brothers and sisters

Does anyone watch that show? I think I'm getting addicted. Wait. I was getting addicted before Ephraim arrived and instituted mandatory 7:30 bedtime. Oh well. That's what season DVDs are for right?

I look at my two kids (that word again...whoa.) and try to wrap my brain around their sibling-hood. As soon as Ephraim was born I totally felt like he was ours. I had no issues feeling like his mommy or comprehending Brent as his daddy. Where I struggled though was with realizing that Sarah now had a brother. And she is a sister. The idea that Brent and I have brought two beings into this world that are related and connected and bonded for life is just so much bigger than me. I love looking at them and knowing that they'll have each other for always. That they'll be playmates and bickerers and confidantes and buddies. That they might one day stand at the other's wedding. That they could swap phone calls at ungodly hours in the midst of crisis (or just typical college drama). That when Brent and I are gone they'll have each other. That is so much bigger than me. Dang.





(after nap cuddles. I think I've been replaced.)



Moving on.

Ephraim and I are alone! We dropped Sarah off at JoJo and Papa's house last night and they're headed down to the beach today to help Lily celebrate her first birthday. I'm so sad that we won't be there but so excited that Sarah is representing! She gets back on Tuesday (breathe mommy, breathe) and I'm kind of already counting down the hours. In the meantime though baby E and I are going to head to the mall to spend some GAP $$$ on drawstring pants (oh heaven!) and just generally enjoy soaking each other up. I'm looking forward to giving the little guy some undivided attention. We're also going to spend the weekend finishing up our Christmas shopping, decorating the big tree and hanging out with my stepbrother Craig and his girlfriend, Megan (super-excited about that!).

One last thing before I head to the bathroom and attempt to present myself to the world and someone who is getting a decent amount of sleep. You guys are so amazing to me. If you knew how I looked forward to your comments you'd all blush and look away. I started this blog when Sarah was three months old and I feel like my level of connection to the outside world has increased exponentially from then until now. Thanks for that you guys.

ten scattered thoughts on being a mom of 2

1. Saying "kids" takes some getting used to. Kind of like "husband" sounded like such a funny word seven years ago.

2. I'm alternating between complete panic and utter calm. Surely I'll find a middle ground sometime soon. Both little ones are sleeping right now. Can you guess my current state? :)

3. I forgot how many books I read when Sarah was a nursing newborn. I just finished Home to Harmony this morning after starting it two (middle of the) nights ago. I need to spend some time on Good Reads to restock my book collection. At this rate I'll be reading three books a week!

4. The thoughtfulness of people leaves me feeling two ways: 1) incredibly grateful 2) guilty that I'm not always as thoughtful as I should be (strike that and replace with this: guilty that I don't always act on the thoughtful thoughts that I think)

5. Here are some examples. Christi stopped by yesterday with lunch (Chick-fil-A!!!) and dinner (yummy chicken and rice casserole), a gift for Ephraim, and a bag full of emergency food for Sarah (individual mac n' cheeses, applesauce, and a frozen kids meal - how brilliant is that?!). Mandy loaded all three of her kiddos up to visit us in the hospital and even brought Sarah a big sister shirt exactly like Ansley's. In Sarah's book anything exactly like Ansley's is something to be cherished above all else. Plus, she just spent the entire morning over here with us on Brent's first (almost) full-day back at work. Elisa from our high school youth group showed up unexpectedly at the hospital with matching big sis/little bro onesies and a gift certificate to Dinner by Design. This is the same girl who sent a beautiful, yummy gift basket over when we moved into Huntsville. (insert guilty-that-I-don't-always-act-on-the-thoughtful-thoughts-that-I-think thought again here). Amy came through HUGE with cookies two days ago! Amy cookes are absolutely divine so the package could have just ended there but the fact that it also came with other goodies, stickers for Sarah, and sticky notes explaining why each thing was included made it undeniably Amy and absolutely perfect. And all of this isn't even mentioning the other friends, family and neighbors who are keeping us fed and keeping our mailman busy with packages on the porch. Thank God for thoughtful people.

