Pinewood Castle

Time for a Haircut

 

His sisters can't resist.

Boxed In

Busy Baby Days

 

Music to My Ears

for Jana

 

Wordless Wednesday

Look Who's Crawling!

 

Spoon Dropping Game

Rockin' Baby

The Real Reason for my Blogging Break

Yes, this little guy. Our Little Prince.

Otherwise known as The Cutest Baby in the Universe and the Best Baby in the Whole Wide World.

My husband and I have been trying to figure out what we did right this time to get such a happy baby. Was it the swaddling? All the love and cuddling? Lack of oxygen at birth? That he will actually take a pacifier? That his Godparents pray for him?

Unsure of the magic formula for creating this contented wee one, we just have to give God all the credit. He has blessed us with an easy, happy, good-natured baby. He smiles when I sing to him. He belly laughs when his sister plays with him. He wakes up happy from naps. He is a great nurser and an even better pooper. Getting that poop out is so crucial to a baby's happiness.

He's just so yummy that I can't get enough of watching these legs kick . . .

and kissing these chunky thighs.

Of course we did start school this week and it's quite the challenge to get back in the groove of math and Latin and history and everyting else. But mostly my time is spent savoring every moment with my cutie pie. I long to keep my baby just like he is now at five months before he starts solids and has stinky diapers and cuts a tooth and sits and crawls and stands and walks and turns into a toddler.

Yes, to me he is almost a toddler because I KNOW what is around the corner and I am not sure my almost 40 year old self is up to it. Good thing he has four super helpers for siblings!

Wordless Wednesday

Savoring the Baby

BABIES DON'T KEEP

Mother, oh Mother,

come shake out your cloth,

empty the dustpan,

poison the moth,

hang out the washing

and butter the bread,

sew on a button and make up a bed.

Where is the mother whose house

is so shocking?

She's up in the nursery,

blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown shiftless as Little

Boy Blue (lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due

(pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).

The shopping's not done

and there's nothing for stew

and out in the yard there's a hullabaloo

but I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.

Look! Aren't her eyes the most wonderful hue?

(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing

will wait till tomorrow,

for Children grow up,

as I've learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down, cobwebs.

Dust go to sleep.

I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep......

~Author Unknown ~

First Smiles

Royal Fan Club

Too Many To-Do's

I survived my dh's first week back to work. Sort of. I think that managing a new baby and a toddler is a challenge no matter how experienced a mom is, even with other children old enough to help a liitle. The third week is always a challenge too - at least for me. Mom has had two weeks to recover physically and is feeling better but baby is awake longer and not as easy to soothe back to sleep for a long nap. Mom can't sleep in until 9 or 10 to make up for being up at night and feels a over-tired, over-whelmed and a bit over-cranky. Mom has more to do and less time to remember to take vitamins, supplements and to drink enough water. This mom, anyway. I have an inkling that other moms handle all this better than I although some KNOW about the third week and have blessed me in numerous ways. One brought a meal, one got us outside for a walk and backyard sunshine, another came by with a gift and ability to administer a progesterone shot.

Life is marching on in spite of our adjusting to our beautiful new baby. Here is a short list of what we have managed:

Baby's baptism
Get kids to music lessons
Keep up with laundry and housecleaning
Get meals on the table, mostly on time
Put away winter clothing
Wash and store woolies
Get out Spring/Summer clothing
Asses who needs what
Shop for needed items
Put away maternity clothing
Find in between size to wear
Get out bikes and clean half of the garage
Take in van for an oil change
Put up window screens
Purged kid's rooms - one bag of trash and two give-away bags

And here is what we are trying to accomplish this weekend or at least asap:

Me -
Take something out of the freezer to grill tonight
More laundry so I can completely finish putting away the winter stuff
Catch up with the baby book and thank you notes
Finish Sunshine's FHC invitations
Plan menu and grocery list
Plan Dancer's birthday party for next weekend
Plan kids' summer activities
Grocery shop
Drop off give away stuff
Dust den and family room

DH -
catch up three weeks worth of checkbook and bills
Spring yardwork
Finish cleaning garage
Take about a dozen clothing tubs to the basement

Together-
Go to bank to open baby's savings account and notarize birth certificate request
Plan summer vacation
Have family movie or game night

Speaking of summer vacation - we need some lodging advice from Minnesotans. We are thinking about three nights at Lake Itasca and three night in Duluth. We do not have camping gear and I don't want to rough it too much with a baby.

