Lucky 13

Matt and I texted Ida with 13 things we love about her. His number 4 made me laugh. It’s true—she changes in the car on the way home from church so as to maximize play time. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Boy did we hit the jackpot! Love our girl Ida!

One of the best days of my life

The night before my kids' birthdays, I have a tradition (I'd say I keep it up maybe... 90% of the time?) where I go into their rooms before they fall asleep and tell them the story of their birth. I don't know if they all love it, but I do know that when I went in and started telling Lars his birth story last night, Theo sat up and said "This is my favorite thing!" He also loves watching the birthday videos I used to make for them (tagged in this blog under "birthday babies").

So anyway, Lars was due on June 14, which was a Tuesday. I was in charge of a large children's choir that performed in our stake conference (a stake is several wards or congregations, and we all meet together twice a year) on June 12. I wanted so badly for my baby to hang on until after the choir performance. We had a few Saturday practices, and the kids sounded SO good in our practices. They sang "If the Savior Stood Beside Me," "We'll Bring the World His Truth," and a medley of "Called to Serve" and "I Will Be Valiant." Anyway, so on Saturday, June 11, I came home from our morning rehearsal and flopped on the couch. I was SO tired. I don't remember what else I did that day, but I think I mostly stayed on the couch because I was so determined not to go into labor!

I woke up at 5:00 a.m. on Sunday, June 12, with some serious contractions. I knew, I KNEW today was going to be the day. I got up, showered, got dressed, walked around, swayed back and forth. I went to the stake center. Contractions kept coming. The kids sang their song. It was so good. I honestly can't remember if the contractions stopped during the performance or if I just breathed through them. But for the remainder of the conference, I walked the halls of the stake center, because it hurt to much to stay seated.

We went home, had lunch, I cut out bunting triangles for the kids' rooms while watching Charlotte's Web with the kids. Later, I watched Matchstick Men by myself while cutting out bunting. We called Hannah and Robbie, who were going to come for dinner, and let them know that I might be going to the hospital at some point and to pack a bag (to stay with Theo and Ida) just in case.

Matt made dinner. It was chicken in a creamy mustard sauce, a recipe that I loved (and still love)(Why do I remember what we ate for dinner that day?... funny) but could barely choke down. I excused myself and went to Ida's room to try to get through some contractions without everyone looking at me.

Eventually I told Matt, "Yep, this is it." At which point he and I went upstairs, leaving Hannah and Robbie to put the kids to bed.

My doula, Nicole, came over. She helped me into the shower. She convinced me to walk around and rock my hips in circles, while all I wanted to do was lie on my side and cry (which is what I did during most of Ida's labor). Finally around 9 p.m. we left for the hospital. We took Nicole's car, which I think Matt drove, while Nicole sat in the backseat with me. (I could be wrong about that.) It was a 30-minute drive. We got to the hospital, checked in, went to triage. My doctor was in Fredericksburg at a family reunion. I got put in a delivery room. Lars was born at 10:35 p.m., an hour after we had checked in and about 10 minutes after the doctor arrived. Matt caught him. He put Lars on my chest, and I can see this visual better than almost any visual memory in my memory bank: Lars opened his left eye (right eye squeezed shut) and screamed in my face.

Once we got all cleaned up and settled in a recovery room, I was starved. I had barely eaten all day. It was probably midnight by then, and every restaurant nearby (in Leesburg, which is kinda boonies-ish) was closed. The hospital cafeteria was closed too. A nurse found me an American cheese sandwich that was in a bag somewhere, honestly I don't know where it was from but it was so bad and so dry. I barely slept that night. We knew his name would be Lars, it was our top name, although Linus was a close second choice.

Oh, that was such a good day!

My baby is two.

Not sure how that happened!



I've Just Seen a Face - Paul McCartney & Wings

My baby is 1

I'm back with the birthday videos! Woohoo! I hadn't made one since Lars turned 3, but I was determined to make one for Polly's first year. I tried a new video editor this time, and although it was fairly easy to use, I'm unimpressed with the quality. Ah well. Regardless, Polly's still the cutest. And the sweetest.

Happy birthday, little Polly! We love you so!!!

Ida's birthday interview

Ida turned 6 yesterday. I'm a bit behind in most things right now, including making her birthday video. But I've started it. For now, here was her birthday interview yesterday. I started doing these when Theo turned 7 and Lars turned 3, and here's my third attempt. It's actually 2 videos in one and is very choppy and only has a few questions. I ran out of storage space during the first video and lost some good stuff. But it's cute anyway.

