a little RRR

Recent Random Reports ...

I. Little Dude has discovered how to operate the volume on the boom box ... and he likes it loud :/ While listening to music, he often sits on the floor and taps his right foot ... to be more accurate, he thumps his entire right leg.

II. Little Buddy likes chap-stick. With the cap on, he'll pretend to put it on his lips. He is quite cooperative when I apply it around his mouth {which has been rashy lately}. His fondness for chap-stick is generally a good thing ... except for when Little Buddy tried the glue-stick out as though it was chap-stick.

III. Several days ago, I bopped into Sam's Club while the rest of my family waited for me in our vehicle. All I was planning to do was purchase a few gallons of milk. {We go though about six gallons per week. Maybe it's time for a cow???} Anyway ... as I was aiming for the back of the store and the milk coolers ... I heard this announcement being made ...

"Come on over to aisle thirty-five. Every shopper in the store will get a free knife. That's right. Ev-er-y shopper. No purchase necessary! Just head on over to aisle thirty-five and pick up your free, yes free, knife!!! Each and every customer can get a free knife. Come on over!" Now ... I like free stuff! I know you do too :) So ... I veered off the milk track and headed instead ... for aisle thirty-five. When I got there, lots of other people who like free knives were there too ... as well as a saleslady ... and a cloth-covered table. I could not, however, spot a single knife ... free or otherwise. Then ... she, the saleslady, began her spiel ...

Apparently, we had to listen to a little sales talk in exchange for our free knife. Apparently, I'm a little gullible ... and apparently, there's no such thing as a free knife. Now you know :)

IV. Speaking of milk and cows ... do I really want a cow??? No. I was talking to a couple of friends recently about some farm-fresh milk they've been buying. When I inquired about the milk, one of the gals replied, "Well, it's not pasteurized. And it's really creamy ... because it's whole milk. But it's kind-of chunky ... and it tastes ... a little bit ... like ... straw."

V. I drew my very first lego mini-figure this morning per Halo's request. The kids deemed it "famous". Then, I played around with enlarging it and made photocopies so everyone could color one :)

a little Thanksgiving

This was Thanksgiving ... although you might not guess that from the pictures :)

Little Stoic and Grandpa ...
Give him a ball and he'll probably smile ...
The third-borns ... dressed up and parading about ...
And the cookies ... no, I'm not having a baby. But my sister is! She made these darling cookies and handed this tin around as their "announcement"! Isn't that clever??? It's extremely exciting as they have been hoping and praying ... and waiting ... a long, long time for this blessing.

a little perch

We had, as most of you know, the most wonderful fall ~ nicer than any I can recall. And here is Little Dude about a month ago ~ on one of those lovely fall afternoons ~ sitting on the front step. He is quite happy to perch himself here ~ probably because it's just the right size "bench" for him :)

Anyway, as I mentioned, the autumn days were overwhelmingly beautiful ... and it almost seemed like the cold and the snow might never arrive. And then Saturday came ... and we woke up to several inches of *S*N*O*W* ... and it was beautiful too. For a few brief moments ... it was beautiful ... until I started to feel a bit trapped. Then, my husband suggested I venture out into the cold and shovel. Oh joy! I guess winter is here after all ...

a little firstborn

Happy ELEVENTH (oh my!) Birthday to our precious Halo!!! We were telling her a bit about the day of her birth today ... and so I got the idea to blog about it for posterity ... for when Halo is older ... and the details are more fuzzy in my mind. So if you're not up for a birth story ... or if you've already heard how we got our precious Halo ... then come back for my next post :)

So ... Halo's due date was November fourth. I don't remember what time I went to bed on November fifth. Probably late ... as I'm prone to be a night owl. Anyway, it was a Friday night. I think I was just laying in bed for a while in a state of uncomfortableness and then I was suddenly in agonizing PAIN. Anyway, by 1 am ... maybe 1:30 ... on November sixth ... I was writhing around on our bedroom floor. Insane pain in my back. After having more children, I now know that we should have been heading straight to the hospital at this point. But no, I was told to call the nurse hotline when I thought it might be TIME. So I did.

I told the nurse that the pain in my back was so crazy that I couldn't determine when the contractions were beginning or ending. The nurse then instructed me to get in the bathtub, try to time my contractions, and she would call me back in about an hour or two to see how I was doing. Oh ... and Jeff was supposed to pour hot water over my back. Okay. Here I am ... past my due date ... in TONS of pain ... and I'm being directed to get into the tub??? It was time for the baby to come! What else would it be? I'm past due. But no ... I needed a dip in the tub.

Sooo ... how does a full-term pregnant person WITH BACK LABOR get in and out of a bathtub??? Not easily. No ... not easily at all. Nonetheless, we followed the nurse's orders. We had never been through this labor and delivery stuff before ... and so we knew very little. The bathtub idea was disastrous ... and I ended up on the carpet again ... continuing to writhe. When are they going to call back??? When are they going to call back??? That's all I kept asking whenever I was able to utter anything.

Finally, they did call back and gave me permission to proceed to the hospital. My lucky day! When I arrived, I was too far along for the epidural ... so that decision was already made for me.

So ... back labor ... we heard about it in birthing class and that "it's so rare" ... so I figured it probably wouldn't happen. But it did. We had brought our Brookstone Thumper Massager along and Jeff used it on my back for a half hour or so ... until it blew up. Then ... pop cans! We recalled from the birthing class that pounding pop cans can help alleviate some of the pressure from back labor. So ... Jeff spent the next hour or two pounding full pop cans into my back. I was quite bruised after all of this ... but he couldn't pound hard enough! I wanted it harder.

Then came over four hours of pushing. The top of Halo's head kept peeking out and then slipping right back in. The blood vessels in my face were shot. My eyes had changed shape. I did not look like myself. By this time, two nurses and my husband were constantly holding my limbs ... nearly holding me together ... I was so weak. Next, my midwife decided to give me another fifteen minutes to try and get the baby out ... otherwise she was going to resort to suction, vacuum, whatever it's called. {I, however, didn't know about the fifteen minutes and suction.} But ... lo and behold ... Halo came out in the next fifteen minutes! 11:52 in the a.m. Praise the Lord! She was 8 pounds 12 ounces and I can't remember her length anymore ...

Then, I looked at Halo and called out, "It's a boy!" In celebration, Jeff repeated after me, "It's a boy!" I think I was anticipating a boy ...

"Um, no. It's a girl!" said someone. Probably a nurse.

I was very happy about that. Way back then, I felt a bit unsure about having boys. I have two boys now though ... and they're wonderful ... of course :)

"Well ... I would rather run a hundred miles in my bare feet ... tomorrow ... than ever have to go through that again." That was the next thing I said. My commentary on labor and delivery. And I was determined that next time ... I would make sure to get to the hospital in time for an epidural. Did I??? No, but that's the story of Buddy ... and I'll save that for February.