One of those "Circle of Life" Kind of Posts

Sugarpop and I met nine years ago. We have been married for over six years. We have lived in our house for those six years. Our eldest child, the Oh, is four and a half. Our middle, the Happy Elf, is two and four months, and our little girl Daisy (aka Dew Drop) is five weeks old. 

Her short time in our lives has gone by so fast and we are cognisant of how quickly the years will go by. 

Monday last I was home in the afternoon with the boys when there was a knock on the door. A woman of about 60 was at the door with a double-paper bag full of baby food in jars. She said she was a neighbor from around the corner and had heard we had a new member of our family. She handed me the bag and said there was a note inside. I thanked her and she left.

I set the bag by the door and went back to playing with the kids. It was only later that I read the note. This is what it said.

Hello. I'm sorry, but I don't remember your name. We've spoken to each other on rare occasions. I'm sure you'd recognize me if you saw me--very short white hair. I would walk my dad around the block when he was still with us. We'd bring his beagle with us. She passed before last Christmas.

Pop joined her a few weeks ago. Because of pop's difficulty swallowing, we sometimes fed him baby food.

I noticed you have a new addition to your household. Congratulations!  Maybe you could use this? 

As we were welcoming Dew Drop into our lives, she was saying goodbye to her father from her life. So I savor this day, this moment, and I am thankful.

What a Month!

Today our daughter turns one month old. It also marks a month since my last post. Yikes! But my work gave me two weeks of family leave and it's taken the month to settle into the pace of three kids.

Her name is Daisy. Sugarpop wanted a flower name and we came to the name Daisy and it just made us smile. And Sugarpop's favorite flower is the Gerber Daisy. Grace is her middle name and it's a spiritual concept very meaningful to Sugarpop.

But let me tell you, from this side of the fence, three is pretty fun. The boys, the Oh and Happy Elf, are loving there sister, smothering her with kisses and always wanting to hold her. We've become more of a family because of our little girl. And not just because as parents we are managing a trio instead of a duo. We feel fuller, knowing that the brothers have a sister, the sister has brothers, and we are blessed with sons and a daughter. It's just enough of happy controlled chaos that we can manage and continue to laugh. Even when Daisy releases her ballistic cry, the corn dogs in the oven are burning, and the Oh has just dropped a duce in his Batman skivvies, what can you do but laugh.

Sugarpop has been a champ. Radically sleep-deprived and left with the kids from 6 a.m.until I come home from work around 3:30. Her hormones pendulating on their destination to normalcy, while breastfeeding, pumping her milk for a surplus supply, and writing chapter 2 of her dissertation--she manages her upbeat disposition.

To paraphrase a song by Bowling for Soup: life with three kids "is not so bad at all!"