Doula-ing #12

Today I attended an amazing birth. My last few births had been tough and left me asking myself if I was really meant to be a birth doula.

The answer is YES.

The look of accomplishment on my mama's face says it all. The gratitude she gave for "getting her through it" and "not letting her get an epidural." She was giving me WAY too much credit. She got herself through it. She did such an amazing job. Breathing through each contraction calmly and letting her body work hard for her. She made it look easy. And as for not letting her get an epidural...well I just did what a doula does, offer alternatives, suggestions and distract.

It was a great way to start my maternity leave from doulaing. And it inspired me for my own birth.

Thank you.

Daycare Drama

Evelyn started a new daycare on Thursday. It was a very sudden decision. This is Ev's 4th daycare in her short 18mo. Our in-home daycare, just became too unreliable. We were missing alot of days of work and had run out of PTO. Its a L-O-N-G story, but we will take the blame for biting off more than we could chew. Home daycare is cheaper, but in return, you aren't guaranteed care 365 days a year (minus holidays). The home provider gets 2 weeks vacation and 1 week sick leave, all paid. That results in paying double daycare those weeks. We had just bit off more than we could chew.

I think it is going to be harder on us than Evi. She has been adjusting well and drop off has been pretty easy. I am going to California for work next week, so I am nervous that it is alot of change for Evi all at once. But hey...kids are resilient right?

3 more months and we won't have to worry about daycare.

till then....

Halloween 2009

it takes time

Evelyn has a new obsession with hats. A few months ago, she couldn't stand anything on her head at all. Now she can't get enough of hats.

Earlier this year we got an awesome deal on a brand new Burley bike trailer (double that is...we were planning :-). We were so excited to spend the Spring and Summer on family bike rides. Of course, we are trying to teach Evelyn good habits, so she must wear a bike helmet to ride. The problem is, she HATED the helmet. We tried two different kinds of helmets and neither worked. Every couple of weeks we would try to go on a family bike ride and by the time we were out of the alley, she would scream "all done." It wasn't the Burley, it was the helmet she hated. We were sad, but figured she would love it next season.

Well last weekend we were getting ready for winter and cleaning out the garage. Evi was helping and all of a sudden she got really excited. "Hat! Hat!" she said pointing to her head. She had spotted her helmet and wanted to wear it. I put it on her and she ran around the garage with glee. We actually couldn't get it off of her. She wore it on her walk and playing in the yard. It was real cute. Then she saw her "car" aka Burley, and wanted to go for a ride. She loved it. So here we are, at the end of the season and she is ready to go.

Can't wait for her to teach her brother to like "hats" so we can go on family bike rides.

Long long time

It has been months since I last updated. Sorry about that. I just didn't have the time. Three months have past. I figured to get back into the swing of things, I would just list the cool things we have been up too (thanks to Bri for the idea)

1. We're pregnant. Yea...big surprise. That is really what caused my halt in blogger production. I felt so crappy. I could barely make it through the day. It was way easier with Evelyn. Early on I was conviced it was a boy cause I was feeling so differently. But then Dan kept telling me I acted/felt the same way the first time. And then Evi went around saying "sister.sister." Then I was convinced it was a girl. But in the end, the ultrasound showed It's a BOY!. We are beyond excited. Evelyn is too.

2. We are planning a home waterbirth. I am very excited about this. I absolutely trust my body and birth. So this is the right thing for us. Dan is so supportive and I am thankful for that. Let me know if you have any questions.

3. Evelyn has been doing so much lately. Here are a few...

• It snowed for the first time last weekend and when Evelyn saw it she said "Oh my God!"
• She LOVES gapes (grapes) she asked for them all the time.
• She loves mongeys (monkeys) and is going to be one for halloween
• She has to walk everywhere.
• She loves hats
• She loves to draw.
• Every time she falls, she says, "i'm okay"
• She has 3 molars that are coming in.
• She is just plain AWESOME.

4. Dan's bartending gig is coming to an end. The Uptown Bar, Dan's weekend gig, is coming under the wrecking ball. The legendary place is being turned into retail. This is a good thing though. While we have really enjoyed the extra money, it is time for us to have weekend together as a family.

5. We are going to Austin for Christmas. We haven't been there in almost 5 yrs. Can't wait to meet my new nephew, see old friends, and fill my 8mo preggo belly with ATX food.

