Meeting Bridget

We had a very busy and exciting weekend—we went all the way to Washington, DC and back again—we saw many, many things but first I'll share the main reason for our trip up north...




This is baby Bridget, born just one month ago—on Halloween, actually—to my wonderful cousin, Elizabeth. Bridget was due the previous week (on Miriam's birthday). Hurricane Sandy was due to smash somewhere on the east coast the week Elizabeth was getting more and more overdue. The combination of factors—Bridget being overdue and Hurricane Sandy gathering momentum—was making everybody nervous but everything turned out beautifully. Bridget arrived safe and sound and the hurricane stayed far enough away that it wasn't a problem...in Stafford, Virginia.

This weekend Elizabeth's husband headed up to New York to help with the hurricane cleanup. Elizabeth was nervous to be left all alone with a brand new baby—and I can't say that I blame her—so she was pretty excited when I phoned her to ask if we could visit with her this weekend.

We picked her up in time for church and then had dinner and visited with her afterward.

It was fun to see her and meet that sweet baby of hers. 

I can't believe how tiny she is! Bridget was just about nine pounds when we met her—which is twice the size Benjamin was at birth. She seemed so tiny compared to him.

The other babies we've been around—all the babies in our ward here—are around Benjamin's age. We took a picture of Benjamin next to his little friend Olivia, who is two weeks older than him, and she was a full head taller than him! It was strange (but also exciting) to see him looking so robust next to another baby. He dwarfs Bridget!

Bridget is still pretty sleepy. Elizabeth undressed her to try to wake her up so she could do a little more feeding. Learning how to breastfeed is such a long, agonizing process. It's hard enough teaching a baby how to do it but when you're trying to teach yourself how to do it at the same time? It's so stressful. Elizabeth is definitely feeling under pressure to get that baby to eat well. Oh, do I ever remember those days like they were yesterday. I was almost as stressed out about feeding Rachel as I was about feeding Benjamin (almost, but not quite (and feeding Miriam was a breeze)) simply because I had no idea what I was doing.

They'll figure it out though, I'm sure. They're a great team.

After everyone had been fed, from the grown ups down to the infant, we tried to take a nice group picture. I don't know why I always feel like I have to do that every time our family gets together but I'm sure it's because my grandma had us do it every time we got together. 

Andrew was taking the picture, so he's not in it, and Miriam was off pouting in the corner because she didn't want to stop colouring. My mom sent a huge stack of paper with my Uncle Bruce and Auntie Sara on their cross-country drive from Utah to Virginia in October (they were coming to help out/meet their granddaughter) and the paper had been sitting at Elizabeth's house ever since. It's a good thing, too, because my girls sat and coloured on it for hours while I helped Elizabeth. You'd think that after colouring for hours that Miriam would be easily convinced to put the paper and crayons away...but actually she wasn't and instead decided to sulk in the corner. That's why she's not in the picture. (But thank you so much for the paper, Mom, and for delivering it, Uncle Bruce!)

It's kind of strange to me that Elizabeth has a baby of her own. It shouldn't be because she's not that much younger than I am (she's been married for five years; I've been married for seven) but I remember my mom telling me when she was born—I named my tricycle after her!—and I remember oohing and aahing over her baby pictures when Auntie Judy sent them. I so admired that tiny baby in a fancy blue dress, with a mop of dark hair and sparkling black eyes.

I think this is the first time in my lifetime that I remember the births of two generations. 

I'll be able to say to Bridget, "I remember when you were born! You were a week over due and everyone was so worried you'd be born in the middle of a hurricane!" And then I'll be able to say, "I also remember when your mother was born; I named my tricycle in her honour."

Babies having babies? That just makes me feel old.

I was so happy to see Elizabeth, though. I'm glad that she's "close by."