So - an Itasca State park cabin or nearby resort?

Stay by the bridge in Duluth or a bit farther north?

Swing by Hibbing for a mine tour?

Your advice is appreciated!

Hopefully I will have some more interesting things to blog about as the weeks go by. Or maybe you will just be bombarded with baby pics. None today, sorry, since I am blogging for the first time with an iPhone app and have no idea if I can access Picassa this way.

Until next time -

Wordless Wednesday

 

Baby Brain

In my last post I said that the baby would be three weeks old this weekend. Not true - he'll be two weeks old. Unfortunately this kind of brain slip is nothing new - when Pipsqueak was born I actually put the wrong birthdate on her birth announcement. Yikes. Something about being post-partum and remembering numbers does not work well with me!

Well, please say a little prayer today that I recover from some sort of infection that has given me a fever and chills. The dr. thinks it is most likely uterine and has prescribed an antibiotic. I hope to be feeling better for the baptism Sunday and Joe's return to work Monday. I am not planning on resuming school just yet, but it will be my first week solo with the kids and I have to get out three days in a row for music lessons.

The Little Prince today:

Easter Blessings

He is Risen!

 

I have risen too - but just from my bed, not the dead. I have to confess - I have been craving just an hour or two of computer time to do a few things I cannot or have not yet learned to do from the iPhone. I am not sure how long I will get this stretch. Sleep, rest, nursing, eating, drinking and keeping my wee babe warm and cozy are my first priorities. I am sure you understand. There's nothing in the world like your very own newborn.

Watching a few good movies during my babymoon is my second priority (indulgence). More Elizabeth Gaskell this time than Jane Austen, thanks to a lending friend. I think I shall never tire of bonnet & bustle movies like North & South, Cranford and Wives & Daughters. Victoria and Albert and John & Abigail Adams have been other Netflix favorites.

My accumulating stack of books is my third priority this babymoon. Simplicity Parenting, Dancing With My Father, The Dean's Watch and MODG Teaching Tips are all in my pile.

The podcasts I thought I would get to - they put me right to sleep. That's a good thing I guess.

So I sleep in and cuddle with my little Easter egg. An introvert's dream come true.

 

I can't tell you how much I love these SwaddleDesigns blankets. They are perfectly square 100% cotton flannel and made in the USA. Can't get any better than that.

Well, we managed to pull off some Easter fun over the weekend. Well, my husband mostly. He took over the egg dying and basket hiding and ham baking. I made the lamb cake. Twice. I always forget to season the pan first so the first one stuck and the second attempt released from the mold just fine. I didn't look quite photo-worthy this year, but here is how it turned out several years ago -

We put away everything purple and replaced our decor with refreshing spring favorites.

I didn't feel quite up to getting to Mass with the baby after just one week, but did help everyone out the door. I can't believe the forsythia and daffodils have bloomed already. Did you know this was the first Minnesota March on record without any snow?

I apologize for not getting my Spring Circle Time plans typed up, for my sake as well as yours. The Garden of the Good Shepherd calendar is a great substitute. Charlotte and Jessica have planned all the bells and whistles to go along with it so I do hope you check out what they have put together. We might skip the calendar this year but I am printing out the menu ideas for my file!

Time to go back and rest. Until next time ~

Baby Pics

Love (and gratitude) at first sight

In the hands of our life-saving doctor

 

Big Yawn

Meet Your Siblings

 

She Really Did Have a Baby in There!

