It's so fun to have girls!

I've recently gotten into crocheting again. I hadn't done it for a long time.

(In fact, I think the last time I worked on a project was like five conferences ago, making a blanket for a baby I was still hoping for and not even pregnant with yet. That blanket is still unfinished. Surprise surprise!)

But I have made SIX hats in the last couple months, and they have all been totally adorable.

Of course, anything looks cute on a baby like this. :)

 

(Also, that's a fake pear.)

 

 

I also made this blackberry pie last week from our last blackberry-picking adventure. It was the best pie we've ever eaten. The ugly swirls were an experiment. :)

 

Remember my tomatoes?

 

I'm SUCH a pioneer! :)

 

(Just kidding, Spirits in Heaven. Oh, you probably know that.)

 

 

Chiara's first day of dance class. Had to get some last-minute studying of her "brain book" before we left. It's a text book full of pictures I don't understand. And she knows I don't understand too, because she only asks Eldon about it now. :)

 

 

Lebanon's finest (only) dance studio. Awesome.

I'm a gardener! I garden!

Let me just tell you, there are a lot of things I didn't know about putting seeds in the ground and hoping for a harvest. I figured, "How hard could it be?" I knew my crop wouldn't be stellar, and honestly I think I was acting more out of curiosity than attempted self-sufficiency.

Turns out, you shouldn't plant the ENTIRE packet of tomato seeds in a 4x4 - foot plot. What do I know? I figured, "Well, some will fall on stony ground, and some will fall by the wayside and be eaten by birds, and some will be choked by weeds ..." Right?

So I planted THREE packets.

Hahahahaha ... I just made my own self laugh. I really, truly planted three packets of seeds in the ground. Sixteen square feet of ground. My father-in-law teased me and said that's enough for an acre.

So this afternoon for our little Sunday walk we wandered over to our garden. I brought my camera.

Here is a lovely picture of a neighbor's plot.

 

 

And another neighbor's plot. Clearly these people know what they're doing.

 

Here's my plot:

 

 

It looks like the Amazon. It's kind of embarrassing. But we do get lots (and lots) of little cherry tomatoes! It makes me so happy to see my child eating the literal fruit of my labor. I love it.

 

This is what we snack on all day long:

 

 

Just like it will be in heaven ... endless cherry tomatoes.

 

Oh, funny story about the bell pepper. My plan this summer was to plant tomatoes and basil for a continual source of ingredients for all things Italian. I wish I could grow mozzarella cheese, but alas, that takes animals. Growing produce in dirt is about as farmy as I'm willing to go.

 

Anyway, I'd been gathering leaves for months, smelling them, and discarding them. The shape was a little off and they didn't smell right yet. How long does it take for basil to actually produce leaves you can eat? I didn't know. And I didn't google it. After two months I figured I'd gotten a lousy packet and stopped plucking leaves. I just let the plants grow and flower and whatever.

 

Then, what to my wondering eyes should appear? A bell pepper. Dangling off my basil plant.

 



 

I'm an idiot.

 

Eldon: "Bell pepper?? You're supposed to be BASIL!"



Shelli: "Yeah. Weird. But you know, in my defense, those seed packets all looked alike. They should consider relabeling some of them."
We laughed hysterically about this for weeks.
(Are we the only couple who constantly talk to each other in Disney movie dialogue? I hope not.)

But they aren't like, yummy red or orange or yellow peppers. They're this strange purple color that just tastes like sub-par green. Oh well.

So, clearly I'm still learning all this nature-taming, gardening stuff. In fact the other day as Eldon, Chiara, and I were picking tomatoes I looked at my green hands and asked, "Hey, is this why they call it having a green thumb?" The look he gave me was priceless. When we were done and bringing home our harvest of deliciousness he put his arm around me and said, "Look at what you did, Honey! This is all your hard work."

I'm rather pleased with myself about it. I put seeds in the ground and my family is eating the fruit. It kind of makes my spiritual mind go crazy with ideas and realizations.

