100 percent grateful

Sometime last fall (amidst uncertainty about where we were going to be ending up) Drew opened a fortune cookie that read "You will make many changes before happily settling down." Well, the last of these changes finally came ten days after Maeve was born when our container was delivered to our new house in Australia. And we are happy to report we are happily settling down.

First off, I need to apologize for my absence. If you would believe it, it took a full month to get our Internet hooked up at this house so I am just now getting back online. OK, that is not exactly the truth. But it did take one full week, and the truth is in the past month I have had little time to think about e-mails, phone calls or this blog. Well, that isn't exactly the truth either. I have thought about it, but the thought has been "I would die just to have a few minutes to send an e-mail!" I have definitely had more "I think I am in over my head" moments than I would like to admit lately. The best was when Drew asked me how my day had gone. "Good," I said, "but there is very little downtime." "Maybe you should have thought about that before you had two kids," he said. Funny.

So like I was saying, with a less than two-week old baby in our arms we began unpacking 250 some boxes, items of furniture and who knows all what else. I have to say it is a little unsettling to see all of your possessions parade before your eyes. I kept thinking," Why does Jackson have so many toys? Why do I have so many books? And why does Drew have so many shoes?" We thought we had donated and gotten rid of a fair amount of stuff, so maybe the Australian government added to our shipment on its way through customs. That is the only explanation.

We would still be in boxes today if Drew's parents hadn't been here through our move. There is no way we would have survived without them. I mean these people were more expert than the hired movers themselves. I am not sure what their going rate is for non-family members, but I am certain that it would be worth your every penny. There energy and motivation was so appreciated. Especially considering Drew's dad, Jim, arrived on the day of our move.

I want to pause here to share with you a quick lesson from Jim in getting over jet lag. It goes like this: 1) Fly straight from a business trip in the States all the way around the world to Australia. 2) Get off the plane (quickly -- he was the first one of the flight), kiss your grandson hello. 3) Eat a muffin and some sort of a brekkie sandwich, and after encouraging by your son, take a shower. 4) Within 1.5 hours of landing, arrive at your son's new home. 5) Hold and kiss your new baby granddaughter. Pose for a picture. 6) Making sure to move faster than the actual hired movers, start unloading and unpacking boxes, and lifting and assembling piece after piece of furniture. 7) Repeat steps 1-6 for the next three days.


Not only do they do moves, but Drew's mom did an unbelievable amount of laundry while she was here. She was like the laundry fairy. I started wearing extra clothes just to see if she could keep up. And she did. Phenomenal.

Four days after we moved in, my mom arrived and got to meet Maeve for the first time. And again we had a mini-Christmas of gifts from aunts and uncles and our American requests fulfilled. Jackson was so excited to see his "Grandma Schupp" as he started calling her. And I was so thankful for the arrival of the woman who requires no sleep, aka my mom. Truly, you cannot underestimate the value of this trait. If Jim's method of battling jet lag doesn't suit you, you could take a cue from my mom: 1) Stay up for three days straight prior to leaving to finish and arrange all of your work while you will be away. 2) Fly to Australia on the longest travel days ever, i.e., early flights to ensure you avoid bad weather. 3) Arrive in Australia and immediately take on the duty of staying awake with your granddaughter during the day and through the night. The bottom line of this method is just never sleep. Amazing.

As you can see, I was on cloud nine with all of our help here to love on Jackson and Maeve and take care of us. We all were 100 percent grateful for all the sacrafices of time the three of them made to be with us. Then wouldn't you know it, just days before my 3oth birthday, they all deserted me. Took off back to the States. Grandparents these days are so selfish.

For the past few weeks, Drew, Jackson, Maeve and I had to find our own rhythms and ways to make things work. Drew has had a few work trips so that has made it interesting (read chaotic), but we are making progress and most importantly everyone is still alive. Honestly, there are so many moments of feeling so blessed for Jackson and Maeve. These two kids are the love of our lives. Especially when they are sleeping at the same time.

Now I only have six days (yep, we're counting down) until my mom comes again to share five weeks of her summer break with us. I told Drew tonight that we are going to make my mom wish she never said we didn't leave Jackson alone with her enough. I was so stressed to leave Jackson when he was young, but boy have I learned my lesson this time around. My dad will also join in the fun for a few weeks and will get to meet Maeve for the first time. I can't explain how excited we are for that.

Maeve is growing like a weed, and breaking our hearts all the time with her smiles. Jackson has tried, although unsuccessfully, to break Maeve a few times. Mostly, he just loves her a little too much. Jackson continues to crack us up, and I finally got him into a gymnastics class which he loves. The class is full of two-year old boys (energy!) but they have a great young gal for a teacher who manages to keep them in line very well. I am so impressed (and envious).

I'm not going to make any promises, but I am hoping to more regular updates from here on out. We can't wait to catch up with you all too, so if we haven't returned and e-mail or phone call, please don't write us off just yet.

Serendipity

Here are some serendipitous facts about baby Maeve:

1) Maeve and Jackson were both born on the 14th day of the month.