Hand & Feet

 

Bonding with Dad

 

Time to Go Home

 

Love, Joe

 

From the B's - aren't the baby shoe jelly beans cute?

 

My Welcome Home sign

Announcing . . .

The arrival of our "Little Prince"!

The newest edition to our family has arrived. Born Sunday March 28 (Palm Sunday) @ 1:07am.   7 pounds 11 oz and 19 inches.

Tracy and the baby came home today and both are doing well.  Here are some more photos...

 

 


Tracy said she would write the full birth story later.  I will provide it in brief...

We took the older girls to Suzuki Graduation at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis on Saturday.  However, Tracy's contractions started to get strong and regular as we were waiting for the cellos to finish and decided that we had to leave immediately. Luckily we found someone we knew who could take the girls home and left them for their own adventure. Meanwhile, at home, Tracy's contractions slowed down and we ate dinner while waiting for things to pick up.  Sunshine and Dancer made it home safely, but soon after Tracy once again was having strong contractions and we headed in to the hospital.  About midnight it became apparent that something was wrong.  The baby's heart beat was not recovering in between contractions.  Tracy's water broke at this point and the baby's heart rate went down further.  Our doctor called for an emergency c section - but checked Tracy before heading to the operating room.  She was fully dialed but the baby had not started to descend.  It was only a few minutes before everyone was assembled as both Tracy and I fervently prayed to St. Gerard.  Moments before the surgeon showed up, our doctor checked one more time and miraculously the baby was starting to crown.  He grabbed the suction, pulled once and the head popped out.  Now we could see that the cord was around the neck, the source of the problem.  The doctor tried to pull it around the baby's head, but in the process snapped the cord.  One more push, the baby was born and placed on oxygen.  It was a close call, but he was OK and so was Tracy.

We are very thankful that things turned out as they did.  There are many things that could have happened that would have brought about a much different outcome.

Thank you all for your prayers, as you can see they were needed.

Packing the New Baby Bag, Sorting Through the Old Ones

For someone like me who admits the fault of anticipating the future more than really living in the moment, the last month of pregnancy a joyful time of nesting and relishing in cute baby items before the grueling work (grueling but wonderful too!) of caring for a newborn begins. I think this time around I have things down pat without consulting a magazine check-list and thought it would be fun to share. Am I forgetting anything?

To Do List:

• update birth plan
• wash baby clothes
• set up crib, again
• bring up bassinet
• bring up swing (last time we got one that plugs in)
• get van interior cleaned (it gets yucky in the winter!)
• get new tires on the van (not much tread left)
• wash car seat covers
• install baby car seat and re-arrange the three boosters and one toddler Britax
• more freezer meals
• get a pedicure
• buy baby book and keepsake box
• buy some newborn diapers
• order hospital maternity gown and pillowcase

My hospital bag:

• nursing gown and robe
  
• Labor Ease Tea
• CDs for labor (not sure yet which ones I will bring)
• diffuser and lavender essential oil
• flameless LED tea light candles
• the Mother's Manual (little blue prayer book)
• Stretch Oil
• Postpartum Recovery Kit
• orange juice, Emergen-C and sports drinks
• snack mix
• vitamins
• Bobby pillow
• baby sling
• DVDs (some from Netflix, though I can always watch Pride & Prejudice over and over!)
• new books to read
• clothes to wear home

Baby's hospital bag:

• diaper bag
• baby bath products
• organic side snap shirts
• swaddling blankets
• going home outfit

At home:

• My Brest Friend nursing pillow
• Nurse & Glow pillow
• cabbage leaves when milk comes in
• thank you notes

Hopefully all this will help at least a little bit keep the two of us cozy, comfortable and healthy. I am a firm believer in being pampered for at least two or three weeks after birth. My daughter does not quite understand this yet and feels a little jealous of me based on her comment the other day: "I can't wait until I am a new mom and can get out of doing all the work." HA! Like I am doing this to get out of work! Little does she know how much I dread the deterioration of the state of my household when I am sick or caring for a new baby.

