New Blog Address!

ATTENTION: We have moved!

please come check us out at www.stirredupsoup.com (our very own web page). It is still under construction to some degree, but is now up and running. Let me know what you think!

Peace,
Mama Soup

Homemade Grape Juice

I blame Megan (www.shewearsboots.blogspot.com). She signed me up for this amazing CSA and yesterday I got my first share. I had a huge bunch of concord grapes that smelled fantastic. I quickly popped one in my mouth and realized why people dislike them. First, the grape did not "pop" like grocery store grapes, it was firm, but jelly like. Then, as I bit further in I hit the seeds (which is when I realized I could not give them to my toddlers). Finally, the skin was impossible to chew all the way up, I just had to swallow it.

All that said, though, they were delicious! The flavor was wonderful and I did not want my young ones to miss out on such a fabulous fresh taste (worlds better than the fake fruit flavors that line the grocery store shelves). I thumbed through the rest of the share and realized that they had (cleaverly) provided suggested recipes and their facebook address to reference for further ideas. I quickly looked on line and found the link for homemade grape juice.

Perfect! What child does not like grape juice and it would be such a treat. My children never get juice; it's too expensive and basically just sugar (so why bother is what I usually think). But fresh, homemade grape juice from perfectly ripened and locally grown concord grapes is a different story entirely.

Here is where I started (recipe from simplyrecipies.com). Gorgeous, honestly, fresh food just does it for me.




Then I washed the grapes and removed the stems.




Next, I poured them in a pot over medium high heat and mashed them slightly (I used a potato masher).




Finally, after 10 minutes and one other mashing, I had this.




I took the above and strained it. I left it straining on the counter, covered with a kitchen towel, while I went to fetch the children from school. My kitchen smelt so fruity and sweet I couldn't wait to leave so I could come back in and have that fragrance hit me as I opened the door (which is exactly what happened).

Upon returning the kids rushed into the kitchen, stripped their shirts (because I made them) and climbed up for their cup of homemade grape juice. Here are the results. I think the pictures really sum it up.

I tried to get them to look at me for a picture, but nobody would put down their cup. I don't think Elias even breathed.



This might actually be my favorite. I think you might have to know Bebe to appreciate it fully, but either way it's impressive.




Elias seemed to have less smeared around because he drank it all in one gulp.




So simple and so delicious. Thank you Horse and Buggy. I will be calling you tomorrow for more grapes (actually Jonah wants to try grape jelly too, maybe that's tomorrow). Cheers.




Peace,
Mama Soup

Comment problems

I understand that a number of people have tried to comment and have been unable. So sorry. I am going to do my best to remedy that problem. Please check back tomorrow, as I am hoping that tonight I can come up with a solution. Upcoming topics, just to keep you interested, are as follows (in no particular order):

CSA

Swimming pools

Green products

Cloth diapering

and more on.....

House size (can you tell I'm obsessing?)

Peace,
Mama Soup

Closet is done

Turns out I have even more clothes than I thought. Surprise, surprise. I bet most of us would say the same if we truly sat down and laid them all out. Really, there was no way I could wear all of the clothes I had, partly because some of them didn't even fit.

Here is where I started.


This is the pile of stuff I actually wear day to day (which is why it is in a pile).


This is the rest of my closet.


And this is my dresser.


I began by just dumping everything on the bed and sorting into piles. 1. Throw away 2. Give away 3. Possibly sell (will probably just give it away though, to get it OUT of the house) 4. Keep. From there I sorted my keep stuff into seasonal and type of dress. Quick aside: I have three big totes of random "winter" clothes in the basement that are really just stuff left over from when I lived in Maine. Now it is hard to figure out what to do with a giant wool sweeter when it never even comes close to - 30 degrees. So that project is for another day. It is more memorabila stuff than clothing at this point.

Once all items were organized, I cleaned out the closet space and started adding stuff back in. Here is what I ended up with. Keep in mind I am not on "Wear this, not that" or whatever it's called. I'm a simply dressed person or as my NYC living fashion designer best friend from LA says, I have no sense of style. I like it that way. So just take note of the amount and organization of the whole thing, not the actual articles of clothing.



I have nothing in my dresser and I am happy about that. Those drawers are annoying to open anyway.

I'm pretty happy with the results. I have two giant trash bags full of Goodwill items along with another box of "possibly sell" stuff and a small trash can I filled with things that should have been thrown out years ago.

I still have more than I need, but at least I am headed in the right direction and it feels good.

Peace,
Mama Soup

De-Cluttering update

In a nut shell, it's not going well.

Hum, let me put a positive spin on that; I still have a lot of opportunity to organize in my future.

Why you ask? What has happened? Children. Children and (to be honest) just keeping up with my daily tasks that would take much LESS time if I simplified all the stuff I have to do. Simplifying is much harder than it seems like it should be. I think I need to break it down and be more black and white.

