1. It's Jim's birthday today. He's now 39 years old. Psst...don't mention the grey hair.
2. Alexa has finally started to prefer actual crawling to going commando. She's got speed too.
3. It's been less than a month since we put our home on the market and I already want this to be o-v-e-r.
4. There are zero homes I'd consider living in, in the price range in which we're looking to buy. We just might be homeless for a period. If you see us knocking at your door, please let us in.
That's all I got for today. It's been a long week already.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Learning to juggle
I can't juggle balls but mommyhood certainly teaches you how to juggle. Jim has been away for work and tonight was more three ring circus than quiet suburban home.
Nicholas has reached a stage where he wants to do everything himself and changes his mind immediately after you've executed his request precisely according to his specifications. Tonight, after asking him three times, I took off Nicholas's shoes which sent him into a crying fit. Throughout playtime on the living room floor and Alexa's bathtime, Nicholas wanted me to put his shoes back on, so that he could take them off. Sigh.
Alexa has three of her top teeth coming through all at once rendering her typical gumming of her blankie insufficient. Booboo bunny ice cubes, frozen bagels, frozen teethers, nursing; all failed. Sigh.
What happens when Nicholas and Alexa are crying at the same time? They cry harder. Sigh.
How does one successfully calm two screaming toddlers? Juggling.
Thank god for chocolate milk and tylenol.
Nicholas has reached a stage where he wants to do everything himself and changes his mind immediately after you've executed his request precisely according to his specifications. Tonight, after asking him three times, I took off Nicholas's shoes which sent him into a crying fit. Throughout playtime on the living room floor and Alexa's bathtime, Nicholas wanted me to put his shoes back on, so that he could take them off. Sigh.
Alexa has three of her top teeth coming through all at once rendering her typical gumming of her blankie insufficient. Booboo bunny ice cubes, frozen bagels, frozen teethers, nursing; all failed. Sigh.
What happens when Nicholas and Alexa are crying at the same time? They cry harder. Sigh.
How does one successfully calm two screaming toddlers? Juggling.
Thank god for chocolate milk and tylenol.
Monday, June 22, 2009
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The Good.
- Alexa had her 1 yo well baby appointment on Friday. She's growing well at 20 lbs 1o ounces and 29 1/4 inches. If you remember, she only gained 3 ounces between her 6 month and 9 month appts so we were a little worried about her drop off. Nothing to worry about now except that she's outgrown her infant seat.
Despite being able to crawl on her knees, Alexa still prefers to army crawl by pulling with her arms and kicking off with her right leg. She's recently graduated to furniture cruising and has mastered pulling herself up and sitting back down. (She particularly likes practicing that in the wee hours of night much to her mother's chagrin.) Since she has taken the slow road to walking, Jim and I hadn't given a single thought to the upstairs staircase. Boy were we wrong. Saturday morning she climbed the entire staircase on her own! Go Alexa!
The Bad.
- Alexa is a trouble maker. Usually when she is not happy with what is served for dinner, she delicately picks up individual pieces of food and drops them on the floor. Tonight I noticed a different ritual. I was conversing with Nicholas for a minute or two when I wasn't looking at Alexa. I turned back to her and noticed that nearly all of her peas had quickly disappeared, and she has her hand under her leg with a big ole evil grin on her face. (See pic) She's a slow eater so I was shocked.
I quickly figured out where she was putting all those peas. This is what I found when I pulled her out of her chair. The remainder were on the floor and even a few down her shirt.
- Alexa had her 1 yo well baby appointment on Friday. She's growing well at 20 lbs 1o ounces and 29 1/4 inches. If you remember, she only gained 3 ounces between her 6 month and 9 month appts so we were a little worried about her drop off. Nothing to worry about now except that she's outgrown her infant seat.
Despite being able to crawl on her knees, Alexa still prefers to army crawl by pulling with her arms and kicking off with her right leg. She's recently graduated to furniture cruising and has mastered pulling herself up and sitting back down. (She particularly likes practicing that in the wee hours of night much to her mother's chagrin.) Since she has taken the slow road to walking, Jim and I hadn't given a single thought to the upstairs staircase. Boy were we wrong. Saturday morning she climbed the entire staircase on her own! Go Alexa!
