I'm thinking that I'm going to spend the rest of this pregnancy hibernating instead of nesting. If I save up enough sleep, I'll be well rested for the months after Hippo arrives. That's how sleep works, right? :)
Sometime while we were in Michigan, Gretchen figured out that Daddy's name is Bryan. Now she periodically calls him Bryan (especially when she's around other people calling him Bryan). When corrected and told that she should call him Daddy, she usually reverts to Bryan Daddy. Olivia liked the new game for about thirty seconds, but now just helps tell Gretchen that no, his name is daddy.
The girls have started hiding from monsters. Where is the best place to hide from monsters? Anywhere, really, as long as you cover your face. The ideal is to cover the face with a blanket, but in a pinch anything will do. In the car Olivia will just bury her face in her hands and Gretchen will use her coat sleeves to keep the monsters at bay. If you can't see them, they'll certainly never find you.
I've decided to take control of my dishes by instituting a new policy. For every dish that gets washed by hand (for dinner or whatever), at least one bonus dish must also be washed at the same time. The hope is that this will get a handle on our dishes that need to be washed by hand. The dishwasher dishes tend to get done regularly (though not daily), but the hand washed ones just sit on our counter for weeks at a time. :(
Taxes are done! I finished up the city taxes on Tuesday and got them in the mail. Fun fact: We do not live in Lima. Technically, we live in American Township, which means we do not have to file Lima taxes. ...Except that my orchestra work is in Lima, so I still have to file Lima taxes. :/ Just my Schedule C, though, so that's not too bad. And next year we won't have to file Springfield taxes at all, so hooray for that!
Kaitlyn was born on Friday! More on that in a bonus post later this week...
Pictures and Video:
29 March 2015
27 March 2015
Bonus Post: Introducing Kaitlyn
Kaitlyn Elaine Barhorst
Friday, March 27, 2015
5:15 am
7 pounds, 9.5 ounces
20 inches long
Thursday, March 26, we went to church for St. Andrew's Canon. For those of you unfamiliar with the service, St. Andrew's Canon has about fifty prostrations (think Siamese children in The King and I). This particular day, we were doing a double canon, so there were closer to 100 prostrations. At the beginning of the service, I leaned over to Bryan and said, "Do you think if I do all of these prostrations then we'll have a baby tonight?" Well, I didn't do all of the prostrations, but I apparently did enough. :)
Just before two in the morning, I was woken by what I assume was a contraction. I don't actually remember having a contraction, just waking up suddenly and wondering. Ten minutes later, I had another contraction. Wimpy, but definitely real. Since I had to wait ten minutes for that one, I didn't wake Bryan immediately the way he wanted me to. Instead, I waited for another contraction -- that one came four minutes later. Wimpy though they were, four minute contractions were reason enough to wake Bryan in case Hippo decided to make as speedy an entrance as Gretchen. I got up and went to turn on my phone and gather the last few things I needed. Then I woke Bryan up and he insisted that I call our babysitter. He also congratulated our decision making skills from earlier in the night -- we had discussed starting a movie at 10:30 and decided against it -- and made a few disparaging comments about my tendency to need to go to the hospital in the middle of the night. During the drive, I convinced him that middle of the night is probably better anyway.
Elesha answered her phone, a wonder in and of itself since she is generally worse at phones than I am, and headed over to our house. Bryan and I hopped in the car and began the drive to St. Mary's. He was still a little worried that we wouldn't make it in time, but agreed to go to the proper hospital when he saw how mild my contractions were. The drive was much more pleasant than with Gretchen (one of the perks of leaving immediately, I suppose), and I suggested that if we had a boy then maybe we should name him Andrew, in honor of the canon. Bryan argued that it didn't matter because all we have is girls.
We arrived at the hospital at 3:15 and walked up to the maternity ward. Since my contractions weren't bothering me yet, they decided to check me before admitting me officially. I was only six centimeters, but they knew I needed an IV (for penicillin since I tested strep B positive earlier in the pregnancy), so they started getting that ready. My water broke about five minutes later, which meant we were definitely staying, and Bryan called his mom to tell her that she could meander down to our house whenever she wanted.
The nurses finished all the admittance paperwork by the time the penicillin was all the way in my system. Then the midwife came in and told me I could unhook from the monitors and walk around if I wanted to. Bryan offered to help and I waved him off. After three kids, I know three things about the way I labor: I like moving around, I don't like being flat on my back, and I don't want anyone touching me. Bryan says next time maybe he should just turn on ESPN. :-P
Around 5:00, Bryan decided I seemed close to having a baby, so he went to fetch the nurses. When he offhandedly mentioned that the penicillin had made me sick, they jumped into action. Apparently being sick is a sign of complete dilation. The midwife told me I could give birth however I wanted, telling me I just had to decide. I remember being surprised that she gave me a choice since my previous experiences had been dictated by doctors and nurses. I am not a game-time decision maker, so the midwife gave me suggestions. Having passed that obstacle, we were just waiting for pushing contractions. When they came, there was a baby in three pushes (the shoulder got stuck and took some extra work).