Tomorrow is a good day to start. Three of the four children are in school and the fourth usually happily goes along with whatever I suggest. Tomorrow I will go through my clothes.

I'm not a crazy fashionista by any stretch of the imagination, but I do have way more clothes than I need. I generally only wear the top layer of stuff from the pile on my closet floor, so I'm pretty sure the stuff on the bottom I could actually just set aside for Goodwill and never know the difference. However, I will have to go through it and just look one more time to make sure (you never know what I might find).

So, tomorrow it is. I have committed. I will post my success (and maybe even a picture) when I am done. Wish me luck!

Peace,
Mama Soup

How much house do we need?

At the end of the day, when all the children are asleep and most of the mess is picked up I sit down to take a few breaths and just look around. What I have noticed is that my house feels huge. I am not bragging, not at all. The only reason we have this huge house is because we snatched an amazing deal and we are renting.

Skip the next paragraph if you know me well; you already know this.

Brief history: We lived a an adorably cute tiny cape cod right downtown with an equally adorably cute tiny yard. We loved it. We had one child and it was perfect. Then, all the sudden we had three children and directly after another one on the way. Our house started feeling claustrophobic. We agreed that the size was difficult at times, but the layout was impossible. The house was full of tiny rooms and you could not see or hear anyone from any other room (great if you are trying to ignore someone but not great from a small child safety standpoint). So, we put our house up for sale for about one week. One week was all it took for me to decide that this was a terrible idea and there was absolutely no way I could keep my house clean with all those hands and feet bopping about. Fast forward three months and I got a call from a realtor that wanted to know if we were still interested in selling. "Yes" I said, trying not to sound too excited. A few more weeks later and our house was sold, we had no where to go and our 4th baby was due very soon. That is how we ended up renting (something we said we did not want to do but are happy we did).

The house we are in now is about 3 times the size of the house we sold. It is interesting how quickly you can fill up space with unnecessary junk. When thinking about simplifying I wonder, how much house do we really need? I am curious about other people's opinions. We have this house rented until June, at which point we are considering purchasing. We would like to buy a home that we can raise our children in and hopefully pay off sooner rather than later.

I have read up on the statistics of house sizes. It is pretty eye opening. Here is what I have found.

As the average size of our American families decrease, 3.1 people in 1974 to 2.6 people in 2004 the average size of our homes have drastically increased from 1,695 sq ft in 1974 to 2,349 sq ft in 2004. Interestingly, this scary market crash/ foreclosure nightmare has actually had many more people re-evaluate how much house they truly need. In 2008 the census data showed that the average size of homes under construction fell from an average of 2,629 sq ft in the second quarter to 2,343 sq ft in the fourth quarter.

To sum it all up, I feel like my "McMansion" as a dear friend calls it, is in deed just that, over the top. While I love my giant walk-in pantry, my laundry room that is the same size of my old kitchen and a master suite that is larger than most people's NYC apartments it does not seem necessary and actually has some draw backs. Number one on my list is cleaning. It takes me all week to go through the house and clean all of my rooms (7 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms). My old house I could clean in an afternoon and happily spend the rest of the time playing with the children. Also, our utilities bills (while somewhat better than expected because this is a newer home) are still much more than need be. And then the issue of accumulated junk, as mentioned before. If I am really going to simplify, and I am serious about this, then I think my home should reflect my values. What are your thoughts?

Best Telemarketing Conversation Ever

It has been a long few days, so I'm going to keep this short. We seem to have some kind of virus circulating through the house that causes hives, asthma attacks and extreme crankiness; for the adults it causes head aches. So here it goes....

I got a call the other day. The kind of call that you have say "hello?" two or three times before you hear a click and someone says, "Hi, Ms. Campbell" right at the same time that you have a discussion with yourself if you want to hang up or not. If you wait longer than .03 seconds then you know that you'll be caught for the next 5 minutes trying to figure out exactly what they are selling and how you can get off the phone politely.

Well, I didn't hang up when I should have. After I acknowledge them I feel it is rude to just hang up, but if they don't hear me say anything first then for some reason it does not feel rude. Do my eight readers feel the same? Regardless, I didn't hang up. A very bubbly girl started chatting to me about my prize package that I would be receiving shortly, blah, blah, blah.....and then, Cliffy started crying.

I went to Cliffy, wedged the phone between my shoulder and ear and picked him up. He did not stop crying so I kept listening to dumb dumb on the other end of the phone try to stutter through her lines as I bounced him around the house. Finally, she paused and said in an annoyed voice, "Ma'am, I'm just going to have to call you back later. That baby is hurting my ears."

I smiled at Cliffy and said, "great, bye."

I hope that conversation was recorded for quality assurance and listened to by her boss.

Peace,
Mama Soup

10 Things I Learned on the First Day of School

Today was the first full day of school for the twins. Last week was an intro week and they only went 1 1/2 hours. Today, however, they were there 8:30 - 3:30, along with Jonah. This means that for 6 whole hours I was with only ONE child (and a bubbly happy infant boy at that). Here is what I learned.

