams. Her favorite things are swaddling, nursing, being held and bouncing.

Josiah loves his sister. It’s precious to see how excited he is when she flails around and touches him or holds his hand. He is a great helper by getting pacifiers and burp cloths.

Happy Family

Josiah is keeping himself busy during nursing and bouncing sessions. Glue is his favorite this week, thanks to Grandma Mary’s gift of buttons and shiny stars.

One of Annalise’s favorite places

Two weeks ago, I went for a walk and thought that I would probably go into labor today, June 10th. Little did I know that sweet little Annalise would make her arrival the next day. We were definitely surprised and had many things left to do before her arrival, but I can’t imagine not having her around these past two weeks. She is such a sweet little baby.

Being a sweet little baby, she sleeps a lot, nurses a lot and always poops right after she’s fallen asleep. She has had quite a few visitors, and we have been so blessed by all of the meals and girl clothes we’ve been given and loaned.

And I must say that I have the absolute sweetest bunch of friends I could ever have! I missed my baby shower by one day, which I lamented about during labor. Our little playgroup moms have gotten together and done a small shower for each of the new moms. They surprised me today with a double stroller as a big gift. Can you believe it? I cried I was so touched. Long story, but I had made a “baby wishlist” page here on the site and had listed a double stroller in case anyone in our family was feeling generous and wanted to give us a big gift. I totally didn’t expect those sweet gals to give us one - ladies, thank you so much! Okay, back to Annalise stuff…

She looks a lot like Josiah did as a newborn, but his hair was darker. A comparison shot of Josiah, but about 3 weeks old:

Speaking of Josiah, he sure loves his sister and tells everyone, “Our baby came out!” He is adjusting to our new normal, and detoxing from all the added attention he received the past two weeks.

He also loves the birthing pool, almost as much as I did when I was in labor. It’s been a big treat for him almost every afternoon.

Lastly, I feel great! I can’t believe how quickly I recovered this time. The day after she was born, I felt better than I did before I gave birth. No tears, no soreness, nothing. The postpartum care I’ve received from my midwife is also one of the best parts of homebirthing.