manda's blog

2011 Christmas season, part 2

2012-01-26T19:35:00.001-07:00

{part 1 is HERE}

I spent most of Christmas Eve at the hospital, where it was very quiet -- different from the way that day often is. I love that our new baby was with me every minute, night and day. I walked around several times, slowly but with little pain thanks to the Percocet and Ibuprofen I was taking after the surgery. Some people dislike hospital food, but I enjoyed every meal, plus the fact that someone delivered them to me! Lunch was a tuna sandwich, soup, carrot and pickle, and a cookie. Yes, I wanted to take a picture of it.

My husband and I went with baby C to have her hearing tested, which was one of the things we had to do before we could be discharged from the hospital. (Hmm, it could have been interesting to have a photo of that. Oh well.) He left to get the girls from Nana's and do some errands. Meanwhile I took care of the baby, rested, read from the booklet about caring for my newborn and myself, took a few photos, and used our laptop while listening to peaceful Christmas songs.

Here's a funny and upsetting story. While I was sitting on the bed nursing C and my husband was taking all of our stuff to the car so we could go home, two-and-a-half-year-old L said something about the potty. I certainly couldn't get off the bed quickly enough or I would hurt myself. She stood there and peed instead of going into the bathroom like I was telling her to do (not that she can get on the toilet by herself anyway). Before my husband returned I took off L's wet clothes and did my best to clean her off. Any extra undies and pants we had with us were now in the van! My husband was not happy that she had done that. We just wanted to leave. We put a baby blanket around her like a skirt and tied it with the sash from my robe that I was wearing over my clothes.

I think Shboogoo liked these flowers that were on a desk even better than the girly Christmas tree that you see in the background.

So we left after 5 PM. I was glad it wasn't super cold outside. I told my husband that I had a prescription for more Percocet. We hadn't though about me needing to take more soon (every four hours). He turned around and went back to the hospital. Of course it was Christmas Eve, but I was surprised that their pharmacy was already closed. They were nice enough to give him information for the two Walgreens stores in our area that were open 24/7 over the holiday weekend, so we were able to get my meds.

After taking me and C home, he and the older girls joined everyone (it was just five other people) at my mom's house for a nice dinner and gifts. I didn't feel like going over because I needed rest. Here are two pictures I got from my sister's camera.

Then at about 8:30 they all came over to see me and C. My brother and brother-in-law had not met her yet. That's my brother in the photo below. I opened presents from my mom and got to see the girls open a few more things from her. She loved the big Book of Mormon-related book my sister and I gave her because it was the one she specifically wanted us to get her for Christmas. :o) We exchanged our sibling gifts. The best part about that was that my sister and I had bought each other $20 gift cards to the same clothing store!

Christmas morning was fun but we were pretty tired. We had been too tired Christmas Eve to get anything set up under the tree. I don't think Shboogoo and L woke up any earlier than usual, thank goodness. We made them stay in their room while we wrapped their presents (not very many, mostly books), brought out the big one (a cardboard house that they could color and play in), and stuffed their stockings. We also had breakfast before going over to the tree. My husband made waffles, which we don't have very often. We gave the girls new Christmas cups to drink from.

I made the headband and poinsettia hair clip she wore.

Around 10 AM my husband and the big girls went to Papa's house, my Dad's house, and my husband's mom's house. What a busy day for my husband! When they came back home after 9 PM the first thing Shboogoo said was, "Where's [C]?" :o)

I loved being home alone all day with my newborn, watching some shows on Netflix that were Sunday-ish, including a documentary about Mother Theresa. My dad and youngest brother came over after their church meetings, and my dad held C while I had my first shower since her birth. After that, Angie and Todd came to meet her before going to my Dad's. We enjoyed visiting for quite a while. She is pregnant with their first baby and they are really excited about it.

my third birth story

2012-01-20T09:10:00.002-07:00

When does this story begin? The way a birthing time begins and the point at which a woman says, "that's when it started" seems to vary. With our third baby my birthing time felt both longer and shorter than the approximately thirty hours I experienced with each of our other children before their Cesarean births. This time it was longer because of prodromal labor. One evening I felt mildly uncomfortable pressure waves (contractions) that required my attention, instead of Braxton Hicks. They started ten days before Third Girl was born and seemed to be more noticeable each day from about 5 PM on. Sometimes they were ten minutes apart or closer; then they would space out in the morning. There was no reason to tell anyone that anything was happening, because it was not consistent, I have a history of slow dilation, and we planned to not go to the hospital until pressure waves were three minutes apart. After a couple of days my husband or I did tell a few people that I was having a lot more contractions, but we also told them not to get excited yet. We had plans for the Christmas weekend. As it got closer I hoped I would not still be pregnant then, partly because my sleep was getting interrupted so much.

My mom came to take care of our older girls while we went to our last Hypnobabies class. This was nine days after the pressure waves had become more serious and at least five days after I felt that the baby had dropped lower into my pelvis. I didn't lose my mucus plug or anything, but I was pretty sure that she would be born before the due date. We spent class time pretending that each wife was having pressure waves and she and her husband practiced various techniques and positions to help her through them. The difference was that I really was having pressure waves.

The next morning I took a long shower before the kids woke up, and our four-person family went to my scheduled midwife appointment at 11:20. I hadn't met this midwife before. She was really good. I told her I thought I was in labor because the contractions forced me to stop was I was doing, and for almost the last hour they had been coming every eight minutes. I was able to relax well as she gently checked my cervix. She asked me to guess how far dilated I was, and I said, "Oh, two?" She said, "You're at five, no, I'll say six centimeters." I said, almost crying, "That makes me really happy."

I was also fully effaced and the baby was at a 0 or +1 station! I felt even more confident about having a vaginal birth. We were definitely surprised to hear her say six cm, since I had never been dilated that far before. (With our other two babies I was at two or three cm when we arrived at the hospital, and eventually progressed to four or five. This time, we don't know how long my body took to get six cm dilated, because I chose not to have my cervix checked at previous appointments. That's why this birthing time felt shorter; I didn't have anybody checking on my progress during the first part of it.)

We got ready to leave the clinic and the midwife congratulated me. "I think you're going to have your VBAC. You're going to have your baby today!" She said it was up to us whether to go right to the hospital or to go home first. She thought things could happen fast and recommended that if we go home to get our bags we shouldn't "dilly dally." She called the hospital to tell them we would be coming.

We headed for home since we knew it would be more peaceful and pleasant there. (Plus it takes less than half an hour to drive from our home to the hospital.) In the car I called our doula -- the same one who helped us with our first baby's birth. She was excited to hear the news, and she agreed that we should go home.

My mother-in-law came and got our other children. Without them at home my husband and I felt like we were on a date, even though we weren't always together. At first I didn't need him during pressure waves. He spent a lot of the day watching the news and using his computer. I ate whatever I wanted and made sure to drink a lot of water as well as some Powerade. Throughout the day I listened to several Hypnobabies tracks on my iPod. I put more things in our suitcase to take to the hospital, did some housework, and walked on the treadmill for half an hour. I also took a nap. It was so nice and quiet.

I timed most of the pressure waves, using an app on my husband's phone. They weren't real close together -- usually six to eight minutes apart, I think. During pressure waves I used deep relaxation and other Hypnobabies tools I had practiced each day for five weeks. I'm really glad we took the course because it made a difference. I felt best being vertical and leaning forward. (Lying down was more painful.) Depending on where I was I either straddled the birth ball and rested my arms and head on a stack of pillows on top of our bed, or leaned on a piece of furniture or a wall.

As the pressure waves started to get harder for me I liked to have my husband come over so I could put my arms around his neck and feel his arms around me. We had decided ahead of time that I would just say "wave" to let him know when one was starting. My exhalations turned into louder "ohhh" sounds during the peaks of the pressure waves. At 7:55 PM I told him I felt like we should go to the hospital, and he called our doula to have her meet us there. I just felt a little different, with more pressure (sometimes pain) by my tailbone and a little nausea. Even though the pressure waves weren't really consistent or closer together, they were lasting for a minute or longer.

We arrived at the hospital about 9 PM. I had to have a nurse assess me before admitting me. She told me to put the gown on but I said I would rather wear my own clothes, and she was okay with that. She put a fetal monitor on my belly. It immediately showed decelerations in the baby's heart rate (the same thing happened to our other daughters). At 9:15 the nurse checked me and found that I was dilated six to seven cm.

We went up to a labor and delivery room. We had requested the room with the best tub, but the staff suggested that we be in the room closest to the operating suites. I changed into just a shift (like a full-length slip) with a short-sleeved maternity shirt over it. The nurse put in an IV. There was talk of releasing the bag of waters to help things along. It could let the baby's head move further down the birth canal and also we would be able to place an internal monitor on her head to better track her heart rate, which the staff was pretty nervous about. The attending physician came in and met us at 9:40 and talked with us. This was probably when he said he thought the baby wouldn't be able to handle the labor, which would likely take at least four more hours to dilate fully, and the pushing that would take maybe two hours or more (since I have never pushed a baby out).

There are a lot of details that I don't remember but our doula had written them down. Labs were drawn on me at 9:50 and I felt shaky. My husband and I wanted to wait for the midwife (another one I had never met) to come, but after talking with our doula we decided to release the bag of waters to help the baby move down and encourage dilation.

At 9:55 the doctor released the bag of waters. I do remember that, because it seemed like he was in there for a long time, and it hurt! There was meconium and some light bleeding. Someone had me lie on my right side to try to relieve pressure that might have been on the umbilical cord. I had ear buds in with a relaxation script playing, and our doula provided comfort with massage.

Our midwife arrived at 10:10. Now when the baby's heart rate decelerated it sometimes got as low as the 50s before coming back up to normal. With my doula's help I moved to hands and knees position, again to avoid pressure on the cord. At 10:20 my husband discussed my preferences with our midwife and asked for me to be given every possibility to give birth vaginally, because it seemed that from the moment the doctor arrived he was preparing for a Cesarean birth.

At 10:35 I stood by the bed; I didn't always know how I wanted to be, but I did not want to be on the bed anymore. Now some of the decelerations were happening even when there wasn't a pressure wave, and some dropped into the 40s. My husband offered me sips of water, and I put my arms around his neck during pressure waves, which were coming anywhere from three to thirteen minutes apart. I felt really hot, so my doula and midwife helped me get my shirt over the I.V. cords so I could take it off and wear the shift only. I also put my hair in a ponytail and they turned a fan on.