6. I am so so close to certification as a birth doula. I just have to observe a childbirth class and turn in everything. I am sitting in on a Lamaze class in Nov. I truly love doula-ing. I can't wait to do it more. I had a very busy month of Sept. I had 3 births in 9 days. It was hard with working full time and being sicky from pregnancy. I have only one more birth scheduled for Nov and then I am taking a break to pamper my pregnant self.

I think that is all for now. I will be updating this more often now that I feel better.

Evi photo of the day

Big girl

Check out Evelyn's latest obsession. Playing with mama's shoes. She is such a girly girl.

Happy Birthday to me....

I turned the big 32 on Monday. I had a great day. The funny thing is, all my life I have tended to make a big deal out of my birthday. But last year was the first time I didn't. I had just had a baby and couldn't really go out and celebrate. I didn't mind it at all. For heaven's sake, I had the best present ever....a baby Evelyn. But because I didn't celebrate my 31st bday, I spent the best part of the year thinking I was 32. I honestly didn't know that I was only 31. Who makes themselves OLDER? Me apparently. So no I am the real 32 years old and I like it.

I didn't make any plans for my birthday again this year. I just wanted a nice family night with grilled steaks, baked potatoes, and a Dairy Queen ice cream cake.

I didn't get what I asked for, I got something better. Dan surprised me with a babysitter for Evelyn (thanks Christine) and a dinner out at a burger joint in St. Paul we have been wanting to try. Its called the Blue Door Pub. And it was delicious.

We enjoyed some yummy Surly beer.

An appetizer of Spam Bites = Spam, cream cheese, and pickle breaded and deep fried. Served with a side of sweet chili lime.

And Dan had there award winning Jiffy Burger = covered with peanut butter, pepper jack, and bacon – just like Mom used to make! Dan said it was absolutely delicious.

All in all, I had one of the best birthdays.

Big kicking feet.

So I thought I would try and upload some video to share. What a fun way for all of you so far from MN to see how awesome she is. This is from about a month ago... I am amazed at how little she seems.

It is one of our favorite moments...bathtime.Evi loves to kick kick kick.

Evi Stones

I thought I would talk a bit about all the cool stuff that Evelyn is doing lately.

She is such a girly girl.

1. She loves purses. It is funny seeing her carry a purse half her size.

2. She also loves fingernail polish. She has this fake plastic fingernail polish bottle and brush that she carries around with her ALL day long. She walks up to you and pretends to paint your nails. Its so cute.

3. Evelyn has also become quite a little mama herself. She is finally into dolls. She loves feeding them bottles, holding them, kissing them, pushing them in her baby stroller. She will also cover them with a blanket and tell them "night night."

4. Singing. Evelyn loves to sing. One of her favorites is The Itsy Bitsy Spider. She does all the hand motions. It is to die for. She is only 14mo old. I am pretty sure she is a genius.

5. And finally, Evelyn loves....I mean LOVES books. This is such a relief to me. See, I didn't read to her much as a baby. I know you are suppose to start when they are in your womb, but I didn't. Then after she was born, I read to her some when she was a teeny tiny baby, but as she got older, she would push the books away. She didn't want to be rocked in the rocking chair or read to. But now, now she loves books. After her bottle at night, she will bring a book over to us, crawl into our lap and let us read her a book. Not only that, but she has to have a book in her bed and she will read to herself. I am so glad I didn't damage her by not reading to her every night.

Man she is so awesome!

4th weekend

I wish I could say a ton happened this 4th of July weekend. but so far...that is just not true.

We had weather below average. It was cloudy and somewhat rainy. It definitely made for a lack of motivation. But on the actual 4th, Evelyn and I went to our friends Jolie, Eric and Evie for a BBQ. It was tons of fun.

See, Evi and Evie are exactly 1yr apart. Last year Evi was just a baby, but this summer, they actually started playing with each other. It is great fun.



Then, we found a baby frog in the yard. I showed it to the girls. It's that teeny tiny thing on my hand

It jumped out of my hands so Evi bent down to check it out.

Then...

she stepped on it. Thankfully she didn't know that she had killed the frog.

P.S. I found out that Evelyn really likes corn on the cob.

The results are in....

