Ben!

Sorry about the phone photos, I'll get some good pictures up on our flickr as soon as I dig the camera out of the hospital bag.














We went in to the hospital on Thursday afternoon, semi-frantically calling around to various friends on the north side of town, who might come babysit the kids in the waiting room. Our original plan, to drive them down south to hang with the Ruperts, was a total failure due to rush hour traffic. Ask me sometime how much fun it is to time contractions in stop and go traffic on Mopac. Will came through, and Chase passed off Wren and her coloring book, and a sound asleep Jane, and headed back to a room with me. Dave made a heroic drive across town and took the girls to Chick-fil-A, and he and Jessie kept them for the weekend. I have heard that wonderful robot costume parties were enjoyed by all.

I commented to Chase while we were walking up and down the halls, trying to keep my contractions regular, that it really was almost like a date night. We got to have whole uninterrupted conversations and a lot of time to ourselves. There were plentiful ice chips, and repeated offers of beef broth (um... no thanks). Of course, even with insurance, I am not a cheap date.

Things picked up once I got tired of walking around and we started pitocin, and then things really picked up when my doctor asked if I wanted her to break my water. I was in transition before I knew it, and Ben was born at 1:01, on the 22nd, after about 30 minutes of pushing. He was 9 lbs, 3 oz and was yelling right off the bat.

He only wants to sleep when someone's holding him, and he only wants to eat about every 27 minutes. None of the hats I knit for him fit at all- in fact they look like yarmulkes. He has spit up on me 8 times and not once on Chase.

But overall he's pretty great. I think we'll keep him.

We are all enormously grateful for the prayers and the hard work of our friends and family. You guys have loved us and cared for us and continue to do so and we are overwhelmed. Thank you all so much.

miscellany

Today was my first morning off work with the girls in school.


This is my blanket, in the backyard. There were cookies, diet coke, library books and knitting. Really I could not ask for anything else. Except maybe a slobbery dog to come hover over me longingly with a tennis ball in her mouth every 5 minutes.


And this afternoon, AFTER school, this is what I paid for 10 minutes of this morning's peace. Unless Jane is unconscious, 10 minutes of silence might as well be a wailing alarm that something bad is happening.

In this case it wasn't really so bad. Just a good time with a canister full of flour, a bunch of utensils, and a bowl of rising bread dough. The bread survived, and will be eaten for dinner. Most of the flour, however, was either on Jane, on the dirty counter, or on the floor.

I always look on the bright side though- it could have been eggs.


And in other much more fun and exciting news- Wren's training wheels! They came off last night, after a long ride around the neighborhood with Chase. They were riding in the high school parking lot, which was empty after band practice, and Wren finally decided she was READY. No falls so far, and she's going to wear some jeans and try again tonight!

Weekend Walk

Chase is really really good at getting us up and out of the house on weekend mornings. I generally want to hang out, putter in the kitchen, tackle some household chores, and stuff like that. Experience has shown us that my version of weekending is a VERY bad idea because it takes the kids approximately 45 minutes of watching me "putter" to get stir crazy, destructive, and as happy to play nicely together as wet cats in a bag.


Anyway, Saturday morning we went to the giant Walnut Creek park. I've never been, even though it's actually really close to our house. Chase has been mountain biking there before, and we were both kind of wondering how great an idea it is for the city to combine mountain biking, family hiking and off leash dog trails...


We only had one near miss- with Jane almost barreling into a biker, who had to swerve out of her way. Most of the time we could hear them coming and get the girls to the side of the trail. Ramona, of course, remains mysteriously terrified of all wheeled conveyances, and stayed well out of the bikers way.


And here's my glamor shot- nearly 39 weeks pregnant. I was thinking a 10/10/10 baby might be kind of fun, but so far this weekend, the hiking has only yielded swollen ankles, not contractions. I'm not quite to the "jumping jacks" stage yet, and I am already completely filled with awe and wonder for those women who can submit to the crazy time game of pregnancy with their sanity and grace intact. These are not mythical creatures- I actually know real people who have managed to go significantly OVERDUE without killing or scarring loved ones.

