Nearly 5 weeks

Hard to believe that the baby is already almost 5 weeks old. Time flies when you're sleep deprived. We're still working on getting a reasonable schedule figured out. I've realized that her wake/sleep cycles are fairly similar to what they were in the womb. Really, that shouldn't be so surprising, right?

Both the boys are still being very sweet and gentle with her. I sure hope that lasts. Liam is constantly asking if he can hold the baby. I managed to get this photo of the two of them together. Our camera is working hit or miss these days, and lately it's been more miss than hit.

Liam's been making some strides in doing new things. He recently figured out how to tie his shoes. We've been trying to get him to do it for a while, but he is insistent on figuring things out on his own and wouldn't let anyone show him how to do it. He's also got two new adult teeth that have poked through behind his baby teeth. Momma thinks a visit to the dentist is in order.

There is some knitting progress that I have to show you all, but I haven't had a chance to snap pictures of it yet. The baby blanket is coming along very nicely, and I'm nearly ready to seam and put the border on.

Today is hubby's birthday. Money is tight, so we've decided not to do much of anything except maybe order out dinner.

And finally, here is a sampling of some of the pictures I took this morning while the camera was behaving...

Cutie booties

I received my first gift from a fellow knitblogger this past weekend. A pair of hand-crocheted booties in pretty pink for my little girl. They are sooo cute, and it was so generous of Andi to make these for Corinna.

They arrived by snail mail, and as soon as I got the box from the postman, I had to put them on baby's sweet feet:

Legs in motion

They are only a little big on her, and it won't be long before she'll be able to wear them without socks. The little flowers on the top are just the sweetest. Love them! Thanks again, Andi!

A birth story (rather long considering it was such a short event)

A warning for those faint of heart...or constitution. This story may be considered a bit graphic or blunt to some. Part of why I keep this blog is so I can have a place to put things down in black and white in the hopes of somehow mentally processing it. So here goes...

As evidenced by previous posts to this here blog, I was beginning to get a bit impatient about the non-arrival of our little girl by the beginning of the New Year. Liam came 2 weeks early, Jonah a day early, and I was expecting little girl to show up somewhere in the middle considering all the laboring I'd already been doing. I knew those contractions were doing something, and I tend to do a fair bit of dilation before the "real thing" kicks in. No big surprise that things were the same here.

The week before the 4th, I had an appointment with the nurse midwives, and we both agreed that we probably wouldn't be seeing each other until after the birth since I was already 4 cm dilated and had been having contractions off and on for a couple of weeks already. This time baby girl was lined up quite nicely, unlike Jonah, who decided to come out sunny side up (posterior). I made an appointment for the 4th with the midwives, and we all assumed that I would not be showing up. So when the 4th rolled around and the baby wasn't here yet, they were surprised to see me for my regularly scheduled appointment.

The night before the appointment, I noticed something different. It seemed as though the baby was looking for the door. My contractions were the same as before, but I could feel the work they were doing stretching my cervix...and I was having the tell-tale "bloody show" that gets everyone all excited. When I got to the office, I was having fairly regular contractions, nothing that I had to really pay attention to, and I wasn't getting my hopes up too much. I was curious to know if there had been any change since the last appointment and the previous night's contractions, not that it would make any difference or give us a clue as to when the baby might show up, and she told me I was 5-6 cm. She told me I'd likely have the baby that night or the next day and that I was probably in the process of gearing up to really get going. Again, I tried not to get too hopeful.

By the time we left the appointment, it was 4 in the afternoon, and I had not yet had lunch. Hubby mentioned Swenson's, and I was instantly desperate to have one of their double cheeseburgers, fries, and a chocolate milkshake. Swenson's is a Northeast Ohio icon, and their burgers are absolutely to die for. So after taking the long route there by way of a bank (hubby was convinced there was one nearby, but there wasn't), we ordered some lunch (dinner by this time), and I noticed that things were starting to pick up in intensity, but the timing was still a good 8 minutes or more apart. I made a few phone calls and let our homebirth midwife know that we would probably be having a baby that night or early the next morning. I was really anticipating that it would be some time in the middle of the night, as both the boys were born in the early morning hours.

By some time shortly after 5:30 we were finishing our burgers , and I had the idea that we needed to hit the wholesale club to pick up a few things that we'd need over the next week. Hubby wanted to know if I thought I could make it through, and I assured him that we had a long way to go yet. So off we went, and by the time we got there, I was beginning to doubt my previous assertions. Once in the club, I was noticing that I was having to actually stop and collect myself during the contractions, and they were coming with more frequency than previously. We rushed through and grabbed what we needed, and by the time we were getting ready to check out, the only line with a cashier was 4 deep. To the self-checkout we went. Hubby worked as fast as he could to get everything out of the cart and through the scanner, which, of course, required rescanning every 2nd or 3rd item. The last item in the cart was a large bag of broccoli that was sporting a gaping hole. I was starting to get pretty serious. "Leave it." A checkout helper asked if we wanted someone to go get another, and I curtly told her, "No thanks...we're leaving now." I'm sure I made more than a couple of folks nervous there that night.