6. Hyperlinks are back in full effect. Maybe I'm feeling more like myself than I thought. :)

7. Ephraim is an incessant hiccuper.

8. Sarah is an amazing big sister. She's got just the right level of interest versus independence. This week, that is. :)

9. Brent has left me even more in awe of him as a daddy and husband. I hope we can do half as good a job raising Ephraim as his parents did raising him. (thanks MIL and FIL)

10. Baby's stirring...here are a couple of photos...

round one

If the poor kid knew how much of this he was in for I don't think he'd be smiling...








Sorry this is a short post but I think I've underestimated what being a mom of two takes! Hopefully I'll be in the swing of things and posting more about sweet baby Ephraim soon.

in and out

If only childbirth were as easy as these pictures make it look...

Just stop in...



and pick out the one you want!



Thank you all for being so kind about my letter to Sarah and the birth of our son. I can't wait to share more of him with you guys soon!

And we are thankful...

Hi all--Daddy(of two!) blogging here. I realize there have been quite a few checking for an update today, so I'll try my best not to mess this up. Please pardon the formatting and let the photos do the talking. I will let you in on one thing: don't worry about his face coloring; he's breathing just fine! The little guy just had a rough time coming into the world and got a little bruised up. Baby and Mama are doing fine. She was awesome. Without further ado,

Ephraim McCray Cobb

8 lbs

20 inches

Welcome, little one. And check out that blonde? hair!


















Happy Thanksgiving to all.

a letter on the eve of change.

My sweetest baby girl,

Tomorrow marks the beginning our our new normal. You are so excited about your baby brother that at times I wonder if maybe you really do grasp all that's coming your way. You tell me daily how you'll hold him and kiss him and change his diaper and make his wipes. Every night this week you've remembered to thank God for him when you say our dinnertime prayer. It sure does make Mommy and Daddy so happy to see how excited you are. We couldn't be more thrilled to meet our sweet baby Ephraim...you've shown us what a gift it is to be parents and we know what amazing love is in store for us.

But I have to admit that tonight I'm just a little sad. Tomorrow when we tuck you in and head off to the hospital we won't come back to our house until we're a family of four. The long, lazy days of just you and me and Sesame Street and quiet lunches and playing on the front step will be gone. Replaced first by the harried life of a home that houses a newborn. Then the hustle and bustle of two preschoolers. And eventually the craziness of kiddos in sports and music and dance and church and...whatever else comes. And all of this is good. I welcome it, embrace it. But I'm so afraid that I'll miss you. And I'm sad that you'll probably never remember these two years and 23 days of "just us". And, if I'm being perfectly honest, I'm a little afraid that I'll start to forget them too.

So if I could plant memories into your daily-growing little brain that I knew would last forever and ever, here are what some of them would be. The first night you were on this earth when I stared at you in amazement and sang "Sarah Lorraine Cobb" over and over and over to the tune of "John Jacob Jingleheimer Smits". When you were just five weeks old and you helped me throw daddy the best 30th birthday party ever. The many nights before you started crawling that we took of your diaper and let you loose to squirm and roll and giggle and pee all over your bedroom. The daily morning walks we took with Ms. Samantha and Caroline and Ms. Amy and, finally, baby Hayden. Rocking with me every evening before bed while I sang all my old favorite hymns (incidentally, as soon as you could voice your opinion you demanded different songs and won't even let me get through the first verse of How Great Thou Art anymore...so maybe this is a better memory for me than for you). Your second Easter morning when you got your first "lipstick" from Aunt Lori and we all thought you might just die of happiness and girliness. When we moved to Alabama and you discovered "spendanights" with grandparents - you were so proud to be such a big girl! The first time I whispered "go tickle daddy" into your ear and you decided that anytime anyone whispered anything to you it MUST mean "go tickle daddy". And my goodness, there's so much more. Let's cross our fingers and hope that this internet keeps ticking because so many of our best times are stored right here on Princess Pigbear (which, my dear, we'll need to be renaming pretty quickly.)

