Growing Up Senge

Christmas Downtown

noreply@blogger.com (eRin) — Tue, 27 Dec 2016 06:31:00 +0000

Alice's school started Winter Break last week, so we took advantage of the time for some Christmas fun. I dressed up the kids in their matching holiday outfits and we headed downtown to have ALL the fun. All of it. We saw the Teddy Bear Suite at the Fairmont Olympic, rode the carousel, had our traditional lunch and peppermint bark cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory, and then met Santa. I could say so much, but I'm exhausted and if I wait until I have time to write anything, this will never get posted. So I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

A Weekend Away: A Beautiful Bachelorette Bash

noreply@blogger.com (eRin) — Thu, 22 Sep 2016 14:00:00 +0000

At the end of June, I had the chance to get away for a glorious girls-only weekend for one of my bestie's bachelorette party. When I heard about the plans, I wasn't sure that I would be able to make it all work. I really wanted to be there to celebrate my friend, and to enjoy some much-needed female bonding energy. I told Jon about it and he immediately said, "Well, of course you have to go." So I bought my plane ticket and immediately started fantasizing about my weekend away.

Although the rest of the ladies live fairly locally in the Greater Bay Area, I was able to help plan some of the "touch points" from afar. I loved the collaborative efforts and thoroughly enjoyed our text and email chains full of clever ideas and conversation. It was really invigorating and inspiring and made the anticipation that much more enjoyable. I was busy in the few weeks before crafting up my contributions to the event.

Finally the day arrived. I remember the first time I left Alice, Jon dropped me off at the airport and I cried all the way through security. This time I gave them all a hug and kiss and ran right out the door!

On my way to the airport, I had to swing by the drugstore for a travel-size bottle of contact solution and I realized I'd forgotten to pack any nail polish, so I decided to buy a new one for the occasion. I was trying to choose a color, when I realized one of the colors I was considering was called "bachelorette bash." So, duh.

Yeah, those nails could use a manicure...

On my way from the drugstore to the car, my armpit accidentally called my dad. He texted back to tell me he was in a meeting but that he'd call me later, and that he was staying at one of the SFO airport hotels for a conference that weekend. I was already planning to spend that evening with my sister, so I texted to ask her if Dad was aware of our plans, and if she knew he was staying at a hotel approximately 5 minutes from where we would be spending the night. We decided we should probably let him know that we were going to be nearby and coordinate something with him.

So my sister retrieved me from the airport, and we headed over to the hotel row. We were going to hang out at a little park by the water, but we basically had time to park the car and for me to give her a birthday present before we had to rendezvous with my dad. We met him at his hotel and walked down the street for dinner, where I spied an El Torito. Not, like, the very best Mexican food, but dependable enough and way better than what I can currently get in my town, so they obliged me...

Seeing this picture kind of makes me wish I'd also ordered a giant margarita.

As soon as we met up with my dad, he asked "So what's the plan, are we going to Melissa's?" I laughed and said I thought it might be weird to bring my dad over to someone else's bachelorette party. After we dropped him back at the hotel, my sister said she thought my friends would be pretty mad that I didn't bring him over. Later that night, we told the group what my dad said and they were SO MAD that I didn't bring him over. Like so, SO mad. They reprimanded me for many minutes and even considered calling him to see if he wanted to come over. I think it was like 11pm by that point, so we opted to not bother him, although I'm pretty sure he would have happily hopped right in the car. My friend even showed me the text that was still written and unsent in our chat window making sure I knew my dad was welcome to hang out. If she'd sent that text and I'd known she'd made chili for dinner, my dad would have for sure been partying it up with us.

Anyway, we had a fun night kicking off the festivities with a few girls who weren't able to join us for the weekend, but minus a few of the final group. So in the morning, we reconfigured our attendees, packed up the big van, and hit the road for a fun-filled adventure that was a total surprise for the bride-to-be.

Before we left, the bride's like-a-sister cousin gave her a special "Soon to be Meowied" shirt and a handmade cat ear fascinator headband. Several in our group are cat-lovers, but Laura really loves cats; like, even more than I do, which is hard to beat. In trying to include a few feline touch points, the cat theme kind of spread like wildfire. Or like feral kittens...

cat ears about to cross the Golden Gate Bridge

The only detail that Laura knew was that we were headed to Ukiah, about 2.5 hours North of San Francisco in the Mendocino wine country. It was just enough time to feel like a real little road trip, and to enjoy lots of conversation, silliness and laughter through the lovely NorCal landscape - including a road trip soundtrack specially prepared for us by a very dear friend of the bride who couldn't attend, including interludes of personal messages she recorded and timed to coincide with our progress along the way. It was so thoughtful, and we all really appreciated her virtual presence.

Finally, we reached the turn-off for Starfall road - which was exactly 5.9 miles from our last turn, just as they said it would be.

Heading down Starfall Road, into this beautiful valley.

It's hard to read this sign, but I had to capture it because our fearless driver paid it no heed despite the warnings that going any faster would destroy the road, and despite her nervous passengers who were bouncing around in the back and terrified that we were going to slide over the side of the narrow road and roll down the steep hillside...

Finally we pulled up to our destination, a beautiful home situated all alone on the top of a hill in a valley with only a few other homes.

I've missed the NorCal hills. This was a sight for sore eyes.

The host met us to show us everything we needed to know and we checked out all the rooms. Every window boasted a gorgeous view.

We let Laura lay down and rest for a few minutes while we quickly put up the decorations we'd brought, including some incredibly sexy and stimulating thematic nature photography.

There were a few more cute items like a glittery banner ("Let's Get Wild!"), but I'm not sure I got any good photos before the washi tape I used to hang them up gave out...

I think we took a break to fix a quick little lunch, but we didn't have long to relax before it was time to head back up the windy driveway to our first activity. We arrived at California landmark #980, the Vichy Springs for a relaxing afternoon of taking the waters in the "Vichy" or "champagne baths."

A charming bridge over the little creek that ran below the bath houses.

I think my expression here indicates that I'm noticing that I forgot to clean the make-up and baby slobber off my phone camera lens, hence the dreamy glow...

We wanted to relax but we also wanted to chat, so we got cozy in the tubs. There were two tubs in each little room of the bathhouse, so we got the best of both worlds!

The tubs fill naturally, you just move the heavy plug from the filling side over to the other end of the tub to stop the drain with it, and the water bubbles up until it's full. I'd never been in a Vichy mineral bath before, which makes sense since this one claims to be the only naturally warm and carbonated hot springs in Northern America (not sure if/how the ones in Idaho are any different??). Anyway. The baths are touted to dilate the body's capillaries, leaving you warm and relaxed, and are also supposed to soften the skin. I found all of those things to be true. The water looks fairly clear, but as you sit, the bubbles start to accumulate on your skin until you are covered with a carpet of tiny little bubbles. You can wipe them away and watch them begin to gather again. After a while, we all noticed that we were feeling pleasantly warm, and my skin was definitely velvety soft when I got out. According to the website, a 1914 brochure promised that one would feel "a million miles from my cares, and your heart will sing a new song." And you know what? I think that may have actually happened.

The little babbling brook next to the bathhouses, which are inside the building on the right.

When we got back to the house, we set out some appetizers and got cocktail hour underway.

I used my newly developed calligraphy skills to make some personalized wineglasses for everyone. I loved the way they turned out, though I couldn't figure out a way to make them dishwasher safe (and I was running out of time, so hand wash, please!).

My "bachelorette bash" manicure and my champs on the back deck, with a beautiful view of the valley.

While we were toasting the bride, our second surprise was getting set up.

We had arranged for someone to come to the house and lead a painting session. We had talked about hiring a male model to pose nude for a life drawing class, but in the end we requested a feline subject. The artist included several photos of Laura's very own cat.

Laura was appropriately delighted and amused as she surveyed the subject options.

And then the artist presented her with a practice canvas she had done ahead of time in preparation for the party. Laura was pretty thrilled.

One of Laura's dearest friends - event planner mastermind and hostess extraordinaire - and her like-a-sister cousin. Did I mention we all had colorful cat ear headbands and adorable kitty pins...?

Cheers to one of the most amazing ladies I know.

Often these painting parties will have everyone paint the same image, but this artist gave us each a different image to paint, which was cool. She gave us some pointers on painting cat fur and set us loose with our brushes and wine. It was surprisingly difficult to keep my cups straight...

Laura was really into one particular picture of Gatsby but the teacher said it might be a little bit challenging and then Laura second-guessed her abilities. I thought it would be a really fun one to do and offered to try my hand and give it to Laura if it came out well. It was a bit challenging, but it was so fun - I'm always surprised how much I enjoy painting whenever I try it, I always expect to end up crying and furious...

work in progress

It was tough to finish before the artist had to pack everything up, but I was pretty happy with where it ended up in a little over an hour!

Laura loved it and didn't believe me when I offered to give it to her. I guess she hadn't heard me when I made her that deal before we got started!

They all turned out so great and different, and they were all displayed at Laura's bridal shower later in the summer.

After we wrapped up the painting party, the chefs got to work cooking dinner, despite the fact that the water had stopped working somewhere during the painting party.

I happened to walk through the hall and caught this sweet scene through the front door on the porch.

They caught me taking pictures and got self-conscious, so I joined them and enjoyed the gorgeous early evening light through the oaks.

Once dinner was in the oven, the rest of the group meandered out onto the porch and we decided to walk down the hill to the home's garden and pick a few things for our meal.

They all started off down the path and I hung behind to take a few photos. I don't know if it was the Zoloft I'd recently started taking, or the Vichy baths, or the peaceful, comforting surroundings, or the company of these wonderful women (or maybe the cocktail hour?) - or everything all together, but as I stood there watching them walk away, I realized that I was feeling such profound peace and happiness and love.

I joined them in the garden at the bottom of the hill, where we took turns identifying and misidentifying produce and being corrected by Linda.

As we started to make our way back up to the house, I was walking next to Laura and felt the urge to hold her hand, as my sister sometimes still does to me. She obliged me, but she had to stop so she could gesticulate and finish the story she was telling her cousin. I can't remember how the conversation came and went, but at some point, I told them how happy I was feeling. We had such a heartfelt conversation there under the trees in the fading light, I was definitely moved to tears. And then the conversation and the tears definitely required a reading of the Angel Cards.

We did one reading, and it was very meaningful, but something required that we do it again (I forget now what I had neglected to do). So we did another reading, and it was even more meaningful and I cried some more. I promise that I had only had a very modest and reasonable number of drinks at this point.

Our moving and profound experience was interrupted by a small fire in the kitchen, lots of yelling and bickering and profanity, and then the announcement that the meal was ready, despite one of the chefs falling asleep in the bride's bed...

By the time dinner was ready, I'm pretty sure it was the middle of the night. So we thoroughly enjoyed a delicious meal, and then went out to lay on the porch in the dark and watch the stars. It was so dark out, and so quiet in the valley, and so peaceful. After what felt like hours out there, I heard something rustling in the grass near the trees off to the side of the house. I think I had to use the bathroom, so I quietly went inside, just in case it was like a mountain lion creeping around in the yard. After that, people started making their way inside and some were heading to bed - including me.

The water still hadn't come back by the time everyone went to bed, despite the hosts very best effort to fix whatever was wrong with the well system. So, in the morning, we all just rolled out of bed and shrugged.

I made special coffee cups for everyone, with kitty faces and "meow" written the way it's spelled in French, Italian, Spanish/German, Norwegian, and Japanese, to reflect some of the cultural heritage in our group. And also just because it's fun to see how other languages make and spell animal sounds.

Spanish and German cats say "miau."

French cats say "miaou"

After our chefs whipped up breakfast without any running water - like camping! Inside a beautiful home! - we got ready for our next surprise. A lovely yoga teacher arrived and led a private session for us on the home's porch, with a lovely view of the trees.

I sat near the back so I could take pictures, so I had a great view of these two harassing each other...

The teacher saw me taking photos and offered to take some with my phone during the class.

It was a really nice hour of yoga, I felt really invigorated and inspired, and the teacher was really great. She was reading our group really well, and was also reading these passages during class that were really speaking to me personally, and really moving me.

I didn't have a tripod, so I set up the camera on a stump for a group shot before we headed out.

We said goodbye to the lovely house and headed out for our last stop before we hit the road. We drove a little further up the main road to the Montgomery Woods State Reserve. We wanted to take a short hike through the beautiful redwood forest. We found a little place to pull off and park, and headed down the trail. Immediately, we came to a stream with a little rocky outcropping, so we set down and had a little picnic lunch.

I think Laura was trying to operate my camera but took this cute selfie instead...

The company was perfect, the cheese was delicious, and the setting was glorious. The redwoods towered above and filtered the sunshine into perfect rays that made the leaves glow in the way that makes my heart flutter.

I was enchanted by this water that made an alluring, deep blue pool next to our picnic spot before it spilled down the rocks to join the stream below where we sat. We didn't have enough time, but I longed to float there for a while.

After I ate, I took off my shoes and climbed carefully down to the stream below, where I stood in fresh cold water up to my shins.

I spied this fuzzy little caterpillar thrashing around in the water, with fish nipping at him from below, so I rescued him and deposited him back on dry land. He had a friend hiding in the moss somewhere...

It was a gorgeous spot and I wanted to spend all day there, maybe more, but we had to head back to real life. We made great time until we popped out the other side of the Robin Williams Bridge and made a wrong turn in SF on Pride Weekend. We took a scenic tour of the Haight while the natives and their various GPS apps argued about the best route until we finally got back on track. We made stops and dropped people off, got back and said goodbyes to most, and then Melissa and I both made a beeline for a long-awaited shower. I had to hustle, though, and once we were both clean and fresh, we hopped back in the van and she took me to the airport.

It was hard to fly away from a place that I love and people that I love so much and wish I could see more. I knew that it was going to be a great weekend, but somehow, the whole was so much greater than the sum of its parts. I was sorry to leave, but my cup was full and running over with a peace, a joy, a love that I haven't experienced in such a long time. I am so thankful that I met Melissa, who introduced me to Laura, who introduced me to their wonderful friends. I am grateful that I know them all, and that I got to spend such a wonderful weekend with them, celebrating one of the most unique and inspiring people I've ever known. I think we should do it every year...

The Last First Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (eRin) — Mon, 18 Jul 2016 14:00:00 +0000

We celebrated a first birthday for the last time. I sort of can't believe it. Last week, on Elliott's actual birthday, we dressed him in a brand new birthday suit (that I finished in the nick of time the night before), and helped him open a small pile of presents (I got carried away. He's my last. And my favorite...Which explains how I paid dollars for toys that make noise...).

I know what my buddy likes and was glad to see that he really enjoyed all of his gifts, but was actually kind of surprised at how much he loved his new sippy cups, and thrilled to see how much he loved his Hungry Caterpillar jack-in-the-box.

His sisters LOVE jack-in-the-boxes as well, so they've been playing with it as much or more than Elliott. Which is fine, because they can entertain him with it, and they all get a big kick out of it.

He's SO thirsty.

Then he fell off his racing snail (or is it a slug?) and clunked his head on the fireplace tile surround. And then the party was over!

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to...

He went down for a rest and the girls went to swimming lessons. We had to stop at the grocery store afterwards, so we picked up a birthday donut for dessert since he wasn't going to get a cake until his little party on the weekend. He thoroughly enjoyed his half of a plain cake donut.

The girls were very excited to help me bake treats for the party. First, we made some cupcakes and some cupcakes baked into ice cream cones. The cones turned out adorably, but we baked them a few days in advance of the party, and the cones got limp from all the moisture in the cake. So, if you need cupcakes that look like ice cream cones, you'll probably want to bake and frost them day of...

All my helpers.

Elliott really enjoys the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. And I really enjoy all the food in that book, it always makes me want to sample all of those snacks. I've always thought it would be so fun to throw a Hungry Caterpillar party, and since Elliott is such a voracious and adventurous eater, I thought this was a perfect occasion. We sort of planned it last minute, but we needed some friends to come over and help us eat all those treats! So I whipped up a little invite and sent it out.

I had to use the book to make sure I got all the food laid out properly!

The chocolate cake was way too tall and totally precarious, but it lasted long enough to take a good photo. I just noticed that I forgot to put cherries on top of two slices!!

I made a hungry caterpillar out of the party plates and a #1 out of washi tape.

And I whipped up a Hungry Caterpillar romper just in time for the party, because that's how I roll. There was a bit of a snap malfunction, so I ended up holding it together with safety pins at the bottom...

He got an awesome airplane rocker from some of our great friends, along with a bunch of other fun things that he loves (a football! an airplane! a xylophone!!).

We'd had lunch a bit earlier, but he was definitely interested in all the snack offerings. So we sat him in his chair and fed the hungry caterpillar. He ate some sausage, a plum, and lots of watermelon. Lots.

And then we let him have his birthday treat! He LOVED us all singing "Happy Birthday," and he loved the flame on his #1 candle. He giggled and grinned the whole time. I blew out his candle, and he went right for the frosting.

It was an adorable little party for an adorable little guy, and we were so happy to celebrate with some of the great friends we've made. I know Elliott was happy to be the center of attention, and to get some fun new big boy toys to play with!

He is just the sweetest, funniest, most fun little buddy and we love him so, so very much. I could never have imagined such a little character, and now we could never imagine life without him. I could listen to him chuckle and watch him sleep, and eat food like a person literally all day long. Happy Birthday to my sweet, sweet boy.

