BECAUSE PEOPLE ASK

I'm always a little taken aback when people blatantly ask me "So do you feel different about Owen since you had him?" Or, the classic "Which one is yours?"
I sometimes wish I could sarcastically answer without offending by saying something like: "I don't know, do you like your kids that came out between your legs more than the ones that came via c-section?" Or, "The one that I feed, change, love and nurture every day is the one that's mine... so you figure it out."

I know people are well meaning and they get fumbled in the mess of "politically correct" words to ask about the variable background of my babies. So I'll spare the sarcastic answer and let you in on a little secret...

I LOVE ALL MY BABIES...
But like any good parent, I love them all exceptionally for their individual divine spirit. I don't love them based on their worldly aspects of genetic makeup or journey into our family. I love them for the different spiritual beings that they have been since the pre-mortal existence.

So tonight I'll begin with my dear Ohwee.

He is my kindred spirit by nature, however, our closeness has nothing to do with him growing inside me. He was as much of a stranger to me upon our first meeting as my other children, pleasantly. Bizarro right? But I was actually a little glad to know that what makes me my kids' mom is not based on the 9 months time spent in mine or someone else's uterus. I have loved every minute of getting acquainted with Owen and being surprised daily as he offers me a peek into his darling personality. My close bond with him has everything to do with his gentle nature and need for a little extra physical touch and sensitivity. He is so pure in heart and only asks for something when he really stands in need of it. I am positive he was the ring leader of his siblings in Heaven. He sent his big sister to prepare me for motherhood and he knew she thrives on 1-1 attention. I think Ohwee could hardly keep Rider from jumping down to Earth in excitement and gaining a body. So there Owen sat, patiently waiting his turn to come to the family at just the right time.
He is gentle, serene, kind, quiet, and patient. Owen brings out the best in me as a mother, he tenderly reminds me to slow down long enough to rock him to sleep. He patiently waits for me to give him attention and he never fails to reward me with his genuine smile and giggle. Owen is so much like his dad and I'm madly in love with Kday, thus the same feelings toward his son. He tries to eat my face when I hold him and he makes me feel beautiful for some reason. When I hold him I'm at total peace and he is my only child that lets me hold them anymore... so I'm relishing in every single moment I have of him. He is sweeter than sweet and my heart throbs for him.

He sleeps like a princess in his mass of body pillows and softies.

He goes where I go

He is my baby - baby

Tomorrow: My Ride-iz. Wow! My little monkey who's zest for life is contagious.

RUBY SLIPPERS

"There's no place like home." We're here. Home. It's been a loooong time coming and thank heavens for my parents letting us stay at their place for 8 months. However, I absolutely find joy and fulfillment in running a home and keeping up my house and family.
Somewhere in the mess of boxes I've lost my camera. And since being 3 weeks out of the loop of blogging, I have so so so much on my mind that I'm dying to write about.
1. The feeling this house has rejuvenated my spirit with.
2. Humility
3. Sday: the latest findings
and much more....

My goal tomorrow is to find my camera so I can show off some before/after pics and welcome you into my new digs. I freaking love it here. It feels like I've lived here for years, so natural. Super.

HATE MAIL

just wrote some hate mail to ann taylor... long story and if you havent heard it yet, go to beckys blog. www.cuisinwithcricket.blogspot.com
i may not have internet still but nobody treats my becky that way, then lies about it and gets away with it. so as much as my throbbing painful carpel tunnel hand will let me... ill be sending them nasty letters every day until i get bored of their generic dishonest response letters.
love you becky and cricket.
hope you two are feeling better.
send becky your love my peeps!

COMCRAPST

comcast blows. im still living the granola lifestyle with no internet and no tv.
i miss you. i have so much to write about but phone blogging sucks.
so hang tight... i hope you miss me too.

91... and so in love

so you know me by now... i have a fetish with numbers. and guess what our new house number is. 91. my favorite number 9 and kdays favorite number 1. were freaks. i know.

im unpacking mounds of boxes as we speak. and im so in love with the life this house breathes back into my homemaking soul. i feel like a woman again, a wife, a mom, like the old sday that i some how seemed to box up with the rest of my belongings nine long months ago.

ive come unboxed. and i love it.

the internet connection here has yet to be ordered... so my lack of posting has been due to that. next week we'll be up and running like a well ouled machine and the posts are drafted so find your spectacles and settle in come monday.

