Good-bye Summer

It seems as if summer is over. I hate to see it go. I am not a fan of winter. While I do enjoy fall, I do not like that it opens the door for the cold winter months. We have a few more weeks of nice weather before I dread opening my door and leaving the house. Last winter I was very pregnant so I had an excuse. This winter I'll have to deal with it. Joy.

We've been having so many busy days. It seems as if we're always so busy but it doesn't feel like we do much at all. Where is the time going? We started a reading competition. They had such fun over the summer with the program for the library that I made sheets for them to fill out at home. Zach and the girls can fill it in for reading and playing on Starfall.com. Chris gets points for his co-op work and reading. I think that's pretty fair.

We're having fun with our new friends. It's great to find someone else who love board games the way I do. I could play them all day! I've developed a new obsession for Bananagrams. I've been playing on facebook and found myself reading the dictionary for fresh new words today. Who knew that fe, qat, qoph and ka were words? I can't say I know what they mean but they sure help me place tiles! The kids are having a hard time getting used to friends who aren't homeschooled. They are always asking if they can come over during school hours. It's something I have to get used to as well. I haven't had a friend with kids who actually go to school in such a long time.

Tomorrow is apple and banana day. We found apples on sale. It was an incredible sale too. There has to be about 45ish pounds of apples and we paid $5 for the box! We got about 10 pounds of bananas for 99 cents. So now I need to do something with them. I'm thinking apple butter, apple sauce, apple pie....not sure what else. Tons of banana bread and I'll make smoothies with a few of them. You can freeze them in the peel if you just want them for smoothies and bread later. I need to think of a few more ideas. I love projects like this! I will have to head over to walmart for canning jars in the morning so I can put apple butter in them.

Aaron has 2 teeth now! They are so cute when he's not biting me with them. He's learning not to but this past week has been painful. He has a habit of turning his head to look behind him while still latched. Not fun. It wasn't so bad when he didn't have teeth but now...ouch, is an understatement. He's also army crawling everywhere! He can take a few 'steps' crawling on hands and knees but seems to prefer getting around by wiggling and pushing off with his toes. It's absolutely adorable!

I'm enjoying my classes. I'm taking 2 classes towards a nutrition degree online as well as Bradley classes toward my doula certification. I really look forward to my Sundays. The class is fun and I get to take Aaron. Pregnant women really love babies. They ohh and aww over him and he flirts with them shamelessly. He's such a boy already.

Another lazy weekend

Our weekend is coming to a close. I can't say we did very much. That seems to be a trend with our weekends lately. We went to visit my mom yesterday. I helped her sort papers for her classes so she could enter grades. She is a teacher at an elementary school in Chicago. It really helps to remind me why homeschooling is so important when I see the papers her students write and hear about the kind of kids they are. The kids had fun, they love going to visit my mom. Apparently Chris' co-op is a family joke of some sort. They've convinced my grandmother that the kids should be in 'real' school. I hope it stops soon, I'd hate to stop visiting. I'm so glad my kids have learned to ignore those kinds of comments.

Aaron hasn't had any more food. It's funny, I was so excited and now it just seems like extra work. He doesn't want them anyway. I hope the avocados didn't scar him for life. He doesn't grab at foods with the gusto that he once did. I guess we can try again on Thursday. We'll be busy every day until then.

Chris is still excited about his co-op but not very happy about the homework that comes with it. He's been working on it all day since he put it off until the last minute. He asked yesterday why no one else has homework. No one else has a class. I'm not sure he was happy with my answer.

Our science books have been great to read so far. All the kids seem to enjoy them, which is saying a lot. Amanda and Frankie were so much fun to watch as they pushed the walls to see if their force could move it. Amanda says the wall's force can move her but she'd need a lot of help to get them to move. We're hoping to do a project on friction this week. I was short a few things we need so I'll have to get out to the store.

Totally unimpressed

I assure you, it was even more amusing in person.

What is this?!?

Whose idea was this?

If I hold my mouth open, it'll fall out, right?

