Three Rs for Xmas

There really are advantages to having four kids so close in age...like being able to use the same holiday pajamas multiple times! I have this thing against tight-fitting and/or chemically-treated nightwear for my kiddos - which in this country means it's nearly impossible to find PJs. Once upon a time, Hanna Anderson sold "long johns" that were not only of high quality, but loose and comfortable...until the company was bought out and switched to the "don't let your kid catch fire" style. Well sneaky me...I bought Christmas stripey Hannas for the kids through the years, adding slowly to the collection thanks to ebay and thebabywearer.com sellers...low and behold, when the cold-weather bins were brought down this year, I discovered my collection included matchy stripes for all four beauties!

 

 

(next task: getting one good picture of all four kids...)

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle?

We like to get the most out of our once-a-year clothing! Three outfits in particular have had more than their "money's worth" with our gang.

First we have the Gymboree skeleton sweat suit: one costume, seven years, five Halloweens, four kids!

Clara at 1.5
(2003)

Clara at 2.5

(2004)

Elfie at 1.5

(2005)

 Liam at 2.5
(2009)

Oliver at 1.5
(2010)

(and it will fit him again next year, so don't be surprised by a repeat performance...)

Then there's the Gymboree pirate outfit, currently on its third year of use, all by Liam. We're hoping it survives one more night so Oliver can use it next year...

2008

2009

2010

(definitely Liam's last year in this one)

And finally, those overalls...

2008

2009

2010

(and you'll see them again next year, no worries!)

Endless Halloween

Once upon a time, in a far-away land, a little girl named Jenny spent every October 31 trying vainly to show her costume from under a snowsuit while she shivered her way from heated car to door, and back to heated car through the snowdrifts...

Fortunately for our crew, the climate here is much more conducive to costuming and begging for candy! On the downside though, partly thanks to temperatures in the 80s and 90s all through October, Halloween festivities this year were spread out over a few weeks...which really, it turns out, is too much for the adults in this house.

The kiddos started by digging into the Halloween bins to decorate and rediscover costumes.

Then we spent two weekends at the Circle C having a blast at the Fall Festival. The crew dressed up, had faces painted,

went for rides on a hay wagon, a barrel train, and a horse

dug for prizes in the hay stack

painted pumpkins

and minded the cousins (here's Lilah):

I decided to give the kids some creepy lunch one day:

  

(apple slices with almond teeth; carrot eyes with hummus and black olives; string cheese fingers)

(buffalo dogs and all-natural crescent roll dough)

(spinach hummus grass, carrot goblins and string cheese ghosts)

We started the second round of my decorated overalls (made them two years ago for Liam):

                                

The girls had a fall festival at school, all three "big kids" wore costumes and black-orange combos to school on multiple days, and the girls had a Halloween party with their new Girl Scout troops...

Dan carved a belly pumpkin for me (thanks to Rixa's template and inspiration)...but since I failed to take a picture of ours, here was the original, posted on Rixa's blog:

and finally last night (October 30), we tagged along with a friend to a "trunk-or-treat" and festival, complete with chili dinner, kids' carnival and the finale of the trick-or-treating around the parking lot at peoples' decorated vehicles.

In full Halloween regalia:

On the way (and I swear, Clara's seat belt is normally up on her shoulder - I caught this pic as she was scratching!):

Even Dan wore a costume!

The kids sorted their booty at home - and ate sick quantities of sugar, of course...

So now...I'm done...and we still haven't had HALLOWEEN. 

Sigh.

Oliver in Alaska, 2010

At Grandma and Grandpa's, Oliver loved the swings:

...and the greenhouse

...and the dirt and grass

...and drawing on the driveway

and the ocean/beach of course:

 

He got plenty of "purple uppy" rides too:

 

And he loved playing with Auntie and Uncle A:

Babies galore!

It was a busy baby month for Nurturing Hearts! Stephanie and I attended six births between September 3 and September 18 - and we have another mama who is eagerly awaiting her first baby any day now.

The stats and highlights:

4 girls, 2 boys 

(and another girl on deck)

weights ranging from 7lb 5 oz to 10lb

Birth orders: 2 first, 3 second, and a fourth

3 land births, 2 water births, 1 surgical birth

Sorry, no detailed birth stories this month...I'll have to get back in the habit of documenting as they happen. Briefly...

1. First-time mama, upright throughout labor, ended up on the birth stool...pushed a bit over an hour and helped Steph and her husband catch their baby girl and bring her up to her chest. Her smile, holding her baby, was a mile wide...

2. Second-time mama, first home birth...drew on the love of her husband during intense labor, ended up in the tub. Pushed her little boy into daddy's hands in no time, and immediately looked up to declare all the labor was so worth it, to enjoy the birth of her baby that much...she also expressed a new-found appreciation of her body, for what it can do.

3. Another second-time mama with a first homebirth...strong...amazed at the power she possessed and declared she wanted to do it just like that again next time.

4. Second-time mama, second homebirth. Peaceful, calm, hard to tell she was in labor...until the soft sounds of Harry Connick Jr. annoyed her and she started pushing. Her 10 pound daughter was born in the tub, surrounded by family. This baby needed some help getting started, but proved as strong as her mama and is thriving on mama's milk...much to her family's delight, after a hard nursing relationship with baby one!

5. Fourth-time mama, first baby girl. Labored calmly through the night, birthed her daughter on her bed, with her husband at her side. This baby has more hair than I've ever seen on any baby, anywhere! 

6. And finally, first-time mama who labored and labored, and gamely tried everything she (and we) could come up with to birth her daughter...but alas, exhaustion won, and after three days, mama knew it was time for a transfer. With an epidural in place, she fought for hours more at the hospital before making the decision to proceed with a surgical birth. Her strength and dedication were noteworthy...mama was already talking VBAC while making the final decision to head to surgery!

As always, I must note my appreciation to these families, for the honor of witnessing such incredible strength, love, and determination. 

Heading North

Wow - where does the time go? I obviously didn't get to update from Alaska...so here's the quick run-down:


Successfully packed for five people for five weeks in two checked bags, one carry-on, and a backpack for each girl:

The plane ride was rather uneventful...brought our two ipods for video-watching, kept Ollie in the car seat most of the time, ate snacks, and we were there.

 

If you've never flown to Alaska, here's what you've missed (thanks to Ashish for capturing the view):

(click on pictures for full-size viewing)

   

In the past, we've always driven from Anchorage to Homer (220 miles), but fortunately this time, we hopped the half-hour flight on the puddle-jumper and saved the six hours in the car...

Finally made it home:

The kids did great, and were so excited to see Grandma and Grandpa. We had about 10 days before Anna and Ashish arrived for the big wedding party...many more pics to come.