Florrrrri, come back!

Flori, Florrrrri, RRRR- roll your tongue, "rrrrrrr". Like on the movie Spanglish, remember Flor? Flori graced us with her presence for 2 glorious, magical Saturdays. She and her daughter, Heidi, worked together for hours to make my house sparkle. They moved all the kitchen appliances, scrubbed the showers, even cleaned the window ledges. For a brief moment we breathed a sigh of relief. Having them come in to do a deep clean every other week made it easier for us to keep up with the day to day messiness. Then we realized it didn't make sense. We were cancelling cable, Netflix, newspaper subscription, frequent Starbucks excursions(GASP!), and fancy cheeses at the grocery store but we were paying for a housekeeper. We justified it by reasoning that the time they saved us in cleaning opened up more time for us to focus on the business. It was fabulous. Fabulous but unrealistic. My toilet hasn't been scrubbed ever since. =(

Puke!

Ugh, puke! The big stainless steel mixing bowl has been become a fixture next to the couch as we take turns laying here in agony just hoping that we will soon puke our guts out and feel better. Yesterday was my turn. It hit around 3pm. At first I thought I was just shaky and nauseaous because I'd had too much coffee. Chuck took all the kids to the studio so I could get some work done but all I could think was, "You better go lay down now while you can before they get home." Did I? Of course not. Too much to do. Eventually I made my way over and hoped it would pass. When the kids kicked me off the couch a couple hours later to play "Scene It" (b-day present from Steph- Thanks!) I drug myself (and my trusty bowl) upstairs looking forward to my comfy bed. Then it came- that wave of nausea accompanied by the feeling of your entire body breaking out in a cold sweat. To the toilet! Couldn't decide whether I needed to sit on or hug the bowl. You catch my drift... Without too much graphic detail, suffice it to say, thank goodness for my bowl because my body decided to expel as many different bodily fluids as it could all at once. "Will my husband still respect me if I yell for him to come wipe my butt?" was all I could think in my pitiful state. Since I couldn't muster up the energy to call for him I decided to give it a go. I cleaned myself up, made my way back to bed and summond for him the only way I could think of- by stomping on the floor and hoping that would get his attention. He rushed upstairs to see what all the hub-bub was about. I let him know he'd need to dump out my puke bowl (rinse very well to eliminate any residuals, please) and restock the t.p.
The good news is Iwas in bed very early and got a good night's sleep, with bowl by my side. I haven't needed it since. All I could bring myself to eat today was a piece of toast with pumpkin butter because I'm too afraid to eat anymore, although I'm starving!

Arctic Blast 'o8

Dead giveaway that it's a snow day:  I'm vacuuming under the cushions of my couch.  Arctic Blast '08 has arrived.  We get a couple inches of snow and Portland closes up shop.  Kinda funny to see considering we lived in Alaska and functioned in much worse than this every day of winter.  I guess since Portland isn't used to this weather it's a big deal.  The kids are psyched because they're pretty much getting an extra week of Christmas vacation.  

We had a couple scary near-frostbite incidents with Gabriel.  After playing outside with Chuck and Bree for a little too long he came inside screaming in agony that his hands were frozen.  This lasted for a good 10 minutes.  It scared the heck out of me because I'd never seen him in this much pain- even when he broke his collarbone.  We googled "frostbite" and tried our best to warm his hands up but he didn't even want to run them under warm water.  Through his tears he exclaimed, "I ne-ever want to go out-side e-e-ever agaaaain."   As I sit here typing, Chuck is layering him up to go play outside with Cameron: 3 shirts, sweatshirt, winter coat, hat, 2 pairs of gloves.  

Doodle learned how to spin in circles.  Oh my goodness, could he get any cuter?!?!  2 spins and he's dizzy.  