Aaron and Nicky's check up day

Today Aaron went for his 6 months check up and Nicky went for his 30 month check up. They are both doing wonderfully, which I knew, but I really love their pediatrician and I like to hear her say that, lol. Aaron is a big 20 pounds 13 ounces. Nick's weight was 30.8 pounds. I found out today that their doctor is pregnant. She has the cutest little belly. She's due in 2 months and is still so small. I just saw her a couple months ago and had no idea. Since she's going on maternity leave we don't have to go back until Aaron is a year. She says he looks wonderful and since we don't vax there are no worries of missing anything.

After we left the doctor we went to go visit Mrs. Scott. She used to be our next door neighbor. Christopher was best friends with her grandson when they were about 5. They still love each other. They gave each other a big hug and were inseparable for the whole 8 hours we spent over there. It was so nice to chat with her. She had her knee replaced in July and I had been worried. Just a month ago she couldn't bath herself and she's already walking without a cane! She's having a speedy recovery. She just isn't willing to sit down and rest. She needs to take care of her grand babies and keep her house clean, lol.

The kids were sound asleep the whole way home. Nicky got carried into the house and was so worn out from the day that he didn't even wake up. I took a bath and checked on the soap I made this morning. I've been so frustrated with that lately. My soaps have been sticking to the bottom of the molds. When that happens I have to dismantle the whole thing to remove the soap and keep it in tact. I may buy some new molds soon. I would love some silicone ones that require no lining and don't stick. I just hope they work well with hot process soaps.

I noticed on the way home that the days are getting shorter. The days are already feeling a little colder as well. I don't want summer to end. I always dread the cold weather and the cabin fever it brings with it. Summer just began! I remember wearing a coat in June. This isn't fair. We should get at least 4 months of nice days. I wish Mother Nature would get her act together.

Tomorrow is Aaron's 6 month day! My baby is growing up too fast :( He gets his first meal for breakfast in the morning. I bought him some avocado yesterday and am so excited to see what he thinks of it. I bet he will find that eating is overrated and not worth the effort, lol. Nicky was not impressed with his first few bites of food. I must admit that Aaron is a lot more determined to get his hands on some food than Nick was so maybe he will surprise me.

Chris's first day of co-op and other things

Chris had a really nice week! Since it's a one day a week thing, his week is done. I love it. I haven't been around such school-y people in a while. Most were more go with the flow type people but they were all closer to structure than I'm used to. One was very structured but did so because her daughter was used to school and seemed to want her mom to mimic school at home. I don't know if I could do that, lol. We ended up being a half an hour late. I am the queen of getting lost. I got lost literally 2 blocks from my destination, that is talent. Not only did I get lost but I ended up two cities away from where I should have been. I need a GPS like last year. Chris has homework, how weird, though it's not the torture that is school homework. He has a week to finish it so he doesn't have to sit in a desk for 6 hours then come home and sit at a table for another hour or two. I think this will be good for him. He likes it, I like it and he's getting older and has new interests. Aaron was the perfect baby. He smiles right on cue and always manages to get ohhhs and awes. We were there for 5 hours and the only fussing he did was when I had him in the sun too long. I was chatting outside for about an hour and he'd just had enough of the heat.

I am thinking of starting a 4H club. I have always wanted the kids in one but I would rather them be in a homeschool club. Not because I have something against public school kids but because I don't like to be out late and I really don't like activities on the weekend. Plus, meeting places are so hard to find during evening and weekend hours. I need at least 2 more kids over age 8 before we can start. You need 5 to start a club. I will have to do some reading as 4H seems to be much more inclusive, as far as projects and topics, than I thought. It's not all live stock and plants after all!

I have thought up a fun way to teach letter blends to the girls and am excited to start it! I think they will like it and it will keep them interested. They are terrible learners when you sit them down and teach them. They learn so much better though movement, art and song.

Now, maybe a trip to the library. I have no ink and stuff to print. I also need some new books for the kids.

The zoo and my weekend

On Friday we spent the day at the zoo with Dawn and her two boys, Nathaniel and Peyton. We had a great time! The kids got to play and I got to have mom talk, which is always a plus for me. We got to see the dinosaur exhibit at Brookfield zoo and it was great! I always knew how big dinosaurs were but I didn't really KNOW. Man, they are big! Seeing the t-rex really helped me understand just how worthless those little arms were and how scary that thing must have been. Nicky was not impressed with those big, loud creatures. He doesn't like loud noises. He kept his head securely buried in Mack's back the whole time. He was actually really good at the zoo until the end. By then he'd missed his nap time and was starting to act just a little naughty. It really was a good day. After that we stopped at my mom's and had pizza for dinner.

