Here we are already, at the last day of 2010. Explaining this to Mateo has been so difficult that I've given up. I guess it's hard enough to understand the changing of days or weeks as a four-year-old, much less months and years, or both at the same time! What he really knows about the New Year is this collection of facts: that we will have chocolate chip waffles and bacon for breakfast, that we will take down our tree and gingerbread house, and that we will turn the calendar to a new page. I guess that's all one really needs to know, eh? Living in the moment and all that.
It's been an interesting year. I've now been home with the kids full-time for almost a year and a half, starting in August 2009, although it's been longer if you don't count the year I worked half-time (ha! at least, that's what the job description said) from 2008 to 2009. Being with them has been wonderful and challenging and amazing and pretty much every emotion in the book. I've never had a job as all-consuming, but with bosses who give kisses and tantrums instead of performance reviews. Or, perhaps, those are my performance reviews!
The kids are flourishing, which is wonderful to see. Honestly, I still have to pinch myself sometimes that we even have kids at all, and the fact that they are two and a half and four just blows my mind. For every person who said so sincerely when they were babies, "Enjoy this time!", that I wanted to strangle, I say, touche! The baby time really does go by so fast, and pretty soon you have these little people on your hands. Anyway, I feel so privileged to be able to be there for all their milestones, big and small, and to be a part of their days every day. I certainly spend a lot of time being frustrated and giving timeouts, but I still wouldn't trade it for anything.
And now for the person who makes it all work, literally: Sacha! Last year, she was busting her butt with a class of extremely challenging kids. By this point in the year last year, she had things rolling along and had gotten behavior management to a science. It's actually a huge testament to her skills that her class from last year is now wreaking havoc in sixth grade. No one can handle them, meetings are being called, extra teachers are being brought in...and all for kids that Sacha had well in hand all by herself last year. She never gives herself enough credit, but she is an amazing teacher.
Starting this fall, she has been ecstatic to have a much more mellow class. This enables her to actually teach more of the time, which is always a good thing. One more good thing she does: she leaves work at work. When she comes home, she gives her energy to our family. At this point, it often means that she takes a nap to refuel herself and Drizzle, but then she's with us and she's with the kids and she's present. I appreciate that quite a lot, because I know many working spouses out there never really disconnect from work.
I've had quite an up and down year personally. I've continued to struggle with anxiety and mental health issues, which has been hard, but most of the pieces of feeling better are in place now and I'm finally starting to feel like I'm on the road back to myself again. On the flip side, I am beyond overjoyed to be expecting another baby. Having #3 has been my dream ever since we had #2 and I can't believe the little one is due in just a few months. I am so excited to hold her and meet her, I can hardly stand it! Mateo and Talia and even Yarn seem to feel the same way. Everyone wants to say hi to Drizzle, to kiss Sacha's belly, to talk about being a big brother again or a big sister for the first time.
This year, as with previous years, we've been blessed with family near and far, old friends as well as new friends, and with more playdates and get togethers than we can count. We could hardly be more lucky in that department. It has seemed that as some friends drift farther away, new ones materialize, and that we're slowly building a community of people we see a lot, people we see occasionally, and others in between.
In addition to that, we've seen my sister more this year than we have any right to expect (thank you, Auntie Edlyn), and my brother and Megan more frequently than we have any right to expect, too. They've spent many a part of many weekends with us, even though the weekends are the only time they have together at this point. Thanks, guys! With my mom coming up frequently for business and family stuff, my dad coming up for football, Sacha's parents coming to visit, my grandma and aunt, uncle, and cousins living in town, and our family going to visit both sets of parents...well, we have a lot of family around us and for that, we are grateful.
Finally, this was a year of a lot of traveling for us! We wanted to prove that we could travel with two small kids before we tried it with three, and I think we accomplished that. In addition to trips to the Bay Area and Washington, we went to Arizona, southern Oregon, and Mexico! The Mexico trip, in particular, was spectacular. And, the journey home was so incredibly difficult that the fact that we made it all in one piece is proof to me that we can do anything now, travelwise.
All in all, with all its ups and downs, it has been a good year. This coming year will probably have even more ups and downs, as we experience the birth of Drizzle and the adjustment to being a family of five...but I'm hopeful that it will be a year full of love, lots of love, and that that's how we will remember it.
With that, goodbye to 2010 and hello to 2011. May you be all we hope you will be.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Snow day!
We haven't had the blizzards that are happening in the rest of the country, but we have had lots of rain near our house and lots of snow on Mt. Hood, which is fairly close by. We've been waiting for a day with clear skies to go and check out the snow with the kids, and today turned out to be that day.
We started out optimistically and energetically for the mountain, aiming for a ski place midway up that had toboggans for rent and even a toboggan rope-tow! However, it seemed that every person in Oregon had the same idea, and pretty soon we were inching along in a huge traffic jam and still at least 10 miles away from the turnoff to our destination.
I'm not very patient in these situations, which is not one of my better qualities, but we had left at 9 am and I decided that I could handle waiting in traffic until 11 am (when we really should have already been at the place by 10:30 at the latest) but then we'd have to change plans. At 11, we were still more than 10 miles away from even turning towards where we wanted to go. Luckily, Sacha was on board with the idea of changing plans, and with the help of a friendly but directionally challenged ranger at the ranger station, we found a turnoff to a federal road that had plenty of snow to play on. It was not the road the ranger tried to direct us to (she said it would be on the right, when really, we realized as we were leaving, it was on the left), but the road we found was just fine anyway.
