New Hire!

Abraham Augustus DePasquale

Matchy-Matchy.

Amy and Violet in the photo booth

Violet has hit a particularly dynamic patch. Case in point, Violet convinced Amy that she wanted to take photo booth photos, until the moment that she didn't. When the strip was printed, Violet took it and immediately threw it into the trash. We'll be deducting the five bucks from her college fund.

(This is a test.)

In Case You Forgot What We Look Like

My dear friend Chrissy is no stranger to any readers of this blog. We asked her to do a family portrait of the Sumertons.

The results are here.

Basically, you should have Chrissy Deiger Photography take pictures of your family.

Popular Demand

And this little gem, from our very dear friend Chrissy Deiger, who does this professionally (although this picture was part of a very spur-of-the-moment photo shoot in Toledo):

For the longest time, Violet was what we liked to call "a tough crowd." She smiled a lot, she chuckled quite a bit, but it took a great deal of effort to get a laugh; and if she laughed at something, she only did once. (The second time we got a rolling laugh, for example, she was about three months old. Jason kept saying, "Happy bath! Happy bath!" in this ridiculous, high-pitched voice, and she found it hilarious. For the next two weeks [at least], one or the other of us would try the phrase over and over to no avail.)

It felt like she was thinking, Yeah, I laughed at that. I already laughed at that. What else do you have?


Which was a challenge Jason and I were up to, although I can't say we were regularly successful.

And I loved this about her. I found it cute and smart and probably gave her more credit about it than I should have.

 But do you know what's even better? A baby who laughs often, and -- dare I say? -- this week it seems like we have one of those on our hands.

THIS baby.

THIS one, you guys. THIS baby. THIS is the baby we live with.

Also THIS one...

THIS one...

And THIS one:

Where We Wed

We've been visiting Indiana monthly since Violet was born. On our most recent visit, we took her down to the beach where we got married:

Glass Half-Full...

(Click to enlarge...)

Some People Say Violet Looks Like Her Dad...

...to me, she looks like Violet. (Mostly, she looks like a baby, which means she looks like any number of -- SPOILER ALERT -- old men.)

She has her dad's face shape for sure, but those are definitely Sumerton eyes.

And...you know who else she looks like? Here are a handful of doppelgangers:

And, just so that you don't get the idea that I don't think she's pretty -- because, dear me, she is PRETTY, thegirlisgorgeous -- she also has a striking resemblance to:

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY to my beloved husband! Together we have made an altogether brilliant (she smiles at the leopard in her book every time -- she's gifted!), funny (the "walking"? the Bee Feet? the thundercloud?), goofy (how about that thing she does with her tongue?!), scary (she rolls her eyes back sometimes when she sleeps in a way that is a little creepy; also it is terrifying to love something THIS MUCH), and incredibly sweet (see: every move she makes!) girl. Thanks for being my fearless partner in the most overwhelming and tear-filled and frightening and JOYFUL thing I've ever done. I love you more than anything, except Violet, with whom you are tied.

P.S. I did this whole thing one-handed.

More pictures of our lady Vi.

REVISED: What We Talk about When WE Talk about Love.

Jason: Now if the baby dies, it's going to be really hard to dig a hole in the ground, because the ground is starting to freeze.
Me: Now that we know the baby, if the baby dies, the only hole for us is going to be the one at the end of the barrel of a shotgun.

Original post here.

Violet!

Her name is Violet, but mostly we call her Mouse, or Mouse House. We are not certain if she is indeed the mouse, or if she is simply a vessel in which many mice live. Based on the noises that come out of her, hour to hour, it is difficult to say. When she dirties a diaper, Jason says, "Eviction from the Mouse House! I understand you gotta get 'em out, but do you have to chew them up first?" in an old-timey voice. As with just about everything else these days, it's charming.

Moreover, she's the aviator of various aircraft. She is a polite hiccupper. After a feeding, she enjoys a good bit of a dance, which ends up looking a little bit like casting spells and a little bit like Thom Yorke in the "Lotus Flower" video. We have been compiling video and will hopefully post some soon.


Mostly, she's the best baby EVER. She sleeps a lot, snuggles even more, and when she's awake has this endearing quality of just looking around at things, calm and alert.

More pictures and probably the birth story for anyone who wants to hear it coming soon...as well as a MILLION AND ONE thank yous!

Introducing Violet Eliza DePasquale

(the fetus formerly known as Delano)

There is surely an epic tale to be told about the birth of our lovely daughter, Violet Eliza DePasquale, but it will have to wait until later, as we are currently frantically cycling between ecstatic and exhausted. For the moment, please know that we are all alive and well. We've had one slight complication, which is that Amy seems to be suffering from a spinal headache. In the grand scheme of things, it's minor, albeit pretty frustrating (especially for Amy...) It's kept us from being too photo-happy, which family and friends have been complaining about. (We find this very flattering, by the way.) So here are some quick shots of the last few days:



Grandma DePasquale meets Violet.