1) I need to wake up earlier.

2) I need to go to bed earlier.

3) Laundry is easier to do when people are not sleeping in their rooms on and off all day long.

4) It is much easier to move around the house without baby gates in between every room and every possible door shut.

5) The house is filled with all kinds of interesting house sounds that are audible when people are not screaming. I actually got scared today from a strange whistling sound that turned out to be the breeze in the trees. (Seriously, I'm not making this up).

6) I don't think I'm getting alzhiemers anymore. It is just really that much more difficult to remember information when 3 other people are talking to you. I felt like a genius today.

7) My house is really big.

8) No matter how much preparation, organization or planning you do, once your kids get home the chaos returns immediately.

9) I will be insanely depressed and lost when my kids no longer live at home.

10) I love school.

Slowing down

On holidays, no matter what holiday, I always feel that things move slightly slower. Well, maybe I just want things to move more slowly, but I think it's a valid desire. We need to take a bit to breath, actually see what is around us and enjoy all that we have worked so hard to obtain. Our culture pushes us to be continuously busy. Busyness equal productive in our eyes, or at least mine. Other countries have siestas, long lunches, shorter work weeks, more vacation, etc. In america, we try to fit 28 hours of work into 24 and say things like, "I don't really need more than 4 hours of sleep." If we are always moving this fast, how can we enjoy ourselves, our family, our friends, our loved ones?

Today, my family tried to slow down a bit. We did fewer chores and more matchbox car racing. Instead of getting all the laundry done, my husband AND I set up the train track with Jonah together (usually only one of us does this so the other one can be doing something "productive"). We even watched some family television this afternoon (unheard of in our house, as I do not like the TV on during the day) and had a great time commenting on what we were all focused on.

It is hard not to feel worthless when not accomplishing a task, but what we were accomplishing was truly much more important; we were building our relationships with each other. We set aside "things" and put first "people." As I write this, it is astonishing how little I value my time spent just being with someone and rather always evaluate the success of my day on how many "things" I get done. Because really, at the end of it all, its our relationships, not our things that see us through the hard times.

Peace,
Mama Soup

Giving

Along side my theme of simplifying and organizing is Giving. There is something about the act of giving that humbles us and makes us re-evaluate that which we already have, that is if you do it with the right intention. I suppose Jonah does not really experience what I am talking about when he has to give Elias's train back.

It also has a snowball effect, from my experience, because it just feels so good to give. It is so easy to get stuck on yourself. Each person's personal situation seems of upmost importance to them, but to everyone else it is not. This is where a lot of people's frustrations come from, feeling like someone else (or maybe everyone else) does not appreciate, understand or acknowledge the challenges that are present in their life. And you know what, it is true. Nobody else understands exactly what you are going through, but it doesn't really matter. It's all just ego and self-centeredness. When we are able to turn away from ourselves and focus on the underlying connection in us all (not the inherently human competition) then we can find a new kind of happiness.

I have fallen into the pattern of "me" focus, as promoted by our society at large (this is not an excuse just an observation). I can fill my day with concern only for my direct situation and easily forget that, as Plato said, "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."

Recently, we have had some amazing experiences of people giving to us as a family. We are forever gratefully and feel so lucky. As I sat and contemplated what I could do to repay these people it occured to me that I wanted to BE these people. I do not mean that in a jealous way, but that they are good idols. I have such respect and love for them I thought I should include in my mission to simplify (in a way, get back to basics) Giving.

All this being said, the reason (now this is an excuse) I have fallen into a pattern of "me", is that I have such little time and such little extra money (all because of too much STUFF - see how this fits into my simplify theme) that I barely have anything left over to give. I witness people with much less than I giving everyday. I needed to think outside the box. What did I come up with?

My hair. Yes, it is a small step, but at the same time it is a huge step. It is the first step in the right direction, which is usually the hardest to take. I love my hair (I know, a little ridiculous, but I've idolized The Little Mermaid for years) and I have always wanted to have long hair. But really, do I "need" this hair? I have more than enough and as I researched online about cancer victims and the blow to their self-esteem (on top of everything else) that loosing their hair does, it seemed silly for me to keep mine. Not to mention, I needed a hair cut anyways AND it would not cost me anymore to cut a lot of it off and give it away besides a little bit of shipping. So that is what I did. I just went out without saying a word to anyone, except my neighbor who sat with my children as I did this (talk about someone who gives unconditionally - she is wonder woman). Here is a pic, just so you believe me.



Not too bad, huh?

Peace,
Mama Soup

Getting nothing done

There are some days when nothing is going to get done. Today was one of those days. I filled out my "Daily Docket" this morning (taken from Tsh Oxenreider) and got absolutely nothing crossed off. The idea is to write down the 3 most important tasks for the day and then another 7 tasks so your to-do list has 10 items. You cross them off in the order they are written and are supposed to be happy if you only get the 3 MIT's accomplished. I suppose tomorrow I will just cross off today's date and re-name the list Sept. 3, 2011. At least I can draw a line through something.

