Lasts

One of my early motherhood realizations was around the idea of the unobserved last. I remember when Clara first learned to pull herself up and one day, I realized that I would never again see her laying in her crib, waiting for me. That last day of crib lying was gone without any recognition. And somehow I wished that some kind of bell would toll or voice would come from above saying, "Pay attention. This is the last time your child will ever do this."

Firsts are easily identified and celebrated. Lasts are often unnoticed and unrecognized - gone until you look back from the new stage and think, remember when... 

Like the last time Clara crawled. Or the last time Caleb called himself "Cabub". Or the last butchering of the word spaghetti. The last"mommy", before it was shortened to just "mom". The last stairway descended in reverse, forever to be replaced by going down the normal way.

But some lasts can be realized and appreciated. Like our last moments as a family of four. A planned induction can help that one become recognized ;). Or our last ride in the family wagon (just weeks ago we donated it to Union Gospel Mission).

And this spring - and this May/June especially- we recognized our last season of a non-busy school calendar. Next year we will enter the exciting, new land of real school. Like the kind that goes from 9-3 and happens every day and probably shouldn't be missed too frequently. This school calendar thing and the inevitable busy-ness that comes with it will be a part of our lives for the next twenty-two years (that's through Alice's senior year). Woah. One of the blessings of having friends in the stages ahead of us is the preview it offers of the stages to come. I've watched close friends live (graciously) through the crazy furry of the last days of school. Concerts and award ceremonies. Museums and plays. All kinds of things to remember and coordinate and attend. Just the reality of all that being in real school brings.

So we recognized and appreciated it. Our last season of non-scheduled bliss. While most of the rest of the school calendar world was running around, doing all kinds of end of the school year things, we were...

Discovering new parks downtown

Washing cars

Eating popsicles

Meeting Great Granddads

Hanging out at Grammy & Grampy's

Reading lots of books with Daddy

And doing a little art with him too.

Going on rides to the park with Caleb's buddy Anthony

And going on adventures with Dad

Doing lots and lots of art

Loving on (smothering) little sis

And planting gardens with Grampy

It has been a simple and low-key spring. School is out for the big kids later this week and I always think summer officially starts then. We are thankful for this last slice of peace before the storm (of school craziness) that inevitably is right around the corner. But I won't lie. I've been excited for that new chapter since I left the elementary classroom five years ago. Celebrating this season. Looking ahead to the next chapter. These are the things my heart has been pondering these past few weeks.

Mothers Day

Each year when Mother's Day rolls around, I am reminded afresh the magnitude of this thing I spend all day, every day doing. Sometimes I try and remember what life was like before little ones came and spun everything on its head - but I really cannot. I know people said this to me before Clara entered the world five years ago. You will not be able to remember what life was like before kids. And the sad (or is it good?) reality is, it's true. I mean, I can go back and read the archives of this blog and remember some of the things I did before kids. But I can hardly remember the feeling of only being in charge of myself. 

And as much as I sometimes long for a day (or two or three), when I might just disappear to some tropical vacation spot and just lay on the beach and worry about my tan line or my book or what delicious meal or drink I might consume next - I truly wouldn't have it any other way. I am so thankful that I am in charge of three little people. And most of the time I am okay not remembering what it was like before.

Even in this challenging, consuming, exhausting season with two littles and a newborn, I am thankful for the gift of Motherhood. 

Our day this year was simple: BBQ on the back patio

And a few jammie snuggles before bed

These Days

From the moment we found out we were pregnant, we have been in "go" mode. Actually we might have had two days of non "go time" mentality. They were the days following the sprint triathlon at Priest Lake in August (on the eve of which I took the positive pregnancy test) - and before the Tuesday phone call that Dolores was ready to move. Just thinking of these past nine-ish months makes me start to practice deep breathing. It's been crazy. Get our house ready to rent. Purge. Move things into the basement of our new home. Live with Hooks. Paint until we started painting in our sleep. Move in. Purge again. Spend a BAJILLION hours studying for a ridiculously hard PT exam (that was Jono, but we all felt the sacrifice). Take two quick family trips and PREPARE FOR BABY (this happened about three weeks before Alice was born). I get exhausted just thinking of this.