The Bad.- Alexa is a trouble maker. Usually when she is not happy with what is served for dinner, she delicately picks up individual pieces of food and drops them on the floor. Tonight I noticed a different ritual. I was conversing with Nicholas for a minute or two when I wasn't looking at Alexa. I turned back to her and noticed that nearly all of her peas had quickly disappeared, and she has her hand under her leg with a big ole evil grin on her face. (See pic) She's a slow eater so I was shocked.
I quickly figured out where she was putting all those peas. This is what I found when I pulled her out of her chair. The remainder were on the floor and even a few down her shirt. I think it's probably a good thing we do not have a dog. He'd eat well but certainly be overweight.
The Ugly.
The Ugly.- Adventures of Potty Training are still going on in this house. After one of our last potty trials, I decided to use my limited time and tidy up the bathroom while he sat on the potty. Unfortunately, Nicholas found cleaning the toilet much more interesting than going potty. Is he too young to add bathrooms to his chore list?
Offer accepted!
This Saturday we got an offer on our house. After one round of counter offers we have a signed agreement!
I'm still in a little bit of shock that it went so quickly. I'm in even further shock that we need to find another place to live for July 31st! Wish us luck.
I'm still in a little bit of shock that it went so quickly. I'm in even further shock that we need to find another place to live for July 31st! Wish us luck.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
10 for Tuesday- Alexa Edition
If I close my eyes, I can experience the morning of Alexa's birth all over again. I can feel the warmth of the sun on my arms, smell the pollen filled air, and taste the bagel Nicholas and I shared on the sofa. Its too vivid to have occurred over a year ago.
I can also close my eyes and see Alexa banging one of Nicholas's fire trucks on his parking garage with a look of evil joy, blowing kisses with the back of her hand, "mwah", and army crawling from the living room into the kitchen toward me as I begin to cook dinner because she wants me.
What a difference a year makes.
Here are ten things I love about her and why I love being her mommy.
10. For giving me a birth experience that makes my heart swell filling my entire body with pride and my skin tingles with excitement just thinking about it, despite the fact that giving birth "in a bathroom" sounds so unpleasant.
9. She adores her big brother; looks up to him, and learns from him. (I have yet to decide if this is truly a good thing.)
8. She holds her own against her big brother.
7. Her teeny, tiny feet that are so small she can't yet balance herself on her adorably chubby little legs.
6. Her beautiful bald head with just the teensyist amount of blonde, wispy curls.
5. Her laugh and smile.
4. Her determination.
3. Her ease.
2. Her ability to communicate with a look, a reach, a wave of her hand, without saying a word.
1. Her love.
I can also close my eyes and see Alexa banging one of Nicholas's fire trucks on his parking garage with a look of evil joy, blowing kisses with the back of her hand, "mwah", and army crawling from the living room into the kitchen toward me as I begin to cook dinner because she wants me.
What a difference a year makes.
Here are ten things I love about her and why I love being her mommy.
10. For giving me a birth experience that makes my heart swell filling my entire body with pride and my skin tingles with excitement just thinking about it, despite the fact that giving birth "in a bathroom" sounds so unpleasant.
9. She adores her big brother; looks up to him, and learns from him. (I have yet to decide if this is truly a good thing.)
8. She holds her own against her big brother.
7. Her teeny, tiny feet that are so small she can't yet balance herself on her adorably chubby little legs.
6. Her beautiful bald head with just the teensyist amount of blonde, wispy curls.
5. Her laugh and smile.
4. Her determination.
3. Her ease.
2. Her ability to communicate with a look, a reach, a wave of her hand, without saying a word.
1. Her love.
Monday, June 15, 2009
More birthday celebration
I was away for the weekend but rushed home yesterday to celebrate some of the day with Alexa. We didn't do much, just sang Happy Birthday and had a slice of leftover yummy Konditormeister cake. Here she is clapping after one of the dozen times we sang Happy Birthday to her. We kept singing because she was having so much fun clapping.
Alexa enjoyed her cake.