The midwife immediately handed me the baby and the nurses set to cleaning things up. Because of how I was holding the baby, no one was able to see the gender. Finally, someone asked me if it was a boy or a girl and I managed to check. Kaitlyn Elaine, our third little girl. :) Birth time was noted as 5:15 am on March 27. Measurements weren't actually taken for an hour and a half since Kaitlyn nursed and then Bryan held her for a while. When they were taken, though, she was 7 pounds, 9.5 ounces, and 20 inches long.
It was only after Kaitlyn was born that we learned how blessed we were to have her. When the midwife was examining the (two vessel) cord and placenta, she noticed that Kaitlyn had placenta velamentosa. This means that her cord, rather than inserting directly into the placenta, was actually attached to the membranes surrounding the placenta and the blood vessels traveled unprotected the few inches to the placenta. Depending where the membrane ruptures when the water breaks, this can be fatal. My water broke an inch from Kaitlyn's blood vessels. Had it ruptured the vessels when breaking, she most likely would have been stillborn. A near miss, which is what happened with Kaitlyn, is medically immaterial and ceases to matter. It does cause the parents to thank God a little more fervently for a healthy baby, though.
Murry brought the older girls by for a visit on Friday morning. Olivia was excited to see "her baby," and Gretchen was just excited to see any baby. They both got to hold Kaitlyn and gave her lots of kisses. Gretchen probably would have been content to stay all day, but Olivia knew that they were on their way to exciting things at Grandma's house, so she convinced Gretchen that maybe they should leave. :) On Friday evening, some people from church dropped by and Father said some prayers. It's kind of nice having people who come to visit you in the hospital.
Because of the strep B, we are required to stay in the hospital for a full 48 hours. "An abundance of over-precaution," I think is how the pediatrician phrased it.
Kaitlyn is doing well. Bryan and I think she looks like Olivia, but everyone else has said they see Gretchen. We've decided that perhaps her coloring resembles Olivia's but her features are more similar to Gretchen's. I'm sure that as she grows she will perfect her own unique look. :)
Pictures:
22 March 2015
March 15-22
Last Thursday night we went to Michigan for the weekend. Bryan worked from my parents' house on Friday while the girls and I spent time with the family. Mom only had a half day of school, so she watched Olivia and Gretchen while I went to Battle Creek to pick up the latest bulk food order. I took Jacob along as my chauffeur/muscle. :) Four hundred and seven pounds of bulk food later, we returned. Olivia got to tell me all about how she and Oma walked to school to pick up Uncle James, and mom got to tell me about how Olivia was overwhelmed by all the people who had the audacity to say hello. Oh, my poor little introvert.
Saturday was church and relaxing and measuring bulk food into gallon bags and celebrating pi day (pizza pie and apple pie) and... maybe some cards? Ah yes, pinochle. Euchre was Friday night. Sunday was corned beef and cabbage (you know, because dad is half Irish (but only near St. Patrick's Day)) and then driving home to unload the car before heading to Sidney.
The weather was beautiful when we got home, so we let the girls run around outside while we cleaned out the ENTIRE car. Bryan brought everything that wasn't attached into the house (and some things that were), I vacuumed, and then we put back in only what we needed for the next leg of the trip. During this process, we turned Gretchen's seat around and moved it over to make room for Hippo's seat. Gretchen is very proud of her new ability to "kick Daddy's chair." We arrived in Sidney for a late dinner and proceeded to stay for four days.
On Monday it was the Klein's turn to visit us (we try to get together twice a month), so they met us at Steve and Murry's house. We let the kids dance to music downstairs and then took them outside (coatless!) for lunch on the deck. After playing on the swingset and trampoline, we took a walk, which made everyone sufficiently tired for naptime. :) Too bad the rest of the week wasn't nearly as warm.
Thursday was a weekly checkup for Hippo, and everything is fine. The midwife asked me what the earliest I had ever delivered was, and I had to tell her "three days late." :/ Oh well. No one has ever been pregnant forever. On the plus side for my faithful readers, you still have time to get baby guesses in! Gretchen's have been added to the comments section.
Murry watched the girls during my appointment and by the time I came back at two Gretchen had already finished her nap for the day. Since I usually put her down around two, I was shocked. Murry thought maybe the earlier nap would help her go to sleep at a more reasonable time at night. Working on this theory, we've tried the earlier naptime a couple of times since getting back to our house. We are not yet convinced it matters. Gretchen apparently just doesn't require sleep.