Hello, Six.

noreply@blogger.com (eRin) — Tue, 07 Jun 2016 14:00:00 +0000

Alice is six now. My parents came to celebrate, and celebrate we did, and then we did some other stuff, and then we got sick, and now here we are a few weeks later, with an honest-to-goodness six-year-old who can read and write and uses words like "protruding" and "rummaging" in correct context.

After I retrieved my mom from the airport, Alice and I set to work baking chocolate cupcakes to share with her friends on her birthday. I read the directions to Alice (since they were on my phone), and she measured and baked with only a little assistance from me. She graciously allowed Ivy to put the cupcake papers in the pan, and my mom supervised the operation.

A budding sous chef to her bossypants sister.

So many cooks in the kitchen.

Then, Alice filled each cupcake paper with 1/4c of batter. Most of it made it into the cups...

And then we licked the bowl and the whisk and the spatulas. Naturally.

Yum.

Grandma and Elliott watched.

And watched each other.

And giggled.

And then we said goodnight to five, and woke up with a six-year-old.

Goodnight, five.

Alice wore her special birthday dress to school, with leggings and a cardigan because it was a bit brisk. After she got home and had lunch, we finished decorating the cupcakes to pass the time until her friends were coming over.

Alice had a very distinct vision for her birthday treats. A while ago, she was looking at photos of Jack Skellington cupcakes (for some reason, who knows?), and came across some other Halloween-type cupcakes including ghosts and spiders. Again, for some reason, she decided that these would be perfect Harry Potter cupcakes, and that she wanted to have a Harry Potter birthday party. She had grand plans, including the Aragog cupcakes (Hagrid's giant spider friend) and ghost cupcakes (to represent the ghosts at Hogwarts), and we would decorate the house to look like Hogwarts and so on and so forth. I reminded her that we weren't going to do a big party this year, just something small with our family. Presents, her favorite dinner requests, and I would make her whatever kind of cake she wanted. She chose a cheesecake, and we agreed to just imagine a fun Hogwarts party.

Until Jon promised her that she could share treats with her friends (our neighbors). I told him that I didn't want to make a million different treats and do a big thing. He said he would help Alice make them. And then he found out what she had in mind...

Honestly, the cakes were perfectly easy. We frosted chocolate cupcakes with chocolate buttercream (I've linked to my very favorite recipes, but your favorites will work just fine!). Originally, Alice had wanted to fill the cupcakes with cinnamon buttercream, for "spider venom," but I didn't have that much time, so I talked her into a chili-chocolate kind of thing. We added some cinnamon (2 teaspoons, maybe?) and 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne to the chocolate frosting, and it was just the tiniest bit spicy at the end. Perfect.

I had frosted the cupcakes the day before, and rolled the tops in chocolate sprinkles, to make them look like furry spiders. I had also taken long skinny laces of black licorice and folded them in half, half again, and half again and sliced off the folded ends to make 8 lengths of black licorice for the legs. Alice put on the red hot eyes, and then we stuck the ends of the licorice into the frosting.

She was very insistent that they should all have eight red hots, because spiders have 8 eyes, but I was insistent that we probably didn't have that much time or that many red hots. I advised that she should give every spider two eyes, and then we could add more until we ran out of time and/or red hots.

We let Ivy decorate her own cupcake, since I was pretty sure she wasn't planning on following safe food-handling practices... My dad helped out with a few of his own, and supervised Ivy. She and Alice ate a good deal of legs and eyes that never made it onto a body.

After the girls were done, my dad spent some time making sure that every eye and leg were on just perfectly so. It reminded me of my senior prom; my dress had a bajillion individually sewn sequins that would get twisty when I sat or moved around. Before I left the house and before each round of photos, my dad would spend at least five minutes smoothing down the dress, making sure that every sequin was laying flat and in the right direction.

The cupcakes turned out great. It was such a fun idea, and Alice was very pleased with herself and her creations. I kept giggling while the girls were decorating because it was all just so cute.

A two-eyed spider

An eight-eyed spider.

In lieu of balloons or bunting or a banner (which I did not have at the ready), I took my mom's excellent suggestion and made a cute sign and decoration out of washi tape after Alice had gone to bed the night before. After we finished the cupcakes, Alice helped me put up some streamers in the red and gold color scheme of Gryffindor house.

When I asked what kind of birthday dress Alice wanted, she said she wanted a Hermione dress. Neither of us quite knew what that meant. At the fabric store, we couldn't find any fabric that Alice deemed Hermione-worthy, but she was drawn to these sparkly rainbow stripe and rainbow heart fabrics, and a cupcake button. In the end, she decided that it was a dress Hermione had enchanted to look like a cupcake. I can't believe I didn't take any better photos of it that day. I'll have to get some soon.

We decided to open presents before our neighbors arrived. Of course little sister wanted to help.

Ivy is particularly enchanted with this little collapsing giraffe.

Ivy picked out a very nice gift for her sister, a Little Mermaid Lego set. Alice loves it, and never lets her sister touch it...

But I think possibly her favorite gift was one that I struggled to locate. It was the only thing she asked for, "the rest of the Hermione costume" to go with the robe and the wand she already has.

The thing is, they don't really make or sell a proper Hermione costume. I found this cardigan, which is darling, but seems to be discontinued and wasn't available in her size. Plus, it doesn't have a Gryffindor crest or patch or anything. Anyway. I finally found an actual child-size tie. Don't get me started on the fact that it's labeled "for boys" as though the boys and girls don't wear the same tie with their uniform at Hogwarts. Actually, I kind of think that they only wear uniforms in the first movie, and then not again after that. But anyway.

I got the tie, and then an actual, legit school uniform shirt and skirt, which are both absolutely darling. She put the outfit on immediately, and wore it all weekend and wanted to wear it to school. I would happily buy her a closet full of Hermione uniforms that she could wear every day...

Hermione also loved her new dancing ribbon. She tucks it into her bike basket and carries it everywhere she goes.

Our neighbors and just a couple of friends came over and they all had a great time riding bikes and scooters and playing in the forest. When it was cupcake time, Alice proudly served the cupcakes and some of her friends looked completely mystified about why the treats were decorated like spiders at all, let alone in the middle of May.

At some point, the excitement got to be a bit much, and Alice took a break and a cuddle with Grandma. Much like Sister Bear in The Berenstain Bears "Too Much Birthday," which we'd already been reading a bunch for some reason.

Then, after all our guests headed home, we headed out for Alice's requested birthday dinner at one of her favorite restaurants, the seafood restaurant down on the water. We had an excellent view of the water and of all the cars disembarking the ferry!

And Alice stuffed herself silly with calimari and shrimp. Her new favorite companion tagged along, too.

Elliott also enjoyed his dinner!

And his first taste of lemon!

And then our server asked if he could bring out a special birthday dessert. We'd been planning on going home and having Alice's specially requested cheesecake, but we said, "Why not...?" We were expecting a tiny, child-sized treat that we could all sample, but nearly fell out of our chairs when we saw the enormous, three-scoop sundae that came out! Alice was absolutely thrilled.

We tried to dig out as much as we could, as fast as we could, but Alice can eat FAST (only when she wants to, of course), and shoveled in WAY more sundae than I was planning on. I can hardly blame her. It was delicious, and it was her birthday, after all.

We decided to save the cheesecake for the next night, and went straight to bed when we got home because we had an early morning the next day.

We got the kids up and ready and headed out for Aviation Day and the first accompanying 5K race. Jon and I had wanted to run and then Alice said she wanted to run, too. So we signed her up and did a few practice/test/training runs where Alice actually ran completely fine but whined and cried and screamed the whole way. I was prepared for an utter disaster on the course.

Six, going on sixteen. Or maybe thirty-six...

The 5K kids.

Her initial enthusiasm waned after our trial runs and she was pretty hesitant about the race, but she loved the new running shoes I bought her and I told her she could wear her tutu.

I could tell she was excited by the crowd and the energy, and when it started, she did a fantastic job. She ran the first mile and a half, with only a few short little walking breaks. I think the crowd and the changing scenery kept her interested and we talked about stuff, and a bunch of people complimented her tutu. We actually saw a bunch of planes take off right next to us! Soon, though, so she started complaining that she had a stomach ache and saying she needed to go to the bathroom. Unfortunately, there were no porta-potties on the course, and because we were running along an active airport, they were very serious about the fact that you could not step off the paved path. So, to avoid an embarrassing reprise of her huge shrimp dinner, we threw her onto the stroller at Elliott's feet. Jon and I picked up the pace and ran a pretty quick mile, and then had Alice get out and run the last half mile. So, technically, she didn't run the whole thing, but she did great and she snagged a medal anyway... Don't tell.

The turn-around, with a DreamLifter in the background.

Headed toward the finish line!

Unfortunately, it was a gray and rainy day. It was drizzling a bit during the race, but really picked up right after the above photo. We got pretty wet, and Jon, Alice, and I went to change into dry street clothes. And then we all went to the airport fire station to take advantage of the pancake breakfast!

We didn't last as long as we thought we would, or would have on a nice sunny day. We left my dad to finish looking at all the historical planes in the nice little museum, and we all headed home to watch the last Harry Potter movies and rest on the couch. And then we finally had a delicious Oreo cheesecake for dessert! Because we needed more treats... Alice wore the crown she got courtesy of the Royal Robotics team at Aviation Day.

A week after her birthday, Alice woke me up in the middle of the night and said she thought she was getting a migraine. She seemed better in the morning, so we sent her to school, but she spent most of the morning in the nurse's office until they finally called me to pick her up early. She came home and rested on the couch, which is usually what we do when she has a migraine. It wasn't any better the next morning, so she stayed home from school and rested on the couch. But she also had a bit of a fever. By the afternoon, my mom thought it would be a good idea to check in with her doctor to make sure we didn't need to do anything more before the long holiday weekend. They were pretty concerned about her fever and her symptoms, especially since I'd given her a dose of ibu profen an hour before and she still had a fever and headache and sore throat and was whimpering. They actually suggested that we head to the E.R., just in case. So we did. Luckily, my mom was there to stay home with Ivy and Elliott.

We were in the E.R. waiting too for a couple of hours, trying not to get barfed on by any number of very ill people. Alice fell asleep in my lap, and was still asleep when they called her into the triage room, where she lost her breakfast.

They gave her Tylenol to get her fever down, monitored her, and did a strep test. She had some apple juice and kept it down, and her strep test was negative, so they diagnosed her with a "flu-like illness" and sent us home with instructions to alternate Tylenol and Motrin to keep her fever down. Luckily, we'd brought the iPad to keep her ~~sedated~~ amused.

So that's what we did. For six days. Alice was flat on the couch, and hardly moved at all from Thursday through Wednesday. By Wednesday night, she had regained some pep and gotten a little twinkle back in her eye. She was feeling well enough to go to school on Thursday and Friday, and then this last weekend we continued to take it easy and rest a bit.

We spent a week in variations on this theme.

So now we're all well again (almost), and looking toward the end of the school year, and our first summer break with a real, six-year-old school kid. I have so much to say about Alice, I'll have to write a proper, tearful missive soon now that the nuts and bolts are out of the way.

Mother's Day

noreply@blogger.com (eRin) — Mon, 09 May 2016 14:00:00 +0000

There was a baptism at church today. One of the mothers held her baby in her arms, three months old, who seemed to be asleep. As the pastor spoke about the sacrament of baptism, I noticed the mom start rocking and bouncing, very slightly, almost imperceptibly, but I saw and I knew that even though I hadn't noticed the baby move, that the mother was responding to the smallest cues from a tiny, indistinct person she has only known for three months. The pastor took the baby and woke it in the transfer and then made it cry out in little baby squawks when she blessed it's forehead with her cold, wet hands. Then she held the baby close, and she, too, bounced it. The pastor is a mother, a grandmother, and I could see that her movements were instinctive and involuntary.

And I thought, that is the thread that binds all of humanity together, this maternal instinct to rock and bounce, even if it is not life of our own flesh. This urge to keep creating life, and protecting it, and nurturing it. Other animals do this, but only for a short time. They kick their babies out of the nest, the herd, the pride, out of their hunting grounds. They don't have to spend so many months carrying their babies around, then teaching them to eat and poop and walk and talk. They don't have to shepherd them through eighteen-to-twenty-two-plus years of school and lessons and sports and activities and birthday parties and manners and social etiquette and responsibilities... Their animal babies don't call them when THEY have babies and ask how they're supposed to get their offspring to sleep, or to latch, or what is this weird rash or fever, or how do you cook chicken so you don't all get food poisoning. I mean, I know some animals carry their young, but only for a time. And some have to teach them to fly and to hunt, but then they are off. I guess elephant daughters have the luxury of their mother's guidance for an extended period, and maybe gorillas and lions and whales. But you get what I mean... Human motherhood requires an extraordinary investment of time and effort and energy.

Alice and Ivy woke me up at 5:45am this morning to wish me Happy Mother's Day. I told them to go back to bed. Then I told them to go turn on cartoons. I went back to bed. Ivy busted into Elliott's room and woke him up. Jon got up with all of them and fed them breakfast and I went back to sleep for another hour or so. When I woke up, Ivy made sure to tell me, again, Happy Mother's Day! and reminded me that they had a present for me. I told her I couldn't wait to see it, just as soon I went to the bathroom. She opened the door while I was peeing to tell me Happy Mother's Day. Again. While I was peeing. Hashtag motherhood, hashtag so blessed...

Alice made me a book at school that was All About Mom but really, kind of about Alice. "Mom, you are so special because you always love me!" and "My favorite thing to do with you, mom is go to the Disney Store." Which we've done like, twice, and obviously, is mostly only fun for her. My favorite food is pancakes (I do love pancakes), and my favorite thing to do with Alice is bake with her (I do enjoy that!), she tells me jokes to make me laugh "Ha Ha Ha," and my favorite place to go is the beach. Those were pretty good answers, not untrue at all!

Ivy took a bunch of hilarious photos of me reading through the book.

We got ready for church and everything devolved into a crying, screaming, shouting disaster. Ivy smashed Alice's finger in the locker at the gym yesterday and Alice was sobbing that she needed a bandaid and couldn't put on her tights with a wet, hurt, bleeding finger without a bandaid while Elliott was wailing and screaming because he needed to be breastfed. I sat on the floor with him in my bathrobe and fed him, my church clothes in a pile on the bed behind me, everyone else dressed and ready to go to church. Except for screaming Alice and her tights. I reminded Alice that this was the day we celebrate the fact that I grew three humans with my body and squeezed them out of it, so I was pretty sure she could tolerate her minor finger injury.

A few minutes away from church, Ivy said she needed "to go potty so badly." And Alice said she needed a drink of water to make her barking, resonant cough quieter (she might have croup? Apparently, she shared a popsicle with a sick neighbor on Friday). We finally made it to church and Alice had a drink while Ivy used the bathroom and we made it to our seats after the Call to Worship but just in time to sing this hymn. I sang while repeatedly putting Alice and Ivy back in their seats and getting them pencils to work on their children's bulletin. Jon and I literally laughed out loud at the first line of the third verse. It just felt so appropriate to our morning, by that point. Really, it's appropriate to every day in our house, and worldwide, too, it seems...

The sermon was lovely, and really spoke to me about the power of a mother's anger when her children are hurt being akin to God's anger at the injustices we inflict on each other, but my brain is too mushy to organize my thoughts into words. It was about the anger of a mother bear. The quote on the front of the bulletin spoke to me as well, thought I don't feel like much of my anger is a "good anger" these days...

I snagged a picture with my littlest baby in his suspenders on our way out the door, but neglected to get one of all my offspring together. He's just the most delicious.

During the Children's Moment, the kids all got a rose to give to their mother. So I came home with three really beautiful roses to go along with the lovely herb garden that Jon and the kids planted for me. Luckily, everything is cat-safe, because Eli's been snacking on everything all day. I'll be surprised if there's anything left and the vase is still in one piece tomorrow, he just knocked it over - again - as I sit here typing this.

Kids. Jeez.

I hope your day was full of love and hugs and thanks. Let's do it all again tomorrow!

Spring Break!

noreply@blogger.com (eRin) — Tue, 19 Apr 2016 18:45:00 +0000

Alice had spring break last week, so we totally went on an exotic vacation! Just kidding. We had no plans. We talked about going somewhere new and nearby for a few nights, but in the end, we didn't have our act together and Jon ended up getting a ton of work that kept him busy all week.

Another mom on Facebook said that her four-year-old woke them up on the first day of spring break to ask "Is it spring break? Where are we going?" because one of the kid's classmates was going on a trip to China... This mom asked us what we all had planned for spring break. I mentioned that I was on my way to the gym so my kids could run wild in the "Adventure Zone" and I would get a little break from their whining and crying. I definitely think that spring break was invented to torture parents...

Anyway, we made plans to go to the zoo with friends on the first day of spring break. We've lived here for a year and had somehow not been yet! We got an annual pass, so we can make sure to go more often now!

Right off the bat, we got up close and personal with a gorilla. Elliott loved it. He was patting on the glass and laughing and even waved "hiiiii."

Before we entered the zoo, we could hear a peacock crying and soon after the gorilla, we crossed paths with one. This gorgeous guy strolled along in front of us and hopped up on the rock next to us so we could admire his fabulous plumage. Seriously, I was fixated. I could not stop staring at all of his beautiful colors and patterns. My unedited photos hardly do him justice, obviously, but I kept thinking that I wanted a luscious bed made out of these colors and patterns and silky textures.

