Charles Sees the Sun

We have had some really beautiful weather this month. This was fortunate for Charlie, who wears jammies 24/7 and spends about that much time indoors (we just barely cleared all the trees that fell into our yard from the storm, and since we have no gate, Charlie finds the street moments after I let him into the back yard. Consequently, I don't).

When it's not raining we go on walks to get everybody some fresh air. First I tried putting Violet in her car seat and Charlie in the under seat, as pictured. This resulted in one or two crying babies and one Laine wanting a ride. It works better when I put Violet in the bjorn (she falls asleep instantly) and Laine and Charlie in the stroller, or Charlie in the stroller while Laine rides her bike. Aren't these details fascinating? Anyway, loving the walks and loving the weather this winter.

We've actually gotten in a few good park days - last winter it was too wet and cold, even when the sun came out. A week ago Barrett and I took the kids to a little park we found on the end of the peninsula. So much fun, plus I got to teach Henry how to play tether ball. This winter has reminded me that I really do love the rain. And when it clears, oh how I love the sunshine.

Tiny Dancer

Saturday Laine had a dance recital to show off what she's been working on in her creative movement class. It was, of course, adorable.

All ready to go:

Waiting her turn:

After the show Henry presented Laine with a dozen pink roses (her favorite flower).

Laine adores her dance teacher Miss Christine. She is so sweet with the kids, a ton of fun, and pretty much rocks.

Laine did a terrific job and nailed the choreography, I think. She loved being on stage and was all smiles just like she is off stage. Way to go Lainie Lou!

One Month Old

For some reason weight was the only measurement they took at Violet's appointment today. She weighs 9 pounds. So at one month she is as heavy as Charlie was at birth.

She may be the world's best ever baby. She doesn't cry. Ever. If she wants something she grunts a bit. I can put her down whenever I need to, although during the day she prefers to be snuggled up on my chest to snooze. She has already slept through the night--9pm-7am--twice. Usually she gets up once to eat. The worst thing she does is decide not to go back to sleep right away after she eats. This has been happening less and less though, and I'm hoping she's just been adjusting her internal clock. Because sometimes she is up for hours. Even then she doesn't cry though. We just look at each other while I walk or rock her and sing (or lecture, if we're being honest) until she's ready to sleep again. So sweet.

She is an excellent eater and somehow only orders up the exact amount of milk she wants; even when she sleeps all night I'm not crazy engorged. During the day she eats about every three hours. Which is good because there's no topping her off when I need to go somewhere. She eats on her schedule, not mine. So simple. So sweet. We love her.

* She looks a bit jaundiced in this pic - it's just the lighting (not that there's anything wrong with that).

First Smile

Focusing on my face is no easy feat for young Violet, but she keeps trying. And when she succeeds . . .

she smiles.

Mr. Responsible

I teach Sunday school at church, and one time Barrett and I went to a teacher appreciation activity at a friend's house. On the walls were little drawings and notes by the children saying what they liked about their teachers. Behind our seats was one that caught my eye. It read "My tether is smort."

"Well that's incredibly ironic," said Barrett. We are not above laughing at little children, and had a good chuckle at this one before turning over the paper to see who had written the note. You know where this is going. It was Henry, of course.

We got a kick out of that, and I can share it here because I know that Henry at 7 is probably much smarter than I will ever be.

What really cracks me up is that he keeps getting awards at school for being responsible. Two years running I've gotten a note inviting me to one of the school's monthly assemblies where they award kids for demonstrating various character traits. This year's award came on the same day he 1) lost his new Nintendo DS; 2) lost his glasses; and 3) lost the pedometer he brought home from school to record how much he walks in a day. I accept that Henry must have more important things on his mind than putting on shoes before leaving for the bus, and find it endearing when he slips into his dad's jeans in the morning because they were next to the ones I laid out for him.

So is it wrong that I sort of wanted to make a rebuttal when I found out he was getting yet another pat on the back for being responsible. "But you should see how many things he lost today!" I wanted to shout. "I sent him into the bathroom to brush his teeth THREE times before he remembered to BRUSH HIS TEETH when he got there!" Still, I know that Henry is a remarkable young man, an excellent student, and a pleasure to have in class (as at home). The truth is, I am so so proud of him. So I chose to give him a big hug and congratulate him like I didn't see any irony in the situation at all. Who's the smort one now?