We got to the car, and I called my SIL so she could get on her way from C-bus. I still thought I had hours left to go, but I knew that I was definitely in labor this time. Home we went. By the time we hit home, I was really breathing with the contractions. As I came up the sidewalk, one came, and I leaned over the railing to the front steps to brace myself. The neighbors saw us pull up in the driveway and had noticed the extra cars in the drive (only the grandparents, who had kept an eye on the kids so we could go to the midwife's office), so they poked their heads out the door to see if there was to be a baby that night. Seeing me leaning over the railing and getting the confirmation from hubby that I was indeed in labor, they wished me luck. The time was somewhere around 6:30.

FIL was waiting by the door as we pulled up, on the phone with BIL who had thus been informed by SIL that we were on our way home and that I was in labor. I figured that as soon as we arrived home, he would be on his way out, as I know it's not easy to listen to me in labor (can't think of anyone who enjoys listening to sick farm animals). Bless his heart, he managed to stick it out through the entire thing. Afterward, we joked that I didn't give him long enough to escape. Once inside the house, I realized that I needed to vocalize (read: moo like a sick cow) in order to cope with the intensity of the contractions which were now coming quite closely together. In between, I directed hubby to call the homebirth midwife, and I somehow managed to call our friend A., who was going to be our doula, and the photographer. All were within a 15-minute drive and were already on high alert. I also directed hubby to fill the pool, which, thankfully, I had inflated the night before.

The photographer arrived first and started getting some shots. The pool was not yet filled, and I wasn't willing to wait any longer to get in. The water was an absolute blessing. I completely melted into the pool, even though the water was barely up over my thighs when sitting. The contractions were coming pretty fast and intense at this point, and I wasn't getting much break in between. I was starting to panic that if this was going to last for hours on end that I would never be able to cope. In between contractions, I was still able to direct traffic and ask for what I needed, but during the contractions, I was only able to vocalize. The boys were convinced that they really wanted to be in the pool with me, and Jonah kept splashing his hands in the pool every chance he got. By this time, we'd run through one tank of hot water, and the pool was not even half full. I directed someone to boil water on the stove, quickly. By the time the midwife arrived not very long after this, I was starting to feel pushy, but I wasn't sure I was really ready to do that yet. It seemed much to soon.

That didn't seem to matter, because my body was on autopilot, and I was along for the ride. Within a few minutes, I was spontaneously pushing with the contractions, letting out a roar with each one. My water broke with a big pop underwater, and I could feel the baby's head descending down, and soon I felt like I needed to get out and take care of serious business. Of course, it was just the baby's head. The midwife asked me where I wanted to be, and I knew that even if I did need to get to the bathroom, I had about no hope of making it there. So I stayed put. She asked me if I could feel the baby, and when I reached down, I could feel the wrinkled top of the baby's head almost starting to crown. This was a surprise and a relief at the same time. I knew there was an end in sight, and probably rather quick to be had. There was not much break in between the contractions, and I kept pushing with everything I had. She crowned slowly, thanks to the midwife getting into the pool (which she assured me she wouldn't do for just anyone) and supporting the baby's head as it started to emerge while reminding me to slow down and breathe. As the baby came out, she floated toward me between my legs (I was on hands and knees almost squatting), and the midwife told me to pick her up, which I did. Apparently, my final push was a roar that turned into a long "Helloooo!" to our new little girl. Most of the labor I had my eyes closed so I could focus on what was going on in my body and so I could relax everywhere else, and with this greeting, I finally opened my eyes to see our wiggly little baby. The minute her little head was above the water, she was crying briskly, and she continued to do so for quite a while. Someone noted that the time of birth was 7:23, so less than 2 hours from the start of true labor to the birth, and only about 45 minutes from the time I got home. I pushed for maybe 10 minutes.

We cuddled in the pool for a few minutes and then decided to get out to deliver the placenta and cut the cord. The baby was also already rooting and smacking her lips, so she settled in for a long nursing session. Hubby started making phone calls, and the neighbors were shocked to learn that we already had the baby, considering it was less than an hour before that they saw me on the porch. The cord was very limp and white, and Liam and hubby cut the cord. SIL arrived about 8:30, nearly an hour after baby arrived. I sat in awe of the whole thing and tried to put the timing of it all together. I was completely unprepared for how quick and intense it was going to be, so for the next couple of days, I tried to come to grips with what exactly had happened. The photographer said she got some good shots, and I'm eager to see them as I had my eyes closed nearly the whole time.