While laying in bed last night reading about Mariah Carey's Christmas traditions in Redbook I happened to stay tuned in after The Biggest Loser finale and got sucked in to the premier of "Momma's Boy".  Chuck thinks Gabe and Gavin will be momma's boys.  I wouldn't mind.  Some of these moms were a little over the top, though.  I think I can see myself more concerned about the guys who are interested in Breanna than I am with the girls interested in my boys.

Amen to that!

Just a follow up to yesterday's post.  This was sent to me from one of the girls in my breastfeeding group.  How cute?!?

Breastfeeding

As some of you may know, a couple months ago I decided to become a volunteer peer counselor with the Nursing Mother's Counsel of Oregon.

I (along with about 20 other women) underwent about 25 hours of training over the course of one weekend and 3 Monday evenings. Along the way I met some very nice gals who share one of my most passionate beliefs- that breast is best and all babies should breastfeed for as long as mom can do it. Of course there was also the bra-less hippie who was there because "if all babies were breastfed there would be no wars". Well, possibly, but I might not say that out loud before a group. All in all, it was a very positive experience and an opportunity for me to do something for myself that had nothing to do with personal training or poopy diapers. I jumped at the chance. I knew that my breastfeeding relationship with Gavin would be ending soon and I love the whole experience so much that I still wanted to be involved in it in some aspect. In the training we discussed counseling skills, breastfeeding challenges, mom's diet, breastfeeding beyond the first year, weaning, counselor responsibilities and many other things. As a counselor I'm required to cover a live-line phone shift at least once a month and participate in health fairs, business meetings and get-togethers.
Today was my first phone shift. (I just call in to have calls to NMC forwarded to my cell phone) My shift was from 12-3 and I received my first (and only) call at about 12:30. I was soooo excited but also scared about giving out faulty information and ruining a mom's entire breastfeeding experience.
Here's what I'm hit with my very first time at bat: Mom of 5 wk. old (5th child) concerned that DHS is going to take her kids because her boyfriend uses marijuana for medicinal purposes in the home and because she's breathing the second hand smoke, she's passing it to the baby through her breastmilk. Apparently she's red flagged anyway due to a past issue with her 2 yr. old. They want to test her urine for marijuana. Does she stop nursing or just lie to them and say she's stopping and hope they'll leave her alone? Wow, couldn't be something like, "My nipples are sore and my baby has pooped 9 times today." I really wanted to help her and deep down all I could think to tell her was that our mission was to help her continue her breastfeeding relationship with her daughter. Drugs?!? She seemed like she wanted to continue nursing but I almost caught a hint of, "Fuck 'em, let them take all 5 of them if they think they can do a better job."
After that call I just came downstairs to my little doodlebug with his messy hair and booger nose and felt so blessed to be able to provide him with a warm home, abundance of food and clean breastmilk.

Gavin giggles

Just a little video of the kids.  I just love Gavin's giggle!

Bad quality because it's my digital camera (not camcorder).  He loves to roughhouse with the big kids.

Not-So-Happy Meal

About 3 years ago we decided that maybe it wouldn't be so bad to let our kids in on a little piece of American culture and expose them to what they would inevitably come to know and long for- the McDonald's Happy Meal.  Once in a great while it couldn't be so bad, right?  Wrong.  Gabe puked it up like his little virgin tummy had never had trans fat before.  Scared the heck out of him and he hasn't wanted McDonald's since.  Fast forward to 1:47 a.m. Sunday morning.  "Gabriel threw up all over me," shrieked Breanna as she hovered over our bed.  Huh?! By the time I calmed Gavin down and got him back to sleep Chuck already had Gabe in the shower while Breanna fought off her gag reflex changing her sheets.  Guess we forgot to tell her you have to rinse out the chunks before you throw them in the washer.  I learned what dried, crusty bits of red bell pepper and meat (more on that later) look like when they come out of the drier.  After everyone got cleaned up and played musical beds we were up again very shortly trying to get Gabe to the bathroom before he blew chunks all over our bed and floor.  He didn't make it.  This scenario repeated itself a few more times before dawn.  So, needless to say, we spent our weekend washing towels and sheets, napping,  and sanitizing any hard surface he'd come in contact with.  Poor little guy.  We can't completely blame it on McDonald's.  After breakfast he went to a pool party and had his fair share of cake, pizza, and popsicles.  And since I didn't have time to go to the grocery store and the kids were about to starve to death I stopped and got fast food burritos for dinner.  Put it all together and it makes for a not-so-fun Saturday night.  He stayed home with me today and broke his perfect attendance streak.  He was bummed but still wasn't feeling well and asked if we could "cancel school today".  