So now I can sleep tonight knowing that I've at least tried to tell your little two-year old self how I'm feeling. And I can look forward to meeting our new little guy knowing all the blessings that he'll be bringing to our family. And I can rejoice in the fact that you're getting a brother, a bubby, a buddy for life. And that he's getting the best big sister there ever could be. And maybe one day when you're a mommy of one on the eve of becoming a mommy of two you'll be able to read this and know that whatever you're feeling about it is okay. But for now, I hope you just know that I love you.

Love,

Mommy

as promised

ROOM PICS!

So, obviously I'm not in labor. =) It's actually totally fine with me. I'm looking forward to a nice, relaxing weekend with my little family of three. We're going to celebrate an early Thanksgiving tomorrow and get a jump start on decorating for Christmas on Sunday. Sarah and I are headed out to see Bee Movie later this afternoon too! I'm just really trying to soak up every calm, normal, but oh-so special moment with just the three of us before the birth.

Right now I'm scheduled to check in at the hospital at 10pm Monday night for induction. Of course my doctor had to add in the obligatory, "that is, if you don't go into labor this weekend" to which I had to add the even more obligatory, "HA!". That's so not how I roll. =)

Okay, onto photos. I have to say that this could possibly be my favorite room in the house. I had so, so much fun putting it together and finding little things here and there that fit in the space perfectly. I'll try to share where I got things like I did with Sarah but if I leave something out that you're wondering about, just ask! I'm certainly not a master decorator (not even close) but I enjoy it and what I enjoy even more is stealing other people's decorating ideas...so if there's anyone out there like me, steal away! As my mom always says, "a good idea is always copied." Embrace it!

(brace yourselves: wonky colors and crooked photos ahead...)















The brief snyposis:

- carpet squares from Flor, my new most favorite online store. I blame Parmy for enabling me. We now have Flor in three different rooms of our house.
- The red furniture is recycled from Sarah's nursery where it used to be a butter color. Previous to that it was from an unfinished furniture store.
- Little rocking chair was mine as a baby/toddler. I wanted to painted it red but was vetoed by Brent and my mom. (sometimes you win, sometimes you listen to Mom)
- Curtain rod and tie backs on sale from Land of Nod.
- Curtains made by moi. And let me just throw in a plug for grommets. Oh my goodness...seriously, SO easy.
- Glider purchased without cushions as a clearance floor model at Pottery Barn Kids before Sarah was born. I'd link it but it's not even available anymore. I had the cushions cut for her room and then recovered them to match baby boy's decor. The fabric is called "Tiddlywinks: Jelly Bean". LOVE THAT. I think I would have bought it sight-unseen just for the cute name!
- The little hanging guy was a gift to Sarah from my stepdad but I loved how well it went in this room so I'll consider it the first official item stolen from one sibling by another. I'm sure there will be many more to come!
- The tall wooden bookshelf was another clearance floor model, this time for Pier One (their kids line). I bought some green patterned contact paper from Target for like three bucks and papered the back of it just to give it a little more kick. I almost had to divorce my mom, Britney-style, after that project!
- The green bins on the shelf are from Target and the red bins are from Walmart.
- Crib bedding was a gift from the people at babyGAP to our new baby. Have I mentioned lately how much I love the Gap? They didn't have any bumpers left but that doesn't diminish my love for them!
- The sheep and grass/tally marks on the wall are super-cool rub ons from Blik Wall Graphics that I found via Apartment Therapy:Nursery.
- The name banner was purchased on etsy from this seller.

I think that just about covers it...

except for...

drumroll please...

MY FAVORITE THING IN THE WHOLE NURSERY!







