fall better hurry up and come

OK, so it's still hot here and everyone is talking about the wonders of fall. That is one of the things I like least here, there aren't really seasons. The leaves don't change much, just fall off or turn brown and fall off. The weather is getting nicer some days and I know the cool weather is coming, but it needs to hurry up because I'm quickly growing out of my summer clothes. I had to put up two more pairs of shorts last week and I have another that I'm scared to even try. My tank tops are getting shorter and shorter so that I can no longer wear most of them. I have plenty of fall/winter clothes that will work with my expanding belly (thanks to Jenn also), but the weather needs to cool considerably for me to wear them, especially considering the fact that my body temp. is already a little warmer than usual just from the pregnancy.

I can hardly believe I'm already 6 months! I do feel like I've been ripped off this pregnancy. The first two were so much easier, so I expected the same, but this time the first trimester I was so nauseous and it went into the second trimester and now, when it is supposed to be easier, I am getting heartburn already so the nausea is back! So much for an easy, breezy second trimester. But I can't complain really. My "difficulties" probably just make me more average compared to everyone else, who deal with at least this if not worse.

This baby doesn't seem to kick as much as the others did, but likes to tell me she's doing allright in the evening or nighttime. I go for another ultrasound in a couple of weeks, so that is something to look forward to. I feel so much less prepared in a way for this one since I had so much more ready with the others. I was doing projects, making their baby books, painting their clocks. There is no way I'll have any of that done before this one's birth, but at the same time, I have a newfound peace that none of that is really important. I'll get it all done someday and if she's 6 months old when it happens, she won't know the difference- unless you tell her! Thanks to having two babies already, we have all the baby stuff and even girl clothes. We are all expectant and eager to meet her. My schedule will be more freed up. Mom is coming for the birth. We have a ton of love, smiles, and sibling affection waiting for her grand arrival. I know it will be an adjustement and that it will be new to know this brand new person, but I keep thinking it will be easier than having the 4 kids with all the same ages (or nearly). We'll see, I may change my tune come Jan.
So what signs of fall can you detect where you live?

Where's grandpa?

The kids constantly amaze me. We borrowed a book from the library that uses math in the story line. It is Ivan's current favorite. I hadn't looked at the ages it is geared for- it's a kid story- but after Ivan wanted to measure angles all day and use a protractor, I thought I'd look at what else they had and what age this book was geared for. It was for kids 7 years old and up. I guess we could start with the ages 2 and 3 books, like the ones on even and odd numbers, counting by 5s and 10s... meanwhile I have a child gone wild measuring angles. He's also into photography. He took these pictures of his family. We'll title them: "looking up to daddy" and "the baggett girl trio" (ok, so you can't see much of my belly but that is why Dominique is pushed so far forward on my receding lap).
Dominique loves to write and write. Poor girl has a long enough name, but she makes a valiant effort. You know how kids shorten everything these days, so if you ever get a text message from "D-O-I-U-wE" you'll know who it's from.

The kids asked several times today where grandpa was. I'd tell them "on a plane or in an airport". They gave him a dozen kisses and hugs at bed time last night since he had to leave so early. Today we started putting their rooms back how they were before the visit, but when I told Dominique to go to bed in her room, she told me that it was grandpa's room. Hope you made it home safe grandpa and that your arm gets better soon.

another day in Abilene

We were hanging out in the misquitoe infested yard the other night with grandpa. Notice the ball Dominique threw up in the air with a hop? I actually caught the action with the digital. I laughed when I saw how it turned out.

Today Dominique lifted up her shirt, showed me her belly and told me she had a baby in there. Then she told me the baby was moving and that the baby was kicking.

Ivan and Caleb decided after naps that they were dogs. Ivan was my childhood dog Getta and if I scratched behind his ear, he did a very realistic sounding dog whimper. If I called Ivan by his real name, he'd get all angry with me and say "no, my name is Getta!"

Grandpa is heading out in the morning, so we have to say our goodbyes tonight. Unfortunately, his shoulder and arm have been hurting him the whole time he's been here and the kids aren't exactly the gentlest of people. He was telling me how Dominique would look all sad one minute, saying she was sad his arm hurt, then ask him to swing her the next. The kids haven't really caught on with my belly either (which gets bigger by the hour- my snug shorts from this morning no longer fit by afternoon and I had to change them by evening). Tonight Ivan hurdled himself over the arm of the recliner where I was "resting" and on the phone, right onto my belly. In one swift motion, I hurled him back off, causing tears and anger along with an explanation of how my tummy is not a growing trampoline.

frisbee

The demonstration.