Why did I get nothing done? Well, I think it's because I wrote down the wrong to-do's. It's not like I sat around reading magazines and sipping Bloody Mary's. The only "me" thing I did was eat a couple of meals and pee. I was on drop-off and pick-up duty today (which takes a total of 2 hours) and then there was the camping trip. No, not me (in case that is what you thought) but I did assist in the prep.

My oldest, Jonah, and hubby, Papa Soup, packed up after school and left for their first ever boys camping trip. Jonah was beyond excited and I had to spend my time calming him down and reminding him to get underwear. I also had to keep a keen eye on Bebe who continually moved all the items that Papa Soup was trying to lay out to pack. We have yet to find one walkie-talkie and Papa Soup's car keys (he ended up taking mine because they were running late).

All that adds up to one thing, I got nothing done. This is a good lesson, though. You just can't be productive every day and it's not helpful to sit around and feel bad about it. Instead, I think I'll open a bottle of white (I'm having fish tonight) and just enjoy that I only had to put three kids to bed instead of four. And the best part.....all three are still in cribs which means no one will show up at my bedside unannounced in the morning. Enjoy the camping boys!

Peace,
Mama Soup

Heading back to basics

We've all read about it, possibly thought about it and maybe even attempted it, cooking with the kids. There is a great blog out called "Bella and Dash" where the mom cooks with the children every night and records it online. Check it out for a dose of humor and inspiration. Indeed, there is something special about cooking, I of all people know that, but like all other activities it can be hard to include little wandering hands and non-stop questioning minds.

The pay off, however, is great. It teaches our children something not only very useful, but something rewarding that can be refered back to all their life. Some of my best memories are whipping up some crazy from scratch meal in my very small ill equiped dorm kitchen with my best friend and college roomie, Rachie. It was a great stress reliever and "back to basics" moment for us. Cooking offers some soul soothing stuff that you just can't get from plan 'ol eating. There is magic and creativity in the process and much more room for error than people think.

Practically speaking, it helps us eat healthier (you tend to use less butter when you realize that a whole stick went into the potatoes already) and gives us an appreciation for the transformation of garden to table (another whole topic I will bridge into at a later date). Children absolutely love to learn about this amazing yet natural process. It does not have to be difficult or complicated; generally the simpiler the recipe the better it is anyways. Funny how this theme keeps popping up on me.

So, as dinner approached this afternoon I called Jonah into the kitchen and invited him to cook. I wish I had my camera out at that very moment to capture the pure excitement and joy on his face. Our menu: baked tofu bites and rice noodle salad with carrots and soy beans. (No, I'm not one of those vegetarian cooks or crazy soy lovers but I do believe that it is healthy and more importantly it was all I had on hand). An aside: I still need to work on simplifying my menu planning/shopping. I have always cooked off the top of my head with whatever was around, which is fun, but not the most time efficient or effective cooking method with 4 small children.

Now, a note about my children. My children are not picky eaters. They have no allergies and will at least try most of what I put down, but as they grow older they "become" pickier and pickier which is why I just don't buy it. They are discovering what they like and do not want to eat anything else. Well, I won't have it. PB & J is great, but not three times a day. So, I also am viewing my "back to basics" attempts to get my children in the kitchen as a way to continue to expand their palate instead of allowing them to shrink it. So, our menu was slightly daring. I generally cook two separate dinners, one for the children and one for the adults. I find that by doing this I am not only complicating matters, but also feeding the children less interesting meals and just whatever I think they might eat the most of and with littlest mess. This is not always the healthiest choice. Also, they tend to try more if I'm sitting next to them eating that strange looking green thing and saying things like, "Yum! This is so good."

I started Jonah out with shelling edamame and he took this job very seriously.



Showing off his work.



I need to get a bit better at capturing the right moment, but here is the finished product (before baking) of our tofu bites.



Now for the best part. The kids all ate it! Elias, who really does not eat meat much gobbled it all up and Jonah, who did have to fuss about not having PB & J, sat down and almost cleared his plate once he saw the twins eating. What a wonderfully fun dinner and a huge success. I am vowing to attempt to incorporate this basic activity into my weekly routine at least once or twice (per week). I want to continue to keep the balance of simplifying and holding on to my marbles, while focusing on the right stuff - so for now this is not a daily thing, but we'll see where it goes.

Peace,
Mama Soup

The Morning Routine

Such high aspiration I had for organizing and simplifying everything before school started. It just didn't pan out. I have the laundry room organized, and I have to admit that I have taken a few Mama "time-outs" as we call them in that very room. You know, when you want to put your child in time-out but either don't have the energy for that battle or are afraid you might toss them too firmly into the time-out chair, so instead Mama takes the time out. I used to go around the corner from wherever I was, but now the laundry room is my go to spot. Just being in the laundry room makes me feel more in control. I have only the items that belong in that room on the shelves and everything is labeled with words if they are for adults and with pictures if they are for the children (our laundry room is also our mud room/coat closet).

