My Life – Page 9 – a hippie with a minivan

First days…

Wow… I am in love…

Not only do I love my new little girl, but seeing her brothers love just makes my heart melt. The boys are completely amazed and enamored by her… they want to kiss her, hold her, touch her…

Xavier spent at least an hour holding her hand and looking at her while she slept the day she was born..

Colin had to come kiss her at least once every 15 min..

Khéna is just in awe and wants to stay close and always wants to hold her…

Khéna is also adapting to being a big brother amazingly well… I have to admit that I was a bit nervous about how he was going to take not being the baby of the family anymore… having to share mama with someone who needs her more, losing his coveted place in the family bed in front of mama… having to share his “Maju”… but he showing me that I was wrong to be nervous… he is taking it better than I would have hoped for, he is so proud to be a big brother!

My mom came by today to bring me a chicken she cooked this morning so we can make some sandwiches with and she left with Colin and Xavier and brought them to where she is saying near the cabin for two nights… the boys wer excited to go and honestly having the house be a bit more quiet will be nice… Khéna would have wanted to go also but it isn’t the best time, so instead he is doing special things with Daddy alone which he thinks is a great alternative…

As for life with baby… she is amazing… her first night was a bit rough until she had a big poop at around 2am and then finally she relaxed and slept… nursing about every 3 hours or so until morning and then throughout the day… she reminds me so much of Colin as a baby.. she looks like him also, the resemblance is quite amazing..

It was because of Colin that I tried EC for the first time.. he hated being wet, even for a second and would get worked up inconsolably… so letting him potty somewhere else than a diaper was exactly what he wanted and needed…

With Khéna we started when he was 4 days old…when the meconium poos were finished… this time I was hesitating on doing the same, but after seeing her reaction to having a BM and being in it for a few minutes, it reminded me so much of Colin that I decided to try right away… and she has been dry all day… she gives a clear signal that she needs to go and the within a few seconds of putting her over the potty bowl she eliminates… she does cry for a few seconds before going but once she lets go, she stops crying immediately and is quiet and content again… though I have seen it before, it is amazing to see how natural it comes…

I have also fell in love with the prefold belt that I bought… and I am going to be sewing up some of my own very soon… it is such a simple concept but makes things so much easier and it looks so much more comfortable than any newborn diaper cover or diaper that I have tried on my babies…

Wilhelmina is also an amazing nurser… her latch was perfect from the start and she is efficient and just so easy to nurse… my milk is coming in also and it amazing to hear her gulp and drink and be content…

As for me, I lost a little more blood than I would have liked yesterday but I am feeling better today… still a little weak, but better… I am also in pain all over my body… my SPD is better but labour was rough and my body is definately feeling the consequences of that… All I can tell myself is that everything will be better soon…

And Simon… well he is still tired from the night I laboured and is doing so much for everyone and is being an amazing husband and father… I think he is feeling a bit overwhelmed and stretched out but he is taking it in stride… I think that having the older boys with my mom for the two nights will make things easier for him also.. he is also happy to be starting his paternity leave which gives him until August before returning to work…

So, yes, we are all in love and enjoying life with a newborn… It is amazing… she is amazing…

A few current thoughts…

Things around here have been quiet…

The summer was busy, but not too much but it feels good to start back into a normal routine again… My aversions seem to be going away and though there are still a lot of things that don’t look appetizing, I can eat more meals that I make, which in turn gives me a little more inspiration to cook. Lately I have been going through the freezer and using the food that we have in our meal plans…

I am trying to get our food costs down but I find it hard. I can spend a lot less for a week or two but then have to spend a lot more the next week in order to replenish a lot of our staples. So basically things spending the same amount when you make the average.

But, we are using more things up which is good.

My energy is also seeming to come a back a bit… I swam a bit last week and would like to go again tonight… Swimming normally (crawl) feels great but only if I don’t use my legs much… when kick with my legs I get contractions and it doesn’t make swimming that comfortable. Having more energy also means that again, cooking is easier, making bread on a regular basis and getting some more cleaning done in the house… Simon has been working a lot on the downstairs lately. We have a bit of a mold problem, it is not in the walls or black mold but looks more like a grey dust on the walls and on a few pieces of furniture. We bought a dehumidifier and that seems to help with the humidity and Simon has been taking everything out and cleaning it, moving furniture etc and a lot of things are not going back were they were before… instead being bagged and either headed to the garbage, recycling or for donation.

Last week I made a new friend… I feel like a kid when I think about it… she just opened a little Maternity store in town where she sells motly local baby products including cloth diapers and soon wraps and slings etc… though she doesn’t homeschool we have so many other things in common and it feels great to be able to meet and talk to someone in the area…

I have also made a decision about the local group and will not be going back. A few things happened and were said at the last meeting that were the last straw for me. I might still do a few activities on the outside with the group but I won’t do much more than that… I will try though to go with the other further groups a bit more often.

So life continues… the leaves are changing and fall is arriving and soon things will start going faster as January approaches… It is still a bit of a shock to think that we will be adding another little life to our brood… scary and exciting at the same time…

last few days…

My mom has been here and it has been a real challenge to just do things that I am used to doing… and I feel that I can’t even get away and be alone because she is staying in my sewing room which is “my” space… when ever I start to write at the computer she talks and I can’t write or even concentrate…. so I haven’t been able to write the last few days and it is crazy because I feel that I have so many things to write about…

The Orgasmic Birth Viewing that I went to last week that was amazing…

Recipes I have tried…

update on my vanilla…

and the new bike that I am getting (tonight!!!)…

Anyway… I will be back soon to write more… she should be leaving tomorrow…

Friday night…

So, Simon and I went out for a date night for the first time in many years and I have to say that it was a lot of fun to eat without being interupted… We left home by Taxi at about 5:45 for our 6pm reservation at one of my favourite restaurants in our area.

An Entrée….

and a great supper to share…

and of course great company…

After supper we went to my other favourite place to eat which also serves desserts and special coffees….

Then we headed out for a walk… it was supposed to rain but it turned out to be a beautiful evening and we were able to see the sun set on the St-Laurent River…

By 9:30 we were ready to head home… though we were not out for long it was long enough for us…

When we got home, Khéna was sleeping and Colin and Xavier were still up… I nursed Colin and he fell asleep soon after a Xavier hung out with Simon for while until he fell asleep…

Though it was great (and a bit calmer) to be out and alone with Simon, I have to say that it wasn’t more special then when we have a date home at night when the kids are asleep or even when we go out as a family… It might have been years since we hadn’t gone out but there was nothing that we were missing…

10 years ago…

I got married…May 8th 1999… what an amazing day…

I can’t believe that it has already been 10 years… Simon and I met at a BBS GT (Bulletin Board System Get Together) in the park… we had never really exchanged words on the BBS but when we met something special formed…

I invited him to my birthday (I was turning 18!!!) at a pub I liked to hang out at with friends and found out that he had come from far away so I offered our pull out bed for him to sleep on that night… the next day we hung out all day at the old port on Montreal… forgoing food… just talking for about 10 hours until he had to head home…

Soon after we became a couple and never looked back… The next year I headed off to school in Brandon, Manitoba and I came back after one semester to be with Simon again… and a few months later we were getting married..

I had never wanted to get married when I was young but when I met Simon and fell in love I knew that I wanted nothing less…

My mom is here from BC, I went and got her on Tuesday night and she will be watching the boys tonight while we have our first date night in almost 7 years… the first time we leave the 3 boys and head out together…

wow… 10 years… I can’t believe it!