He was not shy at all and didn't seem to mind me getting close to take his photo. I was a little nervous and tried to keep a safe distance, just in case he decided to claw my eyes out or something. He finally hopped down and made like he was going to stroll away, and then instead, he fanned his glorious tail. I was so excited.

Alice was standing in front of me, right up close with Mr. Peacock, and got some nice shots with her little camera.

Pretty pretty peacock.

I thought the zoo was nice and intimate with really accessible exhibits. They also had some cool animal sculptures and other interactive displays that the girls were super excited to play in and on. In fact, Alice was a lot more excited about those things than the animals...

Ivy rides a hippo.

We saw the lion triplets, born in October 2014, lounging around really close to the viewing areas. They were probably the most alert lions I have ever seen at a zoo, except for the one in Amsterdam, who actually devoured a steak while we were watching...

We finished off at the carousel, which the girls loved at the LA Zoo. This was the first time Elliott got to sit on a carousel horse! I didn't get to watch his face during the ride, but Jon assured me he loved it. Luckily, I got a few photos before we started.

Our friends took us to a great taco shop nearby for lunch where we finally had some decent Mexican food. I was stuffed for the rest of the day and fantasized about going back all the next day. I can't wait to go again.

We had a few boring days after that, with a few trips to the gym, and then on Friday, Jon was able to get away from his desk long enough to go to the aquarium. The octopus was putting on quite a show for us, changing the color and texture of her skin, and swimming upside down. I was SO excited. Her circular enclosures are super hard to photograph, so my pictures are never great.

Elliott loved patting (or smacking) all the glass on all the exhibits. Pat, laugh, pat pat, laugh laugh laugh. He loved it.

Look! An otter!!

The otters were putting on quite a show, too!!

In one of the exhibits, I saw the tiniest sea star I have ever seen. It was smaller than Alice's little pinky nail. This isn't a great photo, it was white, so very hard to photograph!

The Lionfish is one of my very favorites, even if they are a horribly invasive species that is terrorizing Florida right now...

After the aquarium, we made our way to The Crumpet Shop for lunch. Alice and Ivy love crumpets, so we were excited to try it.

We all got crumpets with egg and cheese, Ivy also requested a tomato, and Jon and I got ham. They were delicious. We also got another crumpet for dessert with ricotta, and the girls asked for orange marmalade. They loved it. I don't love orange marmalade, and though I do love ricotta, it just wasn't my favorite combo. I'll have to try something else, next time!!

After lunch, Jon was still craving something sweet, so we stopped at Le Panier - our fav - for treats. Alice asked for a macaron but at the last moment, like the very last moment while the nice boy was waiting behind the counter, she changed her mind and asked for a "cinnamon fluff." I had no idea what she was talking about, so she had to drag me over and point to the lovely meringues. She wanted the one dusted with cocoa powder. She loved it. Man, I love eating in the Pike Place Market.

So, it was a low-key, but fun spring break. Jon had too much work to squeeze in the Tulip Festival this weekend, but we're hoping to go one of these days soon!

9 months!

noreply@blogger.com (eRin) — Sat, 16 Apr 2016 15:00:00 +0000

Elliott is 9 months!

He can wave "hello" and "bye," and makes the cutest little breathy "hiiii" sound to go along with it. He waved to the gorilla at the zoo the other day and I couldn't handle the cuteness. He hasn't figured out how to move his knees and crawl, but he's mastered the army crawl and can get anywhere he wants - and fast! Just yesterday, he tried to pull himself up to standing in his crib, I know he'll get the hang of that in no time at all.

Or, he's just going to walk on all fours like Mowgli.

Just as I suspected from his early sleep laughing, he is quite a jolly little joker. Laughing is his default response for everything that he enjoys. Elevators, fish at the aquarium, slapstick... His favorite word is "stinky." He laughs like crazy when we say it, even if he's mid-wail. He's also super ticklish, so I can always get some good belly laughs that way. He loves playing peekaboo, and think it's hilarious when I dance or make any kinds of sign language signs.

I think he's figuring out that he can make me laugh, too. He makes faces and funny noises, just to see me react.

He loves his sisters, they can always get a laugh out of him. He loves his kitties, too. He likes to pat them whenever possible, and Jon thinks he's also trying to say "kitty." Eli has taken to napping on Elliott's rocker while Elliott naps, which I think is just the sweetest.

Elliott LOVES to eat. Loves it. I'm not sure he's met a food he didn't like. He loves carrots and apples, and has just learned to like broccoli, though I don't think it's his favorite. Really, his favorite is meat. Chicken, pork, salmon, turkey, beef. He loves it all. He frequently shrieks with sheer joy, and now throws his hands straight up in the air when he's satiated, and you better watch out if you have food that you aren't sharing. Babyled weaning is my favorite.

Look at the Little Buddy having a picnic with the big kids! So cute. I can't handle it.

Give me the breakfast. Give it.

Happy because his belly is full of pesto pasta.

This was like a cartoon.

All of my nicknames for him are food-based: Biscuit, Pork Belly, Pork Bun...

Look at that tasty ham hock.

Just this last week, he popped his first top tooth - not a front tooth, but the one just to the right. And then maybe a couple of days ago, his right front tooth finally popped. Still waiting on those top lefties, but now it's really going to hurt when he bites my shoulder...

I took some pics of him rolling around in the playroom the other day, and they make my ovaries hurt.

He is just the sweetest thing, and we love him so, SO much. Often, he is the brightest spot in a day full of his whining and fighting and arguing contrarian sassmaster sisters. I want to eat him alive. I think I'm getting enough sleep now that I actually miss nomming on his tasty face after he's gone to bed at night. I make sure to get lots of nuzzles in overnight, I love his smooshy sleeping face. I mean...

Easter Dresses

noreply@blogger.com (eRin) — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 03:30:00 +0000

I was having a tough time deciding on Easter outfits this year, until I saw that Sarah Jane Studios was having an Easter Dress Challenge with Sommer, her new fabric collection. I had been admiring all the prints as she shared them on Instagram, and a challenge was the only push I needed to order enough yardage for two little dresses. I used Painted Gingham in Bloom for the main dress fabric and Sundborn in Blossom for the bottom skirt and bodice lining (which were kind of hilariously similar to their store-bought dresses last year!).

I ordered the fabric with plenty of time to make the dresses, but I procrastinated as long as possible, naturally. I think I got started with exactly one week to spare, and Alice kept saying "Mom, you better start sewing our dresses, it's already Palm Sunday!" Thanks, Alice.

Luckily, I was using the Georgia Twirl Dress pattern from Schwin Designs, which sews up super quick and easy, and always looks great. The length of the skirt and the construction of the bodice is generous enough that the girls can wear these dresses for at least a year (sometimes more!), so I like to make holiday dresses that are versatile enough to last through a few seasons (here are their dresses from 2014). These were perfect for our wet Easter with a cardigan and tights, and we put them on again in the warm sunshine today and they were perfect with bare arms and legs and feet. They should last through the summer and well into fall.

Plus, this pattern is the girls' favorite, because the double layer circle skirt is perfect for spinning.

I always make matching bloomers for these dresses, what with all the spinning... I use the Diaper Cover pattern from Dana Made It. I've always used the largest size, it's the perfect size for going over cloth diapers and now it's the perfect size for covering their little underpants now.

Love those long legs and scraped up knees.

The last time I made a round of Georgia Twirl dresses, I realized that the circles cut from the skirt waists would make perfect yo-yo flowers, so every Georgia Twirl will get accessorized with yo-yos from now on. I put one on each bodice, and made a pair of barrettes as well.

back detail

I also got super ambitious and made myself a dress that turned out wonderfully (if I do say so myself). I made the pattern myself, inspired by one of my old favorite dress that I wore to death, and sewed it frantically, finally finishing around 7:30pm on Saturday night before Easter morning. It's the first thing I've made for myself that I really love and I can't wait to make more. The style is so versatile, it could easily work in a luxurious silk or a casual jersey.

Here's a detail shot of the fabric drawstring neckline (though you can't see the keyhole detail) and the shirring at the waist.

And here's a full shot from Easter Sunday, with everyone (including little Miss Crankpot Ivy). I loved the print of my dress with the sweet gingham of the girls' dresses.

And here are a few silly shots from our shoot this afternoon!

Look at those knock knees!!

Happy Easter - 2016

noreply@blogger.com (eRin) — Tue, 29 Mar 2016 16:09:00 +0000

We had a lovely Easter weekend. On Saturday, we walked down to Alice's school for an Easter egg hunt put on by our town firefighters. We ran into some of our neighbor friends (who kindly let me make a pit stop at their bathroom!) and then met up with them again and our girls played together on the playground after the hunt. I didn't get many pics of the eggstravaganza (due to some period-related discomfort), but I did get a shot of my adorable little buddy in his super adorable new hat.

We walked past a row of lovely cherry trees and I just had to stop and take a few photos.

Then we came home and dyed our own eggs! Ivy was so into it this year. She blew through her eggs and then tried to finish up Alice's.

They were pretty pleased with their eggs - and themselves!

What do you mean, all the eggs are done??

After we finished dyeing eggs, I had to hustle to finish up all of our Easter outfits. I think I finished everything around 7:30pm that night, and finally got to try on my own dress before bed. I was thrilled that it fit wonderfully. I'm hoping to do a short post on the dresses with some better photos...

The Easter bunny must have hopped through our house while we were sleeping, because when the girls woke up, they found baskets full of fun things and plastic, candy-filled eggs all over the place.

The kids checked out their baskets, rounded up all the eggs (and snuck some candy!), and then we gobbled up a fortifying breakfast and got everyone scrubbed and dressed and in the car. I tried to get a photo at church, but the girls were hopped up on sugar and it was sprinkling, so we tried again at home. I told the girls that they needed to stand still and smile nicely and they both promised that they would. Ivy changed her mind.

I didn't get any great shots of Elliott's outfit, but he had suspenders! And rolled up shirtsleeves! He was so cute. We made it to the early church service and Elliott stayed with us and charmed everyone around him. He even held hands with the woman behind us during the last hymn. What a little Easter ham.

After church, while our quiche was cooking and the girls were watching The Land Before Time, Jon hid our hardboiled eggs outside. Earlier that morning, Alice was dead set against putting real eggs outside. She was concerned that they would get dirty and be inedible, she was nearly in tears. I tried explaining that hens lay the eggs outside in the dirt and grass, but she was not convinced. She came around in the end, and we had a good time gathering all the eggs up again. We had to wear rain boots in the wet and squelchy grass.

Ivy kept throwing her eggs into her basket and they were all getting cracked. We kept telling her to be gentle. At one point, she chucked an egg back into the grass. I reminded her to be gentle and she said "There's a BUG on it!" I laughed and said, "Just wipe it off!" And she burst into tears and said "But I don't want a SLUG in my mouth!" Apparently, I had misheard her, and there was a teeny tiny slug on the egg. I relocated it and wiped the egg in the grass, and we all had a good laugh. And then we went inside to eat!

Immediately post-slug.

I made a lovely quiche, at Jon's request, and baked up some frozen almond croissants from Trader Joe's (yummmmm!), and of course we had hard-boiled eggs. Actually, the girls did. Jon doesn't like hard-boiled eggs (so weird) and the girls don't care for quiche (also so weird), so we each stuck to our respective eggs of choice.

I couldn't resist capturing a photo of Ivy finishing up her eggs after Alice turned The Land Before Time back on. That tummy! The little legs and toes. I just can't. I love her little power body.

I hope you had a lovely weekend full of all your favorite bunnies!

Happy Move-aversary...

noreply@blogger.com (eRin) — Sun, 06 Mar 2016 16:42:00 +0000

One year ago today, we wrapped up a four-day, 1200-mile road trip as our Subaru rolled into our apartment parking slot. We'd never set foot in, or even seen, this apartment complex, and we had no idea how long we would live there. Luckily, everything worked out better than we could have planned, and went super smoothly.

We've packed a lot of big changes into this year. (moving into two new spaces, a new home, a new baby, kindergarten...) We're still unpacking ~~some~~ a lot of our boxes, and if we're being honest, we're still unpacking a lot of our feelings as well. I'm trying to write about my thoughts, but that will have to come later.

We took a fun little outing yesterday, and though we didn't plan this activity specifically to commemorate our move-aversary, but it really was a fitting choice. We'd heard that the University of Washington has some lovely cherry trees and when yesterday dawned on a beautiful blue and sunny day, we thought we'd go check out the early blossoms. We may have to go down next weekend as well, once they are fully in bloom.

We had a heck of a time figuring out where to park, until we realized the spots weren't permitted after noon on Saturdays... I took a couple of shots to test the light while we were getting everything out of the car and got a nice shot of this sweet little face.

As we walked toward the Quad, we passed a building and the sounds of someone practicing an instrument drifted out the windows. As we got around to the front of the building, we saw that it was the School of Music. It sounded like some sort of Taiko drum ensemble was practicing on the other side, and it was sort of an interesting background serenade to our experience.

Maybe Alice and/or Ivy will go here!

We'd never been to the University campus and were quite taken with it's beautiful buildings. Jon and I decided we'd both like to go back to college. Those were the days...

We were definitely not the only ones there to enjoy the trees, and it was hard for everyone to stay out of each other's photos - especially because the patches of grass were all squashy mud swamps.

In front of the School of Music building were a few of my favorite magnolia trees, the Alexandrina Saucer magnolia. So we went over to see those as well.

It was a lovely little afternoon field trip, and then we found a nearby restaurant for dinner. The kids love going out to eat, and Elliott even got to eat his chicken dinner in a big boy high chair! So here we are, a family of five, a bunch of California kids doing our best to be real Seattle-ites and Washingtonians - though one of us actually is!! So here's to more rain, more adventures, and hopefully not a lot more change. On to the next year!

Valentine's Gift Kits for the Stay-At-Home Types

noreply@blogger.com (eRin) — Sun, 07 Feb 2016 05:06:00 +0000

Valentine's Day is just a week away! Alice keeps reminding me and updating me on the countdown. For some reason, she is super excited and has some kind of big plans in the works, involving me taking a nap. Sold.

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by someone from a company I'd never heard of, asking if I'd be interested in promoting their product for Valentine's day. I was interested, I thought their product was a fun gift for guys. They wanted me to write about some ideas for kits to help guys give their lady dates a great Valentine's Day. I immediately had some great ideas for us "stuck at home with little kids" types, to have a fun date at home after the kids are in bed. Some of my mom friends also chimed in with some awesome ideas. Unfortunately, this company did not actually offer any such date kits, and they weren't able (or interested?) in partnering to create any kits from my ideas that would actually be available to purchase for Valentine's Day. So it seemed silly to give them free publicity by sharing ideas for gifts that someone would have to buy from another company anyway and then assemble themselves. So I said "no thanks," and am going to share my ideas with you anyway!!

If you and your Valentine have kids that keep you stuck at home more often than not, here are some ideas for gift kits that can help you have a special evening without having to pay a sitter - especially if you can stay awake long enough after your kids are asleep! It would be so fun to get a gift box with all of these things inside all ready to go, but if you want to put one together yourself, I've included links below for almost everything (including many affiliate links from my little Amazon store)! Lots of this stuff is available on Amazon Prime, so you can still get it in time for the big day!

The Kit: Sweet Paris - French dessert kit

Includes: creme brûlée mix, set of four ramekins in a water bath baking dish, kitchen torch with butane, ceramic pots of microwave-ready chocolate fondue (just heat & serve!) with fondue forks (not pictured!) marshmallows, pound cake, and wafer cookies for dipping, my very favorite romantic French movie, some French bubbly, and a sampler of macarons.

Just add: cream for creme brûlée, and any other treats you want to dip in chocolate - like fresh strawberries and pineapple!

The Kit: That's Amore - Italian meal kit including supplies to make your own fresh mozzarella! Make the mozzarella with your date, and then eat it for dinner!

Includes: Fresh mozzarella-making kit, delicious dry salami, pizza dough mix, marinara sauce, olive oil, Italian herb mix, pizza peel, himalayan salt votive candle holder, Italian wine, and a classic romantic comedy set in Italy (or, for a more recent option, Only You - one of my very favs!).

Just add: Whole milk (not ultra pasteurized) for making mozzarella, and maybe some fresh veggies and basil for your pizza.

The Kit: Light My Fire - backyard bonfire kit

Includes: portable fire bowl, cedar puck fire starter, matches, ghost stories book, retro lantern, shadow puppets, planisphere stargazing chart, naughty hot dog and marshmallow roasters, roasting sticks, s'mores roasting basket, graham crackers and biscoff cookies, marshmallows, caramel sauce, Theo chocolate bars and peanut butter cups, and Jiffy Pop. Rend Collective is a Northern Irish experimental folk rock worship band; their Campfire album was recorded live around a campfire. If hymns aren't your thing, Peter, Paul, and Mary bring all the standards on their "Around the Campfire" album.

Just add: small logs to burn, hot dogs & fixings, cozy blanket, campfire chairs

The Kit: Instant Romance - for your own private boudoir photo shoot.

Includes: French bubbly and flutes, silk rose petals to scatter and set the scene, Voluspa Prosecco Rose candle, rose water bubble bath, black half mask and mask on a stick, Instax Mini instant camera and film.

Just add: you! and any fun and fancy props or outfits you might already have around the house (or bedroom!)...

