Lots happening. This may be the longest post ever.

Well, as you may assume, we are doing things. The play-doh has been worked well. Games have been played. Kai read a book in one day. Kade drew pictures and even arranged his pokemon cards to make a 'boy'. The boys have wrestled and played. The boys have also been playing Stickicide 3 where they have been enjoying watching the stick figure get mangled in many ways. Basically suicide for stick figures (if it wasn't clear). Not for the faint of heart, but definitely a boy game! The boys have also found the big jugs we get water in and have been using them for drums, as a bazooka, and as a chair (only Kade can do this and he loves to try and balance.) Annie has been going to school, hanging out with friends old and new, and she dyed my hair for me. I have put on some mehndi. We have taken Annie to the chiropractor and dentist. We have gone to park day. I have spent lots of time on Facebook - especially since finding my brother, Andy, and my good friend, Beth Winslow, there.

There are many, many thoughts I want to put down in this blog post, so it's going to be all over the place!



Oh, before I forget. Here is Kade's boy made from his pokemon cards...note the pokemon comic book on the couch that Kade had been "looking at" (reading really, but he wont call it that).


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We have been doing something similar to Ronnie (see her #5) and have been shutting off the computers when not in use. Since we have been home so much, it is mostly at night. Anyway, the boys really enjoy being responsible for the whole 'shut down' routine.

The other night as we headed into bed, Kade pauses at the door and says, "Mama, wouldn't it be funny if tomorrow when we turn on the computer it tells us to, 'Shut up'?"


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You know when this normally preferring to be neat person has been busy following many pastimes (her own and helping facilitate others') when the laundry space looks like this:




There are as many clothes on the top of the washer/dryer as there are in the dirty basket and there is a load both in the washing machine and the dryer. Notice the pile of things on the floor? One pile is bedding and in the other pile are the socks that go in the basket by the door. The clothes hanging either need to stay as wrinkle free as possible (nice that they are slammed on that tiny hook!) or need to be ironed for Jeff's work. Ideally, I like to do a load of laundry a day. Fold it and put it away. If I do this, then we all have clothes to wear...in our cubbies. Otherwise...it's to the piles. I have to admit something here...I waited to take this picture until *after* I folded all the clothes. Before, we had been weeding through the absolutely huge pile of clean clothes on the floor in front of the dryer. So huge, in fact, that we had to push it aside to open the door to the bedroom then had to move it back to get to the bathroom! Yikes, you say? Yes.

Another sign is when you fill the dishwasher 3 minutes after you unloaded it. There may even still be dishes left to hand wash because they simply didn't fit in the dishwasher with the rest. There may even be enough to hand wash that when cleaning them you wind up not having enough room in the dish drainer!


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Happy news for my Bro, Andy. He and his family will be reunited in less than 3 days! This is indeed incredible news. Their house sold in northern California and Diane, Mads and Nick are headed to VI to be a together family! Andy is very much enjoying his new job with benefits...and I can't wait to go see them!


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There is this baby meme going around on Facebook. I thought I'd take Ronnie's lead and post mine here on the blog. I have included some pictures, just to make it a bit more personable and us.

In honor of Beth...

WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED? Yes.
WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? No. Had fun finding the wedding dress while 8 months pregnant...knowing full well I wasn't the first woman - nor will I be the last - to get married with bun-in.
WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? Pure joy.
HOW OLD WERE YOU? 29



Kai bun-in for about 6 months.



HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? Had missed two menses. We found a cartoon with a stone age couple choosing the name of their child by putting papers with letters on them on the wall and throwing darts, blindfolded, at the wall. What ever letters they hit, they were writing down. "Drup" was what they came up with. So, Kai was Drup until we found out his sex through the ultrasound.
WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? Jeff
DUE DATE? April 1st.
ACTUAL DATE BABY WAS BORN? March 29th. We found out he was going to be a boy and thought it would be the best April Fools joke if he came out a girl. Maybe this is why he chose to join us earlier?!
DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? One week, but just the nausea.
WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? Bean Burritos.
WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? Microwave pop corn. I still have a reaction to walking in that aisle of grocery stores. Also, Target was a nightmare to go in.
WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX? Boy. I remember the day we found out. Jeff was stricken. He vowed to start the emergency fund for hospital visits that very day. :) Oddly enough, Kai isn't the one who hurts himself in his daring things. Kade is more likely to.



Our precious boy.



DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? Nope!
HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY? A whoppin' 50!
DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? Yes, friends at work held one for me. Diane organized one up in Yreka for friends and family.
WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? They told me when and where...
DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY? Spotted in the third month. Was in the Army at the time. I went in on a Saturday, very concerned. The Dr. on duty told me I was "just aborting" and that I should come in on Monday to fully complete the job. Nice weekend it turned out to be. I was distraught the whole weekend. I went to the OB/GYN on Monday and he said I was fine.
WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula
HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? Water broke 12 hours before contractions even started. So, I was induced. Didn't want to be, though.
WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? Jeff.
WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH? Jeff and my Mom, Dr. Walker and the nurses.
WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION? Vaginal.
DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? Yes. I waited a long time, though. The pitocin was more than I could handle on my own.
HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH? 7 lbs. 4 oz.
WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN? 7:04pm. The night the UCONN Huskies won the NCAA.
WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER? Kai Sebastian
HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY? 9



Dr. Walker argued with Jeff about whether he would take this picture with Jeff wearing the ears. Jeff wore them throughout the whole labor. It was a great reminder to smile and breathe. I couldn't ask for a better man.









In honor of Beth...and because I wanted to include my second birth.

WAS YOUR Second PREGNANCY PLANNED? Yes. We charted and planned very closely.
WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? Yes.
WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? Elation
HOW OLD WERE YOU? 32



The day Kai heard Kade's heartbeat.



HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? Since we charted, we knew when my temps didn't go down. We had to wait for the tests to work. Was difficult to wait!
WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? The man waiting at the door of the bathroom...Jeff
DUE DATE? August 30th
ACTUAL DATE BABY WAS BORN? September 7th. The midwife didn't tell me that the birth would naturally be delayed if there was still a nursling. It wouldn't have changed how we did things, just would have been good to know. I tandem nursed them for over 2 years. Best decision I made - fit very well with our family.
DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? I couldn't cook *and* eat what I made. So, the first months, Kai and I went out for breakfast. Jeff did the cooking from then on out so that I didn't have to cook dinner. I did get to the point of being able to fix breakfast for myself, though....eventually.



In disguise...



WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? Had bacon every day for the first few months. When I could fix myself food I had a sandwich made of toast with cream cheese and a fried egg with spicy mustard. This I craved every day. Chocolate, too, but I'm not sure that was related to the pregnancy! Especially since I still have that craving. (Are you reading Jon?)
WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? Microwave pop corn. I still have a reaction to walking in that isle of grocery stores. Also, Target was a nightmare to go in. Cooking meat.
WHAT WAS YOUR Second CHILD'S SEX? Boy. By this time Jeff was pleased with it. We had our girl in Annie!
DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? I knew they were who I was intended to have, so no.
HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY? A whoppin' 50 again! I was thinner straight on than when I turned sideways.



Ready at 8 plus months.



DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? Yes, friends held one for me. In hind sight, though, I would have just had the party without having friends gift. It was very sweet of them, though, and we did appreciate it very much.
WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? They included me in the plans, somewhat.
DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY? We were blessed to have a complication free pregnancy.
WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? We welcomed Kade into our lives in our living room. I would do a water birth again. Right now!
HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? Water broke 12 hours before contractions even started. This time I wasn't worried and trusted my body to take care of things. I had an awesome Midwife team in Tosi and Claudia of Birthstream Midwifery. I went from 3 cm to birthing in 3 hours. I didn't really start laboring until I let go...which is when I stepped into the warm water. Things moved quickly after that.
WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? They arrived with the trough (yes you read right) around noon.
WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH? Jeff, Claudia and Tosi.
WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION? Water birth and vaginal.
DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? No. I didn't feel pain until his shoulders got stuck. Then, for only a few minutes.
HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH? 7 lbs. 2 oz.
WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN? 4:00 in the afternoon.
WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER? Kade Nathaniel
HOW OLD IS YOUR Second BORN TODAY? 7



A sweet kiss from Kai to Kade.





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After much time, we rented Love Actually. I so enjoyed this show! Jeff was good enough to watch it with me the second time, and he seemed to genuinely enjoy it. We are still laughing at some of the scenes. It's been a great conversation piece! We especially liked the deleted scenes. So, if you haven't seen those, I recommend them. I especially like the deleted scene of Liam Neesen and Thomas Sangster.

This is a movie I will enjoy sharing with others. There is something to be said for watching other people laugh and enjoy something.


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Gratitude is something I try and express at least once a day and trying to make it last as long in the day as I can. I find this makes life so much more enjoyable! I don't know, often, what the day will bring. Gratitude helps me weave in and out of the projects and responsibilities I come in contact with on a regular basis. So why am I writing about it now? Because I feel so much joy at having these wonderful kids that challenge me, I am grateful for the friends in my life that spice things up and nudge me to see a bigger world, and I am grateful I have a soul mate who loves me and wants to be with me. Yes, gratitude is good.



Along these lines, I try and feel the gratitude for other, simpler things. Somewhere in my blog following I came across a post that talked about having a window they enjoyed sitting by when the sun was warming the spot. I have a window like this. It's in the kitchen, and I love to sit here in the afternoons. I'm including the picture for you. Soon it may become my little garden window.

I'm going to publish this now, even though there is more to say. If I don't I may never get something posted!!