I was denied admission to the post-baccalaureate Nursing program at St. Catherine's University. I am totally bummed. But at the same time it is not the end of the world. For those that didn't know, I have decided that I want to be a labor and delivery nurse and in the far future a Nurse Midwife. So I decided to apply to nursing school. What the heck. I have probably 30 yrs of left in the working force. I might as well be happy.

So, St. Kate's has a night and weekend program for folks that have a Bachelor's degree in another field. I applied and found out today that I didn't get in. that is okay. While I hate being rejected...I would rather reject them - wouldn't we all. But, while I am bummed, I think I would be way more freaked out had I gotten in. That would mean I started school in two months. I want to have another baby in the next year or so and how do you take maternity leave from school.

So bottom line....All is well. Now I get to focus on my family and start taking pre-reqs at the community college for 1/5th the price.

I will be a nurse. Just not in two years.

Out.

Cut the Cord

This is Dan removing the cable from our house and roof. See, we got rid of cable (a.k.a. satalite cable) back in April.


WE LOVE IT!


I must admit, I had become pretty addicted to my DVR and would sometimes record up to 4 shows at once. 2 on the downstairs tv and 2 on the bedroom tv. I didn't want to be watching so much TV. Plus TV is bad for kids. I believe it is a factor in childhood obesity. So, we wanted to set a good example for Evelyn.


Also we made the decision to work really hard this year reducing our cost of living so that I can hopefully be a stay at home mom next year. Cable was one of the first things to go.


I gotta tell you, it feels great to not pay almost $100 a month to watch TV. Now we watch it for free. And we get great channels....in HD. So we are set. Plus, you can pretty much watch anythign you want on the computer. It really makes me feel like I am sticking it to the Man.

Cry face

I absolutely love Evelyn's cry face. When she was a teeny tiny baby, I sometimes would be staring in admiration at her face, before realizing "oh wait...she's crying."

Dan and I are always taking pictures of her crying, which makes Evelyn cry even harder. But she is so cute.

I thought I would share.

Man I love her to pieces.

Love thy neighbors..

So a lot happened over the weekend. We have some super awesome neighbors (note sarcasm) that live directly next door. They are a couple in there 70's and are foster parents. They adopted one of there foster children, Michael, who is now 19. Michael is a disrespectful twerp. We have been having problems with Michael since last summer when his parties in the garage and alleyway got out of control. We found drug paraphernalia, drug baggies, graffiti in the alley, fights, kids parking in OUR driveway - blocking the garage. It has been a real treat, let me tell you.

We have tried EVERYTHING. At first we tried talking to Michael and his friends, asking them to respect the neighborhood and our things. Then we tried talking to the parents. They stated that they didn't have any control of Michael and to call the police. Super helpful I tell you (note sarcasm again). There are about 5 of us neighbors that have formed a "neighborhood watch" of sorts and we call the police often.

It all escalated on Friday night. Dan and I were out for a walk/run with Evi and when we got home, Michael and 3 of his friends were out back with the cops. They cops came up to our door and told us they found narcotics and Michael took the blame. He was going to jail. The 3 other kids are banned from the property.

We felt victory. They finally got busted.

Then on Saturday morning we woke up to this...



Yep. They slashed my tires. Awesome. We are livid. But, there is nothing that we can do. Unless you witness the act, the police can't do anything. It sucks and cost us $400. We filed a report and have the support of the police. But it is still very frustrating.

We have decided to take the stance that we are not going to let them scare us off. We live in a great neighborhood with lots of young families and we are not going to let this punk beat us down.

Hopefully, now that the kids are banned from the property, the disturbances will subside.

I keep you all updated.

Evelyn Picture of the Week

We had a very eventful weekend. Details will follow when I have some free time. In the meantime, I thought I would post this super cute picture of Evelyn.

13 mo.

TGIF

Wow. A lot has happened in the 24hrs since I last posted.

I survived Bootcamp. yep. I lived. And I hate/loved it so much I decided to sign up for another day. That means tue and thurs I will be being tortured at the YWCA. All for a good cause for sure...those pesky last 10 lbs from my pregnancy. Bye Bye LBs.

Michael Jackson passed away. While the MJ that I loved has long since been gone, all the memorials being broadcast brings up so many memories. My very first record to ever buy was Thriller. I so wish I still had it. Dad...is there any way it is packed in a box some where?

Farrah Fawcett - another icon. gone. While she was at her prime slightly before my time, I do remember Charlie's Angels. She is a part of history and will be missed.

