Random things....

• Garrett can read. He started learning in October, and is now probably at a 2nd grade level.
• Morgan wears dancing clothes all the time-even if she's freezing. When we watched the US figure skating championships, she donned her dancing clothes, grabbed a baby doll (it was the partners'), and spent about an hour "icing" around the living room. "But Mommy, we can't really skate because there's no ice in our living room."
• Yesterday on the way home from the zoo, Kiera started laughing. Hysterically. She laughed the whole rest of the way home, about 15 minutes. I have no idea why.
• I have rose bushes and climbing vines waiting to be planted. They've been waiting for 3 years.
• It's raining.
• I am having a difficult time not obsessively over-planning our upcoming Disneyland trip. At least I don't write daily schedules anymore.
• Troy is working today, and it's Saturday. That stinks.
• Kiera just woke up and she's only been asleep 1/2 hour. That also stinks.
• Last night we had beans and cornbread for dinner. One of my top 5 favorite meals, and costs less than $5 to make.
• Last night I dreamt that I ate a plate of spaghetti (not gluten-free), and when I realized what I had done, I got really scared. This is wierd because we've been gluten-free for so long I don't even think about it that much-and I never accidentally eat something with wheat in it.
• Kiera will turn 8 months while we're in CA-that makes me a little sad. Like she'll officially be a big baby instead of a little baby.
• Last night when I asked Morgan what she would like to do while the boys played Mario Bros, she immediately said, "Go upstairs and watch a movie with you and eat popcorn." So we did.
• I need to get to Costco and buy a couple grafted fruit trees before they are all gone.
• I also need to send in the rebates for our new cell phones.
• I might get to attend a homebirth in early March, if the mom is willing to wait for me to get back from DLand.
• Eucalyptus oil, diluted in olive oil, is the best cough supressant I've found.
• Troy overcame enormous odds to earn a bonus for his January performance at work.
• I have a new chocolate pie recipe that's super easy, not too unhealthy, and incredibley yummy. I may need to make it tonight.
• Garrett is fantastic at taking care of Kiera, and she loves it when he does. I have to remind myself he's only 6 and not leave her entirely in his care, as much as he wants me to. Right now he's helping her try to go back to sleep. Oh, wait, nope-they're in there playing. Oh well, they're both happy. He says she wants to get up and watch the movie with him. She has a huge smile, which I take to mean she agrees.
• Garlic has been shown in studies to be as potent an antibiotic as many perscriptions types.

That's all.

Holidays? When were the holidays?

As we age we all say the same thing at the same time every year, "wow, I just CAN'T believe how FAST this season has gone by...(say it with me) it just keeps getting faster every year!" Now while I don't necessarily wish to recite this particular litany, I will say this, "holy cow! It is difficult for me to conceptualize the rapidity of this and the last month of last year. I perceived that prior to this particular rotation round the sun, the festivities of the holiday season perhaps were a tad more prolonged." Totally different.

Over the last few weeks much excitement transpired within the walls of our home-Kiera turned the mystical magical 6 months old in December (and will turn 7 months tomorrow!) and mastered the art of sitting up. Since then she has been focused on rockin' out-on her hands and knees that is. We've been saying "she's gonna crawl any day now" for about two weeks. With her it's all about the motivation. She just hasn't found a good enough reason to do it yet. When she does, off she'll go! She's started sampling food, which is a mixed bag--she LOVES eating with us, and loves what she's tried so far (apples, bananas, and sweet potatoes), but unfortunately it doesn't love her. Her tummy is having some issues processing the new foods, and really we should hold off a few more weeks (little known fact-infant digestive tracts aren't finished developing until 9 months)....but I think our little sweetheart might begin to tremble, swell, turn green (baby MMAAAADDDDDDD) and rip out of her diaper if we stopped. She REALLY likes to eat. Luckily she's appeased by small chunks in a mesh pouch/feeder that she can chew and suck on while we eat. ALSO, she cut two new teeth! She now has all four front teeth, and enjoys rubbing them with her tongue and grinding them together (yikes!). Mommy isn't enjoying them as much while Kiera figures out what she can and CAN'T use them for.