This might be my personal favorite idea, just because I've been wanting my own Instax mini for a while now. So much fun for a boudoir shoot - and no digital files of your naughty bits to accidentally get out and about.

The Kit: Couples Massage

Includes: couples massage book, coconut oil with a pump, peppermint eucalyptus candle

Learn to give each other great massages. Fractionated coconut oil will flow easily, but won't stain or get things all greasy. The candle will set the mood. Add in some relaxing essential oils to take it to the next level - use lavender, or any of your favorites!

The Kit: Adult Coloring

Includes: Crayola Super Tips markers, a saucy sex positions coloring book, and a hilarious "adult" coloring book with fun activities like a "Dodge the Debt Collector maze."

Just add: Any of your favorite coloring accouterments!

Get in on the coloring craze with some books that will help you giggle, relax, and get in the mood together!

The Kit: Beer Tasting

Includes: BrewMaster board game, Spiegelau IPA glasses, beer flight glasses with wood paddle tray, Goodnight Brew storybook.

Just add: Some new brews to try, and maybe some ~~snacks~~ palate cleansers!

We used to play this board game at our old neighborhood pub. Our favorite part was making up fun and punny names for our brews - this was actually not part of the game play, but we loved it!

6 months

noreply@blogger.com (eRin) — Wed, 13 Jan 2016 15:00:00 +0000

Elliott is six months old today. We should probably start letting him play with real food, but I'm dragging my feet because there's just no going back to that sweet baby breath. When Ivy started eating real food, she smelled like garlic pretty much instantly and exclusively. He's ready though, and I can't keep time from marching along.

I've been shouting my happiness all over social media that Elliott is basically nailing sleep training. He's been sleeping in a swaddle, and though it seemed like he still needed it, he had started rolling over onto his face once he woke up, which the baby owner's manuals do not recommend. I'd tried leaving an arm out of the swaddle or both arms, or ditching the swaddle all together, but he wasn't really going for it.

Another exhausted mom recommended a Facebook group dedicated to sleep training support, so I joined it, read some stuff, took a deep breath and ripped off the band aid. And it worked. He's learning to self-soothe, with only a few minutes of minimal "protest" cries and fussing. But basically, he's putting himself right to sleep for naps and bedtime, and has slept for nine straight hours - without waking to nurse - for a few nights in a row. I knew I was tired, but had no idea how exhausted I really was until I got five straight hours of sleep two nights in a row. Whoa. I think some of the fog is finally lifting, some of the rage is subsiding, and some of my brain cells are growing back.

I finally managed to get some photos of my sweet little guy in front of the Christmas tree, right before we dragged it out to the street. He even sat up unsupported for three whole minutes, without keeling over sideways or backwards.

He is really the sweetest little buddy, such a delicious bundle of butter ball. He loves to watch his sisters, and loves it when they hold him and tickle him and say "guh" at him. He loves to watch the kitties and get fistfuls of their fur. He loves to play penguin by laying on his tummy with his legs and arms off the ground and kick his legs and flap his arms; he looks just like a penguin sliding on the snow. He loves the Glow Baby and Violet toys, especially when they are playing songs for him.

And we love watching him do all these things. I love to make him laugh. I love to kiss his cheeks and his neck and his belly and munch on his arms and legs like corn on the cob. I love to breathe his baby breath. I love to see him in his star suit (aka the Zipadeezip), and love when he pats me with his little star hands while I nurse him in the wee hours of the morning. I even love his very sad sad face. It's the saddest face ever. Basically, we love everything about him.

In his Zipadeezip star suit

Patting his sister's face with his star hands.

darlings.

Reading a book about Biscuit to my little biscuit.

And Bugsy is 3.

noreply@blogger.com (eRin) — Tue, 05 Jan 2016 15:00:00 +0000

On New Year's Eve, we introduced the kids to one of my favorite traditions and showed them Little Shop of Horrors for the first time. Alice and Ivy both loved it, they wanted to watch it again immediately. Ivy actually said "I love the plant. I like that it eats blood."

I put Ivy to bed and she wanted her Glow Baby "to play her lullabies," and I took this photo of her last bedtime as a two-year-old.

I kept asking Ivy what kind of cake she wanted (I meant which flavor) and she kept telling me she wanted a Sadness cake. I haven't had a lot of time to think about or plan for her birthday, but I'd narrowed in on a good idea to make her a Sadness cake. So I whipped up a non-dairy (so I could eat it!), chocolate mayo cake with buttercream frosting and put Ivy's favorite character on it. I love how it turned out, and so did Ivy.

I'd also managed to whip up Ivy's birthday dress in the few days before New Year's Eve, while my parents were here to occupy the kids. I thought the coral corduroy needed some of the accent fabric on the bodice to break up all that pink, so I decided to make a flower. As I was researching flower tutorials, I realized that the circle cut out of the waist of this skirt would make a perfect yo-yo flower.

Ivy thought so, too!

The girls love these dresses with their spinny circle skirts.

Alice didn't want Ivy to get all the attention (even on her birthday) so she snuck into the photos wearing the first dress I ever made from this pattern probably two years ago. This is the Georgia Twirl Dress, if you're needing one of your own!

Ivy opened her gifts and Alice was on clean-up duty. Except Alice kept ripping the paper right out of Ivy's hand, or worse, right off the present itself.

And then we ate that delicious Sadness cake!

I'm 3!

She blew out all the candles in one go and was so pleased with herself.

Happy Birthday to my favorite Ivy Bug. You are a hilarious handful.

Ivy, on her birthday.

Ivy, age 1.

Ivy, age 2.

December 2015

noreply@blogger.com (eRin) — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 15:00:00 +0000

I made a holiday bucket list this year, complete with all the Christmas movies we wanted to watch with the kids. After Alice started winter break, we decided we'd better get cracking on it.

We headed to Downtown Seattle to enjoy some new traditions.

We stopped by the Sheraton to see the gingerbread houses, but didn't anticipate such a long line, so we just kind of lurked around the end of the line and peeked over everyone else to enjoy them. They were all Star Wars themed, so the kids couldn't really appreciate them since they haven't seen the movies yet. We'll get on that soon... Then we headed to the carousel!

First, we let the girls play on the playground in the plaza while I fed Elliott.

Then we took a spin!

Then we headed to the Fairmont to check out the Teddy Bear Suite. I snapped a few photos of the girls while Jon tried to figure out how to find the suite.

But before we could find it, Alice spotted a cat on the mezzanine above us on the lobby. So we made a pit stop to meet Romeo, the Bengal. We chatted with his person for a while and I realized that I had probably met them earlier this summer at a mall in a different part of town. For a minute, I thought there were two Bengals roaming the town...

Then we found the teddy bear suite and found Elliott's cousin. I couldn't resist plopping him down in that big teddy bear's lap, since they were wearing matching suits.

Then the kids all piled onto the huge teddy bear bed. I wish I could have gotten a wider shot!

We parked near a Cheesecake Factory, so we headed there for dinner. We took the girls to one over the summer and it instantly became their favorite restaurant. They think it is the fanciest restaurant there is and there is cheesecake for dessert. As far as they're concerned, nothing could be better. Elliott was wiped out, he can't eat cheesecake.

A few days later, we had an appointment to see Santa. I'd made a reservation to see him first thing that morning. We got the kids all dressed and out the door. Jon opted to put Elliott in his pajamas and save his fancy outfit for when we arrived, knowing that he would probably pee through it before we got to meet Santa. So we drive twenty minutes to the mall and park, and I'm standing in the rain trying to get everyone out of the car and realize I left Elliott's outfit on the couch at home. And then I burst into tears.

We went inside and asked about our reservation, they said we could come back whenever. We swung by the Gymboree store to see if they had any Christmas outfits left. We struck out there, so my wonderful husband agreed to drive all the way home to get Elliott's outfit, and drive all the way back. So the kids and I hung out at the indoor play area while Jon went home and back. And then we met Santa, and no one cried, even if they didn't actually want to meet Santa but just agreed to do it because I told them it was important to me and they were tired of seeing me cry...

Then we had some friends over to make gingerbread houses. The girls had a great time sticking on decorations and licking their fingers, and then just eating candy. By the time our friends left, Alice and Ivy were super candy-powered...

On Christmas Eve, we were busy taking care of all kinds of last minute things, making and finishing and wrapping presents, baking and decorating sugar and gingerbread cookies. Then, at nearly the last minute, we decided to go to church. We haven't made it to church since before our road trip in October. We love Christmas Eve services, and our church has a great music program, so we knew it would be worth the push, it was just tough to get us all ready to go and all the way there for a 5pm service, especially since that is exactly our dinner time. Jon ran out to the grocery store to get a snack that would tide the girls over until we got home, and some easy appetizers that wouldn't take any time to prepare so we could eat as soon as we got back.

So we got the kids in their Christmas outfits and had time for a quick photo in front of the Christmas tree.

We were glad we made it to church, but Alice managed to ruin the candlelit 'Silent Night' by spending the entire song asking - loudly - why she didn't have a candle.

Once we got home, we got our classy dinner ready (pigs in a blanket!) and got a plate of cookies ready for Santa. Alice took her job of putting cookies away very seriously.

After dinner, the kids got to open their traditional gift of Christmas Eve jammies. They were all penguin themed this year because the Christmas pajamas were sold out before Thanksgiving, apparently.

Ivy declared them her favorite and ran around like a maniac.

Then we had cookies and cider and watched "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." It was a perfect end to the evening.

And then Santa came! He brought the scooters the girls asked for and their very own Joy and Sadness dolls.

There were so many fun gifts under the tree, but I think my favorites were the ones I gave Jon. I donated to the International Rescue Committee to sponsor a year of school for a girl, in honor of our daughters, and donated to Cooper's Totes to provide one tote bag to a child entering the foster care system, in honor of our son and baby Cooper. IRC sends a nice card for your gift recipient and I drew a card with Cooper's Totes logo.

Jon's brother and wife just returned from their honeymoon in Iceland, and sent these rad hats for the girls. I think they'll come in handy in our new Northern climate!!

After we finished presents, we found an old Disneyland Christmas parade on YouTube, since we don't have TV and can't get any stations to come in with our digital antennae.

The girls played with their new little lego sets, Alice built her whole vet ambulance all by herself!

And then the day after Christmas, my family came up for round 2.

My sister crocheted a blanket to go along with the ones she made for Alice and Ivy when they were babies. We use them all the time at home and in the car and stroller. Elliott loved his and it's already getting a lot of use!

And my dad fell asleep face first in front of the fire.

We went to the local children's museum to celebrate Ivy's birthday. It was packed full of awesome play areas and things to do and manipulate and the girls had a great time running around. Elliott had a great time watching everyone run around.

Elliott finally needed a nap and my sister offered to wear him. She bounced him for a while and then he finally fell asleep. She'd never worn a sleeping baby before and loved being able to get him to sleep and kiss and cuddle him while still being able to use her hands. I took this super cute photo, but I told her I get a little possessive when she's got my kids because I know people naturally assume they belong to her!

And then, before we knew it, it was time for a new year and Ivy's birthday! I'm sure we didn't get to all of the things on our holiday bucket list, but we had a nice holiday season and a lovely Christmas. Now I just have to wrap my head around 2016! Here we go!

I hope Santa brought you everything you asked for and that your season was merry and bright.

Ivy reads a bedtime story

noreply@blogger.com (eRin) — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 20:03:00 +0000

Recently, Ivy revealed a secret. She can read.

Ok, not really. She's just been memorizing her books as we read to her... Suddenly, she would start "reading" lines from whatever we were reading. Then it turned into whole pages, and whole books.

For a few months, she's been requesting one of my favorite childhood books, Little Witch's Big Night by Deborah Hautzig, which she seems to love. When she first started "reading" it to me, she was just doing one particular page but then the other night, she read nearly the whole book. I made her start over and do it again so I could record it.

So settle in and let Ivy read you to sleep. Just ignore the nose picking in the beginning...

Five Months Old

noreply@blogger.com (eRin) — Mon, 14 Dec 2015 15:00:00 +0000

Elliott is five months old. He is a delicious cream biscuit, full of buttery rolls. He loves his sisters and his kitties, and still loves to nap in the Moby wrap. He moves around by rolling over and over and over. He just started sitting in his big boy seat at the table and loves to watch us eat. He is the sweetest little guy and we love him so much.

The light was just right the other day so I got a few photos of my roly poly butterball. Such a handsome little buddy.

I had a similar photo shoot with Alice when she was about this same age and I see so many similarities. I was just looking through photos from her very early months and see such a resemblance to Elliott. I'm going to have to get some of their photos side by side, and Ivy, too!

Baby Registry Favorites: Babywearing

noreply@blogger.com (eRin) — Wed, 09 Sep 2015 14:00:00 +0000

BABYWEARING

When I was pregnant with Alice, I did a bit of research and registered for two different baby carriers. I figured I would need a carrier for some outings where a stroller or carseat wouldn't be the best choice and wanted to get something that was comfortable and safe. I realize now that my research had barely scratched the surface of "babywearing."

This looks like I've got Alice in cradle hold, which is weird because I don't remember ever doing that and it's not super safe...

Alice was already several weeks old when I discovered that I could wear her in the Moby wrap around the house and she would sleep and I could have two hands to eat or type or just do anything at all. It was a revelation, an honest-to-goodness epiphany. I didn't fully realize it then, but I had discovered the ancient art of babywearing. Of course babies don't like to be put down; they've been carried around for ten months and are used to it, and if they are left on the floor, they might become a lion snack (or something). They want to be carried. And moms/parents want to function. Even though snuggling on the couch is delightful, we can only do it for so long, you know? There are so many benefits of babywearing - seriously, Google it - (here are a few unusual ones), it really is wonderful for both baby and you.

If you aren't super familiar with babywearing and all the different options, there are SO many resources to help you learn about it. I wish I had learned more a long time ago. You can join local babywearing groups - many have Facebook pages - where you can meet other babywearing moms online and in real life to learn about all the different carriers and wraps and how to best use them all for different things. You can go to meet-ups and playdates to see other mamas' collections and try them on, there are lending libraries so you can try before you buy and find what's right for you. You can buy, trade, and DIY, and there are Facebook groups for each purpose. Recently, I joined my local babywearing Facebook group, as well as the DIY Facebook group so I can learn more about making my own woven wrap on a budget. I have learned so much from both groups, just watching the questions and interactions and photos and postings fly by in my feed. It's a great gathering of mamas in the know, in case I have questions of my own.

Also check out Babywearing International online, a wealth of valuable information on the different types of carriers, how to use them, safety tips, and more.

Definitely make sure you take some time to learn about babywearing safety (some good resources here and here). One of the most important things to remember is to NEVER bend over at the waist while you are wearing your baby, baby can fall straight out onto their head and/or into a dangerous situation with tragic or fatal consequences (like the terrible incident where a baby fell into a baggage carousel). Also make sure to monitor baby's airway and always keep it clear. Make sure their chin is off of their chest and their mouth and nose are not buried in your clothing or carrier. There was a big recall of pouch-style slings when Alice was a baby, they don't position babies very safely.

There are so many types of carriers (also called slings) and different styles and fabrics and patterns, they can easily turn into fashion statements and actual investments. I won't even begin to get into all the different options here, I'll just give a quick overview of what I've been using and how I'd like to branch out.There are lots of links in this post, some to other sites with more info and some to affiliate links for different products I love or am interested in. If you buy anything from an affiliate link to my Amazon storefront, it will generate income for me, but I have not been compensated by any of these companies - all opinions are my own!

Elliott all wrapped up in the Moby wrap, just last week.

Moby Wrap: A stretchy wrap which is great for wearing snuggly new babies in the newborn hug and kangaroo positions. The company says it can hold babies up to 35 pounds, but many moms prefer something with more support for babies over 15-20 pounds. Elliott is still basically living in the Moby wrap...

Ergobaby carrier - Original in black/camel

Ergobaby Carrier: This is an extremely popular, ergonomic soft structured carrier that promotes healthy hip placement. We have the original model in black and camel (pictured above), with the infant insert. We use the infant insert in the first few weeks/months - Elliott is already big enough to not really need it.

Ergo makes so many different models now, including one with organic fabric, a lightweight, breathable and sporty "performance" style, and the 360 degree version, which allows an outward-facing front carry.

Ergobaby 360 Four Position carrier, with ergonomic front-facing out carry position

If I were going to get an Ergo now, I would be very interested in trying the 360 degree version. This version is a bit smaller than the original Ergo, recommended through 24 months, but I think it would be a great option for an older babe to be able to face out. This would have been especially useful on our Disney World trips and frequent visits to Disneyland. I used the Ergo to restrain my squirmy little toddlers on rides, and would have loved for them to be able to face forward and see all the action, while still being restrained in my lap. The Beco Gemini and lillebaby Complete also allow forward facing carries. Facing outward can often be too stimulating for young babies...

Healthy Hips

Recommended hip positioning from the International Hip Dysplasia Institute.

A note about hip placement and hip dysplasia; a good rule of thumb is to look for a carrier that allows baby's knees to be positioned higher than it's bottom with support from knee to knee. The below image shows the recommended positioning for sling and woven carriers, in a seated or frog-legged position, rather than with knees touching. Read more about healthy hip placement here. The risk of hip dysplasia is greatest in the first few months of life.