So, that is all I have gotten organized. Not that the rest of the house is destroyed, but it certainly has items laying around that only complicate matters. For instance, this morning while trying to feed the children I went in and out of my wonderful walk-in pantry about seven times. Each time I either moved the feather duster off of the shelf I was trying to use, tripped on it because I had thrown it on the floor the last time or ended up carrying it to the bathroom with me because I was telling someone to get back in their seat and I did not realize I was still holding the feather duster. Now, to make matters even worse, I don't even use this feather duster. I like the idea. I've tried to use it many times, but in truth it makes a mess. The feathers fly out all over the room and instead of cleaning up cob webs I am picking up stray feather. So, I'm not sure how much time I have waisted with my feather duster, but it just needs to leave my home. This is one of the many things that seem helpful, but is not.

Now, I know it seems like I should just go throw away that silly feather duster right now, but I have since forgotten where I shoved it when I chased Bebe down the hall with honey dripping from her hair. Maybe you can see now why I need to set aside special time to go through each and every room with a fine toothed comb and get rid of all the junk that at first glance does not look like junk. I need to simplify.

At least as I headed out the door I was able to grab each child's shoes with no fuss. They were clearly labeled in the lovely and newly organized laundry room. Come to think of it, I bet that's where the dreaded feather duster is now!

Peace,
Mama Soup

Re-introduction

Hello dear readers,

Today I am re-introducing my blog, mainly to solidify my point to myself, but also to give this writing a framework. I find myself composing blog posts in my head all day long, but as evidenced by my blog, they are rarely typed out. I have so much to say, weather it is interesting or not is up to someone else, but it must come out. My head is getting too cluttered and I have recently vowed to de-clutter my life. So here it goes.

A little background on the new found motivation: Simply put (as simplicity is my focus) I went on a month long trip with my four children and brought each person only five changes of clothing. It was wonderful! Never once did I wish I had some article of clothing that I did not bring and to my surprise, most of what I left behind I had actually forgotten about when I returned. I had first hand experience of "less is more" and it was so freeing. I want to apply that motto to my entire life. I want to get rid of all the stuff that junks up my house, my time, my brain and my car. I want to discover all of those things that I have said I "need" but really do not. I know that there are many others that want the same because I have read their blogs or articles and found motivation from them. It is my hope that I can hold myself accountable while at the same time, possibly, help motivate someone else.

Now, about me: I am a homemaker. I have a busy group of young cubs that fill my time with activities that seem like they should not be actual activities (like scrubbing jelly off door knobs). I've been known to honestly use the excuse, "I had to clean up poop from the floor" more than once as to why I did not do something I should have. In a nutshell, I'm busy chasing my tail and I don't need more stuff that is supposed to help save me time because really it just slows me down. Remember, Less is More (I say this to remind myself, not you).

I admit, I have fallen prey to all kinds of devices, organizers and books that have promised to help me get it all together but have only created more clutter for me to wade through as I try to find a clean diaper and a pack of wipes that actually has some moistness left (don't you find that these dry out if you even think about leaving it open?). That being said, now I will pause and give an exception. Tsh Oxenreider's book "Organized Simplicity" is wonderful. She is inherently organized and apparently a natural at keeping her life simple. I keep her book on my desk and refer to it often. I have used many of her suggestions and follow her blog, simplemom.net. Please check her out for some great resources.

Back to my re-introduction though. My time and words here are multi-faceted; I hope to blow off some steam (I’ve never met another parent that didn’t have steam), connect with other parents in similar situations and hopefully offer up some support and humor from our daily lives.

As a family, our goal is to live, grow and learn together while focusing on kindness and compassion. Our world seems to present more and more choices, which, while greatly appreciated, can make for a more hectic and stressful day. We strive to simplify our surroundings and find the joy in the little things we often overlooked. My husband and I want to raise our kids to appreciate others and see the beauty that the natural world has to offer. Sometimes it seems so complicated and difficult to take the simpler path, but we truly believe that it is the better path for our family.

Please join us on our journey to try and find the balance that so many of us strive for in our swift modern day world.

Better late than never!

It's a boy..........well, that was big news two months ago when he finally came out (OVERDUE, I might add). Clifford Joseph Campbell arrived on April 19th, 2011. I was in complete shock, and still am some days, when the doctor announced "It's a boy." We, obviously, did not find out the sex and I was certain that it was a girl. I was Positive and apparently, wrong. Cliffy is our little surprise in so many different ways. We actually were debating on a boy's name as I went into labor (this means even more if you know that once I start labor it is a matter of minutes, not hours, before the baby comes out). My husband said, "how about Clifford as a first name?" which was always going to be the middle name. I said, "sure, it is not very common and a good family name."