In comparing this birth with my previous births....there is no comparison. This was our first waterbirth (though not the gentle, slow birth I envisioned...something about putting the birth on fast forward will do that), though I tried with the boys for one and got out of the water to push for different reasons each time. Each birth has been so different (as has each child), yet each time, I think the lesson I need to learn is the same....you cannot control it, you cannot predict it, you can only give in to it. I also have realized just how quickly the intensity fades from the memory. I never at any point thought that it was so intense that I couldn't handle it. There was the thought in my head at some point that if it did get more intense that I couldn't do it. That's transition, baby. Wasn't but a few minutes, I cried a little (again...transition!), I got through it, and I was pushing. I'm still so in awe of the whole thing, and loving on this new baby after this experience has renewed my faith in the process (which I think I need from time to time). I'm blessed to have had three beautiful, empowering birth experiences. I have faith in my body that it knows what to do and that birth does indeed work and is not the emergency that TV would lead you to believe. It is a powerful, life-changing, amazing thing that I was able to experience as it was really meant to be. It just makes me ever so resolved that the way birth is handled and the way women are educated about their bodies in this country really needs to change. Hopefully I can help a little...and in the process help other women realize that which I'm lucky already to have done more than once.

A week and some change

We're all doing pretty well here. Finally starting to get into a rhythm with everyone. Night time is getting better now that I have a routine down (you'd think that by #3, this would be old hat...), and I'm not changing so many diapers at night.

A., who acted as our doula, mobilized moms from Liam's class into action, and they've been providing us meals for the past week. What a lovely gift! Out of everything, having a meal that I don't have to come up with and that we can heat and eat when we're ready has been lovely. I have so many thank yous to get out for this and from all the gifts that have been arriving for Corinna.

This week was her first visit to the doctor, and she's already up over 8 lbs. (yay mama milk!). Her length was 21 inches. We also sorted through some breastfeeding issues (thank heavens for friends in high places and craniosacral therapy!). I finally got some batteries for the camera, so I have pictures of the baby (we are awash in a sea of pink...and I LOVE it!! Hubby has said we need a moratorium on allowing any more pink into this house...):

She's growing in eyelashes and eyebrows (which are very light in color, so I'm thinking she's going to be blonde like the boys or have very light brown hair). Her eyes seem to be moving toward the blue range, though there's still plenty of time for that to change.

The thing that seems to be causing the most problem so far is her name...No one seems to know how to pronounce it. All the folks who have seen her name but not heard us pronounce it have been saying "kareena." So, in case you all were wondering, the correct pronunciation of Corinna is "core-inn-ah." No careening around here. Her name comes from the greek word for "maiden" and is a familiar form of the name Corinne.

Knitting and any other crafting has come to a complete standstill due to my inability to string more than a few minutes together at a time, but I'm hoping that I'll be able to work some in here and there as the days progress. Posting to the blog will likely be haphazard for a while, since I'm still getting my bearings.

We're all pretty exhausted today. Apparently coming into the world so fast is pretty traumatic for baby too....

She's here!!!!

Corinna Grace arrived this evening at home at 7:23 after less than 2 hours of serious labor. She weighs in at 7 lb. 12 oz. and is cute as a button. Photos and birth story will follow shortly...we're gonna enjoy the babymoon...and get over the shock of how quick things happened!!

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A belated Happy New Year!

Not much new to report here. The New Year came and went without much pomp and circumstance, but that was perfectly fine by me.

We spent New Year's with the in-laws, had the requisite pork and sauerkraut dinner that night since BIL and SIL were in town, and settled in to watch the ball drop. Surprisingly, a very tired Liam managed to stay awake and celebrated the New Year with a glass of sparkling grape juice (which he decided he was not terribly fond of...but I rather enjoyed!) with the rest of us. Shortly thereafter, we came home, where he promptly crashed. Surprisingly...he was actually the first one up the next morning!

I actually spent most of New Year's Eve knitting and relaxing. As a result, there is actually an FO to show!!

Remember this hat? Well...after photographing the progress I'd made, I realized there was a pretty big mistake in it and ended up frogging back to nearly the beginning. Then I knit back up to where I thought the decreases should start and had a dilemma. In the book, the hat doesn't have decreases at the crown, you pretty much knit the tube and bind off the stitches at the top. BIL wanted more of a fitted hat, so it needed to have decreases. So...how do you decrease on an asymmetric hat? The answer to my question came on Christmas Day, when SIL (wife of BIL whom I was knitting the hat for) received a lovely cabled hat...not asymmetric, but pretty close. The designer's solution was to just switch to stockinette and decrease on down from there. So that's what I did. This is the result:

side 1

flip side

handsome hubby modeling finished product

So I used the Asymmetric Cable Hat pattern from One Skein knit on 10 1/2 bamboo needles in Reynolds Lopi. I followed the pattern until I thought it was time to start decreasing, and then I switched to stockinette and used the decreases from the felted bowl pattern (same book...ssk, do a set # of stockinette, k2tog) until there were no stitches between the decreases. Then I cut my yarn and drew it back through the live stitches, pulling them tight together. Voila!! BIL seemed pretty pleased with the results, but I may have to snag it from him some time and line it with some microfleece or something since Lopi can be kinda scratchy. Should be plenty warm, though!