Coincidentally, the same day Kiera cut her left upper tooth, Garrett lost his. WEIRD. He is now totally gap-faced on top, missing his opportunity to express his desire for two front teeth by a mere week and a half. Another milestone for big G-he made the decision to cut his hair. For the last couple of years, he has been in charge of his hairstyle-much to Troy's dismay. Sorry hon, you're still the only one who didn't think he looked super-fly with his wavy shag 'do. I sat him down two days before Christmas for a quick trim. Every time I asked if it was short enough, he's say, "it's a little bit short enough." "Does that mean you want it shorter?" "ya, a little bit." We had this exchange so many times I had to finally get out the clippers. The worst part was Troy's smugness-like he had won a battle. See, he has always felt that I pressured G into the shaggy look-but really, he wanted it that way. It was a bonus that I liked it, too. I don't think Troy really believed me every time I said it was his choice--until he came in and saw me wielding the clippers and sniffling. Just one more notch in the "growing up" belt.

Poor Middle Child Morgan. Not a lot going on for her this last month-she had her final dance class for this session, and we got some adorable video of her demonstrating what she'd learned. She still wears her "dancing clothes" whenever she has the opportunity. Her biggest piece of news would probably be the dollhouse she got for Christmas ("Oh look! A dollhouse! A dollhouse that's just for me!). We have a big dollhouse already, one Troy bought for me years ago. Last year we bought her dolls for it, and she's always allowed to play with it, but she knows it's Mommy's tiny house, and she can't do QUITE everything she'd like with it. It was terribly sweet, and a little sad, when her initial exclamations over her dollhouse were followed by a small sigh and, "I guess I can't play with Mommy's anymore." I reassured her that she could indeed still play with mine. Since she started playing with hers, she hasn't given mine a backwards glance.

January is always a tough month for us-recovering from the holidays plus being Troy's biggest "push" month at work, so we see less of him. I have taken on a bit more as well, adding the upper grade theater class to my teaching duties at school. I'm very excited about it, I love working with middle schoolers, but it's a very high-energy class and crew and getting their production of Hood (as in Robin) stage ready is going to take a LOT of work. At least we have until May.

Christmas was awesome, and will require a separate post which I probably won't ever write--but I will say that I haven't encountered many other families that could all reside in one house for 4 days without making each other insane. We had 15 people sleeping in our house, and it was so fun. Thank god for our big old house and its secret rooms-nobody even had to sleep in the living room! It was chaos and noise and mess, but it was worth it to see everyone in their PJ's Christmas morning.

And now we stumble into 2010, still rubbing our eyes and trying to catch up on the sleep we missed finishing off 2009! It just seems to go by faster every year!

Our walk in the wetlands was a little too much for her.

Big G (with his new haircut) displaying his gift for cramming an ungodly amount of frosting on a gingerbread cookie.

Kiera getting the giggles with Auntie Cissa

Morgan marveling at her new dollhouse (it talks and tells her what to do- c-REEE-py)

Playing with her new bumpy balls-she loves these things.

Day before Thanksgiving

It's the day before Thanksgiving--I feel like I should be doing nothing accept preparing for the feast. Unfortunately, between a house is chaos (orginizationally speaking), a week spent fighting a nasty virus as it rampaged its way through the house, school, swimming, preparing for Christmas (yes, already-it's going to be a big one), and working on the upstairs project, it seems a small trifle like a 15 lb turkey just isn't that high on the list.

That hasn't stopped me from making two grocery trips, menu lists, and 7 quarts of brine--which said bird is now bathing in. We just might not get around to cooking the bugger until Saturday or Sunday ;).

I kid. We have been swamped lately, we are indeed exhausted from said swamping, but we are foraging on and will sit down tomorrow to a delectable feast amid our clutter of everday stuff and Christmas decorations. I will spend all day stirring, mashing, roasting, baking, crushing, blending, a small part of the evening eating, and then I will collapse.