I sat on the birth ball for a little while. My midwife was in the room when the doctor returned at 11:00 and said he felt "absolutely obligated to do a Cesarean." My husband continued talking with the midwife until 11:20. He also talked things over with our doula and requested time alone with her and me. We agreed that we had done everything we could and the baby needed to be born by C-section. When the midwife had checked my cervix for the last time she had said that the dilation was the same and now the baby was transverse. My sweet husband gave me a wonderful Priesthood blessing. Then the anesthesiologist and other women came into the room to prepare me for the surgery.

At 11:55 they had me sit in a wheelchair to go to the operating room. The midwife came, too. The anesthesiologist was very kind as she gave me the spinal epidural, and I enjoyed the numbness that made it feel comfortable to lie on my back. I think my arms were still shaking, as they did during the other Cesareans, but they were in a more comfortable place. I remember warm blankets over my arms, and I remember feeling more calm and happy compared to the disappointment of my first "failed" VBAC. My husband called my mom to tell her that we would have our baby soon. He put on scrubs and a mask and joined me at 12:05 AM.

Our daughter was born at 12:06 AM, only 11 minutes after I entered the operating room, so he got there just in time! She weighed 5 pounds 13 ounces (1 ounce less than Second Girl) and was 18.5 inches long (1.5 inches shorter than both First Girl and Second Girl) with a 35 cm head circumference. She looked like her sisters did as newborns, except she had a lot of dark hair.

Her Apgar scores were 9 and 9. As I found out later, the cord had been tightly around her neck, twice. Also, she pooped in three diapers within ten minutes. Before I could hold her for the first time, she had to have some help in the nursery for about two hours. She had swallowed meconium and she was retracting as she was breathing. My husband went with her and took some pictures and videos, and he came back to room 8 at 12:48, just before I did. Our doula stayed with me while he returned to be with our cute baby in the nursery.

I would have preferred not to have surgery, to be able to feel our baby come out, to be one of the first to hold her. But, knowing that we were doing what our little girl needed, I actually smiled during the operation. I was grateful for the way everyone treated me before, during, and after the birth. They knew what my preferences were and they were patient and respectful. I had no pitocin, and no drugs until the spinal.

The doctor came in later and kindly explained that he thought the need for a Cesarean may be related to the shape of the inside of my pelvis. We don't know about the shape because we have not had x-rays done, but we do know that our little babies are not "too big" to fit through my pelvis. He said he had put stitches, not staples, in my incision so that we could leave the hospital early to spend Christmas morning at home with all our kids.

At 1:30 my husband called my mom again to tell her about her granddaughter. Soon after that, our baby was able to join us, now that she was breathing much better. She learned how to breastfeed pretty quickly and she has been perfectly healthy. We LOVE having this girl in our family!

(two different cameras)

This was so sweet . . . pure adoration.

"BIG sister" shirts

2011 Christmas season, part 1

2012-01-14T23:22:00.000-07:00

My family didn't do a whole lot of Christmas activities this year (because of preparing for baby #3, I suppose). For example, we never went downtown to see the lights, we didn't watch some of our favorite Christmas movies, and we didn't go to any concerts. We didn't do much to serve others besides giving a few non-perishables to the food bank. It's been a while since I participated in a Messiah sing-in, which I would love to do again. However, I want to document the things that we did do.

The girls and I went to with my mom to her ward Christmas party. It was a dinner, the high school Madrigals sang, and in another room children could do a couple of different crafts. I must not have brought a camera with me, but later I got a picture of the Christmas tree (sugar cone covered with cake frosting and candy) that one of our girls made.

On December 3rd my husband was at drill, but the kids and I went to my father-in-law's family party. I enjoyed the drive and talking with my husband's aunt and uncle. The kids were way excited that there was a piñata.

December 6th was my ward Relief Society dinner. I met some sisters that I didn't know before, and I was touched by the program and music about the Savior.

After being frustrated with our pre-lit artificial Christmas tree which we set up soon after Thanksgiving, we got rid of it. On December 8th we finally went out and bought a real tree, using our military discount at Lowe's. We tried and failed at making strings of popcorn and cranberries, but then I made some gingerbread ornaments from an image I found online.

The morning of December 10th was our ward Christmas party. They provided breakfast, entertainment from a funny magician, and sugar cookies.

Sunday, December 11th my husband and I both spoke in sacrament meeting. It's not exactly related to Jesus' birth -- the bishopric asked us to speak about the Sabbath day -- but we like having this opportunity.

I have no idea where my Christmas piano books went! I think I own at least four, and I hope they will show up somewhere. But throughout the season I mostly played/sang the Christmas songs that are in the LDS Children's Songbook. I think the Christmas music the radio stations play is annoying, with the exception of the classical music station. My husband had the great idea to play Christmas songs using the Pandora app on our TV. The girls and I also enjoyed reading the Christmas children's books that we own, plus a few that their daddy checked out at the library.

video: performing Jingle Bells

2012-01-08T22:16:00.001-07:00

baby #3 update: 40 weeks

2012-01-05T06:00:00.000-07:00

36.5 weeks {veins -- I think pregnancy is absolutely amazing!}:

At 39 weeks I was having more serious pressure waves (a.k.a. contractions) and did not feel like taking a picture. We also had our sixth and final Hypnobabies class that night. I'm a little bummed that we didn't get any photos of our hands (mine, my husband's, and our girls') on my belly.

Last week was 40 weeks (December 28th, the earlier due date):

It's hard to tell from this photo that the shirt is pink. It is seriously adorable, and I found it at D.I.!

The two people who voted in my poll that Third Girl would be born before December 27 were correct! She was ready before Christmas and she was our favorite gift! She weighed 5 lbs 13 oz and was 18.5 inches long. I am working on writing her birth story.

five years old

2011-12-29T20:58:00.000-07:00

Here's Shboogoo in September, two months before the birthday. She had decided in June that she wanted a unicorn cake we had looked at online, and she thought I should start making it then so it would be ready in time. She kept asking me to point to her birthday on the calendar, and excitedly saying things like, "I can't wait until my birthday!" and "Can you believe I'm going to be five?"

And in November, before her birthday:

(The day of the Primary program at church -- this is her second year in Primary)

Some of the things she enjoys at this age:

drawing
singing and making up little songs; she has a beautiful singing voice
pretending, almost always with her sister, and this often involves dancing or singing on an imaginary stage, or her being her sister's mother, or they are characters from TV shows
books
copying down words that she sees, and she can read some
saying the prayer at pretty much every meal
taking pictures with our camera
Curious George -- currently almost the only show she wants to watch
the color pink (her favorites used to be purple and blue and white and green and pink)

I had to get a picture of Shboogoo on her birthday close to the minute she was born. The shirt was one of our gifts to her, and she absolutely loves it.

She had fun playing with Play-Doh that morning.

Here are the pictures from her unicorn birthday party. By the way, I ended up procrastinating the cake idea, so instead I made cupcakes with unicorn toppers. We ate lunch; played Musical Chairs, Unicorn Unicorn Horse (just like Duck Duck Goose -- my friend's idea) and Pin the Horn on the Unicorn; and the birthday girl opened presents. By the way, the big soft pink unicorn I found at a grocery store is better than a Pillow Pet and cost half as much!

One friend who came and played is not pictured. I wrote "noon to 2" on the invitation and her parents, who only speak Spanish, thought the party began at 2. When her mom brought her over everyone else had already left. :( We missed the girls from our previous two neighborhoods; they were not able to come.

These are the pictures of her family birthday celebrations:

Thankgivings and 50th anniversary dinner

2011-12-06T11:12:00.000-07:00

We had a bunch of fun gatherings on five consecutive days including Thanksgiving Day. There were four separate Thanksgiving dinners, our daughter's birthday party (there will be another blog post for that), AND my mother-in-law's foster parents' 50th wedding anniversary dinner. We have many many people in our lives that we are grateful for.

Thanksgiving #1 was with my mother-in-law's roommate's family. My husband and the girls went to it while I was at Hypnobabies class (my husband came to the first half-hour of class). We have no photos of it, but he said there were about 60 people, and our children had a blast playing with all of the other children and the toys set up in the basement.

Thanksgiving #2, my mom's house -- So nice and relaxing with just Mom, my brother, and my little family. I made the same side dish for this and Thanksgiving #3 -- Spiced Sweet Potatoes with Apple and Kale -- and I am in love with it. The food my mom made tasted really good, too, of course.

The spiced sweet potatoes bake while all the other ingredients cook, and then you combine everything in a bowl. It's amazing how much the kale shrinks down. First it overfilled the pan, then it was small like in the top right photo.

Thanksgiving #3, my dad's house -- Dad, step-mom, 6 siblings including me, three spouses (the husbands of the pregnant mamas), five kids, two friends, and three dogs. It was the first Thanksgiving since my step-mom's mom passed away.

Everyone but the friends Megan and Tyler.

Yummy pumpkin soup!

My step-sister (same age as me) is expecting her first baby the end of April, my sister's second is due the beginning of April, and my third is due Jan. 2nd! We're going to take another picture together on Christmas if I'm still pregnant.

50th wedding anniversary dinner:

L was very mellow because she had just woken up from a short nap.

It was neat to watch my mother-in-law, especially during the slideshow of the couple's life together. They are wonderful examples of living the gospel.

Thanksgiving #4, my father-in-law's house -- We didn't get a group shot, but everyone was there including "Uncle" Jack and my brother-in-law's new girlfriend. The one missing person was my other brother-in-law, who had to work. I think my husband took this first picture.

this autumn

2011-11-30T23:11:00.000-07:00

Autumn, coming-to-a-close autumn, is probably my favorite season. Enjoy some photos of the great outdoors!

The beginning of the season: Our family photo shoot.

October 4: A walk -- just us girls.

Oct 15: Family walk/hike in a canyon -- we had hoped to see more vibrant fall colors, but it was fun anyway.

November 5: Our kids loved just walking -- and hugging -- in the snow.

And here are beautiful leaves I was able to capture mid-November. I hope you enjoyed autumn, too!

