Sunday, October 21, 2012

Yada Yada

The baby is asleep. Nuala is sick. Ruari is sick.
Someone at Nuala's school has strep.
Someone at Ruari's school has Pertussis.
I'm really hoping that we just have colds.

Finn called me from school last week to let me know he quite possibly broke his nose in gym class. One urgent care trip later confirmed a fracture and he is now sporting 2 black eyes, poor guy.

Maija and Sidhe had parent teacher conferences last week. Their teachers think they're amazing.
We knew this already, but it's always nice to have additional confirmation.

The baby will be turning 4 weeks on Wednesday. What?
I still have a birth story to write. I am going to make myself finish it before this next milestone occurs.
Okay, make myself start it?

I ordered a new stroller, which should be arriving tomorrow.
Have I ever told you how much I love new strollers?
Probably obvious seeing as how I'm on baby number 6 and still ordering such things.
IN my defense, our last awesome stroller was actually a double/triple monster of a contraption (remember "the nanny"? Our giant Valco?). Yeah, I have no real need for her anymore, so I downgraded to a Valco single. I'll probably take some pictures of her, since I like that sort of thing.

Tonight I took a mini nap with Nuala and Oisín. He nursed and drifted off on my right while Nuala curled up under the blanket, pressed up on my left. It was heavenly even after the phone woke me up and the cup of coffee from earlier in the day (my first cup of coffee in MONTHS) made it impossible for me to fall back asleep.

Coffee and the fact that I was literally squished between two sleeping babes.
I didn't mind though, their little warm bodies and hushed snores sort of made my heart a little bit melty.

Maija started taking tap lessons at the studio again. At the start of the semester I was all "Oh, I'm having a baby and you already take dance lessons at school every single day and there is no need for you to be going to a studio all the way in that one place that is far far away from our house and there is no way I am driving you way out there, no siree bob, yada, yada, you get the point...". Yet another shiny parenting moment for me to add to my collection.

And then last week I was driving down the road minding my own business when a John Mayer song came on the radio, and it totally reminded me of that one time at her tap recital when she fell flat on her face during the performance and immediately sprang back up and continued tapping like it was just part of the routine with a big old grin on her face, remember? So there I was in the car, listening to John Mayer (who I don't even really like by the way) getting all teary eyed, partly because I was suddenly consumed with guilt and partly because I am still so proud of her for that magnificent come back.

At any rate, I called the studio that same day and girl is back in her tap shoes like she never took them off.
























*I am in love, IN LOVE, with this man*
















*Photo props, many of which went back to the store*












*Nuala and Oscar eat lunch at school 2 days a week now and I am having too much fun packing their lunches. No, seriously, is that not the cutest kitty bento box you have ever seen in your life? Plus the reusable cloth baggies? Love.*









Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Falling for Him

I know in the past I've been rather lazy about posting regularly, but nowadays I swear I have a good excuse. I'm simply busy falling madly and deeply in love.

And seriously, can you even blame me?


*6 days old*

This baby is going to be 2 weeks old tomorrow, how can that be? Wasn't I just pregnant and wondering if I would perhaps stay that way forever?

I don't want to jinx myself and ruin our good fortune, but he is such an easy going baby and things are just amazing right now. For fear of tempting fate, I'll just leave it at that, but honestly I cannot believe how graceful this entire transition has been and I am thankful for every second of it.

Of course it helps a ton to be teamed up with World's Greatest, who by the way is pretty much beyond amazing at everything he does, and I'm sort of falling in love with him all over again through all of this as well.


*5 days old*



This is not to say that everything is all rainbows and butterflies. Am I tired? Sure. Have there been some post partum mood swings while hormones adjust? Oh you bet. Do I get overwhelmed at times by the magnitude of it all (let's be honest, we're talking about a household of 11 here)? Umm. OF COURSE.....





But mostly, I feel like the luckiest woman alive, and I am trying not to take a single moment of this for granted.



10.08.2012

"here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)" ~E.E. Cummings.



It's now been 2 years and I want you to know that we are always together, we are connected in ways that even I haven't quite discovered yet. A Rainbow baby is not a replacement baby and while Oisín has helped to heal me in ways that nothing else could, he is not you. There is a seperate space for you and there always will be, but I want you to know that I'm not nearly as sad as I once was. I carry you with me always, I carry you with me in my heart but it's a heart of joy now.

There is joy here.


Friday, October 5, 2012

One Week Old

Or at least he was one week old....2 days ago!

I cannot believe how fast time is moving right now.
And I want to remember this and write all about it and look back years from now and still be able to feel it, because we always tell ourselves that we will remember but then as time passes we start to forget. I don't want to forget.

