Private--No Boys Allowed

Just teasing, everyone is allowed. Clarification, everyone I love is allowed. I got my second comment from a complete stranger on my blog earlier this week and it kind of creeped me out. I have a slightly paranoid streak that has only grown since becoming a mother. So I immediately made my blog private as a knee jerk reaction. I didn't have people's e-mail addresses memorized however and so couldn't invite people before I got distracted by one of my three darling children screaming for something.

I finally got a chance to check my e-mail and was greeted by everyone trying to figure out why they were suddenly denied access. I wasn't trying to exclude anyone, honest, I just find it hard to do computer stuff with this baby attached to me all the time (and truth be told, I would rather be attached to the baby than doing computer stuff anyway and so it is not a bad existence really).

In the end, it doesn't really matter since I haven't updated my blog recently anyway, so no harm no foul. But it is nice to know that people actually check it routinely. I will be and do better in the future in the updating arena. The kids and I are at my mom's house this week. We came to see Baby George in his last high school musical performance. He did a fabulous job.

Little Gillian on the Prairie

I put Gillian in prairie braids today, inspired by my cousin Becca's daughter Rachel. Rachel had an adorable head band on as well, but Gillian wouldn't stand for that. I decided not to push my luck. Seeing Gillian like this brought me right back to my childhood.

I hero worshipped Laura Ingalls Wilder in my younger years. I spent a great deal of time in my head pretending to be her. I was a pioneer several Halloweens in a row. My friends and I would constantly be preparing and acting out pioneer plays. I have one poignant memory of childhood angst because dinner came when Little House on the Prairie was on TV and I had to miss it. I loved that show. I still remember writhing with embarrassment when Laura went to school with those apples in her dress (she was upset that she wasn't "blooming" as fast as the other girls) and one fell out in front of the class. I read those books so many times and I still pull them out occasionally to read from them. They are comfort books.

I really, really enjoyed my childhood.

Fantastic Picture of Jean

I realized that the only picture I had of Jean on my Spring Break blog was one of her in curlers. I wasn't sure how she would feel about that, but I know how I would feel about that, so here is another picture of Jean from Spring Break taken while playing Settlers of Catan. We really did have such a good time.

New Siblings

At first, James and Gillian completely ignored Eleanor. James still largely ignores her, although he seems to accept her presence in our lives and occasionally shows outbursts of affection ("Mom--she's looking at me with her big, blue eyes.").

But Gillian has gone completely ga-ga. She is constantly wanting to hold Eleanor and in the car, will always hold her hand and try to calm her down. She is very sweet and gentle with her. She does realize that she has lost her place as baby and she seems sad about it, but not resentful.

Spring Break

Tim's family was kind enough to spend Spring Break at our house so that we wouldn't miss out on seeing everyone since I was not up for travelling because the baby was due around that time. The timing actually worked out perfectly, with Eleanor coming Easter morning and everyone else coming into town that evening. It was the first time in a while that Tim's entire family was all together and I am glad that Eleanor had the good sense to come and be a part of that.

It was a great week full of good food, good conversations, and good gaming.

Gillian I think was a little overwhelmed at first and spent a great deal of the first two days in the hospital with me, watching Dora on Tim's laptop. It was good for her to have a little quiet time.





Someone thought it would be great fun to put the boys on the roof of our condemned garage. I have to admit that despite my initial outrage, it did take a cute picture.

There was lots and lots of baby holding.


We played a lot of Xbox. This is a picture of Bryce after he relived his childhood and beat the Legend of Zelda.

A lot of hair cuts and/or styles. Jean is the queen of professional styling. Sara couldn't rave enough. I can confirm that Sara and Jean's hair did look fabulous. Claire and Cady's hair always looked fantastic as well. I should've have been watching more closely so I could figure out how to do more with Gillian's.



Jim brought James and Gillian a wonderful present. He came and built a swing set for them in the back yard. They have gotten good use out of it already.

There was lots of cousin together time.

A trip to Monticello. Tim's cousin Nancy works there and was able to take them on the exclusive tour generally reserved for those who donate tons of money. Eleanor and I stayed home considering the fact that just doing Gillian's party the day before completely wore me out.