Making this packing list brings to mind so many memories of past birth experiences. I will always remember my first pregnancy and how difficult I thought it was to be pregnant. One Sunday some well-meaning woman at church came up to me, touched my belly and commented how my work was just beginning. I felt a little miffed then, but after the baby came I could not believe how much more difficult everything was than I thought it would be. After taking the Bradley Method childbirth course I was expecting a gentle trouble-free birth and a happy content baby. What I experienced was five months of nausea in pregnancy and a labor that began with my water breaking with a gush followed quickly by nausea, vomiting, terrible back labor, three hours of pushing, significant tearing, painful engorgement and a colicky baby who seemed in pain for many months who had trouble napping and would wake up every time I put her down. I developed carpel tunnel and "trigger thumb" from holding her. There was all that laundry and being spit up on and a gassy baby with leaky diapers who squirted poop on the wall in the middle of the night. She cried every second she was in the car seat. Screamed bloody murder would be more accurate. I felt for her, because she was so miserable. I felt for us, because we had so looked forward to having a baby. My nerves that first year were utterly shattered. In some ways I am still recovering from the trauma.

At least the first couple of days we were able to rest somewhat peacefully -

My eldest is a sweet nine year old now and we all find it difficult to believe our early trio of a family survived those grueling days (although there still are times . . . ). About the time she turned one she was a much happier little person and I became pregnant with our second. She was such a fun and happy baby. My husband enjoyed her more, I think, because I was still a little shell-shocked and convinced she would turn on me. Other than a bout of thrush that made her crabby she was an utter delight. The days went pretty well back then as long as the girls didn't cry at the same time.

My eldest loved having a baby sister -

I must have grown more comfortable with motherhood because a year and a half later came our third, but right in the middle of a move. Our first little house was sold, the new one was not ready and we were actually homeless for three weeks with a three month old baby. We moved to a small town outside the metro where we knew NO ONE. Winter quickly settled in and I remember spending many lonely days in our otherwise lovely new home. I felt early on that our self-imposed exile from the city was a big mistake and felt terrible because I was the main one who wanted a little more elbow room and my dear husband had found a way to make it possible. I felt guilty, depressed and overwhelmed.

In some ways, however, the days with three little ones were easy - before formal homeschooling began and I could take the kids to the park or grocery shop on a weekday morning. In other ways this was the most difficult and demanding stage of parenting. All of the physical tasks of caring for the children and keeping house exhausted me. I remember dreading the addition of window shades because opening and closing them every day would just be one more thing to do. I did not feel well at all - I struggled with PPD and almost every day my low back hurt or I had a migraine. It took years to feel better.

An MRI of my low back revealed a number of defects that explained my lumbar pain. I went through physical therapy to strengthen my low back, had a septoplasty to help my sinus/migraine pain, took up jogging, enrolled the girls in Montessori preschool, made some friends and slowly began to recover. I eventually felt physically and mentally up to another baby and more important, felt called to trust that God was indeed calling us to homeschool and be open to life again. I will admit that I enjoyed the feeling of fitting in the world with an "acceptable" number of children and was somewhat anxious about crossing the threshold into large family territory. I prayed, took a deep breath, and took the plunge. We wouldn't trade our little Pipsqueak for anything. She's the sweetheart of the family.

 

Even with all the sacrifices each new baby brings such great joy. Those early days of holding a wee pink babe are fleeting and they pass more quickly every time, knowing now how fast babies grow into independent little people. The rest of the world might think (and many do think - they tell us so) that we are crazy to add a fifth child into our family, but we know in our hearts and souls that children are gifts from God and we are humbled to be trusted with the privilege of raising another soul for heaven.

Somehow the Lord has spared us of the many struggles others face: infertility, repeated miscarriage, bed rest, special needs or serious illness. Not that we haven't had other struggles . . . but hearing about the experiences shared by friends certainly makes me reflect on to evolution of our family, to pause in thanksgiving  for our blessings and to pray fervently for a healthy labor and delivery.