We had a huge amount of fun. It was the most pure fun the four of us have had in a long time. The kids both LOVED the snow, and they also loved the toboggan we had brought with us. We found some small hills to ride down and tried that first with a parent....and then without!
Both kids successfully went down a decent-sized hill all by themselves several times. It was awesome. We learned how to make snow angels, how to eat snow, how to make snowballs, and how to generally admire the beauty all around us. Mateo decided he definitely wants to try ski lessons (and so do I) and Natalia does, too, when she's old enough.
We had such a great time that it was worth the hours of driving that the whole thing required. We left our house at 9 am and got back at 2 pm, and spent about an hour and a half of that actually playing in the snow. Luckily, we stopped on the way back to get some lunch, because a giant meltdown was looming on the horizon. That would have been from me and Sacha - the kids were acting just fine!
We finished our day with a spontaneous playdate with some friends who live close by, which was very fun, and then things disintegrated after they left. Neither Mateo nor Natalia had napped, which turned out to be Very Bad. And so, now, at 6:45, Tali is already in bed and Mateo is headed there. It was a big day for them and we really thought they would nap in the car, but they didn't.
In any case, despite the manic overtiredness of the afternoon, the morning was worth it anyway. It was so, so much fun. We'll probably go back again at some point, although I'm not sure if it will be for lessons in February or if we'll get our acts in gear to just go up and play before that. Anyway, it was so much fun, in fact, that I feel I must overload this post with photos of the fun. Here they are!
We started out optimistically and energetically for the mountain, aiming for a ski place midway up that had toboggans for rent and even a toboggan rope-tow! However, it seemed that every person in Oregon had the same idea, and pretty soon we were inching along in a huge traffic jam and still at least 10 miles away from the turnoff to our destination.
I'm not very patient in these situations, which is not one of my better qualities, but we had left at 9 am and I decided that I could handle waiting in traffic until 11 am (when we really should have already been at the place by 10:30 at the latest) but then we'd have to change plans. At 11, we were still more than 10 miles away from even turning towards where we wanted to go. Luckily, Sacha was on board with the idea of changing plans, and with the help of a friendly but directionally challenged ranger at the ranger station, we found a turnoff to a federal road that had plenty of snow to play on. It was not the road the ranger tried to direct us to (she said it would be on the right, when really, we realized as we were leaving, it was on the left), but the road we found was just fine anyway.
We had a huge amount of fun. It was the most pure fun the four of us have had in a long time. The kids both LOVED the snow, and they also loved the toboggan we had brought with us. We found some small hills to ride down and tried that first with a parent....and then without!
Both kids successfully went down a decent-sized hill all by themselves several times. It was awesome. We learned how to make snow angels, how to eat snow, how to make snowballs, and how to generally admire the beauty all around us. Mateo decided he definitely wants to try ski lessons (and so do I) and Natalia does, too, when she's old enough.
We had such a great time that it was worth the hours of driving that the whole thing required. We left our house at 9 am and got back at 2 pm, and spent about an hour and a half of that actually playing in the snow. Luckily, we stopped on the way back to get some lunch, because a giant meltdown was looming on the horizon. That would have been from me and Sacha - the kids were acting just fine!
We finished our day with a spontaneous playdate with some friends who live close by, which was very fun, and then things disintegrated after they left. Neither Mateo nor Natalia had napped, which turned out to be Very Bad. And so, now, at 6:45, Tali is already in bed and Mateo is headed there. It was a big day for them and we really thought they would nap in the car, but they didn't.
In any case, despite the manic overtiredness of the afternoon, the morning was worth it anyway. It was so, so much fun. We'll probably go back again at some point, although I'm not sure if it will be for lessons in February or if we'll get our acts in gear to just go up and play before that. Anyway, it was so much fun, in fact, that I feel I must overload this post with photos of the fun. Here they are!
 |
| Check out those matching snowsuits and their boots - all craigslist finds! |
 |
| First tobaggan ride (and right before ditching the parents entirely) |
 |
| Tali, standing on this funny white stuff |
 |
| This kid loves the snow. He loves it. Seriously. He hated it at two, but loves it at four. |
 |
| This gorgeous creek ran right under the snow-covered bridge we were playing on. The sun was shining, the creek was running, the snow was beautiful - a slice of heaven! |
 |
| Proud kid on a huge snowball, or possibly just a large rock... |
 |
| His very first snow angel |
 |
| This snow is DELICIOUS! Tali said it tasted like chocolate. |
 |
| Last ride with a parent before striking out on their own |
 |
| This is FUN! |
 |
| SO MUCH FUN! |
 |
| Couldn't get enough of the view. |
 |
| This kid insisted on being buried like at the beach. And so we did. Happy winter! |
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
A room of their own?
Our house is on the long and narrow side, with all the bedrooms along one side, and we have been organized as follows: Mommy and Mama in the front bedroom, which does not connect to the middle room, Natalia in the middle room, and Mateo in the far back room. He has never made any secret of not liking to be back there, because he's scared to be so far away from us and doesn't like to be by himself at night.
No amount of reassurance (we're really not far away at all, we can hear him on the monitor, etc) has made this better and he has been trying to worm his way into our bed at night for months, with varying degrees of success. We had a rewards system going in which he could earn a special book from the library for each night he stayed in his room all night, but that was beginning to lose its appeal and we forgot to do it the more he stayed in his room anyway.
So, a few nights ago, I put our extra twin mattress on the floor of Natalia's room. This had nothing to do with Mateo; rather, it was to get her used to having a big girl bed in her room, so that we could transition her to a regular bed in the next few weeks.