Yesterday was a total waste of a day. Today was pretty wasteful too. I sat on my behind playing on facebook and watching Caillou on netflix with Zach and Nicky. How's that for an exciting weekend. I promised myself I'd get the addresses of friends I've promised soap to, didn't happen. I had two 4 pound batches of soap planned, didn't happen. Chris starts his classes tomorrow and I still haven't gotten his supplies. I'm mom of the year today. I guess down time is good. I've been really stressing lately. I've been spending my days tense and upset and even though I didn't do anything these last 2 days I can say I'm a lot more relaxed, calm and happy. Maybe I accomplished something after all :-)

Now on the next week! I have so much to do and I'm so excited. Really, this week isn't much different than any other week but I'm really looking forward to it. Aaron has his 6 month check up and Nicky had his 2.5 year check up. I can't wait to see how big my little chunky Aaron is. He also get to eat this week. He's been staring my food down for weeks so I hope he's not too disappointed. I can't believe this baby is 6 months old. It doesn't see like it's been that long. This year is flying by.

I better run. I'm in the mood for a nature hunt tomorrow and I think we'll have a scavenger hunt while we're at it.

No more crowds

Hurray for the return of the school year. All summer the parks, museums and zoos are crowded with children. I really hate crowds so the start of the school year is always welcome. We had a nice day at MRU today, as usual. The kids did a really fun craft and the parents decided on what the plans for the upcoming fall season. We have many classes and groups in the works and I'm very excited about it. Nicky got to switch riding toys with Nathaniel at group. Nicky loves this little tricycle. Once the trade off is over I may have to buy him one.

Have I mentioned how awesome Aaron is lately? He is! he is the happiest child ever. He is such a joy. He's sitting up, smiling and going backwards with the look of much confusion, lol. One day he's figure out that forward thing. He starts solids in a week! I'm so excited. I should be over this after 1000 kids but nope. I'm just as excited about Aaron as i was with Chris. This baby thing never gets old.

Nicky is...a trying toddler, lol. He has no gray area. I'm either laughing so hard I could cry or feeling like i just want to cry in general. I'll be glad when this time is over. I bet he'll be a great kid. he has such a winning personality.

And me! I have a soap room! This means I have indeed gone so crazy over this soap thing that I've devoted a full room to it. I've also learned to make body butter so that'll be in there too if I ever buy jars to put it in. One step at a time.

Chris is always asking to do academic classes. I always think he should do something sporty. I give up. He'll be taking learning vine classes this fall. He's taking grammar, history and writing. It's only a day a week on Monday. I hope he likes it as much as he thinks he will.

Tomorrow is La Leche League meeting. I can't wait to go since it's been a while. I'm not even sure why I'm so excited, maybe the idea of getting out of the house with 5 less kids than I normally leave with, lol. After that WILL. We're having a pot luck lunch tomorrow, fun!

Totally random

I need to add this so I'll have a record. On June 18, Aaron had his 4 month check up. I forgot to blog about it so here it is! Everything went great. He weighed 17 pounds 7 ounces and was 25 1/4 inches. Ped says he's perfect and he's growing great on the boob juice. Nothing else to report.

Rainy days

Rainy days are best shared with friends. I was so close to staying home with the kids since it was so gray and wet but we ventured out to the park to be with our Wild Indigo homeschool friends. They played in the park until everyone was cold, wet and hungry and were off to Panera. I generally don't care for groups at Panera but I must admit it was fun and I love the food! Frankie followed her new crush around for at least an hour. It was kind of cute. Nicky had a great time sharing a cookie with Rylee. Aaron got to share his smile and impress everyone with his sweet, chatter box nature. I'm very happy to have gotten out of the house.

Back to being me!

Mack isn't around all the time anymore. He's been working on and off for the last couple years now. He really likes the security thing but it's really unstable in our area. He got a new position with MUCH more stable hours and comparable pay that isn't in the security field. I'm so glad he's not home all the time anymore, not to mention that we'll have extra money again. I can't be me when he's around. I get lazy and cranky. Since he's been away I have been early for all my appointments, the house stays clean and the kids don't fight or mess up around the house as much.