Friday and Saturday we had (different) groups of friends over to play games, which was fun. This did, however, result in a delay in my blog, which is why it didn't go up as early as usual. :-P
Oh! And I finished our federal and state taxes this week. Finally! Usually I'm much more on top of this... Now I just have to finish the city ones before Hippo arrives.
Pictures:
Saturday was church and relaxing and measuring bulk food into gallon bags and celebrating pi day (pizza pie and apple pie) and... maybe some cards? Ah yes, pinochle. Euchre was Friday night. Sunday was corned beef and cabbage (you know, because dad is half Irish (but only near St. Patrick's Day)) and then driving home to unload the car before heading to Sidney.
The weather was beautiful when we got home, so we let the girls run around outside while we cleaned out the ENTIRE car. Bryan brought everything that wasn't attached into the house (and some things that were), I vacuumed, and then we put back in only what we needed for the next leg of the trip. During this process, we turned Gretchen's seat around and moved it over to make room for Hippo's seat. Gretchen is very proud of her new ability to "kick Daddy's chair." We arrived in Sidney for a late dinner and proceeded to stay for four days.
On Monday it was the Klein's turn to visit us (we try to get together twice a month), so they met us at Steve and Murry's house. We let the kids dance to music downstairs and then took them outside (coatless!) for lunch on the deck. After playing on the swingset and trampoline, we took a walk, which made everyone sufficiently tired for naptime. :) Too bad the rest of the week wasn't nearly as warm.
Thursday was a weekly checkup for Hippo, and everything is fine. The midwife asked me what the earliest I had ever delivered was, and I had to tell her "three days late." :/ Oh well. No one has ever been pregnant forever. On the plus side for my faithful readers, you still have time to get baby guesses in! Gretchen's have been added to the comments section.
Murry watched the girls during my appointment and by the time I came back at two Gretchen had already finished her nap for the day. Since I usually put her down around two, I was shocked. Murry thought maybe the earlier nap would help her go to sleep at a more reasonable time at night. Working on this theory, we've tried the earlier naptime a couple of times since getting back to our house. We are not yet convinced it matters. Gretchen apparently just doesn't require sleep.
Friday and Saturday we had (different) groups of friends over to play games, which was fun. This did, however, result in a delay in my blog, which is why it didn't go up as early as usual. :-P
Oh! And I finished our federal and state taxes this week. Finally! Usually I'm much more on top of this... Now I just have to finish the city ones before Hippo arrives.
Pictures:
15 March 2015
March 8-15
If you missed it, there was a Bonus Post on Wednesday.
We have two sets of MeReaders now. Each set comes with eight books and one electronic reader that will read each book out loud. Olivia got the Disney Princess set for Christmas and liked it so much that we got her the Disney Classics set for Happy March. Both sets contain a story titled "Aladdin," but it turns out that the actual stories are actually quite different. The first thing Bryan and I did when Olivia opened the second set was check to see how similar the story lines were. In the Disney Princess version, the story focuses on Jasmine. Aladdin is a minor character and the Genie is mentioned in passing on one of the ten pages. The Disney Classics version is much more similar to the movie. :-P We didn't tell Olivia about the differences, but after listening to them a couple of times, she figured it out. One day I overheard her doing an experiment: She had both Aladdin books side by side on the floor and was using the readers to listen to both books at the same time. :)
I've recently started trying a new tactic to avoid frustration at bedtime. When both girls are in bed, I go into their room, sit in the chair, and sing songs for about ten minutes. I don't feel like I'm taking extra time out of my evening, and they calm down and (theoretically) continue falling asleep without interrupting us anymore. ...Gretchen is still a bit fuzzy on her part in this. Anyway, I started with hymns, but now I have a noted Psalter, so I've begun using that. The Psalms are grouped into 30 days (morning and evening), so if I keep this up then we'll be completing the Psalms about every two months. Not a bad deal, especially if Gretchen starts staying in bed when I'm done.
The snow is slowly but surely melting here and we've had some nice enough days that we've been outside a little bit. So far our outside time has been limited to walking to the mailbox and back, but that's mostly because Olivia freaked out the first time she got mud on her shoe, so I am disinclined to let them run free in the muddy back yard, lest I have to deal with the fallout afterwards. We are anxiously awaiting more sunshine and temperatures that allow us to lose the coats.
And speaking of anxiously awaiting, Hippo is only three weeks (give or take) away. Have you made your guesses yet? Justine pointed out that Gretchen has not, so I guess I'll have to get on that. Also of note, the baptism will be in Lima on Sunday, April 26. All are welcome and we do have floor space if you need to stay overnight.
We're heading to Michigan this weekend for one last trip before Hippo's arrival. Then it's down to Sidney for a few days so that Bryan can go in to work for some meetings. He's hoping that saying the same thing in person that he's been saying via email will be more persuasive to the department for which he's currently building a database. Wish him luck.