Instead, Mateo checked this out and announced that he would like to sleep in Natalia's room that night. He said he would feel safe and comfortable and that he loved us (and that is a direct quote. He's feeling extremely loving these days). We decided to go with it, so we let him sleep in there. He and Natalia chatted, no joke, until 9 pm (their normal bedtime is 7 pm) and then fell asleep and slept through most of the night. He did end up in our bed in the middle of the night, but the whole thing was relatively successful. The next night, they went to sleep much faster, but he came into our room very early on in the night and stayed until morning.
This really doesn't work for us. Our queen bed holds us very nicely, but doesn't accommodate us and Sacha's belly and a thrashing four-year-old very well. So, last night, when he showed up in our room at 4:30 am, I walked him back and, at his request, put him back down in his bed in Tali's room. He slept there until his normal wake-up time (6 am) and then came out. And, she managed to sleep until her normal time (around 7 am) even with the disruption.
We're not sure if this is just a short phase or if it will continue, but we think it's a win-win either way. Either Mateo will decide he wants to keep sleeping in there, which would be perfect because someone is going to need to double up after the baby comes along, or he'll move back to his room and we'll get Tali going in a big girl bed. Or, possibly both will happen.
In any case, I did a little bit of rearranging and thought I'd post photos of the room as it is now. I suppose that only time will tell if this arrangement stays or goes, but they are awfully cute in there now.
No amount of reassurance (we're really not far away at all, we can hear him on the monitor, etc) has made this better and he has been trying to worm his way into our bed at night for months, with varying degrees of success. We had a rewards system going in which he could earn a special book from the library for each night he stayed in his room all night, but that was beginning to lose its appeal and we forgot to do it the more he stayed in his room anyway.
So, a few nights ago, I put our extra twin mattress on the floor of Natalia's room. This had nothing to do with Mateo; rather, it was to get her used to having a big girl bed in her room, so that we could transition her to a regular bed in the next few weeks.
Instead, Mateo checked this out and announced that he would like to sleep in Natalia's room that night. He said he would feel safe and comfortable and that he loved us (and that is a direct quote. He's feeling extremely loving these days). We decided to go with it, so we let him sleep in there. He and Natalia chatted, no joke, until 9 pm (their normal bedtime is 7 pm) and then fell asleep and slept through most of the night. He did end up in our bed in the middle of the night, but the whole thing was relatively successful. The next night, they went to sleep much faster, but he came into our room very early on in the night and stayed until morning.
This really doesn't work for us. Our queen bed holds us very nicely, but doesn't accommodate us and Sacha's belly and a thrashing four-year-old very well. So, last night, when he showed up in our room at 4:30 am, I walked him back and, at his request, put him back down in his bed in Tali's room. He slept there until his normal wake-up time (6 am) and then came out. And, she managed to sleep until her normal time (around 7 am) even with the disruption.
We're not sure if this is just a short phase or if it will continue, but we think it's a win-win either way. Either Mateo will decide he wants to keep sleeping in there, which would be perfect because someone is going to need to double up after the baby comes along, or he'll move back to his room and we'll get Tali going in a big girl bed. Or, possibly both will happen.
In any case, I did a little bit of rearranging and thought I'd post photos of the room as it is now. I suppose that only time will tell if this arrangement stays or goes, but they are awfully cute in there now.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
10 years!
Ten years ago, I was about twelve hours from meeting the love of my life. We met on the most random of chance, which turned into what we both thought would be a one night stand, and then pretty soon we were seeing each other nearly every day.
We were 22 and just barely 23, which seemed soooo grown up then but seems soooo young looking back on it! If someone had told us, on the night we met, that in ten years we would have been married for seven years and have two kids and a third on the way....well, we would have either fallen over laughing or just fainted from shock.
Since then, although we've had ups and downs just like everyone has, our relationship has developed into the most wonderful thing that ever happened to both of us. Happy 10th anniversary, Sacha! I love you and can't wait to see what the next 10 years will bring.
We were 22 and just barely 23, which seemed soooo grown up then but seems soooo young looking back on it! If someone had told us, on the night we met, that in ten years we would have been married for seven years and have two kids and a third on the way....well, we would have either fallen over laughing or just fainted from shock.
Since then, although we've had ups and downs just like everyone has, our relationship has developed into the most wonderful thing that ever happened to both of us. Happy 10th anniversary, Sacha! I love you and can't wait to see what the next 10 years will bring.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Happy birthday!
Happy 33rd birthday, Sacha! I think we managed to give my perfectly lovely wife a perfectly lovely birthday, complete with sleeping in, waffles for breakfast, shopping with her mom, a nap, a fun birthday party and chocolate competition, and now a lazy evening before watching a movie. Sacha, we all love you to the ends of the earth! We wish you an amazing next year and many, many happy returns of the day.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Christmas
Wow, that was a major present extravaganza! Our kids got more presents than I thought possible, and all so fun and cute. They are beside themselves. Whew! Now, everyone but me (I'm going for a run with my new iPod timing chip thingy) is going to nap before gorging ourselves later. Merry Christmas, everyone!
Friday, December 24, 2010
Repeat the sounding joy
Sacha's mom and I just got back from the candlelight service at my grandma's church. It's a church that holds a lot of history for my mom's side of the family, as my great-grandfather was once the pastor there. As well, the church's incredible organ is named for my great-grandmother, and my grandma has been a member there since she was born, I think.
