Whirlwind Week

I'm sure everyone expected the Baby's first week to be crazy and didn't expect me to post much. Yes, it has been crazy. Baby had 24 hours of cow's milk-induced colic when she was three days old that left her unwilling to nurse and poopless for three days! At seven days old she was still losing weight instead of gaining back. I have been seen by two lactation specialists and I speak to my midwife everyday. I'm pumping every two hours and feeding Baby through a syringe while she sucks on my finger. I guess our experiences this past week have been to make up for how easy the pregnancy and birth were. I feel like God is saying, "I gave you an easy nine months to make up for what is coming next. I will be challenging you! Happy Mother's Day!"

Here she is in her first bath! That big ole tummy doesn't look like she is starving!



My parents came up to help out for a few days and my dad was able to take the boys out to where DH was working. They had a blast playing with fish! Afterwards they got to go swimming, they ate at McD's, and they got to jump on the hotel bed while watching Sponge Bob. What a treat!

More baby pics

Baby has stolen our hearts, what can I say? My midwife came over yesterday to weigh Baby and check on the two of us. We are both doing very well and Baby did not lose very much weight; she is down to 8lbs, 5oz. The PKU test is always hard for the baby receiving the heel prick, but I think it was harder on her Dad. This picture was taken after she had a loooong nursing session after the PKU test. It was luck we captured this fleeting smile...


DH is so happy with his great bunch of kids. We are settling into the pattern of active alert time, followed by a nursing and a long nap. Naps that usually end right when I want to go to bed at the end of the day. But sleepless nights come with the territory and I am thankful I have a comfortable recliner where I can nurse Baby and sleep at the same time.






The kids are adjusting quite well to their new baby sister. Child #3 told me that yesterday his dreams came true: He got green bean seeds for his garden, he got mangoes from the grocery store, and he has a new baby sister. What a life!

Welcome to Our World!

Child #6 entered our world yesterday at 3:35 am. The homebirth was an amazing experience; better than I could have ever imagined. This birth, my fourth, was the first one that I felt like I was in control and knew when and how and where I should labor. My midwife, who has been delivering (or catching as they like to say) babies longer than I have been alive, was so supportive and knowledgeable. I felt well taken care of the whole three hours I was in labor.

Yes, three hours of labor. That was all. I could not believe it. I was able to sleep between each contraction until it was time to push. I'm sure the easy labor and quick birth had everything to do with me being in my own home with not a single stranger invading my privacy. Even pushing was peaceful without a line of nurses shouting "Push! Push!"

Where were the other kids? And My Pathetic Doberman? The kids slept through the whole thing. In fact, just before DH and I went to bed that night before my water broke, we discussed what we were going to do with the kids when the time came. I offhandedly said, "Well, hopefully the baby will come tonight, be born by 4:00am, and we won't have to worry about it." And she did! What a good little baby! Even Child #2 heard nothing and was surprised by her dad and new baby sister, two minutes before her alarm clock went off. Now, My Pathetic Doberman did not sleep the whole time. She hung out with DH and the midwife during labor, but when it was time to push, we shut the bedroom door with her on the outside. She stayed patiently outside the door until she heard the first cries...and then started to bark. I told DH to let her in so she wouldn't wake the kids up and she spent the rest of the time curled up by my side of the bed. Which I never let her do.

The Baby and I are now well acquainted, after spending half of last night out in the recliner. She will figure out night and day soon enough I am sure. She is a good nurser-make that a nonstop nurser and is very alert for a newborn. Her brothers and sisters are adjusting nicely; Child #5, being two years old is having a harder time with it.

Enjoy these pictures, plus all those that will come in the coming days.

Proud Dad with the oldest daughter in college and the youngest newborn.

Child #4, our Early Bird, was the first to meet his baby sister.

Child #3 and #5 slept in a little later than usual.

My Pathetic Doberman, what else?

Big Yawn!

