Daddy Daughter Dance

Mike took Isabella to the daddy daughter dance again this year (I think this is their 3rd). Isabella was really excited about going this time and she was enthusiastic about going to dance. She even practiced doing all sorts of international dances in her Disney Land game on the It's a Small World dancing part. :) Mike said that they danced more at this dance than they ever have in the past! :) Here are the pictures... the first one is right before they headed off and the other is outside of the dance. Isabella is looking very beautiful and Mike is spiffed up quite handsomely. :)

Jackson & I were going to go to Chuck E Cheese for our date for some play time but we walked into that place & walked right out. Definitely not the place to go on a weekend. For sure. (I wasn't even that thrilled about going to begin with but couldn't think of anything else!) We ended up looking around at all the Star Wars stuff at Toys R Us. :)

Dress Up

If my little boy ever happens upon this post when he is older, he might be mortified. But hopefully he'll just laugh. :)

Jackson loves playing with his big sister (most of the time) and that sometimes means that he is into whatever she is into. One example... dressing like a princess. :) Here are some examples.

The pink shoes are Isabella's favorite pair right now... Laura brought them back for her from her European travels. Whenever Jackson spots them lying about, he sometimes is temped to put them on for a bit. :)

He's still a cutie pie, even in girls clothes/shoes. And he can be quite a boy at times too (and everyonce in awhile, Isabella will join in on a "boy" activity, like light saber fights)...

 

More Randomness

I have a lot of random pictures to share that really don't fit into one category. So here we go!

Mike had gotten some dry ice from the store to pull the oxygen out of some food we were putting away for emergency preparedness. Isabella hadn't ever seen what dry ice can do so we gave her a cup with it to "play" with (after explaining to her the dangers). She really liked all the "smoke" it produced.

Here is a plant in one of my raised bed gardens that I had planted in the fall and thought died. So I ignored the area and then one day discovered that the thing I thought was a huge weed might actually be the plant I thought died. After further inspection and a facebook posting, I believe it is chard. Or kale. I can't remember. One of the two. ;o) I am amazed at how well it has done (it is even bigger now!). It survived our winter (although mild, we did have a few freezes and on light snow fall) and I haven't watered it at all. I think this might be a good plant to have more of next winter! (I bet when I purposefully try to grow it, it will do horribly.)

Jessica and I got together and made hand soap out of Mrs. Meyers bar soap. We had seen the pin on pinterest and we were both interested so we made an afternoon of it. It was really easy and the Mrs. Meyers soap smells really nice (at least I think so! Mike said the Basil was too flowery.) The texture is a bit different than normal soap, it is a little tough to get out of the jugs, and it doesn't lather much (which bothers Mike, not me). But it is a huge savings so I'm going to be thankful for that and enjoy the nice scents. :)

Here is Isabella getting Bailey to "do her thing" and wanting a picture with her doing it.

Blogger has stopped being my friend tonight, so these photos are not quite how I intended them to be laid out on the page. But ah well. Such is life. Here is Jackson getting his hair cut with Tina. It had gotten really long this time!

The kids and I really enjoy grabbing lunch at Whole Foods when we're there shopping and pressed for time (meaning cranky kids and grocery shopping that takes too long). They have healthier meal options for kids but it is still considered a treat by them because it has things that they don't normally get- juice, fruit cocktail, and mini cookies (we do eat cookies but just not this kind). I get to enjoy some sushi. :) And they have these cute little kids table that the kids love to eat at and I can actually still fit in it to eat with them (instead of eating by my lonesome!). There little eating area is nice too... lots of windows that can be opened up on a nice day or just there to let the sunshine in. (Yep, I am loving having a WF in town after wanting one for soooo many years!!)

Lastly, a cup of coffee from my new favorite coffee shop, Elemental Coffee. THey have delicious coffee, roast their own beans, are all about local, and their coffee art is beautiful! Whenever we're nearby we try to stop in. Try it, it's delish!

Kid Dates

I saw a post on pinterest just after Christmas about parents who gave their kids coupons for dates with their mom or dad to use throughout the year. Christmas had already past so I wasn't going to gift them this but I thought it was a really neat idea. I have always thought that we should go out with our kids separately and give them one on one attention, and to swap back and forth. And we have done this here and there... but nothing routine. So I told Mike that we should really make a point to take the kids out each month for some one-on-one time. And I thought we could alternate who we took, so one month I'd take Jackson and Mike would take Bella and the next month we'd flip. He thought it was a good idea so we are implementing this in the new year!

