Birth Center Tea

Today all the women who have had their babies in the last few months at the Birth Center got together at the Center. We all got to tell our birth story and have snacks and see everyone's baby. It was such a wonderful experience. To listen to all the stories, some good, some not so good, was just so heart warming. There were two women there who had to be trasported to Baylor Hospital during thier labors and one baby who had to be transported after she was born. It was heart-wrenching to hear the emotions of the mothers who didn't have the birth they had imagined their whole pregnancy. As I listened to all the women I found myself a little jealous of some of them. Most got several hours of first stage labor where they could walk around, take a bath or shower, get massages from their husbands. My labors have always been so fast I've always gone from light contractions, to heavy, to push, in a very short amount of time. Twice my heavy laboring was in the car on the way to the hospital (and birth center). I feel like I was always so scared and in a panic that I didn't enjoy the process. Now that I'm pretty sure we're done, I'm relieved but also saddened that I will never get to experience the miracle of birth again. However, every time I think about the delivery I thank heaven I'm done! Anyway, these two pictures are of the babies at the tea. The close-up is of Kaiya (middle). Half the babies were screaming but she was just laying there the whole time. As soon as she was set beside the other babies, she locked arms with both of them! I thought it was so adorable. It's an incredible picture that I will always treasure, just like my baby.

Camping

So we went camping this last weekend with the Conroe Vineyard. We had so much fun. We borrowed a friend's pop-up camper. We are definitely never tent camping again. The pop-up was a lot less stressful than a tent. The kids are old enough now that they were able to go play with their friends and not wonder too far except one incident. Terhan and Elijah, both almost 4, decided that they didn't want to wait til after breakfast to go to the park so they walked their together. Now the park is about a five minute brisk walk for an adult. I had just checked on them and the next minute (okay it was probably ten) they were gone. After much freaking out (because there is a lake) we found them both walking back from the park. Later Terhan said they decided to come back because the yellow slide was wet. On one hand I was terrified that he had gone off by himself. On the other hand, I was proud of his confidence to go all the way to the park with just his friend by his side. I've tried so hard not to hold on to my kids too tight and to let them have age-appropriate independence, so why should I be surprised when he exhibits it? All in all we had such a great time. Andy and I played games with everyone and stayed up late talking and laughing. The park ranger had to tell us twice to be quiet. I felt like a teenager at a sleep-over! The kids were so excited to get to eat all the thigns I don't regularly let them, like s'mores and cheese curls and pop-tarts and hot dogs. I guess one weekend of junk won't ruin an otherwise healthy diet (let's hope!). Kaiya also loved it. Mommy wasn't distracted with all the things she needed to do so she was free to carry her around ALL THE TIME! She also got to sleep snuggled right beside me in the pop-up. She was in baby heaven! All in all we had such a fun time that we're planning on camping regularly. I think we'll make some pretty great memories together as a family. Post a comment with your e-mail if you'd like some more pics. Also, I have a few pics of the Jones kids if they want them, give me your e-mail. Happy Days!

camping pics

Halloween pics

Mommy Days

My days are labeled two ways, Good or Bad Mommy Days and Good or Bad Housewife Days. Play with the kids, no yelling, outside physical activity(for the kids), good nutritious meals- Good Mommy Day. Dishes done, house picked up, laundry washed and put away, cooked nice dinner, changed clothes and brushed hair, good attitude- Good Housewife Day. Yelled at kids, spent most of the day in their room, hot dogs for lunch (okay and dinner)- Bad Mommy Day. Dishes piled ceiling high, laundry forgotten, still in clothes worn yesterday (see previous post), really bad attitude- Bad Housewife Day. It seems though that I either have a Good Mommy Day and a Bad Housewife Day or a Bad Mommy Day and a Good Housewife Day. I rarely have both Good Mommy and Housewife Days but my Bad Mommy and Housewife Days seem quite high in number. Why is it one or the other? I think that after so many kids (the number is different for every woman, mine is three) you go into survival mode where your brain shuts down all unnecessary functions (like short term memory) just to make it through the day. So the Good Housewife Program and the Good Mommy Program take too much power to run at the same time, so the brain picks one and shuts the other one down. However today was a pretty even balance of Good Mommy and Housewife. Not super on either end but not horrible. I got major grocery shopping done, straightened up the house and even got some boxes packed. On that note, Terhan said some hilarious today. I was packing up some of my craft things and Rayelle was hiding from Terhan. So Terhan is walking around the house yelling for Rayelle. He can't find her anywhere. Finally he looks over and me and sees what I'm doing and says, "Mommy, did you pack Rayelle!?" I love this job and wouldn't trade it for the world.