Clifford is my husbands middle name, my husband's brother's first name AND my husband's father's middle name. Did you get all that? Well, I had a nice size list of other boys names that I liked and had thought about for 9 months, but it just didn't seem worth discussing right then since I was kinda busy fighting off blinding pain AND it was going to be a girl. We had settled on Eleanor Rose and I just kept repeating "Ellie Rose, Ellie Rose...." through the contractions that apparently no one was taking seriously (including me) except my husband.

By the time my husband convinced me that we should alert a nurse I could no longer talk. The nurse arrived, checked dilation and announced that I was 8 cm and would have a hard time getting an epidural. I wasn't listening that much because my water just broke and I informed her of this rather loudly. I could tell by the tone of her voice and the scuffling of shoes that I was all the sudden moved to the top of the "pay attention to" list. She said, "Let me know if you start to feel like you need to push," and my husband, who is now an old pro said, "she needs to now." She looked down at me and I screamed back at her.

A few minutes later little Cliffy was born, which is when the doctor said, "It's a boy."

Huh?

My husband looked at me and said, "Clifford?" The doctor, who was still working with me to birth the placenta, said, "Oh, that's a great name!."

Next the nurse chimed in, "Oh yes, a nice name that is not over used." This discussion went on for a few more minutes as I was being stitched and poked and pushed on (all without my epidural that I missed out on AGAIN) until it was decided by the whole room that Clifford Joseph was the perfect name.

Now that he is here and two month old, it seems perfect for him. He is, and always will be, my little Cliffy.............but I sure would have bet a million dollars that Ellie Rose was on her way.

Sweet old couple

I had my 37 week check up today and thus had a baby sitter to watch the twins. I took advantage of this and in addition to my doc check I had a pedicure and met my husband out for lunch. Although I was in a slightly foul mood for still being pregnant when I met him, it was a very nice day.

First off, my appoint went well. All in all I'm very healthy and have no medical concerns. I actually lost a 1 lb and my bp was great at 100/60 (I was slightly upset with such a bp, since mine usually goes up right before I deliver). Anyways, doc said I was 3 cm and 80 % effaced, which she deemed as good progress but because I was not holding my sweet baby in my arms but rather in my uterus I saw it as poor progress. The doctor proceeded to tell me that I should go soon and she thought it would be a "very fast and easy delivery." I think she must mean for her.

However, the point of this post is actually what happened after the appointment when I met my husband for lunch at a cute local sandwich shop. I'm used to people staring and talking about my baby bump, but today I heard the best conversation An older couple was having lunch at the table beside us and here is what was said.....

Husband: "Look dear, when do you think that girl's baby is due?"
Wife: "Hum, well (pause) I would say momentarily."

:)

False labor/ Pre labor.....either one sucks

Okay, so again, it's been a while. Sorry.

Since last posting we have sold our house, moved, Nathan got a new job, we headed up Jonah's school's largest fundraiser and I have grown a baby. Now, I am ready to have a baby.......seriously, like NOW!

My official due date is April 26th, but we have thought for a while that we were looking more at the end of March, beginning of April. The doc thinks based on my history and the size of the baby that I will (or would) be 2-4 weeks early. So, here we are April 5, 2011 (week 37) and I have had "false labor" a few days ago for about 10 hours and then what they call "pre-labor" all last night. Oh, and last week at my check I was already dilated 2 cm and about 80 % effaced - false hope as far as I'm concerned.

"Be careful what you wish for" is such a true statement. I kept hoping that I would get to experience some actual labor that I could stand before I did the dramatic water breaking, rushing to the hospital thing that I did with Jonah. So what I have gotten is more than a total of 24 hours of thinking I am going into labor with NO results. In my mind I saw a couple hours of home labor and then a swift trip to the hospital and a speedy delivery. Ha, ya right! I can get myself so stressed out and worried about the excruciating pain that awaits me that I can almost make myself throw up and that's when I'm feeling good. I am not convinced that I will have time to receive an epidural (which I am not looking forward to in and of itself) so I am trying to prepare myself for natural delivery, just in case. Turns out, there is no real way to prepare yourself.

I was thinking, up until last night, that I would be able to relax and hold it together, but last night as I was having painful contractions mixed with intense back pain and cramps I lost my cool. I made Nathan get off the couch simply because him being on the couch was annoying me (for anyone that knows me - I'm usually fairly laid back). I then told him I thought I was going into labor but that he wasn't allowed to call anyone or prepare in case I was wrong.......pretty logical. Especially since we had two sleeping toddlers upstairs that are not quite old enough to stay home by themselves in case he had to rush me to the hospital. Logic was out the window and instead I paced around, sighed heavily over and over and refused to answer his questions about how I was feeling. My only statement was, "I don't know, stop looking at me!"