Scripture Sunday: Mosiah 18:11

2011-11-27T20:02:00.000-07:00

I am thankful for the Book of Mormon and the way I feel when I study and ponder its words that testify of Christ. Latter-day Saints are often reminded of verses 8 through 10 in Mosiah. Alma is teaching a group of people before baptizing them, so the verses are also known as the baptismal covenant:

8 And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;
9 Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life—
10 Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you?

And then, when teaching a lesson in church, we usually stop there. However, verse 11 is my favorite one in the chapter!

And now when the people had heard these words, they clapped their hands for joy, and exclaimed: This is the desire of our hearts.

I love to see the word "joy" in the scriptures. These people (Mosiah 18:16 says that about 204 were baptized) wanted to bear each other's burdens and do all of the other things that Alma described. They understood that being baptized is a beginning. They clapped their hands for joy because they wanted to serve God and have his Spirit with them. They are great examples to me.

baby #3 update: 34 weeks

2011-11-15T12:54:00.000-07:00

Look how much rounder my bump has become just since my last pregnancy update! It will be fun to see how big this baby is compared to her sisters, whose birth weights were only a few ounces different. This pregnancy I am eating better and taking different vitamins.

Weight gain since last update: 7 pounds -- an average of a pound a week, like I said
Total weight gain so far: 15 pounds (over about a 14-week period)
Measurement around my waist at belly button height (I have wondered about this in the past, maybe because of the guessing game I've played at baby showers): 37" at 32 weeks, and still 37" at 34 weeks. The measurement around my torso above the top of my uterus is 30".
The baby was breech (we found the heartbeat at the top, not down by my pelvis) three weeks ago but head-down last week. I love feeling her move, even though as I am getting bigger I find it a little harder to breathe and do other things. Also, I'm definitely having practice contractions throughout the day -- sometimes more than one in an hour.

Time is really going by fast! Do you realize Christmas is less than six weeks away? I'm glad we at least have some time to finish getting things ready for the baby and take care of Shboogoo's birthday, Christmas shopping, etc. I do complain to my husband that I still have weeks of being uncomfortable! On the other hand, I feel really good most of the time.

Since my last update I finished reading Ina May's Guide to Childbirth and started her book that came out this year: Birth Matters. I have had appointments with midwives C and P, and also met 5 of the other midwives the day they answered questions and did a tour of labor and delivery at the hospital. My husband and I really like the midwives and the hospital and feel good about birthing there. We love the midwifery model of care and the fact that our midwives don't do certain things routinely, only when necessary.

I am so glad that I have been going to monthly ICAN support group meetings since September. I am thankful that my local group leader, who is not currently pregnant, started having meetings a few months ago. It's helped me a lot to talk with other cesarean mamas who would like to VBAC (and one who has). Three of them have military (Army Reserve or Army National Guard) husbands as well.

The Hypnobabies classes my husband and I will participate in start this week (yay!) and end before Christmas. There are great videos and stories online of moms who used Hypnobabies during their labors.

Here is a recent picture of me that actually shows my head.

2 years and 4 months

2011-11-05T07:00:00.000-06:00

I have not written about only L since she turned two, so here is an update. A lot of the pictures in this post show her at 27 months old, during our September 22nd professional family photo shoot. In the others (not taken at the park) she was closer to 28 months old.

The biggest accomplishment is that she is potty trained! I decided that starting June 6th she would not wear any diapers (and no Pull-ups, but we do have her sleep in cloth training pants that I made, just in case). It was a don't-do-anything-but-focus-on-your-child program for three days. She was still having accidents after the three days. It took probably two months for the idea to fully sink in so that she tells me every time she needs to go potty, but it's been a very long time since she had a #2 accident. She stays dry during naps and is dry in the morning about 95% of the time.

Her speech has really improved in the last four months.

When she wants to get on my lap she says "On lap. On lap."
Whenever I do something that her dad has done with her, she says "Daddy does that."
She asks me to "Ope dat, Mommy," or if it's a door she says, "Ope doy."
When she is done eating she says, "Bib off me."
She had her Ken doll on my leg, then made him fall off and said, "Help my Bawbie, mommy!"
When she wants a light on but can't reach it she says, "On light. Too high."
When she wants to go in our room she says, "In Daddy Mommy's room."
When someone is asleep, she whispers, "Not too loud."
She can pray at bedtime, with her dad helping her one word at a time.

One day we were looking at some pictures and I told her that I had been pregnant with her then. She pointed to a picture and asked, "Me in the belly?" She's good at giving her baby sister a kiss by touching her lips to my belly (without the kiss sound). In a higher-than-normal tone she says, "nine-y nine-y toes," meaning that the baby will have tiny toes. It's pretty funny when she touches my belly and says "lellow baby" or "blue baby" -- whatever color of shirt I am wearing. This was very sweet yesterday: "Me love baby. Meet meet meet her. Me meet her."

She does that a lot: repeats the first word in a sentence. This week she was holding a soft toy chipmunk and said, "Love love my pet" and "pet pet him." She also said, "Wah-duh wah-duh [water] in."

L opens my small wallet and pretends it is her laptop computer. The side that has clear plastic to let the driver license show is the monitor. "My pudduh [computer]! Nine-y pudduh . . . Wall ut [wallet]."

She still sucks her left thumb, often accompanied by her right hand stroking her hair. It's not just when she is about to go to sleep. About half the time when I pull her thumb out of her mouth she leaves it out. She has also started to put several fingers in her mouth at a time. I will be happy when she breaks these habits.

She loves it when we read books to her, and sometimes she comes to me with a book and demands that I read it. One time she said, "Read that monkey book!" She's great at paying attention during story and craft time at the library.

She likes to say, "Your bed up dere, [her sister's name]." She follows her sister's lead when they pretend together. Usually they take care of "pets" or "babies" or pretend that they themselves are puppies or that Shboogoo is L's mom. They have their house be one of our walk-in-closets or just the space underneath our desk or coffee table. Maybe I've mentioned this before, but I love that L recognizes many of the letters of the alphabet, and it's probably due to her big sister teaching her.

She has started being picky with her clothes. These pink Airwalk shoes are definitely her favorite pair of shoes. "Want pink woos." If I mention socks, she almost always doesn't want them: "Out yocks [without socks]!"

Some days I get her ready for a nap, put her in bed and then she tells me, "No leep." Most days she does nap -- if it's not in bed, she falls asleep on the couch or we go for a drive. One day she was in my room with me and actually grabbed my robe from my bed, laid down on the floor and went to sleep (that's the second photo above).

She has said that she loves both red and pink, but apparently purple is still her favorite color. She frequently says "Me love purple. You love blue" (I'm not sure why she thinks I love blue). She randomly talks about purple. For example: L, do you want that kind of cereal? "Me purple Grape Nuts." Somebody mentions an animal, let's say a giraffe, and she says, "Me purple toy raffe." I asked her if I should put the purple sheet on her bed and she got excited: "Yeah, match my purple nightgown!"

She likes to build towers. It was cute seeing her arrange the cans I had just bought.

Why not end with a silly smile. Her molars came in, so she has all 20 baby teeth now.

September 16-30

2011-10-17T17:05:00.000-06:00

Here's my husband holding my sister's son during his first birthday party.

In September it was my birthday, too -- my thirtieth! That morning the kids slept in, which is always nice. I picked up my brother from the clinic where he has his blood drawn regularly. He has bipolar disorder and doesn't drive; my mom drops him off on her way to work. The girls were happy to have him watch a Rugrats episode with them (see photo). He really loves his nieces and nephews. He had asked me to take him to F.Y.E., so I did that and then drove him home to our mom's house.

The other good things were my spur-of-the-moment decision to explore the big downtown library with the girls, my workout some time after that, and hearing Shboogoo tell people it was her mommy's birthday..In the evening my mom babysat while my husband and I had a delicious dinner at a Mexican restaurant he had not been to before (I went there once, ten or eleven years ago). A few days later my family went to a buffet restaurant with my sister's family and our mom and brother. It was to celebrate two birthdays: mine and my brother-in-law's are a day apart. My mom gave me a CD I wanted, my sister gave me a cute maternity shirt, my dad and step-mom gave me money, and my husband gave me new scriptures (the others were the only set I had ever had and they were actually falling apart!).

The man who offered to take our picture was kind of impatient, so we didn't have him take another. :)

Shboogoo made this tower and wanted me to take a picture of it -- a picture without people. In the background you can see part of the organizer we got at Costco; I love it.

At the park. The little one did NOT want to swing because she hated sand getting her shoes. Luckily she had a sucker from the bank.

There was an event at the library to teach about owls. I'm really glad we went. I was proud of Shboogoo for going up to one of the ladies afterward, like a few other children did, to ask a question about owls. I'm happy that she isn't shy like I was at that age.

That creation on the table was a birthday cake because we were having a party for the two bears.

Two sisters (the older one hid from the camera) were at our place along with my friend who is their mom. Then the girl in stripes knocked on our door and wanted to play. After I took this picture yet another friend from the neighborhood came over. They had not all played together at the same time before.

On September 30th we really enjoyed my husband's LDS mission reunion (the first one we had been to in seven years), while our kids enjoyed sleeping over at Grandma's house. Life is good!

September 1-15

2011-10-16T09:13:00.000-06:00

Both of our girls love to play with this friend who lives right above us. There's something special about toys that aren't your own.

The way L walked over this was funny. The girls and I like to walk by the creek to look for the ducks. One day I asked L if we should go home. She said, "No go home. Ducks. Baby ducks."

This is my favorite tree near our home.

Nursery on Sept. 4 -- this must have been at the very end, since it doesn't look like any other toys were out. We have fun watching our daughter play, clean up, listen to the songs, etc. (nursery is our calling in the ward).

That same Sunday, the day before Labor Day, some of us had dinner at my dad and step-mom's house. (There are 7 kids but only my younger sister and I and our little families came over.) We celebrated our brother's 13th birthday a little early.

Labor Day with my in-laws at Lava Hot Springs (we didn't take pictures of us four adults):

Some of our favorite friends came over and had dinner with us.

We love these fountains, where we had a play date with three other moms in the ward (not pictured). Their kids are each two or younger, and weren't all over the place like my four-and-a-half-year-old was, but I still got to chat with the moms.

