Cousins!

Alma got to hang out with her Auntie Amy and Cousin Hayden for a week.  It was great to have another little kiddo in the house.  Joshua enjoyed pulling out his Legos and playing with Hayden.  Simon also loved playing with Hayden, although I'm not sure either participant understood what the other was doing.

This Sunday we went to Mass at St. Joseph's Pro-Cathedral in Camden and Alma had the chance to meet more members of our Camden family, Rosa Ramirez and Monseigneur McDermott.

In other news, we made a make-shift entertainment center for Alma using all of the fun hanging toys we have received as gifts and a hula hoop.  She seems to love it.

She has been in a good mood this week.  Much better than last week when she started the week with a doctor's appointment which included a ton of shots.  She weighed in at 13 lbs, 8oz and 22.25 inches.  She is happily in the 97 percentile for weight.  That's what eating every two hours will do for you.

Look at how cute she is in this hat from my fomer boss, Jenelle, of Mapel Boutique. 

Parenting is great fun ...

...but still rather tiring.

Hand-Me-Downs

Throw-back onesies ROCK.

Onesie Stats:

   1979 Laura's outfit

   1983-186 Clothing for Brianna the Stuffed Bear

   2010 Alma's outfit

Conclusion: Awesome

Happy Valentine's Day

Life with Joshua has been wonderful.  All the large events that happened since we met (moving cross country, marriage, school, buying a house, having a baby) along with all the small daily moments of love (rubbing my feet every night of our pregnancy, daily phone calls to check in with one another, running errands together since we hate to be apart) have created a stockpile of happy memories.  Sure, there have been challenges -- owning an older home or training a hyperactive dog are just two examples that come to mind.  However, we are blessed to know that we are fully invested in our joint future. 

A family member once called our love "revolutionary".  I have embraced how wonderful that description is.  It has been great to love with all my heart and know the feelings are returned as fully. 

And now our revolutionary love gets to continue on to the next generation with Alma. 

Joshua and I have recently been marveling that five years ago when we first saw each other (and even before then) Alma's potential existed in both of us.  It's neat to think that maybe her spirit has been just waiting around for us to get our own dramas and events out of the way before joining us.  How great that, in a sense, this little being who makes us feel even more in love with each other has always been with us. 

Love you, Joshua.  Thanks for being my life partner and Alma's fantastic father!

Warmth

This week in honor of the metric ton of snow we received in the last week, I thought that we should highlight the beautiful quilts and other amazing blankets Alma has been given by all the women who love her.

My former Seattle roommate, Krista, made this great quilt and even sewed the fabric's design on the back.  Alma has been rockin' the tummy time workouts on the quilt.

Bridgette and Brian gave us this soft-as-heck stroller blanket for Christmas.  I'm admittedly obsessed with soft material so I've already started using it when Alma and I take naps together.  It is so soothing.

My good friend Tara made this beautiful quilt which includes lots of fun fabrics.  I love the owls!  It is hanging in the nusery and it adds a lot of cheer to the space.

My best friend Erica made this fleece blanket (along with a great hooter-hider, which I use when breast feeding in public).  I was laughing with Erica that her fleece skills have improved greatly .... when we were young and silly (middle school?), Erica made me a pair of fleece pants by tracing my legs as I was laying on her mother's dining room table.  Needless to say, they didn't fit well ... but I still wore them ALL the time. 

Shawn, a fellow Temple University master's student, is in the midst of making a crazy log cabin quilt.  Since Joshua and I had originally wanted Alma's nursery to have a lady bug theme, the quilt includes little lady bugs in the middle of each block.  Shawn is a tremendously talented quilter ... she once quilted a map of a local stream!  I'll be sure to post a photo of the finished project.  (No hurry, Shawn!!)

How impressive that these women would take time out of their busy schedules to make something so personal for our babe.  Each time we received one, I have cried at the thoughtfulness of the gesture.  It is overwhelming to feel so loved. 

Plus, I love that it is a way to send some comfort and warmth across the country.  We will treasure each of these quilts and blankets for many years to come.

What a lucky gal -- so loved!

Our Little Mama

Many people have asked us how Alma got her name. Sometimes we wonder the same.

During the course of the pregnancy, we talked about many names. While Joshua was open to anything (with occasional strong vetoes to certain names), my taste varied greatly and daily. Honestly, Joshua had a difficult time keeping up with our running list because it changed so often and so widely. Since we didn't find out the gender beforehand, we had to work on finding two suitable names. The boy's selection was easily decided.  However, I just couldn't seem to decide on a girl's name.

Before I was pregnant, I went through stages of liking Elliott and then Sasha. When I was first pregnant, I was sure our little girl would be a Monica. Towards the middle of the pregnancy, I was stuck on Natalie. However, this is with tons of Penelopes, Reeses, Fionas and Iones thrown in for good measure. I dually loved and hated each female name that came up. Eventually, I started driving myself (and Joshua) a little crazy with my constant research and chatter about names. So we decided to stop trying.