Pictures:
We have two sets of MeReaders now. Each set comes with eight books and one electronic reader that will read each book out loud. Olivia got the Disney Princess set for Christmas and liked it so much that we got her the Disney Classics set for Happy March. Both sets contain a story titled "Aladdin," but it turns out that the actual stories are actually quite different. The first thing Bryan and I did when Olivia opened the second set was check to see how similar the story lines were. In the Disney Princess version, the story focuses on Jasmine. Aladdin is a minor character and the Genie is mentioned in passing on one of the ten pages. The Disney Classics version is much more similar to the movie. :-P We didn't tell Olivia about the differences, but after listening to them a couple of times, she figured it out. One day I overheard her doing an experiment: She had both Aladdin books side by side on the floor and was using the readers to listen to both books at the same time. :)
I've recently started trying a new tactic to avoid frustration at bedtime. When both girls are in bed, I go into their room, sit in the chair, and sing songs for about ten minutes. I don't feel like I'm taking extra time out of my evening, and they calm down and (theoretically) continue falling asleep without interrupting us anymore. ...Gretchen is still a bit fuzzy on her part in this. Anyway, I started with hymns, but now I have a noted Psalter, so I've begun using that. The Psalms are grouped into 30 days (morning and evening), so if I keep this up then we'll be completing the Psalms about every two months. Not a bad deal, especially if Gretchen starts staying in bed when I'm done.
The snow is slowly but surely melting here and we've had some nice enough days that we've been outside a little bit. So far our outside time has been limited to walking to the mailbox and back, but that's mostly because Olivia freaked out the first time she got mud on her shoe, so I am disinclined to let them run free in the muddy back yard, lest I have to deal with the fallout afterwards. We are anxiously awaiting more sunshine and temperatures that allow us to lose the coats.
And speaking of anxiously awaiting, Hippo is only three weeks (give or take) away. Have you made your guesses yet? Justine pointed out that Gretchen has not, so I guess I'll have to get on that. Also of note, the baptism will be in Lima on Sunday, April 26. All are welcome and we do have floor space if you need to stay overnight.
We're heading to Michigan this weekend for one last trip before Hippo's arrival. Then it's down to Sidney for a few days so that Bryan can go in to work for some meetings. He's hoping that saying the same thing in person that he's been saying via email will be more persuasive to the department for which he's currently building a database. Wish him luck.
Pictures:
11 March 2015
Bonus Post: Sound Bites 1
Gretchen: 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 16, 5, 5, 5.
Gretchen: 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 15, 16, 16, 16, 16, 17, 18, 19, 1, 2, 3.
Eva: My Mommy coming today!
Me: Yes, your mommy is going to come after quiet time to take you home.
Eva: Me not want to go home.
Olivia: Mom, she has to go home.
Me: If the baby in mommy's tummy is a boy, should we name him Samuel or Thomas?
Olivia: Well, I would like a train in my house.
(That one took me a minute.)
Olivia: Gretchen will turn into Olivia or a kid and we will have a new baby.
Olivia (referring to dinner): I don't like this.
Me: You don't?
Olivia: No, but probably I will like it when I am a kid.
Me: When will you be a kid?
Olivia: On Thursday.
Me: So you will eat it on Thursday?
Olivia: Will we be at Grandma's house on Thursday?
Me: No.
Olivia: Will we be at Grandma's house on Sunday?
Me: Yes, we will be at Grandma's house on Sunday.
Olivia: Oh. Probably I will be a kid on Sunday.
Olivia (watching me try on maternity shirts): Why are you putting on all those shirts?
Me: To see if they fit over my belly. Look, this is one I wore when YOU were in my tummy!
Olivia: Well, I will not fit in your belly anymore because there is another baby in there. But when that baby is out then I will be little again and go back in your belly.
Me: Sick kids are God's way of making sure the laundry gets done.
Gretchen: Tingle tingle sar, how I wonder are, up a world high, yike a diamond ky, tingle tingle sar... (she gets stuck on a loop)
Gretchen: Sing five monkeys jump bed fall off bonk head mama doggo no monkeys jump bed.
Gretchen: 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 15, 16, 16, 16, 16, 17, 18, 19, 1, 2, 3.
Eva: My Mommy coming today!
Me: Yes, your mommy is going to come after quiet time to take you home.
Eva: Me not want to go home.
Olivia: Mom, she has to go home.
Me: If the baby in mommy's tummy is a boy, should we name him Samuel or Thomas?
Olivia: Well, I would like a train in my house.
(That one took me a minute.)
Olivia: Gretchen will turn into Olivia or a kid and we will have a new baby.
Olivia (referring to dinner): I don't like this.
Me: You don't?
Olivia: No, but probably I will like it when I am a kid.
Me: When will you be a kid?
Olivia: On Thursday.
Me: So you will eat it on Thursday?
Olivia: Will we be at Grandma's house on Thursday?
