Caroline: Three Weeks Old

Happy Birthday, Joe!

Today is Joe's birthday, but we celebrated yesterday. Apparently I had too much fun chatting with our families, sipping a New Glarus beer and grumbling about the Packers pathetic performance to take pictures.

I don't know, though, if pictures would have properly captured the relaxed, fun atmosphere of the day. We spent the afternoon with Joe's parents, my dad (poor Diana was sick), Bob, his girlfriend and her daughter and my sister and her fiance munching on cheese and crackers and chips and salsa and sipping beer while cheering the Packers onto victory. Well, most of us anyway. Bob and Blake were brave enough to show up for the birthday celebration wearing their Bears hat and sweatshirt respectively, but after giving them a hard time, the rest of us, all Packer fans, managed to avert our eyes from the offending logos.

I made a couple different kinds of chili over the weekend and reheated them in crock pots before leaving for church in the morning. Before the game I whipped up some easy corn bread and that was the extent of my culinary efforts. I was actually able to sit and relax instead of cooking prior to the meal. It was a nice change of pace. Joe's mom was nice enough to bring down an apple upside down cake (Joe's favorite) and I whipped up a mocha torte so we'd have enough cake with the larger crowd.

And the best part? The birthday boy proclaimed the day a success. Happy birthday, Joe!

Medical Adventures: The Photo

Here is Elisabeth showing off her splint in all its glory.




If you missed it, the post detailing the necessity of the splint was posted the other day.

Elisabeth Decoded

Look carefully at the following pictures. Do you see the dirt all over her face (you can make the picture larger by clicking it)? Notice the outfit. These pictures sum up Elisabeth perfectly.

Medical Adventures

Tuesday morning found us waking up north of Green Bay at Joe's parents' house. We woke relatively early given the late night before and hit the road by 9 a.m. We were back in Milwaukee by 11:30 a.m. and Joe made short work of heading into the office. I had planned a relatively easy day knowing we'd all be tired; a few quick errands and an extended visit to the library, per Madeleine's request.

By noon there was a problem. Hank and Elisabeth had gone in the basement to wrestle and play. I heard lots of shrieks and giggles and went about the business of unpacking, checking messages and getting lunch ready. But then I heard a different kind of shriek. This one wasn't in good cheer and shortly after Elisabeth came upstairs with tears in her eyes and clutching her left wrist. I tried to touch it and to have her move it, but doing so only resulted in tears of pain from Elisabeth. Now, from a lot of three-year-olds this may not mean much. If Hank, for instance, was to cry like that I would assume he'd maybe stubbed his toe, but Elisabeth? She's one tough cookie and tears from her are always the real deal.

I called her doctor. He suggested giving her a Tylenol, putting ice on the wrist and reassessing around 2 p.m. So, that's what we did. At 2 p.m. she was still in just as much pain so off to the doctor we went. Her pediatrician assessed the wrist and gave us the unfortunate news that it needed to be x-rayed. Across town. Way, way across town. So we loaded into the van, drove through some of Milwaukee's less than choice neighborhoods (i.e. the ones that are always on the nightly news b/c of some shooting or another) and then proceeded to spend the next three hours waiting to have Elisabeth's wrist x-rayed.

By 5:30 we were on our way home when I received a call from Elisabeth's doctor. The x-rays were negative, thankfully; Elisabeth had just suffered a sprain. She is now the proud owner of a splint that she refuses to take off her wrist and functions pretty well despite having the use of only one hand.

Joe and I have taken to calling Elisabeth our hospital child. She has visited the emergency room or urgent care no less than three times. Madeleine has gone zero and Hank only once (and Caroline I'm not even going to count yet). I'm not saying it won't happen, but clearly Elisabeth has a greater proclivity for getting hurt.

The upshot of all of this? While sitting in the waiting room for three hours with all four kids it hit me: if I could get through that with four kids then I can get through anything with four kids. So that's good. I guess.