It always feels important to me to go to church on Christmas Eve, even though I'm not exactly sure why. In fact, the whole thing with Christmas gets me into a quandary, because it's a Christian holiday and I'm not a Christian, so why do we celebrate it? It seems to me that it just has to be about something more than presents and presents and more presents...and it is, with all the family and friends we are lucky to have in our lives. These days, Christmas is a joyful time for us and (I think) our extended family, because the kids just light the whole thing up.
Still, I've tackled the religious meaning of Christmas only vaguely with the kids, partly because they're little and partly because I don't know what to say. I do believe that Jesus was an amazing man who still stands as an example for us all, so maybe I should just stick with that.
Anyway, I love the Christmas Eve service and all the singing and rejoicing over the birth of a baby so long ago. I love the ritual and joyfulness and togetherness of it.
I also love my grandma's church, because they are a reconciling Methodist congregation. That means, essentially, that they got together and decided to explicitly welcome everyone into their congregation, with everyone meaning LGBT people along with everyone else. From the times I've been there, they not only say the welcoming part, but they really live up to it. They have people wearing rainbow ribbons on their nametags, gay couples who attend, and yet the vast majority of the congregation is straight and likely on the more conservative end of the spectrum.
It's really amazing and has practically brought me to tears on occasion, to feel so welcome in a mainstream church. My grandmother could tell the whole story, but I think it began back in the 1980s, when they had a pastor who eventually turned out to be gay and to have AIDS, which eventually killed him. This opened the eyes of a lot of church members and eventually led them to where they are today.
When we were there tonight, the choir sang one of my favorite carols, O Holy Night, and one of the verses struck me in particular:
It always feels important to me to go to church on Christmas Eve, even though I'm not exactly sure why. In fact, the whole thing with Christmas gets me into a quandary, because it's a Christian holiday and I'm not a Christian, so why do we celebrate it? It seems to me that it just has to be about something more than presents and presents and more presents...and it is, with all the family and friends we are lucky to have in our lives. These days, Christmas is a joyful time for us and (I think) our extended family, because the kids just light the whole thing up.
Still, I've tackled the religious meaning of Christmas only vaguely with the kids, partly because they're little and partly because I don't know what to say. I do believe that Jesus was an amazing man who still stands as an example for us all, so maybe I should just stick with that.
Anyway, I love the Christmas Eve service and all the singing and rejoicing over the birth of a baby so long ago. I love the ritual and joyfulness and togetherness of it.
I also love my grandma's church, because they are a reconciling Methodist congregation. That means, essentially, that they got together and decided to explicitly welcome everyone into their congregation, with everyone meaning LGBT people along with everyone else. From the times I've been there, they not only say the welcoming part, but they really live up to it. They have people wearing rainbow ribbons on their nametags, gay couples who attend, and yet the vast majority of the congregation is straight and likely on the more conservative end of the spectrum.
It's really amazing and has practically brought me to tears on occasion, to feel so welcome in a mainstream church. My grandmother could tell the whole story, but I think it began back in the 1980s, when they had a pastor who eventually turned out to be gay and to have AIDS, which eventually killed him. This opened the eyes of a lot of church members and eventually led them to where they are today.
When we were there tonight, the choir sang one of my favorite carols, O Holy Night, and one of the verses struck me in particular:
- Truly He taught us to love one another;
- His law is love and His gospel is peace.
- Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother;
- And in His name all oppression shall cease.
The view from here
Christmas Eve has found us surrounded by family, and has included sibling bonding, cookie making, grandparent and aunt and uncle time, and book reading. We're heading to dinner soon, but I thought I'd post the view from here. And, I should note that I have typed this all one-handed, because Tali won't release my other arm. I guess she's breaking me in again for the new baby in her own way :)
Merry Christmas Eve!
Merry Christmas Eve!
Thursday, December 23, 2010
St. Nick
So, Santa.
Bizarrely, kind of like with circumcision, I assumed we would go with the flow when our baby was born and do what many other people, only to find that we just couldn't do it. Similarly, although involving much less physical pain, with Santa. I always thought we would just pretend Santa was real and continue to do so until our kids figured out the truth.
Then, last year, before either kid was old enough to know anything about Santa, I read on a friend's blog about her struggles about what to tell her kids about Santa. Somehow, that started me thinking about the whole Santa thing and the purpose of it all and in the end, I decided that I just couldn't do it. I know the whole Santa thing is magical, but I just don't want to lie to our kids if I don't have to. Sacha and I talked about it, and when Mateo first asked about Santa, I told him the (gentle) truth: that Santa is a character kind of like Spider Man, who we like to pretend about, except that his character gives out presents on Christmas instead of helping random strangers.
It's come up a couple of times since then and I've repeated the party line, but we haven't discussed it in detail. Other people have brought up Santa to Mateo (Tali is much too young, obviously) and it's been very interesting, because he has acted like Santa is real when talking to other people. I certainly don't want to rain on his parade, and I feel fine about pretending about Santa now that we've put it out there that that's what we're doing. And, I should say that in no way do I judge other families' handling of Santa, because almost every parent we know tells their kids that Santa is real. It just makes me feel better to tell them the truth, and hopefully to do it in a way that Santa can still be fun and cool to them now without that moment of unfortunate realization later on in childhood.
Bizarrely, kind of like with circumcision, I assumed we would go with the flow when our baby was born and do what many other people, only to find that we just couldn't do it. Similarly, although involving much less physical pain, with Santa. I always thought we would just pretend Santa was real and continue to do so until our kids figured out the truth.