Not letting any go to waste either, if you don't count the cake on her face.
One more round of "Happy Birthday". Of course as soon as I start recording her she gets all shy and decides not to share her new found love of clapping.
Alexa enjoyed her cake.
Not letting any go to waste either, if you don't count the cake on her face.
One more round of "Happy Birthday". Of course as soon as I start recording her she gets all shy and decides not to share her new found love of clapping.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
ONE
A year ago today Alexa was born in our bathroom. While some of you know some of the story I thought I'd give you the whole, gory story.....
On Tuesday June 10th I had my last midwives appt. I asked for an exam because I was curious. Unfortunately only 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced. The midwife made some suggestions on helping things along.
Wednesday morning I thought her suggestions had worked because I was having contractions and back pain. After taking a long walk to keep me progressing the back pain got progressively worse so I laid down to rest. Having fallen asleep, I woke up about an hour later and my back pain and contractions were gone.
Catherine was back East for her high school reunion so I was hopeful to deliver before she departed backto Hawaii on Monday. I had also asked mom to stay with Nicholas when I had to go to the hospital. So on her way to her reunion on Friday night (June 13th), Catherine dropped mom off to stay the weekend as a "just in case". That night Jim jokingly said I better hurry. I told him, "after a good nights sleep".
Saturday June 14th, I woke up at 4am from contractions, went to the bathroom, but luckily was able to go back to bed and slept another 2 hrs. At 6am, I woke up again from more contractions. The contractions weren't painful or regular so I wasn't sure if this was more Braxton Hicks or the real thing. I decided to get out of bed have coffee and some quiet time before Nicholas woke up. At 7 am, Nicholas woke up and we shared a small breakfast of a bagel and OJ cuddling on the sofa. It was nice to fit in a little private time just the two of us in case it was the real thing. At 8:30 am I decided to wake Jim up since the contractions weren't subsiding. For the next 45 minutes or so I watched TV and futzed about the house. At 9:15 am, Jim took Nicholas out on a couple errands and mom went out for a short walk. I was thinking about going with her but decided just to go up to the bedroom and lie down.
This was probably the point where I realized today was the day since this was the point where I had to stop what I was doing and actually breathe through the contractions. One thing that confused me was the fact that all of my pain was low/under my belly. I had read that in the early stages in labor the majority of pain was typically felt higher up on the uterus then the pain moves low as labor progresses. This was one thing which made me unsure if I was really in labor. When I got upstairs I looked through my hospital bag to make sure I had everything then lied down to rest. At 10 am, between contractions, I called Jim to tell him to get home because I knew this was it and I wanted him to time the contractions and call the midwives. It was starting to get painful though still manageable but I didn't want to move and I didn't have the clock positioned where I could see it.
Jim got home about 10:15 am and came upstairs to help me while mom took Nicholas in the backyard to play. The first contraction Jim timed started at 10:21 am. He timed 3 contractions (6, 5, and 7 minutes apart) then got on the phone with the midwife at 10:48 am. The midwife and I were on the phone for 11 minutes during which I had 3 contractions. The midwife suggested at the end of our conversation that we wait until the pain "kicked up one more notch" then come into the hospital. I was a little discouraged at this point because her statement made me believe we had a way to go. Well, that was not the case.
The phone call with the midwife ended at 10:59 am and my next contraction began at 11:04 am. All of a sudden my pain kicked it up a couple notches, I could barely hold it together, and I could not breathe through it at all. I shifted my leg and hips a little and felt a sudden rush of an urge to poop and then felt my water break. I told Jim that I felt like I needed to poop (knowing this is the classic signal that you're ready to push) and that my water broke. He said, "ok". I replied, "no, help me get out of bed and to the bathroom". Jim had to nearly fully support me as I waddled to the bathroom all the while I was still contracting and panicking. Once we got into the bathroom I asked Jim to take off my pants and I sat on the toilet. Jim asked if I needed some privacy (because he thought I just needed to poop) and I said no. My legs were shaking madly and Jim started to rub my legs. I reached down to feel if the baby was crowning and yes, it was.