Packers Versus Da Bears

The game wasn't the offensive shootout I expected, but still, there's something deliciously fun about beating the Bears at Lambeau.

Hank waiting for kick-off.



Caroline and me waiting for kick-off.



Happy Packer fans after the game.



More than the victory, even, I am beyond thrilled that football season has started again. Joe and I spent the entire drive home this morning discussing the ins and outs of the game. Finally-- new plays to dissect and new players to critique! Why is football season so short anyway?

Zappos

I don't usually single a business out for having good service because I generally expect most businesses to provide decent service and so, by and large, I'm much more likely to note and comment on poor business practices than good ones.

However, I was so recently impressed with Zappos that I decided to spread the word. Until a few weeks ago I had heard of Zappos but never ordered anything through their website since I like to try on shoes before buying them. However, I had a terrible time finding hiking boots that would fit Elisabeth's tiny feet and so I decided to check Zappos' website.

The initial purchase was uneventful enough; I found the shoes I wanted, entered the necessary information and clicked submit. Elisabeth's shoes arrived quickly and I was happy to note the shipping was free.

However, the shoes were too large. So I buckled in for what I assumed would be a huge hassle and called Zappos' toll-free line. I was shocked when an actual person answered the phone instead of a recording, and even more shocked to hear that an exchange would be no trouble and wouldn't cost me a dime. Without even getting the pair back they had originally sent me, they sent out Elisabeth's new shoes and they immediately emailed me a shipping label so that I wouldn't have to pay for the return shipping on the shoes I had initially received.

So much for needing to try shoes on; Zappos' return policy is so easy and hassle-free that I'll definitely order from them again.

Remembering

This morning started out for me very much like this same day eight years ago. I woke up to a bright, clear September day not expecting anything particularly interesting to happen. Like in 2001, I started my day slowly; then preparing for work and packing up a toddler for daycare, today squeezing in a shower and caring for a newborn. Eight years ago I turned on the TV while I ate breakfast and saw the damage left by the first of the airplanes to hit the World Trade Center. Today I did not turn on the TV or even the radio as I usually do and so, as a result, it took me awhile to realize today was September 11.

It's funny, because I can hardly remember what happened last week with much clarity but I, like so many other Americans, can remember the events of September 11, 2001 very vividly. I remember being at my office after dropping Madeleine off at daycare and hearing there was a fourth airplane missing and that perhaps the capitol, where my employer worked, was the target. I remember leaving work and picking Madeleine up and taking her home. I didn't think there was any real danger in Janesville, Wisconsin of all places, but still, I wanted my family close. I remember finally getting ahold of Joe, then a law student. He came home early that day too. Most of all I remember staring at the TV, so horrifyingly mesmerizing, for the entire day.

Today is nothing like that horrible day eight years ago. I have three more kids today than I did then, the three oldest who are with my dad and Diana today, not with me, and that's OK; I'm not rushing off to pick them up. I went grocery shopping. I paid bills. I did laundry and didn't turn on the TV once.

And yet, still, I remember. I have thought about the day eight years ago often today. And while our lives have changed considerably in eight years, I appreciate the fact that my memories of such an important day have not.

Elisabeth's First Day of Preschool

Since the day Hank finished up at our local Nature Preschool we've been itching to go back. Hank had such a fantastic year and this preschool is everything that I think preschool should be, with the emphasis being on playing and learning outdoors and not worrying about letters and numbers and all the various "schoolish" tasks that older children are capable of mastering quickly when they're a bit older (and I won't even get into how Hank just sort of absorbed it all even though it was never officially "taught" at this same preschool by just seeing and hearing it around him).

Well, now it's Elisabeth's turn to harvest a garden, make salsa, search for animal tracks in the snow, catch butterflies and all the other fun and exciting things her brother did three short years ago and yesterday was her first day.

I don't know if Elisabeth was really nervous; she barely seemed fazed by the events of the day, but she does look a touch nervous in this first picture, no?





