Halloween

We celebrated Halloween this year by eating Count Chocula and Boo berry cereal for breakfast. At lunch we had mummies and teeth and brains.

Scarey Lunch

Then we spent our evening with some friends, the Hydricks. Had a great dinner of white bean soup, trick or treating, and the Texas - Oklahoma football game.

Little Red Ridinghood

Two little pigs and a zebra

The big bad werewolf


The crew

Ballet and Bicycles

Cayanna started ballet lessons. It's her first activity that she can call her own.

First day of dance

Cayanna: "Mom, can I go to dance class everyday?"

I think it is just the thing she needs.

Isaac has learned to ride a two wheeler without training wheels. It has been on his mind ever since we visited Utah this summer. While we were there, Gretchen asked him if he could ride Ivan's bike. He replied, "Ummm.....Maybe.... I think so."

Isaac

Thanks to Cayanna, she taught him how to ride, he has made good on his word.

Cayanna and Isaac

It's time to post again. I've got some catching up to do......

So much has happened, especially when I only post every 3 months.

We had a great summer. It started with Mom and Dad, Lorna and Richard, Carissa and Maya, Grandma and Grandpa, and Grandad coming out to Missouri for a little trip to Mormon mecca, Nauvoo. While they were here, Elias was blessed.

Blessing Day: Grandad holding Elias

We loved having them out so much that the kids and I decided to travel back to Utah with them. While there, the kids experienced many "firsts". Their first family reunion; first water skiing trip, Elias' first solid foods, the first time Enoch had a birthday fireworks show (24th of July), and the first trip to Bear Lake.

Enoch, Isaac and Caleb at Bear Lake

Then there was Caleb's first time on an adult sized carnival ride. It was my first experience of knowing Caleb and Noah were going to DIE while on a carnival ride. ( Moms can be so embarrassing.)

Caleb and Noah

I also thought Isaac and Enoch and Tucker were going to DIE while tubing behind the ski boat. I blame my mother's worry gene she generously passed down.

Honestly we had a great time in Utah! It was just what I needed. Thank you to all of our family there. We love you and miss you.

While we were away, summer vacationing, Bart was at Commissioned Officer's Training in Alabama. I have had very little exposure to the military but having Bart join the Air Force has brought with it an awareness of those around me in uniform. I feel a deeper sense of gratitude in many different ways. I'm proud of you Bart.

Bart at COT

We are now home and have started school. Bart is off to med school and the kids are at our kitchen table once again. We are undergoing the process of "summer detox". Hopefully with the structure that school brings, I will gain a little more time to do a few things, like blog. I'm hopeful but with five kids... hummmm..... I'm not betting my life on it.

The Year of the Rat

According to the Chinese Zodiac, 2008 was the year of the Rat. The year officially ended January 25, 2009. It is said that the year of the Rat is a time for hard work, activity and renewal.

For our family the year of the rat was 2008 and continues until.... well... we're hoping it will be finished by the first of July. What a year it has been! There is a dialog that happens between Bart and Enoch daily that reflects our intimacy with this little rodent.

Upon coming home for lunch from school, Bart catches Enoch in his arms as Enoch runs to him through the kitchen,

Enoch: "Rats Daddy?"

Bart: "The rats say hello and to give you a big kiss!"

Enoch: "Rats die!"

Bart: "You want the rats to die?"

With that Enoch usually giggles and gets lots of kisses from Bart. What's encrypted in that exchange is Enoch knows if Bart's lab rat dies early in the day, Bart will come home sooner. The hope is that "Templeton", as the kids call the rat, will have a quick demise.

Another image the rat conjures up is one of illness and disease. The last few months we have definitely had our share of both.

A few weeks before Elias was born, I came down with a terrible cough. I just couldn't seem to kick it. There were nights that Bart had to sleep in the other room because the coughing fits were so persistent that neither of us were able to sleep. Nothing seemed to alleviate the coughing spasms. The dramatic part of me was convinced that I was dying of consumption.

Concerned about going into labor with that kind of cough, I asked Bart and our home teacher Greg Stiner to give me a blessing. The blessing, that was given by Greg, stated that I would have a "reprieve" from this illness. I took that to mean that the cough would cease and I would no longer have to deal with it. Needless to say, a week later, the morning my water broke, I was still coughing. But as the labor progressed the "reprieve" came as promised. Midway through the day I stopped coughing and was able to have Elias without the concerns of trying to push while coughing.

A couple of weeks past and slowly my cough got better. Then the kids started to come down with it. We tried everything we knew to help them and again nothing seemed to work. The concern was not only for the kids that were sick but also for the new baby. We decided to take the kids in and have them cultured. When the results came back it was confirmed that they had pertussis, or what is commonly known as whooping cough.

