Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Happy Birthday, Jack!
Don't give up on me yet, folks! I haven't fallen off the face of the earth.
Our little second child, our sweet Jack, just turned five! FIVE. He is the first of the family to celebrate a birthday in the new house. Jack requested a "rainbow Angry Birds" theme for his party. His "party" stretched out over a week, with a series of several nice visits from family. On his actual birthday, Alexander made Jack stay upstairs while we decorated for him. Alexander made him an adorable heart-shaped card which said he loved him. Later, we went to Target where Jack chose a small gift, since his REAL gift (a "Dream Lite") hadn't arrived yet. He is such a darn sweetie that he hadn't even asked about a present, but I still felt like he should have a little something on his real birthday. After dinner we had some cake and sang to him. The following Saturday, we had a nice visit from Aunt Eileen and Great Grandpop. On Sunday, Grandma and Grandpa visited, and on Tuesday, PopPop and Memaw came over! It was nice for Jack (and the rest of us!) to get to spend special time with each set of people.
At five, Jack is an interesting mix of stubborn with a temper and sweet, generous, and affectionate. His current favorite food is bread with butter. He thinks most foods are "disgusting." He is an extremely eager learner and wants to "do school" far more than I would require of him. He has an excellent grasp of the concepts of opposites and rhymes and is on the verge of reading readiness. He enjoys riding his scooter in the cul-de-sac, playing with his brothers, building with Legos, Play-Doh, and of course video games and TV.
Jack just had his five-year well visit and he is perfectly healthy. He is above the 98th percentile for height, at around the 88th percentile for weight, and his BMI is at the 50th percentile, which is just about perfect. He was a champ for his exam and flu shot. He's doing great! Love you, my sweet boy!
Our little second child, our sweet Jack, just turned five! FIVE. He is the first of the family to celebrate a birthday in the new house. Jack requested a "rainbow Angry Birds" theme for his party. His "party" stretched out over a week, with a series of several nice visits from family. On his actual birthday, Alexander made Jack stay upstairs while we decorated for him. Alexander made him an adorable heart-shaped card which said he loved him. Later, we went to Target where Jack chose a small gift, since his REAL gift (a "Dream Lite") hadn't arrived yet. He is such a darn sweetie that he hadn't even asked about a present, but I still felt like he should have a little something on his real birthday. After dinner we had some cake and sang to him. The following Saturday, we had a nice visit from Aunt Eileen and Great Grandpop. On Sunday, Grandma and Grandpa visited, and on Tuesday, PopPop and Memaw came over! It was nice for Jack (and the rest of us!) to get to spend special time with each set of people.
At five, Jack is an interesting mix of stubborn with a temper and sweet, generous, and affectionate. His current favorite food is bread with butter. He thinks most foods are "disgusting." He is an extremely eager learner and wants to "do school" far more than I would require of him. He has an excellent grasp of the concepts of opposites and rhymes and is on the verge of reading readiness. He enjoys riding his scooter in the cul-de-sac, playing with his brothers, building with Legos, Play-Doh, and of course video games and TV.
Jack just had his five-year well visit and he is perfectly healthy. He is above the 98th percentile for height, at around the 88th percentile for weight, and his BMI is at the 50th percentile, which is just about perfect. He was a champ for his exam and flu shot. He's doing great! Love you, my sweet boy!
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Memory Lane
It's been a record long time since I've posted, but I have excuses. Right now we're living in a hotel in PA. I want to catch up with the little things, but first: The Big Thing. We're living in a hotel in Pennsylvania because Justin accepted a job here and we're relocating! Justin spent his entire life, minus a few months, living in Maryland. I lived there since I was seven years old.
So, to say goodbye to Maryland and all the places I lived there, a little trip down memory lane... It started with the house on Templar Court, where I have my last memories of my mother. I remember that when we moved to Maryland from New York, I thought Maryland smelled funny. I think it was actually just the weird tree in our front yard. Maybe my dad remembers what kind it was. There was Saint Mary's school, plaid jumpers and knee socks. I met my friend Missy on the bus the first day, and we were the same age that my son is now. There was "The Worst Birthday Party Ever" and tons of fun exploring around the neighborhood and nearby woods with my brother. My dad let me watch scary movies, which I was not afraid of, but my aunt would cover my eyes and my friends would run from the room. But in the middle of the night, I have to admit that I was often nervous that my red-headed Cabbage Patch doll looked a little too much like Chucky.