EVERYONE POOPS

Kday and I left Layla and Rider with a babysitter while we collected the keys to our new diggs.

Upon returning home... a tearful babysitter, a screaming daughter and an a crying baby.

Poor, poor, poor babysitter. 

Layla pooped in bed. 

Took her diaper off, made a mess and then laid in her crib screaming in horror.

Back up.... 

Layla has pooping issues. 

Like - mega bizarro issues.

She freaks out, cries and hides every time she poops and it's a huge production.

So back to the mortified 2 year old in the crib - screaming because she can see her poop everywhere

It was so beyond gross. 

A total moment of "Congratulations - you're a mom. Now clean me up." 

I couldn't help but laugh. 

She screamed, I laughed, we cleaned her and her bed up, re-swaddled the boys and everyone was back to sleep in an hour. 

Oh ya, and Layla called her babysitter at 10pm and apologized for pooping on her. 

Super.

RHYTHM

Life as I knew is still something of the past, my always clean floors, perfectly folded laundry, meticulously stocked cupboards. But we are finally coming into a bit of a rhythm and it's a step in the right direction toward routine. I've let go of the assumption that we'll be back to a daily or weekly routine any time soon.  This new rhythm that we're finding though is bringing a little normalcy back into my daily life and I can only imagine that as we get into our new house and function as an independent family, our rhythm will only get better.

The thoughts flooded my mind last week as I washed dishes after dinner, in order to make space to bathe the children. Kday was arriving home late because he had commuted to work on his bike and dinner had already been served the kids. Bedtime was looming and I was feeling like total chaos had consumed my surroundings as well as my thoughts. Then, just as the faucet stopped pouring out water, my worries stopped pouring through my mind. I realized that we will find a rhythm at the new house that fits OUR lifestyle. We can cook dinner when it works best for us and we can get the kids bathed without having to clean the kitchen to do so, or we can even leave the mess for another day if we want! Our evening rhythm played out in my mind and the pieces all just fell into place and I thought about how we'll make it work at the new house.  (I like the word rhythm instead of routine because routine is too "solid" and sounds like it doesn't allow for much wiggle room... but rhythm is a "flowing or ever moving" meaning that feels a little more like the reality of our lives.)

Here's our "Evening Rhythm" 

Because Kday's job is such that he doesn't get home until about 7pm... we had two choices.

1. Eat dinner as a family without him. Boo. Family table time provides so many benefits I'm not willing to sacrifice.

2. The option we chose:

About 4-5:30

*Kids wake up from naps and Layla has a snack.

*I prep most of dinner while the kids all play in the kitchen - Layla does a table top craft like playdoh or coloring etc.

About 5:30-6:30

*Feed Rider dinner

*Owen takes a cat nap for about 30-45 minutes

*Stick dinner in oven or complete food prep steps so dinner will be ready about 7:15

*Bathe the kids and get them in PJ's.

About 6:30-7:15 (Kday arrives home)

* "Swaddle and Bottle" we call it when we put the boys to bed. Kday and I each take a baby and get them to sleep

*Meanwhile Buca heads back to the table to finish her craft or she plays with toys quietly

About 7:30 (I know it's late for most families to do dinner this late but as our kids grow older and their nap times evolve to a later time... this way we can all sit together with Kday as a family and enjoy table time)

*Kday, Buca, and I finally sit down for dinner together

*Kday and I rotate turns on cleaning the dinner mess while the other parent spends some 1-1 time with Buca. 

*1-1 time includes things like a bike ride, walk, playing house, chase or hide and seek.

About 8:15

*Reading and singing with Buca as she goes to bed

I decided to quit trying to cram our family schedule into the "norm" of eating dinner at 5 pm. Kday and I have always been late dinner kind of folk and with his job - it's impossible to enjoy a family dinner any earlier than 7:30 most nights. I stopped resisting and decided to go with what works, low and behold... a rhythm was created.