P.S. When I watched Chiara eat the first ripe tomato we found - like a month ago - I felt like such a pioneer. I know it doesn't make any sense, and if there's such a thing as righteous indignation in heaven those pioneers' spirits are probably lit up like fireflies as I write this. But for one brief little moment I felt a connection to nature, and the mantel of dominion over the earth. I could get used to this.

Chiara's Prayer Tonight

Dear Heavenly Father,

We're thanko fer this day.

We're thanko fer ...

We're thanko fer ...

We're thanko fer our family.

Please bless all our blessings.

We're thanko fer he has the golden plates.

We're thanko fer ...

We're thanko fer ...

We're thanko fer Mommy and Daddy and Chiara and Noelle.

We're thanko fer ...

We're thanko fer we could be together as a family.

We're thanko fer I love princesses.

We're thanko fer Grandpa and Grandma and my friends.

In the name of Christ,

Amen.

Amen!

Alphabet Wall Art

I'm finally done with a project I've been meaning to get to for months. It wasn't hard, or expensive, or time-consuming ... I just had to get around to it. I'm pleased with how it turned out. Someday I'll do a real alphabet made of sturdy materials, but for now it's just scrapbook paper and fun-tak. But I love it.

I put up the letters above the changing table. I'm in love with the colors. Closet Linens Stack from JoAnn Fabric. It's a perfect blend of beachy blues and beiges. Someday my whole house will be done in beach colors ... until then, scrapbook paper is my decorating tool of choice.

Somebody

This morning I was playing on my bed with the girls and had the funniest conversation with Chiara:

"Can I watch a Chiara movie [a home video], Mom?" Pause to perform her sweet pleading smile. "Please?"

"Sure, Sweetheart."

"Actually, I'll stay here." She said, plopping down on the bed and bouncing Noelle three inches into the air.

"Okay, that's a good idea. Let's be so careful, please."

(GASP!) "What's that noisy??" Looking frantically out the window.

"The guys are cleaning our houses, Honey ... It's okay."

"We better have to close the window so we can talk." (I'm serious, she said that.)

"Okay, you can."

So Chiara hops off the bed and slams the window shut, then climbs up on the bed again and just stares at me. After about 30 seconds, she speaks.

"Now we can sound [hear?]. And we can learn about ... Heavenly Father."

"Oh, okay, that's a good idea, Honey. We love Him."

"He's my nother one Father."

"That's right, Love."

"He loves me really much."

"Yes He does."

"And then there's Joseph Smith."

This surprised me, because I haven't talked to her very much about Joseph Smith. But we'd watched The Restoration at a friend's house for family night last night, and she was really into it. My favorite part was young Joseph's prayer in the woods and her exclamation: (GASP!) "Here comes JESUS!!!"

"Yes, he was a prophet was he?" (Chiara ends these kind of sentences without the "not" part. So isn't, aren't, wasn't, weren't, etc. are all is, are, am, was, and were. Example: It's so beautiful when I twirl, is it? I'm a strong girl, am I? That boy was so sad, was he? Etc. etc. So Eldon and I talk to her like this because we think it's adorable and we want it to last as long as possible. )

"Uh huh. And he was so nice. He loves me really much, does he?"

"Yes, he does, Honey."

Here she paused to play with Noelle. No one can make Noelle laugh like Chiara can. I don't know why, but when I try to do the same things Chiara does it's 90% ineffective. Chiara gets a giggle every time. I love watching my girls be sisters.

"Oh! Somebody made Noelle smile."

"Did you make her smile? You're such a nice sister to her."

I've recently discovered that "somebody" is actually Chiara. I guess that should have been obvious to me, but it wasn't until yesterday when she came running into the bathroom while I was doing my makeup (a good day) holding her shirt away from her neck and yelling, "Somebody is itchy!" that it clicked in my head. "Somebody" needed me to cut the tag off her shirt so it didn't scratch her.

I have no idea where she learned that. It makes me laugh.