Fortunately we all came through the vicious virus and are happy with the knowledge that never again will we suffer through THAT yucky uckiness. Garrett was so dissappointed to miss school Monday, and it was looking like he would miss today as well, since Morgan had a minor relapse--but then a heroic mom from the program volunteered to take responsibility for him is we wanted to drop him off and pick him up. It was so odd, leaving him alone and coming home without him. Strange to think that most parents of kindergartners do that every day. He had a ball (especially since it was ice cream day), and talked non-stop all the way home about everything he did--but ended with, "I wish Morgan had been at school today. She would have thought it was really really fun." So sweet, especially after she had told me on the way to get him (after we'd talked about the fun things we'd done that morning), "I really want Garrett to be with us." I will remember their sweet words tomorrow when they are screaming at one another.

This week has been a real humsinger for Kiera, too. Not only did she have to ferry her way through rivers of snot during her first virus, she's cutting her second tooth today (her first came in 9 days ago). As I type she is asleep in the cradle in the living room, rather than in her bassinet in our bedroom. This is for two reasons-she has just about outgrown the bassinet (sad!), and she kept waking up with teething pain. Two teething tablets, some snuggling, and a few kisses later she seems to be resting much more comfortabley.

And with that I take myself to bed. With one pie down and the stuffing ready for the bird now resting in brine, I will need all my z's to get through the food prep left for tomorrow's feast. Pumpkin cheescake in a ginger-snap crust, YUM!

Too much to do.

I like being active. I like having things to do. I do NOT so much care for things I HAVE to do, or for being busy. Lately we have been very busy. Very very busy. It seemed to come on all at once, too, which is making it that much more difficult to adjust to. For instance, we used to average going out about two times during the week. Now we go out every day. That means getting dressed (in something other than sweats) every single day. That's a lot of clothes. Which becomes a lot of laundry. Which makes us even busier! But alas, we shall adjust-we are in fact getting used to it, but there will always be a smidge of remorse for the pajama days of new family-hood.

The positives of being busy all the time-the kids are really enjoying all the new activities they get to participate in with school and all the new friends they are making. I am enjoying the village feel of our school and the fact that we now know everyone well enough that I can run down the hall without hauling all three kids, so long as there's a parent in the room where I left them. The kids are comfortable enough that it doesn't bother them for me to pop out for a bit, and Kiera just soaks up all the attention the parents give her.

Garrett is taking swim lessons now, in a saltwater pool here in town. He loves it but is still struggling with fear of sinking. It's sadly funny as he is the tallest kid I've seen there (he surprised his teacher by proving he could indeed touch the bottom), but at the beginning of class he clings to the teacher like a toddler (or a cat trying to avoid a bath). It only takes him a few minutes to warm up and be more confident, so I'm sure that by the end of his session he'll be swimming passably well. Morgan is not as excited as the rest of us as she doesn't get to be in the pool, too. But then Saturday rolls around, and she gets to don her dancing dress and shoes for dancing class. And while she often drifts away from the group and does her own thing seemingly ignoring the teacher, at home she demonstrates what she's learning with grace and enthusiasm (meaning she can skip and wiggle with the best of them).

Kiera is rounding the bend to 5 months old, and reached a milestone last night-she sat up! She did it quite well, too, so now all we need to do is find adequate motivation for her to keep doing it. She doesn't keep doing something unless she sees a need for that particular behavior. Take sleeping through the night, for example-she did it for awhile, tried it out, but as she can sleep whenever the heck she feels like it she has decided it really isn't necessary to do so much of it all at once. Last night she was awake for an hour for seemingly no reason. She wasn't asking to eat, wasn't complaining (unless we tried to get her to sleep), just wasn't asleep. Oh, and why is there a reason to keep sucking on a binky when you can use a thumb? And why keep sucking on your own when you can reach Mommy's? Which is apparently much more satisfying.

Oh, and we were finally able to talk her into taking a bottle! She hasn't had one since she was 6 wks. She really didn't like it then, and there was no need to force the issue, so we didn't. Saturday we kept offering (milk in freezer needed to be drank), trying different temps, positions,and nipples, and were finally able to persuade her--though she wasn't pleased. She had a very annoyed look the whole time, a real "WHY are you making me do this? I'll humor you this once, but really folks, this is ridiculous." It tickled the kids though, as they were able to take turns feeding her.

Oh ya! Halloween has happened since our last post! That was lots of fun, spent again with our friends in town who do up their whole yard and scare kids all night (Troy helps). Morgan made a truly beautiful Cinderella, and Garrett a dashing Indiana Jones. Kiera was a lion for about 5 minutes, but she was a very cute lion!