On a positive note, we got our Christmas tree!

"Meoooow"

Gavin's new sound.  My little stinkerdoodle is just sweet enough to eat.  His little personality just shines through and keeps this big, goofy grin on my face all day.  My cheeks hurt from smiling so much.  He was in his high chair today and saw Chuck pull into the driveway and said, "DADA!" and squirmed to get down.  He's so excited to see Dada and Dada's so excited to see him that we have to be careful to not completely disregard Breanna or Gabe if they're in the room when he gets home.  Gabe got his hair cut today.  Long overdue.  Speaking of hair cuts- mine's starting to become mullet-ized.  I just can't seem to get it right with my stylist.  The only really great experience I've had with her since she's been cutting my hair (for about a year) was the last cut about 6-7 weeks ago.  But just this last time I was pretty unhappy and each day that goes by I become more unhappy with it.  Here's the kicker- she's my next-door neighbor.  So what can I do?  Go elsewhere only to run into her with my new haircut?  She's a super-sweet lady but I just don't know what to do.  I haven't been getting what I've wanted from her.  She's always more than willing to see me immediately for a touch up if I notice there's a problem (which I always seem to do).  Chuck says I'm just too picky and I'd find something wrong even if it were perfect.  He may be right.  I say, it's MY hair on top of MY head that I have to see EVERY DAY and style EVERY DAY and I want to be happy with it.  Also, since she cuts my hair out of her home do I give her a tip?  Feedback, please.

"Oh maaaaan!"

When I check Gavin's diaper and it's poopy I say, "Oh, man!".  So the other day I asked, "Gavin, are you poopy?"  He replied, "Oh, maaaaaaan!"  (Think: Swiper of Dora the Explorer fame)  As he's saying it he tilts his head and throws his hands down.  "Oh, maaaaan!"  When he's not poopy he doesn't say it.  He's just a little genius.  He tries to hang up Chuck's hat on the wall where it belongs.  When we're getting ready to go somewhere he goes to the closet to get his shoes.  He signs "water" when he wants water, "milk" when he wants milk and "eat" when he's hungry.   The latest trick we taught him is we say, "Raise your hand if you love Mommy."  Lo and behold, he reaches that hand up as high as he can.  Mama's boy.  Today any time Chuck asked Gabe to do something, Gabe would say, "Mom, is it okay if I ________?"  (Fill in the blank with whatever Chuck told him to do.)  It was pretty funny, but after a while Chuck looked at me and rolled his eyes.  I think we know who wears the pants around here.

Black Friday

So I hadn't planned to climb out from under my warm covers to wrestle the crowds for half price socks but when I awoke at 7:30 and realized Gavin was still asleep, I jumped up and realized it was now or never. I'll admit, free coffee and donuts made it a little more bearable. I actually didn't do much damage. The crowds weren't too bad. I was home by about 10:00 in time for Chuck to leave for work. Stephanie came to pick up Bree and Gabe so Gavin and I just hung out together for the afternoon. We bundled up and put him in the Ergo in his oh-so-cute hat and gloves and went out for a walk around the neighborhood. There were quite a few people out walking their dogs or riding bikes. We walked for about 40 minutes and went down by Jackson Bottom Wetlands. It was just starting to get dark and it was pretty foggy. The ducks were quacking and splashing in the water. It was sooooo beautiful. And quiet. I just wanted to stand there all night and listen to the quietness. Gavin just looked around and watched the birds flying asking, "Azzzhaaaattt?!?!?" ("What's that?") Great day.