Two months before Alma was born, we said that we would leave the name up to inspiration on the day that the baby was born. Although, I had lapses back into the freak-out, like when I spent 3 hours at the bookstore on my due date looking at baby naming books. So when we packed up our things for the hospital, we included a list of 26 girl names that we liked with our initials besides the ones that were our top picks.

After we gave birth and we were sitting in the delivery room together with no one else around, the conversation went something like this:

"What do you think about names?"
"I'm not sure. Do you think she looks like an Alma?"
"Sure."
"Really?"
"Why not?"
"Well, then I think that should be her name."
"Sounds good."
"Wait, let me just look at the list and make sure that she doesn't look like any of the other names ... (*looks through list of names again*) ... yup, she's an Alma."
"Well, hello Miss Alma!"

And she did, and still does, look like an Alma.

We both love the name Alma for multiple reasons:

• Alma means "soul" in Spanish, which is a nice combination of the work that Joshua did in the Spanish-speaking churches of Coachella (southern California) and still does in Camden, New Jersey.
• Alma means "nourishing" in Latin (as in alma mater which translates to "nourishing mother"), which I feel is appropriate title for most first-born daughters who end up being "little mamas" in the family.
• When I worked at a homeless shelter for young women and their children in Eugene, Oregon, one of the little girls was named Alma. She was such a great little spirit and made me quickly fall in love with the name, which was new to me at that time.
• Just last week, I learned that Alma means "apple" in Kazakh. While it may seem silly, this really excited me because when I was in college I thought that Apple would be a cute middle name for my future imagined daughter. Then Gwyneth Paltrow named her daughter Apple and it ruined my plan as I didn't want folks to think I was copying a celebrity. So learning that Alma means apple, even in a language I don't speak, is kind of exciting.
• Lastly, it is just cute name that we think will transition well into adulthood.

Now we just have to figure out how to pronounce it ... but that's a matter for another day.

Happy Two Months!

We are still enjoying our new addition to the family. I mean, who couldn't enjoy a face like this:

Or this:

Or who takes naps on you like this:

Photos Photos Photos!

While I often don't have time to write about all the wonderful elements of being Alma's mom beyond the quick notes I jot in my journal, I have been snapping lots of pictures.  I keep trying to capture how cute she is.  Here are a few that give a glimpse into Alma's world ...

Alma doesn't mind "tummy time" but she really enjoys "flying" on her back on the couch.  When we hold her too long, she will fuss until we let her wiggle around on her own.  She is the champion of kicking her legs and flapping her arms. 

Simon loves Alma.  But he REALLY loves Grandma Chisholm.  He spent her entire visit trying to be as close as possible and plotting how to fit in her suitcase.

During the daytime, Alma spends a lot of time doing house chores, baking and visiting with friends while riding in this sling.  Also, if she is fussing, it can put her to sleep in just a few moments.  I knew that I would miss my pregnant belly; this is a close substitute.  I cannot decide who likes it more!

She also loves the hammock created by her father's legs!

While Alma wasn't born a champion sleeper, she is slowly making progress.  She has been sleeping in the Moses basket lent to us by Amanda and Lou.  (Thanks 'Lieris!) 

Alma has been hard at work trying to find her thumb.  It is neat to see her daily progress.  The other day in baby yoga class, she found it and it comforted her for most of the hour-long class, allowing me to do a full workout.  It was beyond wonderful.

In the past, Joshua and I have always made jokes about the crazy way we planned on dressing our future children.  We felt it was time to start making good on our promises.  Let the hazing begin!

Alma has started meeting some key folks recently.  Above is our neighbor, Marie, who plans on acting as A's third grandmother.  Below are Robin and Bobby, who are another set of wonderful uncles for Alma.  We cannot wait for them to start their family because they will be amazing fathers.

Even though we didn't take many pictures at the event, Alma got to meet most of her Thompson relatives at my cousin Tommy's homecoming party.  Tommy just got back from serving nine months in Iraq with the national guard.  We are happy to have him safely back in the US and excited that he will be living in Philadelphia with his gal.  Above is a picture of Cousin Patty and Aunt Claire at the party.

Even though it is busy time for us, parenthood is still a lot of fun.  Here Joshua and Alma are crying to me, even though I was the one who had to borrow clothes because A decided to throw up on me during a dinner at Robin and Bobby's house -- ha!

And I'll leave you, gentle readers, with our rendition of a drivers license photo.  She already has the deer-in-the-headlight look perfected.  Obviously, she is a genius.

Poem from Uncle Scott

Alma's Uncle Scott wrote a cute poem celebrating his future godchild ....

On the evening of the seventh day
Of the twelth month of the year
Little Alma Chisholm
Decided to appear

Life is full of mysteries
And many a trial and test
But one thing is for certain:
December babies are the best

So deck the halls with diapers
And see the stars shine brighter still
For perfect little Alma
Is here to warm up winter's chill.