For you, Reina

It has been brought to my attention that the blog is seriously lacking in photos of my adorable offspring. Call it third child syndrome (though in the digital age it isn't due to a lack of pictures, but rather a lack of DOING anything with them...I'll make it up to her). In an attempt to rectify this oversight, I bring you these:

All dressed up for her 3 month pictures. I was trying to get a good smile out of her since we only got one during the actual shoot.

Canoodling on the couch

She does this all the time, anytime she's in a good mood and someone makes eye contact (she made some lady in an elevator's day today)--my sister calls it "the face." She smiles so hard she'll knock herself over once she can sit up. Since this was a month ago and she's had more practice, she does it even bigger. Her noses scrunches all up. It's awesome.

I took a bunch of pics of Morgan in the backyard when the hydrangeas were blooming and Garrett kept cutting them and bringing them to us. This obviously is not a photo of hydrangeas, but I liked it anyway.
Storytime! Ignore the ugly wall-Morgan discovered (via a teensy chip in the paint) that the wall had once been pink. She loves pink. And she can accomplish a lot of paint-peeling when her parents think she's napping. And no, she didn't eat it--it was all in a pile under her bed, actually.

First week of school and 3 months old!

Wow have we had a couple of weeks. Seriously. I mean whoa. It all started with the ceremonial preparations for School. Yup, school. Garrett goes to school now. And coincidentally, so does Morgan. And Kiera. And me. We spent the weekend prior acquiring school supplies, planning activities, and organizing the almighty Backpack. Garrett's backpack is very important to him.

On Sept the 14th (after two phone calls from Troy verifying that we were up and going), the kids and I had our first day of school. One of the rules for enrollment in the HOME Program is that the parents of elementary students remain on campus while the student are in class. We walk them to each class and are encouraged to check on them and help out during lessons. I was a little leery of this commitment, not knowing if the girls would take to spending 4 hours in the preschool room. Morgan was already having issues with not being old enough to attend classes herself, and I could just see myself having to drag her down the hall kicking and screaming. To my surprise, she was invited to join every class she showed an interest in. Even if she just wanted to sit and color. This program is so family oriented, it's awesome. At lunchtime the family room (where the preschool playroom is) fills with families eating lunch together. How many people in our society do that? Even on the weekends-how many families eat dinner together, let alone lunch? We all sit at big tables, Garrett gets to eat with his friends, I get to chat with their moms and dads, everybody oohs and goos over the baby, and Morgan just loves it all. I've lost count of the number of people who have offered me support with my curriculum planning, and I know that when Garrett starts getting invited to parties I'll be totally comfortable sending him because I'll really know these people-rather than dropping him off at a house with adults I've never met before. And they know him-they know his dietary needs, his likes and dislikes, etc. There's such a great sense of community while still being a school--today he had pictures taken for the yearbook, and next month we go on our first field trip.

Oh, and remember how excited I was about the potential that I would someday teach at the program? Well, that someday rolled around two days ago. Garrett's reading and math teacher has decided to go back to school, so she and the program coordinator cornered me last Monday about taking over the math class (I'd have preferred reading, but it was already taken). I hemmed and hawed, they mentioned I'd get paid, I said "SURE!" So now I teach kindergarten math. I started Monday. I arrived at ten to drop G off for reading, all ready to spend the next hour preparing myself and Kiera for class (yup, she stays with me) only to be met at the door by the PC with the news that his new reading teacher had a family emergency and would I mind stepping in? WHY NOT! Between me and another mom, we threw together a pretty decent lesson about "at" words (a-at-cat). I covered that class today as well, since she's still out. At least I had more than 5 minutes to prep for that one. Though Kiera did poop just as we were walking in to start class. I was able to get them started and then leave in them in the care of their PARENTS while I changed her--see the value of the whole family thing? Freakin' awesome.

Speaking of Kiera, she is now a rotund 3 month old. She's mid growth spurt at the moment, and eating like a fiend. She and I will be flying to CA tomorrow night to spend the weekend with my family and to meet my new nephew Jason, who was born on Kiera's 3 month birthday.