These early days when time sort of shifts into something unrecognizable and the nights blend together as you adjust to having a newborn in the house once again. One last time.


*thank you Neil for editing this photo for me, it's just lovely!*

I want to freeze time for just a moment and soak it all in, and not be so sleep deprived that I forget the way his skin feels against mine, the soft noises he makes in his sleep, the shape of his mouth as it curls into a smile (which I know is not really a smile, but gosh it sure looks like one) after he nurses, the sound of his breath and how he likes to press his face into the crook of my neck.



He's already having more and more wakeful moments, when he is calm and alert, reminding me just how fast and fleeting this newborn stage will be. And the sleepy part of me cheers while the rest of me quietly pleads with time to perhaps slow down just a tad so that I can hardwire these moments to my memory.

Or at least find the time and energy to write about them.



Monday, October 1, 2012

September 26th, 2012

The waiting is over.
I finally went into full blown labor last week (Tuesday night) and welcomed a beautiful healthy baby Wednesday morning at 7:44am.





And guess what?
I was right, there was a boy in there all along. A beautiful baby boy.

Oisín Waagoshens.
"Osh-een" was an Irish warrior and also a poet.

"His name literally means "young deer" or fawn, and the story is told that his mother, Sadbh, was turned into a deer by a druidFear Doirche (or Fer Doirich). When Fionn was hunting he caught her but did not kill her, and she returned to human form. Fionn gave up hunting and fighting to settle down with Sadbh, and she was soon pregnant, but Fer Doirich turned her back into a deer and she returned to the wild. Seven years later Fionn found her child (Oisín), naked, on Benbulbin.[2] Other stories have Oisín meet Fionn for the first time as an adult and contend over a roasting pig before they recognise each other.

In Oisín in Tir na nÓg, his most famous echtra or adventure tale, he is visited by a fairy woman called Níamh Chinn Óir (Niamh of the Golden Hair or Head, one of the daughters ofManannán Mac Lir, a god of the sea) who announces she loves him and takes him away to Tir na nÓg ("the land of the young", also referred to as Tir Tairngire, "the land of promise"). Their union produces Oisín's famous son, Oscar, and a daughter, Plor na mBan ("Flower of Women"). After what seems to him to be three years Oisín decides to return to Ireland, but 300 years have passed there. Niamh gives him her white horse, Embarr, and warns him not to dismount, because if his feet touch the ground, those 300 years will catch up with him..." More here




Waagoshens is Ojibwe for "little fox", we'll have to wait and see how the fawn and fox work to balance each other out.







Did I mention he's gigantic?
9lbs 13.8oz and 21.5 inches long at birth.





With tons of silky black hair and the softest skin you have ever rubbed your cheek against.


*Photo courtesy of Cassandra*

By the time he was born we'd already been up for over 24 hours since labor didn't really kick in until about 9pm the night before, and I was exhausted. Luckily Brendan ran out to my favorite bakery for a quick pick me up. Have I also mentioned that hospital food is gross?



Once school let out the older kids started trickling in to meet their new brother.



















My mom helped at the home front while we were away and made sure everything ran nice and smoothly, which is no small task seeing as how we have 8 kids attending 5 different schools. Thanks Sarah!





Oh Best Beloved...






*Thank you Cassandra for this group shot*



Luckily for us we were able to check out and head home Thursday morning with our chubby little one day old in the back seat. Following with tradition, we left before naming him but promised medical records we'd be back to make it all official very soon, I believe they gave us until October 2nd to put his name on paper.





Home is much more relaxing than the hospital. It felt so nice to be in our own space again.



















First trip to the pediatrician, someone didn't like waiting (it was me, he's actually just yawning in this picture...).





On Friday Brendan even found a little time to can some peppers.







While this was the tasty welcome home galette that he whipped up on Thursday.





I'd say we are adjusting as gracefully as possible.



I'm just so glad he is finally here, I feel as if I have been waiting a very long time for this little one.











Saoirse is simply thrilled to be a big sister and she dotes on her little brother with fierce tenderness.





Milk is in.
Full force.



Jessica dropped off the sweetest little gift basket. I'd nearly forgotten how yummy caramel dip is.





I will be back to type up a quick birth story soon before I forget how it felt to deliver this little guy. So the next post will probably be all about contractions and make use of words like cervix and meconium. If that's not your thing take this as fair warning to sit the next one out.

For now I have to go get Nuala, Oscar and Saoirse ready for school. Oisín is sleeping in the baby swing and I need to take advatage of his slumber to get a few things done around here.

Did I mention he's absolutely gorgeous?