Then, last year, before either kid was old enough to know anything about Santa, I read on a friend's blog about her struggles about what to tell her kids about Santa. Somehow, that started me thinking about the whole Santa thing and the purpose of it all and in the end, I decided that I just couldn't do it. I know the whole Santa thing is magical, but I just don't want to lie to our kids if I don't have to. Sacha and I talked about it, and when Mateo first asked about Santa, I told him the (gentle) truth: that Santa is a character kind of like Spider Man, who we like to pretend about, except that his character gives out presents on Christmas instead of helping random strangers.
It's come up a couple of times since then and I've repeated the party line, but we haven't discussed it in detail. Other people have brought up Santa to Mateo (Tali is much too young, obviously) and it's been very interesting, because he has acted like Santa is real when talking to other people. I certainly don't want to rain on his parade, and I feel fine about pretending about Santa now that we've put it out there that that's what we're doing. And, I should say that in no way do I judge other families' handling of Santa, because almost every parent we know tells their kids that Santa is real. It just makes me feel better to tell them the truth, and hopefully to do it in a way that Santa can still be fun and cool to them now without that moment of unfortunate realization later on in childhood.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Gingerbread housing now available
We had our second annual gingerbread house raising with our friends, Katie and Cathy, this evening, and with my sister, who is in town for the holidays! The gingerbread house idea came from the fabulous old cast iron molds that belonged to my grandma on my dad's side. Every Christmas, she would have her four grandchildren over for what was known as Gingerbread Cookie Day, during which we would make cookies and eat sugar until our brains exploded.
I never had much to do with the making of the house, which happened at the same time, I think, and was mostly done by the adults. Or, possibly, it was done by my grandma later. I'm not sure. All I know is that we now have the molds but didn't know quite how to use them until last year, when Dr. Google showed us.
We managed to put up a very respectable gingerbread mansion last year, but I think we topped it this year. First of all, I knew how much time it would take, so I started baking the pieces quite a few days in advance, and I had the kids help as much as they could. Secondly, we assembled the house and the clock tower prior to our friends and Auntie Edlyn arriving, so that we could focus on decorating when they got here.
Last year, we spent a looong time waiting for the house to set and we even busted out the hair dryer to move things along! This year, the icing had glued everything together and set before anybody got here. And, we had tons of fun. We have several budding holiday traditions going with these ladies and we love it. We all have fun, and the kids just can't get enough of them, either. And, if I may say and again, having Auntie Edlyn here just put them right over the edge into happiness hysteria.
Here are some photos of the whole process.
Greasing the molds prior to baking:
The massive hunk of dough, which ended up needing to be doubled:
Getting ready and opening alllll the bottles of sprinkles:
The huge bowl of royal icing, of which we used almost all:
The house and bell tower, waiting to be decorated:
Work in progress!:
The final product:
Thanks to Katie and Cathy and Edlyn! We had a great time and now we have a house so sturdy that it could probably last until next year. We could just rotate it between houses until Xmas comes again :)
I never had much to do with the making of the house, which happened at the same time, I think, and was mostly done by the adults. Or, possibly, it was done by my grandma later. I'm not sure. All I know is that we now have the molds but didn't know quite how to use them until last year, when Dr. Google showed us.
We managed to put up a very respectable gingerbread mansion last year, but I think we topped it this year. First of all, I knew how much time it would take, so I started baking the pieces quite a few days in advance, and I had the kids help as much as they could. Secondly, we assembled the house and the clock tower prior to our friends and Auntie Edlyn arriving, so that we could focus on decorating when they got here.
Last year, we spent a looong time waiting for the house to set and we even busted out the hair dryer to move things along! This year, the icing had glued everything together and set before anybody got here. And, we had tons of fun. We have several budding holiday traditions going with these ladies and we love it. We all have fun, and the kids just can't get enough of them, either. And, if I may say and again, having Auntie Edlyn here just put them right over the edge into happiness hysteria.
Here are some photos of the whole process.
Greasing the molds prior to baking:
The massive hunk of dough, which ended up needing to be doubled:
Getting ready and opening alllll the bottles of sprinkles:
The huge bowl of royal icing, of which we used almost all:
The house and bell tower, waiting to be decorated:
Work in progress!:
The final product:
 |
| Note the awesome and gigantic gingerbread security man guarding the estate.... |
Monday, December 20, 2010
Playtime and birth plans
Ok, this is breaking news.
Our kids have learned how to play with each other. For extended periods of time. And by extended, I mean that they did it for over an hour this weekend, while I frantically assembled every piece of Christmas dinner that could be frozen while waiting for chaos to erupt in the next room. It didn't. They played and laughed and shrieked and came to the verge of a tantrum or fight a few times, but managed to pull back from the edge. Talia has learned to speak clearly enough, and in long enough sentences, that she and Mateo can converse and decide what they want to play with and how. Listening to them negotiate is just about the cutest thing ever. I read somewhere that ages three and five are the ideal ages for siblings and playing, so I'm thrilled that we're getting a glimpse at 2.5 and 4. Wahoo!
Secondly, I was just reading another blog about making a birth plan and it made me think of ours for Drizzle. Sacha is totally ok with sharing it, so here it is: epidural. Epidural! Epidural!! I am 100% on board with this. Somehow, as opposed to many couples who get more into natural childbirth as they have more kids, we have gotten less so. In fact, it seems as if epidurals fly in the face of waht Portland is all about; unmedicated homebirths abound around every corner. Maybe it was because Talia's birth was challenging, or maybe because we realized that you have to have some energy left to care for your newborn around the clock starting immediately after popping that newborn out of your body. However, in any case, Sacha is all about the epidural.