Snowlympia!!!

This week's giant snowstorm resulted in four cancelled school days, three cancelled Army days, cancelled dance, basketball, church, 30 hours of lost power, and almost as many hours of Wii in pajamas. Our neighbor said he hasn't seen this much snow in the 40 years he's lived here.

Charlie loved playing in the snow until the additional foot we got on Wednesday. Then it was too deep and he was sad.

The big kids got to go sledding with their dad and had a ball.

Violet failed to notice the storm.

We had to borrow a shovel for Barrett to clear the driveway. Luckily when the power went out the roads were good enough for us to go stock up on firewood and flashlights. We were expecting 3 to 4 days of powerless pioneer fun, so we were especially celebratory when the power came on after just one night.

The house was pretty cold by bedtime, so we all shut ourselves into the living room and had a camp out by the fire. We were toasty roasty, and it would have been a lot of fun if Charlie wasn't such a maniac. He kept running over everybody and getting into everything, and nobody could go to sleep until Barrett finally took him for a drive. He crashed in the car at 11.

For dinner we roasted hot dogs, warmed up leftovers on the fireplace, and made s'mores.

We all played games together until bedtime - here the children are playing Guess Who with the aid of headlamps.

The next day we were packing for Portland (camp out was fun. For one night. Then we were stinky and cold and the house was dirty and we wanted out) when the power came on. Oh how grateful I am that I live in a world with electricity.

We loaded up the car and took a drive to survey the damage. Lots of fallen trees. Lots.

No wonder a quarter of a million homes lost power. Most of the power lines around town looked a bit like this.

Today (Monday) is my first full day alone with four kiddos, and I have this storm to thank for it. I love being shut up with my family for a good cozy snowfall!

Spoiled Rotten

I just drove Barrett's parents to the airport. Or rather the hotel down the road where a shuttle was waiting to take them to the airport. They wouldn't let me drive them to the airport in the snow. The same way they wouldn't let me clean my house, wake up with my kids (except the little one of course), do the laundry, pick up Charlie, get my own donuts, or prepare meals for the last 2 weeks. Now that they're gone I figured I had two options: 1) cry (some more) because I'm terrified of being alone with the gang of midgets I've made (today is also Barrett's first day back at work - spoiled, I know), or 2) write down how grateful I am for the world's best in-laws a person could have.

Laine finishes her daily dose of hot chocolate. Rick and Terri kept the house quiet in the morning by taking the kids on their traditional donut and hot chocolate runs.

Rick and Terri got here with enough time before baby came to help Barrett move the furniture about for a more baby/company friendly house and send us on a date. The kids weren't sure if they were more excited to see Grandpa and Grandma or meet their new sister. On the 3rd I took Henry to the bus stop and drove Laine to school one final time before leaving for the hospital. I plastered the fridge with lists containing school schedules, lunch contents, times and places of activities... and Rick and Terri took over seamlessly, keeping everyone loved, happy, fed, and entertained while we were in the hospital and over the next two weeks. They also kept the house clean and the laundry done.

Henry loves Monopoly. Here he is with Grandpa and Grandma playing the electronic version they gave him for Christmas.

I, on the other hand, have spent the last two weeks in the over sized recliner we bought for Christmas and put in our undersized bedroom. There I sat watching TV, reading, breastfeeding, and percocet napping. That's where I slept at night and where I kept my phone so I could call Barrett and boss him around (ps I also have the best husband in the whole wide world). I emerged from my cave occasionally to hug my kids and give Charlie his bottles, not wanting to disappear on them completely. But let's face it, they didn't really care. Even Charlie. I have often complained about how long a c-section recovery takes. Man, that's because I never did it this way.

Why I'm so afraid of being the only one in charge. Here is Charlie in the front yard where we found him heading for the street. Three of us were watching him play in the backyard, and I found him here after losing a visual on him for seriously less than 2 minutes. He is unbelievably adorable, but he is a wrecking ball.

*Like I said, I spent the last two weeks in a chair. Not taking pictures, so these are the only shots, along with the one from the last post, that I got of both Rick and Terri.

** I am also spoiled because this weekend my sister-in-law Britain came to take pictures of Violet. I love what I've seen of them and will post some when they're ready!