We are pleased and proud to announce the arrival of Samuel Eskesen McPherson
Samuel on his first day
Samuel arrived January 27th at 12:38pm, weighing in at 7lbs exactly and 19.5″ long. We are absolutely overjoyed to have him with us! Beatrice is a great big sister and we’re enjoying these first days as a family of four.
Family of Four
It’s official! We’re at 39 weeks! What a miracle you are, sweet Baby McPherson 2.0. I can hardly wait to meet you. I feel like I’m more excited to meet you than I was with your sister. I think that’s because I already know how sweet and amazing it will be to have a newborn in the house and before she arrived it was all just unknown. Trust me, I loved her right away just as I love you and there are still plenty of things I don’t know. I love you, your Daddy loves you and you have a whole big family who loves you and is excited to meet you!
I’m definitely huge these days. My belly is really big. Yesterday at school, I was cleaning up art supplies and got paint on my shirt, but didn’t realize it for a bit because it was on the underside of my belly. Oh how silly! I’m not going to lie, I’m looking forward to having my regular clothes back, but it has been quite a blessing to see you grow and watch you move.
Yesterday, I was feeling as if you were choosing an early birthday, but today you’ve been happy as a clam. Everything is all set for ya! I had a fun girls’ day with your sister today. It was mostly our usual errands, but we also stopped at Starbucks for a treat and to read some books and then we had our photos taken at the photo booth in the mall. We also went to Bath and Body Works and smelled the candles. She loves scented items! It will be different to have a boy with us all day, but we’re both excited for you to be part of our routine!
Well, 2.0, you are officially full-term! Hooray! We are very, very thankful that so far you seem to be doing well. I’m feeling like Gigantor the Gigantic, but that’s to be expected.
37 Weeks
I was feeling some contractions last weekend, which really got us motivated to get things ready for you! And naturally, once your Daddy finished painting your sister’s new bedroom, you settled right down and seem to have made yourself comfortable for the long haul. I’m just fine with that! While I am feeling really, really big and don’t hate the idea of being unpregnant, we are all sick with a cold these days and I’d rather you wait until we’re all feeling better. Also, this cold has been waking your sister several times a night with coughing fits and frankly, she wakes up everyone else. It would be better for you if we’re not all completely exhausted when you arrive.
Tonight, you followed our hands with your little fist, just like your sister did when she was in the womb! It was very exciting to have you interact with us! What an adventure parenting has been so far!
I’ve been strongly urged to eat a high protein diet these days. Since we don’t eat a ton of meat around here and I’m still the same cheapy-cheap-o, I haven’t been eating steak each night. BUT I have discovered two new favorite ways to enjoy quinoa! Here they are:
Quinoa Hash:
1 cup quinoa, cooked
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 handful mushrooms, chopped
4-5 leaves of kale, stem removed and chopped
Sautee the onion and garlic. Add the mushrooms and sautee until soft. Add the kale and a splash of water. Cook until the kale is bright green. Add the quinoa. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
What? Not enough protein? Add an egg!
Prefer something sweeter?
Quinoa Porridge:
1/2 Cup cooked quinoa
2 Tablespoons sliced almonds, toasted
6 dried apricots, chopped
Milk and cinnamon to taste.
Cook the quinoa. Put it in a bowl and top with the almonds and apricots. Pour milk and cinnamon over the top. Enjoy!
We are getting close to the end of this pregnancy! Oh boy. I don’t know how we’re going to manage with two little ones in the house, but we sure are excited to meet our sweet baby. This week’s photo was taken just before we left for Jonathan’s company Christmas party. I like this dress, but it took two strategically placed safety pins to ensure I didn’t have a wardrobe malfunction at the event!
At this point, things are really starting to um, relax (thanks, relaxin!) and I sometimes try to go from sitting to standing and feel a bit like my hips will come out of joint. It’s all very silly, really. So far, I’m still feeling well and little 2.0 seems to be doing the job of growing and squirming. Bring on the late-pregnancy fat face, the aches, the heartburn, the leg cramps! Every symptom brings us closer to full-term! I was hoping to avoid the fat face this time, but with the amount of water I consume each day, it seems this will be inevitable. At least it’s not forever! Little 2.0, we have so much to be thankful for and you are one of those things! Keep growing! We love you!
Well, for some (most?) of you, this is not big news, but it hasn’t been on the blog yet, so I thought I’d make an official announcement of it:
Daddy and Bea make the big announcement
Yes, Beatrice is a Big Sister! Baby McPherson 2.0 (or just 2.0 or “Newbie”) is due February 4th! Yes, we do know this child’s gender….but we’re going to wait on sharing it here for a bit. So far, things seem to be going okay and Beatrice already loves patting my belly, her belly and Jonathan’s belly. She also has her own ideas for baby names!
One of our friends, Andrew, alerted us this weekend that Ingrid Michaelson would be performing live during lunch on Monday. We happily jumped at the opportunity to have a little family time during the day. Live music is a bonus and Ingrid Michaelson did not disappoint! Sadly, we did not think to take a video of the best and funniest part of the show, which was her “I hate babies” song. Hilarious.
Beatrice and Jonathan livin' it up during lunch!
It was surprisingly chilly outside, which is why Beatrice is wearing her ducky blanket as a cape. It was the only practical option.
Beatrice enjoys the music
One of my favorite parts of the show was Beatrice saying, “Play the guitar!” after the first song (which was played on keyboard). What a silly girl. Beatrice was very pleased when Ingrid Michaelson began to play the ukulele, which she thought was a “baby guitar” logical, if incorrect.
