Frank James is HERE

I want to start blogging again. Although I am not sure when I will find the time. I can only seem to access the internet via my phone these days, and it is hard to blog with it.

Our son, Frank James, is finally here. He was born at home on Sat March 13th. It was a purely magical and amazing experience. I will be posting my birth story very soon. It was everything that I ever wanted. I had the best support team. My amazing midwifes, Emme Corbeil and Clare Welters. My amazing Doula, Judith Nylander. And my amazing doula photographers Emily Rumsey and Alisa Blackwood.

Till then, here is a little pic of the guy getting his newborn examine.

Crazy Baby Lady

So I got RAGING mad at hubbypants this morning. This has been happening a lot lately. My hormones or something. I will even realize that I am getting way madder than necessary, but can’t stop myself.

Dan took my car in for an oil change. I scheduled it because of a $5 coupon I had. I accidentally left the coupon at work yesterday. So, this morning I emailed the coupon to Dan and told him to tell them when he dropped off the car about it. He got the oil changed and when I asked him if he had any problems with the coupon, he said that he forgot to tell them when he dropped it off, and when he went to pay, they wouldn’t take it. I got so mad. So mad. Over 5 freakin dollars. Or the fact that he didn’t follow directions. Or the fact that he wasn’t persistent that they take the stupid coupon. Or the fact that a baby is eating my brain.

Anyway, I know I was/am being ridiculous, but I seriously considered divorce for a minute.

Signed,
crazy pregnant lady

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.