I told Jim I was crowing (even though not technically correct but cut me some slack considering the circumstances.)
Jim: No you're not.
Me: Yes, I am.
Jim: Oh, yes you are.
Jim called the midwife again (11:15 am). Apparently he thought we still had time to get to the hospital. As he was waiting for her to call back, he tried to get me off the toilet and onto the floor. I told him I didn't think I could. I somehow got to stand just as I had an incredible urge to push, and according to him I pushed/screamed, there was a gush of fluid and the head was out. I dont remember pushing a second time but apparently I got into a nice squat and our daughter was born. Thank god Jim was there and ready to catch her out b/c I don't know if I would have reacted enough to catch her on my own.
She started crying right away so we knew her airway and lungs were clear and the amniotic fluid was nice and clear although apparently there was a trace of merconium. Not sure of the exact order of things here but I laid down on the floor, baby still attached via the cord and had her put on my belly and Jim called 911 (11:19 am) for an ambulance. Just after the 911 call, the midwife called back and was talking to Jim about the state of the baby and what to do about the cord. But before he had a chance to do anything an ambulance, fire truck, two police cars, and the fire chief all showed up. All the while mom had Nicholas playing in our back yard and outside of hearing a few screams had no idea what was going on until they heard the sirens, came around to the front of the house to watch the trucks, and saw men rushing in the house.
The EMTs helped Jim clamp and cut the cord. They packed us up into the ambulance and took us to the hospital. On the ambulance ride, I birthed the placenta and they took vitals on our girl. She was doing great. Upon entering the ER all the nurses stood up and said congratulations. The EMTs got a kick out of that and said that theyve never heard congratulations upon entering an ER before. Since the midwife was expecting us, we were brought directly to the Labor and Delivery floor to get checked out (placenta examined and stitched up from a small second degree tear).
Recovery was actually incredibly fast. I felt back to normal about 2 pm when I got my first visitor (a friend who was going to drive my husband back to the house) and was up and walking by the time my mother and son came to visit at 3:30 pm. Our daughter had some bile spit up which had turned out to be a fluke but other than that has been doing great. I was GBS positive and obviously never received antibiotics, but her cultures came back negative (probably b/c my water broke so close to the time of birth).
While I certainly never imagined this birth would happen this way and absolutely couldn't have planned it to happen this way, I'm actually extremely satisfied with my birth experience. I am incredibly thrilled I was able to do this naturally and without any interventions, that my husband was able to catch and cut the cord, that I didn't need to go into the hospital early to have antibiotics, that my daughter is happy and healthy, that there were no complications, and that my mother was here to take care of Nicholas. I feel like one of the luckiest people in the world right now.
Here we are. One year later at the scene of the crime.
On Tuesday June 10th I had my last midwives appt. I asked for an exam because I was curious. Unfortunately only 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced. The midwife made some suggestions on helping things along.
Wednesday morning I thought her suggestions had worked because I was having contractions and back pain. After taking a long walk to keep me progressing the back pain got progressively worse so I laid down to rest. Having fallen asleep, I woke up about an hour later and my back pain and contractions were gone.
Catherine was back East for her high school reunion so I was hopeful to deliver before she departed backto Hawaii on Monday. I had also asked mom to stay with Nicholas when I had to go to the hospital. So on her way to her reunion on Friday night (June 13th), Catherine dropped mom off to stay the weekend as a "just in case". That night Jim jokingly said I better hurry. I told him, "after a good nights sleep".
Saturday June 14th, I woke up at 4am from contractions, went to the bathroom, but luckily was able to go back to bed and slept another 2 hrs. At 6am, I woke up again from more contractions. The contractions weren't painful or regular so I wasn't sure if this was more Braxton Hicks or the real thing. I decided to get out of bed have coffee and some quiet time before Nicholas woke up. At 7 am, Nicholas woke up and we shared a small breakfast of a bagel and OJ cuddling on the sofa. It was nice to fit in a little private time just the two of us in case it was the real thing. At 8:30 am I decided to wake Jim up since the contractions weren't subsiding. For the next 45 minutes or so I watched TV and futzed about the house. At 9:15 am, Jim took Nicholas out on a couple errands and mom went out for a short walk. I was thinking about going with her but decided just to go up to the bedroom and lie down.
