The Church Family

Photo Overload

2012-05-06T23:42:00.002-07:00

Doug and I finally entered the 21st century two months ago when our extremely old phones finally died (in the tech world, five years is ancient). We can text! We can upload pictures to Facebook! And I do! So much so, that I forget to update our little family journal here. We've been a house of sickies for about 2.5 months straight, so not much has happened, but a little. However. There are a bazillion Instagram photos. So brace yourselves for the onslaught. Ready?

My awesome Dad took me on a daddy-daughter date to see Wicked. It was only the best Broadway I've seen, and I've seen a few good ones... I loved it so much! And we had a great time hanging out.

Our family colored Easter eggs and it was the first year the kids were old enough to be creative with them. They used crayon, dyed the eggs ombre style, and applied pieces of tape which they removed after dyeing to create effects.

Then we went to my Dad's for dinner and the Easter egg hunt.

Papa Scott givin' the rundown.

Cousins are the best!

Miss Evany at the bus stop with her lovely caramel colored hair and those gorgeous lashes.

While reading Bringing Up Bébé I was reminded of something I learned in French class: that children begin cooking in the kitchen at very young ages. One of the first things they learn to make is Gateau au Yaourt (Yogurt Cake). It is a very simple mixture and uses the yogurt tub to measure ingredients. Being a very simple base recipe, it's also easy to create custom versions. Here, Sterling is using a pomegranate yogurt to flavor the cake.

It was delicious.

My cute friend Rachel (center) had a birthday. All of us ladies went to the Cheesecake Factory. We laughed so much that our cheeks hurt and we had tears. Our ever-dwindling group of ladies is such a rare commodity. Such genuine camaraderie among so many ladies does not happen often. It is truly a gift.

On the nice days we've done a bit of work outside. Here's The Chubbs hanging out in his pack n play, discovering the sky and outside noises. He's such a doll baby.

Evany's Gateau au Yaourt was a Mango yogurt variation and we added some coconut. It too was delicious.

Doug's car that he's had since we were dating 14 years ago died last month so I've been commuting him around a bit. One day it was a doctor's appt across town in N. Portland, so the babies and I jaunted up the road to the Whole Foods to pick up some herbs and check out the pastry counter. The kids were enamored of this window display. We have a Whole Foods out here 2 miles away, but ironically, this one on Alberta is the only one I've ever been to- 13 years ago when we were living over there, and again two weeks ago.

Speaking of creams puffs...

Elam has been so stoic lately. I don't know what's up. Maybe it's a phase. Maybe it's just his little personality to be très sérieux. He still lights up and smiles for mama, so it's fine by me.
This one I call, Elam: Introspective. His copper curls and grey eyes just kill me.

My brother Cassidy and his girlfriend Erica came to visit. Don't be alarmed; the dog is not his girlfriend. That's Hyphy, the little mischief maker.

Hylton adores his uncles.

We went to the Farmer's Market on opening day. They have a little booth there with a gazillion varieties of tomato starts to choose from. I like to pick one or two unique varieties to try every year. And you can't leave the market without getting some of the fresh powdered doughnuts that literally melt on contact with your mouth.

Mon petite passed out halfway through. If I was that cozy, being wheeled around the market, I'd probably go to sleep too.

When we got home, we began hand-scraping the weeds out of a large portion of the old garden area to prepare for the play structure we bought from another family on Craigslist.

Hylton was helping with his Tonkas.

One of my many trips to pick Doug up from work. This time, we got there too early, so I let the kids get out to play in the courtyard. They had strict instructions to not run or get wet. ...Yeah...

Evie and I met a peacock on our way to DEQ the other morning. He crossed the street, crying. Evie thought he sounded funny. We could still hear him as we sat in the never-ending line.

Sterling climbing the walls. Literally. And one of the knights who say "ni" taunting him from below.

Daddy bonding time.

Lastly, Michelle, my dearest friend of 10 years, moved away two weeks ago. Why does 8 hours feel like the ends of the earth? There were several going-away parties in her honor: a beautiful tea luncheon (below), a movie/happy hour girls night out, and Rachel's birthday dinner was a combination of both due to timing.

Still sort of hoping she'll change her mind and move back...

Ma Charmante Mère

2012-04-12T23:33:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, I suddenly found myself thinking about a journal entry I made long ago in grade-school. I searched through the various old school journals my teachers had had us write in to hone our expository skills until I found it. The assignment was to write about where we imagined ourselves in 20 years. Ironically, I thought of it again 20 years and 2 months later. It is a two-page spread, naturally.

It says: "In 20 years, I will be 31 years old, the same age that my mom is now. I think that I will look like my mom, have a husband and four kids. I will have a job either as a lawyer or a teacher. I will be out of BYU. And living in a beautiful log cabin in Sequim, Washington with a Siamese cat, and a Huskie dog. I'll live on a hill over looking the small town, with a beautiful back yard. And trees all around our house."

It feels rather personal to post this on my blog, but I think also it is a great way to honor my mom. You see, today is her birthday. She turns 52. And while this might be my journal entry, it's really about her.

My whole family is pretty competitive, whether we openly admit it or not. My brother cheats at cards, my sister plays dirty, I contrive, and my other brother reveals nothing. It's all in fun, of course; nothing sinister. But we're all very sure that our sole person is my mother's favorite. And she's good like that; we all believe it. But the truth is we're all her favorites. And isn't that the hallmark of a good mom?

My point is, that I grew up thinking I was mom's favorite. There were very little barriers between us. I grew up telling her everything. She was my best friend; sometimes my only friend. At times, she confided equally in me. That's just the way we are. Kindred spirits. Different, but so very much the same.

I can remember the adoration I had of her as a child. I was proud she was my mom. My childhood friends used to say how cool she was, and how pretty, and that I was so lucky. And I knew it. She's pretty awesome. There is nothing, nothing, nothing she can't do. She fixes cars, and washing machines, and pours concrete, she gardens, cans food, sews, crochets, builds things, remodels, fishes, camps, cooks, works, and loves us. She didn't go to college, but she's smart as a whip! She'd do anything asked of her by someone she loves. She's playful and funny and independent and strong and beautiful.

Things haven't changed much with the passing of time. I still confide in her. She understands me. She talks reason to me. She comforts me. She loves me.

The day I wrote this journal entry, I wanted to be just like my mom because I loved her and admired her. It humbles me as I reflect on the kind of mom I am for my kids. Of course I want them to have their own dreams, but a part of me wants to know that they feel loved enough by me to inspire the same kind of devotion. Do I offer the same safe-haven? The same non-judgmental repository? The same unconditional love? Do they know they too can do anything? be anything? Do they know I love them all, each one, fiercely with my whole being? I hope.

Mother, you charming soul, my sister spirit- I love you always. Happy Birthday.

Elam

2012-04-06T17:28:00.001-07:00

Little one finally found his thumb! Now, we just need to figure out which lovey he wants and he can join the rest of the kiddos.

Large Bowl (tub) + Layers of Angel Food Cake (baby fat rolls) + Strawberry Topping (red hair, duh) + a dollop of Whipped Cream on top (shampoo foam) = Strawberry Shortcake (Elam. Also = delicious).

I am just so giddy that he is putting himself to sleep AND in his own crib that I can't stop taking pictures while he's sleeping. It's the best.

I love my other kids. I really do. I should definitely take more photos of them next time...

Tying Up Loose Ends

2012-04-02T13:06:00.000-07:00

Sterling was our first baby, and therefore, our guinea pig baby. We had very little idea of what to do with the red, crying mass of cells that wouldn't sleep. We held him through naps, and co-slept, and sang, and bounced, and rocked, and swayed our way through five miserable months until he began night-waking EVERY 30 MINUTES. In desperation, we devoured sleep-help books and ultimately put him in his crib one night and listened for 3 painful hours while he cried himself into exhaustion and finally gave up the fight. By night three, he cried 15 minutes and slept through the night, but we swore we would never repeat the process that had brought us the brink of insanity.

Fast-forward 7 years, and three children later, and we have Church Baby Sleep Nightmare: Redux. Elam has been sleeping wedged up next to me for the last five months. We have held him for naps. We have tried cautiously putting him in his crib, only to have him awaken immediately or 20 minutes later and not want to go back to sleep. This kind of fragmented sleep is bad for all of us, but especially his little developing brain.

How did we end up here... again? I think it was pity. The poor little baby would wake screaming with tummy pain for the first few weeks and we had no idea why until I cut out dairy, and tomatoes, and anything more than bland. But even then, it wasn't a perfect fix, and by then the natural sleep patterns were disturbed and he had gotten used to the co-sleeping arrangement. We tried a couple of times to allow him to fall asleep on his own, but all we ended up with was a distraught baby and a wreck of a mother. Lately, he'd been waking me up every two hours at night to eat and in-between from his restlessness. Not one night-full of sleep in five months. And I need my sleep.

Three nights ago, we put him in his crib for the night at 8pm, much earlier than his usual bedtime with us, and he cried for a little while and fell asleep and did pretty well most of the night. The last couple of nights, he's waken to cry and I've either fed him or let him fall back asleep on his own (read: crying). Last night, he went to sleep at 7pm (target bedtime) and woke once for his middle-of-the-night feeding (where he flirted with me in the dark with wide-eyes and then quietly fell back asleep in his crib), and then I had to wake him at 7am this morning. It was GLORIOUS! Hallelujah! He even did well for naps yesterday. In fact, I felt bad making him learn so much at once, so I tried to rock him to sleep as usual two days ago and he wanted nothing to do with it! That's when I knew we were golden. Two mornings ago he woke up on his own at 9am, and laid happily in his crib until I came in to get him. It's AMAZING what a good chunk of sleep can do! ...Poor sleep deprived baby...

This was before sleep training. He had to be clutching me.

Now he thinks he's all big or something since he can sleep on his own and got upgraded to a big-boy car seat and got to sit with us at the dinner table last night in his high chair. He's rolling all over the floor to get things he wants. Evie usually sounds the alarm when he's getting out of bounds and I run back into the living room to plop him back onto his blanket, or at least somewhere he's not going to knock himself unconscious.

But look at his cute little baby face! I'm in love, I'm in love, and I don't care who knows it! (Yes, I quote Elf. Don't judge.)

Little Miss cracked us up yesterday when she called Hylton: Hylt, lylt, the shylt, wylt. She just busted it out of nowhere. I told Doug he must have genetically passed on his street talk to her. I swear the man is black and just doesn't know it.

We had a nice day last week when Doug was home and we were in-between illnesses, so we went for a ride in the park. The vitamin D felt great! We're seriously considering a relocation to a drier climate. I still love how green Oregon is, and I used to love the rain until I had kids... or maybe until I got older... but it can just be miserable sometimes! (Or should we say 9 months out of the year??)

I would miss the Trilliums, though, and the rainforests and the beach... sigh...

Whoa! Hottie alert!