"Somebody spilled some yogurt."

Yep, they sure did.

Chiara is so funny about her yogurt. She LOVES it. And she always asks me to put ground flax seed in it. I called them sprinkles once and now she always wants sprinkles (actually, she calls them sparklies) in her yogurt.

"They're so good for our bodies, are they Mom?"

"Yes, Honey, they're very good for our bodies."

"But candy isn't good for our bodies. Just a little bit."

"That's right, Sweetheart. You're so smart."

"I am smart, am I?"

"Yes, Love. I love you really much."

"Don't you?" She said sweetly, with a little bit of a sigh.

I burst out laughing at that and grabbed her in a huge hug.

"Yes, I do!"

I found her reading her "scrippers" the other morning and it just melted my heart. Every 20 seconds or so she'd turn the page. She's so hilarious. Sometimes she "reads" out loud, and it's absolutely adorable. I don't always understand what she says, because it's more of a mumble, but I catch words like baptized and Alma. She's formed an inexplicable attachment to Alma.

Gosh I just adore this child.

Is there anything better than being the mother of a three-year-old? I submit that there is not. :)

It's right up there with being the mother of a 6-month-old.

Eldon, Honey, come home soon. We miss you so much. I wish you were here for all these stories. Chiara asks for you every day, and I literally hover over my phone willing it to ring from Alabama. We love you. Thank you for working so hard for us. You're our Prince. :)

Don't post that!

Conversation Eldon and I had literally 2 minutes ago:

Shelli: What are you doing?
Eldon: I'm trying to figure out why Will Smith is on an inspirational poster.

Shelli: Him? That's Martin Luther King Junior.
Eldon: Oh.
Shelli: BAH!!! Hahahahahahahaha!!
Eldon: Well ....
Shelli: I'm posting that on our blog right this minute.
Eldon: Don't post that, it will make me look insensitive.
Shelli: Not insensitive, just ... something really funny.

"Nothing looks familiar!"

Once when my family was playing a dice game my mom said the funniest thing. She always says the funniest things, but this time was particularly hilarious. It was her turn to roll, and when the dice landed she was supposed to be looking for either colors, or numbers, or something else similarly simple. I'm pretty sure the box says for 5 years old or older. :) But she rolled with a grand flourish and looked eagerly at her dice.

"Wait, nothing looks familiar!!" she cried out, genuinely lost. Because you know, the numbers 1-10 and the primary colors can be pretty tricky sometimes, those little friggers. :)

Anyway, that's what I thought of when I came on blogger for the first time in two months. I looked around for familiar buttons and options and felt a little disoriented. It's like a weird breakup. Huh.

So ... my baby is three years old - going on 11 - and my other baby is five months. How did this happen? I'm kind of ticked. Five seconds ago Noelle was my silent little snuggler and now she's chatty and grabby. I love every phase as they come, and truth be told I think every new stage is my favorite one so far, but I'm still feeling all wistful for earlier days. And Chiara ... Oh, Chiara. Somehow I think our roles have gotten reversed in that curly little head of hers, because she mothers me all day, every day.

"Don't kiss me right here, okay, Mom? Just right here." (Though, to be honest, I couldn't tell the difference between the spot on her cheek that was off limits and the spot I was aiming for.)

"Don't pick your lip, Mom, it gives you owies."

"I'm just going to do this, okay, Mom? That's a good idea."

"Um, I don't think so. You just clean the dishes."

"Thank you for getting my milk, my mother. That's a good choice."

"Uh oh, Noelle is awake! She needs her sister. I'll be right back."

And on and on and on. ALL DAY. Every day. It's cute for the first few hours, and then my natural woman gets a little sick of being bossed around. Hey, I'M the mom here. YOU do what I say! :)

The other nursery kids get it the worst though. They are her true minions. She has the vocabulary of, I don't know, a high school drop-out, so I think she just naturally assumes she is the queen. Hilariously worrisome. I'd lose sleep over it if she didn't have such a sweet little heart. Eldon says everything unsavory about her behavior she'll just naturally grow out of as her capacity for reason catches up with her capacity for self-expression. I hope so.