And, naturally, Madeleine insisted on getting in on the picture taking as well.



Once we got there, Madeleine and Hank shifted into hyper-gear and insisted on helping Elisabeth do everything. This resulted in no small amount of objection from the small, yet independent, Elisabeth Jane, and finally Joe and I were forced to intervene and tell the big kids to back off. Notice, though, how in both of the following pictures, the first of Elisabeth walking up to the front door through the front play space and the second of her hanging her backpack up in her newly found cubby, Elisabeth's "helpers" are never far off.





How did Elisabeth handle the big day? Well, she barely had time to bother to say good-bye to anyone and barely turned her head when we all left the classroom. Her teachers gave us a more hearty good-bye than our daughter did. And at pick-up Elisabeth was full of good cheer and stories about her fun morning. Hank asked her if she'd had a super fun time and Elisabeth answered, "No! It was REALLY fun!" So, there you have it.

First Day of School

Yesterday we started school and despite one crabby six-year-old and one ten day old baby who hit the first day of a growth spurt and wanted to nurse every five seconds, it actually went pretty well. The kids seem happy to be back in a routine and interested in what they were learning. I'm sure things will change in the next few weeks, but it was a decent start to the school year.

My fourth grader!



My first/second grader!



The whole gang.

Caroline's Baptism, II

A follow-up in which I post better pictures. Thanks Dad and Diana!

Caroline's Baptism

I'm hoping some of the other photographers present at Caroline's baptism got some better shots than what I have. In each of mine someone in the picture has a wonky look on their face. Usually multiple people. Please, people, send me your .jpeg and .tif files-- I desperately want them!

In the interim, however, I'll share some of what I have.

Joe and me with Caroline following the service. The gown Caroline is wearing is the same gown worn by my great-grandmother, my maternal grandmother and now all four of my kids. While my mom and I did not wear it, others in our generations did, so the gown is on its fifth generation now. Of course, you can't really see the gown in any of my pictures because no one-- including me-- thought to get a close-up of just Caroline. Ugh!



Our whole crew.



Our family with Caroline's godparents.



Madeleine and Caroline with the cakes made by a very talented friend of ours from our congregation for Caroline's reception following the service.



I think most everyone who attended the service was able to join us for some cake, punch and coffee and I'm more than certain that at least fifty percent of our congregation held Caroline at some point. Madeleine kept asking when it would be her turn and grumbled how everyone else got to hold Caroline for too long. It was a fun celebration.

A much smaller crew including grandparents, godparents and a few friends joined us at home for a relaxing lunch that I failed to really record, photographically-speaking, except for the beautiful flowers Diana brought and the leftover cake.



As a side note, there are a million little things that happen through the course of life that make me miss my mom and it's usually the dumb little things, not the big important things. For instance, you'd think a big important day like Caroline's birth or her baptism would make my mom's absence hit home and it does, in a way, but you know what's really made her absence hit home today? The lack of pictures that I have from Caroline's baptism. Weird.

Anyway, it was a beautiful, happy day and such a joy to witness Caroline receive the blessings of baptism in the presence of family and so many good friends.

Doting Big Sister

Madeleine just adores her new baby sister. Can you tell?

Funny kid quotes from yesterday and today

* After observing Hank crumbling up goldfish crackers and sprinkling them on his waffles I asked him what he was doing. His response? "What, Mom! I'm trying new things!"

* I was telling Joe a story about a friend who was interested in buying a microdermabrasion cream and concluded that I wasn't going to buy it for various reasons. From the other side of the table Madeleine said, in all seriousness, "Mom, you'll regret not buying it when you're a wrinkled old prune."

* Today Hank was going over his bike ramp and hit his, erm, nether regions a little harder than expected. His immediate comment, "OW! My crouch!"

More Caroline

My four(!) crazy kiddos this past Monday, the day we left the hospital. This was a sad day; I'm one of those that loves the hospital and all those nice nurses and food brought in periodically and not being responsible for much of anything besides feeling better.