Me: No.
Olivia: Will we be at Grandma's house on Sunday?
Me: Yes, we will be at Grandma's house on Sunday.
Olivia: Oh. Probably I will be a kid on Sunday.
Olivia (watching me try on maternity shirts): Why are you putting on all those shirts?
Me: To see if they fit over my belly. Look, this is one I wore when YOU were in my tummy!
Olivia: Well, I will not fit in your belly anymore because there is another baby in there. But when that baby is out then I will be little again and go back in your belly.
Me: Sick kids are God's way of making sure the laundry gets done.
Gretchen: Tingle tingle sar, how I wonder are, up a world high, yike a diamond ky, tingle tingle sar... (she gets stuck on a loop)
Gretchen: Sing five monkeys jump bed fall off bonk head mama doggo no monkeys jump bed.
08 March 2015
March 1-8
Continuing from last week...
On Friday the Klein kids were still here. We made it through breakfast and I realized that the reason large families work is because parents get tired of dealing with every little issue, so they just don't. I was not taking anything from anyone, and all four kids adjusted after about two minutes and continued on with their lives in a much less obnoxious manner. Olivia spent her day perfecting the phrase "I just need some time by myself," much to Eva's dismay. Of course, as soon as Olivia opened her bedroom door to rejoin the world, Eva's face would be right there waiting eagerly at the crack. Olivia's eyes would get wide and she'd immediately close the door again, causing Eva to blink in consternation and inform me that "Olivia shut her door again." Eva and I had a talk about how she had to give Olivia space to emerge, Olivia and I had a talk about how once she came out she needed to stay out for a little while, and Gretchen and Eli happily ignored the drama in favor of dumping out boxes of toys in the playroom. At quiet time we broke out the first movie of the week and the girls watched happily while the babies slept. Around 5, Bryan came home (he left Springfield early) and entertained kids while I took a short break. Scott arrived at 5:30 to pick up his kids. Eli was ready to go, Eva wanted to stay, and Olivia worried aloud that Eva might not ever leave. Eventually the Kleins did head back home, though (apparently both kids fell asleep on the way to dinner and then woke up for the long drive home), and we got ready to head out the door.
By 6:30, we were on the road to Michigan for the weekend. I don't recall anything particularly exciting happening over the weekend. It was a peaceful trip to see my family, and we did all the typical things we do when visiting: church, cards, church, movies, church... Olivia and James played a lot of dress-up with the one box that the was still there. Gretchen found a Jasmine wig and thought it was Oma's hair. :)
That gets us through February 22. The following week was rather uneventful as we tried to get back to normal. The girls and I went to a children's museum with the Kleins on Thursday (right before our membership expired!). Gretchen's favorite parts were the animals: she saw a turtle walking and a meerkat came right up to the window to have a conversation with her. Olivia liked playing in the pretend store and pizza kitchen. I got to go down a long twisty tube slide to rescue Gretchen after she chickened out a third of the way down and used her hands and feet to get herself stuck. :-P
On Friday afternoon, the girls got an unplanned vacation to Grandma and Grandpa's for a day. They stayed there while Bryan and I prepared for our annual Happy March Card Club on Saturday. Card club was a success (if I do say so myself), and a lot of fun. Due to the fact that we actually had the right number of people AND managed to finish because of a complete lack of babies, it did run pretty late. Our first attempt at the chocolate fondue fountain finally began fountaining properly about an hour before we ended, but we did somehow come up with the magical ratio for chocolate chips and milk.
On Sunday we woke up bright and early to go fetch the girls from Sidney in order to be back in time for church. The bad weather that had been promised actually happened, so roads were slow and the hill down to Steve and Murry's house was completely unplowed. We parked on a side street at the top and Steve used their Jeep (equipped with four-wheel drive) to ferry us down and back. The freeway wasn't bad, so we weren't even very late to church.
Sunday afternoon was the Lima Symphony's Family Concert. The theme was "Down on the Farm" and concert dress was "blue jeans country look." Luckily, I was able to borrow a country-ish maternity shirt from my friends here in Lima and pair it with some jeans and two braids instead of my normal one. The girls especially loved my two braids, and I had to wear them again Monday. Olivia has also been wearing two braids since then. Olivia attended the concert with Gideon and his mother and appeared to enjoy it. There were square dancers, cloggers, and a singer to keep the kids amused when we weren't playing music they recognized.