Sterling has been dragging his feet when it comes to tying shoes (did you catch that?). He just really hasn't cared, until suddenly he did. He felt embarrassed that the other kids at school could tie their laces and he couldn't. Whatever motivates him, right? It took surprisingly little time, despite the tears of frustration in-process. Within a half an hour he learned my super-tricksy way of tying shoes that I learned from my sister who learned it from a swim-buddy in school. ...It's on the down-low. 'Cause that's how we roll. Yo.
It was so great to see his confidence soar once he figured it out. And I love, love, love that even though he wanted to give up, he didn't. And that is a very valuable life lesson! Do, or do not, there is no try. (Yeah, I quote Yoda too. What?)

My Loveys

2012-03-13T16:02:00.001-07:00

There is absolutely nothing I love more than being a mom. Life is good. The End.

White River West

2012-02-05T12:56:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, we went tubing at Mt. Hood. It was the first time for the kids, and the first time Doug and I had been on the mountain in the snow since before we had Sterling. Yeah, we don't get out much anymore. My parents brought the cousins up with them, so my kids were thrilled to see them and play in the snow together.

There is a whole lot of pink goin' on here!

Sterling and Jared took turns pulling eachother up the trail we had to hike to find a good hill.

Novie got the better of two grown men in this snowball fight.

Papa showin' Hylti the ropes when it comes to a good snowball (to throw at Daddy, of course).

We finally caught up to the Rowes who had been there playing for a while, despite us all leaving town at the same time. Lots of kids+long car ride+hungry baby= mind numbingly slow progress. Most of us camped out at the bottom of the hill and watched as the others went up and down.

Baby fell asleep off and on while being carried in the back carrier, but mostly I just sat in an innertube and held him while he slept. He didn't much care for the wind in his face, but he was such a little trooper and was very good.

The pile of snow to the left is actually Larry's dog Remi. I had to look at this for quite some time to figure out what it was.

Proper snow for a proper snow angel!

Doug and Larry played just as hard as any of the kids.

It was almost time to go and I still hadn't been down the hill, which was fine with me, but Doug pressured me into going. I'm not much of a thrill seeker. At all. I always picture how things will go wrong. In this case, the image of me hitting a bump, catching air off the tube and flying face-first into a rock-hard snowbank, thereby rendering me a quadriplegic for the rest of my life was forefront in my mind. Doug finally guilted me into it by playing on my motherly sensitivities. Evie wanted another ride before we left. So we went. And I contemplated my own death the whole way down.

Okay, maybe that's a little dramatic, but let's just say it's not really my favorite thing.

Note about the movie: The first clip is Doug trying to take a picture of himself and the baby, but he has the camera turned on and doesn't realize that the baby is silent-screaming.

Then Doug threatens to kick us down the mountain if I don't go.

Then Doug comes back to Sterling who goes down the hill, losing his sled, Jared comes down right after him (almost hitting him) and carries the sled with him, and then someone else comes flying down and almost hits Sterling again, and carries the sled even further.

Unfortunately, when Doug panned back to Sterling, he totally missed Larry taking the dog on the tube down the hill. The dog did not care for the ride, so he jumped off and Larry ran over him with the tube. I'm pretty sure Remi will never get on another innertube again.

The sun began to go down, so we went back to the parking lot. And since Larry does nothing unless he can go big, he had the generator set up and they cooked hot dogs and chili and hot chocolate.

Mr. Attitude.

And here's a couple more pictures of the fatty grub, for good measure:

My little copper haired, red eyed vampire baby sitting in his new Bumbo. Aunt Shell found it for him at the Goodwill for $3!

Yes, those cheeks are as soft and delicious as they appear on film.

Chunkin' Punkin' and Other Aesthetics

2012-01-24T18:52:00.000-08:00

Well, it's official. The baby is a fatty. No one would expect less from a Church baby, but nevertheless, we are always surprised when they go through a year's worth of clothing sizes in 10 weeks. At Elam's two month check-up on the 16th, he weighed in at 17lbs 1.5oz and is 25.5" long. I wondered why the baby carrier seemed so unusually heavy!

We love the pudge, though! (And he loves us!)

Doug likes to hold the little man every chance he gets since he's gone all day. So much so, that he's willing to go to extreme lengths to multi-task.

Doug decided to grow some facial hair, which was totally fine with me since I love it. However...

...I woke up one morning just as Doug was about to leave for work and when he turned around I saw this: a Fu Manchu. No bueno. I stared at it in horror for a minute or two before I came to my senses and said, "Honey! You can NOT wear that to work! You look like Chester the Molester!" He did anyway, of course, like any self-respecting man would, and then came home and enumerated all the compliments he had received from his co-workers. (Uh-huh. Just smile and nod.)

He finally shaved it on the third day (a bit longer than Tim McGraw's 2.7 seconds, right?), but only after he was assured that I got photo worthy of Aaron Rodgers:

Luckily, the sole princess of the house seems in a fair way to redeeming the family name in the area of beauty. Doug walked by the bathroom on Sunday and saw this and had to do a double-take. Little Miss was carefully shaping her eyebrows and eyelashes with her clear mascara. Her cousin, Novalee, apparently has a "doll house full of makeup" she said, after playing there one day, and she wanted her own makeup. I was frankly hesitant- 1) because of the potential mess and 2) because she is only 5, people! Upon reflection, however, there didn't seem to be any harm in pink glitter lip gloss, some clear mascara, and a fruity Princess Ariel roll-on perfume stick. And now I am glad. It is teaching her the vital importance of caring for her personal appearance, and, let's face it, knowing that you look good is a great part of having self-confidence. All good things! In any case, she's a 5-year-old cutie-patootie! With some adorable sass to match!

Our Particular Brand of Crazy Bliss

2012-01-18T10:36:00.000-08:00

When you schlepp four kids around in public, you get a lot of attention. Many make the comment, "Wow! You must have your hands full!" and stare in disbelief at how I'm single-handedly "multiplying and replenishing (or otherwise impoverishing) the earth" and write me off as crazy, while others make the inevitable comments about enjoying this time now while I have it. Thankfully, motherhood really seems to fall somewhere in the the middle of those two extremes, and thankfully, that's the way it should be.

Many wonder why we have so many children and I like the way the writer (below) likens this to climbing Mt. Everest. It's a painful choice, but worth the views along the way and worth the reward at the top. Many know me for the introverted, intensely independent soul that I am. I require a lot time alone to decompress, compared to many. I like quiet. I like space. I like to say as few words as possible (most of the time), to the bewilderment of my poor husband. I like my quiet days at home. I like when the kids are in bed. My favorite thing to do is read. Alone. However, one thing I have always inexplicably relished was the craziness in our house growing up. I loved the warm little "cottage" on the lazy street with 6 happy people inside. 5 other people to have your back and stand in your court. 5 other unique people amongst whom to find a friend for the day. It was never lonely, and that can be hard at times for someone like me, but also comforting. It was a comfort I wanted for my children. The craziness of extremely large and loud family dinners I wanted for us all. So, in the midst of parenting, I may be "touched out" at the end of a day, or want to scream if I hear one more person ask me why, or yearn for retirement, but I know I wouldn't have it any other way and I know that I was never truly "me" until I became a mom. I grow every day, right along with my kids: more patient, more compassionate, more selfless, more wise.

No one loves our children more than me and Doug and, therefore, no one knows the emotional (and physical) roller coaster ride our particular brand of family life can be. We do our best every day only to fall into bed at night, thumping our foreheads, promising to do better tomorrow. We truly cherish the tender moments when we are reminded of just how young and innocent they are. Likewise, we cherish the moments when we notice how smart and independent they are growing. Someday we will be glad when they have grown and begin to fulfill their own purpose in life, and someday we will reminisce fondly of the short time we had with them. In the meantime, we will continue doing our best each day, and continue loving our kids fiercely, and continue taking the good with bad, and not feel guilty that we don't carpe every moment of every diem.

Now, after that wordy, introspective introduction, I hope you'll read this article. It's some much-needed validation for young mommies.

Don't Carpe Diem

by Glennon Melton, The Huffington Post, January 14, 2012

Every time I’m out with my kids – this seems to happen:

An older woman stops us, puts her hand over her heart and says something like, “Oh- Enjoy every moment. This time goes by so fast.”

Everywhere I go, someone is telling me to seize the moment, raise my awareness, be happy, enjoy every second, etc, etc, etc.

I know that this message is right and good. But as 2011 closes, I have finally allowed myself to admit that it just doesn’t work for me. It bugs me. This CARPE DIEM message makes me paranoid and panicky. Especially during this phase of my life – while I’m raising young kids. Being told, in a million different ways to CARPE DIEM makes me worry that if I’m not in a constant state of intense gratitude and ecstasy, I’m doing something wrong.

I think parenting young children (and old ones, I’ve heard) is a little like climbing Mount Everest. Brave, adventurous souls try it because they’ve heard there’s magic in the climb. They try because they believe that finishing, or even attempting the climb are impressive accomplishments. They try because during the climb, if they allow themselves to pause and lift their eyes and minds from the pain and drudgery, the views are breathtaking. They try because even though it hurts and it’s hard, there are moments that make it worth the hard. These moments are so intense and unique that many people who reach the top start planning, almost immediately, to climb again. Even though any climber will tell you that most of the climb is treacherous, exhausting, killer. That they literally cried most of the way up.

And so I think that if there were people stationed, say, every thirty feet along Mount Everest yelling to the climbers – “ARE YOU ENJOYING YOURSELF!? IF NOT, YOU SHOULD BE! ONE DAY YOU’LL BE SORRY YOU DIDN’T!” TRUST US!! IT’LL BE OVER TOO SOON! CARPE DIEM!” – those well-meaning, nostalgic cheerleaders might be physically thrown from the mountain.

Now. I’m not suggesting that the sweet old ladies who tell me to ENJOY MYSELF be thrown from a mountain. These are wonderful ladies. Monkees, probably. But last week, a woman approached me in the Target line and said the following: “Sugar, I hope you are enjoying this. I loved every single second of parenting my two girls. Every single moment. These days go by so fast.”

At that particular moment, Amma had arranged one of the new bras I was buying on top of her sweater and was sucking a lollipop that she must have found on the ground. She also had three shop-lifted clip-on neon feather stuck in her hair. She looked exactly like a contestant from Toddlers and Tiaras. I couldn’t find Chase anywhere, and Tish was grabbing the pen on the credit card swiper thing WHILE the woman in front of me was trying to use it. And so I just looked at the woman, smiled and said, “Thank you. Yes. Me too. I am enjoying every single moment. Especially this one. Yes. Thank you.”

That’s not exactly what I wanted to say, though.

There was a famous writer who, when asked if he loved writing, replied, “No. but I love having written.” What I wanted to say to this sweet woman was, “Are you sure? Are you sure you don’t mean you love having parented?”

I love having written. And I love having parented. My favorite part of each day is when the kids are put to sleep (to bed) and Craig and I sink into the couch to watch some quality TV, like Celebrity Wife Swap, and congratulate each other on a job well done. Or a job done, at least.