This was probably the point where I realized today was the day since this was the point where I had to stop what I was doing and actually breathe through the contractions. One thing that confused me was the fact that all of my pain was low/under my belly. I had read that in the early stages in labor the majority of pain was typically felt higher up on the uterus then the pain moves low as labor progresses. This was one thing which made me unsure if I was really in labor. When I got upstairs I looked through my hospital bag to make sure I had everything then lied down to rest. At 10 am, between contractions, I called Jim to tell him to get home because I knew this was it and I wanted him to time the contractions and call the midwives. It was starting to get painful though still manageable but I didn't want to move and I didn't have the clock positioned where I could see it.
Jim got home about 10:15 am and came upstairs to help me while mom took Nicholas in the backyard to play. The first contraction Jim timed started at 10:21 am. He timed 3 contractions (6, 5, and 7 minutes apart) then got on the phone with the midwife at 10:48 am. The midwife and I were on the phone for 11 minutes during which I had 3 contractions. The midwife suggested at the end of our conversation that we wait until the pain "kicked up one more notch" then come into the hospital. I was a little discouraged at this point because her statement made me believe we had a way to go. Well, that was not the case.
The phone call with the midwife ended at 10:59 am and my next contraction began at 11:04 am. All of a sudden my pain kicked it up a couple notches, I could barely hold it together, and I could not breathe through it at all. I shifted my leg and hips a little and felt a sudden rush of an urge to poop and then felt my water break. I told Jim that I felt like I needed to poop (knowing this is the classic signal that you're ready to push) and that my water broke. He said, "ok". I replied, "no, help me get out of bed and to the bathroom". Jim had to nearly fully support me as I waddled to the bathroom all the while I was still contracting and panicking. Once we got into the bathroom I asked Jim to take off my pants and I sat on the toilet. Jim asked if I needed some privacy (because he thought I just needed to poop) and I said no. My legs were shaking madly and Jim started to rub my legs. I reached down to feel if the baby was crowning and yes, it was.
I told Jim I was crowing (even though not technically correct but cut me some slack considering the circumstances.)
Jim: No you're not.
Me: Yes, I am.
Jim: Oh, yes you are.
Jim called the midwife again (11:15 am). Apparently he thought we still had time to get to the hospital. As he was waiting for her to call back, he tried to get me off the toilet and onto the floor. I told him I didn't think I could. I somehow got to stand just as I had an incredible urge to push, and according to him I pushed/screamed, there was a gush of fluid and the head was out. I dont remember pushing a second time but apparently I got into a nice squat and our daughter was born. Thank god Jim was there and ready to catch her out b/c I don't know if I would have reacted enough to catch her on my own.
She started crying right away so we knew her airway and lungs were clear and the amniotic fluid was nice and clear although apparently there was a trace of merconium. Not sure of the exact order of things here but I laid down on the floor, baby still attached via the cord and had her put on my belly and Jim called 911 (11:19 am) for an ambulance. Just after the 911 call, the midwife called back and was talking to Jim about the state of the baby and what to do about the cord. But before he had a chance to do anything an ambulance, fire truck, two police cars, and the fire chief all showed up. All the while mom had Nicholas playing in our back yard and outside of hearing a few screams had no idea what was going on until they heard the sirens, came around to the front of the house to watch the trucks, and saw men rushing in the house.
The EMTs helped Jim clamp and cut the cord. They packed us up into the ambulance and took us to the hospital. On the ambulance ride, I birthed the placenta and they took vitals on our girl. She was doing great. Upon entering the ER all the nurses stood up and said congratulations. The EMTs got a kick out of that and said that theyve never heard congratulations upon entering an ER before. Since the midwife was expecting us, we were brought directly to the Labor and Delivery floor to get checked out (placenta examined and stitched up from a small second degree tear).