Magic

Waiting and waiting...the baby is now four days late, which ties her with Child #4 for lateness. To pass the time, we have been watching and reading the Wizard of Oz series, the Harry Potter series, and the Lord of the Rings series. Child #3 has his first loose tooth, so now we are racing to see what comes out first: the baby or the tooth. We have all been pretty grumpy...which leads to the Top Weekend Story...

Child #3 decided over the weekend that he wanted to learn how to be a wizard and make some magic. He made that sword out of some sticks and duct tape and pretended to pull it out of the log he is standing on (the fence in the background is where we are re-seeding the lawn). He has been asking to do scientific experiments in the kitchen to make a magic potion. Now, I am super grumpy and I don't want to do any projects or anything that will create a mess. I just want to have a baby (which is ironic, because babies are the ultimate mess-makers). I also didn't want him to be disappointed with the results of his experiment, so I tried to warn him that we couldn't make magic potions. I tried to tell him that magic potions aren't real, they are just in stories. "There really isn't any such thing as magic," I told him.

But, being the great mother/teacher I am, I gave in and insisted that he follow the scientific method. But of course, he is only 5 1/2, so I actually asked him to write down what he wanted to mix and what he thought would happen. This took care of his handwriting and spelling practice for the day. What kind of magic potion did he want to create? "Something that will make moms show kids respect" was the mumbled answer which quickly changed to "Something that will turn things into cats." At this point I roped dear old science-loving dad into the process for some quality father/son time. Bless his heart, he was able to redirect Child #3's train of thought from one of magic potions to one of density and hydrophilic/hydrophobic properties. In simple terms, they mixed oil and water with red food coloring (with a little ketchup) and watched the layers separate. He was satisfied. Now we move on to what lesson was learned...

Later that afternoon, Child #3 came upstairs after spending some time with his older sister. He walked straight up to me and said, "Mom, you are wrong. Magic IS real. Santa is real. The tooth fairy is real. So, Magic is real!"

I was, and am, flabbergasted. I will no longer tell my children things are impossible just because I am grumpy. Lesson learned.

This is what a busy two year old looks like after doing puzzles, playing on the computer, riding bikes, digging holes, and running after her Pathetic Doberman in the backyard all day. Click on the picture to make it bigger; you can see all the dirt better.

No News...

...is no news! After a long and boring weekend, we have no baby news. I'm due in three long days!
Lucky for me, my dearest DH has taken over most of the work around the house. I haven't had to cook or clean or lift anything heavy for days now. Even childcare is no longer my total responsibility. I hardly know what to do with myself. Child #5 has become Daddy's #1 fan. She cries anytime he leaves the room and only wants him to do things for her. Here is a picture of DH getting kissed by the Pathetic Doberman while reading to the sweet two year old.

Stay tuned... baby pictures could be posted at anytime!

Spring Stories

We had such a lovely day yesterday! The sun was shining and the temperature actually got warm! We did so many fun things outdoors that this is going to be a long post with a lot of pictures...

First, I was given a rose by the BF of Child #2. Isn't that sweet? He may have been trying to schmooze me, and DH is convinced that he has, but I think he is just a nice kid. Child #2 and BF spent some time catching one of our giant goldfish out in our pond for the amusement of the little kids. Seriously though, these goldfish were those cheap feeder fish that you can buy for a quarter and they are now huge! This picture is not posed. The little kids adore BF as much as his girlfriend does.

Check out the pony tails on these two. They totally look like sisters and have similar personalities too...
We decided that since the weather was so nice, we should release our butterflies. I acclimated them to the fresh air and breeze for a few hours out on the back porch where My Pathetic Doberman tried to eat them...

This is what a Painted Lady butterfly looks like...

