Happy last day of 2009!

Man, what a freakin’ year!  I can’t believe how quickly time flies, and I haven’t even updated my poor blog in over a month.  My days are mostly spent at work, trying to stay warm from this intense winter, and snuggling the kidlets.

For Christmas Phoebe got a camera, and with it a Flickr account.  I spent a good portion of my evening uploading (and editing) over 100 photos of hers.  I’M SO NICE.  Also, I deleted the picture she took where she lifted the cat’s tail.  Yes, she laughed for days, but I didn’t think kitteh porn appropriate Flickr content.  So.  If you’re interested in the content I did allow her to post, you can check it out here.  I let her title all of them, so they mostly say “This is Daddy making a funny face” or “This is Belle smiling with her eyes open.”  Hilarious.

Baby Thea is huge, I don’t know how long she is or how much she weighs, but that kid is solid.  I think we’ll be taking her in for her last follow-up with our midwife in January, and after that she’ll be seen at the clinic where the littles go.  I seriously cannot believe how fast she’s growing, it amazes me.  Also, she takes the most intense dumps of any of our kids — she’s the champion pooper by far.  She’s happy and sweet, and smiles. A lot. Probably because of the pooping.

Charlie is, well, Charlie.  We’re working on some of her behaviors, mostly the screaming and stomping her feet when she receives an answer she’s not happy with.  Oh, that child better get out of that habit quick.  I don’t see it going over so well when she’s in high school and DOESN’T WANT to do her math homework.  Not being the baby anymore wasn’t a very hard transition for her, and I thought it would be.  She’s so close with Phoebe that they act like a unit, and I don’t think Charlie even realized she was the youngest.  *shrug*

Marissa is doing phenomenally better in school.  She participated in the (optional) Literature Fair, and won first place.  Next, she participated in the (optional) Science Fair, and won first place.  She’s bringing home all As so far, and I’m very impressed.  I think the biggest influence this year is having teachers she actually likes.  Plus, she really wants a cell phone, so she’s certainly busting her butt to earn one.  She’s huge now, and wears a size 10 in women’s shoes.  TEN.  If she doesn’t stop growing we’re going to have an interesting time fitting her for shoes in high school.  I’ll look into DIY duct tape shoes, those sound right up her alley.

I’m looking forward to seeing what 2010 brings, and am ready to close out a brilliantly fulfilling year.

The Birth Story

I want to try and write this while the memory is still (somewhat) fresh in my head, but MAN.  Thea’s birth was a really really intense experience, and let’s just say I’m glad she’s our last baby.  For reals.

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Birth Story Coming...

I haven’t had a chance to sit down and put Thea’s birth story into words yet (yes, even 10 days later) — I will say it was a very powerful experience that I’m still working through.  I will tell the whole thing in full gory detail (pinky swear!) just as soon as I’m able to put this baby down and stop munching on her face.

In the meantime, I do have a few birth pictures uploaded, and you can check out the set by clicking on the picture below.  Be warned that you will see boobage and pictures of me in my chonies.  You’re welcome.

A brief rundown

At my latest prenatal appointment my midwife was concerned about a few things, namely my (at-the-time) unusually high blood pressure, swelling, and weight gain.  She called around to a few colleagues to get some opinions, but they didn’t tell her anything she didn’t already know: I needed to have a full workup of labs done, right then, to make sure I wasn’t pre-eclamptic.  Because if that were the case, I would have to be induced.

Note: I had worked 4 hours before we left (sitting in a computer chair), sat in the car for 2+ hours to get to the appointment, then had to drive 2+ hours home, pick up a few things (including Marissa) and then had to drive 2 hours out to the hospital.  OH THE JOY.  Talk about elephant feet — by the time we got to the hospital, I could not bend my ankles or wiggle my toes.

I vacillated between zen calm and a “go-with-the-flow” attitude, and hysteria at the thought of another induction.  Bryan consoled me by letting me get a cheeseburger, swollen ankles be damned.

The hospital was super nice, our room was huge, and the girls were all excited to jump on the furniture and watch t.v.  The L&D staff was the nicest I have ever, in my life, encountered.  There wasn’t a bad apple in the bunch, not one, and I wanted to give each of them a smooshy hug for how sweet they were to all of us.

Several hours, a needle stick, and some baby monitoring later, I was cleared to go.  My labs were normal (no indication of pre-eclampsia), the baby’s heartbeat was excellent and well within normal ranges, and my BP was back to normal.  So, back home we came, getting in at about 6:30am or so.  And then we all collapsed into various beds/couches.

For now I’m watching my sodium intake like a hawk, drinking extra extra fluids, and putting my feet up pretty much every single second I can.  I have every expectation that we will still be able to have our homebirth — I feel great, the baby is very active, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it was a fluke.

To all of those who saw my twitter or heard through the grapevine and took the time to call, thank you.  It means a lot to us — really.  xxoo

Halloween time

I’ve been taking a break from all-things-baby to get as much costume sewing done as possible. I figure: worst case scenario, I sew additional diapers when the baby gets here.  We have stuff to tide us over (prefolds, soakers and longies, etc.) and really, Halloween is a Very Important Occasion.

So far Marissa’s has been the easiest (and cheapest) to put together.  She wanted to be Little Dead Riding Hood, so 4 yards of fleece, some lace, and a cape pattern later, there you have it.

She’s wearing one of those clear plastic masks in lieu of makeup and frankly couldn’t be any creepier.  Seriously.

Phoebe wanted to be a Fairy Princess (typical) so I just made up a little outfit, and she’ll have some butterfly wings and a wand to go with it.  Probably out of cardboard, because I’m not buying any more butterfly wings or wands.  I’m on strike.

Next up, I have to finish Charlie’s costume.  She wanted to be a “talking dog” so I found some brown fuzzy polyester nightmare material, and have the pants (with tail) and hat (with ears) done.  I just need to do a shirt, and snap a picture to prove to the interwebz that I’m the nicest mom ever.

And did I mention I’m 37 weeks pregnant?  This is my favorite picture so far, I think.  I can’t stop laughing every time I look at it.