The wind-up.














The throw!










Our garden has been better than most years, but the squash were wiped out by some unknown cause and the tomato plants did diddly squat as they have every year. We are getting lots of green peppers and jalapeno peppers (a gift from the neighbor) as well as okra that we all love fried up or in tomato based sauces or soups. Kudos to Brian who did all the work this year, the planning, relocation of the garden, planting, watering, picking. I help too, I participate in the produce preparation and consummation.

I've been eating lots of other foods too as you can well see. I am now obviously pregnant and getting more so each day. If I don't eat every 2 hours or so I have found that I get headaches and feel nauseous. They do allow you more caloric intake when pregnant, but I don't think it's a daily amount- it must be an overall 9 month amount where you multiply the amount by the days pregnant and use as needed. This time around, I didn't use any of the extra calories allowed during the first trimester and a couple of weeks into the second phase, but now I'm sure I'm making up for lost eating allowances. The kids help me to not overdo it though. Anytime I want a snack, they want a bite or portion of it. Of course, this doesn't apply to real meals like when I eat leftovers for lunch or make food for supper.

The helper, the princess and the goof

Dominique has definite ideas on fashion. She usually wants to wear her fanciest clothes everyday, saying "that's cute" as we peruse her closet's offerings. Girls clothes are a lot harder than boy's which can cause great suffering on the part of a two year old who has her heart set on pink polkadotted pants and red striped shirts or other such nonsense. I try to tell her what goes and what doesn't. Sometimes it works. If she wears her fancy clothes, I insist that she has to have a fancy hair-do, fancy as in more than just a comb through. Every morning we negotiate on the hair. She often demands "1 hair bow, just one".

She loves to wear her underwear, but is having some probs. in keeping them clean and dry. She had gotten really good at #1 and no good at #2, so we went back to diapers and have just started trying again. Now she is not very good at #1 either. I make more valiant efforts on the days when I just have her and Ivan. Potty training is a bit too involved when I have the foursome. But it would be soooooooooo super awesome if she got this doing pat by the time our next baby arrives.


Ivan is such a good helper, for the most part of course. There are times when he doesn't feel much like helping, but most times he wants to have a part in things. This time, he wanted to help wash the dishes and was not at all impressed that I was trying to video the action. He's growing up so fast and I'm so amazed and in love with him. He's acting very mature in conquering his fears and overcoming his potty issues. The other day he put his face in the pool again (meanwhile Dominique was leaping off the sides by herself and going completely underwater, but she's a different child entirely and Ivan's brave efforts and water initiation was a big step for him.)

backyard waterfall and family size

The water pics are from a ways back. We were talking about love always persevering and I had the kids do some "mini olympics" to teach them what perseverance was. This was target throwing with a wet cloth. Then we made a homemade backyard waterfall for the fun of it and I should have known the kids would get wet! Good thing we have a dryer. Last week, they played in the sandbox which had become a mud pit and I ended up stripping all four kids down, rinsing out their clothes and got the extra boys in underwear/diaper until their clothes had dried, a little worse for wear.

Also, some pics from an outing to a downtown pretty park this week, the highlight of which was snack time.



Ivan's mind was really whirling tonight at bedtime. Apparently he wants to be a part of a big family. His questions:

"After this baby, can we have another baby? Can we have 3 girls and 3 boys? Can we have 5 kids? Can we have Ivan and Dominique and 5 kids?"

adoring fans

Ivan and Dominique enjoyed watching grandpa Ray and daddy mow the lawn. They set up their chairs in front of the door.

Dominique and Ivan love to look at videos with grandpa on his computer. Here they were watching the news about the hurricane.


I found the boys like this one morning and thought they looked so sweet just waking up to the morning all quietly snuggled up in the corner chair.
We had some rain the day or so before grandpa arrived. Here is what it did to our street (there is no drainage system on the north side of town- they designed the streets to be the drainage. It all flows north to our water source. Good for the lake, bad for cars.)

Ivan and my conversation yesterday with his question of the day...

I started the conversation with this question, (essential element removed by author)"So Ivan, what do you think about us naming our baby ----------------- -------------- Baggett?"
"yeah, that would be ok" Ivan replied mildly enthused.
Silence.
Then he piped in most excitedly:" OR should we call the baby Mator Dude?"
Laughter "you mean from the movie cars?"
"yeah", pure delight danced and spiraled in his eyes.
"you are now officially kicked off the naming committee Ivan"
He was unphased by this set back, dreaming of his darling baby sister named Mator Dude.

a good day

Here are some more pics from this last week. The kids enjoyed the petting zoo at the fair and "flew" their kites some with daddy and grandpa when I was at the hospital with my friend.

