1. Kalleigh has started answering my rhetorical questions in her own little way. For example, "Kalleigh, why are you yelling?" "'Cause! Fun!" Touche'.
2. Conversation between John and Johnathan at lunch today: John: "Oh! Did you see that? I think Mr. Potato Head took a step!" Johnathan: "No, he didn't. He's not real." John: "Right. Maybe I was using my imagination." Johnathan: "Yeah. If you see real potatoes climbing in our house, I'd say, 'Get out!'"
3. Seems like Elizabeth had a post entitled, "Oh, Ashlyn!" a while back. Well, I am so there with Kalleigh. Thursday, I was supposed to drop the kids off at the Deans before I picked up John to go sing with Danny that evening. I got Jonas in the van and as I went back in the house, Johnathan comes running up to me saying, "Mom! Kalleigh has poop all over her!" Sure enough, from the time I left to put Jonas in the car until the time I returned, Kalleigh had pooped in her diaper and managed to smear it all over herself. I was livid, as you could imagine. "Oh, Kalleigh!" I yelled and snatched her up and put her in the tub. I ran back out and retrieved Jonas and put him in his bouncy chair. I marched back into the bathroom, camera in hand, and barked at Kalleigh to face me and back up, and "STOP PUTTING YOUR HANDS IN YOUR MOUTH." Her bottom lip was quivering, as she knew she was in trouble. I sternly said, "Now be still while I take a picture. She looked up, and whimpered, "Cheese?" It was exactly what I needed to calm down. :)
The rest of the story is that I showered her off and redressed her, and we were a mere 12 minutes late. Not bad, I thought!
1. Johnathan went to the refrigerator to get some strawberries. We had had them about a week--yeah, you know where this is going. Johnathan said, "Mommy, some of these have mulch on them." I was a little confused until I turned around and saw the lovely mold starting to form on the bottom ones. :)
2. Last night we grilled some steaks. A little tough, but Mamaw's marinade is unbeatable. Kalleigh asked, "Whassat?" and pointed to the meat. "Yummy steak!" I said. She made her best scrunched up worried face and said, " 'Nake? Shew-wee!" It took her a while to accept that we were eating cow meat instead of snake.
Last night the band performed at KE Cellars. Did I mention that the name of the band is "Group Therapy"? Pretty funny since John has a masters in MFT. Danny's band has always had that name even before we joined him.
Anyway, the Deans kept our kiddos again--even Jonas, making them Jonas's first babysitters. We dropped all three off before heading over to sing, and then they brought Jonas back when it was time to eat! Plus they got to stay and hear us sing a bit, too, which was fun.
Last night was the first time to set up the timbales, cymbal and cowbell. Last Thursday, we only had the congas. Whether or not we did well is totally beside the point. The point was to look impressive, and we succeeded at that! :) No, really, John did an excellent job, especially for his first time with the extra percussion. I filled in on the songs where he had the big solo, like "Mack the Knife," and "Love Me."
One of the deejays in town came and recorded a few of our songs last week and put them up on his website! He took pictures last night and said he would have them up soon to go along with the music. They weren't up when I checked today, but maybe he'll have them up in the next couple of days.
This morning was Jonas's dedication at church. This is when the congregation pledges to help us raise and nurture our child in Christian love. It is so special to us since we don't have our blood family living here. Our church family becomes that in their absence! We certainly do rely on our church family for their help!
Here's Jonas in his cute little outfit for this morning. What makes it so special is that the shirt belonged to my dad when he was a baby! And it's a good thing Jonas wore it today, because I don't think he'll fit in it next week!
I'm pretty sure I was running on pure adrenaline the first two weeks of Jonas's life. I'm so glad I was able to enjoy those two weeks as much as I did.
But the sleep deprivation has now kicked in. I won't drone on and on about it, because it just comes with the territory, and I know that.
John and I are working together to develop and sharpen our zone defense strategy, 3 on 2, and most days come away feeling somewhat successful. We even made it to church on time all by ourselves this past Sunday! Not only that, but I dropped John off at the building early for worship team rehearsal and all three kids and I went to Starbucks. I was not about to give up that weekly treat! Plus Kreg had given me a Starbucks card for my birthday, and it really needed to be used.
John and I are officially in Danny's band, "Group Therapy." We're learning to play the congas and it's a little intimidating, but a whole lot of fun! We'll be at KE Cellars Saturday night from 6-9 pm for anyone that wants to check us out. As I've said before, I'm thankful that John and I have this outlet that we can enjoy as a couple.
And now I'll leave you with my three favorite pictures from the past week.
My sleeping sweetness!
Johnathan--the angelic look.
... and Kalleigh's sad face. I couldn't resist. :)
I just wanted to jot down some thoughts before I forget what's been running through my mind during this precious time ...
I love the newborn phase. It's amazing how quickly it goes by! I'm really trying to enjoy every second. Every squirm, squished up face, squeak and squirt! Watching his face as he studies the new world around him. His legs all tucked up under him when he sleeps or when I hold him, because that's how he had been for the last several months. The wrinkles on his head. The "little old man" hair on the back of his head. The arms that he has no idea what to do with. The "pecking" when he's hungry. The trembling of his chin when he cries. The tiny hands and feet and everything else.
Nursing--what an amazing thing to be able to sustain the life of this infant. There is no other bonding like it! The sweet noises he makes when he eats. The full-body crunch when he latches on. The wide eyes when getting a big gulp of milk for the first time. The way he looks up at me. The feet tickling when he's falling asleep. The midnight gassy grins that only I see. The drunken milk face when he's all full. Even the bags of frozen milk in the freezer. This newborn phase is the only time I'll see that!