Next came the house on Dean Drive when I was 12. There was Timm next door, runaways in the playhouse, sneaking out and wandering the neighborhood, and switching to public school where I met good friends Tara and Autumn, among others. There was middle school and high school, when your friends are your world and your priorities are all over the place and you really don't know who you're going to be even though you're mostly already you.
I took a short break from Maryland when I spent a semester in college in Virginia, but I boomeranged back to Dean, to my dad, and to the flower shop where I worked. I remember telling coworker Don that I had started dating my long-time friend, 17-year-old Justin. 17 seems so young now, and so long ago. We quickly moved into our first apartment, Bayberry. Justin almost proposed to me in a tree, but the people playing tennis nearby were too loud and distracting. Instead, he proposed on "Monkey's Cliff," and I told him how a corpse had recently been discovered in the creek below. We drove straight from the park to Hallmark, where I bought engagement announcements.
We were married in Frederick in October 2000. Justin wasn't even old enough to drink. We moved to our second apartment in Bayberry, The Loft, where our cat Ashe found surprising ways to get around our makeshift gate and into the loft, where she would seek and find the Beanie Baby Seahorse every time. Sweet Ashe, who hated everyone but us.
To save money, we moved in with coworker Don and stayed there for about three years. I still can't believe we lived in that dump. The carpet was so worn you could see the floor below. The walls were yellow with cigarette smoke. The dishwasher didn't work and was used as a drying rack. The kitchen floor was buckled. During Hurricane Isabel, a tree fell on the house and we could only use one of the doors to go in and out. Power was out for 10 days. We had a BBQ to grill up all the meat before it went bad. The backyard was a beast and we took out our frustrations on old porch chairs. We let 'em know who was boss. Don had a string of interesting characters as friends. You never quite knew what you were in for on Mitscher St.
But living in a dump didn't suit us forever. Our next stop was a little apartment in Gaithersburg: Spring Ridge. It was big for a one-bedroom, 780 square feet. Justin had started working at HMS and I had finished college, worked for a year as a nanny, and was working at Borders, where I met good friend Betsy. When we talked about having kids, Betsy told me not to wait until "all our ducks were in a row," because then we might never get around to having kids. So, Justin and I decided we were ready and along came Alexander. I stopped working outside the home to care for him, and there, truly, began the life that I am living now. I joined the old Yahoo playgroup and met my first "mom friends." Then I joined the Tot Lot MC2 and met so many more mom friends, who are all very, very dear to me. I think we all shared an amazing, special time in our lives with most of us starting out with our first children and all adjusting together to that new life.
When Alexander had just turned two, we moved again, not far, to a rental townhouse on Pontiac Dr. Jack was born and we were really becoming a family. Pontiac became the catalyst for our move to Frederick when the owner got foreclosed on and we had to get out, fast. We didn't know how long we had before someone would come put locks on our doors. No one could give us any answers and as much as we tried, no one would take our rent money.
We bought a house in Frederick and spent four amazing years there. Kai and Noah were born, Alexander went to preschool and two years of elementary school. Jack went to preschool. There was the FC Tot Lot and then the MOMS Club, where I met so many more dear friends. I had come to feel so at home there, so much a part of the community. I honestly did not think we would ever leave. Leave that house, maybe, but Frederick had become home to me in a way that none of the other homes were home. It was a home that we had chosen to buy, a home that all of our children had lived in, a home where I could go outside and immediately see friends. But life doesn't stand still. So, here we are in Pennsylvania, where we hope to find that kind of home again. I want to be a part of things again, make connections, contribute to the community, explore, learn, create, and wonder along with our children.
And for now, we're in a hotel, and it's hard not to feel like our lives are on hold until we get into a real home. But there are adventures to be had, and I'm trying very hard not to wait for my "new life" to start, but to live every day as an important day in my life. Every day spent with the four best little boys in the world and the most awesome husband is indeed an important day.