There has also been knitting on baby girl's blanket:

There are only a few more rows to go on the pink block, and then I'll cast off and start the next strip. This has been coming along so quickly that if she decides to hold out until the weekend or after to come, I may actually have this thing finished before she gets here. Progress was slowed yesterday when my self-wound skein of natural color got tangled and I ended up spending a few hours trying to undo the mess I'd created. If it had been cheap acrylic, I likely would have just said forget it and tossed the whole skein, that's how tangled it was. I'd likely do anything for this Malabrigo stuff, though...like crack it is.

Maybe a little S.E.X. (stash enhancement) will con this baby out....

So we're officially less than a week from the due date, and to our midwife's surprise baby girl has not arrived yet. I've already dilated enough to be considered in early labor, and I've been having contractions on and off, but none of it seems to go anywhere (not that I'm really all that surprised). I was hoping for a December 30 birthday, since it seems to be an auspicious birthday, but that wasn't to be. Despite the fact that I know she'll come when she's ready, I am getting a little anxious to finally meet this little girl.

Sex is supposed to help get labor going, so yesterday, I went down to the local yarn shop and got me some (a Stash Enhancement eXpedition), and I have to say, I left feeling quite satisfied, though not in labor. I went by myself, so I fondled and sniffed the yarn for a good long time (the sales associates were really wondering, I'm sure) before I finally picked a couple of items and checked out. I was given a gift certificate for Christmas from the in-laws (they know the way to this girl's heart), and I had enough receipts saved up for an additional 25% off, so when I saw this kit and snuggled with the knit up sample in the store...had to have...and yes, I've already cast on:

I've wanted some Malabrigo (a sinfully soft kettle dyed 100% merino wool) for a while, ever since first rubbing my first hank over 6 months ago (their colors are so lovely), but the price was a little prohibitive at that time...that and it would be a sad thing for something so yummy to sit in the stash with no project. I joked that baby girl mentioned that she wouldn't come out until her binkie was done. Actually, I thought if I started something for her, it would be the sure way to get her to come out.

My real purpose for going to the LYS was actually to scope out sock yarns. I got hubby a new Shuffle for Christmas to use when he works out. He has searched high and low for a protective cover or case for it to keep sweat out of it (the man sweats more than any human should), as he's afraid the sweat would kill it (and he's probably right). Unfortunately, no one makes an athletic cover for the shuffle (yet, I'm sure). I offered to knit it a wool cosy, since wool will hold up to 30% of it's weight in water before feeling damp. Plus, if the Shuffle got dropped, a wool cover would provide a little bit of shock protection.

I was hoping for some solid near 100% wool sock yarns in solid neutral colors, but was coming up empty handed. I did, however find a hank of Colinette Jitterbug 100% merino superwash yarn in a lovely colorway that wasn't too feminine or gaudy (I can actually hardly wait to make a pair of socks out of it!). I'm thinking that future sock yarn purchases will likely be of the internet variety since the LYS's selection is limited.

So I set to making the cosy. I cast on 12 stitches using a crochet cast on and size 0 needles. I knit a row then purled back across these stitches and then undid my provisional cast on putting those stitches on another needle (which gave 24 stitches knit in the round) then continued to knit in the round until the cosy was as long as the inside top of the backside clip. I left half the stitches on the needles and went back and forth on the other half of the stitches until this side was as long as the shuffle when slightly stretched. Then I turned the stitches so the wrong sides would meet (I wasn't sure how to short row back the other direction without tapering it) and on each end of the row, I picked up a side stitch and did a knit or purl 2 together. I skipped doing a knit 2 together where the microphone jack is to leave a hole to plug those in. Once I was back to where the other live stitches were, I cast off around all of them, making a circular opening. The Shuffle then slides in the opening, and the clip remains out so hubby can still clip the device to his jersey or pants. All the openings for the switches and the wheel are then covered and hopefully protected from sweat.

Click on the images for larger views....



















And a view from the top of the world just for fun:

Hope everyone has a Happy New Year!!

Ho, Ho, Holy Cow...where has the time gone????

So here it is, already two days post Christmas, which means the New Year is only a hiccough away! Yikes!

