Birthday

My girls are growing up. Last Saturday they turned five and two. We had a big all day bash starting with a small party for Emily (she wanted to invite three friends). She picked a daisy cake and wanted to have piñata. We also painted flower pots and planted little flowers to keep with the theme.

 Then after Katrina's nap we had friends and their kids come over for Katrina's ladybug themed party. I thought about a ladybug shaped cake, but the thought of kids and all that black and red frosting was too much for me to stomach! I bought live ladybugs and let the kids play with them. It was a big hit! I felt a little evil, since the weather was still so cold, but the whole next week was nice and sunny, so they had chance to survive. It seemed like everything went smoothly and people had fun. I was tired!

Emily: This last year has been one of change for you sweet girl. You are growing up in every way. Looking back over pictures your face has lost the last of it's baby chubbiness and your long, thin legs seem to stretch on for miles. This year you stopped sucking your thumb, you got stitches, your ears pierced, not to mention lots of little milestones. You amaze me at every turn at the intellectual questions you ask me and your sweet view of the world. You constantly strive to figure things out and oscillate between a super sweet helper and an ornery complainer. If I've learned anything this year it's that you are one determined little kid. this can either be your strongest asset or your biggest deterrent. You love music, building and creating things, and playing make believe. I love you!

Katrina: I can't believe you're two! My baby is sprouting right before my eyes. Of course this year was full of change for you, the year between one and two always is. You changed from a crawling, cooing baby, to a walking, non-stop talking, toddler. You keep me busy with your constant curiosity and very active hands. I love watching your personality emerge more and more every day. You love to "help" me in the kitchen (is that because you can snitch bites when I'm not looking?) and could play dress up all day. Your current favorite question is "What doing?" and that just about sums you up little one. You always want to be involved in whatever is happening and always seem to be doing something! No one can melt my heart faster then you with requests to cuddle, kisses, and your sweet, "I la-you, mama". I don't get as much done with you around, but I get other rewards in return. I love you!

Easter Follow-up

We had a joyous Easter celebrating Christ's resurrection and the blessing of family. We went to church and then came home and prepared lunch. I made lamb, asparagus, fingerling potatoes, salad, peas and biscuits. It was a meal made with love for my husband since I don't like lamb or asparagus. Everything turned out well, except the lamb took an hour longer to cook then it was supposed to, so lunch was rather late. We spent the rest of the day just hanging out. It was a very rainy day, so I didn't get to do much of a photo shoot of the girls in their dresses. Maybe we'll have to go to the park all dressed up on the next sunny day. We hope you all had a happy Easter too!

Here Comes Easter

It's been a busy, but mostly fun week. I love doing traditional things with my kids, even though I don't always feel like I'm very good at it. I am not the most patient person in the world, especially when the whining starts and small children don't listen when I tell them to sit in their seats. (note: I included a picture of our permanently dyed table after Katrina dumped the container of red coloring.) It was nice to do something fun amongst the busyness. I've always loved the colors and patterns of dyed eggs. I tried baking the Easter bread that my Grandma always used to make us. I think it came out pretty well. It brought back lots of good memories. Then today we had a get-together with people from church which included an Easter egg hunt. It was fun watching Emily look for the eggs. (Katrina was too scared by the loud motorcycles from the neighbors to do much hunting.) Emily spent the rest of the day re-hiding the eggs and making Katrina find them. It was nice to watch Emily get into the Easter story told to the kids at the get-together. She excitedly shouted "He was risen" at the right point in the story. It's good to know she doesn't just think it's all about candy. Tomorrow my in-laws will come over for lunch after church. Let's hope the food comes out well!

Easter Parade at Preschool

 

Dying Eggs

 

Dyed Table

  

Italian Easter Bread Dolls

 Easter Egg Hunt

Oregon Coast Aquarium

This weekend we went to the aquarium with our friends Mike and Becky to celebrate their baby Connor's first birthday. Despite the crazy weather (rain, sun, hail) it was lots of fun. I think Connor enjoyed himself, even though he probably didn't realize he was the cause of all of it. It was so fun to see him attack his cake. Thanks guys for a fun day! Of course I can't resist the opportunity to post pictures of the girls. I'll throw in some random sea creatures so I don't seem obsessed. ;)

 

Birth

One cool thing about living in a college town like Corvallis is the academic opportunities that pop up. I admit I haven't really taken advantage of them up until now, but on Wednesday I got the chance to. There is a cultural anthropologist at OSU who wanted to study more about the birth process and so she became a midwife. On Wednesday she held a screening of The Business of Being Born proceeded by a panel discussion. It was pretty interesting. The movie makes you think about the whole way we do birth in the US. I have thought about it before, since I worked as a labor and delivery nurse for two years and have given birth twice, but I wasn't aware of some of the statistics they quote in the movie. I thought overall that it was a good movie, although somewhat biased towards home birth. It did help cement my opinions toward birth and the birth process which have been slowly forming over the past ten years. If you're interested, here it goes.

I think women sell themselves short and don't give themselves enough credit. I have heard so many people jump to the epidural option without even considering that they might be tough enough to handle it. I think each birth is a unique case and should be treated as such, and labor has so many facets and circumstances that affect it. I don't think getting an epidural is a bad thing, and I am more comfortable with the idea of a hospital birth, but I think home birth has something to be said for it too. It's a complicated subject. Even though women talk about it all the time, most of the time it's just a sharing of horror stories instead of encouraging each other to gain knowledge and stand up for what we want. When I was a labor and delivery nurse I was often frustrated by all the paperwork and tasks I had to do. I felt it took time away from my patients. At the same time, most women want their labor to be as quick and pain free as possible and hospitals try to facilitate this, not necessarily to the patient's benefit. Also a lot of women have an idealized image of what their birth experience should be and are very upset when/if they don't get it. This makes it a very highly litigated area in the medical field which I think effects the nurse's care. If you are constantly afraid of being sued, you focus a lot on paperwork and procedures instead of the person. I don't have any easy answers, but the strongest feeling I came away from the movie with was, we need more education. Education for doctors, nurses, women, spouses, everyone involved in the process. At least it's a place to start. I recommend this movie to anyone who will be involved in the birth process in some way during their lives, at least as a starting point. It does have a few graphic c-section scenes, and their are lots of boobs, so be forewarned. :)

Visiting the Ducks

Today we met up with Christoph at work, had lunch together and fed the ducks. I've been asked to post some belly pictures, (or as Hollywood would say, pics of the bump) so I took advantage of the pretty outdoors and had Christoph snap some shots. Despite her look of distrust, Katrina had a ball with the ducks. She was so funny yelling, "Come here ducky, come here." She would throw the bread and say "Catch, you're welcome." Emily was like a little machine gun firing off pieces of bread like little bullets. It was cute to see both my girls unconsciously following in my footsteps and trying to make sure all the ducks got a little, instead of just throwing indiscriminately. I love getting out of the house for a little while to sit outside.

Me in all my largeness

Valentine's Snapshots

Happy Valentine's Day! Here are some glimpses of my day (the good parts). I am a bit sleep deprived and that does not mix well with whiny children. Christoph gave me tulips, I went shopping, took Emily to swimming lessons, babysat, helped Emily get her Valentines ready for school tomorrow, and now I'm going to relax with my hubby and watch a movie. Hope your day was great and you felt loved!