My super-talented, brilliant, book-club-starting, totally-and-absolutely-gifted-at-being-a-friend, friend Liz put together this awesome family tree for the baby. Sarah has one too that matched her nursery perfectly. I loved Sarah's but I really, really, really love this one. I adore how graphic it is and how it just pulls the space together perfectly. I (and the rest of our book club) have been on her for a long time about offering this kind of custom art to the world and I think we've finally got her convinced so if you're interested in finding out more about how you can get one (for yourself, your kiddo, your baby to be, your parents celebrating their wedding anniversary, WHOEVER) then email me and I'll get you her info. My email addy is in the sidebar.

By now I'm sure you highly perceptive blog readers have realized our baby boy's name. It was never really a secret but I guess I just neglected to ever post it here: Ephraim McCray Cobb. You can read about the name Ephraim here. And McCray is Brent's maternal grandmother's maiden name. For the record, we'll be pronouncing the name Ef-rem.

Have a great weekend!

reluctantly moving on

As much as I want to leave the previous post up forever and ever and ever I realize that you guys probably aren't as into it as I am and probably want me to move on. But, seriously, thanks for all the love! It's so fun to read why you guys come here. I still kind of can't get over that anyone thinks my life/family/photos are really that interesting but I'm so incredibly touched. This blog has been so fun for me and has given me something to do and look forward to on so many loooooong stay-at-home mommy days. It's been a gift, truly.

Okay, a few photos from Monday afternoon. Brent had the day off for Veteran's Day and he spent the entire morning with Sarah. I'm amazed by the time he spends with her sometimes. It seems like I get in such a routine that I don't always spend the time just playing with her like I know I should. I'm doing the laundry or getting dinner ready or making beds or...blogging (insert big sheepish grin here). But when he's with her he is non-stop playing. He raked up this big pile of leaves Monday morning just to let her frolick in it...and my baby sure ain't afraid to frolick!









And now, a little Baby Cobb update. I'm going in tomorrow for an appointment and there's a possibility I'll be induced tomorrow night. If not tomorrow then for sure on Monday night so our days are definitely numbered! I've already bought a turkey and all the fixings for our Thanksgiving dinner so we'll either be celebrating early this weekend and having left overs with baby boy in tow or we'll be home in time to actually celebrate on T'giving Day. Either way, we'll have a lot to be thankful for in the coming week! If I'm not in the hospital tomorrow night then I'm going to post some pictures of the little guy's room...just to pass some time and make me happy!

some come for the photos, some for the girl

More than one person has mentioned to me lately what a diverse group of blog-checkers we have here at The Pigbear. There are, of course, friends and family who just stop by to see what's new with the Pi'bear herself. Then there are other photographers who stop by to see what's new out of the 5d this week. I think there are even a few that come just for the mommy stuff, with children of similar ages and whatnot. Of course, you all come for my wit and humor - that goes without saying.

Maybe this'll be a post with a little something for everyone.

First, about the girl: (since these are her "official" two-year old shots)

- her vocabulary expands by leaps and bounds everyday. Some of my favorite quips of late include, "No mommy talk about _______ " (fill in the blank with whatever I might be talking about at the moment), "Hey mommy, let's go tickle daddy", and "Papa ate Sarah's ice cream. THAT PAPA!" (we hear that one about 80 times a day)

- she also enjoys stealing soundbites from Ms. Caroline who may not be allowed to visit anymore after leaving these gems in Sarah's vocab: "the poop on the bus goes stink, stink stink!", "DUDE! MY TURN!", and (a personal favorite), "Daddy go to work at NASA. Get the cash monies."

- she heads into our bed every morning for a snuggle with mommy and a play-by-play of the noises daddy makes while he gets ready for work: "daddy brush his teeth!", "daddy drop the soap!", "daddy get dressed!". This morning she snuggled right up to me and said, "Mommy hold Sarah's back." What a perfectly two-year old way to ask for a cuddle!

- she's IN LOVE with her "little big girl boots" (featured in the photos below). Thanks in large part to Big Sarah's Little Boots.

