N's Johnny Song

N's Johnny Song

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N has a Johnny song some of you may have heard:

(he wrote it himself)

Johnny went in the woods
Johnny went in the woods

Johnny saw a dragon
Johnny saw a dragon

Yay Johnny

(second verse)

Johnny went in the woods
Johnny went in the woods

Johnny took out the dragon
Johnny took out the dragon

Yay Johnny


well this morning he invented a new verse
which is between the other verses

Johnny went in the woods
Johnny went in the woods

and the Dragon said

'Oh shit!"

The Rainbow cometh!

When Paul and I decided we would be moving to Washington, we sat Graham down and asked her what she thought. She didn't think much of having "some volcano spitting rocks at me!" so we told her that if we moved, we would buy the kids a Rainbow. Finally, we've been able to do just that.

They knew we bought it, but thought that the unit would be delivered the day after we knew it would be. I really would rather not have spent the day saying "no it's not here yet."

Click the link for pictures.

When Your Baby was Born....

What was the first thing you noticed?

For me,

~G~: her ass. I had a hospital / epidural birth and didn't feel her come out. I saw her floating in the air in front of me as they pulled her out. I say floating because all I saw was HER; her impossibly red, impossibly tiny little butt.

~N~: How fat he was. He had enough chub coming out that he looked like DD at one month old. He was also a precipitous labor so he had horrible skid marks on his face.

~D~: HWB. First thing I noticed was his hair. We were underwater, I felt the ring of fire, and I reached.... to this day it is like a [pleasant] scar-memory. I can recollect at will the exact feel of his head crowning; how soft his hair was, how warm his head. Just that little piece of baby in my hand.

Confetti Farts

So this morning, ~G~ was changing a diaper...and she says to me:

"Mommy he made a little fart! And paper came out!!! And a piece of my shoelace!"



At least now she will UNDERSTAND why we beg her to pick her stuff up off the floor!

The lawn sprinklers came on and doused my Dog while he was in turn, sprinkling the lawn. That just made me laff. Henh Henh.

Again, with the beauty of this place. I am so happy here. Our property is only a little over an acre, but the way it has been developed leaves at least half of it as forest. It's amazing to look into the trees and know that it is ours. It's safe from development, safe for the critters, and safe for us as a buffer.

On our way down to the neighborhood beach we are treated to a lovely view of Mt Rainier. It's 150 miles away from us here and across the Sound now. It looms large though, and is another feature that just chases away any visual doldrums.

If we can get unpacked relatively quickly I will be a happy camper. It's nice to feel somewhat healthy again. I have the emotional energy to set up house but physically, our family has just been really incapable. Getting better! All around!

Sparkling Pee Fountains

The pee pee fountain

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Filed under category of ~L~hasn't had a boy before:

New yard! New Deck! New imagination! All require copious amounts of ~N~ pee!

Bad guy like Green Goblin? We "pee and poop on dat bad guy!"

Have to pee? Run past both bathrooms and to the outside deck where one can watch urine sparkle in the sunlight!

The Littlest Lactivist

N, D and I were playing on the bed this morning when D became fussy. I was on my back, giving him airplane rides, and N wanted me to put his brother down to sit beside him. I still had D in the air above me as I said "No, honey, he just wants to nurse."

N jumped over to me, yanked open my nightgown and pulled out my breast to hand to D. "Here's your nursey, baby!"

Complete Drama

COMPLETE

TOTAL

MELTDOWN

over this:


G was (very very past tense) helping N make his bed when she decided that she should have "the prettiest one" pillowcase. They got into a tug of war fight over it at the top of the stairs. No hitting, thankfully, but much screeching.

This was already on N's bed and she removed it from his pillow and was making out the door with it. He stopped her, because he too, dearly LOVES this pillowcase.

Seriously. She screamed in her room for an hour, until she was wracked with coughing, because she had to "have the prettiest one" and "Mommy hurt [her] feelings"

My Goodness. I guess it COULD pass for Monet-ish, but LORD that's an ugly pillowcase!

Op Ed in Tacoma News Tribune

They published my letter to the editor!


"Hospital’s policy makes natural event more dire

Federal Way
I commend The News Tribune for Alex Otto’s July July 24 article regarding the VBAC (vaginal birth after caesarian) policy at St. Joseph Medical Center.

To a mother of three, it is disheartening, to say the least, that a house of healing would want to turn a natural event into a far more dire surgical event.

I am completely taken aback – in a positive way – at how you have chosen to present this story to the community. This is just the kind of socially responsible, encouraging journalism that we need."

Amazing Persimmons!