I got this infant car seat at a yard sale for $20. That same week we found all the things below at Kid to Kid. I love premie / 5-8 pound clothing. It's just so tiny! Our babies have needed it because they have been about 6 pounds at birth. Maybe this baby will be about

the same size. (My husband was so cute the other day; he said, "I wanna meet her.")

Playing Metroid.

She did something she shouldn't have, so we made her clean it.

See my earrings at the bottom? She likes to hang things from lamps.

On our way to play with another friend.

I made laundry soap (see instructions HERE), and it will save us a lot of money. The only thing we didn't already have was the Borax.

baby #3 update: 27 weeks

2011-09-27T16:14:00.002-06:00

I am 27 and a half weeks pregnant. My womb and my womb-mate are growing and measuring right on. I like to refer the prenatal development chart in one of my university textbooks. It says that Third Girl should now be about 14 inches long and weigh almost 2 pounds, with eyes that can open and close. I have gained 8 pounds (two of those in the last four weeks, and six in the four weeks before that). I don't remember how my weight gain was with the other pregnancies besides the total number of pounds, but it would probably be good if I gain about a pound or more per week until this baby is born. I wrote before that I was exercising most days. Since then, it's become closer to two or three days a week because . . . well, I think I have more days when I am just not in the mood to work out. It's more likely to happen if I do it in the morning, and it is easier and more enjoyable to read a book while walking on the treadmill than to do my 40-minute prenatal strength training DVD.

I'm grateful that I have not been having any nausea (since about 14 weeks), heartburn, constipation, swelling, varicose veins, stretch marks (I have never gotten any), calf cramps, etc. I remember that several times during my first pregnancy I had to jump out of bed in the middle of the night to stand up because of the sudden pain in my calf. I haven't had strong food cravings or aversions. A few times during this pregnancy I have craved Mexican food or stuff from the olive bar at the grocery store. I have also been really enjoying green salads, berries, and Healthy Choice fudge bars, but I wouldn't call those cravings.

Sometimes I do:

feel a little uncomfortable or back-achy by about 9 p.m. or earlier (stretching, walking around, or lying down can help)
get a headache
have a hard time falling asleep again after getting up to use the bathroom (or if one of our many apartment neighbors is noisy and wakes me up)
have trouble breathing through my nose -- the last few days I have been more congested and blowing my nose, but it seems that we all have minor colds.

Also, I wrote that I don't want to be in a hospital for this baby's birth and that I have been seeing midwives at a birth center. I love the idea of being in labor without having to continually meet and be observed by new nurses and others who come in the room without warning. I feel that a woman in labor is not a "patient" and most of the time doesn't need a hospital (read the preface of this birth story). What do statistics mean to one individual, anyway?

Although I still would prefer to give birth in a birth center or at home, my husband and I know that unfortunately our insurance will not cover any of the delivery cost unless the care provider is a Certified Nurse-Midwife or obstetrician. The women at the birth center I have been going to are a different type of midwife, which means we would have to pay for the entire cost out of our own pockets. The one or two CNMs here who do out-of-hospital births are already booked. It is frustrating and makes no sense to me that our insurance would not reimburse us for any of the less-than-$3,000 cost (while they have covered each of my $10,000 c-sections). But my goal is to have a natural vaginal birth, and that can happen in a hospital. So I called my doula for advice, and we switched to CNMs. My doula didn't hesitate when answering my question about which hospital she thinks would be best for me personally (she is the same doula I had in 2006). Last week was my first appointment with one of the midwives at the clinic near that hospital. They are very supportive of birth without drugs or medical interventions and they are very pro-VBAC. The hospital has the lowest epidural rate in the state and is "Baby-friendly" (I was not aware of this before and I think it's fantastic!). My husband and I both really like this midwife and are confident that the others in the practice are excellent, too. She recommended a certain Webster Certified chiropractor -- someone trained to work specifically with pelvic balance in pregnancy -- actually the very same chiropractor I already starting seeing for adjustments. It will be helpful to the midwives to have a copy of my records from my last birth and from the birth center, and I am looking forward to receiving my own copy. (FYI, you can simply go in and get your own medical records for free.) I've been told it is hard to overcome "the failure to progress scenario", but we are thinking positively.

I have spent and continue to spend many hours studying the normal process of labor -- the way women's (and babies') bodies were designed for babies to come out. I'm re-reading the book Ina May's Guide to Childbirth. I cannot recommend it enough. I also have learned a lot from the films The Business of Being Born and Orgasmic Birth (Don't avoid this just because of the title. The idea is that giving birth can be a good and enjoyable experience. There is a shorter version called Organic Birth.), and about 5-10 facebook groups including the one for Birth Without Fear.

Why do I want to stay at home until I am in active labor? Why don't I want an epidural or something? The mind and the body are closely connected. For me and my baby, I want to let the natural hormones of labor flow. I want to have a comfortable environment with as much freedom and privacy as possible, and minimal interruptions and interventions. From Orgasmic Birth:

The pain down here gets sent up to the brain, the brain releases hormones which go down here to the uterus and tell the uterus what to do or not to do. And if you take away the pain, the whole normal physiology is gone (Marsden Wagner, M.D.).

[M]any of the interventions that are commonly used in maternity care today will reduce the release of these hormones in a laboring woman’s body and make her birth less ecstatic, less pleasurable, and actually less safe for herself and her baby (Sarah Buckley, M.D.).

What if you numbed your feet and then you were supposed to walk down a highway? You'd have difficulty walking down the highway. . . . If your birth canal is numb, it doesn't work the same way (Christiane Northrup, M.D.).

Besides the change of providers, there is something else that has changed. Unless another idea comes to us, we chose Third Girl's name! We will give her both a first name and a middle name, like our other kids have. As always, nobody but my husband and I will know the name until the baby is born. Sometimes when we leave my mom's place, she says to my belly, "What's your name?" or "Goodbye, Gertrude. :o)

Finally, some photos:

I had fun comparing some photos of my bump during the last pregnancy and this one. (We really didn't do any belly profile pictures during my first pregnancy, except for a photo shoot my friend Anne did about 2 months before my due date). My mom's neighbor was surprised that this baby is a girl, because just like last time, she thinks I look like I'm carrying a boy. Also, it's definitely impossible at this point to make my abdomen appear non-pregnant. A couple of days ago a cute old man asked me, "Is that a basketball or a watermelon?" I said watermelon, but when I get a moment I try to picture her tiny human body inside of me and express our love for her. I wonder exactly what each movement is. I swear, at least twice she has kicked in response to something I said about her. For example, when I had my hand on my belly and said to the other kids, "I have a big belly with a baby inside," I immediately felt her kick beneath my hand. I'm doing my best to enjoy the next three months with her inside me. We will have plenty of time with her on the outside.

favorite August 2011 photos

2011-09-24T09:04:00.000-06:00

More from this August {I already blogged about the girls' curtains, the day D reenlisted, and the Saturday at the park . . . The pictures of the grownups in our family are in those second two posts}.

L at my chiropractor's office.

Swimming at our old rec center.

Here are about half of us who were at book club

in my friend's gorgeous backyard. We only do

dinner once a year. It was so fun! Our book was

Gift from the Sea and one of the ladies had

picked shells for us when she was at the beach

in Oregon. {I should have taken a posed group

shot, but at least I have this.} The only problem

was that I got sixteen mosquito bites.

I love taking the kids to this library. It is

beautiful outside (they called this "the jungle")

and inside (next two photos).

Shboogoo informed me, "That's the spout the

spider came out."

This is right outside our apartment.

After church, August 14.

Breakfast one morning was steel-cut oats (and

I think I was able to sneak in some walnut

pieces and/or ground flax seed) and fresh

bananas, strawberries, raspberries, and

peaches. I ate the same except that my fruit

was blended with water and spinach in

a green smoothie.

Second time swimming in our pool.

During one of my walks with our girls, we saw

these flowers. They were huge!

Shboogoo set up the mermaid Barbies like this.

They are in better position for push-ups

than the humans are.

Sitting on our patio wall eating lime fruit bars,

probably right after a walk because it was hot

outside by the time we were done. I really

loved the summer season this year!

Saturday at the park

2011-09-15T09:30:00.003-06:00

August 20th was really fun! We took picnic supplies, peanut butter and jam sandwiches, and other food to a park. Across from some grass and a playground area there is a farmers market, so before eating lunch we bought some fruits and vegetables. Our plan, which worked beautifully, was to add a little of that yummy produce to our lunch and take the rest home. We shared a peach and a tomato (plus the Sprite my husband bought, shown below, and the food we had brought).


I don't think the girls realized that they were taking turns smiling.

She will do the downward dog yoga position anywhere.

See what I mean? (This is inside JoAnn a week earlier.)

Poser.

We had brought our large tent in a suitcase, but somehow we didn't bring the poles, so we couldn't set it up. The next week we pitched our two-man tent in our living room and watched half of a movie called Ant Bully while eating our dinner.

Reenlisted.

2011-09-11T22:54:00.000-06:00

Almost a month ago my husband reenlisted in the U.S. Army. It seems appropriate to share this post today, because the terrorist attacks that happened on September 11, 2001 have very much affected our family. My husband probably would have enlisted anyway, for several reasons, but it would be a very different career. It's likely that he never would have been to Iraq or Afghanistan (or Kuwait, Qatar, etc). He also feels that without 9/11 he would be an almost entirely different person than he is today. He loves what he does, and I am so proud of him. We both feel good about the decision to sign a contract for another six years.

Afterward, we ate lunch. Then went to a miniature golf place and played 17 holes with D's mom (we skipped one hole because we were getting tired). It was the girls' second time mini-golfing with me and Grandma, but the first time that Daddy came, too. We only had L hit her ball a few times because she was happy to simply watch everyone else play, and walk onto the areas where she wasn't supposed to be. When we were done an employee took this photo. I like all of the mural walls (you thought this was a real lake, didn't you).

July 2011: holidays, water day, family day, bunkbeds, birthday

2011-09-08T15:17:00.000-06:00

:: INDEPENDENCE DAY ::

On the night of July second I walked with the girls (my husband had to work) to a nearby high school that always hosts fireworks a day or so before Independence Day. We arrived just before the sky started to get dark. There were so many people sitting on the grass by then that it was impossible to get over to where my mom, brother, sister and brother-in-law were, so we just found a place and sat. Shboogoo thought the fireworks were pretty, but the two-year-old absolutely hated them (they definitely were loud, plus the songs were not what I would have chosen), so we left early. It was really late by the time we got home. I was so glad L could fall asleep right away in the stroller. It was kind of far for Shboogoo to walk, especially at that time of night, but we have not bought a double stroller. She was a trooper and even though it was tiring, I think it was a fun adventure for her. If I could rewind to that day, I think we would just stay home.