Cousin Haley and the Sumerton Grandparents pose with the birthday girl.



Uncle Rich and Aunt Rachel. This is the second baby Rich has ever held. (I don't know what happened to the first.)




Rich and Rachel brought mini bottles of champagne (among other gifts.) Here's Amy taking her first sip of alcohol in nine months. (It was also her only sip.)



My sister Natalie and Amy's brother Mike brought a whole host of cousins (and Aunt Caty and Uncle Tyler) to meet Violet. It was chaotic and wonderful.





In fact, all sorts of important people came by to pay their respects.



Here's me with my Practice Baby (Chloe), and my new Actual Baby (Violet.)
(For those who don't know, I was Chloe's nanny for a number of years. She taught me everything that I know.)




Mother and baby, resting at home in bed.


More to come. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE for the gigantic outpouring of love and support. We're profoundly grateful to have you all in our lives.

One more for the road:

Violet Eliza DePasquale
born December 12, 2011
7 pounds, 4 ounces
19.5 inches long
Conqueror of Hearts

What We Talk about When WE Talk about Love.

Me: If the baby dies, we'll have to get divorced and I'll move into a hole in the ground.

Jason: I don't see why we need to get divorced. Can't I move into the hole in the ground with you?

Me: (Pause for thought.) Okay.

Continuing Education. . .

(click to enlarge)

Hmm...

Wondering what the bedside reading is at the Sumersquale household these days? The other night, we were both in bed reading, and I looked over to see what Jason's nose was in. It was startling enough that I took a picture. I bet you can figure out who is reading what.

Should I be worried?

What to Expect. . .

My two older sisters were pregnant with their first children at roughly the same time. My first niece was born in December of one year, the second was born the following February. There was understandably a lot of excitement surrounding these events, and I got swept up in it by reading one of the many copies of the pregnancy bible What to Expect When You're Expecting that were floating around our homes at the time. It is a book that both demystifies and terrifies. It's the size of a brick, and while it is generally a positive, upbeat book about the miracle of pregnancy, approximately 89% of its contents are about all the ways in which genetics, environmental factors, acts of god, and human error can wreak havoc on your childbearing experience.

I've been revisiting it (and a stack of other pregnancy books) recently, and it reminded me of a little comic I drew years ago. If feels far more relevant to me now than it did when I drew it for obvious reasons:(click to enlarge)

We're now less than two months away from our expected due date, and all seems to be going well. (Please knock on some nearby wood, dear reader, just to be safe.)

Mom&NotMom

Because I always wanted to do a blog WITH someone -- someone who actually participated, actually posted semi-regularly -- I have started a blog with my dear friend Annie Palmer.

When we became friends, Annie and I were very much alike. In the last six years or so, our paths have diverged. Read all about here. Enjoy!

Work-in-Progress: Do, Do Not

We've been compiling lists of things we do and do not want to do when we're parents. I'm writing them here now because it will be interesting to see how much of it we actually carry through on.

Dos:

1. Take lots of pictures and blog frequently. (Sorry. Seriously, though, if you don't want to hear about it, what are you doing here?)
2. Keep up our baby journal. It's already about thirty pages long, and even if she never cares to read it, it will be fun for us to revisit later. I have a horrible memory, and I like the idea that I could look back on her first attempts at speech, steps, and etcs.
3. Say things that are frequently annoying, such as "We never knew we could love something so much," in moderation, and sincerely.
4. Try to raise a baby that turns into a child that eats a varied diet, and does not say no to trying new foods. (I know this is difficult. I also know it can happen.)
   

Do Nots:

1. Do not ever make my facebook profile picture my baby's face. It is MY facebook page, not the baby's.
2. Do not make the baby a facebook page.
3. Do not post on facebook about the baby being sick, or having a temperature, any more than necessary. (Necessary: No more than twice a year.)
   
4. Do not get an email address that has the word "mom," "mama," or (especially) "mommy" anywhere in it. While I am sure being a mother will be the most important thing in my life personally, I'd like to maintain some public semblance of life outside of motherhood.
5. Do not complain about being tired. All the time.
   
6. Do not get a car with a DVD player. We both have many fond memories of long family trips with comic books and made-up games, that feeling of restlessness that you'll never get there, and the inadvertent meditation that happens when you stare out of the window for an hour. We still love long car rides.

I feel like I had a bunch more of these to write, but alas, we'll consider this blog a work-in-progress, and I'll update it when necessary. At any rate, I am almost committed to posting something once a week or so, so here we go.

We're also open to suggestions, so feel free to email us or utilize the comments.