a birthday story

In honor of my third son's second birthday, I thought maybe I'd finally get around to posting his birth story, as typed into blogger draft two years ago.  Better late than never, right?

 Exodus 1:19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, "Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive."

Ok, here goes. Did y'all know I always dreamed of a homebirth? Yup.  But, we live at least a half hour from the nearest hospital, so it really was a pipe dream and not much more.  Even with 2 spectacular births that could have gone unassisted under my belt, I am not foolish enough to think that guarantees success every single time.  So I saw my midwife throughout my pregnancy and planned to leave for the hospital once I was sure labor was underway.  I am...how shall I put this...confident in my own birthing knowledge and abilities enough that I was pretty sure I could remain in charge no matter the location, and comfortable knowing that if the need arose, I'd already be in the right place for professional help.

Well.  September 24 I woke up around 1:45 a.m. with a contraction. I went to sit on the toilet awhile (sorry guys) because that's where I seem to be the most comfortable during labor. French braided my hair to keep my hands busy.  Funny the things we remember.  Anyway, by the time I figured out this was the real deal, it was just past 2:30. I called my star babysitters and woke Dan up a little while later.  He came into the bathroom to assess the situation and called the midwife, who said that she'd meet us either on the highway or at the hospital. My mother wanted to meet us at our house, and promised to hurry.  By the time D was ready to go, I suggested that maybe it was a little late for car trips, so he called the midwife again.  While they were talking (3:24ish), Benjamin crowned.  D tried to listen to a few directions from Robin, until I informed him that if he was on the phone while I delivered our son I'd never let him live it down.  He hung up quickly and helped me off the toilet to the floor. Just in time too, because when my mom walked in the door at 3:30 a.m. baby was already out and I was once again on my porcelain throne! The babysitters had apparently arrived in time to hear me tell D to hang up, but were polite enough not to barge into an already full bathroom.

Everyone hung out for a few minutes and marveled at what had just happened.  

 My mom snapped a few pics. 

 Eventually we decided to call the ambulance (vs. driving ourselves to the hospital), because I knew that the insurance company would not cover anything that happened to me or the baby if we had planned a homebirth.  

 One benefit of giving birth in the same area you grew up in and having a volunteer fireman as a husband: Our assistant pastor's wife was EMT in charge.  

 Another benefit: I was able to bully convince the crew let us hang out at home for well over half an hour before finally ordering me onto the bus.  

We got to the hospital with no trouble, and once there Benjamin Cole was officially declared healthy and presumably normal.  

 I, on the other hand, bled a bunch and fainted a few times.  

 I think it was from being in the ambulance and then in bed (and therefore not losing blood at a normal rate, but in big gushes.  again, sorry guys) and my midwife said that was very likely.  Whatever the reason, it was convenient to have my midwife and EMT SIL there to obsess over monitor me and hold B!  

 My mother-in-law lives about five minutes from the hospital, so we ended up going to her house about 4 hours after getting to the hospital, where I immediately went to bed for the rest of the morning. phew!  

 By the way, you can thank Granny Boo for the apropos verse up there.  And when the other two boys came for a visit that afternoon, they liked him too. 

The end.

I knit socks in my spare time

 ...which might explain why this particular pair took me about 6 months.  They go quite nicely with my mother's day moccasins though, don't you think?

another in-law joins the outlaws

the imposter throws a pretty good party, as it turns out.  Welcome to the family, other emily.

click

I just noticed that my blog links in the sidebar were a bit...outdated.  So the window is open at this VERY minute for me to add new links while I'm deleting old ones.  Do you want to be included?  Here's the catch: you have to comment (gasp!) on this post and tell me so.  ok?

mud run

Many evenings after dinner the kids and I go outside for another hour or so.  Sometimes we bike to the playground or make a last-minute WIC run to the grocery store, but usually we stick to the yard.  I hang laundry or work in the garden or read a book, and the boys do boy things.  This night in particular Daddy was gone, so dinner ended up being a little early which left us with ample time for fun.  First they were just digging, but it wasn't long before my oldest (who may have heard his dad mention the idea a few times) asked if they could turn the hose on the dirt pile and have a "mud run."  To his surprise, I said yes.  Behold:

PS: feel free to leave your own caption/title in the comments.  I thought of several that would have been great =)

Enchilada Soup

 So this friend of mine makes a really spectacular enchilada soup.

  The last time I saw her was 4 years ago . boo. Luckily, there are some
foodsyou never forget.