Recommended hip positioning for slings & woven carriers, from the International Hip Dysplasia Institute

I love the Moby for newborns, especially around the house. Elliott is still basically living in it. I love the Ergo for out and about, it's faster and easier to get on and off and to switch and adjust between wearers when Dad (or even grandparents) want to use it. However, I've been wanting something that is a little more organic than the Ergo, and is even easier to get on and off at home. I'd also like something that would be less restricting around my waist so I can wear it to a babywearing Hula dancing class. So I've been thinking about getting a ring sling...

Sakura Bloom ring sling - Essential Silk in chocolate/sky (no longer available)

Ring slings are quick and easy to use and come in a ton of pretty fabrics that are much more of a fashion accessory than the Moby or Ergo. They can be quite affordable or quite extravagantly expensive. Sakura Bloom is a favorite brand, along with Maya Wrap, and Tula also offers ring sling carriers. You can even get a "water" ring sling to safely carry baby in the shower or pool without them slipping and sliding out of your hands! Beachfront Baby has a nice line of slings and wraps for water activities (use common sense here, and make sure you are aware of and following all safety recommendations).

Tula carrier

Soft Structured Carriers are basically pouches that hold baby in an ergonomic seated position with a soft structure (rather than rigid), and distributes the weight onto your back and hips. The Ergo is a soft structured carrier, but there are many other brands and styles, with buckle closures or fabric that you wrap and tie (Boba! Beco! Lillebaby!). Moby now offers soft structured buckle carriers on their site; the Aria, Comfort, and Go. Here is a good round up of some of the other options, including the Tula. I've never tried a Tula, but people are fanatical about them. We've been really happy with the Ergo, but it's worth testing out a few different styles to find the best fit for your body as some are more comfy if you have a long or short torso, etc.

Asian-style carriers are somewhere between a simple piece of cloth or wrap and a soft-structured carrier. They have a square of fabric and long pieces of fabric that wrap around and tie. The mei tai, podaegi, and onbu are all options. You can do a back carry with an onbuhimu style carrier (onbu) that doesn't wrap around the waist, so it's a comfortable option for pregnant babywearing mamas.

Natibaby woven wrap in Floline

Woven Wraps are a long piece of fabric, like the Moby wrap, but are made of woven fabric rather than stretchy knit fabric like the Moby. They aren't stretchy, so can support more weight - up to and through toddlerhood (possibly up to age four or five) - and are safe for back carries, unlike the Moby. They come in a huge range of fabrics (linen, cotton, bamboo, and wool blends) and styles and prices, and are very much a fashion statement. They also come in a variety of lengths from 2 - 7 meters, which can accommodate different carries. You can also make your own, but make sure to do plenty of research on acceptable fabrics (no bedsheets!), and sizing and construction (no seams, only hems!).

Wrap Your Baby has a good breakdown of which carries you can do with which lengths of wraps; you can do all carries with the longest sizes.

I've been looking at the Dolcino wrap, myself. Didymos, Girasol, BB-Slen, and Natibaby are all popular brands as well.

There is so, so much more to know and learn, this is really just barely scratching the surface, but hopefully this helps you decide what you might be interested and what and how to explore and learn more. Babywearing is a deep and wonderful rabbit hole. Enter at your own risk!!!

Are you a baby wearer? What are your favorite carriers and resources?

First first day of Kindergarten

noreply@blogger.com (eRin) — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 14:00:00 +0000

So, we are officially the parents of a kindergartener. I have no idea how this is possible. Or how I am even old enough for this to be possible (my uncle reminded me that at this age, my grandmother had four kids in middle school, two in elementary, a toddler, and one that was still a twinkle in her eye, so...).

This gets me right in the feels.

Alice has been out of school since we moved in the beginning of March. She loves school and we all loved her preschool. I know Alice has been missing that stimulation and social interaction, and frankly, we've been missing the break in our day. So we were all excited for school to start.

We've had a lot going on this summer but were finally able to find some time to shop for new school clothes and supplies in the last few weeks.

Alice was so excited to pick out big girl folders and pencils and crayons and glue sticks and erasers. I finally found a backpack that fit a full-size folder, wasn't entirely too enormous for her stick-figure body, AND was also Alice-approved. It is classic and classy and still fun (pink!), without characters all over it that she'll be tired of after the next movie du jour. The fall wardrobe is still a work in progress, as most of what I ordered in size 5/XS from the big girls' section was too big for her, and I still basically have no idea what we'll need for our new climate. We're kind of taking it as it comes, I'm sure we'll need some warmer clothes. Or layers... But what we've got so far is really adorable, and we haven't even had any arguments about it.

So yesterday, Alice filled her backpack with her supplies and laid out her new outfit. I brushed and braided her hair after her bath; she asked for French braid pigtails so she'd have curly hair in the morning.

And this morning, we hustled to get everyone fed and dressed on time. We were running a bit late, so I took the customary photos while Jon loaded the little kids in the car and took off.

So cute I can hardly stand it.

Alice and I took a separate car, because I was staying with her for a half-day (of half-day kindergarten). We should have left earlier, what with all the dropping off and milling around and chatting, the parking lot was already full and we got stuck in the exit line and had to park down the street and around the corner. On the plus side, we got to cross the street with the sweetest crossing guard who held Alice's hand nearly all the way to her classroom and chatted with her and told her to never cut her hair and was just generally delightful.

Meeting up with dad. You can see Ivy disappearing in through the door, taking herself to kindergarten...

We met up with Jon, Ivy, and Elliott, and after Ivy doused her hands with hand sanitizer, we all saw Alice into her classroom and watched as she found her desk. Then Ivy had a raging fit because she couldn't stay in kindergarten and play with Legos, so Jon hauled her back home.

Ivy is just out of frame at the bottom of this photo. Alice is watching her drip with hand sanitizer.

I stayed and watched while Alice put on the glow bracelet gift and name tag that were waiting at her desk and found a seat on the carpet. The teacher read The Kissing Hand, which was a sweet book about carrying a kiss from your mom (or dad) with you while you are separated (like on your first day of school). The little raccoon didn't want to go to school, he wanted to stay home with Mom and play. The teacher asked the kids if any of them had wanted to stay home and play with mom and dad and a bunch raised their hands. Alice looked around at all of them like they were crazy.

Then, the announcement came over the loud speaker that it was time for the "clap-in." Us parents were dismissed to go find our spots, so out we went and were directed around the corner of the building to the end of the line.

All of the classes made a "team tunnel," lining the each side of the sidewalk for the kids to walk through. They went through, grade by grade, clapping for each other to welcome all the students to their new classes and kick off the year. The parents were all at the end, to cap it off.

We were the last class and parents out there, so I found a spot in line. They were playing fun music (that I couldn't hear because I was so far away), and everyone was clapping as the principal led the way with the first kindergarteners. One little boy was all by himself in the line, crying his little eyes out. It was so sad. We'd been so ready and looking forward to kindergarten, I wasn't really expecting to cry - I didn't cry for either of her first days of preschool - but I'd had a lump in my throat since we entered the parking lot and this little boy just sent me over the edge. Tears started leaking from my eyes and basically streaming down my face. Luckily, I was crouching down around the other parents' knees, so they didn't notice. I kept surreptitiously wiping tears out from under my sunglasses.

And then I saw Alice. She was holding her teacher's hand, and I cried some more. But then when she saw me, she broke out of line and came to give me a hug. I think she was feeling shy and nervous and overwhelmed, since she'd already traversed the whole line by that point. She didn't cry (and I don't think she realized I was crying), and I urged her to go on and join her class. And then I really lost it.

I was so sad that Jon wasn't there. We didn't know the whole scope of the half-day or the "clap-in" situation. It turned out that he really could have stayed for the whole day, even with the kids, and definitely could have stayed for the clap-in. But it was chilly and Ivy needed a nap and would have been a disaster, so it was probably best that they weren't there. But I was sad that he missed the event, and that I had to cry through it alone, and that I didn't know literally anyone at school. I didn't see a single other parent even shed a tear, so I felt extra crazy and didn't have anyone to commiserate with. Thankfully, my village is on Facebook, and after some texts with friends and reading through some of the comments on the photo I shared, I was able to pull myself together and make it back to Alice's class.

Once all the parents were back, the kids were ushered over to the library for another story, and the parents all crouched in their tiny chairs at their desks and listened to her teacher walk us through all the school policies and the social and academic expectations for the school year.

Then the kids came back and the day was over! Before the kids came back, I managed to dump all of the school supplies we bought into the appropriate communal bins. Alice wanted to put her supplies into her pencil box and was disappointed when I explained that the class was sharing resources, but she rallied.

At home, we talked about school and expectations, and what she was going to learn, and how and why to be brave and how important it is to be an includer. She went through my parent folder and found the curriculum packet, and wanted to do all the things. So I tested her sight words and was totally impressed that she knew four of the first six that they'll learn, and was able to sound out and figure out the last two. I tested her on the rest and found that she already knows fifteen of the twenty-nine they are required to learn this year. So hopefully, she'll be able to move on to some others as well before the year is out.

These have now been cut into flashcards. With perfect cutting along the lines. My daughter...

She finished tracing her numbers and loved the accompanying number poems, and then traced the upper and lower case alphabet as well. So I had her cut out her shape words and taught her about flash cards, and she made Ivy quiz her. Totally my daughter. I think she's going to be just fine...

On Tuesday, we were able to visit her class for "open hour," to see the classroom, find her desk, and meet her teacher. We saw that Alice shares her desk with a girl in the afternoon class named Elizabeth. We laughed, because that's one of Jon's very favorite names and her desk made it look like her name is "Alice Elizabeth," which Jon would love. After we finished in the classroom, we headed out to the playground. Alice beat me there and I as I surveyed the scene when I arrived, I thought I saw Alice on the climber. It turned out to be another tall girl with really long brown hair and pink glasses. I went over to talk to her mom and tell her that I had mistaken her daughter for my own. We had a good chuckle about it and the mom told me her daughter's name was Lizzie. As we chatted, I realized her daughter had the same teacher as Alice and was in the afternoon class. And then I realized Lizzie is short for Elizabeth. And they share the same desk. When we got there this morning, her name tag had been updated to reflect her nickname preference. I wonder how confusing that will be for the teacher to have two kids looking so similar sitting in the same seat all day. It's kind of like Sweet Valley High...

Anyway. I have all the feels, but no time to reflect or write on them, so I'll just bang out this all business recount of the first day for now... I am so excited for her and can't wait to watch her learn and blossom.

Baby Registry Favorites: Diapers, Strollers, Bouncer Seats, and Bath Tubs

noreply@blogger.com (eRin) — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 14:00:00 +0000

Here's part two of our favorite baby gear for your registry and beyond!

DIAPERS

We've always used cloth diapers. We started with a diaper service with Alice, but decided after a few months that it wouldn't be any trouble to wash our own and that we'd rather save the money than pay someone else to do it. We were paying about $100 per month, and bought our own supply for the cost of a month or two of service.

Thirsties Duo Wrap diaper cover

Thirsties covers: We've been really happy with these PLU covers for cloth prefolds. They didn't have the Duo Wraps when Alice was a baby, so we bought about 6 of each size from XS through XL. When Ivy was born, we replaced a few of the covers in each size that had worn-out velcro. We had a lot of gender-neutral colors, but we bought some of the fancy new duo wraps in blues for Elliott. We like the Duo Wraps with the hook and loop closures (rather than all snaps).

There are a lot of other brands with cute covers for cloth prefolds, as well as all-in-one systems like Bum Genius. We just went with what seemed the most affordable and practical.

Cloth prefold diapers: We bought ours from the diaper service we were using, but you can find them all over the internet. Like here. We bought 60-80 of each size, depending on the size; more newborn sizes, fewer large size overnights. Our cloth prefolds get a second life as garage rags when they're worn out, and so far, only the biggest size is showing major wear, because they get the longest amount of use.

We've always washed our diapers every few days, without doing anything fancy. Before we moved, we noticed that they weren't getting as clean and were giving Ivy some wicked diaper rash, so we adjusted a few things. We probably should have been using a detergent made for cloth diapers, and stripped them periodically, as is recommended. But honestly, I'd probably just buy some new diapers! Our new front-loading washing machine wasn't getting Elliott's diapers as clean either, so I did some research and found out that I needed to adjust my routine a bit to get better results (this post was helpful). I've added a pre-rinse with Biokleen Bac-Out and use bleach in the regular wash cycle, and now all of our diapers are coming out so fresh and clean I want to sleep in them.

Disposable diapers: When Alice was born, the hospital sent us home with a ton of disposable diapers. We used them up and then started using cloth once her umbilical cord had fallen off. We did the same with Ivy, and bought a box of our own disposables to use with Elliott since we wouldn't be getting any from the birth center. We like Pampers Swaddlers (newborn). We've also used disposables on some of our vacations, so we don't have to haul and wash cloth diapers. We order the disposables from Amazon and have them delivered straight to our destination. We like Earth's Best for an affordable, and fairly eco- and baby-friendly option.

STROLLERS

Baby Jogger City Select with single and double seats.

Baby Jogger City Select: We bought this before Ivy was born, with two seats. I wish we'd started with it and added the second seat. You can get the carseat adapter and use it with your baby seat as a travel system. I like that it's a tandem and not a double wide, so I could pull it between parked cars and navigate easily through store aisles. I also like that we can leave the second seat in the car if we don't need it, and that we can switch the seat positions easily and on the go.

Baby Trend Expedition jogging stroller travel system

Baby Trend Jogging Stroller with Travel System: We used this with Alice and are still using the infant car seat for Elliott until it expires in January 2016 . It is a great value for a jogging stroller and we've been pretty happy with it. It got a lot of mileage with Alice, and I used it quite a lot to jog with Ivy. I was perfectly happy with this stroller, for half the price of the BOB because though we have a BOB double jogger that we love, I'm not sure I would buy a single BOB jogger for every day use. The suspension is fantastic, but the basket is fine for exercising but way too small for everything you end up with day-to-day.

I'd like to try:

Orbit Stroller with infant carseat, single and double seats

There are so many cool strollers on the market, I still love looking at them and checking out what people are driving when I'm out and about. If Jon would let me buy another stroller (he won't, he's told me) I'd definitely want to check out the Orbit strollers and infant car seat. They look super rad.

CARSEATS

Britax Marathon convertible carseat

Britax Marathon: Alice and Ivy each ride in one. Alice rode rear-facing until just before her fourth birthday; she hadn't reached the height limit but was almost at the weight limit (like half a pound away). This seat is suitable for an infant, so if you skip the travel system stroller, you can get by with a single carseat from birth until age four or five or even beyond, until they max out on the seat's height or weight limit (which Alice is nowhere near).

Side note: Car seats should be installed rear-facing for the maximum allowable amount of time, either until the child reaches the maximum height or weight for the seat. Many car seats are not installed correctly, seven out of ten kids are not buckled in correctly. Use SeatCheck.org to learn more and to find an inspection site to confirm that your seat and your child are properly secured.

Also take note of your carseat's expiration date, the protective foam will break down over time and won't provide adequate protection. Our infant seat expires five years after the date of manufacture and we'll bump everyone up into the next seat - Alice will get a convertible booster, at that point. Do not use a secondhand seat if it has expired, or been in any accident, however minor, or if you cannot confirm it's expiration date or accident history.

BABY SEATS

Baby seats are great for containing your awake (or sleeping!) baby while you do things like eat or shower or do the dishes or work. I love and gravitate toward baby furniture that blends in with adult furniture, personally. Especially in our previous, teeny tiny house, I didn't want it to be overrun with pink plastic baby paraphernalia. I mean honestly, why is baby furniture all so babyish? The babies don't care! They aren't buying it! They can't even see it when they are sitting in it, for crying out loud. Ok, rant over.

Now that we're in a two story house, we've found it helpful to have a baby seat on each floor so we don't have to haul it up and down the stairs, or go running to find it when we need it. We've borrowed a second seat from our neighbor so we can have one handy upstairs in Jon's office - our babies have all seemed to like to wake up before dawn so they hang out with Jon while he works until they want to sleep again.

Fisher Price Brentwood Rocker - discontinued

We have this Fisher Price seat that has since been discontinued, but we've really enjoyed it.

If I were going to get one today, I'd be really interested in one of these options.

Bloom Coco Stylewood & Go Bouncers, Babyhome Wave Wooden Rocker, Baby Bjorn Bouncer Balance Soft

Clockwise from top:

Bloom Coco Stylewood, Bloom Coco Go, Babyhome Wave Wooden Rocker, Baby Bjorn Bouncer Balance Soft. These options are all on the pricey side, but I personally don't mind paying more for something I've had to look at around the house so much in the last five years.

Fisher Price Booster Seat

Fisher Price Booster Seat: We had really limited space in our old house, so we opted to skip a high chair and just had this booster seat on our regular chair. We've been really happy with it except that it wore away the finish on our wooden chair. In hindsight, we should have put a dishtowel underneath it.

Bumbo seat: Ok, I don't think this is totally necessary, but we and our babies enjoyed it when they were learning to sit up. They liked being able to sit up and play with their toys and their toys, and we could sit or lay on the floor and play with them. Alice and Ivy still fit in it and enjoy sitting in it (I think we actually used it as a time out chair for Alice for a while...). You can definitely get away without one of these, but they are fun. (I think they come with buckles now, which seem pointless to me, since we always used it on the floor. Be smart, don't put it on top of a table or chair, even if it has a buckle!)