Every time I write a post like this, I get emails suggesting that I’m being negative. I have received this particular message four or five times – G, if you can’t handle the three you have, why do you want a fourth?

That one always stings, and I don’t think it’s quite fair. Parenting is hard. Just like lots of important jobs are hard. Why is it that the second a mother admits that it’s hard, people feel the need to suggest that maybe she’s not doing it right? Or that she certainly shouldn’t add more to her load. Maybe the fact that it’s so hard means she IS doing it right…in her own way…and she happens to be honest.

Craig is a software salesman. It’s a hard job in this economy. And he comes home each day and talks a little bit about how hard it is. And I don’t ever feel the need to suggest that he’s not doing it right, or that he’s negative for noticing that it’s hard, or that maybe he shouldn’t even consider taking on more responsibility. And I doubt anybody comes by his office to make sure he’s ENJOYING HIMSELF. I doubt his boss peeks in his office and says: “This career stuff…it goes by so fast…ARE YOU ENJOYING EVERY MOMENT IN THERE, CRAIG???? CARPE DIEM, CRAIG!”

My point is this. I used to worry that not only was I failing to do a good enough job at parenting, but that I wasn’t enjoying it enough. Double failure. I felt guilty because I wasn’t in parental ecstasy every hour of every day and I wasn’t MAKING THE MOST OF EVERY MOMENT like the mamas in the parenting magazines seemed to be doing. I felt guilty because honestly, I was tired and cranky and ready for the day to be over quite often. And because I knew that one day, I’d wake up and the kids would be gone, and I’d be the old lady in the grocery store with my hand over my heart. Would I be able to say I enjoyed every moment? No.

But the fact remains that I will be that nostalgic lady. I just hope to be one with a clear memory. And here’s what I hope to say to the younger mama gritting her teeth in line:

“It’s helluva hard, isn’t it? You’re a good mom, I can tell. And I like your kids, especially that one peeing in the corner. She’s my favorite. Carry on, warrior. Six hours till bedtime.” And hopefully, every once in a while, I’ll add- “Let me pick up that grocery bill for ya, sister. Go put those kids in the van and pull on up- I’ll have them bring your groceries out.”

Anyway. Clearly, Carpe Diem doesn’t work for me. I can’t even carpe fifteen minutes in a row, so a whole diem is out of the question.

Here’s what does work for me:

There are two different types of time. Chronos time is what we live in. It’s regular time, it’s one minute at a time, it’s staring down the clock till bedtime time, it’s ten excruciating minutes in the Target line time, it’s four screaming minutes in time out time, it’s two hours till daddy gets home time. Chronos is the hard, slow passing time we parents often live in.

Then there’s Kairos time. Kairos is God’s time. It’s time outside of time. It’s metaphysical time. It’s those magical moments in which time stands still. I have a few of those moments each day. And I cherish them.

Like when I actually stop what I’m doing and really look at Tish. I notice how perfectly smooth and brownish her skin is. I notice the perfect curves of her teeny elf mouth and her asianish brown eyes, and I breathe in her soft Tishy smell. In these moments, I see that her mouth is moving but I can’t hear her because all I can think is – This is the first time I’ve really seen Tish all day, and my God – she is so beautiful. Kairos.

Like when I’m stuck in chronos time in the grocery line and I’m haggard and annoyed and angry at the slow check-out clerk. And then I look at my cart and I’m transported out of chronos. And suddenly I notice the piles and piles of healthy food I’ll feed my children to grow their bodies and minds and I remember that most of the world’s mamas would kill for this opportunity. This chance to stand in a grocery line with enough money to pay. And I just stare at my cart. At the abundance. The bounty. Thank you, God. Kairos.

Or when I curl up in my cozy bed with Theo asleep at my feet and Craig asleep by my side and I listen to them both breathing. And for a moment, I think- how did a girl like me get so lucky? To go to bed each night surrounded by this breath, this love, this peace, this warmth? Kairos.

These kairos moments leave as fast as they come- but I mark them. I say the word kairos in my head each time I leave chronos. And at the end of the day, I don’t remember exactly what my kairos moments were, but I remember I had them. And that makes the pain of the daily parenting climb worth it.

If I had a couple Kairos moments during the day, I call it a success.

Carpe a couple of Kairoses a day.

Good enough for me.

Church Family Word Cloud

2012-01-12T12:03:00.000-08:00

Our word cloud formation from our blog feed. I guess I talk about Doug a lot!

(click on the image for a larger view)

I prefer the advanced option to make your own weighted words:

Two Months

2012-01-11T15:45:00.000-08:00

Elam is two months old already and I have documented nothing of his life so far. It is very sad.

Two months ago, we met this handsome little devil. He was so alert! And he was actually smiling at me the next day in the hospital.

When he was born, we thought he was another Church boy clone with the features that typically come standard: blue eyes, blonde hair. After they washed him up, however, we began to wonder if maybe, just maybe, we had a feisty red-head on our hands. And as his hair has gotten longer, we've discovered that it's actually a bit curly.

We checked in at the hospital at 5:20am for the induction and found out that I needed a 4-hour treatment of antibiotics first, which no one had mentioned. So that was a surprise. They started the Penicillin drip undiluted and I thought my arm had caught fire! I think it was the most painful experience of the delivery, thankfully.

I kept telling the nurse that once I get started, I go fast and I'm fairly sure she didn't believe me at all, which is why I kept telling her. I wanted to know what the time-frame was on the antibiotics, so I'd know when the get the epidural, since they were gradually increasing the Pitocin as the time went on. Finally the nurse told me she'd bring down the anesthesiologist since I "seemed so concerned about it." I had the epidural around 10am and they increased the Pitocin drip quite a lot. Nothing happened for a while and I was beginning to wonder if it was working at all when I got a really painful contraction and inexplicably felt like I was ready to have the baby. Then suddenly the nurses were panicking. Did I not warn them? My doctor was rushed from her office to deliver the baby that was imminently coming. The head nurse explained that in all her years of nursing she had never had to deliver a baby without the doctor and was praying that her record would remain unbroken. Luckily my doctor showed up in time, to the relief of everyone and Elam was born 5 minutes later. Doug was able to catch the baby again. I'm not sure why he enjoys that part so much, but he has "caught" (with the help of the doctor) all of our babies and cut the umbilical cord. I think it's nice he likes to be so involved.

As soon as I had the baby, I realized that when I was sitting up, I had this awful headache and such congestion in my ear like they needed to pop. I asked the nurses if maybe it had anything to do with the epidural and they replied that it was unlikely (though I know now, that these were classic signs of a spinal block headache). It went away after about 2 weeks, but it was very limiting and extremely annoying.

As the weeks went by we realized a few things about our new little guy: he had a very tight lingual frenulum that we had to have clipped. It sounds much worse than it is. The ENT just opened his mouth and used the surgical scissors to clip the skin under there, Elam fussed a second or two and went right back to sleep.

He also had an umbilical granuloma that needed an application of silver nitrate to help it heal up. And finally, he was extremely fussy every night and sometimes during the day. When he was screaming non-stop for about two hours one night, we decided that something else must be going on. We tried Gripe Water which didn't seem to help at all, unfortunately, so then my friend Michelle persuaded me to try eliminating dairy from my diet. Fortunately (and unfortunately) this was a big part of the problem. Eventually I found that he also dislikes anything tomato-based, and anything remotely spicy. I now have a very limited and bland diet, but also a happy baby, and that is worth it!

With the Great-Grandparents, Bobbie and Jack

Halloween was a blur!

Here we are two nights before we had the baby at the ward trunk-or-treat

Evie for her Kindergarten Halloween party. Cutest bunny I ever saw...

My Ninja and Spice-youMan (as Hylton used to call him)

Our neighbor John gets a kick out of scaring the crap out of the kids- every year. Can you see the tense body posture of them all?

Reading with Daddy

All four kiddos- they all love him so much! Evie is so mothering and will try to soothe him when he's sad. Hylton randomly walks by and kisses him. Sterling likes to hold him (for a very short period of time).

Three Church boys: Papa Dewey, Doug, and Elam and The Girl

Thanksgiving was a little less chaotic.

Getting our Christmas tree at Strawberry Hill. The other kidlets are running around the farm somewhere.

Then Doug went outside, one fine day, to do some yard work and pulled a major muscle in his back while he was sweeping. He came inside supporting his upper body weight by propping his hands on his knees (try that while walking). Pretty much looked like Quasimoto. Sterling took this lovely picture of Doug trying to stretch a few days after it happened.

Elam was blessed on December 11th. Look at him! He's such a flirt!

The kids with Grandma DeeDee and Aunt CC

He likes to lay in bed with his brothers and sister while we sing to them all at bedtime.

And he likes to fall asleep in unlikely places, like the bouncer.

His hair is just the coolest. I am so jealous of that coif. Most of the time he's sportin' an eighteenth century hairstyle: swe[t forward on the sides and the curls in front flipped-up, a la Pride and Prejudice's Mr. Bingley:

We spent Christmas Eve at my Dad's. Between us being sick and generally home-bound, and my Dad having a month-long illness, this was the first he had seen of his new Grandson, besides the baby blessing.

The kids got to see "reindeer" out the windows. Do you see the hidden deer? He had his eyes locked on me.

A family of three deer were outside here.

Christmas Eve at our house. Christmas is truly magical.

As I was taking photos off my mom's camera, I found these oldies from this summer:

This is what a mellow family dinner looks like these days. This summer, there will be two more kiddos at the table (my sister is due with her 4th in May). But, luckily, there are now two less pianos in the room, so that will be better.... (haha, Mom!)

The craziness is so much fun... most of the time... I loved all the time we got to spend with our cousins growing up and our kids love it just as much!

The Vessey siblings. Yeah, we're a sad bunch of posers. With, apparently, only two facial expressions among the four of us.

My little Hylti on our camping trip - accessorizing.

Doll-babies.

Whew! And now we're all caught-up!

Nesting Much?

2011-10-24T11:52:00.000-07:00

Four weeks ago, I was freaking out. Everything was so dirty! Or so it seemed to me. Nesting issues, right? I don't think I've ever experienced pre-baby nesting like I have this time around! I made Doug help me pull up the rug in the living room and pull it outside to be cleaned. And while he was doing that, I took the opportunity of bare floors to move everything around again. What can I say; I like change. Somehow it makes everything seem cleaner when you start over completely from scratch and rearrange- when you move every piece of furniture, you know it is clean underneath and on top.

It was weird to see the whole hardwood floor without the rug in there.

What a hunk, right? He cleaned and rinsed this thing for almost three hours. He is nothing if not thorough.

The next day, we put up some of our Halloween decorations. Not all, since I didn't think I'd feel like taking it all down after the baby was born, but enough to feel like we were able to celebrate my favorite holiday.

