Monday, February 25, 2008

The Newly Mischevious Baby





Well, we knew from prior experience that Colin wasn't going to stay tiny and helpless. We are being reminded off that now with a vengeance on a daily basis, LOL. He's into EVERYTHING. He likes to crawl into things - the bottom of his supersaucer, underneath chairs (where he promptly gets stuck), under the piano bench, through the doorway of his sisters' dollhouse, and anywhere small. This mobility is also getting him into predicaments that are driving Mom crazy - just this week he found a new sucker on the floor (darn Valentine's candy), somehow unwrapped it and was joyfully sucking away, and today he pulled my plant off the counter (one of the stems dangled oh-so-gracefully off the edge of the counter - not anymore!) leaving a water and dirt mess behind. He's just starting to pull up and stand, so I expect there to be all sorts of new drama on the horizon.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Happy Birthday Mom!


Happy Birthday to You,
Happy Birthday to You,

Happy Birthday Dear Mom and Grandma,
Happy Birthday to You!


We love and miss you,

~Melissa, James, Hero, Allegra, Ian & Colin

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Happy 4th Birthday Ian!






I can't believe I didn't get this on yesterday, on his actual birthday, LOL. I know, I know, I'm such a bad mom. In honor our dear son's fourth birthday, please indulge me in a little trip down memory lane... The story truly begins on the night of February 4th - I was a desperate 39 week pregnant woman who needed the baby out yesterday, lol, so I sent James to the store for castor oil. With the optimism of someone who's never tried castor oil, I drank down a custom orange smoothie/castor oil blender oil concoction at about 8pm. About 30 minutes later the first bathroom trip occurred, which was about what I expected. And then...nada. I was so bummed to go to bed that night with not a contraction in sight. At about 3am I was woken up by contractions - I could hardly allow myself to believe that this would be it, but after about 15 minutes there was no mistaking it - this was the real deal. I woke James up (who mumbled something along the lines of "go back to bed") and it was time to call in babysitting reinforcement. After what seemed like an eternity, James' dad arrived at our house to watch the girls and we got into the car for the hair-raising ride to the hospital. It was about 5:50 in the morning at this point and I was literally climbing up James' arm as he tried to drive - the contractions were intense and coming quickly. Luckily traffic was light and we arrived at St. Luke's quickly. I didn't want to create a scene, so James parked and we walked into the hospital although, trust me, that was the LONGEST walk of my entire life. By the time we got to Labor & Delivery I was barely coherent and the check-in process seemed to take forever, but they finally whisked me into a triage room. At this point the castor oil was kicking in again and I hardly knew whether I was more miserable from the contractions or being stuck to a 5 second radius of the bathroom. They dutifully checked me, and apparently I really was in labor (duh!) and at 6 cm. I was checked into a real room quickly and the staff blessedly got me an epidural very quickly, even before all the labwork was done. This epidural didn't work as completely as some of the ones I've had, but it definitely took the edge off and I was fairly comfortable. Hero and Allegra arrived at the hospital around 8 or so, and I hit 9cm very quickly. Ian arrived after 30 minutes or so of pushing at 11am. It was a wonderful delivery - my first without any assistance (Allegra was a natural birth, but she did require vacuum assistance). He arrived with a head of dark brown hair, dark blue eyes, weighing in at 7lbs5oz. We were all in love immediately, although at a bit of a loss about what to do for a boy after two girls (we've got that figured out now though, lol)... Today Ian is a fiesty four year old who enjoys preschool, Cubbies, and playing with his sisters and baby brother. We had his party on Saturday - the theme was Mickey Mouse (he's my favorite boy, Ian says) and we had macaroni and cheese, pizza dip, fruit salad, peas, and white cake with lemon filling. The kids especially enjoyed the Micky Mouse ears-shaped pinata. We love you Ian!

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Getting to Know Me Tag

I've been tagged via email by Rochelle, so I thought it'd be fun to transfer it to the blog.

1. What is your occupation? what isn't my occupation, LOL - SAHM, online store owner, and violin teacher

2. What color are your socks right now? I hate socks - in winter I'm always wearing slippers with no socks - currently my faves are a pair of lavender Ugg flip flops I got for Christmas

3. What are you listening to right now? Nothing - I always forgot to turn on the radio or iTunes when I'm at the computer. The voices in my head are entertainment enough ;-P

4. What was the last thing that you ate? An apple strudel PopTart for breakfast


5. Can you drive a stick shift? Nope

6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Green - it's such a versatile color


7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? James, he calls all day to share little stuff with me (I guess that's how I know he loves me)

8. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Yes, Rochelle's the best person in the world (although she'll deny it, of course)