The holiday was merry met by all. We opened gifts here on Christmas morning, and I managed to snap a couple of pictures when my camera felt like cooperating (oh, so want a new one, but can't afford what I want. Boo hoo!). Hubby had made a full spread of waffles, bacon, and scrambledy eggs that we grown-ups enjoyed before the festivities, but the boys couldn't seem to eat more than a few bites with all the excitement of the prospect of opening presents. Dining took place on the hand-crafted quilted placemats gifted to me by my best buddy (Hi Lisa!! They were gorgeous...love them!! Might bug you to make me more!)

See this bite, Liam? I'm not really gonna eat it...I'm just gonna look at it a while.

I managed to get one picture of Liam with his marble run before my camera took a dump for a while.

Liam: Oooh...can I play it, can I play it? Jonah: Is it my turn yet?

Neely spent the entire time we opened presents obsessing over the ticking egg timer of Liam's that I confiscated and put up on the bookshelf. When she couldn't figure out how to get it down, she decided to make herself a fixture in the tree. She hadn't messed with the tree since we put it up around Thanksgiving, but for some reason, Christmas morning seemed the perfect time to start climbing it.


The rest of the present opening was pretty uneventful, and the boys both seemed pleased at their haul. Jonah immediately went to work pounding wooden nails into his workbench, and Liam was excited about his Spy Gear.

We then headed up to the in-laws to celebrate the holiday, and a wonderful meal of ham, cheesy potatoes, stuffing (gotta have the stuffin....turkey or not...), baked pineapple, and 24-hour fruit salad. Yum. Present opening commenced promptly after lunch, and the boys helped by playing Santa this year.


Everyone seemed to enjoy their gifts, and the boys made out with loads of new books, Legos, and other goodies. Auntie M. probably had the best enjoyed gift of all....a three-drawered organizing cart loaded up with art and craft goodies (she is the art teacher after all!), which the boys promptly dove into. One of the boys in particular already has quite the artistic flair...

Each stroke demanded a similar working of the tongue...it was all I could do to keep from falling off my chair, until he performed this little move:

I'm amazed we managed to get him upstairs and into the bath without turning MIL's entire house black, but we did. The water was a murky gray within seconds, considering he probably used half of the tube's worth of paint to cover his arms.

This was probably one of the most enjoyable holidays I've had in a while, and I'm not sure what to attribute it to. Partly the fact that we were done with the shopping, etc., relatively early in the game, but I think a great deal had to do with the enjoyment of seeing it all through the boys' eyes. They really enjoyed themselves, and I think the rest of us really did because of it. Maybe I was also a bit more relaxed this year for some reason, and I didn't obsess about the small stuff (and neither did anyone else, which I think just added to the chill atmosphere).

The only thing that would have made the holiday perfect would have been to also have shared it with my family in the next state over, but until they figure out that teleportation thing, doing both places in one holiday is not going to happen.

So now we move quickly on to the prospect of the new year...and a new member of our family. The tree is down (amazing how much more room there is in the living room without a tree in it!)...but there are still things to do before I feel ready for this little girl to make her appearance, so I'd best be off for some slumber.

Christmas Eve 2006

So we got a late start this morning on things that needed to be done today. With the boys out of the house, we got the much needed Christmas wrapping completed. Around 5:3o p.m., with only 30 minutes to W*lmart close (and believe me, they weren't going to let you forget that you only had 30 minutes....they started counting down and announced pretty much every 3 minutes the exact time and how long you had left to shop before they closed. No pressure or anything...not like you didn't know that you'd procrastinated till the last possible moments), we made a stop in for a last minute gift for one of the boys after deciding that the pile looked a little lopsided toward the other. Christmas morning crisis averted.

We went to hubby's parents, dined with the family that was in town, and picked up the boys to bring them home for a party at the neighbors, and so they could be home for Christmas morning. The boys were really ready for bed before we even left from the in-laws, but we managed to get over to the neighbor's house with promises that we wouldn't stay long (we had gifts to exchange and knew that they also had gifts for our two). Liam, who is typically Mr. Social and loves going to the neighbors, suddenly got very reserved when we got next door. I barely had a chance to get my coat off, and he turned to me, clinging to my leg and said with big eyes welling with tears, "I'm nervous....Can we go home?" Now, the house was a bit full with the neighbors' relatives and our neighbors from two doors down, but Liam knows all of them fairly well, since we've partied there before on many occasions. So I ask why the nerves. "Because I don't know these people." Which, of course, he knew every one in the room.

Jonah was already off upstairs playing with L., the neighbors' daughter, and the other kids who were there, so I told Liam he could go home once hubby arrived. This was only supposed to take a few minutes, as he'd gone home to wrap a couple of gifts. So we sat on the couch and waited while Liam buried his head in my hip and whined about how he really wanted to go home. So I told him to go play upstairs with his brother and the other children and as soon as hubby came, which would only be a few minutes, he could go home. I figured the minute he got upstairs, he would get into playing and forget all about whatever this sudden shyness was all about. "But I'm feeling apprehensive," he says. Oh, really? Only my 6-year-old would use that as an excuse for why he doesn't want to go play with the other kids. After another 20 minutes of continuous looping on the "I want to go home" recording, I stood Liam up and pretty much dragged him upstairs to play. Once I got him up there and threw him in the mix, he finally started to settle in. It's amazing what a little fatigue will do to a little guy's brain. Another 10 minutes later he came down and politely asked for a snack and a drink, another sign that all was well.