Now that I am feeling a little bit better today I am trying to identify my mistakes and find the humor in my irrational behavior from last night. I do apologize for the scatered nature of this post, but it's the best I've got right now (some slight irritability seems to be hanging on). Just thought I'd write down, in the moment, how I feel so that once it's all over I can look back and breath a sigh of relief.

Getting in the car

There are many simple daily activities that are no longer simple with children, getting in the car is one of them. I am not sure it is the most difficult of activities, but it is up there. I like to think that if I had a nice big attached two car garage (preferably heated with painted floors and a shoe organizer rack) that my life would be significantly easier. Truth is, if you make one activity easier there is usually something waiting in the wings to pop up and say, "ha! now you have to deal with me too!"

Anyway, as I was getting in the car the other day to take Jonah to school I turned to look back towards my house and at my three children attempting to make it to the car (or not) and I thought, I MUST write about this. Some day I will forgot this and bee-bop out to my cute little two door sports car, hop in and drive off without a care in the world (that is if we ever get this birth control thing figured out).

The distance from my car door to my front door is about 30 feet I would guess. It is a straight shot, with a nice sidewalk (usually cleared off, even in the worst snow, by my husband). There are not that many distractors along the way, mostly grass and a couple potted plants by the door. We keep the porch swept and free from toys, shoes, rocks, etc. However, on this particular day (which is typical) I looked back and this is what I saw:

Jonah, to his credit, was closest to the van but had dropped both school bags, his lunch and almost lost his cost which was dangling down around the bend in his elbows while he bent to lick some snow off a muddy leftover lily steam. I believe there was actually a dead lily branch in his mouth.

Elias had made it half way up the sidewalk before he managed to trip and face plant into the one an only spot of mud on the cleared side walk. Instead of getting up he laid there and tried to lick the snot off his nose, for entertainment I suppose.

Bebe did not even make it to the sidewalk. She was still on the porch, crouched down by the flower pot happily eating dirt.

I took a deep breath and in my nicest voice reminded Jonah that he would have nothing to eat if he left his lunch in the front yard. Although he was closest to the van he ended up being the last in. I picked up Elias first and buckled him in - a quick aside note: I greatly dislike car seats in the winter. Trying to buckle a toddler into a tight, 5 point harness WITH a winter coat on is as close to impossible as it gets. But, I did it, as I do everyday at least twice a day.

Bebe was next and she screamed the whole time because I took the rock that she was chewing on away. She is slightly easier to fit the seatbelt around, but has much more, um...personality to deal with than Elias does.

Jonah was last. I don't even remember what he was doing by the time I got his brother and sister buckled. I know that I shut the doors and drove off about 10 feet in order to get his attention. He started screaming, "Don't leave me!!! Don't leave me!!!" so I stopped and let him in. Not because I didn't want to leave him, but rather because he was the whole reason we were getting in the car in the first place. He climbed in and like a true parent, I just HAD to repeat myself a 15th time and say, "get in your seat!" I know he knew that was what he was supposed to do, but sometime you just can't help yourself. He stopped and looked at me for a moment then said, "You know mom, you're kinda annoying."

"Oh, ya?" I responded as calmly as possible.
"Ya, you just keep saying the same thing over and over."

I said nothing, but rather buckled him in and finally drove off towards school. Someday I will reread this and just have to go jump in my car, all by myself and drive off with ease..............just for the hell of it!

Jonah quote 1/20/2011

"Mom, I don't want to be a person that doesn't have any talent. I want to be a people that can do many and strange things."

I love the way he worded that last part. I have all the confidence in the world that he will indeed do many AND strange things. He already does!

This is what he told me while I was scrubbing the bathroom floor and he was in the bath. Sometimes that most interesting things come out when doing the most uninteresting chores :) Thus, another reason to do your chores.

Stereotypical Pregnancy

As I baked a cake this afternoon, just because I WANTED this cake NOW, I realized.....I'm acting exactly like they say you will when you read about being pregnant. I'm pretty sure, although correct me mom if I just don't remember right, that I was not so stereotypical with my last two pregnancies. With Jonah I craved grapefruit, that is it (and still gained 50 lbs!). I barely had any morning sickness and when I went into labor, I was holding Jonah less than 5 hours later (Not typical). The twins just didn't go normal because, well, it was twins. I had to sit down the last 9 weeks of that pregnancy and was not just uncomfortable, but miserable. However, with this 3rd pregnancy, everything that I ask the doctor about or read about on google basically says, "ya, that is typical."

I will spare you with all of my disgusting pregnancy symptoms, if you have been pregnant you know what I'm talking about, but if you have not then to answer your question, yes...whatever you are thinking probably IS happening right now (pregnancy is gross). Anyway, I just felt the need to document that I am having a text book pregnancy. Not sure why it took 6 months for me to realize that, but that too is typical - at least of me- to not realize the obvious; this is something I did even before I had kids, but I can usually at least blame it on the kids now :)

So, that is my update.....I'll get to the kids later!

for G

This post is for G. She requested this story be shared and I will do my best. I can't really remember anything that happened longer than 30 minutes ago with much trusted accuracy, but I have retold this enough that I'll get the point across.