Grown up Chiara, I'm sure you're a delightful young woman. :)

She has an aversion to picture taking unless she is doing said picture taking, so we don't have very many shots of her looking into the camera. Even fewer of her not doing this horrific fake smile she's developed. Mercy. I hope she grows out of that too. :)

Yikes.

But if I'm quick I can snatch a candid one like this:

Even with hot chocolate remnant on her face she's the cutest thing I've ever seen. It is so fun to be in this stage where the two of us can converse about things. "Share with your friends!" has become "Doesn't it make you happy when your friends share with you? Don't you want to make them happy too?" and she GETS it. It's fantastic. Logic is a wonderful thing. Although she's used it on me too, which makes me laugh.

"Oh, no, Honey, let's not eat by the dvd player."
"It's okay, Mom. I can put it right here and I won't spill on it."
" ... Uh ... okay." Let me go in the corner and bu-bu-bu-bu-bu my lips with my finger for a little while.

My heck.

In Sacrament Meeting on Sunday Eldon whispered to me, "It stinks."
Me: "Did you ask Chiara if it was her?"
Eldon: "Chiara, did you have tiny gas?"
She just smiled, nodded, and kept chewing her Tinkerbell fruit snacks. No biggie.

It is so fun to be parents with someone you love. We just get such a kick out of our kids. And we imitate them to each other, which is totally bizarre, but we'll never not do it. For instance, Chiara has a princess wand with a button that makes a horrendously irritating magic twinkle sound. She thinks it cures all ills. When Noelle cries she goes over and magic wands her. When Chiara falls down and scrapes her knee, she magic wands herself. "Twinkle, twinkle! Twinkle, twinkle!" Oh, and a red light flashes too, so that's an added bonus. Anyway, the other night Eldon had had a hard day, so I plotted against him and snuck that wand into our bed. He was laying with his eyes closed and telling me about his test (or whatever ... I wasn't exactly listening, I was concentrating on nonchalantly reaching under my pillow for the wand) and I was just waiting for him to take a little pause. When he did, and it had been quiet for three consecutive seconds, I put the toy two inches from his face and magic wanded him. "Twinkle, twinkle!" (Remember the flashing red light? Fantastic.)

"Ahhh!" He jerked away, startled beyond all reason, and I threw my head back and laughed like a maniac. I sincerely hope other parents do that kind of stuff too and that we're not the only crazy ones. :)

Chiara Singing To Noelle

This is the song Eldon sings to Chiara almost every night. We didn't know she knew the words until she started singing the song in its entirety. She takes some liberties with the lyrics.

That Little Girl Of Mine

Who cares for fame or fortune, who cares for wealth or gold?

Because I have a treasure, within my arms I hold.

A tiny turned up nose, two cheeks just like a rose,

So sweet from head to toes, that little girl of mine.

Two eyes that shine so bright, two lips that kiss goodnight,

Two arms that hold me tight Two feet ... ?

That little girl of mine.

No one could ever know just like her coming has meant,

Because I love her so. She's something heaven has sent.

She's all the world to me, she climbs up on my knee,

To me she'll always be that little girl of mine.

We're so in love with our girls. Chiara is learning so much. She quotes Disney movies to me and tells me what kids say weeks after she heard them say it. Her prayers (which I need to catch on film) are full of pleas for her to be a good girl and make good choices and for Noelle to be healthy. It's amazing what they can learn by pure repetition. She amazes me. Being her mom is such a privilege. I hope we can channel that intelligence and tenacity in a spiritual direction ... She'll do wonders for this world.

Baby Sisters

I've been thinking about my girls. Every day as I'm changing Noelle's diapers, and cooing with her, and snuggling her, I try to remember what Chiara was like at this stage. I need to make time to dig up old pictures and stuff, but my mom emailed me this old picture of Chiara and I thought I'd put Noelle in the same outfit and compare their little faces.