Plus we had a great view of Lake Michigan.



Caroline getting dressed to come home (the outfit is a premie size-- she's so tiny!).



These signs greeted us when we pulled in our driveway.



One from Madeleine...



one from Hank...



and one from Elisabeth.



Caroline is doing so well and we love having her home. I'm ridiculously exhausted, which is a whole other post in which I laugh at myself because I thought I remembered how tiring it was having a newborn, but I didn't remember. I really, really didn't. We're also being ridiculously spoiled by so many good friends; I'm sure I won't have to cook for a week or two and I am so, SO thankful to have the luxury of not having to worry about what is for supper every day and instead learning how to parent four (!!!) children.

Caroline!

Yippee!!! She's here! The short story is I went into labor Friday night, left for the hospital around 1 a.m. Saturday morning and Caroline Marcelle was born at 5:48 a.m. After two previous c-sections I am so thrilled and excited to report that Caroline was NOT a c-section and came out quickly and easily (well, thanks to the epidural, anyway).

She's our smallest baby weighing in at 6 pounds and 4 ounces. Madeleine, Hank and Elisabeth already are fighting over who gets to hold Caroline the longest (Mommy should!) and everyone seems to be adjusting nicely.

I haven't downloaded any pictures from our camera yet, just a few from my iPhone, but here's at least one to share that was taken in recovery mere moments after her birth.

Try This Cake

Seriously. This cake is just that good. I feel like surely I must be overstating, but this might be the best chocolate cake I've ever eaten. The recipe comes from an old Penzey's Spice catalog and I finally tried it yesterday. I will be making it again, for sure.

Aunt Velma's Chocolate Cake

2 c. flour
1/2 c. cocoa powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 c. butter
2 c. sugar
2 c. boiling water
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350. Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt (note: I skip the sifting step 99.999% of the time, but I wouldn't skip it w/this recipe). In a separate bowl, cream together vanilla, butter and sugar. Add boiling water, blend, then add eggs and mix until well blended. Gradually add dry ingredients and mix well. Pour into ungreased 9x13 pan and bake for 30 minutes.

Penzey's also tags a buttercream frosting recipe to go with the cake but, I'll be honest, I think it would have been way too much frosting for this moist, rich cake and I halved it and purposely tried to get a runnier consistency. I am sharing the halved recipe here, so if you want lots of gooey frosting, double the following.

1/2 lb, powdered sugar, sifted (I skipped the sifting here to no ill-effects)
1/6-1/4 c. soft butter
1/16 tsp. salt (skip if using salted butter)
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1.5-3.5 tbsp. milk

Beat together powdered sugar, butter, salt and vanilla. Add enough milk to get good spreading consistency. For chocolate frosting (which I did and would highly recommend) add 1/4 c. cocoa powder. Adding the cocoa powder will necessitate more milk, however.

More Humor at Favre's Expense

Sorry for more Favre stuff, but this is even funnier than last night's clip. Double click it to go to YouTube so you can see it full screen and read the subtitles; I don't know why it's cropped on my blog, but it is.



HT: Glenda

"He's Coming Back"

Oh my goodness; the pirate at the end? With the lanterns? I'm laughing so hard it might actually induce labor.

Who's the Baby?

Since the actual baby of the family is hidden away in utero, Elisabeth doesn't mind pinch hitting.

Almost There

A month or so ago I looked at our calendar the week preceding Caroline's technical due date and happily looked at the events we'd scheduled. Some people thought we were crazy-- won't you be in the hospital? they'd say. After having three kids, all born well past their due date, I felt confident that scheduling things only a few days before my due date wouldn't be a problem.

And it wasn't. In fact, I feel so blessed because instead of sitting around my house analyzing every contraction and twinge I enjoyed a pleasant day with friends on Sunday afternoon. I was able to watch my two older kids jump in up to their necks in Lake Michigan's frigid water at Harrington Beach State Park. I relaxed and had a fun time eating and chatting with other Lutheran home-schoolers while the kids shrieked over newly found turtles and played various games with other kids. I was treated to an enjoyable night of stargazing with those far more knowledgeable than I who were able to pass along their knowledge not only to me, but to my kids.

