Belated Spring Photodump

Picking up from the last photodump...

March

Happy First Day of Spring!

poor confused Camellias

Krazy Kitty likes the snow (it makes him much easier to spot)

Winter photodump

January

umm, don't think you fit there any more, Baby

arrr, fercious pirate kitteh wants all yer catnip

Nicky "helping" Miriam to practice

Andrew's Story

So when I was sitting around at the hospital, waiting for something to happen, I was thinking somewhat dejectedly, "Each of my other kids has a unique birth story with something funny or interesting or remarkable about it. But this one is going to be so boring, probably: 'Mom labored and then he was born. The End.'" I'm happy to say I was wrong. And anyway, I was in the throes of laborland and feeling generally PO'd at everyone and everything at that point, so my feelings of dejection were totally baseless. Every birth story is unique and interesting, at least to other moms. :) (All you non-parents can feel free to just skip the text and look at the pretty pictures.)
So the biggest news is, we made it to the hospital!! Yay!! I knew that Andrew was much smaller than Daniel was, so I figured my labor with him would take a more normal amount of time. Still, there was always the underlying current of mild panic about when exactly we should leave for the hospital, and whether he would be born in the car on the way. This was a neverending source of anxiety for me for weeks leading up to his birth. Thursday morning I woke up feeling... different. I had been woken up a couple times early in the morning by some contractions that felt... different. Very low and tight, and wrapping around to the sides. Not painful yet, but just... different. Thankfully Mr. Pickles was already working from home that day. He had also been leaving for work an hour later each morning that week, just to see how I was feeling before he took off. I was grateful he was already home that day, though. I also felt different that morning. A little more irritable than usual. I finished packing up my suitcase and called a friend (who answered the phone with, "Are you in labor?!?") to see if she would be available to watch the kids in case we had to leave during the day. You see, I expected this labor to go like all my other labors which started in the middle of the night. So I had plans for night time and the early morning, but nothing during the middle of the day! Thankfully my friend was available in the afternoon so we were covered. I had hoped to avoid packing up the kids and dragging them with us on the way to the hospital, but oh well.
We managed to get a little school work done that morning. I did some laundry.  I think I even vacuumed and tidied up. Or maybe that was Wednesday. At any rate, I only had a couple more strong contractions, nothing even timeable. So after lunch I decided to go for a walk to see if I could get things going. I was only out for about 20 minutes, during which I had a couple strong contractions that made me stop and catch my breath. So yeah, that worked. I alerted Mr. Pickles (who was deep in Work Mode) and called my friend to give her a heads-up. The babysitting situation became ridiculously complicated -- we ended up having to drop the kids off at another friend's house b/c the first friend had to be present at a school function until 4:30, but then she picked up the kids and brought them back to her house for dinner, then drove them back to our house where ANOTHER friend would get them ready for bed and stay at the house that night. But she had to leave super-early for work, so yet ANOTHER friend agreed to drive over to our house first thing in the morning to relieve her! My friends are all awesome, to pull together like that last-minute.
Anyway, back to Laborland. I was trying to get the kids packed up and ready to go in between contractions while Mr. Pickles finished working. I even tried to start washing a load of dishes, but after filling up the sink, I realized, "We've got to go. NOW." Earlier that day I had begged my guardian angel to let me know without a doubt when we should leave, and that was my cue. We finally left the house around 3, and at that point my contractions sped up to about every 5-10 minutes. Thankfully there wasn't too much traffic on the roads, so we made good time. When we got to the first sitter's house, we had to remove some carseats and get the kids in the house. Joseph had to be dragged up the steps because he chose that moment to be extra clingy and stubborn. But we finally left and got to the hospital around 4. They showed us into a double room and left us there for what seemed like forever. My contractions didn't stop, for which I was grateful. But that's when I began thinking that this was going to be simply a boring, painful labor with no real Story. Finally a nurse came in and asked us a million questions -- exactly the same ones I had answered less than a week ago (why couldn't they just have kept my file?? no one had developed any major health issues in that time!). When she checked me I was so relieved to learn I was 4cm dilated and completely effaced -- whew! I just wanted to get it over with.