The kids have been way into LEGOS. All three of them will happily play for hours with them creating all sorts of awesomeness. Evie actually used the instructions to make this house, which I find pretty amazing- both for attention longevity and age-related ability to do make sense of them.

Sterling usually builds some sort of car or flying boat or spaceship with "fighting guys" on it- usual boy things.

Hylton almost always has some kind of platform, or walking-plank, and he likes to make patterns. They all amaze me.

Doug is still working on the gutters. Maybe we'll have some for winter. We'll see. It's hard for him to do with just one guy- sometimes he needs someone to help push pipes together, but mostly other things keep coming up that interfere with working time (like, uh... 3.5 kids?), and rain, and ginormous roots in the way.

If Daddy is outside, you can bet the kids are! So most of the time, I try to go out and sit in a lawn chair and be moral support for Doug while he's working, make food, fetch water, etc. It's actually extremely frustrating for me to sit and watch someone work. I come from a family of "do-ers" and it really would go so much faster if I could help. I really hate feeling tired and unwieldy all the time.

I call this Hylton's "Bill Cosby" face. His sense of humor always gets me!

Doug with his gigantic root, uprooted.

Hylton really liked this big box that came with diapers in it. He set up his pillows and blankets and watched his cartoons in it for a few days until the poor box gave up the ghost.

Oh my goodness, I love his face! Kids are great when they're sleeping...

We went on our usual preschool field trip to the Fire Station downtown. I'm not really sure what he thought of it all, except that he was absolutely rigid with petrification when the fireman asked him to come over and hold his shirt while he put on his fire suit.

Can you see every muscle in his body tensed and ready to run, and his eyes locked on me?

The two older kids both received awards from school during the first assembly this year. You can just barely make out Evie in the purple shirt on the right in the very front standing up. She got one for Honesty and Sterling got one for Enthusiasm (he stood up, turned around, and waved to everyone which I thought was so typical of his "enthusiasm"- he is not afraid).

They break everyone up into different groups after the assembly based on what their award was. I got a picture of Sterling, but Evie's group was already gone by the time I got over there, dang it.

One of the other things that suddenly bothered me was this light fixture in our room. The light bulbs had literally been in there since before we moved in. In fact, I'd like to know how long they were there, because they looked this dirty and burned on top when we moved in. And then there were the spider webs... When one of the light bulbs went out, I decided I might as well replace the whole ugly thing.

We've had this new light fixture in the garage since before we moved in and I was only reluctant to put it up because I ultimately wanted something different there, but this is definitely an improvement! I don't know why I didn't do it sooner!

This was one of my last days teaching preschool for the year and we got out the shaving cream. What a mess! And stinky (though, that could have been my ultra-super-human-sense-of-smell right now)! The kids loved it, though, especially Hylton and his buddy Matsen; Evie even had a few minutes to play in it before leaving for Kindergarten.

They are always making "beds" everywhere. Even the hall. I don't see the comfort in it, but I remember my sister and brothers and I used to slide down the wood stairs in our house growing up in nothing but a sleeping bag. Pretty sure that would really hurt me now.

Sterling is always making this face for pictures now. It makes me laugh. He got it from this video, where he tells his brother he looks like a gopher.

One day, I spent sewing them pajamas out of material they picked out a couple of months ago. They've been bugging me to make them and I figured I'd better do it before the baby comes or it would be a while! And now that Super Saturday and teaching preschool is over, I'm feeling strangely free (and frankly relieved)! Now, Sterling has some new Spiderman pants, Hylton picked "tractor" jammies, and Evie had a new silky nightgown and a pair of pants like the boys (although hers are yellow with sparkly pink and purple dragonflies, of course). Have I mentioned I love my serger?

At 37 weeks, we had to go in for a late-term ultrasound to make sure the baby was not getting too big to be born from the Gestational Diabetes. He was just right at about 6lbs 11oz (give or take a pound). Really, aside from feeling hungry a lot and not being able to eat Oreos and milk at night, the diet has its pluses... like a trimmer pregnant me and much less swelling. I am far less uncomfortable moving around than I generally am at this point and able to fit into far more things- especially my shoes! We saw Elam's hair floating around behind him in the amniotic fluid. It looked much like some kind of Dr. Seuss-ish halo of creature hair. And it makes me wonder even more if we only create one model of boy (blonde hair), or if we'll get a dark-haired one. This top picture is his profile.

And this is the slightly disturbing full-face view. I still just find it so amazing what they can see during the ultrasound. Of course we saw his heart chambers pumping blood, were able to re-verify that it really was indeed a boy, and this one showed us his open eyes looking at us! Just astounding! What I also find amazing is the reassurance that everyone comes here with their own, distinct personalities. I already think Elam must be a little feisty, and maybe just a touch impatient. ...Not that I should be surprised by such a thing in this house, but still... He fights back pretty consistently and vigorously when the doctors push my tummy around for any reason.

Some of you will remember that I remade this chair early last year. I never was super-happy with the teal color and was planning to repaint it black or heirloom white, but Doug objected since "it's the only color in the room right now," so I just recovered it. A simple fix to make it look better. The poor burlap really did not wear well at all! The letters fell off and it began to tear. Luckily, I had some scrap upholstery fabric lying around (lovely toile, no less) and now I feel all better.

Doug has nowhere to call his own in this house, and he is someone who really likes to have a clear work space, especially to study or use the computer or read. We also had this really awkward, narrow space at the end of our bed and I finally hit upon a way to utilize it to advantage. I found this cheap old table on Craigslist two weeks ago, and sanded it, and painted it, and clear-coated it, and installed handles on the drawer - it's the perfect solution! Doug really likes it, I think. I try really hard to keep my things off of it, for the most part. He jokes that I like to set things down on the first available horizontal space, and that may be true, so I try to be mindful of the desk. It's very hard. But now, with yet another person coming to live in this little house, he has somewhere he can go, shut the door, and do something in quiet and I like that.

Doug had his own nesting to-do list. Having the van detailed was one, and we've had the baby seat installed for a couple of weeks, just in case. Getting a functional garage door with opener was also high on the list, and last week he made several calls to find someone suitable. Last year, on our way of town for camping, we had loaded our last few items, had the kids in the car, and were ready to close the garage door and set-off when the tension cables on the garage door came undone and the door came down crooked and impossibly wedged. Doug began using the sledge-hammer to unwedge it and suddenly the wheels busted out of the top panel (of our very solid wood door), which then swung down and hit Doug in the back of his head while he was working on it, nearly giving him a concussion. It has been jimmy-rigged closed for over a year now and it has been no end of frustrating for Doug to have to walk around from the back to the front with tools and boards and other things when he's working outside. Now, thanks to early Christmas from Grandma Dee-Dee, we have a fully functional door and an opener just in time for the baby and winter cold and rain. Another barrier was that our garage is our only storage room in the house and we still haven't gone through some of the boxes from the move. I ended up sacrificing some end tables that we've had since we were married and I had planned to remake into something else (very sad) and Doug has boxes and boxes of school books and binders out there to go through and make his own sacrifices. But, by the end of the week, we should have the remaining floor space needed to pull the van inside!

The final problem, was the lack of somewhere to plug the opener into. So Doug crawled up into the attic and did his first wiring job, start-to-finish in two hours! I'm thankful all the time that I was able to help my grandparents with their house remodel and learned some very valuable skills like how to do some electrical work. However, being unable to hoist my preggo-self into the attic, Doug got to test his handiness while I sat on a chair in the garage and yelled instructions up to him. Do you see a pattern here, of Doug working and me sitting in a chair...? He has concluded he hates attic work, but it's preferable to under-the-house work where the Hobos are (spiders, that is, not homeless men). We now have a new outlet in the garage, which is super-useful, a garage door opener that works in the outlet, and nothing has caught fire yet, so I think we're in good shape! And I think Doug may have found his handyman skills in electrical work!

I was having all sorts of regular-seeming contractions yesterday, so I figured we should document the last stage of pregnancy roundness for posterity in case we didn't make it to induction day on Friday. As of last Thursday's appointment with my doctor, I am much further along in the labor process than I ever have been at this point. I won't gross any of you out by talking about dilation and effacement, etc., but it seems Elam is eager to be born and that is something new for a boy in this family! Doug and I finally packed our bags last night, and once we were fully prepared, the contractions pretty much stopped. Figures. False labor is so frustrating!

...Only 3 more days, only 3 more days, only 3 more days...

The Exhuasting Business of Busyness

2011-09-20T16:50:00.000-07:00

We've been having words with this one lately, due to extreme messiness. She's is like a whirlwind, leaving a path of destruction wherever she goes! She removes couch pillows in the living room and then brings her entire entourage of animals and blankets and dolls and cups and jewelry and dress-up clothes and keyboard and books and toys out to conglomerate in the front room. Then she moves on to the bedroom, strewing clothes and pajamas all over the floor and her bed, not to mention Barbies and clothes and books and toys. Then it's the kitchen table with cut-up paper scraps and coloring books and markers and crayons and stickers and snack bowls. Then the baby's room with all the dress-up clothes thrown helter-skelter all around! I simply cannot keep up with her! Bending over, picking up things is just not in the agenda this far along in the pregnancy, so we have a lot of discussions about cleaning before moving on to other things, but I feel like I'm losing my mind reminding her all the time. I've even thrown all of her things into garbage bags to do time-out in the garage. It doesn't sink in. She declares that she "just loves to have a messy room." So, I give up. She can have a messy room- as long as it stays on her side since she is sharing with the boys. Maybe if it gets bad enough that she can't sleep, she'll pick it up. Maybe not. I dunno... Or maybe we'll get our very own resident rodents. Either way, she is very non-messy when she is sleeping, and oh-so non-sassy.

Here's another sassy one. Really, where do they get it? I mean, Doug and I are so very sweet and demure... Okay, okay! I know where they get it- it's all Doug. :) But, really? A booty-shot from my three-year-old??

He's also decided that when the cat's away, the mouse will play. The PS3, that is. Once I put Evie on that bus for Kindergarten, he immediately asks to play "PF-fwee." It's been a good time for him to polish his tiny little hand-eye skills. It doesn't take long for him to get frustrated and want to do something else, though, which is good.

He also loves to play "my game." One morning I came in to find that he had turned on the computer, found the internet button and then found his Curious George bookmark in the browser window. I'm pretty sure my Grandma can't do that! Sorry, Grams, but it's true...

He's also still at the age when cleaning is fun. And a good thing, too! He dumped an entire box of Cheerios on the floor.

Meanwhile, I have been a sewing fool. Since I have made a blanket for all the kids (except Evie, poor dear), I was naturally going to make something for the new baby. I happened upon this tutorial for a monogram quilt quite by chance and fell in love with it. It took me longer than I'd like to admit to complete. I did some procrastinating before and during with other projects, mostly near the end when I tried an online tutorial for "perfect" mitered corners only to find out that it was for smaller binding and the corners ended up rounded and funky. I had to cool down for a week or so, and after some good advice from a quilting friend, ended up picking and cutting out the corners and re-doing them. It also took some time to do the free-hand stippling with the sewing machine, but I think the results were well-worth the time and effort. I very love it.