The whooping cough is a difficult illness for older children but can have major complications or be fatal in infants. The Dr. put all of the kids including the Elias on antibiotics which take care of the bacteria but once the symptoms begin there is nothing to prevent the coughing spasms. They have to run their course until the body rids itself of all the toxins the bacteria leaves.

Caleb, Cayanna and Enoch have had quite a time getting over the cough, which can linger up to 6 months. Isaac, on the other hand, had a milder case and is almost completely over the spasms. Then there is Elias. Elias never has had any sign or symptom of the illness at all. This is a disease that 70%-90% of people living in the same household will contract. The explanation for Elias's immunity is that the antibody for pertussis must have been passed to him in utero and/or through breastmilk. Breastmilk does not naturally contain the antibodies needed to fight off whooping cough. It can only be found in a mother that contracted the illness in the third trimester of pregnancy. I am so grateful that I had whooping cough.

Through out this experience we have been blessed by friends and family that have listened to us, cried with us, and prayed for us. It has been a path that we were not required to traverse alone. I'm grateful for those that have " lifted our hands when they hung low". Mostly I'm grateful to a loving God who is ever mindful of us and whose timing is always perfect.

I can't say our year of the rat has been an easy one. But I can say it has been a year of blessings and miracles!

Mother's Day

I found some questions on CNN that I thought would be fun to know about my mom for Mother's day.

1. What's the one thing you would have done differently as a mom?

2. Why did you choose Dad?

3. In what ways do you think I'm like you and different from you?

4. Which one of us kids did you like the best?

5. Is there anything you have always wanted to tell me but never have?

6. Do you think it's easier or harder to be a mother now than when you were raising our family?

7. Is there anything you regret not having asked your parents?

8. What's the best thing I can do for you right now?

9. Is there anything that you wish had been different between us -- or that you would still like to change?

10. When did you realize you were no longer a child?

I thought this would be something our kids would like to know too and to add to our family history.

Mom, you don't have to answer #4. I already know the answer! You can just email the answers if you want. Thanks Mom!

Umm... I wonder.

There are a plethora of things I could write about tonight: the birth of Elias, the way the kids are interacting with each other, or life in general. But really what is plaguing my mind tonight is one thought: "What did I do when I only had one child?".

I clearly remember my life just before children. Working daily as an interpreter, riding the subway, eating New York City delicacies, and taking breaks by walking through Central Park. These memories are vivid.

Today as I stared down at Elias while he was nursing -- Isaac was calling from the bathroom for... ummmm... assistance; the two older kids were running through the house when they should have been working on their spelling; and Enoch... Enoch could have been abducted by aliens for all I knew; toys were scattered; dishes were still in the sink from breakfast; and laundry seemed to be taking on a life of it's own -- the thought raced through my head, "What did I do when there was only one?".

I remember the transition from the "working" world to life at home seemed such a big adjustment! I felt lost. But for the life of me, I can't remember what I did during those lazy days of long infant naps. As I contemplate the relative ease that my life must have been back then, when compared to my days now, my hope is that I enjoyed my time as I eased into motherhood. I wonder if one day I will look back on my todays and feel similar, wondering where the time had gone and hoping that I savored the little moments.

With that thought and another summons from Isaac:

I took a deep breath. [check]

Laid Elias down. [check]

Grabbed a couple of toys to put away. [check]

Told the kids to get back to work. [check]

Wiped an impatient little butt. [check]

All done with a little more love and a little more desire to create some long lasting memories.

The Fifth and Final Race

For the second night in a row I find myself with a start-stop labor. Last night the contractions lasted for about 20 to 30 minutes and then sputtered out. Tonight they went for about an hour and then alleviated once again.

I found myself wondering what this child is waiting for. Is she/he not quite ready to make its debut into life? What is up with this kid? Then my thoughts took a whole different path. Perhaps it's not this child that is not fully prepared for this journey but the one who is delaying labor is me.

I feel like a marathoner standing on the starting line of their very last race. Anticipation, excitement and a overall feeling of wanting to puke comes over me in waves. I'm looking forward to what feels like my final labor, yet a sense of loss lingers. Could this be the last time I'm to run the race of childbirth?

It seems like, just as in labor, the key to working out these feelings is to surrender. I have surrendered to the fact of being pregnant again, to the morning sickness, to the accumulation of fat, to the eventuality of the pain in labor itself, and now to the loss (or change) of this stage in my life?

Well, my running shoes are on. I'm all geared up and at any minute now this little one is going to pull the trigger of the starting pistol. I'm determined to savor this last labor as much as possible. I want to enjoy the trials and blessings of intimacy that giving birth brings into our home. Then, with just as much determination, I will look forward to the next events that life will surely bring, such as the mountains of raising children, the slopes of teaching teenagers, the peaks of building and maintaining a home. I will traverse each stage while trying to sustain my own sanity.

I guess I have traded marathons for mountain climbing. Now I just hope I have the right shoes.