All of that is to say that these past few weeks with sweet baby Alice - even at this stage of newborn land (full of diapers and sleepless nights and discerning cries and figuring out life as a family of five), has been pretty great. The only item on our family agenda right now is enjoying this new little one. There are so many house projects to be done. But we are NOT doing them. These next few months are going to be all about adjusting. And then we will begin to tackle our long long list of "to do's". I have kind of decided the months of May and June are going to be delightful. Delightfully hard at times, but simple in purpose. Enjoy our kids. Enjoy this sweet new little one.

So our days have been spent...

Figuring out how to parent THREE at the same time

Watching Alice's cheeks grow 

Enjoying a rare moment's peace with just Alice at Chaps

Figuring out park time all together 

Enjoying friends who have come to visit (like Nicole) - and being blessed by wonderful meals!

Looking out the back window and being thankful we are in this space 

Trying to memorize every feature. This girl is a delight. 

Letting it sink in that I have two girls. Sisters!

And attempting a park walk with these three solo (It was crazy)

Watching more TV and movies than we should 

And just snuggling this little one

Hurray for quiet months. They will not last forever - I know that for certain.

Clara is FIVE

Thankfully we celebrated Clara with friends a few days early because her birthday fell on the day after we returned from the hospital with Alice. The timing of it all was a little bit nuts. But we have the world's best grandparents. Grammy and Grampy kept Clara and Caleb overnight while we were in the hospital and then the Hooks took them an additional day, celebrating Clara's birthday with a joint grandparent breakfast on Saturday morning. Clara was, of course, delighted. 

After breakfast, Nana and Papa brought Clara and Caleb home and the FIVE of us were together in our home for the first time. Any time I started feeling guilty about what we didn't do for Clara this year, Jonathan reminded me that she got the best birthday present ever: a little sister. So we just went with that. Happy Birthday, Clara. Your best gift? Sisterhood. :)

Later in the afternoon, Jono took the Claranator on a birthday bike ride to The Scoop. C's gift this year was a new (used) bike with an updated bell and handle bars. J took the kids on many an adventure during that week off after Alice was born - and this was no exception. Hurray for nice weather and a chance to get out of the house!

All four grandparents came over for the world's most simple pizza dinner and we did our annual "things we love about Clara" sharing. Here is what everyone said...

Nana: You are so eager to learn and when you want to learn how to do something, you work hard until you figure it out

Grammy: You can tell me exactly what you want and need

Daddy: Loves that you love learning new things together

Grampy: You can be a really good helper

Mom: You are kind to Caleb and Alice; you're a great big sister

Papa: You have a beautiful smile that makes us happy

And finally, an interview with our FIVE year old...

Favorite color: pink and purple

Fruit: pear and grapes

Vegetable: cucumbers and celery and hummus 

Dinner: back to school dinner (spaghetti, meatballs, bread & garlic green beans)

Drink: orange juice

To wear: Elsa dress (Easter dress - morphed into "Elsa dress")

Book: Frozen one from Aunt Leah

Show: Sesame Street (we watched it yesterday after about a year hiatus...)

Movie: Frozen

Place to go: Jump & party

Thing about dad: He goes on dates with me a lot

Thing about mom: She brings yummy treats on dates (the day before we had taken book to the park to read and I brought jelly beans - go figure)

Thing about Caleb: He plays cars a lot with me

Thing about Alice: She's so sweet

What is most exciting about being five: Me going to Kindergarten

What do you want to be when you grow up: Doctor

And there you have it! Our FIVE year old girl. We love you so much, Clara Joanne Hook, and can't wait to see what this next year has in store.

Alice Rhoda Hook

It's a girl!

On May 1st at 2:04pm we welcomed sweet Alice into the world. She was 8 lbs. 7 oz and 21 inches long. And it has been confirmed: I have officially the worst mother's intuition on the planet.

Her birth story was quite different than both big brother and big sister. I checked into the hospital just after midnight on my due date (May 1) in order to start receiving my strep B antibiotics, which needed to be administered twice, four hours apart. The idea was that I'd be hooked up to antibiotics and just sleep that night before my official induction started in the morning. Why an induction? It was honestly for convenience mostly. But it was also a combination of being positive for Strep B (so guaranteed antibiotics), having fast labors with both my first two, getting maximum days with Jono off work (He took Thursday + his regular day off Friday, and the next week = 11 days total), and avoiding Clara's birthday (May 3rd). Of course it would've been nice to go into labor before my scheduled induction, but in many ways it worked out really well despite.

