I did it.

I am now a Licenced Midwife in the State of Arizona!

Passed my final (of four) licensing exam Friday, November 30 (coincidently my sister's 27th birthday). 

Look for more information on Red Mountain Midwifery...coming soon!

Wall Rats

We joined the city recreation center this month - a lovely, newer facility with a gym, fitness center, classes out the wazoo (seriously, 20+ a day), an indoor running track (a mere 14 laps to a mile), child care, a game room for the 8-15 crowd, AND a climbing wall! Sadly, Oliver is too young to climb - they have an age limit of five.

Liam (made it to the ceiling!):

Clara on one of the "medium" level climbs:

And Elfie (also made the top):

They all loved it - and fortunately, can climb many days a week now while I get my run/exercise in!

I was strong, and other tidbits.

• No cats at Saddleback. We came to our senses and decided that despite the cuteness, the kids would get "over" the cat-love, a pet costs a lot of money that we just don't have to spare right now, and with a home-office, I'd rather be "pet-free" for those with sensitivities. Phew.

• The kids are all doing great in school; Oliver is doing three days of preschool at the local high school Child Development Center; Dan and I are plugging away with our work and home commitments, trying not to let four kids take us over completely ;)

• I am headed to NYC on the 18th for a week to visit my sister (and my mom will be there for a few days, too)! Southwest had a smoking deal last month and I jumped on it.

• Still running...my personal bests so far (treadmill) are a 66 minute 10K and a 30 minute 5K. I am definitely looking forward to days cool enough to run outside, but for now thankful to have the indoor options.

The straw that broke...

I thought it would be fun for the kids to "babysit" four kittens for a friend for a few days.

But then they got all cute and snuggly...

...and I might have a soft spot for a kitty...

...and Clara definitely does...

...and they do adorable things like this:

...seriously - does it get any cuter??

...and THEN Dan made the mistake of mentioning the kitties are actually up for grabs...

I'm afraid I might have to give in, finally...Saddleback could use ONE cat, right?

Um...they kill scorpions at least?

To be continued...

Ink

I don't know what the turning point was, but I was recently strongly overtaken by the desire for a tattoo. Not sure if it was the object requiring a canvas, or the canvas desiring an object, but either way it was a no-brainer. I needed a moose.

My moose has the Alaska state flag and the Alaska state flower incorporated into the design.

After the fact, it came across my mind to look into totems; the more I read, the more I realized I never chose to be drawn to moose; it just kept happening. I was gifted with two stuffed moose for my fourth birthday - Barnaby and Melissa (who once upon a time had eyelashes).

These two toys sparked an obsession with all things alces alces for the next 33 years (and counting). I have acquired moose pajamas, socks, shirts, toys, chimes, bells, candles, gag toys, toe ring, hair clip...you name it, I probably have one with a moose! My mom used to tell me stories about a little girl and her moose friend...many a night I fell asleep to tales of their escapades.

Yet for all that time I obsessed about moose, I never looked into the Native and traditional meaning of a moose or a totem. Turns out the moose IS my totem...

(from: http://www.linsdomain.com/totems/pages/moose.htm)

MOOSE
	Giant dweller of forest and marsh-land, I face a time of uncertainty. Fill me with your confidence, your wisdom. Teach me when to speak and when to be silent. Help me find a point of balance and harmony That success may be mine in honor.
Self-Esteem, Primal Feminine Energies Moose is one of the most ancient of the power totems.    A Moose totem gives you sacred and unique energy.  With a Moose totem you will be full of contradictions.  Awkward yet graceful.  Large yet able to move swiftly and silently.  Moose people usually have excellent depth perception.    Moose is also associated with the maternal forces of the world, the primal feminine energies.  This can be awaken through water or the sea, the womb of life.  Mediate using the sounds of water or ocean.  Autumn is the power time of the Moose.  People with a Moose totem instinctively know balance: when to use gentleness, when to use strength.  They know what to say, when to say it and to whom.  Moose people are usually wise beyond their years.

Off they go...

The girls headed over to San Diego this morning for three nights with my Aunt E and Uncle G. They have been counting down the days, and I know will have a ball running around outdoors,  exploring the beach, and going to Sea World (just a little spoiled!).

This pair is becoming quite well-seasoned in the art of travel! I look forward to the day we can make it a family affair...and go international.

Catching up...again...

The sad truth is, Facebook has become my daily media. I want to change that, I really do.

So we moved. We absolutely LOVE our new place! Since day one, this house has felt like home. We have entertained guests more times in the last eight months than we did in five years at the other place - we finally have the room to do so! The kids can spread out, and we even have enough bathrooms to satisfy the most ridiculously well-tuned simultaneous poopers (four bathrooms, four kids...). 