I happened to have most of what I remembered to be the ingredient list on hand today, so I set out to duplicate it.

I may have healthified it a
bit ton, but judging from the twice-empty bowls I think it was a risk worth taking :) 

Em sent me her version, mine also had a can of pureed white beans, NO green beans, roasted and pureed squash and red peppers, homemade enchilada sauce, bone broth, nutritional yeast,  and whole wheat tortilla chips instead of homemade. A little cheese on top.  New idea: We should host crock pot wars.

small harvest

in more ways than one ;-p  My vegetable garden was very minimal this year, which perfectly corresponded to the amount of time and energy I was able to devote to it.  This is not all I have growing; there was/will also be sugar peas, kale, corn, celery, lemon balm, lemon thyme, garlic, potatoes, big(ger) pumpkins, yellow squash, grapes, and Brussels sprouts. I think I was wise this year to only plant a few of each thing I was interested in growing.  Certainly not enough to put any away for the winter (aside from the volunteer squash up there...lots more still to be picked), but definitely enough to enjoy straight from the ground while hanging laundry, watching boys on the dirt pile, or plotting for next year's (slightly) bigger garden.

how to: consumable workbook into re-usable

I have a pile of consumable workbooks that have been gifted to me over the years.  Some of them are nice enough that I have been trying to think of a quick way to stretch their usability just a bit.  Last week I came up with the solution!  I removed the staples, cut down the middle of the workbook, and put most of the pages in the front pocket of a folder.  The front and back cover, along with the title page, table of contents and a page protector sheet, were 3-hole punched and put in the middle thingy.  Yes, that is the correct terminology.  Lovely word, that "thingy." 

The page P is currently working on goes in the page protector, and the rest are clipped to the front of the folder to cut down on floppage.  Again, I use only the most accurate terminology.  This particular workbook came with stickers and a "money bag" to track progress through the "levels."  There happened to be extra space on the page the stickers were on, so I drew more coin stickers with permanent marker to be cut out and used with subsequent kids.

 I think this will work well.  It doesn't take up much space, is easily disassembled when I'm done with the unit.  Hooray for quick, free solutions to minor problems. 
 

IHEP

 This week I am beginning the process of collecting my thoughts and supplies in preparation for our first official year of homeschooling.  This is a little anticlimactic (side note: that word looks way stranger than it sounds) because in reality we've been "doing" school for years now, but at the same time it is a little daunting.  What if I'm not really "teacher material?" What if we drive each other nuts?  What if the dog eats my curricula?  Should I just go ahead and pay for a box set, or keep with the beg, borrow, or steal approach to gathering information with which to educate? Will my kids grow up to be geeky kids with glasses (please no french braids) who are...gasp...unsocialized?!

About a month ago I filed my official "letter of intent" and received in return a manila envelope of paperwork from the local school district to be completed and mailed back for approval.  Along with a copy of the rules and regulations concerning home education and a few official notices came an "Individual Home Instruction Plan." These two stapled pages are what have me researching the World Book's page on "Typical Course of Instruction for First Grade" and making stacks of some of my curriculum sources.

Just when my hand begins to cramp and my youngest is approaching with a *very* precarious stack of board books, I look up to see my older two gleefully dismantling a broken VHS player with the help of our favorite "Randy" from across the street. They plan to make a machine that has "electrical power" to vacuum.  Or maybe drive somewhere. Perhaps a decision can be made later.

You know, I think this will be a good year no matter what.  Perhaps, for now, it's time to put down the pen, step away from the computer, and enjoy the education of my children.  Plan free. 

a circle scarf for me

I have been trying to decide on the perfect use for this little bit of turquoise and orange flowered fabric for about 3 years.  It was a gift from my grandmother's fabric stash, so I knew that it had to be something special!

Inspiration struck this morning when I realized it was already sewn into a tube. I lined it with another piece from Grandma's stash (this one a brown with some lace detail) and a little bit of sparkly ribbon, and left the edges to fray a little. Perfect.

ps: you can see the colors for the house a little better here.  I hope one day to get rid of that icky faux brick, but that may have to wait until we're rich enough for hardieboard.

proof that I am not a hermit

Tomorrow is a red letter day.  Deputy Danny and I are entrusting these kiddos

 to this lovely couple

so that we can go to the big city to see this beautiful lady

and spend some time with these two (who are also perfectly splendid)

and perhaps come home with a little something special to celebrate my birthday. Only a moth late ;-p