After that they showed us into our actual Labor & Delivery room. It was right next to the nurses' station. They were very noisy. It was good noise though -- lots of laughter and chatter. The nurse started Doing Stuff to me -- I got hooked up to the monitor (how I hate that thing), and then began the Quest for a Vein. Apparently I have very small veins. It took several tries and two nurses before they finally found one they could put an IV in. I felt like a pincushion, but I had to have the IV to get antibiotics since I was GBS+ again. Meanwhile the baby inside was going NUTS in between contractions. He was rolling over and trying to punch his way out sideways, I think. That was encouraging for me though -- I knew he was doing alright during the labor if he could be that active.
Then nothing exciting happened for a while -- just contractions every 4 minutes. I was so grateful for Mr. Pickles at that point -- he faithfully rubbed my lower back with every contraction, which helped ease some of the pressure. By this point it was dinnertime, so Mr. Pickles went down to the cafeteria to grab a bite so he wouldn't pass out. My OB came in and checked me and said things were progressing nicely -- so much so that he said he wouldn't want to break my water at this point for fear of speeding things along too quickly. He gave me permission to get up and walk around -- but I had to stay in the room in case my water broke while I was out of my room and they had to deliver the baby in the hallway. :) So I paced for a while, then Mr. Pickles returned from dinner. And THEN things started getting intense. The contractions got reeeeeally strong and owchie. There's no beating about the bush -- labor just hurts. And transition really sucks. I have no idea how I was able to stay standing while I was going through transition with Daniel -- maybe Andrew was another back labor and that's why it hurt so much. I was curled up on my side, because that's what felt the best, so at least I wasn't on my back. I told Greg that when the time came I wanted to try to deliver on my side -- I had done that with Joseph and hadn't torn. I was really trying to avoid stitches again!
The contractions began double-peaking and I started feeling a mild urge to push. Greg alerted the nurse, who called in the doctor, who checked me and said I was about 8-9 cm dilated with a bulging bag of waters, hence the feeling of wanting to push. He and the nurse took off again, admonishing us to call them when my water broke. Turns out we should have told them to stick around for another 20 minutes! I was now totally in The Zone, curled up, eyes closed, just trying to stay alive pretty much. I began vocalizing because it felt good. Then I got really noisy while the nurse was in the room, but she was totally nonchalant about it. Greg was trying to hint that I was starting to push, so she hurried over and asked if she could reattach the ruddy monitors. I snorted, "Heh, you can TRY," and then attempted to comply while she got maybe one strapped on. Then I rolled back to my side and began pushing in earnest. The rest of the labor was a haze -- I dimly remember someone trying to tell me to lie on my back and Mr. Pickles advocating for me that I wanted to stay on my side. I remember him checking me and calling out, "I see the baby's head!" I remember the nurse paging someone urgently, "I need the doctor and people in here NOW!!" I remember a crowd of people surrounding me, telling me to breathe, and I remember thinking, I AM breathing, go to h-e-double-hockey-sticks! The pushing was really intense. Usually with pushing the contractions slow down and you get to catch your breath in between them, but with Andrew, once I started pushing it was a non-stop roller coaster. I had just enough time to inhale in between each push.  I have no sense of time, but I'm going to hazard a guess that I pushed for probably less than a minute. It might have been longer, but it certainly didn't feel like it.
And then, ah, blessed relief as his head came out! The nurses had to coax me one more time to push the rest of him out onto the bed -- and then, there he was.