-she's already enamoured with her little brother whom she insists she will "hold" and "kiss" and "share with mommy and daddy". We'll see how long this infatuation lasts once he's actually home!

Next about the photos:

-I wanted to find a new spot for these shots since I'm bored of my backyard already and the big park near our house has been the backdrop for other. photos. I've. done .lately. (TAKE THAT BRENT, who complains of my hyper-hyperlinking)

-We actually stumbled upon this awesome little light pit butted up against a rock wall, gorgeous fall trees, and...a cemetery!

- All photos taken at ISO250, apertures somewhere in the 2's, and shutter speeds all over the place but always above 1/125 (which is my general rule).

And finally, something for the mommies:

At the grocery store today I was intent on soaking up every fun, silly moment there knowing that this would probably be our last shopping trip together just the two of us (and, call me crazy, but we have lots of fun together at the grocery store). We were strolling through the produce section picking out apples, choosing red or green grapes, the usual. When I picked up the bag of cranberries Sarah really, really wanted to hold them so I let her (why? WHY?!). A moment later I turned my back to grab another item and when I turned back around I saw cranberries splattered all over her face, her pants, and tumbling to the floor. Nice. So my big 38 week pregnant self spent the next five minutes crawling on the floor, picking up every last berry, not wanting some old lady to slip and break her hip on account of my two-year old. Not a single person stopped to help but one perceptive soul did stop to chuckle and say, "oh, what an accident!". To which I replied, "Yep, she's two. Accident is her middle name!" (sigh)

So, whatever it is that brings you to The Pigbear...I hope you found it today! Have a great week, friends!

fatherhood.

I'm not sure what words I can use about these photos that haven't already been spoken by the images themselves. Sarah and I are blessed beyond my comprehension to have Brent.

Fatherhood suits him so nicely. (and he's not too shabby at the husband thing either, for the record)











By the way, none of these photos were posed in any way. We took Sarah out yesterday for her two-year pictures and these were the outtakes as Brent worked as "baby wrangler". This is just how they are together. Buddies.

sweet caroline.

They're gone. We're sad.

I'm hoping that by posting a few pics of our buddy here I might be able to distract Sarah tomorrow morning from the inevitable calls for Kiki first thing in the morning. They got in the sweetest little habit of calling for each other as soon as they woke up. So tomorrow I'll just drag Sarah into the kitchen, plop her in front of the computer, and show her that we're back to only seeing Kiki in the computer. Of course, she won't be happy about it. But then again, neither am I.

Miss you girls already...so, so much.

those girls.

Samantha and I are absolutely loving how Sarah and Caroline (Kiki) have just picked up right where they left off. The loving, the howling, the grabbing, the giggling, the bickering...nothing's changed! They're so much more verbal now than they were 5 months ago though so it's super fun to listen to them converse. Sarah insists on calling Caroline "baby Kiki" and Caroline spends much of her day telling one of the mommies what Sarah wants..."Sarah wants a baby", "Sarah's wants to eat breakfast", etc. Sarah, of course, is so smitten with here baby Kiki that she'll go along with anything that Caroline insists she wants.

Yesterday afternoon we took them into the backyard to play a bit before mommy time officially began at 4:00 (everybody say it with me now...OPRAH!). I taught them how to play Follow the Leader in hopes that it would buy Sam and I 5 minutes of peace and chatting time. The cement blocks surrounding one of our gardens set the perfect stage for rounds and rounds of FTL where neither girl actually knew who was leading or who was following. We heard shrieks of "Follow Da Yeeda!!!" for the rest of the night though!

Check out these cuties...

Here they are "leading" or "following"...you decide...

We're heading out to the park this afternoon to get some two-year shots of Caroline and possibly Sarah too if they're both agreeable. I'll try to get some of those up in the next couple of days.

Thanks for all your kind comments on the airport post. It was such a cool moment for Samantha and I...glad you guys enjoyed it too! Remember to check out the FAQ's if you're interested in being a photog nerd like me!