Not long after, we opened gifts, and as soon as the boys had opened theirs and had a chance to see L. open hers, we got the boys gathered, and hubby took them home to bed. Nary a struggle to be had about going to bed tonight either. Sometimes I wish Santa could come every night, just so it would be this easy....but who the heck can afford that?

Only one more night till Santa comes!

We're all caught up in the hub-bub that is the pre-Christmas rush. Presents to wrap, more baking to be done, lots of visiting with folks who are in town. Not many pictures being taken (fickle camera!), but good times are being had.

The contraction machine has been doing its nightly tune up (having one now, thanks...) in prep for baby girl to make her appearance. She and I have had many one-sided discussions (you know how it is with kids) about how nice it would be for her to wait until after Christmas...and how maybe she could let mommy sleep a little more at night. So far, so good.

And since there is no photographic fun tonight, I leave you with this little gem:

Liam: Ow....Jonah! You have static 'lectricity! You gave me an electric shot!

Oh, the beautiful innocence of children

Liam seems to be really taking notice lately in how we human beings come in all different shapes, sizes, and colors. While Daddy was watching an episode of "Little People, Big World" (which, by the way, we really enjoy...they are so fun-loving and adventurous, and I particularly enjoy watching how the mom on the show handles their four kids and the energetic husband and the farm and teaching...all while having to deal with the challenges of being little) on TLC the other night as they got ready for bed, Liam was curious about what it meant to be a little person. The characters on the show were attending the Little People of America Conference, so in the particular scene, all the people were little, and with it being on TV, there was no real way to tell that they were not of average height. Liam was having some difficulty with this. "What's it mean to be a little person? They look like they are the same height as you and mommy." Oh, the power of TV. Cliff: "No Liam...most of them are about the same height as you, and they'll never get any taller, but they are grown-ups like me and mommy." Liam pondered the concept and then pretty much left it at that.

Last night another revelation...funny how Cliff seems to be fielding these lately...
Liam: "Dad...does playing sports make your skin darker?"
Cliff: *surprised at the question* "No...why?"
Liam: "Because all those football players out there seem to have darker skin. And a lot of the guys who play basketball have darker skin."
Cliff: "Well...no...there are other players out there with lighter skin, too."

What I keep hoping is that he will realize that these are all just different flavors of what we humans happen to be....that we are all just one beautiful family, no matter what we look like on the outside. As a mother, I so want to shield him from untruths that he will hear from others, to keep him from having preconceived notions about any particular trait, but instead to see us all as being the same on the inside, though we might be different on the outside and that diversity is really an advantageous thing.

All sleep, all the time

All things here seem to be revolving around when I'm going to get my next nap (Is it time yet? No? Ptthpppbbbbbbb!). I feel like a bear who's being kept from hibernation. After posting last night, I headed to bed (around midnight my time). Before climbing into bed, I patted a soundly sleeping Liam good night and went to do the same for Jonah. His twin bed is sidecar-ed to our bed since he still likes to climb into our bed for a midnight snuggle, so that should have been an easy proposition. Pat, pat...no Jonah. He sometimes will climb up into Liam's bed (Liam has his own loft bed, and all the beds are in the upstairs bedroom to give the boys optimal play space downstairs and keep them close in the night...I loves having my babes near me in the night), so I did a double check there. Again, no Jonah. So I turned on the closet light which gave just enough light to see without blinding everyone. Jonah had scrunched himself up in a fetal position and was sleeping sideways on his pillow, using it as a mini-mattress. Satisfied that I knew where he was and that he wasn't going to tumble anywhere, I covered him up and climbed into my bed.

Some time around ridiculously early this morning (before 5 am), hubby's alarm went off. I, of course, needing to do the middle of the night third trimester bathroom run, scooted off the end of the bed to head downstairs. Hubby starts laughing out loud. "Honey...did you see who's on my side of the bed?" The dog sleeps on the floor between the wall and hubby's side of the bed. So I peeked over to see what funny thing the dog might be doing. The dog was sprawled in his usual manner, lying flat on his side with all four legs straight out. No biggie. Snuggled up next to the dog on the floor, however, was our little man, fast asleep. Apparently, he'd gotten out of his bed which is snugged up to my side of the bed and looped around to Daddy's side for a snuggle, not so rare an occurrence. When sleeping Daddy didn't respond to his requests for a cuddly, he must have gotten tired of waiting and just laid down with the dog. I should have gotten it on camera, but by the time I got back upstairs, hubby had already moved the little guy into our bed. Next time, I swear I'll get it on camera.