Jonas Dean Hodges Born: August 5, 2008 Weight: 9 lbs, 10 oz Length: 21 3/8 in Head circumference: 14 cm
The story:
Tuesday morning, August 5--our 8th anniversary. We were still in bed just before 8 am. I rolled over and said, "Happy Anniversary!" and wondered where we would go eat that night while the kids were at VBS. John got up first and then I rolled back over and--POP! It felt like Jonas had just kicked really hard, except it was down low, so it couldn't have been his feet. And then I felt my legs getting wet. Oh boy. As I got up and waddled to the bathroom, amniotic fluid continued to run down my legs! "Towels! My water broke! We're having a baby today!" I yelled to John as I climbed in the tub (the one I had just cleaned while nesting last weekend). No contractions yet.
I called my midwife and told her that my water had broken, and yes I was sure. She said that she would head to the birth center and get the jaccuzi started, since I wanted a water birth. She also said that I had ten hours to go into labor on my own. Otherwise, I would need to go to the hospital and be induced due to the risk of infection. I was to call her when the contractions started.
The phone calls started. I was just sure Mom would be able to make this one since I hadn't even started contracting. She left work immediately, ran home and packed for a week and was on the road by 9am.
Danny came by the house around 9:15 bearing gifts of donuts and milk to wish us good luck. I figured it was my last chance to eat whatever I wanted.
Then at 9:30 the contractions started. I could still talk through them, though, but they were progressing. Yea! I was going into labor!
I let my midwife know and she said that I could come on in whenver I felt like it. I told her that we'd take our time getting our stuff together, since the contractions still weren't too bad, and then we'd come on in after dropping the kids off at J.C. and Terry's. We dropped Johnathan and Kalleigh off at 11 am and headed to the birth center.
I had talked to my good friend, Chelsea just the day before (we had taken our kids swimming) about the possibility of her being there at the birth center with me whever I went into labor, at least until Mom got there. Well, here it was, the next day, so she met us there with gifts and camera in tow.
I was at 5 cm when my midwife, Vicky, checked me around 11:15. We agreed that it woulc be best to wait to get in the water until I was a little further along so the contractions wouldn't slow down. At that point, my contractions were coming every five minutes and growing steadily stronger, but still not totally unbearable ... until about 12:40. Then there was a significant change in the intensity and duration of each contraction. I wanted to be checked again because I wanted to get in that water ASAP! Sure enough I was at "at 8, maybe a 9," and I headed to the pool.
The water was perfect and it felt wonderful. I was in the pool about five minutes before I said, "I need to push!" Vicky said, "Great! Let's do it!" And I started pushing. Whew, that was hard work! But the end was so close! And I just kept on pushing! His head was hard for me to get out, partly because his right fist was up by his cheek, but finally, oh finally, he came on out of there. I pulled him up to me and was overwhelmed with emotions of love, pride, relief and sheer bliss! John cut cord and we just relaxed for awhile before I got out of that wonderful water.
I didn't need any stitches, I didn't have any IV, I got to go home 3 1/2 hours later. I LOVED this whole experience!! If we have another, and that's the plan at this point, I will definitely do it that way again, assuming everything goes well, of course.
Chelsea got some great pictures, so enjoy the slide show! (Some pics are sideways. Just didn't have time to edit them ALL!)
I went in today for an appointment, and I'm at a 3! I knew those Braxton Hicks were doing something! He's still pretty high, or at least he swam back up for the appointment. All that to say, I have no idea when he'll decide to enter the world. My official due date is still the 22nd, but at the sonogram back in April, he was measuring 10 days ahead of schedule, which would be next Tuesday, the 12th. That would be a fine day for me. :)
On the other hand, I broke my pinky toe today! I ran into the wall rounding a corner. I heard the crack. And now it's black. Of course, you can't tell that it's swollen any worse than the rest of my toes, but it is not pretty. Isn't that just what I need when I weigh the most I've ever weighed in my life?!
I'm totally in "accomplish mode" these days. This timing seems to be about right, if I remember correctly. While pregnant with Johnathan my poor husband and I painted three rooms in one weekend, including his "all-out" Peter Rabbit nursery. With Kalleigh it was baking. From about 37 weeks until the day I went into labor I couldn't stop baking pies.
This weekend I made 2 framed quotes for Ladies Bible Class (which begins the Tuesday after my due date), boxed, labeled and had John put away Johnathan's and Kalleigh's clothes that they had outgrown, wrote thank you cards for the first round of my "bassinet shower" from church, created a design that has the names of God on it that will go on a 4 x 4 tile to give to all the Ladies Bible Class leaders in a couple of weeks, organized my scrap stuff and got it all put away, hung an iron decoration in our bathroom, cleaned out the wax that was in our garden tub from when a candle exploded nearby, cleaned the rest of the bathroom (no easy feat), put Jonas's car seat in the van and moved the other car seats around as needed, purged the kids' toys and got the ones that "made the cut" reorganized, gave myself a French manicure, and then just did some general picking up around the house. I intend to sleep well tonight. We'll see how that goes!
These are the framed quotes I made. I was pleased with how they turned out! The smaller quote says, "I've been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had no other place to go. -- Abraham Lincoln. These quotes will sit at our service project table and our prayer reqest table.
I had made a fresh cherry cobbler earlier this week, but I learned the hard way that it needed to be refrigerated. *sniff* What's wrong with my brain? I should've known that.
Next week is VBS, so that should be fun. No, I'm not in charge of anything! And Tuesday is our 8 year anniversary. Crazy!
Needless to say, it's a good day, and I'm feeling well. I'm grateful for days like this!