I am so relieved. Seriously. Labor really sucks, as I can tell you from having been in it, but it also really sucks to be the partner of someone in labor. I can tell you that from having been there, too. There's really nothing you can do for them except be there, which I know is helpful, but you can't relieve their pain. And, being with the person you love most in the world and watching them writhe in agony for hours and hours and hours and hours....well, I was ready to throw in the towel on natural childbirth loooong before Sacha was when she was in labor, although I kept my mouth shut and let her make her own decisions (and she did eventually decide on an epidural, even without knowing of the forceps in her future and how glad she would be in retrospect to have made that decision). I was on the verge of tears for most of her labor and by the time Talia finally came out, I was sobbing out of sheer overwhelm, exhaustion, happiness, fear, and you name every other emotion in the book. In no way am I saying that this was harder than what Sacha had to go through, but at least she got the hormones that made her forget most of it!
I know that this time around, she'll still have to get far enough along to get pain relief, but I am seriously thrilled just to know that she wants it to be there at some point. If things are going smoothly and she's doing great and she decides she doesn't want to use it after all, that's fine, too, but the thought of an easier birth for both of us sounds very appealing. Especially since we're going to have a newborn and two small children to take care very soon after Drizzle makes her appearance. If Sacha can go into that with more reserves than she had last time (ie, none), then all the better for all of us.
As my dental hygienist once said, in her fabulous Korean accent, when I asked her about the births of her two sons, she said one word very loudly with a HUGE smile on her face: "EPEEDURAL!" Yes, ma'am, we are on board with that.
(Now, please, Portland readers, don't kick me out of this nice city for the blasphemy I have just written. We really like it here!)
Our kids have learned how to play with each other. For extended periods of time. And by extended, I mean that they did it for over an hour this weekend, while I frantically assembled every piece of Christmas dinner that could be frozen while waiting for chaos to erupt in the next room. It didn't. They played and laughed and shrieked and came to the verge of a tantrum or fight a few times, but managed to pull back from the edge. Talia has learned to speak clearly enough, and in long enough sentences, that she and Mateo can converse and decide what they want to play with and how. Listening to them negotiate is just about the cutest thing ever. I read somewhere that ages three and five are the ideal ages for siblings and playing, so I'm thrilled that we're getting a glimpse at 2.5 and 4. Wahoo!
Secondly, I was just reading another blog about making a birth plan and it made me think of ours for Drizzle. Sacha is totally ok with sharing it, so here it is: epidural. Epidural! Epidural!! I am 100% on board with this. Somehow, as opposed to many couples who get more into natural childbirth as they have more kids, we have gotten less so. In fact, it seems as if epidurals fly in the face of waht Portland is all about; unmedicated homebirths abound around every corner. Maybe it was because Talia's birth was challenging, or maybe because we realized that you have to have some energy left to care for your newborn around the clock starting immediately after popping that newborn out of your body. However, in any case, Sacha is all about the epidural.
I am so relieved. Seriously. Labor really sucks, as I can tell you from having been in it, but it also really sucks to be the partner of someone in labor. I can tell you that from having been there, too. There's really nothing you can do for them except be there, which I know is helpful, but you can't relieve their pain. And, being with the person you love most in the world and watching them writhe in agony for hours and hours and hours and hours....well, I was ready to throw in the towel on natural childbirth loooong before Sacha was when she was in labor, although I kept my mouth shut and let her make her own decisions (and she did eventually decide on an epidural, even without knowing of the forceps in her future and how glad she would be in retrospect to have made that decision). I was on the verge of tears for most of her labor and by the time Talia finally came out, I was sobbing out of sheer overwhelm, exhaustion, happiness, fear, and you name every other emotion in the book. In no way am I saying that this was harder than what Sacha had to go through, but at least she got the hormones that made her forget most of it!
I know that this time around, she'll still have to get far enough along to get pain relief, but I am seriously thrilled just to know that she wants it to be there at some point. If things are going smoothly and she's doing great and she decides she doesn't want to use it after all, that's fine, too, but the thought of an easier birth for both of us sounds very appealing. Especially since we're going to have a newborn and two small children to take care very soon after Drizzle makes her appearance. If Sacha can go into that with more reserves than she had last time (ie, none), then all the better for all of us.
As my dental hygienist once said, in her fabulous Korean accent, when I asked her about the births of her two sons, she said one word very loudly with a HUGE smile on her face: "EPEEDURAL!" Yes, ma'am, we are on board with that.
(Now, please, Portland readers, don't kick me out of this nice city for the blasphemy I have just written. We really like it here!)
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Adventuring
This photo totally sums up the morning we had at OMSI this morning. One kid eternally focused on a project (mostly involving me building something and then fixing it over and over again as my child rained down destruction upon it) and the other one a blur of action, heading to the next thing.
They both vacillated wildly between roles, but at least they stayed pretty close to each other because they both wanted to be as near as possible to me. I think we should have just skipped their real names and just called them Velcro 1 and Velcro 2!
In any case, I should give Mateo more credit on this bridge, because he loved it and protected it from his sister's attempts to destroy it. And, we had fun and came home with two exhausted kiddos who took great naps. I had a good run and then even got some time to myself to finish up some Xmas shopping. Now we're going to finish preparations for our gingerbread mansion that will be made on Tuesday. Happy weekend!