So, to say goodbye to Maryland and all the places I lived there, a little trip down memory lane... It started with the house on Templar Court, where I have my last memories of my mother. I remember that when we moved to Maryland from New York, I thought Maryland smelled funny. I think it was actually just the weird tree in our front yard. Maybe my dad remembers what kind it was. There was Saint Mary's school, plaid jumpers and knee socks. I met my friend Missy on the bus the first day, and we were the same age that my son is now. There was "The Worst Birthday Party Ever" and tons of fun exploring around the neighborhood and nearby woods with my brother. My dad let me watch scary movies, which I was not afraid of, but my aunt would cover my eyes and my friends would run from the room. But in the middle of the night, I have to admit that I was often nervous that my red-headed Cabbage Patch doll looked a little too much like Chucky.
Next came the house on Dean Drive when I was 12. There was Timm next door, runaways in the playhouse, sneaking out and wandering the neighborhood, and switching to public school where I met good friends Tara and Autumn, among others. There was middle school and high school, when your friends are your world and your priorities are all over the place and you really don't know who you're going to be even though you're mostly already you.
I took a short break from Maryland when I spent a semester in college in Virginia, but I boomeranged back to Dean, to my dad, and to the flower shop where I worked. I remember telling coworker Don that I had started dating my long-time friend, 17-year-old Justin. 17 seems so young now, and so long ago. We quickly moved into our first apartment, Bayberry. Justin almost proposed to me in a tree, but the people playing tennis nearby were too loud and distracting. Instead, he proposed on "Monkey's Cliff," and I told him how a corpse had recently been discovered in the creek below. We drove straight from the park to Hallmark, where I bought engagement announcements.
We were married in Frederick in October 2000. Justin wasn't even old enough to drink. We moved to our second apartment in Bayberry, The Loft, where our cat Ashe found surprising ways to get around our makeshift gate and into the loft, where she would seek and find the Beanie Baby Seahorse every time. Sweet Ashe, who hated everyone but us.
To save money, we moved in with coworker Don and stayed there for about three years. I still can't believe we lived in that dump. The carpet was so worn you could see the floor below. The walls were yellow with cigarette smoke. The dishwasher didn't work and was used as a drying rack. The kitchen floor was buckled. During Hurricane Isabel, a tree fell on the house and we could only use one of the doors to go in and out. Power was out for 10 days. We had a BBQ to grill up all the meat before it went bad. The backyard was a beast and we took out our frustrations on old porch chairs. We let 'em know who was boss. Don had a string of interesting characters as friends. You never quite knew what you were in for on Mitscher St.
But living in a dump didn't suit us forever. Our next stop was a little apartment in Gaithersburg: Spring Ridge. It was big for a one-bedroom, 780 square feet. Justin had started working at HMS and I had finished college, worked for a year as a nanny, and was working at Borders, where I met good friend Betsy. When we talked about having kids, Betsy told me not to wait until "all our ducks were in a row," because then we might never get around to having kids. So, Justin and I decided we were ready and along came Alexander. I stopped working outside the home to care for him, and there, truly, began the life that I am living now. I joined the old Yahoo playgroup and met my first "mom friends." Then I joined the Tot Lot MC2 and met so many more mom friends, who are all very, very dear to me. I think we all shared an amazing, special time in our lives with most of us starting out with our first children and all adjusting together to that new life.
When Alexander had just turned two, we moved again, not far, to a rental townhouse on Pontiac Dr. Jack was born and we were really becoming a family. Pontiac became the catalyst for our move to Frederick when the owner got foreclosed on and we had to get out, fast. We didn't know how long we had before someone would come put locks on our doors. No one could give us any answers and as much as we tried, no one would take our rent money.
We bought a house in Frederick and spent four amazing years there. Kai and Noah were born, Alexander went to preschool and two years of elementary school. Jack went to preschool. There was the FC Tot Lot and then the MOMS Club, where I met so many more dear friends. I had come to feel so at home there, so much a part of the community. I honestly did not think we would ever leave. Leave that house, maybe, but Frederick had become home to me in a way that none of the other homes were home. It was a home that we had chosen to buy, a home that all of our children had lived in, a home where I could go outside and immediately see friends. But life doesn't stand still. So, here we are in Pennsylvania, where we hope to find that kind of home again. I want to be a part of things again, make connections, contribute to the community, explore, learn, create, and wonder along with our children.
