Random snapshots

Since there's still no new baby to report on, here's some random shots from the past few days.

Hannah, cuddling on the couch with Lavella.


Grace and Lavella creating art on the white board.


Grace had been in a bit of a funk yesterday, until Christopher realized that the only cure was to help her into the kiddie pool.


This morning, I asked Elijah to put his shorts on.  He thought that he should still wear pants.  Apparently, he felt this should be an acceptable compromise. 


Today I took Rachel, Christopher and my three little guys to the nearby library, and then to a playground.


Lavella, being a little monkey.


King of the playground.


There's nothing like the joy of a little child on a swing.


There were tons of these little red bugs in the one part of the playground.  I have no idea what they were, but I've seen them in Germany too.  Gross, and strange.


After we were done playing, we went and got some pizza, and then ice cream.

It's naptime now.  Should be a nice, quiet afternoon.  =)

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On pregnant people and my love of sushi

Now, I know that people have started to stop by this blog in the hopes of a hint as to how Hannah is doing. No worries, she and baby are fine, but he still hasn't made his appearance yet (and yes, today is her due date). At the moment she's still living her normal, active (although increasingly uncomfortable) life, and we're all just waiting. It's sort of like sitting around watching a bomb, waiting for it to go off. We'll let you know as soon as the Big Event has taken place and list the stats and everything right here.

By the way, congratulations to Beka, who just gave birth to her 4th baby -- finally a little girl! (Beka, I would link to your blog here, but I can't seem to figure out where your blog is.)

Now since there's nothing more to say about Hannah and the little guy we have yet to meet, I'm going to talk about me. =)

With each pregnancy, I've struggled with a good deal of back pain. This is largely because of scoliosis, but also the shear size of my babies in comparison to my small frame adds to it (although most people would say that a 9.5 baby is large for any size woman).

In the last few weeks before Andrew was born, I had trouble walking, driving, and sitting for periods longer than 10 minutes at a time; I was constantly going to lie down.

When I was pregnant with Elijah, I had just recently been in a car accident before I conceived, so our insurance paid for regular chiropractic care almost up to my due date. It made a huge difference in the constant back pain (which went from almost unbearable to just minimal and definitely manageable). I also saw an increase in energy, probably because of better circulation due to regular adjustments.

With Lavella I had no care at all, and once again the pain was back full force.

All of this to say, I finally decided to go and get a pre-natal massage this past Wednesday. I felt strange about dropping so much cash to have someone spend an hour rubbing my back, but let me tell you, it was incredible. I felt rested and relaxed and cared for. I think I'm going to have to pay a few visits to both the chiropractor and massage therapist while I'm home this summer; I'm already having trouble walking when I'm tired (it's like something in my low back just gives out, and makes it painful for me to lift one of my legs). When I get back to Germany I'm going to have to look into what options the Army has available for me -- I know that they do physical therapy of sorts, and maybe my German midwife can work something out.

Anyway, now that you've heard all about my back pain (which was probably just as fascinating as watching the paint dry), let me just say that the place where I went to get the pre-natal massage, Traditions At The Glen, is completely worth going to. It was a lovely, soothing experience from the moment I walked in the door, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a few hours to unwind and pamper yourself. It's a fluffy towel/white robe kind of a place, and the staff is exceptional.

After my massage and a good long steam shower, I stopped at Wegmans for some sushi (my selection was fully cooked -- no worries).



Besides the fact that sushi is addictively good, is the fact that it's so aesthetically pleasing. Mmmmm.... I'm already hungry for more.

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Where the hell is Matt?

How is it that I've never heard of Matt before? More than likely, it is because I, like my friend Becca, never, ever click on video links (many apologies). However, since it was on Becca's blog, and she happens to be one of the funniest people that I know (and one of the funniest bloggers), I decided to click...and now I know who Matt is. So no pressure, but if you want to be in the know too (or just want to make fun of me for being so behind the times that I've never heard of the guy), check out the following video (NOTE: this clip is entirely family friendly and non-offensive to the general public):




You can find out more about him at WhereTheHellIsMatt.com. (If you do go there, be sure to click on the "about matt" section, which is hilarious).