2) Around 2 a.m. one night at the hospital a very sweet, Irish midwife came in to care for Maeve so Drew and I could get some rest (I could have taken her home!). She told us she also had a daughter named Maeve, but hadn't heard it used since she named her daughter that 15 years ago. She said our daughter would be strong. The name comes from Irish and Gaelic origin, and the original form is Meadhbh, name of the legendary warrior queen of pre-Christian Ireland. Apparently, this Meadhbh was some woman and ended up slaying a warrior hero. The meaning of the name is "intoxicating." Because I had this name in mind since college, we had never bothered looking up the meaning, etc., but now find ourselves with a warrior queen. Yikes!

3) A side note to that: You know how sometimes the last song you hear on the radio in the car is the one that stays in your head all day? Well, the last song I listened to on my iPod at the hospital while we were waiting for things to get going was "Maneater" by Nelly Furtado, a remake of the 80's song by Hall & Oates (who happens to be a Schupp family favorite). And it has been in my head every since. So here are the a few lyrics, which I think, add more meaning to side note number two . . . She's a maneater. Make you work hard. Make you spend hard. Make you want all of her love. She's a maneater. Make you buy cars. Make you cut cards. Wish you never ever met her at all!

So yes, we might just have a little warrior queen after all.

4) Heather, the midwife on first shift during delivery (I have yet to deliver a baby during just one nurse's shift) shares a birthday with Jackson, November 14th.

5) Maeve was born at 5:16 p.m. My birthday is May 16th, or 5/16.

The setup

Last night, Jackson had a little box of milk he was drinking in his room before bed. I could hear him slurping as I was reading to him -- he was getting toward the end of the box. So he hands me the box and says, "Drink, mommy." And I pretend like I am taking a drink and hand it back to him. Then he looks at me with big, serious eyes and says, "Uh oh. New one. Mommy drink. New one."

Very clever, Jackson, but unfortunately for you, even in mommy's sleep deprived state, your attempted setup did not work.

Homecoming

Ready to go?

Dressed and ready!

Escaping the hospital.

Up the elevator.

Safely home.

Settling in.

Keeping an eye on baby.

Kicking back.
(Note: Enlarge this image to check out some major feet and toes! Can you believe it?!)

Birth Day!

Maeve Elizabeth was born on 4/14/2008 at 5:16 p.m. She weighed 6 pounds exactly and was 19 inches long. She has lots of dark hair, no match for Jackson's outrageous newborn do though! We are loving every minute of her.

Drew

Countdown

OK, family. Here is your requested photo taken T minus 48 hours. To give everyone the update, our doctors are recommending an induction because of some various concerns with the baby's size, so we will be going to the hospital on the morning of April 14th. Personally, I think we will shock them with a nice, healthy nine-pound baby girl, in true Schupp style. (But hopefully not baby boy Schupp style! Love you, Bri.)

Saturday was a very exciting day as Grandma Parker -- our reinforcement -- arrived safely after an uneventful flight. And, more importantly, an uneventful trip through customs, which we were all anticipating due to the huge wishlist the three of us had put together. As you can see from the photos, it was like another little Christmas for all of us. A huge thanks to all of our parents for our special treats! We love you! As Grandma Parker pointed out, for Jackson when it rains grandparents, it pours. In the next two weeks, he will be very excited to go pick up his Grandma Schupp and Grandpa Parker. And then in June Grandpa Schupp. He will be in heaven.

Jackson was as usual a very good helper, carrying Grandma's suitcase all the way to the car. It was cute to watch him change hands as it got heavy for him. He had lots of fun telling grandma about Brisbane as we drove through the city. When we passed the Marriott Brisbane hotel, I was thinking back to our what seemed like our forever week-long stay there. I saw the lobby and thought of all the apples Jackson ate that week as the hotel had them out in the lobbies. Of course, our little memory man said, "apple." He remembered too. Thinking back to those first days -- no home, no car, no clue -- I couldn't help being proud of how far the three of us have come in the last two months. In some ways, it seems like it has been longer than that. Hopefully, we are now ready for the next big change in our lives, bringing home our new baby girl.

What's for dessert . . . playdough!

The other day while I was talking with my sister on the phone Jackson let me know he wanted my attention by eating his playdough. Delicious. Fotunately for him, his Auntie Meg is a step ahead of the game and took the initiative to find us some recipes for edible playdough. (It always pays to have teachers in the family!)

Now, I don't know the exact ingredients of playdough, but I was guessing the recipe we choose from the ones Meg sent would taste better to Jackson. Peanut butter, honey and powdered sugar. Like peanut butter taffy, right?! Well, apparently Jackson has a much more advanced palate than I do because he did not prefer this recipe. (I on the other hand rather liked it, which shouldn't surprise anyone.) The kid still got his share of sugar (never a problem) as he munched on the mini M&M's I gave him to use for decorating his playdough creations.

Thanks, Auntie Meg, for our fun experiment!

Here is the recipe we used (for anyone hungry enough):

2 Cups powdered sugar (plus maybe a little extra so it isn't sticky)

1 Cup smooth peanut butter

1/2 Cup honey

Bon appetit!