And for now, we're in a hotel, and it's hard not to feel like our lives are on hold until we get into a real home. But there are adventures to be had, and I'm trying very hard not to wait for my "new life" to start, but to live every day as an important day in my life. Every day spent with the four best little boys in the world and the most awesome husband is indeed an important day.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Kai speaks!
Kai talks quite a bit... and he is hilarious! Some recent quotes:
"Mom, I want you turn my hiccups off."
"Pillow, don't be sad. It's fun uh go bed."
"I hear something through my ears."
"Mom, I want you turn my hiccups off."
"Pillow, don't be sad. It's fun uh go bed."
"I hear something through my ears."
Sunday, May 20, 2012
The Names
When planning for our fourth baby, we knew that if we had a boy, it would be tough to name him. We've already named three boys, after all, using a total of six names. We also have sort of a pattern we wanted to follow of using a family name for the middle name. So when we found out that Noah was indeed another boy, we got right to work to finalize our choice of his name. We also decided to keep this name a secret until he was born, as that is something I've always wanted to do. We've always known the sex of the baby ahead of time, and we know they're going to be big. With all but Alexander, we've even known their birthdays ahead of time. I wanted there to be some element of surprise in the birth announcement!
Alexander Matthew's name came from simply two names that we liked, Matthew being my brother's name. We later regretted using Matthew as Alexander's middle name only because we would have loved to use it for one of our other son's first names, but felt it was a little weird (for us) to do so. We wanted to call him Xander, which we did and still do. He has started to go by Alex at school. Maybe it's due to the great flow of his name, but he gets a lot of "Alexander Matthew!" when he's in trouble.
Jack was, again, just a name that we liked and could agree on. His middle name, Justin, is of course after his father. I sometimes call him JJ. People do sometimes ask if Jack is his real/full name or just a nickname.
I've loved the name Kai for a while and I'm not sure how we made it to our third son before using the name. I had really wanted to use my mother's name, or a combination of my mom and Justin's mom's names (possibly Karelyn), if we had a girl. When we found out that wouldn't happen (and we thought Kai would be our last baby), I loved the idea of using a "K" name for our son, to honor my mom Karen. Kai's middle name is Damon, which is a sort of combination of both our fathers' names, David and Vernon.
For Noah, we weren't sure what to use as a middle name from the family because there really weren't any other men that we felt strongly about naming our child for. (Not to say there aren't tons of other men in our family that we love and respect!) Honestly, we weren't sure what to use for either name! Since Justin's name is used as Jack's middle name, we thought it might be fun to give our fourth son my initials, an "E A" name like Etan Andrew or Elijah Avery. In fact, at one point we "shook" on Elijah Avery being his name, but after a week or two we just didn't love it and didn't feel that it quite fit with the other boys' names. We decided to drop the idea of an "E A" name and just give him any first name that we liked and give him an "E" middle name for me (Elizabeth). Since he is named for me, we thought it was interesting that both of our nurses during his delivery were also named Elizabeth. We decided on Noah for his first name, which I've always liked. Noah means "peaceful." I ran across the name Everett while browsing through the "E" boys' names, and I really liked the sound of it and thought it went well with Noah. I also liked that it means "brave," which I thought offered a good balance with "peaceful." A little boy with three older brothers will need a little bravery!
I'd love to hear stories of how your kids were named! Blog it or leave the story in comments!
Alexander Matthew's name came from simply two names that we liked, Matthew being my brother's name. We later regretted using Matthew as Alexander's middle name only because we would have loved to use it for one of our other son's first names, but felt it was a little weird (for us) to do so. We wanted to call him Xander, which we did and still do. He has started to go by Alex at school. Maybe it's due to the great flow of his name, but he gets a lot of "Alexander Matthew!" when he's in trouble.
Jack was, again, just a name that we liked and could agree on. His middle name, Justin, is of course after his father. I sometimes call him JJ. People do sometimes ask if Jack is his real/full name or just a nickname.