My girls are HOME! No more school, I couldn't take it anymore. I feel so much better, the stress was killing me! I missed them so much and I was really tired of feeling like the school owned my children. I found the work they did before they started school. Amanda has lost so much of the phonics she tried so hard to learn. Frankie hasn't improved but she hasn't lost any ground either. Now I know for sure I haven't done anything wrong aside from put her in school that is. I'll keep letting her go at her own pace. She's really interested in history and geography right now so I guess that is where the focus will be. We made a really cool time line the other night and she found a history of the world sticker book. She wants to put the things we read about in the sticker book on our time line. It should be a fun project. She is also into sight words. I ordered Picture Me Reading a couple years ago and the words are pictographs. She really likes those and she has a thing for flashcards. She put them some in the pockets of my pocket chart and is now 'teaching' the words to Zachary. They both seem to enjoy it. Amanda is all into writing stories. She spends most of her days asking me how to spell things. I put all the words she asks me to spell up on the wall so she can see them and doesn't have to interrupt her writing to ask me again. She wants to learn to write in cursive so I'll order her a Handwriting Without Tears book. Their approach is easy and not too stressful. I think it'll be fun for her. Chris isn't into anything right now. He still loves his rats but isn't reading much on them. He's just enjoying holding them and talking t them. Zach loves to have books read to him so I'm either reading to him or his Tag is. I really like the Tag system and so does he. I didn't think he would. He had it for 3 months before he decided he liked it. He's also hunting unicorns. It's really cute. I promised to build him a cave and buy him a bunch of toys and food for it if he finds one. No luck yet, but he hasn't given up! Yesterday we had a great day at Morton's Arboretum. I got teased about the girls being at group instead of school again but this time they WERE at school. Everyone welcomed them back officially. It was a great feeling!

Aaron had his 2 month check up today. I went because I had planned on getting the newborn screening redone and forgot the card so it's still not done. I will get around to it one of these days. He's getting so big! He's 24 inches long and 13 pounds 7 ounces. He's grown out of his 0-3 months clothes but he still wears them around the house. If he gets much taller he won't be able to, not to mention they are getting pretty snug.

I'm getting back into bulk cooking slowly. I made a HUGE pot of meat sauce yesterday before and after group. I browned the meat before we left and finished it when I got home. It tastes wonderful! I thought I burned it. Nicky took a spill while it was cooking and I forgot it was on. In the end Nicky was fine, though he did limp a little for the rest of the night, and so was my sauce.

What did I do?!?

I seem to have eaten something that does not agree with Aaron. His newborn acne had finally cleared and I was admiring his nice moist soft skin only to wake yesterday and find him completely broken out. I have no clue what I could have eaten to cause that so now this pretty complexion is back to how it was except it's not just his face this time but his whole body! Joy. I did have a slice of provolone on a sub, I wonder if that did it? If so, that really makes me worried. His milk sensitivity would be much worse than Nicky's. When Nick was small I would just avoid milk and ice cream but I ate cheese is small amounts. It would cause him to cry but it didn't physically affect him the way it has with Aaron. I guess I will have to cut ALL dairy. His poop is also green again which is another sign of a food sensitivity. I think I'll keep a food diary and cut the dairy. Hopefully we'll see some improvement. My poor guy, I feel awful :(

Typical

I start a blog, write all the time for a few day and then just stop. I won't let this blog die. So, update time! On April 9 Aaron went back to the doctor's office. I need a referral for his newborn screening. The appointment was pointless. I didn't even need a referral, she just told me to take the card to the lab. I am glad I got to see what his weight is. It's sort of difficult to get a good weight on my fish scale since he's such a wiggler now. He was up to 11 pounds 13 ounces. He's getting so big! His thrush left but I don't think we treated it for long enough. He's still getting spots on his inner lips. She told me not to worry about his weird breathing that, it may have just been a fluke. I don't agree, he had it happen again a couple days ago. It worries me but it doesn't seem to hurt him so I'm not sure how I should handle it.