At this point, we are finally to the beginning of this post. :) This week has been completely back to normal. The Weys visited to play on Monday and the girls and I went to storytime on Friday. Wednesday was spent doing lots of laundry after Gretchen threw up on two of the three beds we use. It appeared to be a one day bug, though, and she was back to her usual happy self on Thursday. Olivia had a cold, but once I was able to get her up and moving each day she managed to power through. Our weekend is excitingly NOT busy, so we are staying at home for most of it. We will be making a trip to Sidney tonight to drop the kids off so that Bryan and I can go to a dinner theater. :)
The big news for this week is Gretchen's bed. We decided that it was time to free her from the crib, so we put up and old crib with a hole cut in the side. She is quite good at getting in and out, but is also getting better at staying in when she's supposed to. One interesting thing to note: When William was released from his crib, he ran around the room in crazy circles for a month, reveling in his freedom. When Eli was released from his crib, he explored the room, learned to open doors, and discovered that a couple of well-placed kicks would knock down a gate. When Gretchen was released from her crib, she spent the first night crying. This is eerily similar to Olivia's reaction to a lack of crib. What do my children have against freedom? Luckily, Gretchen seems to be adjusting better than Olivia did, and has been happily sleeping in her new bed ever since. We're now working on getting her to go to sleep well rather than standing at her gate talking.
Pictures
On Friday the Klein kids were still here. We made it through breakfast and I realized that the reason large families work is because parents get tired of dealing with every little issue, so they just don't. I was not taking anything from anyone, and all four kids adjusted after about two minutes and continued on with their lives in a much less obnoxious manner. Olivia spent her day perfecting the phrase "I just need some time by myself," much to Eva's dismay. Of course, as soon as Olivia opened her bedroom door to rejoin the world, Eva's face would be right there waiting eagerly at the crack. Olivia's eyes would get wide and she'd immediately close the door again, causing Eva to blink in consternation and inform me that "Olivia shut her door again." Eva and I had a talk about how she had to give Olivia space to emerge, Olivia and I had a talk about how once she came out she needed to stay out for a little while, and Gretchen and Eli happily ignored the drama in favor of dumping out boxes of toys in the playroom. At quiet time we broke out the first movie of the week and the girls watched happily while the babies slept. Around 5, Bryan came home (he left Springfield early) and entertained kids while I took a short break. Scott arrived at 5:30 to pick up his kids. Eli was ready to go, Eva wanted to stay, and Olivia worried aloud that Eva might not ever leave. Eventually the Kleins did head back home, though (apparently both kids fell asleep on the way to dinner and then woke up for the long drive home), and we got ready to head out the door.
By 6:30, we were on the road to Michigan for the weekend. I don't recall anything particularly exciting happening over the weekend. It was a peaceful trip to see my family, and we did all the typical things we do when visiting: church, cards, church, movies, church... Olivia and James played a lot of dress-up with the one box that the was still there. Gretchen found a Jasmine wig and thought it was Oma's hair. :)
That gets us through February 22. The following week was rather uneventful as we tried to get back to normal. The girls and I went to a children's museum with the Kleins on Thursday (right before our membership expired!). Gretchen's favorite parts were the animals: she saw a turtle walking and a meerkat came right up to the window to have a conversation with her. Olivia liked playing in the pretend store and pizza kitchen. I got to go down a long twisty tube slide to rescue Gretchen after she chickened out a third of the way down and used her hands and feet to get herself stuck. :-P
On Friday afternoon, the girls got an unplanned vacation to Grandma and Grandpa's for a day. They stayed there while Bryan and I prepared for our annual Happy March Card Club on Saturday. Card club was a success (if I do say so myself), and a lot of fun. Due to the fact that we actually had the right number of people AND managed to finish because of a complete lack of babies, it did run pretty late. Our first attempt at the chocolate fondue fountain finally began fountaining properly about an hour before we ended, but we did somehow come up with the magical ratio for chocolate chips and milk.
On Sunday we woke up bright and early to go fetch the girls from Sidney in order to be back in time for church. The bad weather that had been promised actually happened, so roads were slow and the hill down to Steve and Murry's house was completely unplowed. We parked on a side street at the top and Steve used their Jeep (equipped with four-wheel drive) to ferry us down and back. The freeway wasn't bad, so we weren't even very late to church.
Sunday afternoon was the Lima Symphony's Family Concert. The theme was "Down on the Farm" and concert dress was "blue jeans country look." Luckily, I was able to borrow a country-ish maternity shirt from my friends here in Lima and pair it with some jeans and two braids instead of my normal one. The girls especially loved my two braids, and I had to wear them again Monday. Olivia has also been wearing two braids since then. Olivia attended the concert with Gideon and his mother and appeared to enjoy it. There were square dancers, cloggers, and a singer to keep the kids amused when we weren't playing music they recognized.