And here’s the “money shot” of the four of us after the show. The gal taking the photo had just asked if she took one, which is why I’m talking. It’s still a fun memory!
Family with Ingrid Michaelson!
And in case you’ve forgotten, “The Way I Am” was the song we danced to for our “first dance” at our wedding reception. If you haven’t heard it yet, you can do so here. She played two new songs today. They were great! Keep ‘em comin’, Ingrid Michaelson! And a big thank you to Andrew for making sure we were able to be part of the fun!
I’m looking forward to more of this:
much more of this:
and this:
in the coming months!
After her first birthday, we decided to stop taking monthly photos of our girl. Mostly, it’s because she won’t sit still for a photo anymore! As this is sort of a family record blog, I will post every few months (quarterly) so we can make sure we have things written down for our own sake.
Beatrice, you are now 15 months old. You move all of the time. Most of the photos I take of you these days are when you are in your high chair because this is the only time you sit still. I wouldn’t change it for a minute! At 15 months old, you are not yet walking, but you like to stand when I say “ta da!” and you put your hands in the air and either shake them or clap. It’s adorable. You also say, “Yay Bea!” an awful lot. I think this might be due to the fact that we started celebrating each time you picked the easy way (not squirming) when we put you into your car seat by saying “yay Bea!” now you do it when you finish a meal, read a book, pretty much all the time. I’m not so secretly hoping you’ll be a cheerleader when you get older.
Tada!
You really enjoy being around other children. This week, we went to an indoor play time and when we walked in the door, you were so excited and happy, you started shaking and yelling, “Children! Momma! Children! Play? Play? Play!” You were shy at first when we got to the play area, but a kind older boy showed you some trains with smiles on them (from a Thomas the Train set) and it made you very happy. He was clearly a train expert and helped you play at the train table. Another little boy showed you some dinosaurs and let you play with a t-rex. One of my favorite parts of our experience was watching you with the trains. You found each of the green trains and collected them together in a little piece of the train track that had a bridge. Then you were upset when another child wanted to use those train pieces on the track! Oh, be still my little organizing heart!
You still love books and have gotten to the point where you fill in a word in the sentences of the book. You do the same thing for songs. This weekend, Daddy taught you Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and you sang star, are, high, sky and it just tickled you pink! It makes us smile too.
You wake up hungry! Sometimes, you have a little temper if we don’t have your breakfast right away. We’re starting to teach you about other people’s feelings and how yelling doesn’t make things cook faster. You’re such a compassionate little soul, we are careful to explain to you how your actions make others feel while still trying to keep you from being too upset. I think you’re starting to catch on, but I know this will be a life-long learning situation.
It has been rainy here, so we took a little trip to the store and purchased a couple new items: a puzzle and some special markers for you. You really enjoy coloring! Sometimes, you just want to take off the cap and put it back on and other times you will color for quite a long time. You like it when Momma or Daddy draw you ducks or Mickey Mouse or smiles. So far, your coloring has mostly just been an exercise in getting color to appear on white paper, but you have started saying the name of the item you’re drawing so we know it’s not long before we’re trying to figure out if you’ve drawn a snake or a robot!
Beatrice, you just get more fun each day! What a blessing it is to be your Momma and Daddy! We love you!
This morning, we received an email from babycenter.com about our “toddler this week” and in the missive, it said most children her age are speaking 3 to 5 words and early talkers are speaking as many as 20 words. This made us realize we should make a list of the cute things Beatrice says! She is darn cute and she talks all day long. So Beatrice, when we’re looking back on things, we can remember all the cute stuff you say and you can shake your head and think about when we might have gone wrong….just kidding!
Hi, hiya, hello, morning! (as in good morning, usually followed with Momma or Daddy), Momma, Daddy, bye-bye, hi guys!, book, story, up high (when she wants to be picked up), help you? (when she’d like some help), cheetah, tiger, owl, hoot-hoot, ducky, quack quack, horsey, neigh neigh, baa-baa (for sheep), pig, oink, birdy, tweet tweet, crow, kah, kah, doggy/puppy/pup-pup (depending on the size of the dog), rhino, giraffe, monkey, ee-ee (for the monkey sound), cat, zebra, Noah, cluck-cluck, go, towel, back, eyeball, ear, hair, nose, cheese, cracker, cup, milk, bread, muffin, crumb, cake, cookie, broccoli, peas, pears, toast, garlic, tomato, ball, play, block, tower, dolly, Grandma (for Grandma M), Meahmaw (Grandma E), Papa, Carrie, Ezra, Fia! (Sophia), Rachel, Erik, Ben, Barbara, ica (Jessica), No, “too tight”, please, thank you, toot-toot, poop-poop, potty, toilet, happy, loud, peck, heap, flower, pretty, beauty, sweet pea, bubbles, pop-pop, bath, nice, pat-pat, bott-bott (for bottom), food, chair, eggs, banana, bite, (also bite it), shoes, socks, diaper, freshy, more please, hot, hat, hop, bunny, yay Bea!, yum yum, yummy, toe, knee, elbow, fish, bow, comb, night-night, pray, amen, pacifier, bottle, car, traffic, booty balm, blueberries, coffee, tea, helper, baby, oatmeal, keys, hold this, all gone, “see-’em” (if she wants to see something), beep beep, okay, okie dokie, off, bowl, put, day.
So, that is our count so far. I know I’m missing a few, but it looks like 140 or so words. Beatrice, if you turn out to be a dummy, it’s not your fault at all. You LOVE to talk and lately you’ve been quite the little echo. I think it amuses you that people get such a kick out of the things you say. Your little sense of humor is developing and it’s such fun! We sure love you, Sweet Pea!