We went on our first outdoor outing of the year yesterday! We went to Cosley Zoo. It was so nice to be doing something I enjoy. I thought we'd leave quickly because it was a bit nippy and I was worried about Aaron but it started to warm up and we stayed for 3 hours. The kids had a great time and I got to hang out with the other moms and chat. Quite nice. My back was fine up until the end when Aaron's weight started bothering me. The ultimate baby wrap is pretty good if I could hold him for so long without feeling a thing. I don't like the way that it gives after about an hour. It's so stretchy that baby starts to move downward really slowly in it. It feels like it need to be tightened or something. I really want to get a Moby wrap. Now that I know how to nurse in a wrap I'm very excited to get another.

I converted the empty tiny bedroom we have into a food storage room. I'm not sure how long that will last as it seems like a waste of a room. I may switch the game closet with the storage room which sounds like a great idea now that I think about it! I could set up table and chairs in the little room for games and stuff.

The girls went to the dentist on Tuesday and the boys are going today. I think I'm staying home. They are just going for a cleaning but Zach may have a couple tiny cavities. If he does, I hope he cooperates with getting them filled. Amanda had to go because she had a really big abscess on her gum but there was no cavity in sight. I wonder if the one she got filled a few years back wasn't done properly.

Zach is really enjoying his new phonics program. I don't push him and it's super easy for him. He asks to do work all the time and now I have something for him to do that makes me feel good too. He does a page of math and a page of phonics. Usually that's enough 'work' for him but sometimes he'll sit there and practice his numbers and letters. He's quite motivated. The first time he did it it was funny. I don't think he knew I was serious and started talking about some movie, lol. He seems to get it now.

Have I mentioned I HATE, HATE that stupid school? My girls have another full MONTH and then some before summer. I thought school was out in May. Some idiot that works there loves to yell at them and call them names. If he does this one more time, I'm pulling them. The thought of that makes me mad enough to see red.

We got new pets! I finally got fish for my tank. We have three female mollies, a tetra and a platy. If these fish do well, we'll add a few more. I also plan on getting some aquarium plants soon. The hood seems to be broken so I'll have to replace that too. I tried buying a new bulb but it didn't work. Chris is now reading about pet rats. I got two from a pet store but it hasn't been 24 hours and I know they have a respiratory infection and that they aren't very nice. Lesson learned. These will go back, hopefully I'll get a refund if not it's a $8 loss. No big deal. I found a breeder in Chicago so we'll go pick up a pair of female rats from her.

Chris has been invited to another birthday party. So much for homeschooled kids not being social. This one is really cool. They meet and my friends house and then go to the downtown area of her city. They will have a scavenger hunt in the shops(his mom is going to be talking to the merchants to let them know to expect the kids). It's not adult supervised but I think they'll be fine between the 8 of them and the area isn't huge anyway. After that they head over for pizza. The party is about 5 hours total. He's so excited about this. Mostly the hanging out downtown without adults part, lol.

Ramblings

Spring has not sprung. It's still cold here and we're missing our trip to Morton Arboretum. Boo. We did have fun at group yesterday though. I really like the church where we meet. The kids put on an impromptu play, the big kids had robotics class. I wish Chris would participate more(though I'm not sure why, it's his choice). He doesn't really like it much and usually cuts out. Yesterday he spend the whole time building a lego ship. We had chips, guacamole, fruit, and granola bars for lunch. I LOVE the guacamole from Whole Foods. It's more expensive than should be legal but it's so good. I'm going to try to match the recipe today. After all, the ingredients are listed.

Now to talk about my newborn. Rambling was indeed a great title. He's so sweet. I'm still staring at this perfect little creature. It amazes me that I grew him and am still growing him all by myself and he's healthy and thriving. Many thanks to my husband for the cell he donated to me for this little miracle ;-) This child has eyes for only me. He stares at me all the time, it's as if I'm the only person in existence in his eyes. My voice soothes him. I'm in awe of him. It's amazing to me that I still feel this way about my newborns after 6 kids. It never gets old with soft, sweet new babies.

Now, more rambling! I just bought a math set for the girls, since math is my hang up and I simply can't see me unschooling it My next step in pulling them from the jail they attend each day. They are having such fun this week! They will be so sad next when they have to return. This topic is becoming the topic of several mini arguments with my husband. He thinks they should be home now. While I agree in my heart I think that logically, it's still best they finish out the year. I'm not how this will end up just yet. We'll see.

