Christmas Season

So I don't have to post pictures twice...


http://web.mac.com/nicksaemenes/Eliahna/December.html

What I didn't get for Christmas...

As a family, we worked hard this year to keep in mind the spirit of the season. "Gifts" are not my love language, so it is not difficult for me to maintain the real focus of Christmas. Now that Christmas is over however, I am going to take a few minutes to be materialistic and list off what I want. (I feel like I am ok doing this since I fully recognize that none of these things will leave me fulfilled)

• My own house
• A house on lots of land (a backyard!)
• A horse or two
  
• A library
  
• A room devoted entirely to crafts and sewing (I might sew more often if I didn't have to spend the time taking my machine out and putting it away every time)
• A maid whose duties would include folding clothes, cleaning bathrooms and floors, and thinking of something to make for dinner every night (and occasionally cooking them)
• A pool, actually two pools one inside and one outside so I could swim every day and stay in shape during the winter
• An orchard

My birthday is in June if anyone wants to make my dreams come true...

The Written Word

I love books. I have loved books for, well, ever. I remember when I was probably 5 or 6 I told my parents I needed a night light because I was afraid of the dark, and then I would sneak out of my bed and read by the light. I can still remember the adrenaline rush when I would hear their footprints and would run silently (or so I thought) back into my bed with my book under the covers. I would lay in my bed thinking they'd never notice my rapidly beating heart or my fluttering eyelids. As I got older, the worst punishment my parents could inflict on me would be to take my halfway finished book until I had finished whatever task I had ignored up to that point. I was in 5th grade the first time I stayed up all night reading- and had to go to school the next day. I remember I read "Christy." More than once I told my friends I was grounded and couldn't go out just so I could finish a particularly interesting novel. When college came around, becoming an English major was a no-brainer. I loved the literary part of my education. Once, I overheard a girl in one of my classes telling someone that she was grounded from books as a kid- there were more people like me in the world! All that being said, I have read a lot of books in my life. And yet, sometimes I get this feeling of panic for all the books that I haven't read. How did I make it through college as an English Major and never have read Virginia Woolf, Henry James or Ivanhoe? It is an almost hopeless feeling, knowing that I could read every day for the rest of my life and not even come close to making a dent in the great literary works. I would absolutely LOVE to join a book club and have contemplated joining the one at the library many times. I just imagine a room full of old, stuffy, intellectuals who love to hear themselves talk and I would not be willing to fight to get a word in edgewise. (Not a fair supposition considering I want to join and the rest of the people could be just like me) I have made countless lists of books I am want to read and usually end up loosing them or getting distracted with something else. This year, I am going to be more intentional with it. I am going to make a list and follow it. I feel like I am missing out on so much greatness.

guess who?

red heads

I watched Pippi Lomgstocking with Elie this weekend and was reminded how much I wanted to be a red head growing up. My parents always thought it was just because Anne did, but all my childhood heroes had red hair. They were always witty, imaginative, and well-loved. So this goes out to all the red heads that served as my childhood inspiration...
Anne Shirley
Pippi Longstocking
Ariel
Dana Scully
(I purposely left off Annie because my family didn't watch musicals growing up)



Apparently I always wanted to be a red head

my graceful ballerina

So Elie got her first bloody nose today. It was one of those freak, bad timing accidents where she was coming around the corner at full speed the same time someone else was. I am surprised by two things; that it took almost three years for her to get her first bloody nose and that someone else was involved (she didn't get it by running into a stationary object). She has already had a black eye (although that was also an accident by a non stationary entity... i.e. Caelan) multiple fat lips, goose eggs galore and more bruises than I can count. I wonder if she will ever grow out of this clutsiness. I recently realized that most parents don't have to point out walls, furniture and posts to their children. It is kind of embarrassing.




Elie's first fat lip

conversations with...

My daughter does not talk to herself, she talks to all the inanimate objects around her. Not only do they talk back, but they talk to each other as well. This is a conversation I had with her this morning.
"Momma" (said in a melodramatic voice)
what?
no I was talking to the olive in my mouth

Oh. Right.

sleep myths

I read the other day on one of my baby development emails that one of the biggest mistakes parents make when trying to get their babies to sleep is by providing constant motion. According to the article, babies do not enter deep sleep when they are in constant motion so it is better to lay your baby down in a crib or turn off the swing to let them sleep. At first, I thought "wow, I am setting my kid up for disaster" and attempted to put her down today. Then I decided they didn't know what they were talking about. I have NEVER known a baby that didn't sleep better when they were being rocked, or held. That's why rocking chairs exist. That is why babies fall asleep in car seats, strollers and slings. So now I am slightly peeved at this article and am contemplating writing them a strongly worded letter. (I think this will be as far as I get though) I do wish she would sleep in her bed during the day though...

