9/20/11

Long Lost Pictures From My Husband's Phone

I believe this picture was taken the day we brought our baby girl home.  I still look pregnant and not very with it.

New Baby Girl

Pumpkin cleaning

Fresh from Mommy's tummy.  She was the only baby that I got to hold following birth.

He was very attached to this hat last winter.

Our anniversary picture from this year.

At the top of the lookout.


A view of the ocean.  Taken when we went to the wedding this summer.  It was a beautiful town.  I am holding the babies foot.

Me.  Outside our vacation house in Hawaii.  Jealous?

9/15/11

First Day of School

Here is our first day of school group picture.  I promptly put the baby down for a nap.

Our day was spent cataloging our present stat's in 'All About Me..' books.  I hope to repeat this trend each year (if I remember), resulting in a keepsake collection.

This wasn't our first official day of school as we started co-op last week, but I refused to give up the opportunity to be free and roaming outside until the weather turned.  So, with our first cloudy, cool day upon us, we began - slowly.

If you think this guy is going to sit on the side lines, you are wrong.  He is right in there with us - until he gets bored and wonders off or starts provoking someone.

We are taking this slowly.  Basically we aren't doing things all that different.  However, I am enforcing a couch read aloud daily.  Although sometimes this doesn't happen until bedtime, but it does happen.  At the moment I am relishing in the lazy mornings and freedom of our whims.  Perhaps we will get more down to things when the weather really turns.  The days are certainly getting shorter already.

9/13/11

Baby Girl


This little girl is growing up - too fast.  She weighs 22 lbs.  Yup, she is chunky, but so adorable.  She loves to cuddle now.  The mere mention of the word elicits shoulder snuggles - precious.  She is our resident cheer leader, clapping and throwing her hands in the air when we yell 'score'.  She has transitioned straight from the avocado puree diet to everything finger food.  So far she has only refused a few food items.  She is still not walking, but I fear it won't be long and then look out.  She naps twice a day and heads to bed with her 'Good Night Song', which when sung also elicits a shoulder snuggle and a firm grasp.  She is a crowd pleaser, once warmed up.  It is hard to believe this is my last baby.  Thank goodness my sister just had one.

My Hawaiian Family





9/12/11

Parenthood

Not parenthood in general, but new parenthood. Ahh. 5 1/2 years ago my husband and I became parents to not one, but 2 children - twins. Anticipation was high. Here we were in charge of these humans. We were responsible for molding them into making good or bad decisions. Eeek. The responsibility.

Well those thoughts quickly evaporated and all my thoughts were suddenly not about the big picture, but about pee, poo, sleep, breathing, laundry, feeding.....the baby(ies). Where did the big picture go? Well, when the fog of new parenthood lifts, the big picture will re-emerge and then you can reevaluate all that with a wee bit more reality now that you actually are a parent and have realized that parenthood is about survival - bottom line. If you make it to the end, you have succeeded. Parenthood is the hardest job...no it is not a job. It is not something that you can walk away from, or choose your hours for. Parenthood is a 24-7 life change. No one can tell you how to parent. No book can tell you how to parent. How you do things will emerge out of your past, your now, your goals and choices. No two parents will do things the same. Don't get me wrong, though, books and others can offer advice and suggestions, but how you take them and use, or don't use them is up to you.

I started out with all these expectations and goals. Then reality set in. What is my goal now? I want a strong, close family unit. Period. I want my children to form a close, lasting attachment to my husband and I. Did I see sending my kids to school getting in the way of this - yup. So, we home school. Do I have babysitters and daycare care for my children - No. We are fortunate enough to have enough family close by to help lend a hand or two when needed. And if I can't find someone to watch, then they go with me or I don't go. Unfortunately not everyone has the luxury of a husband with a good job, or family close by. However, none of the decisions we made have been easy. We have cut back big time in order to make our all this happen.

Last year I hit a bit of a low after I became pregnant with my fourth. I had felt we were in a bit of a groove. I was getting out and experiencing some 'Me' time - cooking lessons. Ha. Let me tell you, the search for the elusive 'me' time is ridiculous. I have found the search for time to myself results in negative feelings about my children. Not good. Where is 'my' time? Well, I was trying to figure out how I was ever going to get some when I realized that, like my initial family goals, my idea of 'me' time needed some reevaluating. 'Me' time is time spent with my kids. I only have a short time with them and then I will have so much 'me' time I'll be trying to get back into my children's lives. And if I have managed to achieve my goal of a strong family, my kids will want me to be apart of their lives. Do I need a break sometimes? You bet. Does it need to be an entire day, a weekend? Nope and in fact any day, or weekend I have spent away from my kids, I spend the entire time thinking about them, talking about them, or running errands for them. I have found that an 1 1/2 hours a week to do something of my choosing is all I need. Usually I end up preparing dinner in a stress free environment with not a stitch of noise going on around me, other times I get out and run errands, or I push it all aside and sit and read.

So, what about 'us' time? Same thing goes here. The search for 'us' time is ridiculous. 'Us' time has been transformed. Did you fall in love with going out to fancy dinners, to weekend shopping spree's, to wine tours? Yes, these things were wonderful experiences and I had a great time experiencing them with my amazing husband. But, these are just experiences spent with the man I love. 'Us' time is about communication. Not shopping, but being strapped into a seat beside my husband where we can talk and enjoy each others company. Are the kids still with us? Yup. My husband and I have found that when an evening out to dinner comes around that we spend the entire time talking about kids. In fact, our best chance for 'us' time tends to be in the evening with all media turned off, sitting on the couch, looking at each other and talking. True 'us' time . Are the kids around? Yup. Usually asleep, but still with us.

Parenthood. What a major adjustment and it continues to change. But it is a joy I would never give up.

9/7/11

Home

We are home from our wonderful Hawaiian vacation. We had an absolute blast and so did the kids. They loved having so many adults around to give them attention, resulting in some R&R for hubby and I. It took me a bit to wind down - about 5 days. After that any meal I had to cook for the family was some 'healthy' hot dogs - I am not sure hot dogs can ever be referred to as healthy, but at least these ones were gluten free, antibiotic free, nitrite free... I think we do need a little hot dog cleanse around here, though.

The twins had a great time. They swam in the ocean and in the pool. They even learned to swim without swimmies. Wahoo. They get tired quickly, but can cross a pool length-ways on their own. We ID'd birds. Checked out sea turtles. And even surfed - yup, real tandem surfing, in real waves. And surfed in the pool. Very cool. Mostly we did a lot of relaxing. I repeat. We had a wonderful time.

The toddler busied himself in the pool most days. Oh, and chasing his brothers around and screaming at the top of his lungs. Ug.

The baby did not start walking like I thought she would. But she is really close. She is recovering from some sleep deprivation I think. She slept 14 hours last night and is finishing up a 31/2 hour nap. She may need a bit of a cleanse too - from sand, though.

Baby's up. We are off to the library. More later.

9/2/11

Hawaiian Girl

Photo shoot courtesy of Aunty. Thanks.

















The Look




Some classic bro faces.