...Oh. Did I mention we picked a new name for Le Petit? We did. Apparently "Amen" Church was too much. He will henceforth be called baby Elam. Unless we change our minds again. In which case, Doug has declared we will simple cross off the incorrect name on the quilt with a Sharpie and write in the new one.

I made one of these babies so we can keep the rain and cold off of him and keep away touchy people. I really wish we'd had one of these with the other three.

It is reversible. One side for the boy and one side for the Mommy. Okay, they're both for Mommy... I really think sewing while pregnant has it's drawbacks- I am half-demented. I had that whole issue with the monogram quilt binding and then I sewed and double sewed the tabs on this canopy backwards, so the flowers side is up on the zig-zag side and vice versa. I wasn't about to pick it out and sew it on right, so I'm just going to declare now that since it is reversible and coordinating, I meant to do that! Alrighty?

I bought an inexpensive serger on craigslist a few years ago and I think it had been dropped. My mom and I couldn't get it to sew without it cutting the thread and the front door hinge was bent. I finally took it in to get serviced this summer because it really is indispensable for some sewing projects. The timing is fantastic now! The tech noted that he couldn't find a replacement hinge for it, so it was still crooked. I took a hammer to it the other night and now it works great! Some things just need brute force applied...
The serger was extremely useful in making these swaddling cloths. It would have been extremely annoying and time-consuming to make a hem. It was a little scary, frankly, because the foot-control is very touchy and the cutting blade imminently close to my fingers, but we survived with all digits in-tact and maybe a missing finger would be worth the convenience...? I did these two Christmas-themed ones in flannel. There must be something about the grumpy Grinch that I relate with- I find him so amusing.

These three swaddling cloths are modeled after the way-overpriced Aden + Anais ones. Granted, they are not printed, but I could choose any color I wanted and they were super-easy and cheap!

I tried a diaper burp-cloth, but found it a little unappealing for some reason. Maybe I'll try again later.

So I made one of these burp-cloths with some left-over fabric. The edge frays after you wash it so it will look a little cuter later.

Meanwhile, our tomatoes came on with a vengeance. I didn't feel like doing the whole canning thing this year, being so very large-with-child and all, so I cut them up and threw them in the dehydrator to make sun-dried tomatoes and in the oven (with fresh herbs, garlic, and olive oil) to make roasted tomatoes which I then put in Ziplocs in the freezer for making sauces this winter. The house smelled so delicious... I was able to get rid of most of them this way, which was delightful and easy!

Doug was evil and made my favorite cookies on Sunday. He insisted it was a labor of love for me, but I just don't see how that can be when he knows I shouldn't eat them! I had two right out of the oven and four more the next day. So much for self-control!

Ha! I love this! What a poser-baby!

These are simply the very best Snickerdoodles I have EVER had! Perfectly soft and chewy all at once. Doug did his job too well! We added some vanilla to the recipe and added some nutmeg and cloves to the cinnamon/sugar mixture and I think that helped seal my doom.

Hylton had another week of preschool. We learned about Sea Animals today and the kids got to search for seashells in the barley. Yeah, I know- not sand- but it is easier to clean up and they didn't care a bit!

And then he passed out while I was writing this blog, so I went and laid down too. All this busyness is just exhausting!

Kindergarten, Preschool, and MORE Birthdays

2011-09-14T12:03:00.000-07:00

Hylton had his first day of preschool yesterday. I forgot to take pictures before preschool, or during, but I finally remembered sometime during the afternoon after things had settled down. He is such a poser. Doug and I always crack up when we upload pictures to the computer and see all of his silly faces. What is this last one...?! He thinks he's modeling for GQ or something!
Preschool was at our house yesterday (as it will be for the next 5 weeks to get it all done before baby comes) and he has been asking me every half an hour for a week straight, "when is it time for his preschool to start?" He loved having his friends come to his house!

I also took a terrible picture for Evie's first day, so I finally took a nicer picture of her yesterday waiting for the bus. She gets a bus-ride to school even though we live so close, but she gets to walk home with Sterling after school. There is a rather large group that walks this year, which is really reassuring. Last year there were three of them and I think I counted at least 7 this year.

Evie ADORES Kindergarten! She didn't cry when I left her at her desk the first day, which I was very much expecting since she's suddenly been ~~crying~~ having hysterics when we leave her in primary class on Sundays, but she just told me she loved me before I left and she did great. I was even expecting a mid-day call from the school to have me come pick her inconsolable 5-year-old self up, but that didn't happen either, much to my relief.

Hylton and I have been having little adventures (meaning doctor's appts. and grocery shopping) together during that three-hour break and it has been heavenly. Hylton considers himself the Big Boy when he's alone and is capable of such astonishingly good behavior that it is a hard adjustment for both of us, I think, when the other two get home from school and he becomes the little brother again.

Evie has been experimenting with accessories and came up with this hair-bow concoction yesterday. She was so proud of her stylin' efforts! I think there must be 10 hair clips in there... Her being so girly is something I was not expecting from a daughter of mine, and it can be a really hard internal struggle for me when she wants to pick out pink, ruffly, fru-fru things, but I am truly grateful for her individuality and that she likes to make herself look pretty.

Oh my goodness, I want to eat them up, I love them so!

Sterling turned 7 yesterday. After preschool was over, Hylton and I switched gears and cleaned up everything and brought out the decorations, baked cupcakes, and made some Sackperson cupcake toppers. We waited until we saw the kids walking home and then we hid in the living room and surprised Sterling. These are things he loves the best! He LOVED the cupcakes. He had a great time looking at all of them before deciding exactly which one he wanted to eat.

As a side-note about Sterling's birthday, I have to document this story: I got an email from a friend yesterday explaining that her daughter was insisting that tomorrow was Sterling's birthday and that she had been invited to his party, but wasn't sure were his (handwritten, mind you) invitation had gone to get the details and she hadn't been able to read the writing anyway. So my friend was wondering when this party was... It turns out Sterling (along with verbally inviting anyone he ever knew to his "Birthday Party" all year long) had also written invitations and given them to every kid in his primary class. So along with his one friend who alerted us, another friend had already bought and wrapped a gift for him and was planning to come (and who knows who else)! I was so embarrassed! A little amused at his sneakiness and resourcefulness, but embarrassed, nonetheless. We had a little talk about when it's appropriate to send out invitations or invite people over (um, like when Mom knows about it, for one thing).

This year, Doug and I have decided not to do friend parties or even large family parties every year. There will just be too many kid birthdays in our family for that (July, August, September and then October or November for the baby), I would go crazy! So sadly, he was totally expecting a party and didn't get one, except with us last night. But, as a friend posted on Facebook today, which I heartily agree with:

"Two important things to teach a child: to do and to do without."
-Marcelene Cox

This is a fantastic life-lesson for Sterling and I'm glad for these opportunities. Our kids have much more than I ever did growing up and I think it is so healthy for them to experience and learn to manage a little disappointment.

It was his idea to pose like this. I have to chuckle, inwardly of course, each time they express their character through preferences. It's gratifying to watch them get bigger and have their own opinions and creative desires.

Sackperson helped him blow out his birthday candles, of course.

Silly Mister... Doug and I have decided that this is his Grandpa Dewey face.

Licking all the frosting off first!

Ease-up on the sugar, Little Man.

Daddy is gettin' DOWN on that cupcake! Since I had one of the smaller ones, I had to count the carbs for my charting. Over 20g in just one tiny one! We weren't terribly surprised, then, when they were freaking out for the rest of the night- they probably had 40-60g per cupcake! And that was with homemade frosting without all the high fructose corn syrup and only half of the sugar called-for.

A kicking fight ensued and it was all fun-and-games until someone cried.

Sterling really wanted more Sackpeople for his birthday. He might be a little obsessed. So he got Arr the Pirate and Caesar the Roman.

Doug and I found a great deal on a battle dragon for Bakugans, too, and he just loves it! He had other small Bakugans fighters that he somehow collected from friends at school last year (I probably don't want to know what toys he traded for these and/or conned out of less experienced negotiators). He was so grateful when he was going to bed last night and told Doug and I very sincerely that it was a great birthday and that he just loves all of his toys. Doug and I try very hard to teach the children gratitude, and it sometimes seems like it's never going to pay off, until suddenly it does and it feels like we've been doing at least something right for our poor, first, guinea-pig child!

And, I had to upload pictures from my phone today, which I so rarely use that I found these cute little ones that I had to post!

Evany at Krispy Kreme for her Halloween preschool field trip, Oct. 29th, 2009, dressed up as a kitty.

Hylton using the car on the patio full of kitchen-remodel debris, Nov 2009.

Outlet mall, Feb 2011

Aquarium

2011-09-12T16:28:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning, we decided to leave the last two days of soaring valley heat behind and retreat to the coast. Doug and I are planners, so it was a little liberating to just pack up and go with little thought before-hand. We had purchased a Groupon for the Aquarium earlier this summer and it expires in a couple of weeks, so we thought we'd better put the house projects on hold for a day and go use it. Instead of making the almost 6 hour round-trip in a day, like we had originally planned, we booked a last-minute room and headed out.

It was incredibly gorgeous at the beach when we arrived (and much cooler than 95°), so we immediately took the kids down to the beach to let them run off their wiggles from the car ride. Evie wanted to fly the kite, so Dad helped her get it set up and she did pretty well.

The boys just wanted to run and slide down the dunes and find treasures.

Hylton thought it was especially fun to makes trails in the sand with seaweed.

There are four little people down on the right that belong to me. Doug was able to let the kite string out all the way at one point... until it all crashed. I think it brought out his inner boy. He spent quite a while playing with it until Hylton fell in a rivulet and a lady carried him through the water to me, and then Sterling and Evie ran off into the waves and Doug had to run after them before they got swept out. It was actually quite terrifying. They were duly chastised and we decided to call it a day after that.

We drove through downtown Newport in search of dinner. The sunset on the bay was so pretty to see.

After parking, we heard the growls of sea lions, so we walked across the road to the pier and found the Sea Lion Disentanglement Cage where the sea lions can recover after being caught in fishing nets.

I'm not exactly sure why we chose a pub for our dinner, except that it looked like the cleanest place we could see. Our waitress was really grumpy and we waited for quite a while. We were all starving!

Doug and Sterling thought it would be funny if Sackperson sampled the local ale. Boys!

Little Miss Sassy and Daddy. He was appalled to find that my purse was on the floor, so he held it in his lap for the rest of dinner. I asked him if he wanted to sanitize the bottom of it with hand sanitizer- I'm kind of surprised he refused.

After a crazy night where we went to bed late with three kids in one bed and Doug and I in the other (and Doug feeling nauseous), and then ended up with Hylton between for the rest of the night (I don't know how Evie and Sterling scored that victory) with his tiny little feet wedged into my back, we checked-out of the room and went to breakfast.