At this point, we are finally to the beginning of this post. :) This week has been completely back to normal. The Weys visited to play on Monday and the girls and I went to storytime on Friday. Wednesday was spent doing lots of laundry after Gretchen threw up on two of the three beds we use. It appeared to be a one day bug, though, and she was back to her usual happy self on Thursday. Olivia had a cold, but once I was able to get her up and moving each day she managed to power through. Our weekend is excitingly NOT busy, so we are staying at home for most of it. We will be making a trip to Sidney tonight to drop the kids off so that Bryan and I can go to a dinner theater. :)
The big news for this week is Gretchen's bed. We decided that it was time to free her from the crib, so we put up and old crib with a hole cut in the side. She is quite good at getting in and out, but is also getting better at staying in when she's supposed to. One interesting thing to note: When William was released from his crib, he ran around the room in crazy circles for a month, reveling in his freedom. When Eli was released from his crib, he explored the room, learned to open doors, and discovered that a couple of well-placed kicks would knock down a gate. When Gretchen was released from her crib, she spent the first night crying. This is eerily similar to Olivia's reaction to a lack of crib. What do my children have against freedom? Luckily, Gretchen seems to be adjusting better than Olivia did, and has been happily sleeping in her new bed ever since. We're now working on getting her to go to sleep well rather than standing at her gate talking.
Pictures
01 March 2015
February 15-March 1
You may have noticed that I didn't get a post up last week. Like my sisters, I just didn't get around to it. I like to think I have good excuses, though. :)
A brief overview: I returned from Texas on Tuesday afternoon. We spent a mostly normal Wednesday before Steph dropped off her kids so that they could spend a few days here (without their parents). The Klein kids got picked up Friday evening, at which point the Barhorsts left for Michigan to spend the weekend with my family. Texas, four kids, and Michigan. Is that a good excuse?
Now for details.
Texas was wonderful. It was warm and relaxing and mentally refreshing. Elesha, Carrie, and I drove down in (mostly) one day: we stayed in Indianapolis the night before and then left the cold, dark, snowy midwest behind as we drove 14 hours south and west. Elesha's van has a feature that tells the outside temperature, and we watched that eagerly as we drove, excited when we were greeted by a Texas evening of about 45 degrees. Ironically, we were the only ones in the area who thought that 45 was pleasant. Everyone in Fort Worth apologized for the cold spell and told us to put on warmer coats. :-P It did warm up during the days, getting up to 75 on Saturday, and the blue sky and shining sun were in and of themselves enough reason to make the trip.
Despite the testimony of the previous paragraph, we weren't actually in Texas for the weather. We made the trip for a two and a half day homeschooling convention. Not being as fully committed to homeschooling as my companions (mostly because my husband is adamantly against it right now), I just went to whatever talks sounded most interesting to me rather than feeling pressure to go to ones that perhaps would be more applicable to teaching young children. I heard a couple of fascinating talks on the inherent differences between boys and girls, some about liturgical music, a few on classical education, and one on teaching preschoolers science. In between talks we took walks outside and explored Fort Worth a bit.
On Monday, we left an overcast Texas wearing coats against the 32 degree weather. Their promised cold spell was finally coming and we didn't even have to be sad about heading back to Ohio. We can get 32 and overcast at home! We did suffer greatly on the drive through Oklahoma, feeling sorry for the sad Oklahomans and their lack of enlightenment about such elementary things as "snowplows." One inch of snow did them in, and we crawled along for hours, marveling at the ability of people to skid into the ditch at blazing speeds of 10 mph and chuckling at the plowing efforts of mini bobcats with tiny shovels attached to them. About ten miles before the Oklahoma/Missouri border, though, they have seen the light, and roads were magically plowed again. We made good time for the rest of the trip, though we didn't get nearly as far as we'd hoped due to Oklahoma's failures. On Tuesday we finished the trip, arriving back home around 3:00. The temperature in Ohio was the same as that in Oklahoma.
Fast forward about a day. The Kleins were getting the carpet in their house redone and needed somewhere to stash their kids for a couple of days. Steph dropped Eva and Eli off just after naptime on Wednesday afternoon before heading home to supervise. Due to spectacular timing on our part (she slipped out while all the kids were enjoying macaroni and cheese), her children didn't fully comprehend her absence for 24 hours. :-P Bryan was at church during dinner, but he came back to help with bedtime before heading to Sidney in preparation for a commute to Springfield the following day. Once we had four children in bed, he left and thus began my 45 hours alone with two three-year-olds and two almost-two-year-olds.
Thursday went smoothly. Eli woke up 45 minutes before anyone else, but I kept him shut in my room so that he wouldn't go wake up all the girls. Hooray for taller than average doorknobs. The girls finally woke up and we began our day. Bryan was supposed to be home from work by about 7, in time to help with bedtime again. The kids enjoyed playing with each other and discovering all the toys in our playroom. Lunch was leftover macaroni and cheese, so everyone was happy. Around 5, Bryan called. They wanted him to be in the office on Friday, too. He offered to come all the way home, but I told him it didn't make much sense for just a few hours. He stayed in Sidney overnight and the kids and I soldiered on. Lentils and cheese was (optimistically) on the menu for that night. By some miracle, all four children cleared their plates. Some (Olivia and Eva) required coaxing and one (Gretchen) cleared her plate more than once. Everyone ate, though, and all was well with the world. Bedtime again went relatively well, and I remembered to grab a box of cars for Eli to play with the next morning.
