Christmas Kids

I kind of like the funny face here:


I'll try for more soon...oh, for comparison, here's last year's version:

This year, L is wearing the PJs E wore last year, and E is wearing the ones that C wore! I love hand-me-downs :)

Family photo...kind of

Since I'm always the one behind the lens, here we have the Bass gang minus mama:


Maybe this weekend I can get a good kid pic...and we'll see, if the stars are right, maybe even a whole family shot. What a thought.

And how could I not share this little gem? Monkey see, monkey do...



I almost forgot: I got some erythromycin eye ointment, and it seems as if my skin is improving! It's definitely not as "angry" looking as it was last week, and my eyes don't seem nearly as red. I have also switched to California Baby calendula cream, and it seems to be good as well. I'm hoping it's for real, and not just wishful thinking...we'll see.

28 weeks

OK, it's been a while since I posted any pics of poor Baby4. This is mainly due to a lovely case of perioral dermatitis (warning: ugly pics there) I'm fighting - I really don't want it recorded for all ages! You can actually see back at my 18+4 picture that my chin looks all broken out. This was sadly not pregnancy acne, but the start of this dermatitis thing. I have these ugly red patches all over my chin, up the sides of my nose, and perhaps most ugly: around my eyes. So yes, for the last 10 weeks it has been getting worse...I'm beyond frustrated with it, and as you can imagine, very self-conscious too. My lame attempts at cover up are rather pathetic, but I do what I can without using toxic thick make-up. Currently I'm treating it with TTO and coconut oil as moisturizer.

Anyhoo...without further ado, here I am today, at 28 weeks from LMP.





Please notice the quick-fix we (being D) made for the fireplace...a mantle! Cute huh?

National Bankruptcy Day?

Have you all heard of the Consumer Product Safety Commission Improvement Act? Those of you who are making and selling kids' items, listen up! If you ever buy handmade gifts, read on!

The Act requires ALL manufacturers - including small business owners who sew their products by hand and artisans who sell to help support their art - to submit each piece of their product for cost-prohibitive government-approved testing. Each component - buttons, threads, fabrics, padding, etc. would need to be tested independently for lead content. The cost and extent of this lead testing would be impossible for any small business to afford.

Info on the Act

(CPSCIA)

National Bankruptcy Day

An article...

The Handmade Toy Alliance

Petition

More thoughts from a WAHM

*and by the way, it sounds as if resale would also be illegal...so good-bye thrift, consignment, FSOT on boards, etc...*


A not-so-funny:

New CPSIA slogan:

"CPSIA: Throwing the Babies Out With the Bathwater, and the Bathtub, Too. Oh, and All the Little Bath Toys. Better Throw Out the Sponge As Well. Just to Be Safe"

A whole new life for Barbie...

Saw these on a forum I happen to frequent...they've taken Barbie to a whole new level:

That's right. Alfred Hitchcock's THE BIRDS Barbie, complete with attacking birds!


Um....

Water birth pictures

A friend just passed this website on to me - the birth pictures are amazing! Probably not work-friendly though :)

Enjoy!

Destruction Days Chez Bass

Oops! To start, our laptop just stopped working. No lights, nothing. Then my sweet, wonderful friend (hi M!) shattered the coffee pot, then I somehow jammed the headphone adapter for the keyboard into the hole so the keyboard won't play...then I went to open a drawer in the kitchen, and the whole thing fell apart! Geez, what's next??

Happy Birthday to my little sister!

My sister turns 23 today! Happy Birthday - hope it's a great one!

Some recent pictures she's sent from India (click on them to see the uncropped version - important for monkey-viewing!):




(notice the monkeys!)

Maybe it's a boy...

I've been thinking Baby4 is a girl all along - until last night. I had the most vivid dream (which of course I now can't remember), and woke up certain that baby is a boy!

Only time will tell of course...

ZooLights!

We went to ZooLights at the Phoenix Zoo last night - good thing we went then, as it's now pouring rain with a thunder storm! The school is supposed to have a talent show today on the basketball court - guess that'll be inside now...