Again about the baby. I have all items for the newborn screening. I started yesterday but he was crying so hard! My poor baby. The poke didn't phase him at all. It was the squeezing and holding his foot hostage that bothered him the most. He has this odd reaction after hard crying. The small amount of information I've found refers to what he does as a breathing spasm. I suspect this is just what the moms with this issue have started calling it. I haven't been able to find this listed anywhere as an actual medical term. He does this thing that I did as a child if I cried to hard. It's almost like a gasp but not. It's the quick inhale then exhale. I never knew it lasted more than a few minutes after a hard cry but with him it lasts a full day. When he nurses it causes him to have these but he seems to forget how to exhale. He will get a shocked look on his face while not really seeming to breath for 3-7 second and then he exhales a big breath. If it takes him a while he'll let out a startled cry if not, he just latches back on and keeps nursing. I have no clue what causes it or what stops it. I'm just careful not to let him get to that point if I can help it. The thing is that this all causes no real signs of respiratory distress. The doctor isn't worried and all the moms I've found on the Internet with this issue never find a diagnosis. I even found an adult who is still having this issue. I'm not sure what to do about this but worry. I have no clue what I should do as far as the newborn screening. My friend may come over to help me finish it today but we're both concerned about this breathing issue and not sure how to proceed. We'll see what happens.

Food! I'm writing a list. According to my weekly plan I should be shopping tomorrow. We might just go today if we get everything done. We'd really been looking forward to getting out of the house and due to....social issues in our group, in addition to the weather, it doesn't look like we'll be going to group. I'm hoping I can think of a nice variety of meals to make but, my head feels really empty at the moment. Hopefully Mack will help me think of some things.

Now for the last portion of my chaotic post: Politics. We had a bit of a political conversation at group yesterday and it made me see that I don't really identify with any one political group. For one, I've not educated myself well on what the groups truly stand for. I seem to identify with a few traits of a few parties. I guess this is common though. I have a live and let live view on life, this mostly stems from the worry that the government will one day tell me I can't homeschool/unschool, I must vaccinate and unassisted birth(or even plain homebirth) is illegal. These are choice I want to make for myself and I just don't want the government butting it. I'm also pro-life. I really feel abortion is wrong but at times I feel as if maybe it isn't always the wrong thing(this happens rarely) so I guess that could go either way. I know this view is more republican than anything else. I also feel as if the government should provide help to those on need. I don't think they should pull the weight of system moochers but the working poor should be able to get some help if they are truly trying and have a desire to do better. I don't think WIC should provide formula without prescription from a lactation consultant but I guess that's an entirely different post. What does all this make me? I simply don't know. I am starting to have a few issues with our president. While I'm quite happy the color barrier has been broken, I'm not sure he's making all the right choices. Some of his actions seem questionable to say the least. I guess I'll just wait and see how things go over the next year before I make any real decisions on how I feel about him.

I had more but I'm tired of writing and the children are calling me.

Ped's appointment

Yesterday my two baby boys went to the doctor. My shadow, a.k.a. Chris came with me. Zach and the girls stayed at grandma's house. The girls got their hair braided. I'm free from their hair for 2-3 weeks! Yay! I just have to remember to have them tie it up.

Aaron will be a month old tomorrow so it was his one month check up and first appointment. He's 39 ounces above his lowest weight at 10 pounds 9 ounces. He gained that in 2 weeks. I guess the foremilk imbalance isn't a big deal. The doctor didn't think I should worry about the green poops. He has some newborn acne, I really hope it does away soon. He has 100000 little red bumps on his face. He also has thrush. I can barely feel it so I'm in a BIG hurry to get it gone. Thrush is horrible and I'm trying to get rid of it before I feel any real pain. The ped wrote a prescription for me for Dr. Newman's all purpose nipple ointment. The only problem is finding somewhere to get it filled. Apparently, it has to be filled at a compounding pharmacy. It's not something that comes by the tube, it has to be mixed and very few pharmacies do this. I'm sure I'll have to pay for it as I seriously doubt it's covered. I just hope it doesn't cost some insane amount.