Evie LOVED her strawberry crêpes and, after licking all the whipped cream off the top, ate them all up before we knew it.

The sea lions were being fed right after we arrived at the Aquarium, so we went and found a good viewing spot. The trainers had them do all sorts of tricks and jumps off the rocks and it may have been the best part of the Aquarium (except maybe the actual underwater aquarium).

It was fun to go adventuring, but it's never relaxing with kids. I came home way more tired than when we left- we were all in bed by 8pm last night! It was probably good to go do something fun before the baby comes, though.

Brand New Information

2011-09-06T21:05:00.000-07:00

Little Missy got some new bling. Princess glasses to be specific. All three kids went in to see Doctor Crockett, aka "Uncle Wes" before school starts to check their little eyeballs. (If anyone needs an eye doctor, he's really nice...) Evie had been sitting pretty close to the TV and computer and, unsurprisingly, had enough astigmatism to warrant some eyeglasses. She will need to wear them to school, etc. but, luckily it's not bad enough she needs to wear them ALL the time.

The boys wanted to get in on a little camera action.

One thing I have been doing madly, when not busy with other things, is sewing. I have a few projects I am in the middle of right now for le bébé. I finished one, which I wasn't planning on doing, but I had some extra fabric so I thought I'd make a diaper case for the wipes and diapers to go in.
And it was easier and smaller, so I procrastinated my other planned projects and did it first.

Early this summer, I went to a neighborhood garage sale and one kid, who looked like he was about 16, was selling a whole tote full of Legos. I bought two gallon sized bags FULL of Legos for a really good price and the kids have been loving all the extra options.
I also bought a Sackperson from the same kid, which Sterling has LOVED! You'll see what I mean below.

The only thing we planted in the garden this year were about 6 tomato plants, which I should remember next year is more than enough unless I plan on canning them. Grandma's secret planting concoction must have worked because they have grown really well this year! I think my problem is I really love a garden tomato, and the varieties are too much too resist. Plus, when the guy down the street sells the starts for $1 a piece, why limit? I have yellow pear tomatoes, orange and red beefsteaks, romas, and cherry tomatoes. The Golden Girls (the orange beefsteak) have been our favorite so far. They are meaty and sweet!
A really fabulous person gave me this bowl for my birthday! Isn't it pretty?

Sterling watched a tutorial on how to make cucumber sandwiches, so he conned Dad into making some ~~with~~ for him. I love his silly faces- he is the biggest ham!

It's been pretty hot here this week (and getting hotter!), and Doug has been feverishly working outside on the gutter drains before the rains come. Yesterday, he set up the sprinkler for the kids so they would leave him alone to work for a little while. It worked.

Meet Sackperson. He is the newest member of the family, along with blankies, Bun-Bun, and Crusoes. He goes everywhere with Sterling- even into the sprinkler. And then he found a Sackperson-sized bath towel to sunbathe on. What a life!

This one got pretty tired running around in the sun and decided to hang out with me for a little while in the shade.

...before he passed out naked on the couch while I made dinner.

Super Saturday prep, in all forms, has been a high priority around this house for a couple of months now. This is just another manifestation, and Doug thinks a pregnant woman with tools is funny... apparently. He really only breaks out the camera if my prego self is trying to wield a drill or sander or other such object around my big belly. Maybe it's comical.

This G.D. diet (and by that I mean Gestational Diabetes, not an expletive description of how I feel about it) is going pretty well so far. I have been able to keep my blood-sugar within target range, except when I am experiencing abnormal stress. Stress really is a much bigger part of this than I originally knew, so I have been trying to stay on the down-low more than usual. I had a meeting here one night and I saw a large spike that day, due, most likely, from social anxiety and meeting prep. Awesome, right? Like it's not limiting enough?
I started out pretty gung-ho on eating lots of protein, which is key. Also key are lots of fiber, no sugar, and VERY low carbs. You would not believe the amount of carbs we Americans consume until you have to count them! I'm surprised we don't ALL have diabetes! So, in a way, this is a great learning experience for me, who really thought we were eating pretty healthily.
...Although, based on the all the eggs and cheese I have been eating, I'll probably end up with high cholesterol after this...
After two weeks of what seems like a very extreme diet change, I was able to think of a couple more comfort foods I can eat that make me feel more "normal." Chocolate mousse was one of them- lots of eggs, cream, and just a little bittersweet chocolate. Happily, it did not spike my sugar since it's mostly protein and fat. I can also have wild rice (which has a surprisingly low carbs and high protein), and a few chicken casseroles. I am much happier now that I have some "real food."

Being in pain is one thing- the "known" experience is manageable. Anticipating pain is something quite different for me. I was terrified of the finger lancing. Isn't that silly? The meeting with the nutritionist was an exercise in self-control. The first few times I tried the lancet, it didn't work, so I had to keep anticipating what I'd been dreading for a couple of weeks. Then, once it started working, it wasn't drawing enough blood, so I had to keep re-sticking myself until we finally got enough to test with. At least when I left I wasn't concerned with it anymore!

Finally, today was Sterling's first day back at school and he was so excited to go! Despite all the fighting this summer, I wasn't as excited for him to go back as I thought I might be. ...Until today- when running errands all day didn't make me a crazy, maniacal mess! Sterling can be tender and sweet and wonderful, but he certainly adds an element of unprecedented difficulty that is hard to ignore.
I very love him anyway.

Metaphysical Musings on Parenthood

2011-08-25T14:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, the kids and I looked back through their baby pictures as a way to help them understand what will be happening in a few weeks. It was amazing to see us all so young. At one and the same time, it feels like no time has passed and all time has passed. Becoming a parent seems to initiate you into a foreign dimension of time and discovery, separate and yet simultaneous with "real time." I may wish for more personal free time, less constant noise, more filial obedience, or myriad other things, but never would I trade any moment of my existence since these little, completely unique and independent spirits came to spend some time with Doug and me. The rewards of parenting are rarely tangible, but they are quite real, nonetheless, and incomparable.

Sterling Douglas- September 13th, 2004

Sterling, a couple of weeks old

Sterling, a month old

Evany Marie- July 17th, 2006

Our family of four

Evany's blessing day

Hylton Noah- August 15th, 2008

Hylton, one day old

Our family of five

In ten short weeks, give or take a few days, another little person will join us and make our family of five into six and help fill the empty spot on our couch. These pictures help me remember why I subject my body to this kind of masochistic treatment; not once, but repeatedly. They help me remember that a few weeks is not so long, with proper perspective. They help me remember that each of these little people were meant to come to our family and the feeling of incompleteness before their arrival. They help me remember why I exist at all.

Summer in a Nutshell

2011-08-22T23:31:00.000-07:00

No, that is not really a metaphor for our crazy life over here, but it could be! ...Or would that be "Summer in a Nuthouse?"

Documenting family life has not been at the top of my list lately, but frankly, not much else has been either- except survival, with preservation of sanity preferred. The very latest pregnancy update is that I developed gestational diabetes this go-round. At least it explains my unusual fatigue and extreme thirst, as well as the RLS, inability to sleep, and probably the whole host of other discomforts, but it was not a welcome discovery. The risk of complications for delivery and the baby's health increase quite a bit and that leaves me feeling more unsettled than the four-times-a-day finger lanceting and the dietary restrictions. Only about 10 more weeks to go, though, and I can deal with that! The single digits next week will be even more encouraging!

On to something much sweeter, Evie had her 5th birthday in July.

She wanted a Tangled cake, so I made her an oreo ice cream cake with purple ice cream frosting. She really loved it.

Later, we had a princess party for her with her friends.

They all dressed up as princesses and had tea and cucmber sandwiches and learned how to hold their pinky out and eat daintily.... along with popping balloons with their bums and playing tag in the yard. You know, things all princesses do.

Novalee, Lindsey, Evany, Kate, Hylton. This picture makes me laugh, because it looks like the boy is trying to figure out the mysterious ways of girls. Don't worry, Hylti- it's a life-long process.
My sister, Brandy, so very generously offered to take Sterling to Chuck E Cheese during the party, which was a tremendous help and Hylton didn't mind tagging along with the girls, for the most part.

Princess Evany

Sterling learned how to ride his bike on his own. He's only had it for 3 years, but never had any interest in riding it- even with training wheels, so I thought it was a lost-cause. On a whim, I took the training wheels off one day and left it in the garage. Not too long after, Sterling asked me to pump up the tires and he took off down the patio and onto the grass. So much for learning-curve!

So, this may be the only home-improvement project I've done since I've been pregnant and, man, did it feel good to use some power tools! I was able to sit down for most of the project, which made it acceptable for this pregnant lady. Hylton was my little helper, and surprisingly, was able to get me some small tools off the shelf. He may have a future in home-improvement.

Our computer tower was getting overheated in this small cabinet with no airflow and we had been temporarily using a clip-fan until the clip-fan gave up the ghost. So, basically, this is just how things go around here- don't fix it until it becomes crisis, because other things are at the top of the list.

We broke out the baby highchair to watch cousin Sadie for a night and Hylton showed his softer side by babying Crusoe with snacks.

And his tough-guy side, riding in his chariot.

Here's my other tough-guy with his karate moves.

This is what they call "dance party." They dress up in their finest, have us put on music, and then they dance for us. It's awesome entertainment.

(Lisa, Carly, Rachel, me, Stephanie, Kristy, Ciara, Julie, Naomi)
I had another birthday somewhere in there. I don't want to talk about it.
Luckily, Lisa and Julie were having birthdays too, so we combined them and had a Big Fat Greek Birthday party with Greek food and big hair. Ciara definitely won biggest hair! Have I mentioned that I love my friends? They are the best.

Evie ended up losing her two front teeth due to kissing the curb in June. The dentist had to pull them both, so she got a little extra from the tooth fairy... and of course, the traditional business card... you know, for future business. The tooth fairy makes bank on the black market. Really, it's all a racket, if you ask me.

I have to document the only pretty things in my yard... they are so few right now. This one was a surprise. Doug had obligingly left it un-dug and un-sprayed last year, but it was so damaged that it didn't produce flowers, so I had no idea that they were pink! They were so pretty!

Soon we'll have three of these... I often wonder if the new model with look so much like the other two...

More pretty things that make me happy.

And... something not-so-pretty. We've been seeing these guys around for the first time and we think it might have to do with the abundance of dirt for funneling around the house this year. This is one that freaked out Sterling in the kitchen one night and I had to crunch it with a shoe. Doug documented it for identification, so imagine my horror when I found this picture on my camera! Bleck! Doug found another one under a pile of laundry he was folding on our bed- the washcloth moved a bit just before he picked it up. Definitely not okay! We took them both to the local extension center and they confirmed that they are Hobos. Joy. Frankly, it makes the many nighttime bathroom trips disquieting, since I keep envisioning stepping on one. As you can see, they are not small!