“Happy 4^th of July!!!!!!” is G's battle cry today. Whenever there is a holiday, she is the beacon of holiday cheer. Today we had a very laid back, but very satisfying Independence Day. And it was an independence day!

P stayed home and we just pretty much hung out as a family. We'd planned to go out of town but crankyvan is being resistant to the idea. My friend ~A~ , razor sharp as always said "We do have a tow truck company, you know!" She is one funny lady.

nikirj and her brood came over for a few hours since her husband went to watch War of the Worlds in the theater. The kids splashed around in the inflatable pool and had a sandwich lunch while nikirj and I looked over house plans. The grownups had gyros, grilled hot dogs and grilled chicken. D ate his first meat today, grilled chicken. The little piggy had about ½ ounce of it before I cut him off. Animal protein at 6 months can’t be easy to digest. But he thoroughly enjoyed it, smiling broadly as he closed in to eat. Little baby. Just wants to be a big kid NOW!

After nikirj left, and despite the fact that G and N utterly blew off their naps, we took them to see the Federal Way fireworks at Celebration Park. It was the closest the children had ever been to a show and the biggest I’d seen. At times, despite us being outside the park by a block, we felt the fireworks were going to drift into the car. N, bearing his Buzz Lightyear doll as a shield, alternated being thrilled and terrified while G shouted “Amazing! PERSIMMONS!!!!!!!!!!” I don’t know where she got that but it was ADORABLE.

This neighborhood (Twin Lakes in Federal Way) is just covered with tiny baby dragonflies. Has been for two weeks now. It amazes me that there are so many… and you can watch the birds just dive in and pluck them from the sky. It’s gotten me wondering about the biomass signature here… what did it look like when we didn’t displace their habitat? I know there are places on the mountain still where the pre-industrial, natural world is just going to town. I can’t wait to get a glimpse of that!

Graham had her portraits done this morning for her recital. The recital is “Lands of the Sun” and Graham’s class is doing “Cuban Pete.” They’re quite adorable, even though the hot pink, sequined costumes are heinous! LOL

Weeds can be pretty. They really can. We've got some weird little butter-yellow cup shaped flowers in the back yard and they're simply lovely. As usual, staring out my windows in the evening makes me feel content and safe. I love the play of the light in the sky; the huge, tall trees everywhere; the feeling of being nestled in. It's a nice place to live.

Yesterday we went to the pediatrician for D and G. We left N with ~A~ to play with three out of her four littles (who are we kidding? he loves ~A~ ) and headed to the dr. Now, Perfect has four bandaids on his legs. After five months I finally allowed them to start his immunizations. He was such a big boy until shot #4. Then he cried, very angry. But we gave him a tookie (his first tookie!) back at ~A~s house. Perfect is 18 pounds 13 ounces. 5 months. Eater! All better.

Cept for my ranting:

Abusers!!! I hate seeing him with bandaids. Baby #3 and I still wanna cry!

G is 41 pounds and 75% in the height percentiles. She's my tall willow. She was a show OFF on her vision and hearing tests and was very not amused during her blood draw. I don't know what she thought I meant when I said "blood draw" and "they're going to take blood out of your arm" but she was adamant with me after the fact that her idea did not include the "shot" she received.

The draw is for her food allergy RAST. I am hoping and praying to God that her peanut allergy has gone. If you pray for anything, please pray for my grace so that I can handle whatever the news is appropriately.

At A's house we gave Perfect his first teething cookie. Like every other food item to which he has been exposed, he adapted immediately and well. He ended up with two arrowroot cookies, which to experienced Mommies means, he ingested about half of one. The kids love it out there and I definitely enjoy being in a yard again. This little spit of grass we have fenced in back here does NOT make the cut.


Rant ON:

I got my damn period yesterday!!!!!! Woke up to use the bathroom that morning and oh how surprised was I????????????

HOW? HOW?? He still nurses ALL THE TIME. The little pig is almost 19 lbs by now and there is just no reason for this....... HOW HOW HOW????????

I would say, hey look how fertile I am wooohoo a baby making machine BUT Kimbolina DOESN'T GET HERS FOR A YEAR OR SO AND SHE'S THE BABYMAKER!!!!!!!

At least I know why I was so damned cranky this week.

There is a place in Auburn where you can see the sky, wide open until Mt. Rainier. When you come out of Peasley Canyon and onto 15th Ave Rainier is at 2 o clock and the whole sky swirls above you. This is the intersection of highways 162, 167, and 18 and you can see for miles and miles. It’s great, because when you’re coming up from Puyallup on 167 you can look around and accurately determine what the weather is like in cities as far away as 30 miles. The weather here is sooooo dynamic and this view of Mt. Rainier to the east lets you watch the phenomenon that allows the temperature here to be so mild. You can watch the oceanic clouds pouring in from the West, hitting the Cascades and swirling back, keeping the moisture here. It’s beautiful. Amazing.