PS: Sacha is continuing to feel slowly better. Thanks to everyone who has commented or emailed with good wishes. She really appreciates all the love!
They both vacillated wildly between roles, but at least they stayed pretty close to each other because they both wanted to be as near as possible to me. I think we should have just skipped their real names and just called them Velcro 1 and Velcro 2!
In any case, I should give Mateo more credit on this bridge, because he loved it and protected it from his sister's attempts to destroy it. And, we had fun and came home with two exhausted kiddos who took great naps. I had a good run and then even got some time to myself to finish up some Xmas shopping. Now we're going to finish preparations for our gingerbread mansion that will be made on Tuesday. Happy weekend!
PS: Sacha is continuing to feel slowly better. Thanks to everyone who has commented or emailed with good wishes. She really appreciates all the love!
Friday, December 17, 2010
Evening
We just got back from Mateo's winter festival preschool event thing. It was fun, although kind of exhausting for an introvert like me! Luckily, Apa came with us and helped with wrangling the kiddos, which was much appreciated! In the meantime, Sacha's mom arrived and took Sacha to her previously-scheduled OB appointment, and then back home to eat takeout and rest. Sacha's been feeling a little bit better today, which is a relief for everyone, but she still has a long way to go.
Other than poor Sacha's situation, the kids and I had a pretty good day. We did some errands this morning and then we decorated the tree! I think it came out really well and I just love having it up in the house. Feels very Christmasy.
In other news, Mateo had another big event today. One of his best buddies goes to another preschool and this preschool has the kids make a holiday meal all on their own. They then get to invite one special person each to the holiday party. Mateo's friend picked him, so Mateo got to go as this person of honor and he loved it. He was very suspicious beforehand, but arrived home later full of excitement about how he got a special cookie and ate lots of fruit salad. Then, at his own preschool thing, it was cool to see him interacting with his little friends. It was a good day for him! Here he is at his special meal:
We're having a very quiet evening around here, which is welcome. Sacha's mom got us some dessert and now we're just hanging out. Plans are here and there for the weekend, but will definitely involve some gingerbread baking. We're going to be making our big house again next week, so we have to get ready! In the meantime, more rest is in order for at least one of us, along with the cat. Yarn has this intuitive ability to know when someone is in pain and she just goes to that person and snuggles up. She has barely left Sacha's side since this started, a la the photo below. Good night!
Other than poor Sacha's situation, the kids and I had a pretty good day. We did some errands this morning and then we decorated the tree! I think it came out really well and I just love having it up in the house. Feels very Christmasy.
In other news, Mateo had another big event today. One of his best buddies goes to another preschool and this preschool has the kids make a holiday meal all on their own. They then get to invite one special person each to the holiday party. Mateo's friend picked him, so Mateo got to go as this person of honor and he loved it. He was very suspicious beforehand, but arrived home later full of excitement about how he got a special cookie and ate lots of fruit salad. Then, at his own preschool thing, it was cool to see him interacting with his little friends. It was a good day for him! Here he is at his special meal:
We're having a very quiet evening around here, which is welcome. Sacha's mom got us some dessert and now we're just hanging out. Plans are here and there for the weekend, but will definitely involve some gingerbread baking. We're going to be making our big house again next week, so we have to get ready! In the meantime, more rest is in order for at least one of us, along with the cat. Yarn has this intuitive ability to know when someone is in pain and she just goes to that person and snuggles up. She has barely left Sacha's side since this started, a la the photo below. Good night!
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Down for the count, but at least we have a gigantic Christmas tree
Poor Sacha has been struck down again by those things for which Prepara.tion H was invented, and yet is not nearly enough to help in this case. This happened to her when she was pregnant with Natalia and we were really hoping she'd avoid it this time, but things have gone south again, with no pun intended!
The poor thing - she's in a ton of pain and there isn't much to be done except lie down and wait for things to calm down. She saw a surgeon today to see about getting the problem removed, after spending 4 hours last night in urgent care only to have them decide the situation was too complicated to handle there, and he decided that going in and removing the intruder would cause more harm than good. He was incredibly nice, though, especially for what you hear about surgeons, and gave her his personal number to call and check in on Monday.
He said something to the effect of "I've only seen a few cases this bad in my whole career," which was actually comforting to Sacha in a way, because she was worried that she was making it sound worse than it was. Anyway, so she is on a strict regimen of sitz baths and medicines and bedrest. As in, no standing, as little sitting as possible, and lying down all the time for the next week or so. Luckily, this coincides with winter break, so she only had to use two sick days and then she'll have two weeks off.
We're all hoping that this will clear up sooner rather than later, because she is miserable. Drugged, but miserable. I find it so strange that no one will let her take anti-inflammatory drugs, which are a big no-no while pregnant, but they are happy to prescribe narcotics instead. Not only is this making Sacha extremely sleepy, but I'm sure Drizzle is feeling extremely relaxed as well.
This is what she's been up to all day...
...except without the kids, for the most part. They really want to be with her, but they just can't help themselves from crawling all over her, which just makes her hurt more. Both of them are vacillating between a delightful phase of playing together and having adorable little conversations and a tremendously frustrating phase of melodrama, in which every little thing provokes whining, crying, tussling, complaining, feet-dragging, or just outright defiance. It's amazing how they can be so adorable and yet so infuriating at the same time, as well as the other way around!
Sacha's mom is coming down tomorrow to offer comfort and help. I think having her mom here will do Sacha a lot of good, and we'll all be glad to see her! The kids and I have a pretty full day tomorrow and we have some weekend plans, so hopefully I'll be able to keep the kids busy and Sacha's mom can do her mom thing with her own daughter.
