yesterday

Yesterday, at about 3:00, it occurred to me that we might actually be getting the hang of this family of 5 thing ... Ophelia is 7 weeks and I am managing to get a regular amount of stuff done, as opposed to less than regular - if that makes sense.

On Wednesday, we went to playgroup at 9 (and we were only 10 minutes late - amazing these days! I can barely seem to get us all ready and out of the house by 10!) We played games, we painted with watercolours, EVERY room in the house was tidy (notice I didn't say clean). Mike had to work late, so I bathed Kaya and Keidis, made supper and did bedtime routine almost all by myself with all three of them (he did come home in time to cuddle and read stories). I even managed to get a fair amount of work done.

Yesterday, we got ready for the day, did laundry, went for a 3km walk to the veg/fruit store (I was pushing anywhere from 20-90 lbs - depending on who was walking or in the stroller - and I had 11 lbs of Ophelia strapped to me), the entire house stayed tidy, we made blueberry/banana bread, played games, coloured and drew (drawed? can't wrap my head around the correct way to say that right now), and I worked. Not to mention the house was vacuumed (admittedly, that was not me - I love being a Young Woman's 10-hour service project).

I am sure that I have been feeling this way because for the previous 11 nights, Ophelia has slept at least 6 (sometimes even 8) hours at a time!!!!! The other 2 never did this for me at this age!

Well, that was yesterday - I should know better than to think or say out loud that I am feeling like I am getting into the swing of things. Last night, this sweet girl didn't go to sleep until midnight (she had been up since about 6:30 and was cranky because she was tired but fought sleep every step of the way). She was really gassy and woke up a few times between 12:00 and 1 a.m. so I just laid with her. I went back to bed at 2:45 and she was up at her usual 5:30 (which isn't so bad when she goes to bed at 10 p.m.) - then she was up again at 7 and is now just drifting back to sleep. Please know I am not complaining - my other 2 didn't give me 6-8 hours regularly until at least 6 months or so (and Kaya was closer to a year). So I am grateful to know it is possible and will work on getting it back :)

I am just saying - yesterday, 'tis but a sweet memory!

made me laugh

a bit longish, but quite funny!!

Thinking of Having Kids?
Do this 11 step program first!

Lesson 1
1. Go to the grocery store.
2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
3. Go home.
4. Pick up the paper.
5. Read it for the last time.

Lesson 2
Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their...
1. Methods of discipline.
2. Lack of patience.
3. Appallingly low tolerance levels.
4. Allowing their children to run wild.
5. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior.
Enjoy it because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers.

Lesson 3
A really good way to discover how the nights might feel...
1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly. (Eat cold food with one hand for dinner)
2. At 10PM, put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.
3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1AM.
4. Set the alarm for 3AM.
5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink and watch an infomercial.
6. Go to bed at 2:45AM.
7. Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4AM.
9. Get up. Make breakfast. Get ready for work and go to work (work hard and be productive)
Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look cheerful and together.

Lesson 4
Can you stand the mess children make? To find out...
1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.
2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed.
4. Then rub them on the clean walls.
5. Take your favorite book, photo album, etc. Wreck it.
6. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?

Lesson 5
Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.
1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.
2. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out.
Time allowed for this - all morning.

Lesson 6
Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. And don't think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don't look like that.
1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment. Leave it there.
2. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.
3. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Sprinkle cheerios all over the floor, then smash them with your foot.
4. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

Lesson 7
Go to the local grocery store. Take with you the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full-grown goat is an excellent choice). If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take more than one goat. Buy your week's groceries without letting the goats out of your sight. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys. Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

Lesson 8
1. Hollow out a melon.
2. Make a small hole in the side.
3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.
4. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.
5. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.
6. Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air.
You are now ready to feed a nine- month-old baby.

Lesson 9
Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street , Barney, Disney, the Tele tubbies, and Pokemon. Watch nothing else on TV but PBS, the Disney channel or Noggin for at least five years. (I know, you're thinking What's 'Noggin'?) Exactly the point.

Lesson 10
Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying 'mommy' repeatedly. (Important: no more than a four second delay between each 'mommy'; occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required). Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years. You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.

Lesson 11
Start talking to an adult of your choice. Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt- sleeve, or elbow while playing the 'mommy' tape made from Lesson 10 above. You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.

Ophelia Jane

Here are pics of our gorgeous girl:

the injury

Keidis bailed hard on the slide on the ferry and split open his chin, which bled profusely and ended up with steri-strips holding it together for a few days until it had healed over - I think this will be his first REAL lasting scar!

big kids

I forgot how it happens that when you have a new baby, your older babies all of a sudden become HUGE. A few days after Ophelia was born, I was changing Keidis and I noticed all of a sudden that he was very big, thick, heavy large (and he is a small kid!), but in comparison ...

It is great fun to be a big sister or brother!!!

And it is wonderful to be a little sister too!

big belly

This is pre-Ophelia ... about 2 weeks before ... some of you were asking for one of these!

i don't know

Kaya came running into the kitchen with a sense of urgency. "Dad, Dad, guess what!?! I have an idea!" So Mike says, "What is it?" Then the classic response, "I don't know yet, I will think of one!"
Ahh my girl!