I know. It baffles me too. Anyway, I'm not that crazy yet. But a word of warning- if you're not visibly pregnant, you definitely DON'T want to park in one of the two expectant mother spots at HEB when I'm around. I will harangue you like a fishwife, and I'm not afraid to work blue.

miscellany

Some freezer paper onesies... That one on the left is supposed to be a phone, but I got lazy and didn't cut out the rotary dial. It's not like any kid born in 2010 would ever identify it either way.


Made two weekends ago at Crafternoon. I saved the star stencil, if anyone wants it.


Chase and Wren had fun getting the apples ready for apple sauce and apple butter with our new peeler/corer/slicer. I have wanted one of those for a ridiculously long time, and I'm signed up to make two pies for the Halloween bake sale at the girls school next weekend, so I'm definitely going to get my money's worth.


And of course we overfilled a few of our apple butter jars so they didn't seal.

WHAT A DRAG. Now we'll just have to eat it ourselves.

Possibly with spoons. But I made some bread just in case.

Fall is my favorite

even if I can't fit into any of my favorite sweaters. Or my favorite sweatpants, for that matter. I've officially reached the point at which I can no longer fit into even my maternity clothes.

I've also reached the mental point, inevitable in any pregnancy, at which the physical discomforts of being 9 months pregnant start to outweigh the terror of the pain of childbirth and the stress of the overwhelming life change a newborn brings. It's pretty miraculous really. I know lots of people say from the beginning "Oh I just can't wait to hold my little bundle in my arms!" and obviously I feel that way too, or I wouldn't be in this position.

But. But.

Is there really a day you could wake up and say "TODAY is the day I feel ready to be a mother of three"?

Or say "RIGHT NOW is when I went to experience that most intense pain again. Right this minute would be good. I finished hanging up all the pictures and there's really nothing else on my to do list today."

Or maybe "You know I feel pretty well rested. I'm ready to not sleep again for more than 3 hours at a stretch for a few months..."

Yeah. So for lots of ladies, me included, I think the abject miseries of congestion, pelvic separation, diminished lung capacity, intermittent (and always exciting!) jabs to the kidneys, tiny bladder, nausea, insomnia, and exhaustion are just a thoughtful gentle, necessary nudge toward embracing new parenthood.

I myself am longing to meet this new person. And not just because I am a victim of "turtle on its back" syndrome every time I try to turn over at night. I am so curious to know this baby, and so excited to welcome it into our family.

And also I love fall so much, and there's really only one thing (besides a fireplace in my house) that could make it better.

And that would be if someone else had to come finish potty training Jane while I was in the hospital.

Any day now, baby.

These Days

Long days at school make for very tired girls at home. Last week Jane fell asleep standing up. Leaning against the couch, right before dinner time.


They also make for some very mischievous girls. Girls who find the button box and scatter buttons all over the house without asking.


And girls who build a ladder, climb up on the counter, find the blueberry pancakes, and eat all the blueberries out.

At least they know what they like. I've started having to hide the cookie jar on top of the fridge, but who knows how long that will work. They are like velociraptors. Always learning.

defeating the curse

This quilt was cursed from the start, and I really thought I'd never finish it. I made all kinds of mistakes- messed up the tension while quilting, ripped it out, tied it, ripped it out, and on and on.



But I persevered, and ended up doing big fat fast embroidery quilting instead of my usual hand quilting, and I'm really happy with it. In spite of all its faults. Mostly I'm happy that it's done, and that I could give a good friend a gift that says "I'm so excited about your new baby!"

Because I am!


In non-quilting news, I bought a bunch of pumpkin puree today. And this morning Chase and I made apple butter. My house smells like fall!

I think I'm trying to trick our immune systems into stepping up- we're all feeling kind of gross and sick but hopefully will be on the mend soon. We absolutely cannot be sick when it's so incredibly beautiful outside!