***************************************
Anyway, we were planning to get our Christmas tree this weekend, but since Sacha wasn't going to be able to go in any case, the kids and I decided to go today. It was a good thing we went, because the place was closing for the season after Saturday! I know everyone is getting their trees earlier and earlier, but seriously? Closing on the 18th? Criminal, I tell you.
Regardless, the kids mostly channeled their better angels and, despite my worries that I was a bit loco to be taking two small children out by myself to cut down a tree, drag it back to the car, and get it home, it actually went just fine. In fact, it went great! They're way too young to get into the fighting over which tree is the perfect one (which I remember so well from my own childhood, and I'm sure Auntie E and Uncle G do, too), so we wandered for about a minute and then found our perfect tree.
And, even better, for the first time in my life, I got to get a big tree! When we were little, our ceilings weren't high enough, and as an adult, Sacha has always preferred smaller trees....but she wasn't there to talk me out of it, so we ended up with an 8-footer. It is awesome. I am in love with it. I cut it down halfway with Natalia on my back in the Ergo, leaning way over in the mud because she refused to get down. I finally got her to stand on her own two feet and cut it the rest of the way, and then Mateo actually helped with guiding it back to be shaken and baled and, for a great tip, put on our car by the guy at the cash register. It's drinking up lots of water from a bucket right now and we're planning to decorate it tomorrow and/or the next day.
Here are some photos of our adventure. I was SO proud of the kids. They were troopers and Mateo especially was quite the little helper. It was a big change in him from last year!
And that, my friends, is the way it is tonight.
The poor thing - she's in a ton of pain and there isn't much to be done except lie down and wait for things to calm down. She saw a surgeon today to see about getting the problem removed, after spending 4 hours last night in urgent care only to have them decide the situation was too complicated to handle there, and he decided that going in and removing the intruder would cause more harm than good. He was incredibly nice, though, especially for what you hear about surgeons, and gave her his personal number to call and check in on Monday.
He said something to the effect of "I've only seen a few cases this bad in my whole career," which was actually comforting to Sacha in a way, because she was worried that she was making it sound worse than it was. Anyway, so she is on a strict regimen of sitz baths and medicines and bedrest. As in, no standing, as little sitting as possible, and lying down all the time for the next week or so. Luckily, this coincides with winter break, so she only had to use two sick days and then she'll have two weeks off.
We're all hoping that this will clear up sooner rather than later, because she is miserable. Drugged, but miserable. I find it so strange that no one will let her take anti-inflammatory drugs, which are a big no-no while pregnant, but they are happy to prescribe narcotics instead. Not only is this making Sacha extremely sleepy, but I'm sure Drizzle is feeling extremely relaxed as well.
This is what she's been up to all day...
...except without the kids, for the most part. They really want to be with her, but they just can't help themselves from crawling all over her, which just makes her hurt more. Both of them are vacillating between a delightful phase of playing together and having adorable little conversations and a tremendously frustrating phase of melodrama, in which every little thing provokes whining, crying, tussling, complaining, feet-dragging, or just outright defiance. It's amazing how they can be so adorable and yet so infuriating at the same time, as well as the other way around!
Sacha's mom is coming down tomorrow to offer comfort and help. I think having her mom here will do Sacha a lot of good, and we'll all be glad to see her! The kids and I have a pretty full day tomorrow and we have some weekend plans, so hopefully I'll be able to keep the kids busy and Sacha's mom can do her mom thing with her own daughter.
***************************************
Anyway, we were planning to get our Christmas tree this weekend, but since Sacha wasn't going to be able to go in any case, the kids and I decided to go today. It was a good thing we went, because the place was closing for the season after Saturday! I know everyone is getting their trees earlier and earlier, but seriously? Closing on the 18th? Criminal, I tell you.
Regardless, the kids mostly channeled their better angels and, despite my worries that I was a bit loco to be taking two small children out by myself to cut down a tree, drag it back to the car, and get it home, it actually went just fine. In fact, it went great! They're way too young to get into the fighting over which tree is the perfect one (which I remember so well from my own childhood, and I'm sure Auntie E and Uncle G do, too), so we wandered for about a minute and then found our perfect tree.
And, even better, for the first time in my life, I got to get a big tree! When we were little, our ceilings weren't high enough, and as an adult, Sacha has always preferred smaller trees....but she wasn't there to talk me out of it, so we ended up with an 8-footer. It is awesome. I am in love with it. I cut it down halfway with Natalia on my back in the Ergo, leaning way over in the mud because she refused to get down. I finally got her to stand on her own two feet and cut it the rest of the way, and then Mateo actually helped with guiding it back to be shaken and baled and, for a great tip, put on our car by the guy at the cash register. It's drinking up lots of water from a bucket right now and we're planning to decorate it tomorrow and/or the next day.
Here are some photos of our adventure. I was SO proud of the kids. They were troopers and Mateo especially was quite the little helper. It was a big change in him from last year!
 |
| The tree farm, which also has u-pick fruit and such in the summer (not among the xmas trees, of course!) |
 |
| Kids getting ready for action! |
 |
| Our intrepid tree-hunter |
 |
| Seriously, how could we not photograph this piece of heavy machinery? |
 |
| Our tree! Check out how nice and TALL it is. Perfect for our 10-foot ceilings. |
 |
| Not only is the tree down, but neither kid is attached to me! Double bonus. |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)