To be continued...
Did you notice that I managed to get a bonus post up this week? I suddenly realized that Hippo's ETA is only five weeks away and figured you might like to get your guesses in before it's too late. Head on over to Baby Guesses (Hippo Edition) to make some predictions. While you're there, you should probably also take a look at Olivia's guesses. :)
Pictures:
A brief overview: I returned from Texas on Tuesday afternoon. We spent a mostly normal Wednesday before Steph dropped off her kids so that they could spend a few days here (without their parents). The Klein kids got picked up Friday evening, at which point the Barhorsts left for Michigan to spend the weekend with my family. Texas, four kids, and Michigan. Is that a good excuse?
Now for details.
Texas was wonderful. It was warm and relaxing and mentally refreshing. Elesha, Carrie, and I drove down in (mostly) one day: we stayed in Indianapolis the night before and then left the cold, dark, snowy midwest behind as we drove 14 hours south and west. Elesha's van has a feature that tells the outside temperature, and we watched that eagerly as we drove, excited when we were greeted by a Texas evening of about 45 degrees. Ironically, we were the only ones in the area who thought that 45 was pleasant. Everyone in Fort Worth apologized for the cold spell and told us to put on warmer coats. :-P It did warm up during the days, getting up to 75 on Saturday, and the blue sky and shining sun were in and of themselves enough reason to make the trip.
Despite the testimony of the previous paragraph, we weren't actually in Texas for the weather. We made the trip for a two and a half day homeschooling convention. Not being as fully committed to homeschooling as my companions (mostly because my husband is adamantly against it right now), I just went to whatever talks sounded most interesting to me rather than feeling pressure to go to ones that perhaps would be more applicable to teaching young children. I heard a couple of fascinating talks on the inherent differences between boys and girls, some about liturgical music, a few on classical education, and one on teaching preschoolers science. In between talks we took walks outside and explored Fort Worth a bit.
On Monday, we left an overcast Texas wearing coats against the 32 degree weather. Their promised cold spell was finally coming and we didn't even have to be sad about heading back to Ohio. We can get 32 and overcast at home! We did suffer greatly on the drive through Oklahoma, feeling sorry for the sad Oklahomans and their lack of enlightenment about such elementary things as "snowplows." One inch of snow did them in, and we crawled along for hours, marveling at the ability of people to skid into the ditch at blazing speeds of 10 mph and chuckling at the plowing efforts of mini bobcats with tiny shovels attached to them. About ten miles before the Oklahoma/Missouri border, though, they have seen the light, and roads were magically plowed again. We made good time for the rest of the trip, though we didn't get nearly as far as we'd hoped due to Oklahoma's failures. On Tuesday we finished the trip, arriving back home around 3:00. The temperature in Ohio was the same as that in Oklahoma.
Fast forward about a day. The Kleins were getting the carpet in their house redone and needed somewhere to stash their kids for a couple of days. Steph dropped Eva and Eli off just after naptime on Wednesday afternoon before heading home to supervise. Due to spectacular timing on our part (she slipped out while all the kids were enjoying macaroni and cheese), her children didn't fully comprehend her absence for 24 hours. :-P Bryan was at church during dinner, but he came back to help with bedtime before heading to Sidney in preparation for a commute to Springfield the following day. Once we had four children in bed, he left and thus began my 45 hours alone with two three-year-olds and two almost-two-year-olds.
Thursday went smoothly. Eli woke up 45 minutes before anyone else, but I kept him shut in my room so that he wouldn't go wake up all the girls. Hooray for taller than average doorknobs. The girls finally woke up and we began our day. Bryan was supposed to be home from work by about 7, in time to help with bedtime again. The kids enjoyed playing with each other and discovering all the toys in our playroom. Lunch was leftover macaroni and cheese, so everyone was happy. Around 5, Bryan called. They wanted him to be in the office on Friday, too. He offered to come all the way home, but I told him it didn't make much sense for just a few hours. He stayed in Sidney overnight and the kids and I soldiered on. Lentils and cheese was (optimistically) on the menu for that night. By some miracle, all four children cleared their plates. Some (Olivia and Eva) required coaxing and one (Gretchen) cleared her plate more than once. Everyone ate, though, and all was well with the world. Bedtime again went relatively well, and I remembered to grab a box of cars for Eli to play with the next morning.
To be continued...
Did you notice that I managed to get a bonus post up this week? I suddenly realized that Hippo's ETA is only five weeks away and figured you might like to get your guesses in before it's too late. Head on over to Baby Guesses (Hippo Edition) to make some predictions. While you're there, you should probably also take a look at Olivia's guesses. :)
Pictures:
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