And last night Joe and I were fortunate enough to have an extremely pleasant and relaxing evening with good friends who were nice enough to make the drive down to see us and eat a wonderful meal at one of my favorite Milwaukee spots.

But now I am ready. I know, I know, Elisabeth has an important meet the teacher event at her preschool on Wednesday morning and it would be better if I were there, but I can feel the why-am-I-still-pregnant crabbiness setting in and I am just ready. Never mind the arbitrary eviction date scheduled for Friday* (scheduled more for liability reasons than medical ones, but such is the state of health care in America today-- but I won't get into that in this post). I am ready now. Ready, ready, ready.

Do you hear me, Caroline? I'm ready!

*UPDATE: Nope, not Friday, next Tuesday, September 1. After my appointment today my OB thought it would be good to give her a few more days to come on her own since my body does seem to be progressing that way but he's not willing to go past Tuesday. Considering that he's letting me try a vaginal birth after two c-sections, I'll take whatever time he'll give me. I'm still awaiting final confirmation from my OB's nurse that the surgery is scheduled, but once I know I will update, I'm sure. And, of course, I'm still optimistic I'll go into labor on my own prior to September 1.

UPDATE 2: September 1 at 8:45 a.m. it is. Unless she's born before that, which would be most, most excellent. One way or another, this baby is coming out SOON!

Monday Afternoon

The sun is shining. The day's temperature is warm, but not hot. All family members are tired from a late night. How does Madeleine choose to relax and enjoy the day?





UPDATE: Here's a link to our late night. The astronomy presentation was so neat; even Madeleine who started out poo-pooing the idea ended up fascinated with what she saw through the various telescopes.

Today

I really admire bloggers who can find something to say every day. Talented bloggers can make the mundane come alive and I appreciate their presence on the internet because I love to divert myself from my everyday life with the internet at some point each day.

I know I am not one of those bloggers, nor do I really want to be. The mere idea of trying to spin an interesting post out of this week exhausts me. Not that it's been uninteresting. No, we've been busy with horseback riding camp, swimming, shopping, the fair and lots of cooking and, I suppose, had I tried, a blog post that would, at the very least, interest me in months to come as I look back on this electronic scrapbook, could have been composed. But I don't want to try. I want to smell (and taste!) my marinara sauce that's composed entirely of freshly picked tomatoes simmering away on the stove. And read Julie and Julia. And enjoy the fresh, summer breeze that's pushing back the curtains in my living room. And listen to Elisabeth snore away on the sofa.

In other words, for today I want to live in the moment, not write about it. I suppose in few months I will look back and wonder what we did these last few weeks of August before Caroline arrived and I might chastise myself for not at least taking a picture of something but, then again, I might read this post and maybe-- if I'm lucky-- I'll be able to smell the fresh summer air and remember this quiet, peaceful moment and hold onto it since I know there will be many moments ahead that won't be so peaceful and quiet. We'll see.

Favre is Back. Again.

Um, are we all supposed to be shocked by this news? As long as there's a team willing to sign him, Brett Favre will be willing to play, is what I've come to realize.

Personally, I don't really think this does much for the Vikings one way or another. I still think the Packers are a strong contender to win the NFC Central, and I don't think this changes things in that respect in the least.

UPDATE: Packer linebacker Aaron Kampman had the best line regarding Favre signing with the Vikings: The red jersey will be off. I love it.

Packers Versus Cleveland Browns

I am absolutely giddy with excitement-- the Packers play their first football game of the season today! Sure, it's only a preseason game and I won't be as interested in the results as a regular season game but, still, the Packers play their first football game of the new season today!