No offense to Chiara, but I think if I could get Noelle to scowl a little they'd look like twins. :)

I'm so so SO in love with my life. This Mommy thing is the best thing ever. Chiara makes me laugh every day, Noelle makes my heart melt every day, Eldon makes me happy every day ... I'm just kind of feeling like the luckiest girl around. If I could freeze time I'd be tempted. I'd definitely freeze Noelle. I've experienced the stages of baby to toddler, so now I just want to have a little snuggle baby forever.

This was taken a couple weeks ago, and her face is already completely different now. Every morning we wake up to a new baby ... It's heartbreaking.

I love how kids get sillier and sillier in greater numbers.

See what I mean about the heart melting?

Chiara is very anti-photo these days, but I thought the stack of books was too characteristic not to document. I actually have a picture in my scrapbook of little 4-year-old me with a book stack just like this. Who knew OCD was genetic? Poor thing.

I don't know why I only think to take pictures first thing in the morning. It's like after 8am life gets too busy and I forget to look around my world and capture my moments. I'm going to be better about that. There are some lovely moments going on around here.

Chiara is in the bath right now and I just heard her say to Eldon - who just got home and went to see her - "Oh, you scared me! That's a bad choice!" How I love that child.



Happy Birthday, Chiara!

Oh my goodness, it is a lot of work to put on a party for a 3-year-old. She was very specific in her directions to me ... cupcakes to decorate, princess plates and cups, princess hats (which we couldn't find, so we got pink sunglasses), watermelon, juice, and bracelets in the little gift bags for her friends. :)

The night before the party we made flower-shaped brownie cupcakes, a heart-shaped cake, and some normal, round cupcakes. Thank goodness for the round ones because the flower-shaped ones didn't turn out very flowery. :) We got all the tubes of frosting ready, we made up all the gift bags, and cleaned the house. She was such a good helper, and SO excited about it all. She did the goody bags all by herself.

I scavenged the clearance Valentine's Day stuff at Walmart and Target to find the bags, the tablecloth, and some other heart-themed decorations. She loved it because she's WAY into the color pink.

I had the girls decorate the cupcakes for the main activity. It was hilarious. One girl immediately started eating hers - my plan was for Chiara to give them away for a service project - and then everyone started eating theirs. Oh well. Go for it, kids! :) Chiara loves sprinkles, so we had lots of those. She's actually been playing with them like maracas for the last week ... even bringing them to bed with her during naps. She calls them her "sparklies."

(Oh, and pardon me for looking so gross ... Noelle decided she was hungry during the half-hour I'd allotted for myself to shower and get ready. Alas, it's all part of the job. I only mention it for posterity years from now ... I don't want them to think I thought this was a rockin' look.)

Next came present opening. I hadn't intended to open her presents at her party - I'd told her friends not to bring presents, so the only ones she was opening were from family - but the other moms said she should totally open her presents while everyone was there. So, Chiara passed out the goody bags she'd made for everyone, then opened her presents. It was a fun, loud, messy 15 minutes ... wrapping paper everywhere and goody bag contents everywhere ... perfect toddler birthday party excitement. :)

Then we got back up to the table so Chiara could "blow out her fire" and everyone could eat fruit salad and cake. My goodness, she was so happy.

Ooh, see the brownie flowers? They were highly attractive. :)

I made the kids all line up on the couch with their sunglasses on because I thought it would be hilarious. It was. One little girl did not want to wear hers, poor thing, but she was a good sport. The first picture we told the kids to say cheese. The second picture the moms all started being silly to make the kids laugh ... Chiara and her friend Jordin imitated the moms and put their arms up in the air. Cutest thing. I think they thought we wanted them to do what we were doing.

(Those are shorts, not panties, by the way. We still need to work on the ladylike sitting.)