Here's a family pic from the zoo (one of those that they take and charge a gazillion dollars if you want to buy):


Yes, we have actually been known to use a stroller LOL It carried all the cold-weather gear for us (which for the first time we didn't have to use!). Previous years it has been SO.COLD. at ZooLights, but last night remained a balmy mid-70s. The kids got to ride the carousel and touch the sting rays...free last night as part of member preview!

Off to school now. Happy Thanksgiving to all.

...or win an ergo!

Win a Free Organic Embroidered Ergo Baby Carrier Hands Free System from Along for the Ride

Win a sling!

My friend Rixa is giving away one of her 2nd Womb ring slings in celebration of her upcoming PhD graduation - go enter! Everybody needs a ring sling...


She also makes and sells doll slings, for the mini baby-wearers in your life...and if you order slings now, she's offering free shipping and extra give-away entries!

Three births...

...in six days!

Thursday, Nov 13 a baby boy was born, after a long, intense labor for mom. We were first called on Wednesday evening, and went to the home to check on mom. After a brief period, we left...and were called back some time later. With still no real change, we went home, expecting a mid-night call. Instead, it was about 6 a.m. when we headed back for the last time. Baby was born around 12:30, four minutes after SROM, on the birth stool. The father, who was not at all involved in the labor, was supposed to catch...but went for In-n-Out burgers, and ended up missing the birth!

On Tuesday, Nov 18 (my midwife's birthday!) I got a call around 6 a.m. that TWO mamas were in labor...fortunately at various stages. After checking on the first, my midwife picked me up and we headed to the birth of a lovely first-time couple. We arrived around 10:45; mom was laboring in the tub with the support of her husband, in candle-light with classical music. It was peaceful and calm; she wanted nothing to do with us :) Around 1:15, we could hear that magical change in vocalizations, and withing 25 minutes, a 7 lb 10 oz baby girl was born in her bathtub. She had a tight nuchal cord, which necessitated a head-tuck, body birthing maneuver, but fortunately not an early cord-clamping. Once mom moved to the bed, she birthed the placenta...and began bleeding something fierce. I administered shepherd's purse first, then two doses of IM pitocin (5 minutes apart), then oral methergine. Fortunately, the issue resolved and no transfer was necessary. Of note with this birth, aside from the yikes of the bleeding, was the very unique placenta. Upon examination, we realized the placenta was HUGE! It was almost heart-shaped or twin-placenta in appearance...except it had a whole extra lobe to it as well...and the cord was inserted in the middle, so definitely not a twin...It must have taken up most of the uterus.

S later researched this particular placenta, and realized it is an extremely rare occurrence, called a placenta membranacea. Not surprisingly, it is associated with post-partum hemorrhage.

After leaving this birth, we went home for a quick bite to eat. Right around 6:15 we were called back to the other birth. We arrived there by 7 or so, and baby was born at 9:15. This was a VBAC, and I was so honored to be part of the journey and healing for this powerful mama. A healthy baby boy, weighing 8-11 (I think?), joined his big sister and parents. Mom did tear, which had some good bleeding. Of note also was a strange, audible POP that shocked everyone in the room...it happened just before baby was born. Something (unknown still) was holding baby back from crowning at about +1 station. After the pop, he came instantly to a full crown and was born on the next push. Mom did not feel anything unusual, there was nothing obvious, but *something* was holding up that baby (and most likely his sister during her labor).

There's the quick version...our next mama is due in early January.

Just want to say an extra thank you to my fantastic friends who make my attendance at these births (and apprenticeship in general) possible by watching Baby L for me. And of course, thank you to my husband and kids who patiently wait at home while mom runs off yet again...

Baby guessing game (again)

I thought it was fun last time, so I figured I'd give Baby4 a game too :)



...please go make a guess! I've also added the link to the left, so as this post moves down, it'll still be easy to find.