dried off, cord cut, and brand spankin' new!

The rest is hazy.  I wish they had let me hold him longer instead of whisking him away so quickly -- the doctor (who finally made it to the room shortly after Andrew delivered himself!) was pushing really hard on my belly afterward to get the placenta to come out right away.  That hurt worse than the actual labor -- I was yelling for that.  He and then the nurse had to do it a few times -- I guess I was bleeding a lot.  They had reattached the IV and were giving me a small dose of pitocin to cramp the uterus back down.  It didn't take long, but I was really annoyed and felt manhandled.  I could have used holding my new baby to distract me.  I wondered if I had been at home what the midwives would have done.

BUT!  I didn't tear!  Hooray, no stitches!

Mommy's little pug dog!

Finally, FINALLY they finished harassing Andrew and me and let us snuggle.  Andrew had THE most amazing pouty face.

Mommy: Oh, thank goodness it's all over!  Andrew: Why are you not feeding me NOW??

 

We got to nurse a couple times -- Andrew figured out the whole eating thing immediately, good man.  Then everyone left us alone for a while to enjoy some peaceful family time, before they moved us into the recovery room.  After Andrew and I were settled, Mr. Pickles headed home for some well-earned rest.

The funniest thing about the whole story is that this is the SECOND time this particular doctor has missed catching one of my babies!  The nurses never listen to Mr. Pickles when he tells them that I'm getting ready to push.  The doctor missed catching Joseph by 10 minutes, because he was still driving to the hospital.  This time he was just down the hallway, and he STILL missed the birth!  Note to hospital staff: listen to the husband, especially if this is their fifth baby!!

Since Andrew was born in the evening, I stayed the full two days, mostly b/c he needed another blood draw 24 hrs. after his birth.  I didn't mind.  I was looking forward to being home, but I enjoyed the peace and the room service and the free movies while I could. :)

I didn't sleep much that first night, even though I was worn out -- we just snuggled and nursed all night long.  It was heavenly.  There is nothing like snuzzling a fuzzy baby head to your cheek in the quiet and the dark, and knowing that he is all yours.

The next morning I felt AWESOME.  I think that's the biggest perk of a natural delivery.  I'm so grateful to have been able to experience that with each of my babies so far.  Yeah, the labor sucks big-time, but it's short (hopefully!) and the recovery is swift.  It felt good to be up and moving.  I changed out of the hospital gown and into a cute new nursing nighty I had found a couple weeks ago.  I showered and pulled my hair back and put on dangly earrings.  When you know you look good (even though you gave birth 12 hrs. previously), you feel good. :)  Daniel got his bath that morning too.

all fresh and fluffy!

Then the rest of the family came!  The hospital staff knew that we had a large family, so they put me in a HUGE recovery room.

The Big Sister Laureate

I LOVE this look on Jojo's face:

AWEsome!  Another player for the boys' team!!

We didn't get a shot of Daniel with the baby -- but I think his first words when he came in the room were, "Baby come out?"  He was happy to see the new baby too, although looking out the window was just as fascinating. :)

We came home Saturday.

I got him a new coming-home outfit -- it is so cozy and cute!

Let the fun begin!

You better watch out...

Santa Claus is comin' to town!

These two are unbelievably cute together.  I wish I could follow them around with a video camera all day.

Okay, moment of truth here.  This is the first picture I took of them:

In addition to the terribly blurry nature of the photo, please note also the pile of laundry in the middle of the floor, the beast of a stroller hanging out in the living room, aaaaaaaaaand....

...a little boy about to be added to the "naughty" list for stealing from the electronics basket when Mommy wasn't looking!

I only include this photo to make you feel better about how you keep your house and raise your family.

You're welcome.

Feast of All Hallows

I barely got my act together for Halloween & All Saints Day this year.  But despite my lack of organizational and pre-planning abilities, we still managed to have all the essentials: pumpkins, saints, and bucketloads of candy.

I realized Saturday night that we still hadn't purchased pumpkins for Halloween, which was on Monday.  So after our weekly post-Mass donut run on Sunday we went to a local nursery and let the kids pick out their favorites.  Our only stipulation was that they had to be able to carry the pumpkin they chose.

from bottom to top, oldest to youngest

Miriam, of course, picked the biggest one she could handle. :)  The advantage of going to a farm market (as opposed to the grocery store) is that they have quite a variety.  It was fun that the kids could each pick out something different.

apparently yellow jackets like white pumpkin juice...

We had to save the carving for later, since Sunday afternoon was our homeschool group's All Saints Party.  I was fixing up the kids' costumes almost up to the time we had to leave!  Sheesh.  I don't think I'll ever cut it that close again.  It had been a hard week and I hadn't been able to muster up the energy during the week to work on them at nights (because sewing during the day is domestic suicide with 3yo and toddler boys in the house).  But all the essentials got done, even if I'm not proud of Miriam's hem!

