Cousin Mia

Elsa recently got her second new cousin in two weeks—Mia Jennifer Shaffer was born on March 16. She was 7 pounds, 10 ounces and 19 inches long. She currently has more hair than Elsa had at 18 months old. : ) The whole family is doing great, including Carter, who loves his new role as big brother.

The original plan was that we wouldn't see Mia until the whole Shaffer family came to Milwaukee for a visit in May, after our baby is born. But after seeing Tommy a few weeks before, I couldn't bear the idea of not seeing Mia until she was almost two months old! So Elsa and I decided to make a quick trip to Michigan last week. I was mainly concerned about the drive (four hours each way) being uncomfortable. But everybody else freaked out about me going into labor while in Michigan or, worse, during the drive there or back. Ellen had a valid point: "What if you go into labor in Gary?" There's no question that would be disastrous. Still, I would be back home four weeks to the day before my scheduled c-section—and that's actually five weeks to the day before my "real" due date. It seemed pretty unlikely that I would go into labor more than five weeks early. I went back and forth for days about whether to go, before finally deciding that we would.

And I'm so glad we did! It was really fun to see the whole family. Elsa and Carter had a blast together, like always. I'm sure it was nice for Carter that someone came more to see him and play with him than the new baby. : ) They played on "Carter's playground," as Elsa calls the play set in their backyard, rode in various vehicles on the driveway, and watched the movie "Cars" together.

Mia's so sweet and cute, and such a good baby—we were there almost a whole day before I even heard her cry. Our visit was a really good refresher course on life with a newborn—you forget how tiny and cuddly they are when they're that age. I'd forgotten some other important things as well, like how often newborns are supposed to eat, how frequently they need to be changed, etc. (I really need to get out my "What to Expect In the First Year" book—I didn't even remember that babies can't have a full-fledged bath until after the umbilical stump falls off). The trip was also a nice distraction from our monotonous life at home lately. We've scaled back on most of our usual activities, so it seems like Elsa and I basically spend every day just sitting around the house, waiting for this kid to be born. It was great to have something else to do for a few days!

We miss Carter and Mia, but we're so happy we got to spend a few days there before yet another baby comes along. Elsa is already really looking forward to the Shaffers' visit in May.