Nick's doing fine. He's finally gained a couple more pounds. He was stuck at 25 for a long while now he weighs 27 pounds and 8 ounces. No issues at all but he refused to talk for the ped. He won't stop talking at home. The ped mentioned getting Nick retested for iron and lead but I didn't even get him tested the first time until a couple months ago. I know his iron is good, it was 12.8 last week. She said no need to have it done again right now. I will probably let him at 2 and a half.

The appointment was pretty nice. I had fun freaking the medical student out before the doctor came in, lol. The idea of a homebirth without vitamin K, eye ointment, declining shots and a toddler who still only drinks breastmilk made her think we were a bit nuts. Then for the doctor to come in and act like it wasn't a big deal made it even worse. Seeing the shocked look on her face after having spoken with me for 20 minutes the doctor explained her stance on patients like me. We both have a mutual goal, healthy kids. There is no need to be upset because I go against what most would do since we're all trying to do best by our children. Even kids who whose parents make choice like mine deserve to be seen. I really like her. It's only the second time we've seen her. The first time was mostly an interview. She did a few things today that I was happy about. She didn't touch either of my boys' penis. While she was checking that are I did say please don't retract and she said she would never do that. She didn't bitch about Aaron not getting Vitamin K and eye ointment. She didn't even ask. She didn't act like having a homebirth was irresponsible and even remembered talking to me 4 months ago about VBAC bans giving moms little to no options. She never once mentioned weaning Nicky or putting him on any cow's milk. She put a note on his nystatin to be honored for up to a month because I told her that I would be using a natural remedy first(it worked really well for Nicky). She wrote me a prescription for a medicine she's never heard of because I asked. She did look it up first but she was perfectly happy to do it. She never once mentioned a Hep B vaccine. She did say she'd heard of cases of hemophilus influenza in Pennsylvania and if it moves any closer to Illinois, I might want to consider it. She went on to answer all the questions I had about it AND admit when she simply didn't know the answer. I've never seen a doctor with such a lack of God complex. I'm in love, lol.

Afterwards, we went to get the big kids. The girls look so nice. I tried to wait around for my mom but she made a stop and I was so ready to be at home. I fed the kids near my mom's house so they ate crap :( It's nearly impossible to find real juice in that area so finding decent food wasn't going to happen. We just snacked when we got home, it was too late to cook. I'm going to try to get the kids to the zoo at some point this weekend. I have a membership, I may as well take advantage. The girls don't have to go to their jail....er, school next week so they'll be with us at homeschool group! We'll have a blast. I'm going to find a field trip for everyday if the weather lets me. It's just too cold to be out in the cold much with Aaron.

Newborn screening woes

After Aaron was born I had to find some way to get his newborn screening done. I thought about getting an exemption but I wanted him tested. I called my old midwife(the one I used for Nick's birth) to see if she'd be willing and she was for a fee. So she came and poked him and filled the bubbles as best she could. She only brought one lancet and he didn't bleed very well so she did the best she could(though since that was ALL I asked her to do and I paid her I think she should have been better prepared). Today I got a letter asking for me to resubmit the test because the bubbles weren't filled well enough. The bubbles must be filled and the blood must show through on both side of the form. I'm certainly NOT calling her again. She was kind of rough with his foot and had she brought a second lancet all the extra effort wouldn't have even been needed. I called our peds office and they don't usually do them since most babies get it done at the hospital. I talked to the newborn nursery people at the hospital they are affiliated with and they don't do it unless the baby was born there. After calling around and then waiting for 2 hours they said they could refer me to have it done when I bring him in tomorrow. Then, I started to think. I remembered Zach's little heal after his. I'm also pretty sure they won't let me nurse him through like the midwife would. The only reason I couldn't do it myself is because I don't have the form. I called the Illinois Department of Public Health about it to see what I could find out about the retesting. I found out a couple facts: You don't need any special certification or training to be allowed to do this test. They don't even ask for the name of the person who did it if you check the homebirth box. The people in the office are very nice and more than willing to send you this form. Inhishands.com sells the lancets to prick baby's heal so I ordered 3 incase we run into a problem. The blood gets clotting ability at day 8 and Aaron, who is now almost 4 weeks old, barely bled on day 3. I'm assuming it'll be even more difficult to get enough blood than it was the first time. So, I'll do it myself. I wish I'd thought to call them before. I could have saved myself a lot of worry and time. If I ever have another baby in Illinois, I'll remember this info. I really hope it works this time. This whole newborn screening problem has been a huge pain in my butt.