I'd like to try:

If we were ever to need a proper highchair, I'd be interested in these:

IKEA Antilop high chair

Ikea Antilop: Simple and cheap! Looks super easy to clean.

Koala Kare industrial-strength high chair

Koala Kare restaurant high chair: Jon's favorite. Except he wants one of the custom ones from the Disney parks with the Mickey ear cut-outs... These are simple, easy to clean, and indestructible.

Stokke Tripp Trapp chair

Stokke Tripp Trapp: Though more expensive than the others I like, this super popular chair is designed to grow with your child. As our kids have graduated from the baby booster seat to a big kid booster seat and then to the dining bench, I can definitely see the value in having one seat that fits your child, no matter their age. I think it would be a worthwhile investment.

BATH TIME

We've tried a few a different baby baths. Right now, we're using:

Tummy Tub

Tummy Tub: I like this pretty well because the baby can be more submerged and stay warmer than the other infant baths I've seen and tried. It works best when baby is big enough to hold their head up without their chin falling forward. It's also still a bit trick to wash hair, since their head is upright and not tilted back. That probably isn't an issue for lots of babies, but ours have always had a lot of hair to wash!

Didn't totally love:

Blooming Baby Bath: The giant flower with foam petals that folds into your sink seemed like a good idea, but I found it hard to get the baby in a comfortable position. It was too big for our bathroom sink and I didn't like that I had to disinfect the kitchen sink before we gave the baby a bath so they weren't bathing in food particles and germs...

Fisher Price baby bath

Fisher Price tub & sling: We had the above version of the ubiquitous baby tub. It had some weird crevices that collected dirt, and though the sling and molding kept the baby in a good position, they are never actually covered in water so they always seem chilly. It looks like there are some other options that might not get so dirty, and might keep baby a little warmer.

Would love to try:

I don't know. It seems like there are a lot of brands with different versions of the same idea. And though they are definitely sufficient to get baby clean, I just don't feel like any of them give me or baby a peaceful and relaxing experience. I love taking baby in the bath with me, but that's just not always practical...

I hope there was some helpful info here. In my next post, I'll share some info on baby carriers and babywearing, along with a few other bits and pieces.

Baby Registry Favorites: Pregnancy, Postpartum, Feeding, and Sleeping

noreply@blogger.com (eRin) — Mon, 31 Aug 2015 14:00:00 +0000

So, now that we're on the third go 'round, I've had lots of opportunities to figure out what baby gear works for our family and kiddos. If only I'd known about all this stuff when I was making our first baby registry! I thought I'd put it all together here, in case it helps anyone else figure out what they want...

When I was pregnant with Alice, I felt like I had no idea what a baby needed. I remember walking into Babies 'R Us to do some research on what to register for and nearly having an anxiety attack - similar to my first foray into a wedding dress shop, where I walked in and immediately walked out again. I can't remember if I walked out of Babies 'R Us immediately, I kind of think I did but it was far away from my house so I may have forced myself to stay and wander around in an aimless, anxious panic. But either way, I was totally overwhelmed. I still had no idea what a baby really needed or where to even start figuring out what to get.

As it turns out, babies don't really need much aside from milk and cuddles, as many moms and dads all over the world can tell you. There are so many parents and babies making it work with only what comes with the kid - i.e., nothing. But baby gear has evolved to make things easier and safer and more convenient, and with all the cute doodads and fun gadgets and cool technology, it's easier and more convenient - and more fun - than ever to spend a fortune on stuff.

So after three kids, here's what we used and what we loved, and what I would put on a registry if I were doing it for the first time all over again. These are my favorite essential items, the things I couldn't - or wouldn't want to - do without. Some are specific to our "lifestyle choices", so if you are doing something different, these might not be relevant at all!

I've put together an Amazon affiliate store where you can shop lots of these goodies in one place. By shopping there, it generates income for me (a teeny, tiny bit!) though I have not received any compensation whatsoever for recommending or including any of these products. Many of the links below are affiliate links to my little storefront.

PREGNANCY

Leachco Back 'N Belly Contoured Body Pillow

Leachco Back 'N Belly Contoured Body Pillow

I was so sorry I waited until my third pregnancy to buy this. It is wonderful and I couldn't have survived without it. I was scared away by the one-star reviews, and I totally see the issues that they mention, but they didn't really bother me and it totally worked for me.

Ok, this isn't something you can register for, but I found it really helpful and used it a lot in the last few weeks of pregnancy.

Full Term app: Pregnancy reference, kick counter, and labor contraction timer. I used this to time my contractions and then found out it was one of the apps my midwives and birth center preferred because of the visual read out it provided them. Available on the iTunes store and the Google Play store.

POSTPARTUM
If you deliver at a hospital, you will likely go home with a big swag bag full of super useful stuff. I had no idea how amazing stretchy mesh underpants could be. However, if you deliver at a birthing center or at home, you will probably not get a goodie bag full of freebies. And even if you do get a swag bag, you might need to stock your own supplies for when the swag runs out. Since I wasn't planning on a hospital birth this last time, I made sure to have all of my favorites on hand ahead of time, including:

My favorite postpartum supplies.

Always overnight super maxi with wings: These are my favorite pads for postpartum.

Perineum bottle: Cleansing gentle enough for perineal stitches. Ouch.

Dermoplast: A numbing spray to take the sting away from those tender stitches. Again, ouch.

Water bottle: So you can keep plenty of water nearby during those long nursing sessions, and once you and baby are on the go.

Kindle! Jon got me a Kindle Paperwhite for Christmas and I love it. I didn't even know I needed or wanted one. I read more books in the first two months of this year than I did all last year. My library makes it so easy to check out books online and you can borrow and buy from Amazon right from your device. Plus, I use the Kindle app on my iPhone and literally always have my book with me. When I'm nursing, I can easily switch back and forth between my book and other apps to do anything I need.

OK, again, this one isn't something you need to register for, but I love it and use it all the time once baby comes home.

Total Baby iPhone app: Time and track baby's feedings, diapers, sleeping, milestones, doctor visits, growth, vaccines, allergies, and more. I rely on this heavily to keep track of nursing so I can remember what side I finished on, when baby ate, when baby will want to eat again. In the very early days, I find it really helpful to keep track of diapers and sleeping patterns as well. I can also keep track of how much I pumped and when. Only available for iPhone and iPad, but can manually sync between multiple users and devices.

*Sadly, I could not find a great source to buy your own stretchy mesh underpants, so if anyone knows where to get those outside of the hospital, do let us know!

FEEDING
I've been able to breastfeed exclusively with all my kids, and I haven't tried out a lot of gear in the feeding arena. But here's what I've loved.

Ameda Comfort Gel pads

Ameda Comfort Gel breast pads: The best feeling in the world for tender nips in the first few days and weeks. Keep them in the fridge for maximum wonderfulness.

Medela Pump-In-Style breast pump tote bag

Medela Pump In Style tote breast pump: A pump is an obvious must for any working mom, but I would recommend that all stay-at-home moms get one, too - I've already banked nearly 50oz of milk, and Elliott is only 7 weeks old. Especially now that the Affordable Healthcare Act requires that insurance providers cover the cost of a pump (thanks, Obamacare!!). Medela is a leader in the breast pump game and my original pump has lasted me five years, through nearly twelve months of pumping at work, and it's still going strong. Talk to your doctor though, as their recommendation may affect what your insurance will reimburse.

Medela freezer containers

Medela freezer containers: I use these to portion and freeze what I pump, and then use them directly as bottles. Easy as pie, never any leaking. I didn't have great success with the storage bags...

I have this Bebe Au Lait cover in Yoko

Bebe Au Lait nursing cover: I am a proud public breastfeeder, but I feel most comfortable covering up when there are lots of people around. Some kids hate eating while covered, but it always kept mine from being too distracted by their surroundings and popping off constantly. I've loved my Bebe Au Lait cover, it's still in great shape after five years and lots of use with three kiddos.

Motherlove More Milk Plus supplement

Motherlove More Milk Plus supplement: I used this when I went back to work after Ivy was born, to try and keep my supply high enough. Results may vary, but I think it's a good product if you are working and/or worried about your supply.

Mother's Milk tea

Mother's Milk herbal tea: I also drank plenty of this and enjoyed the taste (unlike the More Milk Plus. Yuck).

I'd like to try:
An infinity nursing scarf. I'm planning to make a few of my own but if I can't get around to it, I really like the looks of these from Bebe Au Lait and these by Itzy Ritzy.

Infinity nursing scarves from Bebe Au Lait and Itzy Ritzy.

Essential oils (fennel, basil, clary sage, geranium). Hopefully, I'll be able to maintain a good milk supply since I'm not working out of the home this time around but if I do start having any concerns, I would consider using essential oils. The supplements and teas are full of fennel and fenugreek, and I've been impressed with what I've seen essential oils do in other areas, so I'd definitely be willing to give this a go. Before you try, please talk to your doctor or naturepath and do plenty of research on safety and proper usage and reputable products and sellers.

A pumping bra: I probably should have used one, what with all the pumping I did at work! If I'd pumped in my own office, I would have definitely gotten one so that I could have kept working...

Didn't totally love:

Boppy nursing pillow: I mean, I do love the Boppy pillow, I just didn't think it was super necessary. I used it a lot with Alice in the beginning, but then I just used whatever pillow was around to prop under my elbow. I only used it a few times with Ivy, and haven't used it for nursing at all with Elliott. If you are having trouble any breastfeeding, or are anxious about it, a positioning pillow is a great tool. I figure though, that our bodies are pretty much made to do this without any expensive accessories, so I just kind of do whatever feels most comfortable for the situation we're in. Though I do like to prop babies up in the Boppy, before they are ready for the Bumbo seat!

Lanolin. I find it to be too sticky. When I've had cracked nips (usually just in the first few weeks), coconut oil has worked just fine.

SOLID FOODS

Baby-Led Weaning instruction manual

When baby is old enough for solids (no earlier than six months, read this and this), I cannot recommend Baby-Led Weaning highly enough. Skip the processed baby food, don't buy a special baby food maker, and don't even worry about making your own purees. Just read this book (and maybe their site and this blog post), hand the baby some whole food and enjoy! I thought it was so much easier and so much more enjoyable, and I think so much better for baby in all kinds of ways. I was amazed at the differences in the ways my pureed food baby and my BLW baby eat and approach their food.

Baby-Led Weaning by Gill Rapley and Tracey Murkett

SLEEPING

We got a crib for the nursery that transitions to a toddler bed and then to a full-size headboard. I think it's a great investment given the longevity of the furniture. Alternatively, a cheap crib and a cheap toddler bed, and a cheap and versatile "big kid" bed could be about the same cost as a good piece of furniture if you don't want to commit to one piece for that long. Worth thinking about your long-term plan, there, though! And because we've always had a baby in the crib, we haven't even actually used the crib as a toddler bed though, we've always just bumped the kid up to a new bed...

Naturepedic organic crib mattress

Organic crib mattress: We initially bought the mattress that was sold along with our crib, but I later learned more about the fire-retardant chemicals that are in our couches and mattresses and whatnot (nightgowns, too - ugh!). So before Ivy was born, we decided to replace the original mattress with an organic mattress. I think it's a great investment for all mattresses, but especially in the crib. We just treated our bed to a natural-material mattress when we moved as well.

We like our babies to sleep in our room for a while, as that reduces the risk of SIDS, but I'm not into the family bed situation (sleep is my most precious resource and I need my space!). So we looked for a good baby bed/bassinet option to fit the bill and our room. We tried a few different things with the girls, but what we're using with Elliott is the winner hands-down. I think it came out after Ivy was born, so I'm glad I had a third just so I could get and use one!

HALO Bassinest Swivel Sleeper

Bassinest: I love that it has a flat bottom like a crib, rather than a curvy molded shape like the Pack N Play bassinet; we'll avoid the trouble Alice had transitioning to a flat crib mattress. I also love that we can use our SIDS monitor with it, because of that flat, hard bottom surface under the mattress. And the swiveling feature is fantastic. I position it as far away from my bedside as I can, so I don't disturb the baby as I sleep, and don't hear him grunting and snoring in my ear. It's close enough that I can still see and hear him when I want to check on him. The mesh sides provide visual access and good airflow for baby. And then I can swivel his bed right over to me and pick him up to nurse without getting out of bed. I hear that women recovering from c-sections find this especially useful, and since you don't always know in advance whether you'll have a c-section, I think it's a great idea to have something that will make life easier in that event!

Angelcare Monitor AC401 Deluxe

Angel Care Monitor: This monitor has a sensor pad that goes under the crib mattress and sounds to alert you if baby stops moving or breathing. It has given us so much peace of mind. It's very well-made and has lasted us through all three kids. They have some newer models with video monitors as well that are worth looking into, but we've always had two separate systems because the video option wasn't available when we bought ours.

Video Monitor: Some people question whether audio/video monitors are necessary. Our old house was very small and we could normally hear anyone crying, so we didn't usually use the audio functions on either monitor. We would turn up the audio if we went outside, or were in the shower or something. But the video function was super helpful to check on our kids when they were crying, to figure out whether we needed to rush in there or not. I've also loved being able to see them sleeping without having to risk waking them. We call it the baby channel, and we frequently use up the battery just checking in to see them sleeping. Grandparents especially enjoy. And I have a whole photo series of their cute sleeping positions... So I would definitely recommend a video monitor, for entertainment value alone, even if you aren't totally convinced that you really need it.

Soothie pacifiers

Soothie pacifiers: We've used pacifiers with all our kids right from the get go, though we did wait a few days with Alice. The hospital gave Alice some of the Soothie brand and we've never used anything else. I bought some more with Ivy and didn't notice that they were vanilla scented until Jon remarked that she smelled like a milkshake. Now that's all I will buy. They are truly delightful.

Summer Infant SwaddleMe velcro swaddle

SwaddleMe: We've tried lots of different swaddle varieties (though not all of them!) and this has been our favorite. I do wish that it let you do diaper changes without taking the whole thing apart, but I usually have to change my kids in between feedings so they'll wake up and finish eating.

I'd like to try:

I've had my eye on a few other types of swaddles, like the Swaddle Up and the Swaddle Strap.

The Sproutling Monitor also looks pretty awesome, in place of the Angel Care monitor. I just don't know that you'd be able to use it for quite as long as the Angel Care before a curious toddler starts fiddling with it.

Didn't totally love:

Graco Pack 'N Play with Snuggle Suite

Pack N Play: Alice slept in our room in a Pack N Play with bassinet and I didn't love the whole deal. We couldn't use the Angel Care with the little bassinet, so I was in a hurry to get her into her crib, but then she had a tough time getting used to the flat sleeping surface. It's just a little bit clunky and big to move around and travel with, but it is useful and ubiquitous.

Hushamok Dream Hammock

Hushamok Hammock: After Alice was born, the Hushamok Hammock became available to buy separately from the frame. We bought the hammock for Ivy and hung it from the ceiling next to my side of the bed. Ivy seemed to be happy in it and I really liked it, except that I couldn't see her from my bed and had to get out of bed to pick her up to nurse in the middle of the night. And we couldn't use it with the Angel Care. We did install a second hook in the living room, and it was easy to move the hammock out there for napping, but we didn't end up doing that very often because it was a bit too treacherous with Alice running around. They have since redesigned the frame that the hammock hangs from, so it doesn't tip backward and forward as much as the version we had with a single support arch.

Baby Delight Snuggle Nest: We tried a version of this in our bed and didn't love it. It just didn't seem comfortable for the baby, and we weren't comfortable having between us in our bed. We didn't like that we couldn't use the Angel Care monitor, either. I know a lot of people love this, and love co-sleeping and bed sharing, but this set up just wasn't right for us.

I hope some of this is helpful for other moms, or anyone with a new or expecting mama in their life. I'll share some more favorites in my next post, including diapers, strollers, bouncer seats, and high chairs!

What are/were your favorite must-haves for pregnancy, postpartum, and baby feeding and sleeping?

Photoshoot: Family of 5

noreply@blogger.com (eRin) — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 14:25:00 +0000

We've never had maternity or newborn photos taken by a professional. But just after Elliott was born, a local mom posted on the local mom's Facebook group that she is getting her photography business up and running and was offering half-price photo sessions to build up her portfolio. I jumped at the offer to take photos of our sweet new baby boy and our new family of five.

She came over one Saturday morning a few weeks ago and spent some time with us around the house and chasing the girls all over. We are usually early risers and I was planning that we would be all polished and dressed, waiting quietly on the couch when she arrived. In fact, I was still blow-drying my hair and we hadn't even given Elliott a bath. So I asked if she would take photos of Elliott's very first bath.

Please note, we are not bathing him in some old bucket. It is a Tummy Tub...

Alice got her cast off just a few days after this photo session. We debated postponing the shoot, but thought it would be fun to capture this moment in time just as it was.

Sorry for the overload of photos, but I love them so much and am so happy to have such beautiful photos of our little family from this crazy moment in time. The photographer was wonderful, so great and patient with all the kids. It helps that she has three little ones herself! You can see more of her lovely work on her website and Instagram.

Maternity Photos

noreply@blogger.com (eRin) — Wed, 12 Aug 2015 14:30:00 +0000

Elliott was already late when I realized I hadn't taken any nice photos of the bump and the girls with the bump. Though I really wish I had done a maternity photo shoot - with him, and with the girls - it just hasn't been in the budget. We've just kind of done it DIY style and taken a few photos with the nice camera. So I blow-dried my hair and put the girls in nice clothes, and we headed out to the backyard to get a few shots.