L-R: St. Dymphna, St. Ignatius of Loyola (before his conversion), the Blessed Mother, and a very unwilling King St. Louis IX

Hunting for costumes this year was very eye-opening.  I was once again especially grateful that I can sew.  (Thanks, Mom!)  We made the mistake of going to Party City to look for costumes and accessories.  I think the kids are going to be scarred for life.  I warned them that there would be scary things there, and to try not to look at them, but that's easier said than done when a life-size Freddy Krueger with bloody slasher blades greets you at the door.  And then we couldn't find a single thing we wanted -- not a child's size pirate hat, a child's size crown, a Rapunzel costume, or fairy wings less than $20 were to be found.  There were plenty of sleazy adult costumes and blood-drenched saws for the having, though.

This culture's obsession with horror and violent death never ceases to shock me.  I guess I'm still innocent enough that I find the blatant celebration of the diabolical as distasteful.

/end rant

So we tried online.  That wasn't satisfying (or affordable) either.  JoAnn fabrics to the rescue!  Even though Miriam had to drastically scale back her ideas for her desired costumes, she was still pleased with the end results.  I love kids.  You give them a piece of cardboard and a sharpie, and you have a rocket ship!  or a time machine!  or a transmogrifier!  Their imagination can supply all the deficiencies in my design.

Anyway, Sunday afternoon the kids had oodles of fun and the parents got totally overstimulated.  Monday morning was dedicated to scooping out and carving our pumpkins (TOTALLY counted as school).  The girls pretty much did all their own carving.  I had to help Katie with the cleaning, since the inside of hers was kind of tough.  (It smelled like cucumbers -- much yummier than usual!)  But Katie designed and carved her own face, complete with eyelashes.  There was one casualty which was easily and invisibly fixed with a toothpick, and provided an important lesson in pumpkin carving structure.  I took care of the boys' pumpkins.  Miriam drew the face for Joseph's, at his direction.  And Daniel's was all mine.  When the kids are all old enough to take care of their own, I'm going to have to get a pumpkin of my own on which to vent my spooky creativity!

in all their spooky glory

Daniel's was SO COOL -- it glowed!

 After dinner the kids got all dolled up and ready to make the rounds.  Daniel got VERY excited when we opened the front door and all started putting shoes on.

L-R: Thing (keeping His Highness from running out the door), a prince (of course), a Barbie ballerina fairy princess (why yes, she is a six-year-old girl -- how did you know?), Rapunzel (note hair), and a pirate complete with cutlass and blunderbuss  (the parrot kept falling off -- and Mommy nixed the eye patch)

The costumes are very home made, and all the kids were so pleased by them.  Well, maybe all except Daniel, who just wanted to get outside already, although he did keep his crown on.  Miriam decorated it with glitter glue.  The tunic is Joseph's St. Michael costume from last year, tied with one of Mr. Pickles' honor cords from college graduation (see! they do come in handy later!).  Katie's tutu was a hand-me-down dress-up costume from a neighbor.  I was totally mean and uncool and made her wear lots of layers underneath it.  I ended up making the wings for her -- they were ridiculously easy.  I took a piece of fusible interfacing and ironed it to itself, then cut out butterfly wings, cut some sparkly pink fabric to size and basically made a pocket of it, then inserted the interfacing and stitched up the opening.  I also sewed ribbon ties to hold it on.  Katie loved them so much she wore them all day.  She also decorated her own crown, complete with angel stickers...  I wish I had spent more time on Miriam's costume.  It's basically a big white tent with a stretchy lavender velvet corset.  If I had had more time I would have made it into more of a bodice with straps, and made some kind of overlay skirt to dress it up more.  But she was still pleased with it, and I thought she looked beautiful in it.  Joseph's costume was fun to put together.  I remembered that Mom B. had given us a box of our old dance costumes.  Remember the shirt, Joe?  So Joseph wasn't tripping over the sleeves, I actually had to fold them inside and sew the cuffs to the underarm seams!  But that worked perfectly.  His hat was cheap as free -- a classic newspaper hat painted with tempura (the girls helped).  Looking back I should have painted a moustache or stubble or something.

Daniel totally got into the trick or treating thing.  I don't know if he realized he was getting candy, but he was all about signing "please" and then perfect strangers would put stuff into his pumpkin!  Score!  Mr. Pickles actually says that while we were out and about, Daniel pulled a Hershey bar out of his pumpkin and tried to eat it, so maybe he did actually know what was going on.  It certainly didn't take him long when we got home to raid his pumpkin and start making his hungry noises.  ("mmm!  mmm!  MMMM!")  A couple neighborhood friends joined us as we made our rounds.  It's always fun going trick-or-treating with friends, I think.