It was such a fun morning for Chiara. I was so glad she felt so loved. "I have so many friends!" she yelled as they were eating cake. Perfect. Isn't the the whole point of these parties? To make them feel that their world is full of people who care about them? I think so. And what did Noelle think of all this?

Enough said. :)



I Don't Deserve This

Noelle is the most amazing baby there has ever, EVER been.

 

She never cries. Well, hardly ever. Being cold isn't her favorite and she can really wail when she's fresh out of the bath and I'm rubbing her down with lotion before getting her clothes on. But for the most part she just kind of whimpers until I can get around to helping her. If it takes longer than 30 seconds - while I'm wiping Big Sister's bum, for example - 90% of the time she simply stops crying and waits quietly until I come pick her up. What? I'm serious, it's a strange miracle of biblical magnitude.

Also, she sleeps through the night. Last night, for example, I fed her at 9:30pm, held her while I finished watching Downton Abbey until 11:00pm, then I put her to bed. She was awake when I put her in her bassinet, but kissed and swaddled, so she was perfectly content. And quiet. I fell asleep immediately. She started stirring at around 5:30am, so I woke her up to nurse her ... since I was about to burst. I unwrapped her swaddle blanket and kissed her cheeks until she opened her eyes and yawned. Then I started nursing her. All without fuss. All without even any noise, really.

It's been like that for the last week. She sleeps for 6-8 hour stretches. The first couple nights I panicked thinking something was wrong. So I got no sleep. I just checked on her every hour to make sure she was breathing. :) But once I realized this was just the way she rolled I relaxed and our whole house sleeps peacefully through the night. It's wonderful.

I don't know if it will last, but I'm sure grateful for it for now.

She just had an appointment, so they took her measurements. She weighs 9 pounds 12 ounces - 3 more pounds since birth - and is 20.5 inches long - 2.5 inches since birth (the hospital measured her longer than she really was at first ... she was born 18 inches, just like Chiara). We're officially out of newborn clothes as of this last week, which breaks my heart.

Growing out of clothes never bothered me too much with Chiara. But now that I know what it feels like to miss your baby with your whole heart, I weep a little when I put away the tiny little outfits. I hold Noelle to my chest and linger over every feeding or diaper change or snuggle session because I know how fleeting it is. In five minutes we'll be planning a princess party for her third birthday. My goodness.

There is something so calm and gentle about Noelle's sweet spirit. I can feel her changing my heart for the better, and I inundate heaven with prayers of gratitude for her.

Then there's my spunky, spirited Chiara who makes me laugh every day and just delights me with her commentary. I'm just so blessed. I can almost not even bear it. I am so in love with my life. Eldon and I fall asleep talking about our girls and how blessed we are to have them in our home.

We're already ready for more. Maybe someday we'll have a son ... but we're just fine with having lots and LOTS of girls. :)

I'm Feeling Silly!

"Oh my my world!" (A phrase Chiara has coined, mixing idioms like she does.) Let me paint a little picture here. I'm sitting on my bed, stressing a little because I didn't remake it after I my attempted nap and it's messy, I just finished nursing Noelle and she's content beside me showing off her new talent of binky-keeping-in-proficiency. Which means I have two hands with which to type.

Also I laughed out loud when my sister-in-law posted a link to a website that generates pirate names for people. I took the little quiz and my name is Iron Ethel Cash. Hilarious.

Also it's so fun to read my friends' blogs. I love love LOVE to see what they're up to. One of my deepest woes is that the girls I love are so spread out. Utah. California. Arizona. Idaho. Washington. Virginia. Georgia. Colorado. I wish I could hug them and chat face to face, kiss their adorable children and swap books. But alas ... I have to be content to blog stalk. :)

I've been thinking about a million things today. I'm not doing anything about them ... it's been one of those days ... but I'm thinking about them nonetheless. :)

I'm thinking how desperately I need to paint my toenails.
I'm thinking I should turn on the heater but I'd have to get up to do it and I don't wanna.

I'm thinking Eldon is going to come home any minute and I'm going to look exactly like I did when he left this morning.