Recovery was actually incredibly fast. I felt back to normal about 2 pm when I got my first visitor (a friend who was going to drive my husband back to the house) and was up and walking by the time my mother and son came to visit at 3:30 pm. Our daughter had some bile spit up which had turned out to be a fluke but other than that has been doing great. I was GBS positive and obviously never received antibiotics, but her cultures came back negative (probably b/c my water broke so close to the time of birth).
While I certainly never imagined this birth would happen this way and absolutely couldn't have planned it to happen this way, I'm actually extremely satisfied with my birth experience. I am incredibly thrilled I was able to do this naturally and without any interventions, that my husband was able to catch and cut the cord, that I didn't need to go into the hospital early to have antibiotics, that my daughter is happy and healthy, that there were no complications, and that my mother was here to take care of Nicholas. I feel like one of the luckiest people in the world right now.
Here we are. One year later at the scene of the crime.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
First Party
This weekend we had Alexa's first birthday party. I called it "preppy in pink" and had so much fun planning it these last 6 months. So, while a few details didn't turn out exactly as I'd hoped, such as Konditormeister deciding that 'hot pink' was actually purple, overall it was nearly perfect with Alexa in her polo dress, custom hat with maribou, the grosgrain ribbon belts and grosgrain ribbon headbands with the most perfect ribbon tote bags ever for favors, and of course the to-die-for chocolate champagne mousse cake.
I think Alexa enjoyed herself as well. At least up until we lit the cake and starting singing 'happy birthday' to her. I know that Nicholas and Enzo especially enjoyed playing with their new belts and the extra headbands I had made.
Thanks everyone for sharing Alexa's special day with us.
For more pictures of the party check them out here.
I think Alexa enjoyed herself as well. At least up until we lit the cake and starting singing 'happy birthday' to her. I know that Nicholas and Enzo especially enjoyed playing with their new belts and the extra headbands I had made.
Thanks everyone for sharing Alexa's special day with us.
For more pictures of the party check them out here.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Who can resist her?
On Sunday we attended a portrait party held by the very talented Helen Makadia at Lynch Park in Beverly, MA. It was beautiful out and Helen got some amazing shots. Here are a few sneak peeks from her blog.
And if you'll notice, if you go to Helen's home webpage, Alexa's photo (below) is featured. Who can resist this face?
And if you'll notice, if you go to Helen's home webpage, Alexa's photo (below) is featured. Who can resist this face?
Drumlin Farm
This past Saturday morning one of Nicholas's old classmates celebrated her 3rd birthday. The party was at Drumlin_Farm, a wildlife sanctuary, in Lincoln. The birthday girls mom was so creative and made her 10am-noon timeslot into a breakfast celebration with bagels, juice and fruit salad. No one loves juice more than Nicholas. After breakfast, the kids toured the farm with their guide Ally and learned all about the animals on the farm.
Here they are gathering for the tour and putting on their 'listening ears'.
This is a solar panel of a moving statue of birds. Nicholas wasn't too interested in learnign about solar power (sorry Andra) but he was mezmorized by the big black spider just underneath it. I could have gone without seeing the spider. He was too big and ugly for my liking.
Nicholas wasn't too sure about the owl wings. 
He did enjoy petting the sheep. 
Nicholas and the birthday girl wanted to play with the pigs.
He wasn't too keen on the chickens. For some reason he pulled me out of the chicken house pretty quick.
After the tour we headed back to the Pond House for cupcakes. I don't think Nicholas liked waiting until after we sang happy Birthday to eat his cupcake.
"Smiling" for the camera.
Here they are gathering for the tour and putting on their 'listening ears'.
This is a solar panel of a moving statue of birds. Nicholas wasn't too interested in learnign about solar power (sorry Andra) but he was mezmorized by the big black spider just underneath it. I could have gone without seeing the spider. He was too big and ugly for my liking.
Nicholas wasn't too sure about the owl wings. 
He did enjoy petting the sheep. 
Nicholas and the birthday girl wanted to play with the pigs. 
He wasn't too keen on the chickens. For some reason he pulled me out of the chicken house pretty quick. 
After the tour we headed back to the Pond House for cupcakes. I don't think Nicholas liked waiting until after we sang happy Birthday to eat his cupcake.
"Smiling" for the camera.
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