The happy grandparents...

And the only one with our family of four.

Pretty over it!

Stay tuned for some "after" photos, coming up soon!

A baby brother birth story.

noreply@blogger.com (eRin) — Tue, 11 Aug 2015 14:30:00 +0000

This is a birth story. If that's not your thing, here's your warning to skip on to the next post in your feed! It's not super graphic, but still, I get it. Also, I've been trying to write this for about three weeks now, and I only get to do it a few sentences at a time. So forgive me if it seems disjointed or inelegant or missing any details. Or words. Or punctuation... I just want to hit publish and move on with my life!

Baby Brother was due on the 4^th of July. I’d already felt ready for a good, long while and was hoping that he’d decide to come earlier than his due date. Our kind neighbors volunteered to come over and stay with the girls if he decided to come early, but nothing happened before my mom arrived on 6/30 to be an extra pair of hands. And like she’s done with all of my kids, she waited and waited and waited. And waited. But we did some fun things, like taking the girls to open playtime at the gymnastics gym.

Doing their best wrecking ball impression.

They love to jump.

I couldn't get her to try a flip into the pit, but was pretty impressed that she kept doing this!

And I got increasingly more cranky and uncomfortable and impatient. On July 4^th, we went to a parade in the next town over. We sat literally directly across the street from the birth center. Our overnight bag was in the car, just in case. I had a number of friends and acquaintances due around the same time and new babies were popping up in my Facebook feed every day. My cousin was also due right around the same time and there was a good chance her baby was going to be born over 4th of July weekend, maybe even that day. I joked that I wasn’t sure I could handle it if she had her baby on my due date while I was sitting right across the street from the birth center, waiting to go into labor.

With Alice, another cousin was also due the same time as me. My mom and sister were in town, waiting with us, and Jon’s brother was there as well. We took them all to the hospital to show them how to get there and where things would happen. While we were there, my cousin posted that she was heading in to the hospital to deliver. Our group went out to lunch, and I think by the time we had finished, my cousin had had her baby. I remember nearly crying at the lunch table. We were already AT THE HOSPITAL! Alice was already a week late by that point, and I had to wait another four days before she decided to be born. Incidentally, my other cousin had her baby well before I did this time, too…

I’d been having Braxton-Hicks contractions for probably four to five weeks by the time the due date rolled around, and I have a hard time telling when “practice” contractions are turning into real contractions, or when “real” contractions might be getting more serious and turning into actual, active labor. One of the midwives said that the rule of thumb is to call when you’ve had contractions every five minutes for an hour, but she was correct in assuming that I’d been experiencing that for hours and days and weeks at a time already. She said because I’d had a couple of kids already, to call when the contractions started “kicking my butt.”

On Monday, 7/6, I was on my feet all morning, crossing things off my to-do list. I started having contractions after lunch, so we took the girls to a park to play while I tried to walk and stimulate labor. My mom and I walked in circles around the playground and I chatted on the phone with my sister. When we got home, Alice fell off her rocking horse and we took an unexpected trip to the emergency room where we learned she’d broken her elbow. The E.R. staff was joking that I might stay there and have a baby. Alice was discharged three hours later, so we headed home and had a late dinner. I was still having contractions by 10pm, so I figured I’d better go to bed and get some rest in case labor really started over night. But contractions petered out while I slept and I woke up the next morning still pregnant.

We had a prenatal visit later that afternoon, and the midwife suggested that I bind my belly to get the baby up and over my pelvic bone and try to coax his head down onto the cervix to help move things along. Because I have abdominal separation (diastasis recti) , and it’s my third kid, my muscles weren’t holding the baby as upright and close in, his butt had sort of fallen forward so he was laying in a more horizontal position with either a head or a shoulder pushing down on my pelvis. Super comfy. The midwife lent me a rebozo (which I think was from Africa?) and showed Jon how to cinch it on. I said I felt like I needed a bedpost to hang onto like Rose in Titanic, when she’s getting her corset tied… So I wrapped up every day (overnight, too) and waited some more. I wore it so much and Jon wrapped it so tight, the flesh on my back was bruised and tender. I think it helped, though. It definitely felt better and it seemed like it made my belly look less like a torpedo. It felt like there was more pressure on the cervix, too.

I tried eating pineapple. I ate two in two days before my mouth hurt too much to eat any more. I tried spicy foods. I didn’t try much else, because I’d tried it all before with Alice and Ivy and none of it helped. I joked that I should just call the hospital and make an appointment to induce, since I had an appointment scheduled with each Alice and Ivy and they were born just before they were set to be evicted. The midwives were planning to try a few natural induction tricks on Monday 7/13. If labor hadn’t started by then, they would try stripping the membranes and castor oil, and maybe something else.

On Sunday morning, I was having contractions again, every 5-7 minutes. Jon and I headed to the beach to try and walk myself into active labor. We walked on the rocks, hoping the unevenness would jostle the baby free. I did deep squats – which is supposed help, but was also coincidentally the only way I could reach the ground - to pick up pretty shells and filled Jon’s pockets with my finds. We saw a great blue heron hunting at the water’s edge, we even saw him spear a fish. We also saw a bald eagle terrorizing some crows, we watched him sit in a tree for a while, hoping we’d see him fly away majestically. I also saw a cool sea anemone tucked under a rock, waiting for the tide to come back in. And then I saw a tiny bunny nibbling greens in the dunes! It was a great wildlife safari!

Contractions didn’t really pick up, but they continued on in the same time frame for the rest of the afternoon.

While I sat down for dinner, it seemed like contractions started to slow, and I just got so demoralized. I could not handle the disappointment and stress and fatigue of contractions stopping overnight again, or another day of tiring contractions that don’t go anywhere. Plus, my parents were leaving on Tuesday afternoon and Alice was going to get her cast on Tuesday morning. If this baby didn't come soon, we were going to be kind of logistically screwed, not to mention that my parents wouldn't get to see the kid at all!

So I asked my neighbor if I could get any of the oils that might help labor. She brought them right over. I headed upstairs to take a bath - which had seemed to help contractions pick up a few days before – and let the oils do their work. I rubbed some Clary Sage on my chest and fingertips, as I’d been advised, and breathed it deeply until my bath was cool, and then used a special perineum massage oil blend. I headed downstairs, maybe around 8pm, and everyone was really interested in the scent of the Clary Sage. Apparently, it can be off-putting for some, but we all found it intoxicating and enjoyable.

We talked about the rising popularity of essential oils and how they’ve been used for centuries and whether they really hold the secret to fighting all manner of ailments as advertised. My mom looked up Clary Sage and read us all about it’s history and uses. And then around 9pm, it felt like contractions actually started to get stronger and a little closer together.

I stood in the living room as we chatted, using the exercise ball and doing squats and breathing Clary Sage and using all my mind power to will labor to continue. Around 10pm, I thought that it might really be happening and debated whether I should go to bed and get some rest. I was afraid that if I fell asleep, contractions would slow and stop and I would wake up the next morning still pregnant, as had already happened a few times that week. But if this really was labor, I thought it would be wise to get a little rest. I finally decided to sleep, knowing that if it really was labor, it wouldn’t slow and I would wake up when contractions got too tough. So I fell asleep around 10:30pm.

I woke up around 11:30pm, during a contraction, and lay in bed trying to evaluate what was going on. It was definitely more intense and painful than when I’d gone to bed. I let another one happen and thought, yeah, I’m definitely in labor. This was the scenario I had wondered about; if I woke up in labor, when would I wake Jon up? Turns out, right away, when it’s already at this point.

I got out of bed and started to gather my wits and my things and get dressed. I woke Jon and told him that things were definitely happening. At some point, he went downstairs to wake up my parents and give them an update. I rolled through a few more contractions and thought, wow, these are really strong and painful. So I paged the on-call midwife and said “I think I’m in labor.” And continued getting my stuff together. A few minutes went by and I tried to page again, saying “I’m definitely in labor.” And then the phone rang.

It was about midnight by that point. I gave the midwife my stats and she told me to meet her at the birth center at 1:30am, but to call if I needed to come earlier. I said OK and hung up, feeling pretty nervous. 90 minutes seemed like a REALLY long way away. I told Jon the plan, and filled up our tub. I did some calculating and figured I should get out of the tub around 12:45am to give myself plenty of time to get dressed and downstairs and into the car and over to the next town, allowing for contractions. By the time I got in the tub, it was about 12:15am. I figured if I was having contractions every two minutes or so, that was only about 15 contractions. I could do that. No problem. Piece of cake! … =/

Jon sat on the floor and timed contractions with the iPhone app and took care of a few things for me. The cats even hopped up on the side of the tub to sniff the water and keep me company. I did a pretty good job of relaxing and breathing through the contractions, I told Jon that was imagining myself as a tube of toothpaste, rolling up and squeezing the baby down and out. The contractions were pretty strong and painful, but not horrible.

Then my phone rang and Jon answered, to avoid any tub accidents. It was the midwife. She explained that her clock had been set incorrectly and she gave us the wrong timing. She said she was at the birth center, all ready for us, and we should come whenever we wanted. It was nearly 12:45am by then, pretty much when I was planning to get out of the tub. So I said, “Great, we’re on our way!”

As I expected, it took a while to maneuver myself into clothes and downstairs. Jon was running around doing important things and I was waiting for him to be ready. I remember leaning over the kitchen island to have a contraction. My dad rubbed my back and I snapped “Don’t touch me!” Finally, Jon was ready, with the car waiting in the driveway. We all headed outside, and Jon rubbed my arm or back or something and I snapped again, “Don’t touch me!” and gingerly buckled myself into the car. I was SO HAPPY to finally be in labor, though!

It was about 1:00am as we headed off and I texted our neighbors and friends, who had been eagerly awaiting any news. I also let my sweet neighbor know that I thought the oils had done their job!

I’ve never driven to the hospital (or anywhere) with such bad contractions. When I was in labor with Ivy, I didn’t even really realize that I was actually in labor until we were driving to the hospital for a scheduled non-stress test and I realized that my contractions were 5 minutes apart – and they weren’t even bad. Having contractions in the car isn’t really ever comfortable, even Braxton-Hicks, but this car ride was pretty excruciating, especially because it’s kind of a twisty turny route. Luckily, there were no other cars on the road and it was a pretty quick trip – and we saw a deer cross the road!

We pulled up to the birth center at about 1:15am. It’s on a downtown block, so it was weird to see everything completely dark and deserted and quiet and empty. There were no other cars, just ours, the midwife’s, and the assistant’s parked right out front in the 90 minute parking zone. We were pretty sure we’d be done having a baby by 8am or whatever, and Jon could move the car if he needed to.

I made my way inside verrrrry gingerly and headed to the back birthing room, which had soft, low light and candles, with soothing music playing. The midwife gave me a quick check and I was 8cm dilated. She said it was a good thing my water hadn’t broken, or I might have had my baby in the car. (Like this woman. I watched this WAY too soon after having given birth and very nearly hurled. If you haven't seen it yet, watch at your own risk!)

Anyway. The midwife said that once my water broke, I’d basically be ready to push, and to let her know if I wanted her to break it and move things along. I wanted to get in the tub, so they filled it full of hot water and I got in with a coconut popsicle, icy towels for my face and neck, and a candle I’d brought from home because I liked the way it’s loud, crackling wick sounded. It calmed and distracted me to watch the flames and listen to the wick blazing. Unfortunately, the only place to put the candle was behind my head, and I don’t think I opened my eyes again until the whole deal was over…

I'm pretty sure this isn't too revealing?

I didn’t last too long in the tub before I asked the midwife to break my water. She did, and it wasn’t long before I was feeling the urge to push. The midwife could still feel a little lip of cervix that needed to go away before we could really get the show on the road. She asked me to resist the urge to push for a while, to force the cervix to finish opening and to save my energy. That was awesome and so, so easy! At some point, I had flipped onto my hands and knees in the tub; they said that would help get the job done. After around a half hour, we were good to go.

During one of my last prenatal appointments, one of the midwives had asked where I thought I’d want to deliver. I told her I thought that laboring in the tub sounded nice, and that I'd love to have a water birth, but would do whatever ended up being the most comfortable or necessary. I started pushing in the tub, but the midwives suggested that I move out of the tub to get better leverage and help things go faster. I think I moved to the bed, but I was horribly uncomfortable on my back, so they brought out a birthing stool. It was really comfortable (as comfortable as one can be during the most uncomfortable pain of their life), and really productive. I made some good progress there.

At point, there was an audibly loud – an painful – pop, it felt sort of like pulling a mushroom shaped cork through the opening of a wine bottle (like pulling a champagne cork into the bottle – does that make sense??) and I hollered pretty loud about it. Shortly after that, the midwife wanted me to move to the bed again, but it’s hard to maneuver one’s self properly with a baby’s head literally moments away from emerging from your body. So the best I could manage was to sort of fall sideways onto the bed. And that’s where I ended up finally evicting the kid at 3:25am. If only he’d taken 8 more minutes, I could have had my third kid while I was still 33 at 3:33am. But 3:25 is plenty good enough.

All in all, I only really pushed for about half an hour, so I’m not sure how long I was on the bed for. It felt like forever. I opened my eyes only to move myself around, which was pretty excruciating, and then I closed them again and had no idea about anything going on around me. Luckily, there wasn’t much going on, unlike my experiences in the hospital where there were about thirteen people doing various things by the time Alice arrived.

So the baby was finally pulled free of me and they plopped him on my chest. Jon cried, though he thought he wouldn’t, and I didn’t because I’m always just SO happy to finally not be pregnant. The baby was pink and squirmy and cried and scored a solid 10 on the Apgar test. He wasn’t even very slimy or gross.

The midwives took care of all the after birth stuff and I was totally surprised to hear that I didn’t tear, like I did with both Alice and Ivy. I was thrilled to not need any stitches. They had coached me to push hard, but not for too long, so I wouldn’t tear. That was a lot easier than resisting the urge to push during transition. I was actually surprised that pushing hurt less than the contractions at the end. It was more of a localized skin sensation than whole body torture… The midwife did say that he might have broken my tailbone when we heard that unholy popping sound. That was pretty alarming, but my tailbone didn’t hurt at all, so I thought I’d just wait and see what developed there.

They weighed the baby; the midwife made her guess of 10lbs4oz, and then lowered it to 10lbs 1oz, and he came in just under at 9lbs 15oz. At 22 inches, he was my longest and heaviest kid yet, and with a 15 inch head circumference, had the biggest head the midwife had ever delivered.

I wanted to try a breast crawl, but I did half the work for him and lay him on my chest instead of my stomach. He totally knew what was up though, and bopped all around until he got a good latch. He’s been an eating champ right from the start!

Just like with my other kids, I was so excited to meet him that I forgot to announce his name. The midwife finally had to ask and we were so surprised to hear her son is also named Elliott and he’d just celebrated his birthday the day before our Elliott was born!

The midwife and assistant were taking care of charting and some other things, and taking care of everything that had to be done before we could go home. They wanted to make sure I could use the bathroom before I left, and they needed to take Elliott’s temperature again. His temp had been a bit low, so they wanted to make sure it was high enough for long enough. Also, there was some meconium and the midwife estimated he’d pooped about a week ago – you know, when he was supposed to be born. So they told us to take his temperature every four hours to make sure that he didn’t develop a fever indicative of pneumonia from aspirating meconium. Once we’d done all that, we were ready to go. But not before we they got his footprints!

So, Elliott was born about 2 hours after we arrived to the birth center, and about two hours after that, we were on our way home. We buckled Elliott into his little seat and I made my way slowly from the birth center and into the backseat with him. The street was still empty, but the sun was coming up and there were some seagulls floating around the lightening sky.

I couldn’t believe that we were in and out in four hours and would be home before the girls were up. We had joked about that, about leaving in the middle of the night after they were already asleep, and then having the girls come down in the morning to find us fixing breakfast with their new baby brother. And that’s basically what happened.

We passed by a McDonald’s and Jon asked if I wanted to stop. He might have been joking but I said, “Yes. Yes, I do.” So we got Egg McMuffins to go and I ate mine with one hand while Elliott gnawed on my other hand.

We snuck in the house and got settled on the couch. My mom had spent the rest of the night in our bed, and came down to see us as soon as she heard us. She oohed and aahed over the new baby, and before too long, the girls woke up and Jon went to get them. He didn’t tell them that the baby was here, but I think he told them he had a surprise downstairs. I could hear Alice coming down the stairs saying “Is the baby here??” And they were both so excited to see that he was. Ivy wanted to hold him right away, but I put her off, since he was busy with sleeping and eating. My dad woke up and met Elliott, he was excited because he’d never met one of my kids so fresh before. This was the first time he’d actually been in town for the birth!

Jon and I were actually able to go upstairs and take a nap while my parents played with the girls. Elliott slept in his Bassinest next to me. Jon and I were both pretty amazed, and pleased, since neither Alice nor Ivy had gone to sleep so easily that soon after being born. Neither of them had really slept in their hospital bassinet, they demanded to be cuddled so we had to take turns napping and holding babies.

After Alice was born, I don’t think I stood up voluntarily for, like, two weeks. After Ivy was born, I remember feeling a lot better, I was able to get myself to and from the bathroom and take a shower in the hospital without feeling like my body was falling apart. I remember sitting up comfortably when Alice came to visit Ivy in the hospital, and I feel like recovery was quicker and easier at home, too.