A little gem

Liam reading the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies to Cliff: "It says we need 2 sticks insulted (unsalted) butter."

Cliff: "Are you going to insult the butter or shall I?"

Things have been a bit foggy here at the bunnie hutch. I came down with a urinary tract infection, and as per usual did not know it until I found myself writhing in bed last weekend with flank pain and feeling rather crummy. The antibiotic that I'm taking, while approved for use during pregnancy, has a warning on the label about causing drowsiness, and though did I read this when I first got the prescription....the reality of it didn't sink in until I was driving home this morning from dropping the big guy off at school and thinking that if I didn't get home quickly and fade into bed that I would surely fall asleep at the wheel. Not good. Naptime commenced by 10 am and lasted until 12:30. Jonah came and snuggled into bed with me and napped right alongside. Pure bliss.

Here I'd been blaming the sleepiness I've been feeling the past few days on the amount of crap I've tried to cram into a short amount of time, all the while doing it carrying around an extra 40+ pounds of weight. Sort of like strapping my 3-year-old to my back and carrying him around 24 hours a day. No wonder I get winded going up a flight of stairs. Only a couple more days to go of the antibiotic, so hopefully I can manage to get through the next couple of days relatively unscathed.

There has also been cleaning and reorganizing (ooh, big surprise...not that I ever seem to make any progress), teaching, a visit by the carpet cleaner, and a visit by our prenatal/birth photographer.

I decided to splurge on having prenatal pictures done this time, since I really couldn't think of what I would do with another plaster belly cast floating around and I actually feel very attractive (in a very round earth mother sort of way) this pregnancy in a way I didn't with the boys. The belly cast I have from being pregnant with Jonah never did get decorated. Really should remedy that some time. I'm thinking that we got some really great shots, and I can hardly wait to see the proofs.

We hit the official 37-week full term mark this weekend, and then we'll start week 38. Each night we've been moving the baby Jesus down the Advent ladder toward his walnut manger, and with our due date being so close to Christmas, it's a lot like counting down to this baby coming (not to mention the fact that she seems to be sitting lower and lower in my pelvis on a daily basis). I'm starting to get a bit nervous with the anticipation of it all...but at the same time anxious to complete this part of the journey and move on to the next.

Snow daze

Wednesday night into Thursday morning, we were supposed to get hit with all kinds of lake effect snow and blustery winds into the 40 mph range. This was mostly significant because we're not really part of the snow belt, but occasionally, we do get hit if the wind comes off the lake just right. The weather folks were all atwitter and really gloom and dooming about how much we could get overnight and through Thursday. Estimates of a foot or more were being thrown around.

So Thursday morning came, and upon looking out the window at the mere dusting we had gotten overnight, the kids were a bit disappointed that there would be no snow day. I think hubby was too. So off to school Liam went and off to work went hubby. The snow did indeed continue to fall all day, and it was really windy, but the rate at which the white stuff was accumulating wasn't so terrifying. Hubby called and said that there were spots where the traffic was pretty bad, and that he might just do a few things at work and come home to avoid the rush hour insanity. By the time he came home in the afternoon, we'd picked up maybe an additional inch of snow. Not bad, really.

Sometime overnight into Friday, the snow machine turned on, and we somehow picked up an additional 4 or so inches. When we woke up yesterday, it was a true winter wonderland with everything covered in a nice blanket of snow. Liam happily went off to play "snowboarder" in the meadow, while the little guy stayed here with me. It wasn't long before he decided that he really wanted to go outside. So I bundled him up, snowpants and all, and he headed out to the front yard. "Can I make faces in the snow?" he asked. I nodded, and he proceeded to flop on the ground and make arm-only snow angels. I managed to snap a couple of pictures of him before he came inside with his poor little face all red and wet from snow.

View of our backyard

Jonah inspects his snow angel

Jonah makes another snow angel

Well, that didn't take long...

So I finished up NaBloPoMo on Thursday after only missing a couple of days of posting (better than I thought I'd do!), and already, I've missed a couple of days of posting. Really, it wasn't my fault. Friday, we had that front roll through along with winds in the 40 mph range, and sometime during the day, our cable modem decided to take a dump. Because of the weather, we assumed that it was the cable company's problem and that it would be fixed. The weekend rolled through with no return of online service (which meant no posting), and finally yesterday I made the call to the company to see what the problem might be. Turns out our 10-year-old modem had finally given up the ghost.