Speaking of, I had a doctor appointment today since my last appointment was in the middle of finding out my friend had lost her baby and my blood pressure was all crazy. It was fine today and she said that I'm measuring the right size. The baby's heartbeat showed up right away, which I didn't even need to hear since she has recently become my little inner gymnist. I know she's been moving all along, but now I'm really feeling her. Brian even got to feel her moving this morning. Next step is to get the kids to feel it. This is not so easy, since the baby is still pretty small (about 1 pound and 12 inches) her movements are not huge, but little jabs and with the kids hands being so small, they can not feel as big a surface at once, not to mention that they only have patience to wait for about 5 seconds, so to coordinate born's hand and unborn's jabs is not an easy affair. I can actually remember feeling my brother move in mom's tummy. I remember the awe of it, the excitement and mystery. I'm sure it's part of the reason I love to feel those movements still today. I have one more "in four weeks- appointment", then it's a 3 week, then 2s and 1s!

Sometimes I wish I had a recorder so that I could catch all the snippits from the day to post. Like weird questions you've never heard before.
Here are two questions Ivan asked me today.

Remember that I am now sporting a good sized belly, Ivan scraped his knee all the way at the end of our 3 block long street and asked me "Can you carry me while running back to the house?" Of course every child is convinced that moms are superheroes in disguise, pregnant belly or not.

Top question of the day: "mommy, how do I change my tongue?"

Grandpa explained that Ivan had asked what flavors were and that they discussed how one's tastebuds change, which brought on (hours later) this totally out of the blue, without my prior knowledge, unanswerable question.

Some days mommas just have the best jobs. Ok, everyday we do, but some days it just doesn't feel like it.

Fair parade and grandpa time!

We took the kids to the parade last Saturday. The kids liked the bands and all the action. Dominique really enjoyed anything with a flag on it and clapped a lot. Ivan's favorite is still the street sweepers- which is absolutely hilarious. Everyone else is packing up and leaving and Ivan is eagerly looking for and jumping up and down at the sight of the sweepers.

The greatest excitement came Wednesday with the arrival of Grandpa Ray from New York. We let the kids stay up late and go to the airport, which is being remodeled. Poor grandpa was waiting on us. The internet said he would be arriving 30 min. late, so Brian bathed the kids before we left, then we had to wait on a shuttle bus since the parking area is being redone... to come to find out that he had arrived early.

The next day, I was in the kitchen and grandpa was on the phone trying to find his missing luggage when I overhear Ivan yelling out to the neighbors that his grandpa is here and telling them all about his arrival and missing suitcase (which has since arrived). The kids are chasing grandpa around the house as I write.

Mourning

They did a c-section on my friend, who lost her baby at about 30 weeks and she is now resting and trying to recover on the many levels where she is wounded. The nurses brought the baby to the family and I was privileged to be there while some women took pictures for them and as we gazed at the infant's beauty. I wrote this out of the pain I felt for my friend and her loss.

Cries-a-lot
Gazes into her pot of sorrow
Tears cascading down her face
Causing her filled cauldron to overflow
Threatening to drown her

Haunting images flitter across the salty surface
Her small lifeless baby
Too small, too still
The immovable death sentence
Crushing her hopes, dreams and joy
In a single blow

Her arms are empty
Her home is quiet in the awkward stillness of mourning
Her mind is in shock and turmoil
Her heart twisted mercilessly
By her great love that spills out as endless tears

Her cries turn heavenward
Where each mutter, each groan, each tear, each cry
Usher in the baby's precious soul to her heavenly home
She is carried in by this love bleeding forth from hearts on earth
The Lover carefully and tenderly receives and embraces
The passion of His heart, the beautiful soul come so quick
Along with the intense heartache
He draws them to Himself and says "little one, you are dearly loved"

The Lover and infant daughter
Carefully wrap each note of mourning sent heavenward
They kiss them until they melt into a fine powder
They smell in their fragrance, marvel at the great love
And tremble under the depth of sadness
They stir in their own offerings of love:
Heavens laughter, eternity's hope, perfect love from a perfect realm
And blow back their remixed potion as responses to the cries of earth