Here is our family after church on July 3rd. We actually had not planned to have all of us coordinating in red, white and blue, but I did choose L's dress based on Shboogoo's.

On July 4th my mom, the girls and I drove up one of the canyons. We got out of the car and really enjoyed exploring an area that was new to us.

:: WATER DAY ::

Later in the month there was a free Water Day for kids downtown, with this (which made my kids whine and cry because they didn't want to get very wet):

and a train ride that we didn't have the cash for, and bounce houses and face painting we couldn't participate in because they were only allowing the people who were already in line . . . but we did walk around . . .


The poor pigeon must have been hurt. It didn't fly.

And there was this (which really freaked out the little one, so we had to leave).

I decided that before having a real lunch at home we should stop for a little something. We found a delightful cupcake shop.

I read the Fancy Nancy book to them.

:: ANNUAL FAMILY DAY WITH MY HUSBAND'S ARMY UNIT ::

It's too bad that we didn't get other pictures of our friends there.

L was soooo sleepy.

Once we were back home we wanted to take photos that included him and me.

:: PIONEER DAY ::

Just like a few years ago, we spent the evening of Pioneer Day with my husband's mom and her roommate doing fireworks in their street. First was the "snakes":

Then we smiled and laughed a lot as we watched some Pixar shorts.

I ended up taking a nice nap during the fireworks that everyone else enjoyed when it was dark outside. Again, L was not a fan of fireworks, so after a few minutes (?) someone brought her in the house and she slept cuddled up with me until we went home.

:: WE GOT BUNKBEDS AND A MINIVAN! (we feel old) ::

My in-laws were ready for a new bed for their daughter, and they didn't need or want their white minivan anymore. They pretty much gave the bunkbeds and the minivan to us; we paid them $750. What a blessing! (Now we need to sell our truck.) The girls were so excited the day these became ours, because we had been talking about them for a while. I just realized we have not yet taken any pictures of the minivan, but it is nice to have and we will need it once Third Girl arrives.

Our girls and their aunt with one of the beds. Shboogoo and her aunt shared them in spring of 2009.

:: MY BROTHER'S BIRTHDAY LUNCH ::

We went with most of my family to eat at Golden Corral for my little brother's 28th's birthday. My step-mom was there, too, and she took this picture.

Those were the most significant days in July for us. It has been a fun, not-too-scheduled summer.

videos: slow hugs and fast hugs, 2-year-old eating at Subway

2011-08-26T22:09:00.000-06:00

My husband started this thing with the kids called "S l o w hug, fast hug." When one of them hugs him slowly she also has to say it slowly.

One day last week our little family ate lunch at Subway. I am thrilled that I got this of 2-year-old L chewing her sandwich.

our girls' bedroom curtains

2011-08-11T22:17:00.000-06:00

For a while I have been wanting to make curtains for our home, especially for the children's bedroom. I was waiting to find out whether our baby was a boy or a girl, because all three kids will share that bedroom for a few months (once the baby is about 8 weeks old, if she's like her sisters were). If we were going to have a son I didn't want to make the curtains girly.

So the kids I went to ReStore this past weekend to search for rods for the two bedrooms and/or the living room. There was just one that would work, and the woman at the cash register told me I could just have it! It's not real attractive but the plan was to have the top of the curtain cover it up anyway. I was willing to pay a few bucks, but it was free!

The next step was to buy fabric. Shboogoo and I went last night to JoAnn with a 40% off coupon and one of the pillowcases that we needed to coordinate with. Here is what each comforter and pillowcase looks like (Shboogoo was in the bed when I took the picture); the bunkbeds are white wood.

It was hard to pick a fabric (I didn't want it to be too colorful or too pastel, and I didn't want pink), but this green and white floral one was the winner. It cost me less than $7, which means that this whole project cost less than $7.

I had measured the window, but it turns out that I should have bought two cuts of fabric instead of one, because the width that it came in was only 43". The curtains don't cover the whole window, but they will be okay. I washed the fabric, started and finished the project pretty quickly today! I'd never made curtains before but they're just a rectangle, so they're a lot easier than diapers, training pants, and jumpers. It was nice to be able to cut straight lines using the edges of a row of flowers. I folded the sides and bottom edge over just 1/4 inch and sewed with a zigzag stitch. I used lavender thread but that color really isn't noticeable. At the top I folded it toward the back without measuring -- it was maybe two inches but I just picked a row of flowers and pinned it in place. This was for the curtain rod to go through. When I sewed it I also sewed through a pink ribbon (which I had in one of my craft drawers) to add an interesting detail. Finally, I put the rod through the panels, hung it up, and tied wide yellow ribbon on the ends to cover the rod's ugliness. All done! I'm glad our girls' room can be a little darker now when they sleep.

rod before (blurry picture, sorry)

rod after

the first half of my third pregnancy

2011-08-07T22:46:00.000-06:00

I have passed the 20-week mark! To my husband, this pregnancy may feel long because he will be living with me the whole time. Hooray! Because of deployments, he had to miss the first half of my first pregnancy, and the second half of my second pregnancy except for the last few days and the first few days of her life.

I have been feeling good. In July I started going to a chiropractor twice a month to keep my pelvis aligned. Doulas, my midwife, and others recommend chiropractic care because it can help the mom feel more comfortable and help the baby have room to develop and to be in the best position for birth, which can make labor and birth easier. I exercise most days. Some days I walk on our treadmill or outside (I still run but only a little, because the chiropractor said that it might cause or worsen a headache), and the other days I use the Prenatal Fitness Fix DVD I bought in 2006.

My only pregnancy complaint that isn't minor is that I feel more tired. I need more sleep -- sometimes I nap, and I usually sleep eight to nine hours at night, even though I'd like to be able to get up sooner. I had minor ~~morning~~ any-time-of-day sickness in my first trimester but there was only one day when I threw up. It was actual sickness for about 24 hours, accompanied by a bad headache. I only get heartburn when I'm pregnant. Thankfully I've had it a lot less often and less severely during this pregnancy compared to my other pregnancies.

These are the vitamins I am taking and plan to take while breastfeeding (read here to find out why they do not contain any folic acid. I do eat foods that naturally contain folate.):

As you can see below, my uterus has grown, although at my last appointment I still had not gained any weight. We took belly pictures at 10 and 14 weeks, but they must have been on the phone that was stolen when I accidentally left it at the library. Around 14 weeks I heard the baby's heartbeat for the first time, my belly button "popped out," and I started to feel the baby's movements. I feel movements more frequently now, reminding me that there's really a person inside of me! It is amazing.

April 27, 2011: almost 6 weeks pregnant, or

3 or 4 weeks since conception. (I took a test

April 18, just two days after running the

half-marathon, and it said I was not pregnant,

which disappointed me.)


6 weeks pregnant, holding my belly in.

I adore these maternity jeans and

I want to have them on for each

belly picture that we take.

I think I have more than 20 weeks of pregnancy left. {With my first pregnancy, I went into labor on my estimated due date. However, it was at 41 weeks since my l.m.p. After seeing the baby's measurements from the ultrasound, my o.b. moved my due date to a week later. With my second baby, I went into labor 2 days before the due date.} Baby number three is measuring a little small and may be born closer to January 2nd instead of December 27th, according to the ultrasound tech. We had the ultrasound on August 3rd and brought both of our girls with us. Even though it is our third baby, the ultrasound was really cool to see, as the baby bent its leg, moved its arms up by its head, and swallowed amniotic fluid. The heart and all other body parts look normal. The spine is one of my favorite things to see. We also wanted to find out the gender. Scroll down and you will see what it is!

arms (crossed) and face

left arm and hand, face (couldn't capture a profile)

foot and calf

leg, bum, and spine

Girl parts . . . we'll have three girls!
Now we have to settle on a name.

I chose different midwives this time because I don't want to go to a hospital. A new friend of mine has given birth to four children at home, and she gave me a couple of phone numbers. I plan on letting my labor start spontaneously, not leaving home too soon, and giving birth vaginally (a VBA2C, which means vaginal birth after two cesareans) in the beautiful birth center that I go to for my prenatal care. My husband and I are going to attend Hypnobabies classes there starting when I am about 28 weeks pregnant. One of my midwives said I have a good chance of having a VBAC if I can fully relax (hence her Hypnobabies recommendation) and if I use Spinning Babies to encourage the baby to be in the ideal position for birth. I have not done any Hypnobabies (or Hypnobirthing, which is different) before, and I knew about Spinning Babies during my second pregnancy but didn't read or use much of that information. Maybe this daughter will be born in the birth center's nice deep tub. What will we name her? Will she be born in 2011 or 2012? I don't know those answers, but I'm excited.

pictures of home

2011-07-29T19:22:00.001-06:00

Think of all the places you have lived. Isn't it great that you can make anywhere feel like home?

No, I am not going to post pictures of every home I have lived in -- that would be a lot! (It was kind of fun this week that I had the opportunity to drive past where my family lived when I was age 7 to 17, but I didn't take a picture.) Growing up I lived in six homes; we were in my fourth when I started kindergarten.

Then, while attending an out-of-state university, I lived with roommates in two different apartments. I came back to my mom's (and I transferred to a local university) until my wedding day.

My husband and I are in our sixth home:

Tiny 1-bedroom apartment for 11 months
My dad and step-mom's house for 15 months (me, while my husband was in Iraq)
2-bedroom, 2-bathroom condo for 2 years and 7 months
His dad and step-mom's house for 9 months (me and Shboogoo, and then L as well, while my husband was in Afghanistan)
Our first house -- 5 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms -- for 17 months and 10 days (the last 12 months of that my husband was living with us)
2-bedroom, 1.5-bathroom apartment, 200 square feet bigger than the condo

That is a total of fourteen homes in ten cities. Below are my favorite photos of our two most recent homes but mainly the house. We don't have many photos of the apartment yet. We felt a lot of emotions about leaving the house, but not buying it was the right thing to do so that my husband will be able to get a full-time job in any location.