After exchanging it today, I was certain that we still we be having the same problem, yet as soon as I plugged the new modem in, I was up and running. Hoorah! Whatever did we do before the days of the internet, and in our case, cable modems with continuous internet connection? I was going to do some online Christmas shopping and pay some bills, but I couldn't do that until today, as I didn't have access. Well...I could have paid my bills, but it would have required more effort than it does now. Hi! Me Lazy? Yup.

So this weekend was a pretty laid back kind of weekend with my BIL and SIL in town. There was much food consumed and some Christmas shopping completed. I have one of my two kiddos nearly shopped for, and the other will be an easy hop over to HearthSong for a few things. I have ideas for everyone else on my list, so hopefully I can finish it all up this week. Less stress before the holiday.

Today, the boys and I also did some more holiday crafting. We sorted and started gluing foam snowmen together from a kit, and after the boys went to bed, I finally got around to doing one of my Advent projects that I'd hoped to have finished before this past weekend. Oh well...better late than never.


These are pictures of the completed Advent calendar. I used skinny wooden supports to project the gold cardstock ladder away from the blue cardstock background. I glued the gold rungs to the supports on background and then glued on the gold side rails. Then I fashioned a baby Jesus out of rose-colored beeswax and made his body skinny enough that he can slip between the rungs. There is one rung for each day of Advent (which officially started this past Sunday), and each evening, the baby descends down the ladder one rung. By Christmas Eve, the baby will be on the bottom rung, and on Christmas Day, he moves to the golden walnut manger filled with sheep's wool. Each night, the boys will take turns sticking another star on the blue background, so there will also be a full, starry sky by Christmas.

I'm really in the mood to keep on crafting, but if I don't go to bed some time soon, I'll really be dragging wagon tomorrow. Must. Resist. Urge. And. Put. Glue. Gun. Down. Slowly back away....

The 411

Ok...so I promised details and pictures from last night's surprise shower at my friend's apartment.

So...last school year I got to hanging out with a group of students from a couple of my classes who were part of the BS/MD program at one of the local colleges. They were all really fun to hang out with, and despite the 10 year age difference, they really let me feel like one of the girls. They also padded my ego by telling me I didn't look a day over 23. Nice. By the end of the school year, we were all prepping for the MCAT together and studying for finals. After the excitement of the year was over, most of them went on to the MD part of the program at medical school, and some of them stayed behind to complete another year of undergrad. I, of course, being pregnant, decided that spending thousands of dollars on classes that I didn't need to get into medical school all the while being heavy pregnant was a bad idea, so we sort of started to lose touch with each other as I wasn't on campus anymore.

When I started teaching for the test prep place I ended up back on campus a couple of nights a week, so we called each other and got together a few times for dessert. There were 3 girls that I hung out with pretty consistently, and this past week, we were going to try to get all of us together after I finished up class. So, to K's apartment we go...and it turned out to be a surprise baby shower. I had no clue that they were planning this, and even upon entering the apartment, I still had no idea what was going on. "Nice decorations...Who had a party?" I say. "It's your baby shower, silly," I was told. Light bulb finally goes on. Awww.....

G. (who is the epitome of what my MIL would love her granddaughter to look like, all curly red- haired and beautiful), me, K., and J. clockwise from left) -- my girls

It was just the four of us hanging out, chatting, gorging on the great snacks that K provided (even better than sex cake...it doesn't get much better than that!), and the girls each had picked up some cute things for the new baby, so there were gifts to open.

Flannel and fleece blankies and cute baby clothes for the baby

When we were all in class together last semester, we had a great time. There was always fun and silliness, and everyone in the group had a great sense of humor. Last night was no exception, and by the end we were hamming it up with the camera and laughing hysterically.

G. pretends to be catching while K. gives her best "what do we do now," and I show what happens on TV when women are in labor.

I had a great time and left feeling full and very flattered. I miss having the gals to hang out with, and I realize the longer I'm away from campus that I really need to make an effort to hang out with girl friends and do things.

In other news, my two have been battling one virus or another (more like passing it back and forth) since the weather started to turn in October, and now we have a case of pink eye resulting from being seriously nasally congested. Poor Jonah woke this morning looking like he'd gone on a binge and hadn't slept in a week. His poor little eyes were all swollen and bloodshot. So today was spent in the doc's office getting drops for them, as I know how contagious pink eye can be, and I'd rather contain that little bug if I can.

Don't I look sad? Surely this deserves a Frosty...or chocolate? Oh, wait...I've already had some. More, please?

Also, tomorrow marks December 1 and the end of NaBloPoMo, and I actually only missed a couple of days over this month. Not too bad for me, I'd say...and I'd like to try to keep up the consistent posting if I can...We'll see how long it lasts!

Surprise!!

The girls I hung out with at KSU last year surprised me tonight with an impromptu baby shower. Needless to say, I just arrived home and need to go to bed if I want to have any hope of getting up to get the boy to school in the morning...more about it tomorrow (and maybe some pictures?)