 

Sure love that darling girl. I thank God for her every day.

A happy, happy birthday to you from me

Lars is three today!! Or as he says it, "thlee" (or as he used to say it, "thlee, thlee").

When Lars was almost out at 10:30 p.m. on June 12, 2011 my doctor told Matt, "Go ahead and grab the baby." So Matt grabbed the baby and swung him onto my chest. I have a brain-video in my mind of that moment (right after the moment where I checked for the boy-or-girl evidence) where Lars, crumpled against my chest with his face three inches from mine, looked straight at me with his left eye only, his right eye squeezed firmly shut, and screamed in my face. I adore that brain-video and have replayed it ever since I woke up this morning on his third birthday. Right now, while the rest of the family sleeps and I post this, he's happily sitting and watched "The Tangled," his favorite movie. Today...once the sun comes up since it's barely 6 a.m....we're going to shop for his presents (I'm counting on Ida to distract him while I drop things into the cart), make cake "with blueberry frosting," hang with his play school friends, and (dun dun dun) dispose of his binky (he says he's ready...we'll see).

Songs: "Joy Parade" by Lennon and Maisy and "Robin in the Rain" by Raffi

__________________________________________

User note: My first attempt making one of these slideshows with iMovie (on an iPad--my desktop is a PC) had its ups and downs. My sister has long made fun of me for using a free online service to make these birthday videos, but honestly they were a lot more idiot-proof than iMovie. In fact I still would have used the service (One True Media) if it hadn't shut down a few weeks ago. (I guess most people who like to make slideshows prefer to be fancy about it.) The same things that are great about the iMovie app (or for that matter, Windows Movie Maker) are the things that annoy me, though. You can do all kinds of fine-tuning, but you can also accidentally undo your fine-tuning with one swipe and then not find a way to undo that undoing. (There is one Undo function but it doesn't help if your clumsy fingers have undone a few things in one and a half swipes.) 

One thing that I could have spent more time fine-tuning was the "Ken Burns effect" (which automatically gives movement to photos in a slideshow, a la a Ken Burns documentary). I didn't want to entirely turn it off (not that I could figure out how to do that anyway) but I also didn't want to get seasick whenever I watched it. And I also didn't want to spend hours adjusting it. So I spent a little bit of time adjusting it and then just lived with the result. I also accidentally lost one of the video files during the upload process, and then when I restored it I neglected to adjust the background audio, so those 5 seconds of audio are a little jarring. Maybe someday if I recover from the effort it took to upload the iMovie to YouTube (which involved deleting a lot of iPad data and a few space-filling apps) I'll fix the audio on that part and reload it.

Lucky seven #2

And one more for tonight. Somehow each of my kids has a slideshow for each of their birthdays. (so far) I'm feeling pretty good about that, especially since none of them have baby books.

The slideshows get shorter every year but I think that's because after a few years and a few kids, one stops thinking about taking videos of everything one's kids do. Hard to believe I have NO videos of Theo from his seventh year. Oh well!




* Son My Son - Milo Greene
(bit of a somber song, I realize)

Lucky seven

Theo turned 7 today. He granted me an exclusive birthday interview before he went to bed tonight. Clocking in at 4:39, it's a bit long. But I enjoyed it anyway. :)

Ida is 5 today!

I can't begin to say how much we love Ida or how much joy and happiness she brings to our family. She is so smart, funny, and kind. Happy birthday, Ida!!

Darling boy

Lars is turning two tomorrow!! (Wednesday) I'll be honest, he's a rascal. But more importantly he's a joy and a treasure. All of us get so excited and laugh our heads off every time he learns a new word or skill. It is so fun for Matt and me to share him with Theo and Ida because they get the biggest kick out of everything he does. (except when he's torturing them by messing up their games or hitting them or stealing their stuff, but otherwise they think he's hysterical.) I can't imagine our family without him. Before he showed up, what did we do all day? I don't even remember. We all LOVE you, Larsy-bones! Happy birthday, sweet boy!

Also, my Android doesn't play Vimeo videos so if you have a similar problem, here it is on YouTube.