Well, with FOUR trick-or-treaters now, we got an obscene amount of candy.  I'm going to make Mr. Pickles take whatever's left with him to work next week -- assuming we don't all die of rotgut before then.

Arrrrrrrr!

Scenes from Spring

Well, after such a dreadful, gray week, we finally had some delicious spring weather on Sunday!  We made the most of it.  Well, most of us did -- one of us was indisposed.

:(

 

The only thing I have to say in the weather's defense is that my bulbs are thriving, and I haven't lifted a finger to water them! 

planting bulbs in the fall is fun, because I never remember what I planted or where, so every spring is a surprise!

 The wild violets are amazing this year, too.

Cheerily likes tulips.

The girls have been enjoying all the blooms.  They spent a good part of the afternoon braiding their hair and putting flowers in it.

of course, we had to give Miriam antihistamine eye drops after this photo

Today was another lovely day.  Joseph was feeling slightly better (although still whiny) so I took the boys outside to enjoy some fresh air in the afternoon.

ooh, dandelion!

what?  you big people eat these in salads, right?

mmm, so fresh and green!

Of course, immediately after THAT photo I had to fish a million soggy dandelion seeds out of his mouth.  D'oh!  Then he started eating sticks and flowers and climbing our concrete front steps (!) so I decided it was time to go in.

We've got more rainy days ahead -- we have to enjoy the sun while we can, before it's too hot to!

Random October

I just realized how much family news I want to share with you all. Part of the problem of being a procrastinator is that you don't feel you can post ANYTHING until you're "caught up" on the big events, so the little everyday moments tend to get lost or forgotten. But here are a couple that we managed to catch.

Little Red Riding Hood... in flip flops.


Yep, just another normal, ordinary day in the Pickles household.


The Management assumes no responsibility for the way the baby was dressed. (not that he minds)

Family life from a 5.75yo POV

Katie really, really wants her own camera. Occasionally she'll ask to borrow ours, to take "just a couple," and 1/2 hour later it would be returned (or finally confiscated) with a couple dozen shots like these. True candids -- she shows it like it is.

Those cups may or may not have been washed before they were used for drinking...

How pleasant it is when brethren dwell in unity!

"I hate candids!"

working working...

Guard Bear hittin' it off with the ladies

Why are stupid Happy Meal Toys always the favorites? This one would announce, "It's clobbering time!" whenever it was smashed down. A great motto for The Boy.

Lest you think I am anything like a competent housekeeper...


Aaaand a self-portrait.

Random Summer

Several more posts in the queue, and a ton to upload from the camera, but meanwhile here are some random shots from late summer.

Aren't they cute? (and photogenic!)


portrait of Smokey


Daniel showcasing his talents -- grabbing stuff, and sleeping in the swing


The reason it will be a miracle Daniel survives to his first birthday.

I took Joseph to a real barber for his first haircut. I had been putting it off for months, dreading what an ordeal it might be. (he is two, after all) But the last haircut I gave him was so less than satisfactory that I decided it was time to hire a professional -- someone who knew what he was doing and could do it quick.

The Shag

Hey, he got his ears lowered!

He did great -- he balked at sitting in the chair at first, but eventually complied, albeit sullenly. The lady took a lot longer than I hoped -- but Joseph sat very patiently at the promise of a lollipop afterwards. Never underestimate the power of a good bribe.

Now Joseph really looks like a little boy. He's been acting like one for a while -- he's the reason we hear ourselves saying things like: No, don't lie down on the baby; or Hey, get your feet out of the baby's face; or Stop, the baby doesn't want to play swords right now. Joseph and Daniel are going to have great fun in about 2 years, or whenever Daniel is big enough to punch back.

We aim to please.

At the request of an adoring public, we are happy to provide more pictures of sweet gherkin #4, accompanied by #1-3.

oh, the cheeks!

The Big Sister. She is turning out to be a serious baby stealer -- I hardly got to hold Daniel the day after we got home!

tender little mommy

"Jojo turn!"

the proud big brother!

awww, kisses

He loves baby Danyo.

He can be SO tender and loving.

(isn't Aunt Katie gorgeous?)



They'll always be my babies.