Leave it to Pugetopolis to have even an interstate snarl provide an ooh-aah moment.

Laundry. My God, the laundry. At least right now it is laundry hill instead of Laundry Mountain. In all honesty however, that’s only because the kids have been pulling their clean clothes out of the folded-laundry baskets. Poor fings. I need to put it away!!!!!!!

Parks make you tired

Nothing like taking the kids to the park motivates me to do laundry. Or scrub the shower. It looks so relaxing; all those Moms lazing about in the sun, watching their beloveds running and playing with others' beloveds. But ya know-- it's not all that relaxing. You have to stay awake. You have to be alert. And if you forgot the water bottles or the sunscreen, somebody's toast.

I love taking my kids to the park. Really I do. And it's good for everybody. But I do appreciate the fact that they will leave when it's time to go! :)

Life as we know it

As we move closer to actually possibly moving into this house, I am finding myself dreaming of it constantly. The dreams run the gamut from pleasant, homey, sunshine streaming, dinner steaming dreams to the seller getting another higher offer on the house at the eleventh hour. I do believe we’re doing what we have to do but the notion to me of spending 1800.00 a month on HOUSING makes me want to violently toss my cookies. I can really think of other uses for that money. We need to be financially disciplined—MYSELF primarily—to make this work. I hope to God we can pull this off and refi very quickly.

D fell off the bed yesterday for the first time. I was not amused, but neither was he. I hate that horrible pain scream they make, and the crying without sound. He was so shocked. We both got over it.

Yesterday afternoon took the kids to Wright Park in Tacoma. It was a ridiculously glorious day—perfect June day—despite being chilly, which I am certainly unaccustomed to at this point in the year. The skies were blue and dotted with fluffy white clouds, and the wind played music with the leaves of the trees through the park.

Squirrels here are very odd. They are much tamer than in SC, and will be right on the playground where the kids are raising hell. Yesterday evening, one was in our back yard SUNNING ITSELF on the privacy fence. They’ve got more personality here, that’s for sure.

Going on day ten without a van. It’s in the shop for transmission work. AGAIN. I am tired of missing chiro appts. Had to reschedule G’s well child visit and D still hasn’t had immunizations. Used P’s car to go to park yesterday but by the time I got it from him there were no more available times with the Pediatrician.

First Time Mama

Sap Alert-- Perfect Douginess Update

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This morning he woke, next to me in bed of course, and smiled at me.
He smiled, then said "Muh Muh!"

FLUTTER FLUTTER FLUTTER FLUTTER

Happy Birthday big girl!

G’s birthday was a cute little success. She’s so adorable. Five years old. I can hardly believe that. But she’s always amazing me so I don’t’ know why that should even phase me at this point. She wanted a “dance party” and asked for ABBA for her soundtrack. We got her Thomas decorations and a Thomas cake and moved all the furniture in the living room back against the walls. We covered the floor with balloons and set up the surround sound… and when the guests arrived she took them to her room. LOL

She hijacked her own party! BIG GIRL!

I find myself daydreaming almost constantly about the house we’re trying to finance. It’s really small (1600 sq feet) but in a perfect location. I have to back myself off from my tangent of “succeed at all costs.” I am dedicated to helping us attain our life goals and being house poor is not one of them. Still, I really want to own our home. Especially here, it is a completely solid investment.

The boys are sleeping in our bed right now. It’s 8 am and all the children are still asleep. P is in Spokane on a business trip and things just go on a different rhythm when he is out of town. I miss him when he’s gone, but not when it concerns bedtime and the children. They abuse him mightily and we all pay for it!

It's a wonderful life, folks!

What a wonderful life. I am afraid to admit that this move has turned our life in the right direction. Life is nearly idyllic here. We have fresh air, green trees and mountain views. We have a wonderful little family with good kids and good friends, albeit some who live thousands of miles away.

We are starting to make new friends here, too. NC is a woman who has a 5 yo daughter, a 3 yo son and a baby a week older than D. She and I shared a midwife and we both had home births for the most recent babies. All the kids get along GREAT.

N potty-trained (thank you GOD!!!!!!!) just shy of his third birthday, and was amply rewarded. Danelle and Charles came to visit that week and so they were her for N’s birthday party and to see him go play in the IKEA ball pit for the first time. That was his big giant reward. He was truly beyond excitement. It's a great ball pit.

D is still perfect, but oh I wish he would go back to sleeping through the night. He did for a little while but then got sick and now won’t do it anymore. I am considering putting him out of the bedroom to see if he just wants his space, like N-baby did.