Checking In

I'm here. Or, at least, physically I'm here in my house, but mentally? My mind has been consumed with getting a room, clothes and a car seat ready for the baby, getting every last stitch of laundry done (not quite there, but close!), stocking our refrigerator and cabinets, planning a baptism and party, relaxing with a good book (just finished Willa Cather's The Professor's House, which was a lovely book), lunching and shopping with Diana and one last celebratory date night with Joe at one of our favorite restaurants.

How did I manage all this with three small kids underfoot? I didn't. Joe's mom and dad requested the kids for five days way back in May; how could I refuse? So, off the kids went with Grandma and Grandpa, who did all sorts of fun things with the kids like taking them camping, swimming, boating and on various day trips. We pick up the kids in a few short hours and while I'll be happy to see them, I don't know how I would have been ready for Caroline's arrival had I not had this week to get ready both physically and mentally.

Ready!

We are now ready for the baby! The crib is up, the carseat is in the car and she has clothes in her drawers. Now I am officially excited.

Here's what the room she'll be sharing with Madeleine looks like.









Sometime within the next few weeks they'll actually be a baby to put in that crib and put those cute newborn size clothes on-- I can't wait!

Family Getaway

Last weekend capped of the end of our summer weekends away and while I'm glad to be home, we had a really fun weekend. Every year our church reserves this really great location right on a lake in Wisconsin's Northwoods. There are actually three buildings: a main house, a big kitchen house (with a few bedrooms off the back) and a dormitory building. This year we had about sixty people attend, and the buildings were easily able to accommodate our group.

What do we do there? Well, we eat. A lot. Everyone brings food and there's always way too much, but we sure have fun sampling other families favorite recipes while we're there. We play a lot of cards (Sheep's Head mostly). During the day we fish,



we kayak,



we read, chat and laugh. We play on the dock,



we rent a pontoon boat and go tubing and, of course, jump off the pontoon.



But, more than anything else we just relax. We attended for the first time last summer and after two years we're hooked-- we'll definitely be going back again next year!

Back to Bed

Last night Joe and I took all three kids to a pool party that started at 8:30 p.m. Our kids are pretty flexible, bedtime-wise, and neither Joe or I really thought twice about it. The kids played and swam with friends until it was time to leave (around 10:30 p.m.) and went immediately to bed when we got home. At no time in the evening did I have second thoughts about going, or about taking the kids. They were well-behaved all evening, and all five of us had a wonderfully fun time.

But this morning? Oh. My. Goodness. All three kids slept in and yet still, the shrieking! the fighting! the whining! Ugh. We're suffering from a major pool party hangover here, folks.

Engagement!

Look what my little sister is wearing on a very important finger!



Congratulations, guys, I'm so excited for you both!

Madeleine's Ninth Birthday

First off, let's just get this out of the way: I can't believe I have a nine-year-old daughter. Nine! For some reason her turning nine has been a hard to digest number. It just seems so old (kid-wise).

But today is the little girl's birthday. Today she is, in fact, nine-years-old. If you're interested, her birthday story is here. Today the neighborhood children will come over for cupcakes and lemonade in our backyard (if anyone who is not a neighbor and would like to come, just give me a call and let me know!) and tonight, as a family, we will pour over Madeleine's baby book and reminisce about her birth.

Yesterday, though, we celebrated the event, one day early. In attendance were grandparents, a great aunt, aunts, uncles, cousins and godparents who were all gracious enough to make what was, for some, a two hour trip. It was such a perfect day.

On the way home from church we stopped to pick up a large balloon bouquet. A few made it outside, but most loomed over the food table.



By mid-afternoon we were ready to eat Madeleine's birthday request: BBQ ribs and sweet corn (and a lot else too, obviously).





The beautiful weather allowed us to take our heaping plates in the backyard and eat in the sunshine (good thing, too, since ribs are messy!).

Later we came in for cake.



Can you see the horse in the middle of the cake? Ace of Cakes I am not but, still, I thought it was pretty cool.



All in all a very nice day. Happy Birthday, NINE-year-old Madeleine!