Over the last few weeks Kiera has learned how to play. She has figured out what her hands are for and is thrilled to be able to knock her hanging toys around. Today she tried to grab the logo of my shirt. She flows over with grins and dimples, and has charmed the socks off anyone who talks to her as she does not discriminate and will smile and coo at anyone who stops to talk to her. It's so interesting to watch her development as we have a family friend that is just a few weeks older than Kiera. We spent the afternoon with her (and her family) a few weeks ago, and I marveled at how mature she was. Much more so than Kiera-so interactive with her environment and capable with her hands. Now Kiera has reached the age B was then, and is suddenly showing all the same skills--a testament to how fast babies learn and grow! I was sure she wouldn't get that far that quickly! How amazing little humans are.

And now I must go as it is time to make dinner, which is Kiera's cue to cry. Never fail, no matter what time I do it, or how occupied she is at the time (in this case she was sound asleep) she knows. Her timing is impeccable.

Growing Up

Garrett is starting school. I keep saying it, hoping it will sound less like my first baby is becoming an independent person. It doesn't sound like that yet. He's starting school. He is so beyond excited-we all are. Well, not Morgan. She doesn't see why she can't go, to. We went and visited the facility today-all four classrooms and one hallway of it. It's run down, low budget, and feels wonderful. There is no negative energy-people bring their children there because they WANT to, and not because they have to.
Let me explain.
I am, among other things, a public school teacher. It has always been my plan to return to teaching when my children are all in school. As a public school teacher, I feel that it is VERY important to support public education-it is a system whose success is directly tied to its participants--no students, no money, no programs. I have always intended to send my children to public school.
I am, first and foremost, a mother. I cannot in good conscience drop off my child and drive away knowing that he will 1. be forced to work almost solely off of dittoed worksheets, 2. be working below his skill level and as a result not recieve the same level of attention as his classmates, 3. be crammed into a room with 30 other kids and one teacher, 4. be taught using methods and models that are inneffective and dumb and 5. not be allowed recess (which has been shown time and again to be necessary for focus and success in the classroom). Plus, I'd really miss him. And I'd have to wake everybody up early to drop him off. Yuck.
So this left Troy and I in a difficult position-we both had our reasons for wanting Garrett in public school. I had my reasons for wanting to homeschool. Troy saw no allure in homeschooling. Through much soul-searching and discussion, we both agreed that for Garrett to be successful and have the best chance of enjoying his education, homeschool was the best option. Then I found the HOME Program.
HOME is an alternative public school, technically. I see it more as a complimentary homeschool coop--all the parents participate (I can go to his classes with him if I want), different ages are grouped together (K-3, for example), and we get to pick any courses we want. He will attend HOME two days a week and take Math, Art, Science, and PE classes-and have a recess!! And music lessons! And Theater! This tiny little program, in its tiny little building, packs more curriculum choices than any other school in our district--with it's one hallway and chipped paint, it accomplishes more for its students than big schools full of fancy accessories. There's even a preschool play area for Morgan to use while he's in class, as the parents are ENCOURAGED to remain on campus while their student is in class. This way teachers don't have to deal with discipline issues or behavioral problems-the teacher is never taken away from teaching because the parents will be called to deal with it. Everyone helps. And as an added bonus for me, I can teach! I can contribute my volunteer time in the upper level Language classes-there's a creative writing class being offered while Garrett is in Science on Wed. that I can work in, and even have Kiera with me. Eventually I could even join the staff, but only have to work a couple days a week. I am soooo excited about this. I can scratch my teaching itch in an environment that is totally flexible, allows me to keep my children close, and allows me to continue my doula work. Seriously, aside from the fact that this is all going to keep us very busy, it's, like, the best scenario ever.
So what that means is that while we are homeschooling Garrett he will still get to "go to school." He'll go on field trips, participate in science fairs, have school performances, make friends, work with certified teachers (besides me), but still be primarily taught at home where we can cater his education to his particular needs and learning style. AWE-SOME. Plus his friend Mira is entering the same program. Who wouldn't be psyched about THAT? AND his classes won't start until the 14th, which gives me a little more time to get my act together before I have to become a mom whose kid goes to SCHOOL.