Well the first month it ended up being that Isabella wanted to go see Beauty and the Beast in 3D. So Mike asked who she wanted to take her and she said him. So they went off to eat lunch together and to go to the movies while Jackson and I went off to eat lunch together as well and then off to the train museum.

Isabella and Mike had a fun time together. Here they are before their date. (Isabella insisted on having her Barbie in the photo. She also must have been quite excited and moving around since she is the only blurry one in this photo!)

They went and ate at Someplace Else Deli (where Mike used to work a loooong time ago) for lunch & then saw the movie. 

Here is Jack and I before our date. Isn't he handsome?? (I am a bit biased!) :)

We ate lunch at Kaiser's and he had his favorite- mac and cheese. He was such a good little boy and we enjoyed the time together.

The railroad museum was picked pretty much because I couldn't think of anything else fun to do and there really weren't any good movies for us to see. So we walked through a train and walked around a bunch more. It was quite chilly and we didn't have jackets so we didn't stay too long. We'll have to come back in the summer when you can actually ride on the train.

Looking forward to our new family tradition. The kids really love it and Mike and I really love having that special time with each of them. 

this and that

In catching up with the blog, I have found that there are a lot of random pictures. So I will share a few now. :)

 This is at Pops, a local restaurant that has hundreds of bottles of soda for you to choose from (many made with regular old sugar rather than HFCS). The kids love going here since this is about the only place they ever get to have a soda. I'll just say that I tolerate going here. ;o) They used to get my vote, back when they served up a locally raised burger. But now they don't and I'm stuck eating a grilled cheese or a salad (since I don't eat meat that isn't humanely raised on pasture). Not so fun. But the kids love it and Mike does too (he looks forward to eating their bread pudding, I think.) Well anyway... this was the first time we'd gone when it was dark and got to see their big soda statue lit up. That was pretty neat to see in person.

I got a tortilla press for Christmas & so I've been trying my hand at tortillas. These are the whole wheat. They were really easy... it only took a little bit of time b/c you can only cook one at a time. 

We went with some friends from our homeschool co-op to the zoo in January. It was a unseasonably warm day which we have had a lot of this year! The kids really liked interacting with the turkey (on the left) who pecked at their hands on the glass. They also had fun running along the glass as the otters swam. It was lots of fun!

And here we have Isabella and Simon (with Jackson in the corner). She had wanted me to take this picture because she had gotten Simon to get up on the ottoman. She is really fond of Simon and he has taken a liking to her (he's figured out that she will give him attention and call him up on the sofa to lay on her). 

Isabella's birth story... nearly 6 years late!

I just found this post listed as a draft from way back when Jackson was born. So somehow I forgot to publish it. So even later than it was before (now we're going on 6 years!), but posted none-the-less!

Isabella's birth story:


I was able to have a successful natural child birth with Isabella. I think I was successful at ncb because I had a midwife who was very supportive of what I wanted & would not induce until the baby was 2 weeks late. Thankfully I had her10 days past my due date! But I did have an OBGYN at the beginning of my pregnancy who would have induced me at 1 week past due (along with a whole other list of interventions she would do in certain circumstances which I did not want AT ALL.. so we switched to a CNM that my Bradley teacher had used and whom my sister Laura was working with at the time).

To prepare, I took the Bradley class & read a bunch. I didn't know if I could do it but I knew all of the things I did not want that would make it difficult for me to have a NCB (constant monitoring, IV, pitocin, etc.).

My labor was long & hard. I started getting light contractions on Friday at 5am. They were consistant at 6 minutes apart but only lasting 30-45 seconds.They continued like this all day friday. I had an appointment with my midwife already scheduled so we went to that. We had thought she might go ahead & admit me- we brought our bags, but she didn't. She hooked me up to the monitor & said that I was definately in labor but the contractions were just not enough to do much. So we went back home. That night we ate at our favorite chinese restaurant, the Lido. So I was not in so much pain that I couldn't eat out... but it wasn't the most pleasant dining experience I've had! I took some benadryl that night on the recommendation of my midwife to help me sleep.