The girls ended up moving to the local elementary at Thanksgiving. It was a very smooth transition, and both did fantastically at the new school. Every morning they biked to school, and every afternoon, they showed back up to the house...no more driving for us! That saves over 80 minutes a DAY for me, and 40 minutes a day for them. I think it was a good trade!

Liam and Oliver spent Spring semester at Bridges Preschool, not far from our new place...it's the same school the girls attended that first Spring after we moved to Mesa! They both loved it...but Liam will be moving on to kindergarten this Fall, and Oliver will attend a different preschool that has better hours/rates for what we need. 

This Fall, Clara, Elfie, and Liam will all be at the same school together - it's so hard to imagine I have THREE kids in elementary school! The kids start back August 8. 

I am waiting for my elusive midwifery license - I have one exam I HOPE will be administered in October - might be November - then I should finally have my Arizona Licensed Midwife license. In the meantime, I'm offering my services as a doula and/or monitrice, and attending a few births with my former preceptor. 

I have started running again...thanks to the Couch to 5K craze and my iPhone. I am in week five - up to running eight minutes at a time, and feeling great doing it (travelled 3.5 miles today!). I have signed up for a 10K race in October, and fortunately have a few friends wanting to run with me. Though I ran cross-country from grade four through my senior year, and track from grade seven through twelve, I have not run since then...so the return is slow and humbling, but I am doing it, day by day. My awesome new headband gave me a little extra oomph today:

My auntie Eye wants me to do a half-marathon with her...I'm thinking maybe by next summer/fall...I never thought that would cross my mind, but it does indeed sound tempting...

Dan continúes to handyman and stays quite busy. It may not be his ideal job, but the flexibility with my insane schedule is necessary. The kids are lucky to see him so much more now than they did when he had a full-time (+) job :)

There is the quick update...I will try to return to blogging and fill in more soon. 

We're Moving!

Big news: we are moving!

The last five years we have been in a 1300 square foot ranch - and while it worked just fine with two small kids, with the addition of two more, and the accompanying growth of the first two, we had simply outgrown our surroundings. Now the economy has not done us well, but thanks to the generosity of my parents, we will be rent-to-owning a new, beautiful, spacious (3300 sf) place right near their winter home on the far East side of Mesa! Closing date is November 9. A few teaser pics for you:

Backyard:

View (on the golf course, looking at Red Mountain):

Kitchen:

Living Room:

Stairway:

Family Room:

I have a feeling it won't look *quite* so tidy once we move in!

More big news: I am almost done with my requirements for my midwifery license...which means I will be submitting paperwork to the State in a couple weeks, and sitting for my exams starting in February. I have a busy October and November scheduled with births, prenatal and postpartum visits, followed by a calmer December and...that's IT! I will be attending a birth in March, but otherwise will spend the Spring focused on studying for the NARM and the State practical, oral, and rules/regulation exams.

Little news: kids are all doing great; Clara is in 4th grade and is learning viola through orchestra at school. She has also joined a recreational swim team and loves it! 

Elfie is in 2nd grade and has started 4H with Aunt B. She has recently lost a bunch of teeth, so I present the toothless grin of 7.5 years:

And Wonder Elf:

 Both girls will be moving to the local elementary school after Christmas break. It should be an interesting transition, as the girls have been in Montessori from day one...and the local school is "traditional." I know they will adjust well though. 

First Day of School, 2011

Liam is in his same preschool again this year, and he loves it, even though we were bummed his teacher from last year didn't return. Sadly for him, we will be pulling him out of school after the break as well - it's just too far to drive! Bonus: since he starts kindergarten in the Fall, he'll get a semester at home before taking the leap into big kid school.

Oliver is a pure joy...at 2.5 years now, he is extremely talkative and busy, imaginative and curious. He has quite a sense of humor, and keeps us giggling with his antics and expressions. Unfortunately, he hates having his picture taken, so it's hard to get a presentable shot of his true cuteness :) He learned to swim quite well this summer, and loved jumping in the pool to swim to the side...oh, and perhaps best of all: 

HE'S OUT OF DIAPERS! 

You read that right...no more diapers in this house!

Super Tot:

Farewell, Three.

Here is perhaps the most pathetic picture I could ever post of my little guy...immediately post-anesthesia for the kernel removal. He did great, it was fast and easy (once we got to the right place), and everything is good now...

And I must post the final bit of media we have of Liam as a three-year-old. Here he says his full name:

Did you catch that? Liam Alexander Milo Bass. Yes, the child has four names, and no, he still can't pronounce one of them. But he's darn cute trying, no?

Tomorrow, my first son turns four years old. 

May.

Time flies...we've had birthdays, school beginnings, school pauses, babies born, kids busy with school, speech development exploding, grandparents buying house, and popcorn kernel embedded in an ear...all in four months. Wow.