Jonah and G were in the "play room" (in our house rooms change ever few months based on need and this room is what would be called the formal dinning room if our house was on the market.) Anyway, they were in the playroom and G was trying to get Jonah to ask me something first before he did whatever thing it was he wanted to do. I walked in about this time and heard this,

"Oh, I just do it and THEN ask mama that way she usually says yes."

This quote really embodies Jonah and his train of thought. G laughed so hard she almost spit her coffee out. Strangely, I have NO idea what it was he wanted to do. He probably just went ahead and did it while we were trying to pretend not to laugh.

4 month update

So, we fell off the radar for a bit (and Tootsie -as Jonah calls her/him is not even here yet!). Jonah is continuing to grow like a weed. He literally has NO pants that go below his ankle bone but they still fall off his waste so we are putting off a shopping trip. However, I did win the "mother-of-the-year-award" when he went with dada to buy a new pair of shoes (only because he made it to the farm with only rain boots that got soaked in the snow storm - anyways....). They came home with a size 11, which is not that impressive unless you know that I have been sending him to school in size 7!!!!!!!!! Yes, he has been telling me that he only wanted to wear his open toe sandles in the middle of winter, but hey they are "Cars" themed so I thought that was why. I did ask if I could check his tennis shoes on a number of occasions, but those of you that know Jonah know that he does NOT liked to be messed with and touching his foot is OUT of the question completely. So, I was unaware that his shoes were 4 sizes too small. Oops. I'm sure that is the first of many times that my children will be uncomfortable, but I like to think that I will be a little more wise to the source of this discomfort in the future.

Now, the twins. *sigh* They are the BEST babies you will ever meet. Seriously, I challenge someone to find better babies. This is not to say that I'm not exhausted by 5 pm everyday, but it could be much worse. They still take two naps, so I spend my day getting kids up, feeding them, changing them, putting them back to bed and doing it all again - 3 times a day :) Oh and please don't think "oh, so they sleep a lot and she has a ton of free time." Or, I guess, think that if you want - but it is grossly inaccurate. My favorite question is, "what did you do today," by either my husband or mom. Now, both of them already know the answer, but just can't resist asking. During nap times I clean up all the shit from when they are awake then I prepare, as much as possible, for when they get back up. That's it. That is what I do. Glorious, isn't it? And yet, I love it!

Maddie has finished her horse season and was able to spend some holiday time with us both at the farm and in C'ville. Jonah absolutely LOVES big sissy and asks all the time when she is coming. We also love when big sissy is here, not only because there is an extra hand :) but because the four kids meld so well. They seem like they are supposed to be crunched up together in this little house and any stranger would be amazed to see the inner workings of things around here. There is very little fighting, but rather some kind of just natural understanding between everyone that allows us to just "be" together and enjoy our time. This is not to say that it is calm, quite and relaxing, but it IS fun and perfect!

Dada has been very busy with work and somehow seems to enjoy what he does, but he sure has a crazy schedule. However, I am thankful that has the job he does, which allows me to stay home with the children. I am living my dream, being a mom of many. It is even better than I was ever able to imagine. Most people think I'm crazy, especially people at the grocery store, but they have no idea. I'm the lucky one here!

So, we've had Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years since my last post. I promise to do better (maybe) in 2011. But for now, here are some pictures from the past 4 months.



The babies at Maddie's horse show.




Aren't these two cute! They look more and more alike everyday. Yes, Elias is ALWAYS this serious. The jury is still out on wether or not Jonah and him have an ounce of similarity (so far we have found none).



After a great day down at the river. Everyone went in, even the twins :)



Example of my halloween cake pops! I started doing these in September (I think) and they have taken off.



Here is my logo and name.



Jonah's self-made costume. I offered to make him one, but it was more fun for him to go through boxes in the attic and come up with his "racing sports dragon"



Thanksgiving at the Campbell's (not our house). You can just barely see Sandy and Maddie on the right hand side. It was the best pic I had, and the only of Thanksgiving because I was the only one taking pictures this year - so no one can complain.



Maddie and Jonah - captured quite honestly I might add :)



Bebe: "Why are you always so serious?"
Elias: "Please don't touch me, I'm sure your hands are dirty."




Family photo 2010



An attempt at capturing all 4 kids - it was the best we could do!



20 week pregnant with #4 "Tootsie". Dressed up for Dada's Xmas party.



Jonah Christmas morning. Yes, he is wearing fairy wings (Bebe got those from Santa).



Elias Christmas morning with his new backpack and grocery cart.



Bebe Christmas morning with the fairy wings, hat, gloves and boots (or I guess boot)



Just one last cake pop picture. I just made these for a baby shower and loved them, so I had to include them in our family blog :)