Saturday, about mid-day, the contractions got a lot longer & harder (they had continued lightly through the night & morning). They were lasting anywhere from 1 1/2 minutes to 2 1/2 minutes! This I was not prepared for. Everything I had read said they would be a minute to 90 seconds long... mine were twice that long! It was very hard. I remember my sister, Laura, calling me to check in & I ended up in tears because I just didn't know how long it was all going to continue. I moved around a lot changing positions & trying different things throughout labor... birthing ball, squatting, laying on my side, the bath, etc. The one thing that provided the most relief was getting in the shower & having the hot water pour on my stomach during a contraction. I would also turn & have it on my back too b/c I had a lot of back pain. This felt so good compared to being out of the shower. I had thought the bath would be more relaxing b/c you could lay down... but it was not very relaxing at all. The shower is what did it for me. I would stay in there until the steam got so heavy that I couldn't breath very well... & that took awhile! I was in & out of the shower probably 10 times Saturday & Sunday before the baby was born.

That evening Mike made sandwiches & I tried to eat mine but just did not have an appetite anymore. I think I was well on my way in labor! At about 10pm Saturday night my contractions were happening every 3 1/2- 4 minutes so we called my midwife & decided to go into the hospital to get checked. I also called my sister Laura who was to take care of our dogs while I was in the hospital. She met us at the hospital (where she worked as a labor & delivery nurse) & her husband Miguel went & got our dogs & took them to his house. Once we got there at about 11pm I was checked & dilated to a 6-7. I was hoping for more dilation than that!  I was a bit disappointed to say the least!  I was admitted & continued to labor at the hospital (continuing to move around to different positions & getting in & out of the shower). I started getting a lot of pressure (not pushing pressure, just pressure) around 4 or 5am. I was checked & I was at a 9 but my water still had not broke. I let my midwife decide whether to break it b/c I thought I was far enough along that it would be okay. So she did. I was fully dilated around 6am & began pushing. Even though pushing was painful, I think my mind was partly off of the pain b/c I had something to do. I remember the labor pains a lot better than I remember the pushing pains. I pushed for 2 hours before DD was born. It seemed like she crowned forever! She was a big baby (for me) at 8lb 10oz. So maybe this is what took so long to get her out! Several times during my labor I was tempted to get something for the pain (not an epidural, but something like stadol). Thankfully I kept telling myself that I could do it & I didn't want to have to say that I didn't have a completely natural child birth. Bradley teaches a lot about relaxing during the contractions. This is the hardest thing to do! I had to constantly remind myself to relax & even then I couldn't do it very well. In the end I was incredibly happy & empowered that I had a NCB. I wanted to scream it to the world... it felt that good. Especially for all those people who say, "Oh, you'll need an epidural. The pain is too intense!" It is painful & difficult, but so worth it!

Go here for Jackson's Birth Story.

Out with the Old, In with the New

This New Year's Eve was a bit different in our house this year.  I decided Isabella was old enough to stay up til midnight (if she could make it that long) and she was excited to join the celebration.

On New Year's Eve, Mike had volunteered to work at the hospital 3-11pm so the kids & I had a nice dinner together at home and then ran over to Mike's work to bring him some. For dinner I finally cooked up the big ham we'd gotten as part of our 1/2 a pig we'd bought from someone who is in my co-op. What a chore that was to cut up! The kids favorite part was the bubbly apple cider. :)

Jackson went to bed at his regular time, not realizing Isabella & I were in it for the long haul. Then Isabella and I watched a movie, ate popcorn, and did our nails. Mike came home late that evening but had to get to bed pretty quickly because he'd also signed up for the 7-3pm shift the next day. Glutton for punishment, I say... he says he is just making sure we have enough money for our Costa Rica trip. The jury is still out on this matter.

At about 11pm or so, I could see that Isabella was getting sleepy. Her eyes were looking very tired and she even started talking about lying down on the sofa for a few minutes. ;o) In the end, she did make it, and without any little cat naps either. We watched the countdown on TV and then toasted the new year... Isabella with her sparkling cider and me with my champagne... or sparkling wine rather.  I also let Isabella use a real wine glass.... she was pretty pumped about that.

It was a fun night! Happy New Year!!