Happy Thanksgiving

"I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sugar and spice

Ah... teenage Breanna.  Not a girl, not yet a woman.  Wait, did I just quote Britney Spears? Breanna is now officially taller that Chuck and me.  She's her own person.  With her own personality.  One that reminds me a lot of her dad.  To watch her love for her brothers is so unbelievably sweet.  They bicker and annoy each other but she sees the cute, baby-ness of Gabriel still and loves to play with him- tag, hide-and-seek, puzzles.  I can't believe she's going to be a high schooler so soon.  Man, when I think about the things I was doing as a freshman, I just want to lock her in the house for the next 5 years.   Here are some of my favorites of the past couple months.

Dorothy for Halloween

Bree and "Lubie" at the NW Women's Show

Snips and snails

I love being a mom to boys.  

We get to marvel over baby frogs... (don't know how he got into our house?)

Flex our muscles...

They didn't make it through pumpkin picking 

I love being a mom to boys.

Gabe read his first complete sentence today!  "Help Spiderman find the bomb."  What a big boy!  He sounded all the words out himself.  I tried to explain to him how "the" is going to be one of the words he reads and uses the most and how it's tricky to sound out.  AND, not to toot my own mommy horn, but I am so proud of him.  When I picked him up from Sunday school today Teacher Mary said,  "I love all my kids, but if I could have a classroom full of Gabriel's I would be so happy!"  That just makes my heart swell.  To know that all the effort Chuck and I put into teaching him to be respectful and compassionate is paying off.  

I ran a couple miles today.  First time I've done that in a looooong time.  It was such a beautiful sunny day here in the Pacific NW (Moon family, please come back).  Chuck took the kids for a walk and I kind of ran around the neighborhood and met them at the park.  Saw some neighbors we haven't seen since the sun was out last time.  That's about how it works here in Oregon.

So I'm struggling with how to approach my striptease dance class.  Your input would be much appreciated.  It seems that Father Bill (Chucks priest) received my mass email.  Chuck thought it was kind of funny at first- until he had a chance to think about it.  Now he says that I should take out the word "striptease" and rephrase it so that it would be something I wouldn't be ashamed of my pastor or his priest reading.  (My pastor, Steve, received it, too.  But somehow I think it would be better received by him).  He didn't say anything at church to me today.  But that may be because I picked up Gabe and we scurried out the back door.  Am I ashamed?  Hmm...  Maybe.  I feel like it's okay to teach women how to be sexy and to feel better about themselves and to entice their men.  But if I'm worried about certain people knowing about it, then what?  

Random?...

Gavin got a hold of the maple syrup and opened it just so..... that as he toddled throughout the kitchen he left behind him a thin, gooey drizzle.   Gabriel skipped his nap yesterday and stayed up way too late (Cameron spent the night) and has been whiney and on the verge of tears all afternoon.  He's almost 6 and I firmly believe that he still needs a good 2 hr. nap every day.   He's so much more pleasant afterwards.  Since it's getting dark so early he rarely has a chance to play outside after his friends get home from school.  He started wrestling (Chuck's idea) 2 nights a week for an hour and a half and just comes home wiped out- not to mention smelly.  He really likes it and is getting a lot of practice at home with Chuck and Bree.  Gavin loves to see them wrestling and usually runs over laughing trying to climb on top of them.  Ah, my little Doodle.  I just can't get enough of him.  I just want to eat his chubby neck and make him giggle all the time.  He's very proficient at signing "milk" and although he's nursing only a few times a day now he still tells me he wants milk.  I think my supply is pretty low.   I'm never getting to the point anymore that I'm full and NEED to nurse.  Breanna had quit nursing by this age but Gabe continued until he was 18 months.  I think it's a boy thing.  It will be very emotional for me when we stop.