I'm thinking I need to make some personal grooming resolutions.
I'm thinking I should buy the parenting book my sister-in-law raves about before I permanently ruin my firstborn child.
I'm thinking about the laundry that needs to be folded.
I'm thinking how much I hate folding laundry.
I'm thinking I need some new music in my life, and wondering how to find some.
I'm thinking I want to write a book about my life.
I'm thinking I want to write a book about marriage.
I'm thinking about the last children's book I read and how it was too long ago.
I'm thinking I should read chapter books aloud to Chiara.
I'm thinking she would totally LOVE chapter books.
I'm thinking of how lousy/small our Lebanon library is.
I'm thinking of my list of errands tomorrow.
I'm thinking I promised Chiara we'd go to the library.
I'm thinking how wonderful it is that Noelle takes a bink now.
I'm thinking I need a diet coke.
ELDON'S HOME! :)

Day Of Love

Eldon wrote me poetry for Valentine's Day. I cried as I read them because it was so sweet that my neuroscience-major-science-minded-medical-student husband would delve into my world of words to give me such a thoughtful gift. We read that book The Five Love Languages together last year and while Eldon teases me that ALL of them are mine, we both know words are my favorite.

His love language is acts of service ... So I spent all day on Valentine's Day cleaning the house, then I made him a yummy steak dinner with green beans and rolls and his favorite sparkling cider. So he came home to a spotless house and a delicious dinner. It was late when he got home, so the girls were both sleeping, which made it feel very much like a real date. Then we snuggled on the couch and watched Contagion. They're studying viruses at school right now so I thought it would be a fun one to watch together, but I think I liked it more than he did. I would have watched anything, really, just for the lovely novelty of being in the same room with him. :) I knew I'd miss him during school, but I really REALLY miss him! It was wonderful to spend time together during the week.

My Valentine's Day Top Ten Loves 2012

1. Being a parent with my favorite friend.
2. Having two little girls to kiss and cuddle whenever I want.
3. Darling, DARLING friends.
4. Reading memoirs ... I can't get enough of them! I only wish our library had more of a selection.
5. The sun. I took it for granted in Idaho when I saw it all the time.
6. Lansinoh.
7. My boppy pillow. Noelle is sleeping in it right now with her head right next to the "Not for sleeping" tag. Yeah yeah yeah ...
8. Ruby red grapefruits from Costco.
9. 30% off coupons to KOHL'S, where I get almost all Chiara's clothes at great prices.
10. Diet Coke. I wish I didn't love it so much, but I do. I wish they made diet cherry caffeine free ... then my joy would truly be full. :) 

Hospital Stories and More

Because my baby is six weeks old I guess I can manage to update my blog. :) My goodness, there are so many things to mention it all sounded too daunting so I just didn't do it. But now, as Noelle lays in her crib trying to figure out how to keep her binky in, and Chiara is in her bed occasionally bringing me hurt fingers to kiss, I will attempt an update on this delightful life of mine.

Seriously, I'm so in love with my life.

***
I was the only one having a baby in the hospital on December 29th, so I had the entire staff to myself. That was lovely. Eldon and I laughed so much I thought they might not take me seriously. I let my body do almost 24 hours of induced labor before getting my epidural. What an idiot! I hadn't realized, I guess, that the timing was up to me, and I put up with 12 hours of pitocin before asking for the shot. What a lot of useless pain and anguish. I just wasn't thinking about that, I was thinking about Chiara being at a friend's house, and Noelle still being face up (which was part of our problem with Chiara's birth), and how I didn't want to tear or have another blood transfusion, and a million other things. The contractions were almost an afterthought. And those pitocin ones are nasty. And it hurts even worse when your husband is making you laugh through them. When the contractions came I'd clutch the bed rails and gasp through my laughter, "You're ... so ... mean!"
He was dancing in the room when the nurses turned their backs ... he stole my chicken strips while I was in the jetted tub, poking his head around the corner with a smile full of my food ... he yelped "She's all puffed up like a toad!" when we saw how swollen my legs and feet were getting ... he told me to "take a load off your cankles" and crossed them for me when I couldn't move them myself ... he fed me jello at warp speed just to be silly ... he made the most awful face when my OB broke my water, and I laughed and told him, "get that look off your face!" which is what my mom always had to tell me when I was growing up, since I could never manage to keep negative thoughts from registering in my facial expressions ... he is just so funny and delightful in ways words can't describe. It was so helpful, since I'd much rather laugh than cry. :)