The midwives told me that recovery would be significantly quicker and easier with a natural delivery. I’m sure that it helped that it was my third kid, but I was amazed at how great I felt both immediately after and in the days following. My lower back and side muscles hurt a LOT while I was still at the birth center and all that day, maybe from the hands and knees position in the bathtub? Or just general pushing? My neck was sore from straining and yelling, and my throat hurt from yelling, too. I took some ibuprofen at the birth center and throughout that day, which helped a bit with all that soreness.

I’m curious to watch the birth footage (it takes me a while before I feel ready for that!), because I feel like I yelled a lot – especially compared to my other births. But Jon says it still wasn’t very bad. I was actually surprised at how quiet I was during Alice and Ivy’s births, compared to all the yelling you see on TV and in movies. I had an epidural those first two times, so I got to numb most of the worst contractions, and my mouth was closed during pushing. This time, I moaned through the worst contractions and clenched my jaw during pushes, usually finishing both by yelling obscenities or “I can’t do it!!” Very inspiring. Early on, I apologized to the midwives after a string of colorful language. They waved it off and assured me it was fine. I said that it wasn’t very ladylike, and they said that I was doing the most ladylike thing there is in the whole world and that if swearing helped get the job done, so be it.

My pelvis was sore from Elliott riding on it during pregnancy, and obviously from birth. I was really relieved that my tailbone didn’t seem injured, I wonder if it just loudly popped out of place and back in? I’m more sore from sitting around so much, trapped under a sleeping/nursing baby! I’ve had to really remind myself to take it easy and force myself to rest because I’ve been feeling so good. At one point, I had a kitchen full of dirty dishes and a quiet moment in which to wash them, but realized I had given birth literally only two days before and I should probably just sit and rest, so I did.

Our wonderful neighbors made sure we were well-fed, too. One brought over Elliott’s first birthday cake - a yummy Jell-o poke cake! And another cooked us two delicious meals that each had enough for another night of leftovers, so we had four nights of dinner! And she made an apple pie from scratch and brought ice cream to go with it! We seriously have the very best neighbors.

Now, three weeks later, I feel about 90% physically recovered. I can’t wait to not look pregnant anymore. But I can sleep on my stomach again, and I love snuggling up in bed and actually feeling comfortable in any position that I choose. It’s a revelation.

Elliott is eating well (so well, he gained twenty-one ounces in fourteen days, when the doctor said they normally hope to see an ounce a day!), and sleeping well (he sometimes goes five to eight hour stretches at night – because he eats so dang much). He laughs in his sleep more than I’ve ever seen in a newborn (not that I’ve seen that many) and I hope it means that he’s going to be a cheerful kid with a great sense of humor. He’s generally pretty easygoing, though he doesn’t love the pacifier so when he gets fussy about being in the car or whatever, I can’t use that for a quick soothe. I have to really convince him that he’s happier with it in his mouth, but then he can’t keep it in there, either. He doesn’t need it to sleep or fall asleep, though, so maybe he won’t still be carrying it around when he's two-and-a-half like Ivy…

We’re all adjusting pretty well to being a family of five. There are still some rough edges, but I know we’ll keep honing our game and figuring it out as we go along. This is always right about the time I feel anxious and panicky, afraid that I’ll never know when I’ll be able to take a shower, or how to get everything done, but it always works out somehow as everyone settles into a groove and we define the new normal. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.

I’m so glad he’s finally here, and so glad that I had the opportunity to have a natural

birth center experience after two hospital births. I’m glad that I won’t always

wonder what it would feel like, or whether I’d be able to do it.

We are very much in love with the little guy, and are trying to savor every newborn minute because this is definitely the last time we're going to do this. Definitely. And if you've heard me say that before? Well, this time I really REALLY mean it. He's perfect and we're done.

Broken bones

noreply@blogger.com (eRin) — Sun, 12 Jul 2015 19:56:00 +0000

So, Alice broke her elbow (really, a supracondylar fracture). You may have seen my posts on Instagram/Twitter/Facecbook the other day as it was going down, but here's a play-by-play of the whole situation.

Monday started quite nicely. The girls were playing together so sweetly while I relaxed and watched. They made cozy little beds in and read to themselves and each other for a good while. I posted this photo to Instagram and breathed in the peace and calmness.

Then I crossed a bunch of other stuff off my "to do" list. I can't even remember what all I did, but I do know I scrubbed the baby's crib and dresser down, and Alice helped. She was so pleased with herself, she wanted me to take a photo of her next to the crib.

I'd been on my feet a lot of the morning, actively bustling around, and started having some good strong contractions as I sat down to lunch. After lunch, we took the girls to a park and Jon kept an eye on them while my mom walked with me in circles around the playground, trying to spur the contractions along. When we got home, we dropped off my mom and the girls, and Jon and I headed out again to keep walking. Really, we got ice cream cones and walked up and down a hill a few times before my feet and body hurt too much to keep going. Plus, it was hot. We were only gone about half an hour.

It wasn't quite time to fix dinner when we got back, so Jon and I headed up to the playroom with everyone else. Alice was dressed up in her leotard and tutus, wanting to play gymnastics. This consists of laying out my yoga mat and making a pile of various things to be used as the apparatuses.

This time, she'd made a tangled pile of overturned chairs and their rocking horse and was climbing all over them. I've told her many times that she can't use the furniture and toys that way, and that it isn't safe. I reminded her again and she gave me some serious sass. I told her a few times to get down, and she kept sassing me until she finally said "FINE! I'LL GET DOWN!"

And then she did this little slip jump, where she just kind of slides off of the thing, like she's done at least a hundred times before. She may have also kind of thrown herself toward the ground, to be dramatic, as I've also seen her do to over exaggerate the injustices her sister inflicts on her. In any case, she fell onto her side and let out an awful cry. My mom, Jon, and I all watched it happen. At first, I thought maybe she fell on the handle of the rocking horse, which would really give a good jab in one's tender side. I also thought she might be crying extra dramatically for theatrical value. Jon jumped right up (since I cannot move any more quickly than a sloth) and tried to assess the damage, and she showed us where her arm was hurting.

She was pretty hysterical, so I had her lay down so she could try to relax a little bit and we could get a better look. There weren't any bones poking out, or funny angles, but it definitely seemed tender and looked swollen. I was sitting with her, trying to figure out whether we should take her right in or wait and see. I had just decided that we'd better be safe than sorry and take her to the Urgent Care Walk-In Clinic at our local doctor's office, when Jon spied our neighbors pulling in across the street. They are both E.R. nurses in the nearby hospital, so Jon ran out to see if they could come up and give us their professional opinion on what we should do.

She gave it a quick check and said we should definitely take her in. She helped fashion a sling out of a blanket. She recommended that we go to the E.R. at the hospital, instead of the clinic in town, in case she needed an I.V. or surgery or anything. Plus, she said her husband was working at the moment. I was so glad she'd gotten home just then, and was able to run right over, and so glad we have neighbors with such expertise.

Alice was pretty terrified to move from the floor and definitely didn't want to get in the car. So Jon scooped her up and transferred her and buckled her into her seat ever so gingerly. She stopped crying, mostly, once we were in the car and driving. I sat next to her in the way back seat and tried to distract her.

On our way, our neighbor called from the E.R. and recommend that we actually head to Children's Hospital in Seattle instead. He said there were some pretty sick people waiting in their E.R. that would have to be seen before us, and that it might be an hour wait. Plus, at Children's, they would be a bit better equipped for whatever Alice might need. Unfortunately, we were almost to the hospital, and Children's would be at least another 40 minutes away, so we decided to just stay put. Plus, if I went into labor, we would be very near the birth center or I could just transfer over to the well-regarded Women's Pavilion at the hospital, just down the street.

We got into the E.R. and checked in, and then broke out the iPad in the waiting area. Thank goodness for the numbing effect of screen time.

They told us they would take us to triage in a bit, but they actually took us straight back. Alice got some generic vicodin for kids via syringe and started feeling a bit better, and a bit loopy, before too long.

At this point, I thought her arm looked funky below the elbow...

The doctor came in to give her arm a look and told us he thought it looked broken. He said he was going to get her x-rayed. We hung out and watched some more shows on the iPad. Jon went to find some snacks for Alice, since it was past dinner time and we didn't want her meds to bother her empty tummy. He came back with some pretzels and some trail mix. We broke open the trail mix while we watched the iPad. The doctor came in a bit later and said he actually forgot to put the x-ray order in, but that they would be there soon. He also nixed the snacks, in case Alice needed surgery. So we had to put them away. I was telling Alice that her bed was like a wheelchair, and they could wheel her down to get her x-rays. But instead, the x-ray came to her! I had to step out and wait as far away as possible but I could tell she was a trooper and didn't cry as the guy had to twist her arm all kinds of ways to get the shots he needed.

Looking pretty gross.

The doctor told us he was waiting for a consult from a pediatric orthopedist, because elbow breaks sometimes require surgery and he wanted some advice. He came back a short time later and said Alice wouldn't need any surgery that day, that they would give her a splint and send us home for the night and that we would follow up with Children's Hospital in the next few days. She had a fracture in her humerus (upper arm bone), just above the condylar (the round bumps at the end of the bone, where the elbow joint is). From my reading (particularly here) I understand this kind of injury accounts for something like 10% of pediatric fractures, and 90% are kids under the age of 10 with the most incidences between 5-7 years of age. They typically happen when kids fall from a moderate height, like off the monkey bars or a bed, or say, a rocking horse. They usually occur when a kid falls on an outstretched or hyperextended elbow; less than 5% of incidents are on a flexed elbow, as Alice's was.

So Alice was free to eat her snacks. She was disappointed she wasn't getting a cast, and seemed to think she'd be able to take the splint off later, or the next day. She got pretty upset and cried when we told her she wouldn't be able to run through the sprinklers. We'll have to get some sort of waterproof cast protector so she can still enjoy some summer water fun...

Then the nurse came in to fix up the splint. She put on what Alice called an "arming," aka a legging for the arm, wrapped it in cotton, put a strip of fiberglass along the back of the arm to stabilize it, I think wrapped it in cotton again, and then wrapped it all in an Ace bandage.

And all the while, Alice ate pretzels off her tummy...

Dad got to help by holding her fingers.

And then the doctor checked it out.

And Alice got two souvenirs, a "doctor's squirt gun," and a strip of unused fiberglass from her splint. She was pretty thrilled on both accounts.

We wheeled her out to the car...

And took a photo for posterity. Poor girl.

All in all, we had a really good experience in the E.R. Everyone was very friendly and kind and spent plenty of time with us to make us feel comfortable and to make sure we understood everything. Alice was very brave and patient and cooperative. The whole thing could have been horrible, but instead it was just kind of awful and inconvenient.

So we have a follow-up appointment at the Children's Hospital clinic near our house first thing on Tuesday morning. They will do another round of x-rays, and either put on a proper cast or schedule her for surgery. From what I've been reading, she doesn't have the type of break that usually requires surgery. The break didn't go all the way through the bone, and the bones were not displaced. So my fingers are crossed for a cast! My fingers are also crossed that this baby is born today, or before Monday afternoon/evening so that we don't have to juggle childbirth and an orthopedic appointment...

Alice was pretty loopy on the drive home. We left the hospital around 8pm, about three hours after we got there. We dropped off Alice's prescriptions and picked up a pizza, and Alice finally hit her pillow around 10pm. I was scrolling through Instagram as I was trying to get to sleep, and saw the photo I'd posted earlier in the day (the one at the top of this post). I looked at her left elbow, so prominent in that photo, and just cried. Luckily, she's young and her bones will heal fast. And she'll have a good story about her summer break when she goes to school.

We took it easy the next day, keeping her drugged up on generic kids' vicodin and immobilized on the couch, with her arm elevated. Again, I was so thankful for the anesthetic effect of television!

The barf bucked was just a precaution.

Alice had some wicked tantrums before we realized that the vicodin might be affecting her mood. So we stopped that after a day and switched to Tylenol, which seems to be working just fine. She's feeling a lot better and the splint doesn't seem to be slowing her down much. In fact, she's already lost her balance and caught herself with her broken arm. We all exclaimed, but her reaction was mostly surprise and fear and notsomuch pain. We keep having to remind her to slow down and be careful and take it easy. But if she ever listened to us, she wouldn't be here in the first place...

If you commented on Instagram or Facebook or Twitter, thank you for the support! It was so nice and comforting to read while we were waiting in the E.R.

Dear Alice & Ivy: Waiting for baby brother

noreply@blogger.com (eRin) — Thu, 09 Jul 2015 17:20:00 +0000

(I went to publish this original post and Blogger deleted it. The whole thing. Gone. So this is a rewrite which will surely be less elegant that the original. Plus, I had to leave the house to rewrite it as Alice was having a tantrum the likes of which I could not have imagined...)

Dear Alice and Ivy,

Any day now (hopefully) we'll get to meet your new baby brother. Alice will become a big sister for a second time, older and wiser, and Ivy will get to experience big sisterhood for the first time. You're both aware of what is happening, though I'm sure you aren't aware of what the actual day-to-day will look like, and how much our lives will change. I think you are both excited, in various ways, and I'm eager to see what you will think of having a new little baby at home. You love babies, Ivy, and I hope that you love having one to kiss and cuddle and baby as much as I think you will. You also need a lot more Mama cuddles than Alice ever did, and I'm hoping that you don't feel jealous or neglected or displaced. Alice, you love a good procedure, and you love to be in charge, so I think you're going to enjoy helping with all the things a baby needs and making sure I'm doing everything right.

Life is continuing on for you fairly normally right now, but these last days and the waiting is really hard for me. I am tired and uncomfortable - so uncomfortable - and cranky, I don't have the energy or agility or patience to moderate your squabbles and chase after you both and remind you a million times a day how to use the bathroom and get dressed and put your shoes on and put your toys away. Because when you are not being sweet and charming, you are an unholy handful of exasperation and you make my temper go from neutral to nuclear in seconds flat about a million times a day. Thank goodness that Grandma, and now Grandpa, are both here to provide a little distraction for you and relief for me.

Waiting (and waiting and waiting) for Alice.

I am weepy and sentimental right now, and I get sad when I think about how these are our last days with just my two girls, as a family of four. And these are our last few weeks all together before Alice starts real, every day school in the fall. But then Alice has an outburst and I can't wait for school to start. I really am looking forward to that break, and having just two kids at home again. And I know it will be wonderful for you, Alice, and that you will be glad to have the routine and stimulation again. But I just wish that I could fill this time with summer fun and special memories. Instead, I have to carefully budget my energy and our time with the rest of the unpacking, getting things ready for the baby, mediating your fights, reminding you how to behave nicely, getting enough rest and staying upright, plus all the regular housework. We have to squeeze in whatever fun we can between all the rest. I wish that I could capture this time, on camera or in a bottle, and savor it more.

Waiting (and waiting) for Ivy.

I try to remind myself that we are not losing anything, but gaining more love and happiness. I felt this same way before Ivy was born, scared of dividing my time with another child and sad that my days with my one little girl were coming to an end. But I can't imagine life or our family without our delightful Ivy, she brings so much joy and laughter and happiness to us all, and I know this baby will be no different.

I know some people worry that they won't love another child as much as they love the one(s) they already have. I was never worried about that, I know that love expands to fill all the available space. But I do wonder and worry how we're going to handle all your regular demands, plus your fighting and defiance, and Alice's tantrums and Ivy's night waking and a newborn's needs. I had similar worries before Ivy was born, though (how do you get two kids to sleep at the same time in the same room?), and it all just worked out. Mostly. I do struggle with feelings of guilt, though. We have a perfect little family, with two perfectly healthy girls, why push our luck? What if something goes wrong? But that is the great game of life.

We need to make new shirts!

I also feel the weight of my own mortality in these heavy days of waiting. To me, it feels a bit like waiting for the executioner; you don't know when it's going to happen and the task at hand is difficult and dreadful. There's a lot of hard work and unpleasantness to go through before I'm holding a sweet baby in my arms. I feel like I can't be excited until the executioner comes and I get through the other side and the waiting and the pain is over, and everyone is healthy and well. Wait, that's kind of a weird and not entirely appropriate metaphor...

Perhaps some day, you'll understand all these feelings better, when you are waiting for babies of your own. Though, Alice, you are pretty insistent that you do not want and will never want kids. I'm curious to see if that persists through adulthood. And then again, maybe the waiting will be easier for you. And maybe you won't have such late babies, or such stubborn, "spirited" children.

I wanted to take this time to capture this season of our lives, and to put down my feelings. And I wanted to remind you how much I love you, even when you are driving me absolutely bananas. You are both incredibly spirited girls, and no matter how much aggravation it causes me, I don't ever want to break that spirit because, as they say, "well-behaved women seldom make history."

image found here

You are both so clever and creative. Combined with your wonderful imaginations and precocious vocabularies, you crack me up on the daily. Luckily, you make me laugh more than you make me cry, and you never fail to delight and amaze me. I am proud to be your mom, and sorry for all the times that I fall short of my own high expectations for the example I want to set and the mother I want to be for you. But alas, as they also say, "you are making it difficult for me to be the parent I always imagined I'd be..."

image found here

So cut me some slack, and I'll try to do the same, as we transition into this next chapter of our lives - which might be rocky for a while. I can't wait to meet your baby brother, and to see how you grow as big sisters, and what you teach him. Like me, he's lucky that you are part of his family.