Hylton turned three last Monday. He got to pick out his own cake. He wanted chocolate with yellow frosting, and orange writing, and the little plastic "Crusoes" (seahorses) that he saw on some of the cupcakes. Spoiled (and opinionated) baby. He was so ecstatic every time he got a birthday card and exclaimed all week long, "It's my birthday! I'm growing bigger, now!"

He got his very first backback to start preschool with in the fall.

Finally, we just got back from camping this weekend. Every time, I swear that I won't go camping again when I'm expecting, but somehow it always happens anyway. Must be dementia. I really do like camping, but I don't like it when I'm large with child. Must... remember...

The kids had a lot of fun playing with their cousins and grandparents and of course, the pool.
The first day we went there, Sterling jumped right in without waiting for us to get everyone ready and in the pool. (Does this surprise anyone?) He lost his noodle and couldn't swim and I looked over in time to see him flailing and sinking in the water- something I will probably never forget. Doug was between me and him, so he was able to jump right in and get him. Sterling very quietly took me apart from everyone later that night to ask me how I saw him and to tell me thank you for watching him and to ask if I would always watch him when he was swimming. I'm pretty sure my heart melted out of my chest. That kind of intense concern and heartfelt appreciation is rare from our little fire-brand, so it meant all the more, I think. Why do children have to give us so many gray hairs??

My mom and Hylton.

Papa Larry was such a good sport with the kids. He towed Hylton and Evie in the boat, and on his back, and caught them all when they jumped. And sprayed everyone else with the water guns like he was 7...

The pool was a nice relief for me from the heat and the baby weight.

Papa and Sterling playing ping-pong camping/Japanese style.

Some poor, burned babies at the end of the trip.

So that is the summary of our summer. The next two weeks are appointments and preschool preparation, and then back to school we go! ...With all of them in school. How strange that will be!

10 Things I Love About Summer

2011-07-08T15:00:00.000-07:00

# 10. Running around scantily-clad outdoors.

Seriously, maybe this should be #1.

#9. An emergence of interesting creativity.

Exhibit A.

And genuine creativity- Exhibit B.

#8. Staying up LATE!

...Let's have a shout-out for night owls! Holla'!

#7. Strawberries.

Fresh. Hood variety. Mine. Need I say more?

#6 Yard work.

Okay... not so much fun, sometimes, but definitely rewarding!

Doug has to mow the lawn with these crazies following right behind. Daddy even instigated a ritual lawn mowing conga-line that they mimic. It's great entertainment for Mommy. My favorite part is when he backs up and they all go over like dominoes. (Unholy glee.)

These guys are showin' some love. They surprised us by coming to fill-in yard holes for us on a Saturday morning. It was truly awesome. At least a day's worth of work done in an hour, plus some good fun! Can't beat it! And now it looks less as if we are testing missiles in the front yard.

Pretty sure Doug just won this contest... for whatever that's worth...
...Oh my gosh, really, if I had known this face was possible on my beloved, he may not have made the marriage-cut...

#5. Sibling rivalry.

Okay, not really my favorite, but an honest part of summer, no?
This is open, bruised skin from the combined ministrations of Evie and Bun-Bun. Seriously, that thing looks innocent, but it packs a punch. Sterling showed the neighbor and he asked Sterling if his Momma had walloped him. :) ...Well, not yet anyway...

#4. Fresh flowers.

I really wish your computer screen had scratch and sniff, because the lavender with this scent of rose is intoxicating. This rose bush is the only one that survived the yard razing. Can't wait until the planting phase begins around here, but there is much more work to be done before that day! I'm just thrilled with what I find actually growing around here.

#3. Fresh local produce.

We got 20# of fresh Bings last weekend and we ate- oh, lots! But I also canned some for fall-time Cherry Apple Crisps and froze some for smoothies. Really looking forward to the apricots coming up soon!

#2. Prolific herbs in my cutting garden.

There are no words to describe my euphoria when I cut some fresh herbs for dinner. It gives me warm-fuzzies... and happy taste buds...

#1. Fresh strawberry crêpes avec crème fraîche (click for link).

Maybe I could have linked this in with fresh strawberries, but no. This one needs a ranking all it's own. I don't generally love strawberries, but I am excessively partial to these and Doug can put these suckers down! I put the recipe link up there so you can see what I'm talking about, but please, use real strawberries, people.

Happy Summer!

Mathematical Formula on How to Get to Jesus

2011-06-21T09:09:00.000-07:00

Sterling found a mathematical riddle online yesterday, which he copied out on paper and then asked me what the answer was, pointing out the fine-print caveat at the bottom that I only "get two guesses." He was duly impressed by my mad math skillz... He then stated his intention of leaving it out to ask Dad when he got home. Unfortunately, Sterling was in bed before Doug got home and didn't get a chance to show him and apparently, Doug didn't find it until the wee hours this morning when he was up getting ready for work. Thus, in my email box this morning was an email, entitled: Sterling's Plan to get to Jesus," from Doug:

"I found the attached on the counter and laughed out loud. I don't know what it's all about, but it looks like Sterling's math equation on how to "get to Jesus." Can you fill me in?"

I'm pretty sure my laughter was louder, and perhaps more unholy, than Doug's.

And apparently, the response to the great question of mankind and the universe is... nine.

Boy, Oh Boy!

2011-06-16T17:33:00.000-07:00

This baby is trouble from the start! I mean, I really don't know what we were expecting... this is a Church Baby afterall. Church Babies are bound to kick up some dust; do exactly what they intend to do, not what is expected of them. Especially not what is expected of them; like being the final girl in a lovely pattern of boy, girl, boy, girl. That would be too much to ask of the average Church Baby...

Indeed, while our novice sonographer was zipping around my belly with the wand, trying to get the Church Baby to cooperate in a photo-conducive position, it wasn't hard to spot the tell-tale sign of a boy. I'm pretty sure Doug had to sit down to take in the news. He was so 100% convinced it was a girl, that he allowed no other thoughts to enter his mind.

This morning's shocking revelation was quite a blow for him.

Over the last few months, we've had several conversations that went more-or-less like this:

Church Baby Daddy: Can you feel her moving around in there? Is she kicking?
Church Baby Mommy: You realize it could be a boy, right?
Church Baby Daddy: No. It's a girl. ...Where is your faith?
Church Baby Mommy: Yeah... but what if it's a boy?
Church Baby Daddy: It's not a boy.

Thus, between his obviously convincing arguments, and his Jedi mind tricks, we began calling it "she." The kids have been calling it "she." I even bought a completely irresistible baby girl onesie at the store that had an attached tutu (how sick am I, right?). Evany even convinced me that, while we were buying a couple of plastic cups, I should buy another princess one for the baby. We were in too deep.

And so it was that we went blithely to our ultrasound appointment today, expecting to see the culmination of all our positive thinking, only to walk out completely bewildered. Our best-laid plans of two boys in one room, and two girls in the other crumbled to the ground.

And yet, despite all of this logical disruption, my heart was happy. I had felt that there was another boy for our family and the thought of having a daughter, and then being done, made me (in my reflective moments) incalculably sad and empty. For whatever reason we didn't get the anticipated double-X chromosome mixture, it was meant to be. This unexpected Church Baby was meant to be our Church Baby- and I am glad. Doug is glad. We have a "perfect" baby growing inside the Church Baby Mommy Motel and what more can we ask for than that?

During the ultrasound, the baby continuously had his thumb in his mouth. He also began the session in the typical head-down position, and then turned absolutely sideways in my tummy, and then flipped 180° and laid sideways the other way. The technician had a very difficult time getting a good profile picture. She said he is trouble. Like we thought otherwise...

His legs were up by his head for a little while too. Oh, to be so flexible again! While the technician was trying to get a profile shot, we saw his little mouth open and close two or three times and then he promptly inserted his thumb again. Now we know why it's so hard to get the kids to stop sucking their thumbs- it begins in utero!

Doug confessed that he'd had some clue it might be a boy when I tried to pin him down last week to come up with at least one boy's name that we liked. When I showed him the list, one name stood out, and he really liked it immediately (totally unusual for Doug, especially when they are names that I've picked). Within a half an hour, we had agreed upon a boy's name, but we were both still a little unsure about the girl's name that had taken all 5 months to pick. He was shaken, but not convinced, so he said nothing of these thoughts to me until today when his premonition was confirmed.

When I told the kids that the baby was a boy and told them that he was going to be baby Eamon, Sterling laughed and made a pun that neither of us had thought of (which, frankly, was rather a good one), and after all my joking about bad names to put with the last name "Church..." *sigh* Sterling said, "Eamon?! Like amen??" Laughter from all of the kids ensued, me included. Amen Church... How did it happen...? At least it is really more A-mun than a-MEN; hopefully the pronunciation distinction is enough.

Note: Last week's baby-gender guessing poll closed at 58% (14 votes) in favor of a girl, 41% (10 votes) in favor of a boy.

Felling, Falling, and Moving On

2011-06-14T08:18:00.000-07:00

As part of our yard makeover/drainage effort, we had a tree to remove in our neighbor's yard that was in the way (they hated it anyway). The boys were talking about climbing up into the tree to lop off branches before felling it, but then thought better of it and decided to try Larry's winch to see if they could get it to fall where they wanted without all the extra hassle. Any occasion to use the winch, really... Grandpa Jack is the master tree feller (and that's not slang for "fellow..."); with a few well-placed notches and cuts (and a little tugging from Larry's winch, of course), the tree fell exactly where they wanted it to.

Then Larry and Grandpa made short-work of limbing and slicing rounds; the whole thing was down and cut-up in half an hour.

Larry's machismo close-up

Grandpa Jack

Daddy helping Hylton handle the splitting maul.

As I stood here with the camera, I watched with affection as Hylton slowly backed up (keeping an eye on both Papas) until he was just in line with the big guys.

He even has his big-boy work gloves on. During the clean-up that lasted quite a bit longer than the cutting, our neighbor, Dave, kept commenting on what a big helper Hylton was. He unfailingly carried branches into the trailer (big ones, even) and helped sweep the street until they were all done, while the other two, bigger kiddos rolled around on Dave's hand-truck/dolly like a motor-less go-kart up and down the street.

Yeah.... he couldn't split it... But it makes a cool action shot!
Paul Bunyan (Larry) finally stepped in and split the rounds in one fell swoop. ...It's how legends are born...

Sterling emerged from playing to present his axe (hand cultivator) for duty.

With no hedge and no tree, it really opens things up.

