An update

It's been awhile, so I thought I'd do a bullet-point list of my exciting life lately.

* A new job! I won't be headed back to the Journal when my maternity leave is over. I took a job at ISU in their public relations office. More money, better benefits, cheap school for both Matt and I. I waffled over whether or not I'd take the job, but now I can't imagine how dumb I would have felt if I hadn't. When I gave my notice to the Journal, my boss started with "That's great!" I got the feeling that I might have been the next in a string of budget-related layoffs anyway. There's no telling if I was the one on the chopping block or not, but it has since been confirmed that my quitting did stop a layoff. So yay for new jobs!

* Poor Thomas gets a bad rap. I'm feeling guilty for telling his dark secrets- the fact that his piercing scream is loud, long, and could be used by the military for interrogations. I should let the world know that for the entire morning, and usually until about 4 p.m. or so, the boy is nothing but smiles, coos and giggles. I think if he slept some of that time, he would be happy at 4 p.m. too.

* Day care woes. When I found out I was pregnant with Thomas, I almost immediately put him on the waiting list at Anne Marie's day care. He still isn't in, and I got a letter today saying that because of tight budgets, they are shutting down one of the infant rooms, which hurts his chances even more. So Anne Marie will be at a different place than Thomas, and my plans to nurse him on my lunch break since he'd be at the university with me are slowly dying. Which brings me to my next point.

* Thomas hates bottles. This seems strange because he is tongue-tied and can only nurse with a nipple shield. The nipple shield makes breastfeeding a heck of a lot like a bottle, but he still hates bottles. My new plan is to try all sorts of brands until I find one he likes.

Here are some photos of our Easter. There is no Thomas in the photos, and I'm feeling guilty about that too. But the poor kid was asleep for egg dying and was inside screaming when we took the photos of Anne Marie in her Easter dress.

From easter 2009

From easter 2009

At church, Thomas did everything that a baby can do in church to misbehave. He made it to the first reading, then screamed so we left. On the way back, he blew out a diaper- thankfully I hadn't made it completely through the huge throng of people standing up in the back of the overcrowded church before I left again. Then he got hungry, so I nursed in the parking lot and came back in as the priest was blessing the Eucharist. As the priest held up the host, he let out a gigantic fart that made several people turn and look in amazement.

I guess that while I was out nursing Thomas, Anne Marie had her own fun with my mom in the church. She was pretty good, although she did dance to every song. But when the priest asked the congregation to renew their baptismal vows, she said, "no." When the priest said, "Do you reject Satan?" Anne Marie responded, "No." "And all his works?" No. "And all his empty promises?" No.

Easter was a little wild, but it was still fun in the end. And today, Thomas, who had a really rough first Easter, decided to sleep through the night, take a nap during the day, and was a happy dream baby even in the evening when he usually becomes very antisocial.

This post is getting long. I waited too long to blog, and now I have too much to say. I'm amazed at how much Anne Marie and Thomas actually look alike when I look back to her baby photos. Here's their photos at 6 weeks old, first Thomas, second Anne Marie.

From Twin Falls

From First St. Patrick's Day