Lainey Kate's Birth Story

I was up all night the 6th with non progressive but intense contractions. Elie and I spent a few hours that day at the mall but nothing happened. At about 7 on the 7th my mucous plug came out. He encouraged me to go to bed, which I did. I was exhausted after not sleeping at all the night before. Around 9:30 I started having contractions again. I assumed that I was in for another non-progressive night like the one before and tried not to get too excited about it. We called Missy anyway just to give her a heads up on the situation. I was able to fall asleep for twoish hours. The contractions were intense enough that I still woke up for every one, but was tired enough to fall asleep in between. Around 12 I got up and messed around on the computer some more.
My contractions were getting intense enough that I started feeling the sciatica in my legs start shaking a little, not too painfully but enough that I knew they would be an issue again. I thought I had remembered Lisa (my midwife with Elie) saying that calcium would help that, so I took some Calcifood (HORRIBLE tasting vitamins that I am supposed to chew but are so gross that I break them apart and swallow them). One of the pieces got stuck in my throat and I threw up everything in my stomach in the kitchen sink. All of a sudden at about 1:15 my contractions started at about 5 minutes apart. They still were not unbearable but had been getting slightly more intense. I got Nick up and had him start filling up the tub. I also called my mom and Kari. Kari was in Portland that weekend for a wedding and had asked specifically that I not go into labor that weekend. I still thought I was a long way off from actually having her, but I knew they’d want to be there as soon as possible and they had an hour to drive. Soon after I called them, I started watching Gilmore Girls. My mom and Kari got here around 2:30.


My contractions were still about every 5 mins apart. I called Missy and Courtney at about 3 and they got there about 4:15. All that time in between, we were watching Gilmore Girls and laughing. I was so hungry the whole time. I think I ate yogurt, string cheese (because of the calcium), a granola bar and some peanut butter toast and was still not full. It was around then that my sciatica started really getting bad in my legs. The contractions were getting more intense and with it my legs started hurting. It got to be bad enough that Kari and Nick would apply pressure to each of my thighs during the contraction- it seemed to be the only thing that helped even slightly. Some of the time, my legs were bad enough that I couldn’t even feel the contractions. Soon after Missy got here I was given permission to get in the tub. I wish I had gotten in earlier, but I really didn’t know how far along I was. Missy and Courtney came and checked the heart beat a few times, but mostly they were getting all their supplies ready. At about 5:15 I told someone I felt like I was going to throw up, a bowl was quickly thrust in front of me and I threw up again. After that I think I said something like “I must be in transition now.” Missy and Courtney stayed a little closer after that. My contractions started getting really close and intense. I finally told Nick that he better call his family and let them know we were in labor. We hadn’t called them yet because we were waiting for my water to break. The whole time I was in labor I had this sense of denial. I think the night of nothing happening made me feel like I didn’t want to get my hopes up. (I hadn’t gotten in the tub earlier because I was waiting for my water too. ) So Nick stepped out of the room to call. With the next contraction, I felt my stomach start to shake which I knew from Elie that this meant pushing. I told everyone that I felt like pushing and then started. I was panicked, since I knew your Nick wasn’t there. Someone grabbed him and I pushed again and felt the “pop” of the water breaking. I have no idea how many contractions I had, but I immediately felt the pain of the head. It was one of the most intense 6 minutes of my life. I had to put my hands down to help myself open up for the head because it hurt so bad. With my hands down my face was jammed into the side of the tub and my head was at a really awkward angle. I was panting “slow, slow, slow” because Missy had warned me that I would have to push slow and easy in order not to tear. I know I was a lot louder than I was with Elie. I don’t think I was yelling or screaming but I was pretty loud. And then she was out. Because of the angle I was in on my hands and knees I remember her feet kind of got stuck in side of me and it felt weird as they were pulled out not straight out but at an angle. In the movie you can see my body kind of convulse when that happens. The worst part of the whole birth is that Missy put her on top of my back to check her after you were out. I could hear her screaming and feel her on my back but couldn’t see her. I remember that I was saying “I want to see my baby” over and over (for all 30 seconds of it).
Once Missy made sure she were okay I got turned around and held her. The cord was really thick and short so it was a little awkward. I don't know exactly how many hours i was in labor. The early part was really long, but I went from transition to baby in an hour and 15 minutes. Very different birth then Elie's. I loved being at home and the water was an instant relief. I hope I never have a baby any other way.