* Everybody - Ingrid Michaelson

Bonus:
Lars's first birthday
And his birth...day

Little boy, little boy

Theo turned 6 today. (Every age that my oldest child turns, always sounds so old to me!) Last night when I tucked him in bed I told him, as I've told him many times, the story of the day he joined our family. He listened with a huge smile and asked questions. He loves to hear it and I love to tell it.

I wish I could say that Sandy Hook didn't change my entire life because I already lived the way I wanted to, but it did. I think moms of 6-year-olds everywhere must have sobbed that day. Sometimes it's easy to forget how precious a 6-year-old is. I think it's partly because they're pretty independent with the day-to-day stuff, and they start talking back and really strutting their stuff in a way that can drive a person crazy. I remember reading when Theo was tiny that taking care of a baby's every physical need, while exhausting, is the sure way to develop a deep bond. Feeding, changing, cleaning a baby takes so much time and makes you lose so much sleep and they absolutely can't do any of it for themselves. I really think that full-body dependence is what makes babies so irresistible, as backwards as it may sound.

A 6-year-old needs his parents in a completely different way. Anticipating his needs and taking care of them, directing and guiding his emotional and spiritual path, letting him choose how he wants to live--these take less physical effort and much much more thought. And many more tears actually. Preparing him for the world he will soon be a part of--and honestly already is now that he's away from me for 7 hours a day--is a full-time job and I know we're all just getting in deeper and deeper as he grows and (gradually, I hope) loses his innocence. He needs us even when (or especially when) it's not obvious, and we need him even more. He is a treasure to us and vital to our family. We love our precious 6-year-old!


*St. Judy's Comet - Paul Simon

My 4-year-old

I hope Ida and I always get along as well as we do now. She is so sweet and kind to all of us and is a joy and a blessing in our home. Happy birthday, Ida Rachel!

(Brown-Eyed Girl by Van Morrison and Sweet Pea by Amos Lee)

He's still five.

Theo turned five!

(nine months ago!)



Will I make his next birthday slideshow before he actually turns six?... Check back in 3 months.

I love my five-year-old. He is so fun. Challenging, sweet, affectionate, and fun. Song: "Birdhouse in Your Soul" by They Might Be Giants

Happy birthday, Lars!

An entire year just flew by in front of my eyes. Happy birthday, little Lars! Oh how we love you!!


("When We Were Young" by Lucy Schwartz)

I will love you on your birthday

Happy 3rd birthday to our sweet Ida today. Mwah!!



("Bushel and a Peck" by Doris Day)

Theo is 4! ...Still!

Now that it's October, here is Theo's 4th birthday slideshow that I meant to make last January but didn't. I can't believe I actually made it before his 5th birthday. Bonus points for making it an entire week before Ida's birthday!

Lowered my standards this year. Usually I fiddle with it to make the transitions go with the beat of the song. I realize that is a little bit obsessive for a project like this. And so I am letting go. Here's to lowering standards on the occasion of my son's birthday which also happens to be 9 months late.



("Loves Me Like a Rock" by Paul Simon)

Ida!

Could we possibly love sweet Ida any more than we do?? I don't think so. Two years ago today, she surprised us by showing up right on time. Ever since then she has made our home happier than it's ever been.

By the way I hope you can appreciate a solidly '70s love song like I can. "Two Fine People" is one of my favorite Cat Stevens songs even though (maybe even because?) the music is a little corny. And "Hallelujah I Love Her So" is...well, it's just true.

Happy birthday, Ida Rachel!





("Two Fine People" by Cat Stevens and "Hallelujah I Love Her So" by Ray Charles)

The big day!

Finally the big day has arrived! Happy birthday, dear Theo!


("This Old Man" by Bob Dylan and "Every Day" by Buddy Holly)

One is fun.

One year ago today we were surprised and delighted to meet our favorite baby girl, right on time. Then I blinked my eyes and now she is a toddler. Happy birthday, Ida Rachel!

P.S. I finally had Ida's mullet removed. Phew. (Clearly not before taking that last video though.)




("Birthday" by The Bird and the Bee and "Forevermore" by Katie Herzig)

#2

Theo is 2! Okay, technically not until Sunday, but I'm pretty sure he's been 2, as in "terrible 2," since Ida was born and we witnessed the dawn of the major, major tantrum age. Alternately terrible and wonderful. Sometimes both at once.

We love our Theo!

(This one is a minute longer than last year's....hopefully if I keep doing these I can restrain myself and keep them short.)




("Songs of Love" by Ben Folds and "I Will" by the Beatles)