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Thai Thai

Tonight, Hannah and I went out with two old friends (meaning that we have been friends for a few years now, rather than that the friends themselves have actually aged to anything that might be considered old). Faith and Eve were not sure if they wanted to eat adventurously, but we decided on a Thai place (called Thai Thai and located on Rt 11 between the two strip clubs -- good, inexpensive food, in case anyone is interested). Both girls bravely ordered, and ended up liking their dishes! Hannah and I got a few extra things as well to give them the full experience, and we had a lot of fun together.

Here are some pics that we took.


Faith and Eve


The first belly to belly picture that has been taken of us so far.


I think that Faith and Eve felt sort of left out.


(Faith, Eve, Hannah, Faith/me)

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A whole lot of family

Caleb and Jom left for their respective States this afternoon, and somehow amidst the wrestling





And other such fun, we managed to get in a family picture (thanks, James!). I've included some of the out-takes, just for fun.

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Independence Day (and, of course, puppies)

Well, I promised these pictures several days ago, and everyone is home now to actually see them in person, but for those of you who are interested, here's a few pictures of the pups at 5 days.









Penny, the puppy that my parents kept from last year's litter (she'll have her first set of puppies next year), thinks that she should be considered a second mom. All that this does is confuse the puppies, and she's not allowed in the whelping box anymore, but I had to take this picture before she was kicked out (she's the one on the left, with the darker puppy thinking he's going to nurse):


What a head case.

Caleb and Jonathan flew in on Independence Day and my parents and all of the rest of our siblings drove back here from New Jersey. While they were en route, Hannah and I cooked a big dinner for everyone (well, I baked, Hannah cooked.)

Lavella helped me with the baking:








We made pound cake (pictured above, in batter form), zucchini bread, strawberry shortcakes and honey whole-wheat bread.

It was the first time we'd all been together in a very long time.





(The only people missing from this picture are Greg and I)

Happy Independence Day to all of our American readers!

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Last of the beach pics

To wrap up our week at the beach (because I hate to leave anything unfinished...)

On one of the last days down at the shore, we all split up to do our own things. My children and I went to a nearby playground, although that was short-lived; the sun was beating straight down on us, and there wasn't any shade over the swings and such, so then we visited a convenience store, where we picked up some milkshakes and lollypops. We went back to the house to enjoy our snack in the shade of the porch off of our room.



I taught my littlest sister Rachel to spin:



(They're still in NJ for the rest of the week, so I left her with some wool and the spindle to use until she comes back.)

This is some yarn that I spun while we were on vacation:


And some final pictures:


My dad feeding Lavella cherries. She was so enthusiastic about these that he could hardly cut them up fast enough for her to stuff in her mouth!




Grace and Lavella -- squatting baby pictures are pretty much the best thing ever, I think.


Yet another squatting picture, just because I had to.


Andrew and Elijah, "keeping warm" on a blazingly hot day.



We generally got to the beach around lunchtime, so we'd bring snacks and sandwiches with us. Unfortuantely, this was an open invitation to the seagulls, which were a total menace. One actually bit my finger trying to steal a bagel out of my hand, and at least one of our group had something taken directly out of their mouth.

All of this to say, that's why Christopher armed himself to eat his lunch:

He still got dive-bombed, but at least he could fight back.


Lavella wanted to visit every other family set up on the beach, and had to be rescued several times...doesn't she look like she wants to be rescued?



Joy and Lavella




One of my favorite shots from the week.

For all of those concerned (read: my siblings, who are still in New Jersey), the puppies still pretty much look the same, although a bit fatter. No new pictures today, but I promise a few tomorrow.

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Puppies!

I've got a few last pictures from the beach, but I know that for a few of you, none of that matters until you see this:









These pictures were taken a few minutes ago.  These three little dudes were born on Saturday.  They're adorable and, especially since there's no competition for Maia's milk, they seem to get fatter every time I go in to check on them.  They squeak and fuss, sounding almost like human newborns at times.  Their little heads are incredibly soft and velvety, and they're all doing very well.

Congratulations, Maia!

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