G and I are sick today. I think I have a sinus infection and she’s not too far behind that. Yuck.

I have been seeing a chiropractor and the difference in daily life is frankly amazing. I am grateful for the surcease from pain. I hope whatever we are doing there will help me in the long run, not just while we see this guy. It had gotten to the point where I couldn’t walk without pain.

Balance Coming

I feel like a big moron but I still ache when I look at pictures of our Charleston house. The closing went through at the end of January, and everything went fine. We didn’t even have to make repairs, really. But the fact that someone else is living in the first house we ever bought as a couple makes me sad. I am homesick to a certain point too, which doesn’t help. The picture that set me off this time was a picture of my 22 weeks pregnant belly taken in the kitchen. It’s low lit, and it just feels so homey. This rental doesn’t do it for me, despite how into routine we have gotten. It even gets messy here now!

D is still perfect. He finally outgrew his layette this week so I have clothes of his to pack away. That’s truly amazing to me. Today is Monday and he will be two months old on Friday.

G has been struggling a little bit with how little time I have to give her. She’s been definitely bratty a lot more lately but she’s trying really hard to keep her chin up. Feisty is an understatement when it comes to my girl, and I know it. But I still wish I could give her what she wants along with what she needs.

N is close to potty training. At this point I think it has to do with his own laziness. Everything is in place; he just has to decide that he wants to just be done with it. Personally, I wouldn’t want to walk around with crap in MY pants. He’ll get to that place soon I am sure.

P spent the entire day putting together a tiny little swing set for the kids. I am so grateful they have something to swing on. It’s weird to look at that tiny thing compared to what we used to have but at least it’s something! And it’s THERE! It fits well into this tiny little back yard. We have got to get some land. I am not well prepared for how close people live together out here. Drives me batty.

I am bitching which is actually a good sign I think. I am no longer so desperately homesick that I cry a lot, and that routine I was talking about has helped me out. I have gotten more involved with the Montessori materials again and that’s a GREAT thing.

G is a Mommy now

She has really embraced her baby dolls now, one in particular which she has imaginatively ( hah ) named Newborn.

She'll stroll the baby into the room and introduce herself, and ask me my name. Then she'll introduce Newborn.

Wolfmeister(AKA Mrs Feduppica): What a lovely baby. Where did you have her?

G: Oh, at home.

W: Did you have a midwife?

G: No, no. I did it myself. I was just walking through my bedroom when she fell out of my pee pee place. I had to just pick her up and love her!

Color me Tired

Color me tired. D has hit his two week growth spurt and is nursing almost constantly, day and night. I am not getting engorged, and the little tyke has turned into a laundry-generating piss pot. He's eating a LOT. This boy is trying to keep up with his linebacker older brother.

Did I mention he is perfect? When sleeping, D is indistiguishable from newborn G. When he's awake he just looks like himself. That's so fascinating to me.

G is (almost) perfect and N is (almost) perfect. G is very in love with her dollbaby, Newborn, and is a very good mommy to her.

N has finally started loving Mommy again, largely because I can play with him once more. Pain-free is good!

P is happier now that baby is here and he can really dig into new job. It means some nights away, but I can handle that I guess.

Perfect Smiles

D has been smiley since he came out, but I don’t think anyone could argue now that his smiles aren’t social. Yesterday he was in quiet-alert state, holding eye contact with me, when he curled into a big open-mouthed smile. Then he came back to staring at my eyes. That was a SMILE for me. THRILLED me.

D’s birth has been very healing for me. I am just in love with all my children.

I have three children!

Perfect

Yesterday D’s cord stump fell off. Today he got his first bath. He’s developing the chubby cheeks and he’s unfolding his little legs. It’s such a miracle. Our last baby.

Heavens Awake

Some days just change your whole reality.

DGF was born at 10.55 PM on New Year’s Eve. We should have had faith that as one of our children, D would choose to emerge on a holiday. This is, after all, P’s son! Free parties every birthday for the rest of his life!

Contractions started at 2.15 in the Super Mall of the Northwest. The running story is that the fact that this mall is in fact an outlet mall, sent me over the edge and into labor. The prices were very good! After long (for me) and difficult (posterior cervix that just wouldn’t move forward) labor, D emerged into his parents’ hands in a water birth, at home, nine hours later. G was able to cut the cord (with Daddy’s help) and hold him within seconds of his birth. He weighed 7 pounds 8 ounces and was 21 inches long. He’s perfect.

I hope his tiny body can contain all the love we’re throwing at him—all of us, including N—adore him, and this week has really blessed us with love and togetherness.