9. How old are you today? 29

10. Favorite drink? Diet Dr Pepper (although Amaretto Sour is a close second - we're virtually twins, Ro!)

11. What is your favorite sport to watch? football, football, and, oh yes, did I say FOOTBALL

12. Have you ever dyed your hair? Have I ever not?

13. Pets? Five elderly cats and one naughty Bichon Frise (I'm not counting the two hermit crabs Kit and Sandy because they are Hero's pets)

14. Favorite food? Hmm, that would be like trying to name my favorite kid - I love it all.

15. Last movie you watched? We Are Marshall - yeah, I know it's old, but we're boring parents, so what do you expect

16. Favorite Day of the year? I know a grown-up isn't supposed to admit this but it's probably a tie between my birthday (October 27th) and Christmas with our wedding anniversary (May 23rd) a close second

17. What do you do to vent anger? I pick fights, which may include yelling, screaming, and door slamming (hey, I'm not proud of it, but its the truth)

18. What was your favorite toy as a child? I don't recall one specific toy that I loved above all others - some favorites were my Cabbage Patch dolls and Barbies

19. What is your favorite season? Autumn

20. Hugs or kisses? None - I'm so not a touchy-feely person, just ask James


21. Cherry or Blueberry? Just because I'm contrary I'm going to say Strawberry (and if that isn't a clue about my personality type I don't know what is LOL)

22. Do you want your friends to email you back? Yep, I'm oversensitive

23. Who is most likely to respond? My Babycenter friends (is that pathetic - maybe?)

24. Who is least likely to respond? My brothers

Wha? Where'd 25 go?

26. When was the last time you cried? I think I teared up watching the Budweiser clydesdale superbowl commercial

27. What is on the floor of your closet? Clothes, shoes, vacuum, hamper, stepstool, extra rolls of toilet paper

28. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending this to? Well, I'm only sending this to Rochelle, so I guess you win Rochelle, but I'm going to post it on my blog, so I guess my mom would win (if she actually reads my blog ;-P)

29. Who is the friend you have had the shortest that you are sending this to? Ro wins again

30. Favorite smells? Baking bread and anything coconut (reminds me of Hawaii)

31. Who inspires you? I'm such a cynic, I don't know...

32. What are you afraid of? Dying and leaving my kids behind

33. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? What the heck's a spicy hamburger? Cheese, no onions, extra pickles

34. Favorite car? Well, I know it's not PC but I'm in love with my Navigator

35. Favorite cat breed? Any cat that is rescued from a shelter (all of ours)

36. Number of keys on your key ring? 5 (I don't even know what three of them are for)

37. How many years at your current job? SAHM - about 8 years, online business owner - about 6 years, violin teacher - about 9 years

38. Favorite day of the week? Saturday

39. How many states have you lived in? Two, Wisconsin and Idaho

40. Do you think you're funny? I like to think I can be, but that side of me only comes out with people I'm very comfortable with, because my humor is kind of snarky

41. Places you've went on vacation: Mackinac Island, Wisconsin Dells, Canada, South Dakota, Grand Canyon, New Mexico, New York, France, Hawaii, Disneyland, Disney World, Oregon coast

42. What is something you wish you had? A house on some land, out of the suburbs.

43. Someone you'd like to meet? I'd like to meet George W. and rip him a new one- I mean ask him some hard questions (((BLUSH)))

44. Your dream job: Hmm, it'd either be playing in a professional orchestra or being a book editor

Bobbi, you're it!

Monday, February 4, 2008

A Civics Lesson for Hero

Obama

It can be difficult for a larger family of young kids to participate in non-obligatory events, but when it was announced that Senator Barack Obama would be coming to Boise to speak on Saturday, I knew that I had to take advantage of the rare opportunity to expose Hero to the workings of our nation's government. We got up at 6:30 on a freezing weekend morning (James kindly stayed home with the younger kiddos), bundled into the car, made a quick stop at Starbucks to fortify ourselves for the day, and headed downtown to the Taco Bell Arena (I thought about writing Taco Ballerina, because that's what we call it, but I thought that might be confusing, LOL). Thankfully Boise State opened up some empty fields for parking, so we had only a one mile trudge to the back of the line. We ended up with frozen feet after waiting outside for one hour to get in, but it was well worth it. The record-setting crowd (14,000+) was as diverse as Boise gets - from tiny babies to wheelchair-bound elderly folks. It was energized and enthusiastic as former Idaho Governor Cecil Andrus gave an opening speech. But it really roared to life and got on its feet when the charismatic Illinois senator entered. Obama's speech lasted for about 45 minutes and was inspirational, hopeful, and positive. As far as the political stump speech as a species goes, it was great. Hero enjoyed herself immensely, and couldn't wait to share with her classroom that she had been there, which was the most positive aspect of the entire experience.