:: WINTER :: We loved looking at the backyard during every season, but we lived in the house for two winters. Being on the east side, we got a lot of gorgeous snow. We often got more inches of snow during a storm than our friends and family did who live in other cities.

I loved those two windows, and the garage.

Deer footprints.


Two neighbors serving me while my hubby was deployed.

Stairs looking down from the door to the
kitchen, and up to the door to the garage.

Looking out from the family room in the finished basement

:: MAIN LEVEL :: I don't think about it a whole lot, but one thing I miss now is that every room in the whole house (except for the storage room) had at least one window.

I love this moment with our girls, but also the quality
of the tile and its diagonal placement.


My husband getting into the attic to work on the swamp cooler.

I loved the bead board, paint, and honeycomb shades.

The 3 bedrooms upstairs each had a mirror on the
back of the door.

This bathroom was nicely updated, and the 3 mirror
cabinets held a lot. My husband installed this new
faucet with the help of a DIY book.

:: OTHER PICTURES ::

Baby blessing day in January 2010.

Late autumn.

We used the thermostat-controlled gas fireplace very frequently.

Part of my craft room. As a surprise for me, my
husband cleaned up the room, bought the lamp,
the chair and a shelf, and upholstered the tables!

Our next-door neighbor mowing the lawn without
telling us he was going to (we always borrowed a
lawnmower from one of the neighbors).

Daffodils! before deer ate them.

Ward members doing our yard work two days before
my husband was home from his deployment.

A tree in our backyard during the spring.

One of the roses in front of the house.

Pretty tulips and a For Sale sign.

:: NEW APARTMENT :: Here are the two pictures we took of it before we moved in. It was built in about 1980 but they recently remodeled.

This looks like tile, but it's nice linoleum.

We are comfortable here in our new place. Among other reasons, I love that it has the perfect spot for my piano, that the bedrooms are big, and that we have a patio (where the kids love to play) and storage room outside. We like the diversity in the apartment complex -- and in the ward, where we serve as nursery workers together. We're uncertain of what our situation will be a year from now, but this is where we should be for now, and it is home.

why I switched to reusable diapers, and why I love them

2011-07-10T22:25:00.002-06:00

some of our cloth diapers hanging on our $2 clothes line

L at 17 days old in a prefold cloth diaper
and PUL (polyurethane laminate)
waterproof cover

For nearly two years, until I started to potty train L, I was a cloth-diapering parent. Our third baby, arriving around the end of December, will also wear cloth.

L almost 4 months old (this is the same cover
as in the first photo -- size small, I think)

My desire to use cloth diapers grew little by little. Before we ever took our first baby swimming I bought her a cloth swim diaper online because the disposable kind are so expensive. We were happy with it. We continued using disposable diapers when Shboogoo was not in a pool. I had heard that there are services people can pay to wash cloth diapers for them. That was the one brief thought I had about cloth diapers. I never imagined that they could be easy for me to wash at home. Plus, disposable diapers were familiar and "normal." Everyone used them.

L at 9 mo. in the reusable swim diaper

I was intrigued by the concept of gDiapers when I saw them on the Ellen show in 2007. I calculated that gDiaper's flushable refills would cost us more than double what were paying for store-brand disposable diapers, so we could not afford them. (gDiapers sells cloth inserts, too, but I'm pretty sure that they didn't at the time.) I think the show mentioned the differences between disposables, gDiapers, and cloth diapers, but I didn't research cloth diapers. I probably assumed they'd be too unpleasant to deal with.

9-month check-up, in a one-size
pocket diaper (I bought three
soon after she was born)

In October 2008 I was pregnant with #2. As I read some friends' blogs, I found links to the Real Diaper Association and Very Baby. I started following Jessica of Very Baby via her blog and twitter. For short definitions of prefold, pocket diaper, etc. I suggest that you read Jessica's page on different diaper styles and her FAQs. Also, a college friend had a link on her blog to All About Cloth Diapers. I read a lot there and came across other blogs on the topic, too. Cloth diapers are so much cooler than they used to be! I wanted to give them a try, and maybe make some, too.

Two of the first Very Basic all-in-one diapers
that I sewed starting when L was almost 11
months old (the flap-style soaker pad
lets the diaper dry faster)

WHY did I want to switch over from disposable to reusable? There is more than one reason. I hated it when my cousin asked, "Do you do it for the environment or for the cost?" Back in 2008-2009, there were probably three main reasons (not necessarily in this order) that I wanted to use cloth. Cloth diapers are better for the earth, can cost less than disposables, and are better for the baby.

L age 11 months, in a small Very Basic
AIO diaper made by her mama!

The Earth. Just in the United States, people throw away 18 billion disposable diapers every year! That means "82,000 tons of plastic a year and 1.3 million tons of wood pulp -- 250,000 trees," according to Donella Meadows, who was a professor of environmental studies at Dartmouth College. "The main problem is the filling of landfills . . . A secondary problem in political minds, a primary one in the minds of environmentalists, is the waste of resources and the trail of pollution at every stage of the manufacture and disposal of the diapers."

What about all the water used to wash cloth diapers? "The manufacture and use of disposable diapers amounts to 2.3 times more water wasted than cloth" (quoted here). I really like this from an article called Diaper Debate: Cloth or Disposable?:

“We don’t throw away our clothes or dishes each week. We wash them,” Dupuy says. “This is the same mentality. Using an energy-efficient washer and air-drying the diapers cuts a lot out of the energy cycle. No extra trips to buy diapers over and over again. No packaging waste.”

Additionally, contaminated, dirty water from the washing machine goes into the sewer system. The water is treated at wastewater plants. Ecologists say that treated wastewater is much more environmentally friendly than dumping untreated, soiled disposable diapers into a landfill.

17 months old, sitting by the clean
cloth diapers I was about to fold
(but sometimes I would simply
toss them in a basket instead
of folding).

Cost. I knew we would spend less on diapers if they were cloth. This site has charts comparing the total cost per diaper change, including washing, for different types of diapers. Even if you adjust Jessica's price comparison which is based on 70 diapers a week, using disposables will cost at least $955.50 to $1528. The lower price is for an average of 49 diaper changes per week for 2.5 years if you pay only $0.15 per diaper (a very good deal). The higher price is for an average of 49 diapers changes per week for 2.5 years at $0.24 per diaper.

I estimate that the grand total we have spent on diapering L is $600. We won't have to buy any diapers for our future children! It cost me about $145 for the 29 diapers that lasted us through the newborn stage and until L was over five months old, and we were able to continue to use the pocket diapers longer because they are size-adjustable with snaps. Our laundering cost (using Jessica's price comparison page again) was maybe $270 because I usually did less than three wash cycles, used them for 2 years instead of 2.5, and I hung the diapers to dry (preferably out in the sunlight) whenever possible. The remainder of the $600 was for supplies, mostly for sewing diapers -- pattern, fabric, elastic, etc. -- and wet bags to put the dirty diapers in. We have a large wet bag to line the dry diaper pail; the other zips closed and is small enough to go in a diaper bag.

The reason I said that reusable diapers can cost less than disposables is that with so many adorable materials and different brands of reusables on the market, some moms buy new diapers for fun, not because their child needs more. However, they can sell their used diapers to get some money back.


L about 20 mo. old; size medium diaper

Better for the Baby. This was a surprise to me and something else to feel good about. Most disposable diapers contain dioxin because it is a by-product of the paper-bleaching process. "Dioxin in various forms has been shown to cause cancer, birth defects, liver damage, and skin diseases" (EPA, "Integrated Risk Assessment for Dioxins and Furans from Chlorine Bleaching in Pulp and Paper Mills" -- referenced here). Unlike disposables, cloth diapers don't contain Tributyl-tin (TBT) - "a toxic pollutant known to cause hormonal problems in humans and animals" (more information here).

Our cloth diaper stash, part 1. Seven of the

9 medium Very Basic AIOs I made (not

everything can be clean all at once). On the

bottom are cloth wipes; a lot of them are

just baby washcloths, and I made others by

serging around 6x8" scraps of old flannel.

The bottle with the black lid is pail

freshener from Rockin' Green. The wipes

container holds disposable liners, which

make it easier to flush poop.

Cloth diaper stash, part 2. Diapers that need covers.

So, that's how I made the decision to cloth diaper. When L was 9 or 10 days old I ran out of disposables and started using the cloth diapers. What kind did I use? Before she was born I bought newborn prefolds, Thirsties covers, and Snappis in an eBay auction. I enjoyed using those, plus 2 inexpensive fitteds from eBay, and 3 Smartipants pocket diapers. In December
my sweet visiting teacher, who had cloth diapered two of her kids more than a decade ago, gave me three waterproof covers, two cloth changing pads, 8 larger prefolds, and 8 fitted diapers and some cloth wipes she had made. Once I had finally sewn my AIOs I didn't use prefolds and fitteds as much, but they were still useful. I ended up making 14 small diapers and 9 mediums, and I have supplies left over to make more.

Signs like these are irrelevant for a cloth-diapering parent, who always takes dirty diapers home in a wet bag.

A few months ago I wrote this status on Facebook:

"I love cloth diapers."

A friend responded, "Really and truly? . . . Why do you like them so much?"

Really and truly. For lots of reasons, including some that I didn't discover until after I started cloth diapering.

I love that they are comfortably soft against my daughter's skin.
They don't go in the landfill.
They are much cheaper.
I'll use the ones we already have for future children.
They don't contain harmful chemicals like disposables do (see http://allaboutclothdiapers.com/are-disposable-diapers-really-that-bad/).
I can just put them in the washing machine instead of going to the store to buy more.
"Blowouts" are awful! As long as it fits right and you don't leave it on the baby for too long, a cloth diaper keeps its contents in so nothing gets on anyone's clothing. During L's 20 months we've had maybe three blowouts or leaks.
The cloth diapering community (online) is wonderful!
They don't get squishy like disposables do.
And they're cute.