Hope to have a fantastic weekend!

Drop and give me 20...er 50

Today after work I am going to boot camp. I am terrified. See, I am a manipulator. I have worked with several personal trainers in the past. But I always can control them. When they say do 15...I talk them into only doing 12. I am really good at it. Even though in our first meeting, I tell them I am a manipulator and that I need them to be hard on me and not let me get away with it. I always do.

That is why I had a doula at Evelyn's birth. I knew I wanted to have a normal un-medicated waterbirth. Dan and my midwives knew what I wanted. But I knew that I would still be able to manipulate them to give me the drugs. Even though deep down, I didn't want them. My doula was able to keep encouraging and supporting me. And I did it. No Drugs!

I digress.

So, boot camp, today at 5pm. I have a feeling Tim and the others (class limit 6) will not let me manipulate them. That is why I am scared. But it is a good scared. I need to be pushed. I need the extra 10 lbs OFF of my body. I am now 14 mo postpartum and can no longer use it.

Will post tomorrow if I don't die tonight.

Swimming in the rain

Evelyn is having fun today. Lorri (our daycare provider) sent me this picture while I was at work. Ev is playing in the pool with her friends Anders and Addy in the rain. Wish I was there :-)

Austin in Mpls

This weekend was filled with visits from old friends. It made me miss Austin. But at the same time, I also fell more deeply in love with the mpls. I felt a sense of pride I hadn't felt before for this city. This is my home. I accept.

Camille came to visit from Portland. She is just about to graduate with a PA (Physician Assistant) degree. She was doing one of her rotations in South Dakota. Her husband Mark has family in the Twin Cities so she came for the weekend. It was SO great to see her. It has been over 5yrs since we last saw each other. We didn't even skip a beat. I have always called Camille a soul sister. The moment we met, there was an instant connection and we became fast and true friends. She is planning on moving back to Austin after graduation so I am certain I will get to see much more of her.

Jennifer Jasso flew in on Sunday just to see us. Again, a bff from Austin. She is a fancy photographer in LA. You can check out her stuff at Jennifer Jasso Photography. She was shooting a wedding in Chicago and, lucky for us. made a pit stop in the mpls. It was so awesome to see jasso again. We had such a great visit. I was able to be there with her when she found out some life altering news. I can share more on that at a later date. Love you Jen!

We planned to do a photo shoot for Evi's one yr pics. But on Monday, the planned day, Ev got sick. Not sick sick, but teething sick. She had a low fever, runny nose and watery eyes. Let's just say that she was not in the mood to be photograph. We attempted to shoot, but it didn't last very long. Jennifer says she still got some good shots. I can't wait to see them. I will share with you all when I get them.

Till then...

Brrrrr in June

This was a boring weekend. It was rainy and cold. AND it is JUNE. yeah yeah...we need the rain. I get it. But we didn't like being cooped up inside.

Friday was fun though. We went to Lake Harriet Bandshell and had a picnic. I highly recommend this to folks. It was so great being outside on a lovely evening, eating dinner and drinking boxed wine. Evelyn loved it too. She got to walk around, people watch and swing.

She also got to eat a delicious bowl of cookies and cream ice cream. I think she dug it. What do you think?

Sharing with her friend Harper

The aftermath

What a difference a year makes

Brand new...
First Birthday...

Seriously. I can't believe Ev is not just a year old, but 13mo old. She is such a big girl. No longer a baby. And so much fun. She talks a ton now. She has quite the point of view. Alot of it we can't understand, but she still has a ton of words. For example - mama, daddy, puppy, kitty, baba, milk, num num (hungry), please, thank you, what's this, no, uh-oh, more, diggy, Weeee (swing), bathtub, and much much more :-)

back to blog

It has been over 5 months since I last blogged. I am not sure why I stopped. I am obsessed with reading blogs and day dream about blogging.what I would and would not post. So I am not sure why I stopped.

But, I have been inspired to start again. To chronicle for myself, my own life. Cause I didn't believe that I would forget important milestones, but I have. I am gonna real quick jot down some Evi Stones (aka milestones) while they are on my mind.

Crawling - Dec 10th, 2008
First Word - Puppy - 10 Mo (Feb)
First Tooth - 11Mo. (March)
Walk - 13mo. (May 27th, 2009)

There, now I can't forget because it is written.

Whew.