Later this day (Saturday), Evie and her cousins were in a wagon being pulled by Sterling down the street, he tried to make a sharp turn and flipped the wagon, dumping the kiddos in the street and Evie teeth-first onto the adjacent curb. She immediately had blood pooling out of her mouth and down her chin- it was appalling. As Brandy handed her off to me, and I carried her to the house, I could already see that her teeth had been shoved up into her gums, but whether they were even still intact we couldn't tell until we cleaned her up a bit. Doug took her to the ER, which of course there was nothing they could do because they don't keep a dentist on staff at St V's. So she came home and went to bed and Doug was able to get her into the pediatric dentist for an emergency check-up on Sunday morning. The dentist gave her some antibiotics and a follow-up appointment in two weeks, but even he can't do much until we find out if the teeth will reattach or die. Her two top front teeth are impacted about 1/3 of the way up into her gums, luckily in such a way that it didn't damage permanent teeth behind them, and of the two side teeth, one is impacted as well as loose and the other one is chipped.

I didn't want to gross anyone out by revealing too much of her bruised gums, but you can see that very little of her two front teeth are showing. She also has a pretty fat lip and road-rash on her chin and knees. But really, I'm just so grateful that it wasn't worse! And I think Evie was such a good sport. She cried quite a lot initially, from fear and pain and shock, but Doug said she had quit crying before he got her to the hospital, despite the lingering pain. Since then, there has been no crying or whining- even when being examined by big, scary doctors, or during X-rays, or during the tedious teeth-brushing routine we have to submit her to. I've heard it said that there's a silver lining to every cloud, and this time our silver lining is that she hasn't been able to suck her thumb in three days due to the injuries. She is certainly our most vigorous thumb-sucker and how to get her to stop was eluding me. Now it just may happen on it's own!

We don't get a lot of pictures of top-teeth with Evie; she's more of a bottom tooth smiler, but here is her birthday picture from last year. I think it helps to see the difference.

This is Monday morning before Sterling's Kindergarten Graduation

Dad (one of the school Watch Dog's- a Dad volunteer program) is going with Sterling to school to help out for a bit. I love that Hylton is having a baby-meltdown in the corner...

Sterling with his classmates

Waiting to go up on stage to get his diploma- Sterling wants to be a Kindergarten teacher when he grows up.

Sterling and Mrs. Lentz

Sterling, the K Grad, and Evie, the soon-to-be K'er, in the Kindergarten classroom. They both look so grown-up! ...Well, all except for Bun-Bun...

Full-day Kindergarten was so wonderful this year. Despite my worries over the summer about it, I think it was the best thing for Sterling. He loves to be social and he was resisting learning to read (and still gets frustrated about it, probably because video games are more exciting), but he has grown and learned so much in a few short months. We're so proud of him!

Commencement

2011-06-09T18:21:00.000-07:00

Evie had her preschool graduation two weeks ago. We went bowling to celebrate and Miss Kim handed out graduation certificates and a cute picture album with some preschool pictures. The kids all had a great time and Evie is particularly good at lining up the bowling ramp and scoring strikes. She is also very helpful to Hylton and gently coaches him through it when his turn is up.

Miss Cutie Pants

And limelight stealer

This one tends to push the ball down the ramp one-handed while simultaneously walking away, too cool to care if he knocks any pins down or not.

Pretty crummy picture, but here are the preschoolers: Kate, Alex, Andrew, Evie, and Morgan

And then we were desperate and had the 4-year-olds all lined up with our cameras trying to take a group picture of the co-op moms. We got some pretty silly shots.

Kim, me, Tara, Megan, and Stephanie

We signed the kids up for free summer bowling, so we've been taking them a lot. We actually went two Saturday mornings in a row, which is big news around here because Doug is kind of a Saturday Nazi- he'd rather work at home and get things done than have fun. :) Fortunately, since he bowled on a league as a kid and then skipped most of his senior year with a buddy to play dollar games at his local bowling alley, this kind of diversion is right up his alley (ha ha... alley...).

Doug was being cool dad and built the kids a pretty awesome fort to sleep in for a couple of nights. They loved it.

Last Saturday we skipped the bowling alley and worked in the yard. We should have gone to the bowling alley. It was 85°, and for me it is just too hot. I wanted to die and I wasn't even doing much; I spent most of my time in the folding chair lending moral support to Doug while he rototilled the garden and shoveled dirt for my raspberry box (I at least built that) and my tomatoes. He loves me... Grandma Bobbie came over with her cauldron (that's what it looks like and what Doug called it) and several different concoctions of things to put into the holes we dug for the tomatoes to feed them. Fish oil, Epsom salts, dry milk, oatmeal, egg shells, and cut-up banana peels. Doug then asked if Grandma was a witch... Eye of fish, toe of newt...

Well, the blue water barrels are not attractive, but I'm so happy to have green things growing in my yard again!

So we ran out of diapers this week (except for a package of pull-ups), and I didn't want to buy anymore, so I told Hylton they were all gone and he has to wear underwear now. We started Monday and already today he is doing so much better. He was dry all night last night, and dry after nap today, and even held it on the way home from the store. He really seems to not want to use the diapers anymore at all. I am so happy!

Dinner On Demand

2011-05-25T19:58:00.000-07:00

Last night, Hylton refused dinner, as usual. It really has puzzled us how he survives on so little. He rejects most foods without even trying them. He knows instinctively to avoid certain things, it seems, no matter how we disguise a food (such as chicken- he hates chicken). So, off to bed he trots last night, insisting (for the first time) that he wanted to sleep sans shirt. We get him all tucked in and Doug and I settle in for some quiet time.

Presently, we hear a little voice and Doug goes to inspect only to find the smallest munchkin in bed blithely chewing on something, which alarms him since Hylton doesn't have food in bed, right?

Further questioning revealed this:

A hidden Crusoe compartment full of thoroughly abused cereal. It really is the best thing I have seen in a while... I'm pretty sure it was an accidental windfall for him but, nevertheless, now we know all his tricks!

And speaking of dinner-on-demand, another picture of the Baby Bed & Breakfast since the last picture somehow made me look bigger than I am, though I didn't think it was possible- and I was wearing black! (Though, honestly, I already have to leave the wedding ring off most days...)

Baby at 17 weeks.

Tomorrow, the doctor will let me schedule the ultrasound appointment and then my anticipation will be barely contained. I hate the waiting. I don't know how some people wait the whole 9 months. It's like buying the awesomest present for someone and then having to wait 9 months to give it to them. It goes against human nature. I want to know- NOW!

I have to prepare, plan, focus, get my head in the game, bond with the baby.

Okay. Okay. Or just get serious about picking a name if it's a girl, because those are definitely the hardest for me to pick. Boys names? no problem! Girls throw me for a loop. Has to be elegant but not stuffy, beautiful but not floofy, unique but not weird, and not make her a bad-name-survey statistic or sound like a parenting experiment (e.g. Ima Church, Evangeline Church, Minnie Church, Iona Church, Helena Church, Alina Church, etc- you get the picture). It's a tall order.

Just so you know, I'm not too proud to beg for name suggestions...

Finally, a post that is NOT about the house!

2011-05-22T20:56:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, we do do other things that are not home-improvement! Amazing, I know.

Doug took the boys on a Father-Son camp-out last weekend with Papa Larry. They "roughed it" in the camper with movies and games. Sterling and Hylton had a marvelous time eating junk food and throwing rocks in the creek. Meanwhile, Evie, my mom, and I went out to eat, shopped at Craft Warehouse, made bracelets for Evie, went to bed early, and then went antiquing and to the farmer's market the next morning and then came home and had a nap! I kinda think we get the better end of the deal here, being able to sleep in our own beds at night, but whatever.

Honestly, I don't get much sleep when Doug is gone; it is just weird knowing that he is missing from the other half of the bed. I guess I miss waking up with an elbow in my eyeball (which I usually complain about, with good reason, I think- go figure). And apparently, Doug and Larry discussed this exact thing when they were camping and concluded that they sleep much better without their respective (ahem) better halves!

Rude.

Hylton, roasting hot-dogs, 'baby do!'

Probably freezing their little booties off!

Sterling, Doug, Hylton, Papa Larry

Even a trip through the car-wash couldn't wake up this tired little guy and his "Shoe-shows" (Crusoes).

Getting all cleaned up in a big-boy shower and sportin' Evie's princess goggles.

The next day, Sterling ripped out his loose bottom tooth at church. I was pretty surprised since he is kind of a baby about pain, and it is certain that I never had the guts to tie mine with a string to the door, or just rip it out like he did, so I was also pretty proud of him. The Tooth Fairy left him some money and her business card under his pillow. You know... for future business and referrals and the like...

So to commemorate we took pictures of everyone, which we rarely remember to do. Here is Hylton with his nursery coloring page. He is an imp.

Daddy and Evie and Bun-Bun (whom you can't see, but he is there... he is always there...).

Mommy, 15-weeks baby bump, and Evie with Bun-Bun, of course.

Clearcutting

2011-05-02T08:58:00.000-07:00

Part of what endeared me to our house, in all its dilapidated glory, was the lush, overgrown backyard and the mature vegetation. Yet, with the drainage problems we've run into, we find that we've systematically decimated all living things on the property. Literally the only things left that were here are the glorious french hydrangea and two of the plum trees in the back yard and the tulip tree in the front yard.

Well, and who wanted a 20' tall (and wide) fig tree anyway?

With the nice weather this week, Doug was able to remove the four 45-year-old rhododendrons from the front yard and all- I dunno, 20?- arborvitae from the property line. The arborvitae had not been well-tended, and really were a fire hazard, but also were in the way of a new field drain we need to install between the property lines. My step-dad was an invaluable help since his truck wench literally just pulled the arborvitae from the ground like weeds. We (and by "we," I mean Doug) definitely expected to do a lot of digging and it was such a gratifying feeling to see the first one pluck out of the ground like nothin'.

I like before-and-afters, so here is the backyard before we moved in. Hazelnut trees, plum trees, overgrown ivy, roses, hostas, rhododendron, and arborvitae.

The obscenely large fig tree in the corner, sad fence, overgrown camilla.

Scraggy rhodies

Badly placed bush, and a a lot of ivy growing over heather and some kind of evergreen bush, trying to take over the street lamp.

Here Doug has cut the top-heavy parts off the arborvitae on our side of the property line and we've scraped up all the grass in the back yard into one unwieldy pile that the kids loved.

A little smoother.

New, lush, green grass!! Cut back the arborvitae on our side to make room for the new fence. Dense over- and undergrowth cut away from side property line. New herb/strawberry box. Beginnings of a planting berm in the back, along fence.

The arborvitae cut down by 2/3 in the front yard.

Most of the front bushes already removed, rhodies during operation, the trench to replace gutter pipes.

Rhodies OUT! Except one that stubbornly refused to go and broke Larry's wench cable.

All the arborvitae and rhodies removed.

Overgrown ivy and bushes removed, temporary tulip plantings, refurbished light post

Line of dirt where the arborvitae hedge was, sexy tarp covering Doug's gutter/ crawl-space work

We frequently admire our work at the end of a productive week like this and quote the Money Pit, "Home, crap, home," since it still looks like we are testing missiles in the front yard. It's kind of nice in a way to be able to start from scratch and make everything just the way we want it, but it is so much work and slow progressing! I have to keep picturing in my head how it will all look someday to keep my sanity.