I agree with my online friend who wrote this in an email to me before L was born: "I love cloth diapers and even though I used the throwaway kind with my first until potty training, and always thought cloth would be horrible and disgusting, I would never go back!"

two years old

2011-06-25T23:22:00.001-06:00

L turned two! She had a nice birthday. That day she played with her sister and celebrated with us at home. After dinner we hung out for a couple of hours at her Nana and Uncle's house and sang Happy Birthday. {We chose not to throw a party for her this year because it would have had be big, and we weren't up for all of the work and everything that goes into that. We're still organizing stuff in our apartment (I will write a post about that later). My husband also is catching up on his university classes because he was out of town for 15 days this month for AT -- annual training -- with his Army Reserve unit.} All of these pictures are from the day she turned two.

I've been potty training L (no diapers, just regular big girl underwear, but she's had lots of accidents) since June 6.

Loving Netflix.

L is a fearless climber, but she does need help getting over the wall into our patio.

Her favorite color is purple, so a few days earlier I bought this cheap tablecloth, etc. L enjoyed playing with the balloons (and watching me blow them up)!

Daddy got her to laugh. Hooray!

The girls had gotten onto Nana's table; that's where L opened her present.

Opening and closing the card that plays music, from Papa and Grandma.

Some time before L was 23 months old -- I didn't mention this on the blog before -- her four canine teeth came in, so she has 16 teeth.

Near L's 24th monthday she started to put two words together (other than "wuh woo," which means "love you" -- she's been saying that for a long time). She can say "Bye, Josh" instead of just "bye." She doesn't do it very often, though. She added a few words to her vocabulary, including "backpack" (thanks, Dora the Explorer).

She recognizes most colors, and if you ask her "what color is this?" she tells you the right answer. She points out and correctly names some letters, too (mostly thanks to her big sister's teaching).

Some of my favorite things that L does:

She can't give a real kiss with a smack sound, so just before her lips touch whatever she is "kissing" she clicks her tongue.
She puts a doll to bed and then whispers, with her index finger in front of her mouth, "baby!" to tell me I should be quiet for her sleeping baby.
If she notices that a shoe or other object is missing or a DVD case has no DVD in it, she says, "Miss!" [missing].
When we ask her, "How old are you?" she responds with a quiet "two" that sounds more like "doo."

videos: our families learn about our baby #3

2011-06-07T09:16:00.000-06:00

Because I'm a little paranoid, I'm only posting the videos (4 out of 8) that do not contain either of our daughters' names. {I'm not the only one who does this sort of thing.}

My mom, who you don't see in this post, had the best reaction:

"It must mean Manda's pregnant again."

"Yep."

"No. . . "

"Yep."

"Really?!" :-O

My dad and my husband's step-mom (and the 8-year-old) seemed to take a while to figure it out. Our older girl never wore the "big sister" shirt because I made it for the toddler (in fact, I finished it after noon, right before we went over to my parents' houses.) But let's get to the videos, shall we?

My true love -- the day I had the positive pregnancy test (skip the first 27 seconds)

My younger sister

My mother-in-law (I don't know why this one got cut short)

My father-in-law (we told him to go look at the shirt)

twenty-three months

2011-05-30T22:22:00.000-06:00

I didn't cry, but I wanted to, when I realized our computer hadn't copied all of our photos from the camera and I had already formatted, which deletes all photos on the memory card. I lost everything taken from May 7th (our moving day) through May 20th!

I had adored a 23-month-day picture my husband took of L -- actually smiling a normal smile -- and Shboogoo and me outside the library. L was wearing a red and white striped henley, and when her sister saw it she changed into her own red and silver striped shirt, also long-sleeved. I chose to wear my red cardigan, not realizing right away that I matched them. Oh, and it was a great picture because all three of us had our hair done well.

So I had to take some new monthday pictures the day after, on the day we let my parents discover that I'm pregnant with baby #3 (we went to my in-laws' homes the next day).

[Not related to the photo above] At 23 months, one of her favorite videos is Blue's Clues. She puts the VHS tape by my face so I'll play it for her. She can say blue, but usually just calls it Loo Loo. Signing Time is another favorite.

I think she was just looking at the shirt. At this age she loves being nay-nay (naked), though. Or to have any amount of clothing on as long as she gets to wear her shoes, her new obsession. She brings me a pair and says, "Help! Help!" but it sounds more like "hey-oh! hey-oh!"

She likes her baby cousin. It's interesting that it hasn't been very long since she found out I have a baby inside, yet if I ask her where it is she touches my belly.

She does this all the time -- pulls her lower lip back behind her teeth. She usually makes a weird sound at the same time, which I guess just comes from the movement and her saliva. She also still loves sucking her thumb.

When she likes a particular part of an illustration or something, she points to it and does the cutest little "hee hee" chuckle. Other things she really enjoys are Pat-a-Cake, and coming to me from another room and saying, "hi."

This is our favorite 23-month picture. L was outside my mom's house. I zoomed in for it.

Mother's* Day, then and now

2011-05-29T09:49:00.000-06:00

Here I am with Shboogoo on Mother's Day in 2009. It was a little over a month before L was born.

2010 (we took just a couple -- not good -- photos on Mother's Day; this was a little later):

2011. We had lunch at my mom's house. We wanted a picture of my mom with her daughters and their kids. I love how it turned out! My mom and my sister are two of my best friends. This was the third time that I was pregnant on Mother's Day. However, only my husband and I knew at the time that there are seven people in this picture!

* I looked it up so I would spell it right (see also here).

crafty projects

2011-05-22T22:02:00.001-06:00

I haven't finished the second jumper yet. Or started any training underwear. Here's what I have made.

I scrapbooked a card for my husband using supplies I already had.

I added applique to this plain white shirt for L. I think it looks really cute, and cost basically under $1. We had the shirt and yellow thread. The pear (which was easy to iron on) cost 25 cents at the scrapbook expo. The striped fabric was free because it was a hand-me-down pair of pants, and the green fabric came from a really large women's tank top that I bought for 99 cents so I could sew with the material. I found a blog post that helped me understand how to use the Stable Stuff I bought two years ago and had not even opened until now. Quick explanation: I had to cut letters out of the Stable Stuff, then cut fabric around each Stable Stuff letter, big enough to fold it over the edges and glue it down. I sewed the letters on using a zig-zag stitch.

Yes, I'm pregnant, and due on Christmas! :o)

Easter 2011

2011-05-16T15:16:00.000-06:00

Our family had a very simple Easter this year because we were preparing to move out of our house within a couple of weeks. We reminded the kids that at Easter time we celebrate our Savior's atoning sacrifice, resurrection, and love for us.

Easter Sunday morning they woke up soon after we did. A little later we told each girl to go in her room and find her Easter basket. They were excited!

We gave (we don't talk about a bunny bringing gifts) Shboogoo some new white dress shoes and pretty white socks. She and L each got a bag of gummy bears, an apple, a bag of grapes, a kiwi, and a few kumquats.

My mom and my husband's dad had both invited us over. We went to my father-in-law's ward because it starts earlier than ours does. It was fun for Shboogoo and I to see friends; it's the ward we were in for 9 months during the second deployment. I see about 10-20 of the members almost every month when I attend their book club. We hung out at my father-in-law's after. They had dyed eggs the night before, so some of us adults hid the eggs in the house and my kids and sister-in-law found them. We ate a little bit.

Next we went to my mom's house to spend time and eat a delicious dinner. She gave each of our girls a cute little (like 3 inches by 3 inches) square wooden Easter basket with a big chocolate bunny in it.

Oh, I almost forgot! Two days before Easter the girls' jumper pattern I had ordered arrived in the mail and we bought fabric. I couldn't get them made in time, so the girls wore floral dresses that we already had. Shboogoo's jumper was all done by the next Sunday. I'm close to finishing L's, but haven't worked on it since before we moved on May 7th.

twenty-two months

2011-04-30T15:50:00.000-06:00

L on her 22nd monthday. See more photos below.

Things we love about L at 22 months old:

She says "Dough?" [Go?] to ask, "Where did it go?" (Besides repeating a word, she doesn't put two words together yet. For example, she'll say "more" or "please," but not "more, please.")
The way she says, "hmmm."
Her silent ooh face (sticks her lips out a little -- her Daddy calls it her duck face).
She gets possessive of her mama sometimes. If Shboogoo hugs my leg, L is not satisfied with hugging my other leg, because she wants me all to herself.
She hands one of us a book and says, "Ree." [Read.]
The way she says her sister's name. The parts she gets right are a consonant and the vowel sounds.
Her high "eeh eeh" monkey sound.
She likes playing with water and putting her hands in it -- and also, as I think I have mentioned before, rubbing a purposely-spilled drink around on her tray. The one part of a bath that she doesn't like is having her hair washed.
Her meow. At Papa's the other day she was calling for the cat by using a questioning "meow?!" instead of his name.
She can climb onto the piano bench, turn the pages in a book of sheet music, and play.
Her attempts at jumping -- kind of bending and lifting one foot at a time.

In the last month she became comfortable with sitting on the Elmo potty seat, which is foldable and goes on top of a regular toilet. I've made her sit on it probably at least 20 times (I have pictures but have not gotten them off my phone); she has actually peed in the toilet once. She often lets me know that her diaper feels gross by putting her hand on that area and sometimes also saying, "poo." Very soon, I will sew her some training underpants because it seems that the few small Gerber ones we had don't exist anymore, and making them will be much cheaper. (I started having Shboogoo use the toilet, with the Elmo potty seat and wearing the Gerber underwear and everything, when she was 19 months old. For several reasons, I didn't want to start L that young, but she has seen all along how her big sister does it.)

Still on her monthday, she wanted to get in the foot bath with these girls. I let her sit down in it.

my first half marathon!

2011-04-28T20:08:00.001-06:00

BACKGROUND:

I disliked running in high school; it was hard because I wasn't in shape. During the year following my graduation from high school, a couple of different girls I was friends with (one at home, one when I was away at college) asked me to work out with them. That was motivating. Before my now-husband went to Basic Training I ran with him to prepare him for that. I remember that when we started it was a challenge to even run for two minutes, walk for one minute, run for two minutes, walk for one minute, etc.

Basically, I have wanted to run a half marathon since my husband really got into running during his first deployment and ran a half marathon in August 2006. I have been training for mine on and off since the end of last summer. The last race I participated in before the half marathon (13.1 miles) was a 6k (3.72 miles) six months ago. By that point the longest I had ever run was probably 7 miles. My 10 km race (6.2 miles) was two years before that.