Of course the part about sleeping the night before the induction was good in theory but ridiculous in reality. Nurses coming in and out, being hooked up to monitors and IVs, anxiety about what in the world was about to happen in the coming hours. It didn't create the best sleeping environment. Jonathan may have slept about two hours but I am not certain I slept at all.

The induction started (with petocin) around 8am. After laboring all morning, I was about five centimeters dilated just before noon. With Caleb I was induced and turned down any pain meds until it was too late. My early labor was slow but I went from a five to a ten in less than an hour and pushed him out (sunny-side-up) in a matter of minutes. My doctor didn't make it (the resident doc delivered) and the recovery was very hard. I knew I could probably do that whole story again but couldn't bear the thought of the recovery again (especially with THREE kids at home). So after going back and forth and back and forth about choosing an epidural, I went ahead and got one just after noon. And let me tell you. It was a very good decision (for me, for this time around at least). For the first time, my doctor actually made it to deliver my baby and for the first time I actually remember the moment she was born and the moment we found out she was a she. I might even go so far as to say it was my best birth story yet :).

We are absolutely head over heals with Miss Alice. She is the perfect little addition to our family. And Clara has a sister. A SISTER. I can hardly even handle the thought. It makes me so excited. I'm hoping five years age difference might spare them some comparison, since they likely won't be in the same world really growing up (Clara will be a senior in high school while Alice is a seventh grader, a sixth grader when Alice is in first grade). But hopefully it will develop over time into a sweet relationship that grows through the years and into adulthood. I can't think of life without my sister!

And sweet Caleb. I swear to you I am going to catch up on this blog and fill in the large gaping holes. When I do, I'll update all about Mr. Bugs who is the sweetest, goofiest little guy in the planet. He is the perfect little middle man, little brother and big brother both. Hopefully he can stand his ground sandwiched between all the estrogen. Time will tell.

And we are adjusting well. More to come on that later. For now, many have asked about her name. Alice has been on our short list of girls names since we first started brainstorming names, pre-Clara. We love that it's sweet and simple and classic. We can picture a three year old Alice in pigtails and an eighty year old woman, just like the handful of Alice's Jonathan has treated in their eighties & nineties. Rhoda, her middle name, is after Jonathan's grandma (his dad's mom). Rhoda Hook grew up in California, put herself through school working in a cannery, got her masters degree in an age when few women pursued that kind of education and then went on to marry Jono's grandpa and have four boys. Whew! She loved the Lord and people well. We'd love for Alice Rhoda to follow in her footsteps.

And like I mentioned before, I will start blogging again, by golly. I have hated watching this little space die. It might not be updated as frequently as it once was, but I love the way it tells the story of our family. And I'm just not ready to give up quite yet. I'm hoping to work backwards and fill in the massive gaps. So one day I will read this post and have no idea that it, at one point, was my first post in something like nine months ;). If you somehow check this space after all this time, good on ya (as they'd say in Oz). And if nobody is out there and this is entirely for our little family, that is just fine too!

Soccer Girl

This fall Clara is playing soccer for the first time. It isn't an official team with uniforms and a varying schedule of opponents (that happens next year) but a merger between the youth sports and the soccer tots program. She loves it! 

Ever since watching some of her older friends play, she has been asking to play soccer. We were anxious to see how it would go. So far she is a good listener and tries everything she's told to do :). She is getting better each week and loves being out there! 

The night before she insisted on laying out all her things.

Ready to go

Little stretching

And she's off!

Working on ball control

We love our little girl in pink!!!

Four Year Old Preschool

I will say something like this every single year. I can't believe Clara is starting four year old preschool. Just can't believe it. I swear we were just picking out a doll to get her for her first birthday. Where did the time go?!?! Don't even mention the word kindergarten happening in just one year (much less ALL DAY kindergarten) yet. Ugh. We will be celebrating the start of school when that day comes, just one year from now. But I'll probably be crying in the closet somewhere.

We already love our back to school tradition. The night before her first day, we ate a special meal of Clara's choosing (spaghetti and meatballs with fresh green beans) with a few decorations and pink cupcakes. Special meal or not, this little girl has been excited to start school for weeks now. We are so thankful for that!

Spaghetti - a favorite for all! 

Excited for school and those giant meatballs ;)

She started on Wednesday with just half her class. Next week her regular M/W/F schedule will commence :).

Such a big girl!

With daddy - she has always had him wrapped around her finger

With brother - never cooperating

With mommy - love my girl!

And her teacher Mrs. Andrews :)

It's going to be a great year in four year old preschool. I can already tell!