Just useless

It would seem like I'd be happy to sit around and do nearly nothing. I'm not. Baby is going through a growth spurt and nursing ALL the time! My jealous toddler is also nursing all the time. He fills in the gaps of my time the baby misses. Thanks, kid. And to add to the lack of movement I'm still tired because my blood is still low. Even when I do get up, I'm back on my butt an hour later because I'm exhausted. My husband says it's only been three weeks since Aaron was born so it's not a big deal. I think it's a big deal. I love being up and moving. We were out a lot last week and it was so fun! Granted, I did have to nap when I got home I still got to be me on those days. I should just take some iron supplements and get on with it but that really wouldn't stop my nursing issues would it? Hopefully baby will be done with the growth spurt soon. Nicky doesn't want to nurse quite as much when I'm not sitting. If I am, he thinks I'm a boobie buffet. The part that is really weird is that with a computer there are things I can do sitting but I don't want to do those things. I can be quite stubborn even towards myself! I've been meaning to re-write my control journal since November. Seriously, November? What is wrong with me? That would take very little effort but since I can't go for a walk, in the cold at that, I refuse to do the things I need to do. I've got my priorities all messed up :-/

Aaron Joseph's birth story

My youngest child is 3 weeks old. I just feel the need to put his birth story someplace :-)

On February 27, at 41 weeks 6 days, I started having some contractions at around 4:00. I’d been having them on and off for days so didn’t think too much of it. At around 6 they hadn’t stopped and I noticed that I’d also developed a leak. I went along as usual and the contractions started to pick up. I had my husband fill the pool in the hope that I might have the baby faster than my last or at least have some pain relief as things got more difficult. While in the pool at around 10 I got a big gush of fluid. I had several more gushes over the next few hours. One of which caused my oldest to stay away, he thought I peed myself, LOL! I labored all night and through the morning until about 11:00. At this point my contractions slowly tapered off and spaced to about 20 minutes apart after a couple hours. I stalled in my last labor at around this time so I thought it was just normal for me. After about 4 hours with no progress I did ask my husband to have a quick feel to see if I had made any progress at all and I had. I started to wonder after about 5 hours so I called a couple friends and got online. After a while I realized I wasn’t sure I wanted transition to come. I’d had some worries about how things happened in my last labor. I was worried about the pain as well as the lack of an urge to push. Although I thought I’d put these feelings aside they were still there. I asked my friend her opinion and she was blunt and honest, her words were what got me through the hardest part of my labor. She told me I needed to decide now if I wanted another major surgery or if I could put my fears aside and allow my body to do what it needed to do. My contractions were back before our conversation had ended. I knew the hospital was not the place for me but if I didn’t allow my body to continue that is exactly where I would end up. My labor was back in full force by 8:30. I labored on-with a little help from Bob Marley‘s music- without too much problem until around 9 when I got this pain. It wasn’t like any others and didn’t come with every contraction at first. I knew I was well into transition because this was the exact way things happened when I had my last homebirth. I was still hoping to get the urge to push so I did what I could to get through them. Soon it became apparent that I was losing control. I screamed, begged and prayed for this pain to stop! It’s odd, this kind of pain for me is almost like an urge to push. Once I literally couldn’t get through them I knew I had to push and my baby was born in less than 15 minutes at 10:32 pm on February 28-his brother‘s birthday. I pushed in my bed on all fours which is new for me. I was able to guide his head out by using small pushes with no tearing and hardly any hint of the ring of fire but my husband caught. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him more proud of himself. All in all it was a great birth and I’m so happy that my little one is here now. My oldest son(10) cut the cord. He was a little nervous and worried about hurting the baby at first but he did a great job! My 7 year old daughter clamped it, my husband coached her through. My 2 year old was the best little labor partner, he kept me happy and laughing during times when I didn’t think I could. My 8 year old slept through the birth she tried so hard to see. She’s quite the little midwife already. She was up with me half the first night doing anything I asked from poring water on my tummy to passing me drinks without so much as a word. After things settled we got him weighed and checked his length. He weighs 9 pounds 2 ounces and is 22 inches long. He’s my largest baby. He’s nursing well so far and is quite a demanding little guy!