HOW I TRAINED:

In addition to a long run once a week (usually Monday), I usually ran two or three times a week for at least 30 minutes. I usually ran on the treadmill, either during L's nap or right when I woke up, if both kids were sleeping. For the long run, I did it outside when I could, with my husband watching the kids. I prefer running outside while listening to music, but it's kind of fun watching a movie while I run on our treadmill, and I like being able to look at my pace. A 9-and-a-half-minute mile is pretty comfortable for me, and I like sprinting for twenty or thirty seconds -- sometimes when I feel like I want to slow down I speed up instead. I always skip exercise on Sundays, and I probably always rested the day after a long run. On the other days that I didn't run, I would either 1) walk enough to warm up, and then do strength training exercises or yoga, or 2) not do any exercise, besides housework, of course.

WHAT I ATE:

Since November (when I started reading the book Eat to Live) I have been eating mainly leafy vegetables, other green vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts, seeds, and whole grains. I've eaten meat, dairy and eggs only rarely. I drink water and non-dairy milks.

For dinner the night before the half marathon I ate pasta (the Pad Thai pictured here) -- I found out that runners are supposed to "carb load" soon before the race. In the morning I was up at 5:30 and followed the Medical Director's advice which was in the e-mail they sent to all participants: I drank about 16 ounces of water right away. At 6:00 (one hour before the race would start) I ate; I think it was just almond butter on whole wheat bread. I drank more water while my little family and I drove to the starting line.

THE RACE:

I was excited and a little cold as we waited to start. It was pretty perfect weather, actually, not too sunny in the morning, and we got rained on, but not until 9:20. I liked hearing about the history of this marathon/half marathon. The number of participants has gone up each year -- this year over 1000 people ran the full marathon and over 4000 ran the half. I didn't know anybody around me and I didn't say much, but I listened to others chatting. Near the end I said hello to the three women from my neighborhood who I knew were going to be there running. I was sad that I couldn't find them for a group picture when we were done (they finished before me . . . and one of them just had a baby 11 months ago!). My step-sister who was born the same year as me also ran the half, and we didn't find out until hours later that the other one was there! She did well, too.

So how did I do? I felt really good until my legs started to feel sore for about the last mile; I was still able to run some of that mile, though. I ran past my mom and younger sister, who were watching, about a minute before I finished; I found my husband and daughters a few minutes after. I had wanted my time to be 2:10 or less, because that would be a 10-minute mile (in my October race I averaged about 9:43 per mile). I am very happy with my time anyway: 2 hours and 16 minutes, which I suppose counts the time I spent waiting for and using a port-o-potty. It was a 10:24 pace according to the timing chip. I was faster than about 39% of all the half marathon runners, and faster than 41% of those in my age division. I did take fewer and shorter walking breaks than I did during my four or five training runs that were 10-12 miles long.

I think the next time I run a half marathon I will do a few things differently. I'll go to sleep earlier the night before. During the race I'll keep something like GU with me, not just a water bottle. I will do more stretching afterward. Also, I would love to run one with my husband running next to me.

baptism, job poster, and dinner with relatives

2011-04-26T23:19:00.000-06:00

On April 9th my father-in-law baptized his youngest daughter. We're proud of her!

Shboogoo was so excited that I ordered these photos, which I had taken over a week earlier, and that together we made her job poster. (I wrote her name above the word "Jobs" but I am not showing her real name on my blog.) I love having the poster on her wall to remind her of what she can do each day -- well, to get started, really, because we hadn't been having her do as much as she could. This site is a really cool way to teach children to work, but our child wanted something physical instead of having to go online. We've been better at keeping the house picked up each day. I also am happy that I gave each of her jobs a number, because she immediately started using them: "I've done job number one and job number two." (Thanks to my friend Chelle for the inspiration! At her house I saw they had done the same thing, with a photo of their daughter doing each task.)

My fun cousin Julee was in town for a few days and wanted to have dinner with my mom, my siblings, and me. We also invited my mom's cousin Kirk and his wife. He is like an uncle to me although he hasn't lived in our state for very many years; growing up they had fun hanging out together because he only had a brother and my mom only had sisters. Anyway, it was fun to talk with all three of these relatives. It was Kirk's birthday, and he insisted on paying for everyone's meals. Also, I learned that when he was younger he ran a marathon, and I didn't know (didn't remember?) that he was in the Air Force for twenty years.

my Pad Thai Tofu

our 7th anniversary

2011-04-20T23:05:00.000-06:00

Earlier this month we celebrated seven years of being happily married. This is a milestone, because I know from studying Human Development and Family Studies in college that "half of all first marriages that end in divorce . . . end within the first seven years" (quoted HERE, in the address "Marriage Crossroads: Why Divorce Is Often Not the Best Option" by Brent A. Barlow, PhD).

It was beyond nice that D was able to be here with me on our anniversary (but it was still a special day the years that he was deployed on that date: {'05, '06, '09, '10}).

We dropped the girls off at his mom's at 5 p.m. When D went to bed at 11:00, I drove back to get the girls since Grandma had to teach a class in the morning. Meanwhile, we had a wonderful date at home. He asked me to go get our take out while he set up the table (his desk with a fancy new tablecloth over it) downstairs, to be ready for our candle-lit dinner. As we ate the delicious food we enjoyed talking about our wedding day and our other wedding anniversaries. We didn't really plan to do that, but he asked what I remember. We watched a movie that he had bought as a surprise, promising that I would like it. It was The Blind Side -- I had told him many times that it's really good and I wanted him to see it, so I was happy with his choice. He wrote on Facebook, "Best. Anniversary. Yet."

Chinese and Thai

our family videos: best of 2010

2011-04-18T08:41:00.000-06:00

Shboogoo loves making up songs (this day was about two months after her third birthday).

Happy L at 8 and half months old.

Shboogoo and I walking to her friend's house.

When L was crawling everywhere (the one you hear is Shboogoo).

Ten-month-old L partially opening her sleepy eyes a bunch of times.

Short video of L about 16 months old, helping me sweep.

This is my favorite one of Shboogoo; I recommend watching all of it. She thought our boxes of Christmas lights looked like a podium, and she taught a pretend Primary lesson, basically about some of the bad guys in Jesus' life. Her voice and her wording are adorable as she acts like she's an adult teaching children.

our family videos: best of 2009

2011-04-10T22:16:00.000-06:00

I think I started this post a week ago; it was a busy week. . . . I want to share some posts containing videos. I may print my blog, and by having posts that are videos only, I can exclude them from the blog books without having to also exclude photos and writing. It had been way too long since I watched some of the videos I made in 2009. A lot of them my husband had never seen (even though I often intended to upload them for him, because I had Shboogoo and other people saying hello to him -- via the camera -- while he was deployed). I chose several of the best ones. Enjoy!

Shboogoo's first haircut, March 2009 (she was tired, but maybe that helped her sit so still!) (it's probably too boring to watch the whole thing).

With each of my pregnancies I felt the baby hiccuping. I know this doesn't happen to every mom, but I knew they were hiccups! The video shows my belly moving as L hiccuped about a month before she was born (this is my most popular video on youtube).

Shboogoo holding her sister (who someone swaddled in a weird way . . . you mostly see her legs and not her face) for the very first time!

This is one of the sweetest and saddest things ever, because it was a Monday or Tuesday night and D left for Afghanistan on Wednesday morning.

Shboogoo's pronunciation and imagination were funny, and I captured how she sang like Ariel.

"How you doin'?" (L about two months old)

twenty-one months

2011-03-28T20:27:00.000-06:00

Last week was L's monthday (time is flying by. . . ).

At 21 months old, L is enthusiastic about life. When she wakes up in the morning she's usually happy, saying, "Mama! Mama!" I love it every time she wants me to see her enjoying what she's doing; she either makes eye contact with me and smiles, or does a little laugh until I look. Sometimes she sounds very excited, like when she points to something in a book -- or on anything that has words -- and names it (or the sound that it makes). In the past month she started to point to a letter O and say "O!" I thought nobody had taught her to do this, that maybe she picked it up from a video or something, but just now I asked Shboogoo about it. I asked, "Did you teach her that?" and she said she did. Haha. I have taught L two others. If we're sitting with a book and I ask her to find the letter S or the letter T she looks and most of the time gets it right. She points to the letter and says it (but with S pronounced "eh").

Some of her favorite activities:

Playing and laughing with Daddy. He thinks of fun things they can do.
Books -- usually I'm the one to read to her; she also loves it when her sister "reads" her a book by telling her the basic story.
The song Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree (that's how I get her to hold still during a diaper change).
Looking at pictures of herself or her family.
Saying "no" -- one of her newest words -- while shaking her head.
Saying "yeah!"
Watching movies. Her favorites are probably Blue's Big Musical Movie and Signing Time but she'll watch, at least for a while, whatever we put on. She likes showing me cartoony movie cases, too. She was fine with sitting on a lap during Tangled in the theater.
Signing and saying "bear."
Holding a baby, putting it on the floor and spreading out a blanket or baby washcloth on it (like her sister does).
Scribbling.
Saying "two" and "wee" -- mostly when I say "one" and she knows I'm about to swing her in circles.
Watching others set up the Marble Works, and then putting a marble in it.

If L is able to do something without help, she likes to. She's gotten a lot better at feeding herself using a spoon or fork instead of her hands. Besides getting really upset (we call her "Freak Out") when her sister takes something out of her hands, L doesn't like it when her sister makes her go somewhere or holds onto her for too long. As you'll see in a video in a future post, L can be loud regardless of her mood. I don't remember Shboogoo being as noisy or restless during church as L is.

L is observant and helpful. She says "uh oh!" when she spills on her shirt or when anybody accidentally drops something. She has repeated "uh oh!" until someone understands and takes care of the problem. She watches me load the dishwasher. Her job is to close it after I put the detergent in, and she sometimes helps take the things out of the bottom of the dishwasher. She follows instructions about putting things like measuring cups in the correct drawer, and throwing away trash.

You can see the post about Shboogoo at this age here.

twenty months

2011-03-18T23:14:00.000-06:00

L turned 20 months old in February. She babbles a lot, and hardly ever holds still. By this monthday she learned to say her nickname, but starting with a W sound instead of an L; it's so cute. When she sees the coats in the coat closet she points to one and says who it belongs to. (She sees one of mine and says "Mama!" and when she sees hers she says her name excitedly.)