January - visits from both sides of grandparents
February - birthdays! Grandma P, Oliver (TWO!) and I all celebrated; my parents bought a lovely house in NE Mesa...
March - lots of births
April - Clara turned nine
May - Liam put a popcorn kernel in his ear, setting off the most ridiculous chain of doctor visits I could ever imagine!

Wednesday night at dinner, Liam told us he put popcorn in his ear. Skeptical, I peeked...and sure enough, could see the thing nice and deep in his ear canal. Thursday morning, we went to Urgent Care where they tried unsuccessfully to remove it...so we went to the ER. Why the big guns? Because I figured the ER had access to an ENT, since every specialty is on call there...and it's a CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL, so they would be used to such a thing, right? Well the ER doc took a peek, said it was beyond what he could do, and called in an ENT consult. Well the "consult" was a "call the office and make an appointment." That's what we got after 2.5 hours in the ER. Grrrrr. So I called the ENT - they were closed at lunch for the next hour. Waited, called - they didn't take our insurance. Got another name, made a few more calls, was finally told the PCP had to make the referral. Great. Called our (non-existent, but on the books) PCP and took Liam there on Friday. They tried again (unsuccessfully) to remove the offending object, and finally referred us on to the ENT I knew we needed two days prior. Drove actross town to the ENT, where the peeked, and said he'd need sedation in the OR to remove it - OK, I knew that by now. However, just to get there took another visit to another ENT, and another visit to the PCP for a "pre-op physical." I am SO fed up with the medical system right now - and we still have a popcorn kernel wedged in our almost-four-year-old's ear, a full week (and six doctor visits) later. Tomorrow he goes in for the removal.

More to come.

11:11 1-1-11

I saw a post on Facebook about marking a moment in time...so here are the four kids, captured in action at 11:11 am on the morning of January 1, 2011...in other words, at 11:11 of 1-1-11

Clara (eight years + nine months) and Evelyn (seven years + eight days):

Liam (three years + seven and a half months) and Oliver (twenty-two months):

Hazards of active little boys...

Broken windows!

Dan discovered the one in our bedroom earlier today, and then just this evening, Liam came running to tell us the one in Oliver/Elfie's room was broken...turns out, he was climbing on the sill, trying to open it (ack), and obviously pushed too much with his foot. While we can hold off on replacing our bedroom window, this one is at the front of the house, and with little kids involved, it will be a priority. Sigh. It's always something, huh? I'm hoping the bright side will mean a much better window (these are original 70s single-paned beauties).

First tooth!

Elfie just came in from school holding this envelope:

And looking like this!

First teeth in were those two bottom, middle ones at six months + one day of age...

First tooth lost at seven years + two weeks old!

December!

Where did the time go? My apologies to my faithful readers for the major delay (again). I once again blame Facebook, my daily addiction  time-waster diary!, for taking all the spark out of blogging...so the quick round-up from the month so far is:

four births (one still to come): 2 girls, 2 boys (+ girl on deck)

Clara still enjoys chess club - in fact, she placed second in their end-of-semester tournament; Elfie has been doing dance and as far as we can tell, likes it...she's not so verbal about her activities.

Both girls are still enjoying Girl Scouts...they went to a campfire last week and did their first "swaps." The girls helped make felt pins for the event...

Clara traded a bunch of hers; Elfie saved hers (par for the course...she saves everything!).

We visited with the Grinch:

And went to a holiday party at Liam's preschool.

The kids did crafts,

and played in Liam's classroom,

...then paid a little visit to the guy in red:

(this one pretty much sums up what Oliver thought of Santa)

Maybe with the big kids?

Yeah right, think again, lady:

So what did the big kids tell Santa?

Liam wants a firetruck;

Elfie wants stuffed animals;

and Clara wants an 18" doll (think: American Girls).

Clara, the Candy Cane Reindeer :)

Today, Clara helped me finish my "hot cocoa on a stick" project...we added Whole Foods natural peppermint marshmallows and sprinkles for fun.

The "cocoa" is sinfully delicious - rather like fudge - and we haven't even tried it in milk yet...as-is was just too good!

Finally, Dan and I actually went OUT - like, without kids! - not just once, but TWO TIMES this month! The first, we met with the wife of my very first boyfriend (not nearly as strange as it might sound). They live in Houston, but she was in town for work, so we met at Tarbell's in Phoenix for a lovely dinner. The second event was the graduation celebration of another friend...we spent most of our time chatting and catching up with another couple with four kids, who attended the girls' old school. Look, I actually have photographic evidence of being OUT!

I'll be back soon-ish with more from the holidays! Hope you are all healthy and happy <3