When I finally asked for my epidural and the doctor came in I was in tremendous pain. Kind of frantic, make-it-stop kind of pain. Pitocin was doing something that made my insides feel like they were being twisted up and slowly yanked out of me. Terrible, terrible things. But let me tell you for those of you who don't know: when your husband is a med student your doctors only pay attention to him ... not to you. Eldon and the anesthesiologist chatted about classes and rotations while I sat up on the side of the bed, panting, listening to the doctor get all his supplies ready and situated behind me. I had tears streaming down my face as the one nurse I didn't like held onto me and said quiet words I didn't listen to. All I could think of is that huge needle going into my back. The first needle with the numbing stuff burned like acid and I was feeling a little light-headed from the fear of the next one. Weird, because needles don't usually bother me. All the while, Eldon and Dr. Patton are chatting like old friends, and then the doctor pulls out the big needle and I hear Eldon exclaim, "Holy smokes!"

That, dear reader, is when my patience snapped.
"Eldon, stop talking about it." I growled.

Silence. Eldon and Dr. Patton were truly chagrined.

And I felt immediate guilt.
"I do love you though, Honey." I managed to say.

The staff chuckled at that and the doctor finished quickly, even including me in his friendly chatter this time. After everything was all over and I was blissfully numb Eldon pouted at me.
"You could have said it nicely," he said. He was only half teasing.
Cry me a big long river.

***

We have laughed about that so many times since then. We got especially silly after Noelle was born all safe and sound. Once at dinner time we were blessing the food when a nurse came in, interrupting our prayer. Eldon was saying it, and he whispered, "We're gonna wait for the nurse, Lord." (My grandpa said something similar years earlier at a family reunion, and ever since it has been a joke between us. Only that time it was a raucous cukoo clock that interrupted the prayer and Grandpa had said, "We're gonna wait for the music, Lord.") So of course, then I was laughing hysterically and trying to hide my laughter from the nurse who needed to adjust my monitor and take my blood pressure and all that other stuff they do.

Another time, Chiara dropped a cracker on the floor and just as Eldon and I were both telling her it was yucky and she needed to throw it away she popped it right back in her mouth. Gross. Hospital floor cracker.

"Ugh, she just ate some other woman's placenta." Eldon groaned. I held my tummy and laughed.
Speaking of placentas, when mine came out Eldon's face was priceless. I wish I'd had the presence of mind to take a picture of his expression. "Holy smokes!" he said. Then looking quickly at me with fear in his eyes he said, "Sorry." I laughed. He can say holy smokes whenever he wants, just not when a six-inch needle is going into my back. :)

When the nurses handed Noelle to me, still slick and filmy but perfect and beautiful, I kissed her and cooed to her and then I turned to Eldon.

"Do you want to hold her?" I asked in a reverent voice.

He gave me a hesitant look and said, "She has yuck." Another inside joke that meant he would hold her after her bath. :) It was only funny because he didn't mean it. In fact, the doctor had let Eldon catch her, and then Eldon cut the cord. It was neat how involved they let him be. I was so happy and grateful that she was safe and healthy I wept joyful tears and snuggled her on my chest. I had been so scared that it would be like Chiara's delivery ... but everything went perfectly. I had to have a gazillion stitches again, but Noelle was perfect so nothing else mattered.

Chiara said it best when she cooed, "She's so born. That's so sweet."

Yes, it is.