I have to admit, I was a little sad. We spent so much time raising these beautiful insects. Two of the butterflies flew right off and we never saw them again. One flopped around on the deck for awhile and then left as soon as it could. The last one may not have survived the release. Its wings were stuck together from flopping around in the nectar dish. DH had to perform surgery with a butter knife to separate the wings. We set the butterfly on a forsythia bush, but we don't have much hope. Here is Child #3 holding him or her. Child #4 cried and cried because 1) He wasn't holding one and 2) after he held one it flew away...

After DH mowed the lawn and I cleared the porch of all muddy clothes (and actually hung a load of laundry in the sun to dry!), we sat in the sun and just soaked up the Vitamin D. Until the boys decided they wanted to eat ants. Last year we caught all three of them eating ants under a camellia bush and thought the boys, especially Child #3 learned his lesson about eating bugs without asking. But this time he asked. After a lot of "What?" and "Are you kidding?" and "You want ants crawling around in your stomach?" we, being super cool parents, decided a few ants wouldn't hurt. So the fun was on... and DH joined them. The skill was trying to keep the ants crawling on your tongue long enough for me to get a picture...

Today we are back to gray and rainy, and yesterday seems like a dream...

He Nose Better!

We live approximately ten minutes from the Taekwondo Dojang. And ten minutes is all a little boy needs to get into trouble.

We pulled out of the parking lot after class and Child #4 held up an old beaded bracelet of mine that he found in the back of the van. He played with it for about a minute until the elastic broke. Children #3 and #4 played with the pink colored beads until we pulled into the driveway...where disaster struck. Trying to be silly, Child #4 stuck a large pink bead in each nostril. At this same time I was heaving my pregnant body out of the van and I turned to see Child #4 with a ecstatic look on his face...and a nose that looked like a pig's nose. I frowned, shut my door, and started heading on over to their side of the van to let them out.

And then the screaming started. I never knew I could move so fast. I guess I moved this fast when Child #1 dropped Child #3 in the sea when she thought something bit her when I was this pregnant with Child #4... but I digress. I pulled the van door open to shrieks of, "There's a bead stuck in my nose! There's a bead stuck in my nose! You got a bead stuck in my nose!" and the yelled response from his brother, "I already got it out! I didn't do it!" I tell you, we had chaos! I tried to have Child #4 blow the bead, if it was even there, out of his nose. Nothing but snot. I peeked inside his nose. I couldn't see anything. I felt the sides of his nose; these were pretty big beads. I felt nothing. Now I knew we had trouble.

The trouble is, Child #4 doesn't communicate very well. He has a hard time differentiating between 1) There were two beads stuck in his nose and one bead is still there and 2) There was only one bead and it is still there and 3) There was only one bead stuck in his nose and his brother did indeed get it out before I got the van door open so there are no more beads stuck in his nose, but there used to be a bead there. When the fear of going to the hospital sunk in, he story changed over and over. He didn't want to go and get a shot. He froze. He wouldn't tell me what was going on. So I had no choice but to get help.

Luckily, I remembered I didn't have to go into the emergency room and pay $75 to have a doctor look up his nose after waiting for three hours. Our pediatric office has an After Hours Clinic! I called the triage nurse from my cell phone and got back on the road. Good thing no one had taken off their seat belts but me!

The doctor we saw has been removing items from children's noses for over 20 years. He peeked into Child #4's nose as this child sobbed hysterically and asked what color the bead was. Oh, you know, the exact same shade of pink as the inside of his nose... Doctor stepped back, said "There is definitely something up there, but I can't really see it," had Child #4 blow his nose (just like I did), but this time the bead shot out of his nose like a cannon ball! We were so delighted! It turned out the doctor couldn't see anything but the hole in the bead because it was so well camouflaged. He thought we were dealing with a much smaller bead than what shot out of Child #4's nose!

On the way back out to the van, Child #4 said with a big grin on his face, "I'm so smart, Mama. You know why? I can shoot pink beads out of my nose!" I responded, "If you were smart, you wouldn't have stuck that bead up your nose in the first place!"

Just another day in the adventurous life of Raising Boys...