I've loved the name Kai for a while and I'm not sure how we made it to our third son before using the name. I had really wanted to use my mother's name, or a combination of my mom and Justin's mom's names (possibly Karelyn), if we had a girl. When we found out that wouldn't happen (and we thought Kai would be our last baby), I loved the idea of using a "K" name for our son, to honor my mom Karen. Kai's middle name is Damon, which is a sort of combination of both our fathers' names, David and Vernon.
For Noah, we weren't sure what to use as a middle name from the family because there really weren't any other men that we felt strongly about naming our child for. (Not to say there aren't tons of other men in our family that we love and respect!) Honestly, we weren't sure what to use for either name! Since Justin's name is used as Jack's middle name, we thought it might be fun to give our fourth son my initials, an "E A" name like Etan Andrew or Elijah Avery. In fact, at one point we "shook" on Elijah Avery being his name, but after a week or two we just didn't love it and didn't feel that it quite fit with the other boys' names. We decided to drop the idea of an "E A" name and just give him any first name that we liked and give him an "E" middle name for me (Elizabeth). Since he is named for me, we thought it was interesting that both of our nurses during his delivery were also named Elizabeth. We decided on Noah for his first name, which I've always liked. Noah means "peaceful." I ran across the name Everett while browsing through the "E" boys' names, and I really liked the sound of it and thought it went well with Noah. I also liked that it means "brave," which I thought offered a good balance with "peaceful." A little boy with three older brothers will need a little bravery!
I'd love to hear stories of how your kids were named! Blog it or leave the story in comments!
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Kai is two!
We're very excited for Kai and Noah because, with birthdays only 4 days apart, they are birthday buddies! On April 14th, Kai turned two. He is very, very TWO. He celebrated with a shopping trip with Daddy, where he picked out a big Muno pillow/doll to go with his Brobee one. (Muno and Brobee are characters from a kids' TV show, Yo Gabba Gabba).We also gave him his favorite dinner of chicken nuggets, followed by cupcakes for dessert.
Kai is a big talker, knows how to sing his ABCs and count to 14, and is starting to use the potty. He loves Yo Gabba Gabba, Winnie the Pooh, Barney, and Elmo. His favorite things to do are to play outside, do puzzles, read, and play with Magformers. He has the most gorgeous eyes and adores all his brothers. We love you, Kai!
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Noah Everett Has Arrived!
On April 10, 2012, our newest little bundle of joy arrived: Noah Everett.We arrived at the hospital at 5:30AM (sooo early!) for the scheduled induction. To our surprise, things went quickly and I had been admitted, examined (2cm dilated and having contractions), and had Pitocin in my veins by about 6:15AM. As with Kai's delivery, I was already in the early stages of labor so we were able to skip the first stage of the induction, saving us several hours. We are SO lucky!
We had a great nurse named Elizabeth, who was wonderfully cheerful, thoughtful and helpful. Our doctor was Doctor Melnick, of whom we are not fans.We got the impression that neither Elizabeth nor our anesthesiologist liked him much, either.By about 8AM I was 3cm dilated and just chilling. We figured the baby might not be born until late afternoon and I worried that labor could even progress into the night. But, around 9:30AM the doctor broke my water. That is when things started to happen very quickly. The contractions started to intensify. I got my epidural and the pain subsided again. By 10AM I was at about 5cm and just a bit later (I started to lose track of time by this point), the contractions started to become very painful... then extremely painful. I thought the epidural just wasn't working well and told the nurse I was fine. Justin said, "Um.. are you sure?" and I admitted that the contractions had become very painful. The nurse examined me and I was already fully dilated! This couldn't have been later than 10:30, so I had gone from 5cm to 10cm in just half an hour. No wonder it was painful!
Nurse Elizabeth called for Dr. Melnick, who had me start pushing... then left the room randomly (like I said, we're not fans). He came back a few minutes later, but really wasn't much help. The baby's nurse arrived and was coincidentally also named Elizabeth.
Noah Everett was born at 10:54AM. He weighed 9 pounds and 9 ounces and was 22 inches long. He was (and is) perfect in every way. He looks a lot like Jack did when he was born.
Everything went very smoothly for the rest of our stay at the hospital. I was soon transferred upstairs to the maternity ward, but I didn't stay long! Noah and I went home the next afternoon to introduce Noah to his brothers and start the next phase of our lives.
Mom Outnumbered, Indeed.
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