Cries-a-lot can barely see past the chasm of darkness
The despair and heart wrenching pain
But sometimes a glimmer of hope assails her heart
She imagines a presence, a child's voice that sings
"I'm not so far, Cries-a-lot, just beyond the veil
Receive our love back to you
And know that one day all will be well"

The Lover wipes Cries-a-lot's tears
Carefully treasuring the pure love and heartache
Just as she carefully carries the baby's fragile shell
The remains
Buried in earth's ground
Along with a sprinkling of heaven's rain

He stirs her pot of sorrow with heaven's tears
Of compassion, hope and love
So that sometimes she is overcome with peace
And the incomprehensible knowledge
Under such depth of pain
That she is dearly loved

"hold me"

It's been awhile. My life has been consumed a bit of late due to a horrible turn of events. I've been translating for a friend who is a refugee here as she goes to her doctor visits for her pregnancy and when we went last week, we found out that she had lost her baby. It has been very upsetting and exhausting as she still has to deliver the baby. Be praying for Mamie and her husband Pierre as they go through such deep loss. She was about 30 weeks along.

Meanwhile the kids are doing well- growing as you can see from these pictures. Either that or the dog has shrunk. The older picture is from Jan. of 2007. Amazing how fast it all goes. Ivan is quite the helper. He always wants to have a job to do and be in the middle of everything which can be sweet and helpful or annoying and time consuming, but such is life with children- it can't be about getting "things done" or even done "right". Taking into consideration their desire to be a part of things, to share and give is more important than everything working like clockwork.


They asked for it. It may look like I'm crushing my children in these videos, but I did not actually put any of my pregnant body weight on them. How it came about was like this: Ivan wanted me to hold him. He was using that little "hold me" voice with his arms outstretched. So I turned the tables on him and said: "why don't you hold me?". It surprised me when he jumped to the ground and said "ok, I'll hold you"- while laughing with delight. He is such a little care giver. He loves to care for everyone in the family. Then when Dominique saw how "fun" it was, she had to have her turn to "hold" mommy.

labor day

So much for a fun family day off. That is what we had hoped for, but Dominique started running fever yesterday and as the day wore on, the fever got more and more ferocious. I called the on-call doctor just after midnight. I had given her a dose of Tylenol at 8pm and was going to go check on her and give her some Motrin to take her through the night, only to find that she was burning up and had thrown up at some point without me even knowing it. I cleaned her, stripped her bed and got things rinsed and bleached, but when I tried to give her the Motrin, she threw it up. I usually try to keep fevers under 103, but she was running 104.6F and even a bath only cooled her off for about 15-30min. afterwards.

The doctor on call was not helpful at all. I wanted to know how to get her fever down or if I needed to take her in to the emergency and he acted like I was some dumb mom who woke him up for a little thing. He told me fevers are the body's way to fight off something and to just make her comfortable and give her clear liquids. That didn't make much sense to me, but I thought they'd say the same thing at emergency. But since I didn't want to keep her around 104, we spent a horrid night with me trying to wash her down and a couple of times dunking her in the tub through the night. I was able to get her temp. down some from time to time, to 103 or so, but it kept going up to 104.6F. I bathed her again at about 6am and we went back to bed. When we awoke at 9am, she was really hot- 105.4F, and hallucinating, (which I used to do with high fevers as a kid too), so I took her in to the emergency.

I wish I had done that in the first place last night. It was a night and day difference from the doc. on call. I told them her temp. and they saw us right away, gave her tylenol by supository and Motrin orally. Within the hour we were seen by a super nice doctor and understanding nurses- who couldn't believe what the on call doc. had said and stressed that anything near 105 is bad (which I had known, but stupidly refered to the doc.). One nurse told me, if it happened again to ask the doc. to call in the tylenol supository. I didn't even know those existed, but took her in since I figured they had to have something better than baths.

She has an inner ear infection and we aren't sure why everything progressed so quickly or viciously, but they gave her an antibiotic shot and she is wonderfully cool now. We've been sleeping the rest of the day away and I'm so thankful I don't have the extra boys and that Brian was here to hang with Ivan and go get Dominique's prescription filled. They warned me that the next couple of days could still be rough with fevers, but gave me a big wad of take home info. on keeping fevers manageable and I'm sure it can't get as bad as this morning.

On her good days, she is such a charmer. We have worked on learning a good section of 1 Cor. 13- the love chapter in the bible and I was wanting to get her to sing the song we made to learn it. In the first video, she changed the program on me when I started filming. In the second is 1 Cor. 13, take 59. You can tell she'd had enough of it by the end!