The Botanical Gardens and feeding the ducks afterwards.

Tim took some of us on a tour of the cadaver lab as well as his plastination lab. It was actually Eleanor's and my first outing. I was always trailing a good 20 feet behind everyone else. It was fascinating however and I am glad I went. I had to leave the room for all baby skull and fetus displays however.

It was actually the first and only crying I did (which is new for me, normally I am a lot more hormonal after a baby). Tim actually did more crying this time around, making up for my lack. He kept tearing up whenever he held Eleanor.

(Isn't this a fabulous picture of Sara?)

(Sara, Jesse, Cameron-Sara's husband, me, John, Daniel)

Family picture. I am so glad Jean insisted on this. If you can't tell, it was absolutely freezing! You can really tell by looking at Claire and James. All the blankets were cleverly hidden behind us. Someone has got to photoshop that banana out of Gillian's hands.

Left to Right 1st row: Sullivan Powell, Luke Powell, James Bunton, Claire Leavitt

2d row: Cameron Powell, Sara Bunton Powell (Lillian), me (Eleanor), Amanda , Jean Bunton Leavitt (Cadence) Jesse

3d row: Daniel, John, Tim (Gillian), Jim, Bryce Leavitt

Gillian's Blue's Clues Birthday

I had such a fun time planning Gillian's party. I planned on having it the week all the Bunton's were in town since birthday parties are always more fun with cousins and grandparents. Since I knew we would probably have a brand new baby that week, I made sure to get as much done for the party ahead of time as possible.

The kids each decorated their own handy dandy notebook with stickers and then went on a cute little Blue's Clues hunt to find the location of their party favors.

I made these adorable juice pouch bags for the girl's party favors. I am afraid I ran out of energy and the boys winded up with just plain paper sacks for their party favors--poor boys.
I had the template and all the ingredients for the cakes all ready. I can't take credit for how fantastic the cake turned out however. Sara (Tim's sister) is largely responsible for the outcome. She took over for Tim when he realized how hard it was to frost a cake with cut sides.

Pictures of Eleanor

We are really having a fun time with Eleanor. It turns out it was a great thing we didn't find out her gender because she happens to look terrific in green and yellow (the colors people buy when they don't know gender), much more so than in pink.

She is a very well behaved baby who rarely cries, but then again, I pick her up whenever she is even thinking about crying, so that might have something to do with it.

I have to say that my favorite thing about babies is swaddling and the kissing of cheeks. My least favorite thing about babies is the diapers. I don't think I'd mind so much except that I have my Gillian baby as well. I think perhaps, I should have stuck with that toilet training.

Eleanor's First Few Days

This is us going to the hospital at 4:30am. Tim insisted on a picture before we left the house. I was less than thrilled about it since I was starting to think we might not make it to the hospital on time. Looking back, I am impressed Tim even thought of a "Buffy as pregnant as she will ever get" photo. I could tell that he was trying his best not to let his panic turn into running around like a headless chicken. He did a fantastic job of holding it together and remembering to bring all the things I was in too much pain to think about.

We did make it to the hospital on time, but I'm glad I didn't wait any longer. Tim got back from dropping the kids off at my friend's with only 30 minutes to spare before Eleanor came. He did get to deliver the baby again, which I thought was nice of the doctor and they even let him keep Eleanor's placenta to take to his plastination lab at the med school. I personally think that is totally weird, but it made him so happy--so there you go.

This was the first time I wasn't overwhelmed with the "I can't believe they are letting me take this baby home from the hospital" feeling. Finally, by the third baby, I feel like a mother.

Elton Gigi

Comfort Clips

In March (pre-Eleanor), Gillian and I caught a really nasty, nasty cold/flu. Gillian's source of comfort lay in her hair accessories. Whenever she found a new one, she would come up to me saying, "Clip, Clip" and wasn't happy until I found a way to make if fit in with all her other clips.

Would You, Could You, In A Box

About three times a year, James gets attached to a box. He takes his meals in the box, plays video games in the box, and sleeps in the box.