My birthing history, just to help a little:
(40 weeks is the "due date" but I refuse to use that terminology LOL)

C: born at 39 weeks 4 days; 7 pounds, 19.5 inches. 10:29 p.m.
E: born at 40 weeks; 6 pounds, 11 ounces, 19.5 inches. 3:30 p.m.
L: born at 41 weeks; 7 pounds, 6 ounces, 20 inches. 7:49 p.m.

She got the job!

My brilliant sister has just been offered a job by the International Red Cross as a Hindi/Urdu translator/interpretor in Kashmir!

The offer follows multiple interviews in Delhi (where she's currently working), plus a full-day interview in Geneva a few weeks ago.

Many congratulations to A...

I love this quote

I just read this on a board I'm on...it was attributed to a man in Philly at a rally:

"Rosa sat so Martin could walk. Martin walked so Obama could run. Obama is running so our children can fly."

And speaking of Obama...his grandmother died yesterday in Hawaii. :(

Finally of couse: go vote today!

Halloween fun

I took a ton of pictures this year - both from the pumpkin patch the night before Halloween, and from the day of. I put them in slide shows instead of choosing my favorites :)

If you notice the matchy-matchy outfits in the first set, I made super quick skirts for the girls to go to the pumpkin patch, hoping for a cute family picture...they match the overalls I embellished earlier in the month for Baby L, and the sling I made as well.



The kids and I walked around one block with our next door neighbors, then sat home and passed out treats to those who came to our door. I was sadly disappointed with how rude most of the kids were. We also had some older teen-aged kids, and one group that was adults - not even in costumes! - trick or treating. I found that really odd.

Friday night, diy sling, and kids today

I forgot to mention the excitement of our Friday night! D got the kids to bed around 7, per usual, and settled in to read the paper. He promptly discovered it was Mesa's 2nd Friday and they were doing a whole "Haunted Downtown" theme. We decided the novelty and fun were worth a late night, so we got the girls up (not asleep yet) and dressed for an early Halloween:



They had a blast with D! There was trick-or-treating, face painting (by a princess!), music and miscellaneous other fun.

Next up...my very first DIY ring sling! I got this awesome woven fabric on clearance at JoAnn last year, hoping to make something for this year with it...well what better for a carrier addict than a ring sling? I used the pleated shoulder tutorial from Sleeping Baby (she also sells slings), and SlingRings, which are actually locally made but widely distributed. It's a little bigger in the shoulder than I prefer, but it works perfectly for D! It is comfy, as it's such a nice woven fabric...just don't look at my hemming job up close!




And finally, here are the cuties from just minutes ago (of course I couldn't get all three together in one picture):





(oh, the girls just got home from dance class if you're wondering about the leotards)

The best laid plans...

Last night, 96-year old Nanny rode a horse to dinner. No, really - she went on a mini trail ride, about a 25 minute one, over to a local restaurant! The family met there, and started chatting. Mr. L had been acting slightly "off" since we went to the ranch an hour before. Well, suddenly he vomited all over the restaurant...and then was fine. So we decided to stick it out - he ate some potatoes, was his normal silly self, and we headed back to the ranch.

The girls were spending the night and were very excited to get rid of their parents. We dropped off Grandma S (lives next door to the ranch), and were getting ready to leave, when...up came the potatoes. All over me.

We got Mr. L cleaned up, he donned a small tee of grandma's, said bye to the girls and we drove home (30 minutes). He fell straight asleep, and transfered fine to bed. D and I watched a goofy movie (Saving Grace), but halfway through it the phone rang. Turns out Ms. C had vomited too! Poor Aunt B drove her home, but E chose to stay for the overnight.

There was no more puking from either, but they're both sluggish this morning. In fact, C is in bed reading, and L is napping at 9:00 already.

D left a bit ago to join the gang for a nice brunch at a fancy resort - he and E should have some nice QT together :) I'm sorry I have to miss it though - D's cousin, his wife, and their two kids (7 and 4) are also here.

Wish I had a picture to share from Nanny's horse ride - but of course, I forgot my camera! If I get one forwarded to me, I'll be sure to share.

96!

D's grandmother is 96 years old today! Happy birthday, Nanny.