Halloween Hoopla

Yesterday was pretty darn crazy, but I survived.
The pumpkins are carved.

Today we sent Ella to school dressed in Halloween colors.
And Evangeline headed out dressed as her favorite book character, Heidi Heckelbeck.

I am almost done Jude's costume.

I may survive until tomorrow.  We'll see.

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Little facts about Jude

We started calling him Schneebly this week.
I looked at him 3 days ago and he is the spittin' image
of Ned Schneebly from School of Rock.
Can you see it?

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He sleeps every night in his swing.
He's in love with that thing.

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He isn't calmed by any other song,
but when I sing La Vie en Rose he is instantly quieted.

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Jude is now having his bum-bum wiped with soft, flannel.
Trying to beat the wicked bum rash!

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You guys. I cried TWICE today because Jude was sobbing
because his bum-bum hurts. I'm getting soft.
Heading to the pediatrician tomorrow for sure -
not for my crying, for his bum.

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I snuggle him and smooch him way more than I did my other kids?
Because he's a boy?  Because he's our last?
Who knows.

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Although his hair usually looks very white blond,
sometimes we are convinced his hair is strawberry blond.
Another redhead?

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Ella is a freakin' rock star with this kid.
Yesterday she held him for 40 minutes while I made dinner
and soothed his sad crying the entire time.

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Bianca, on the other hand, considers him her personal toy.
I have to constantly remind her to "get out of his grill".
She means well, but I'm pretty sure
she's trying to literally smother him with her love.

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Evangeline is largly indifferent at this point.

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Nobody rocks the
"What you talkin 'bout, Willis?!"
like this kid.
Nobody.

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this week..

this week promises to be a bit crazy.

monday:

- finish bianca's birthday party invite

- get list of nursery-age girls for the party

- fix color on photos for matt's office

tuesday:

- print invites, photos and birth announcements

- make halloween tshirts with girls

- MCH book fair (kids in costumes)

- take PTO photos at book fair.

wednesday:

- send kitchen scale into school with Eva

- carve pumpkins

- matt to basketball game in philly 

- Evangeline wears Halloween shirt to school

thursday:

- Ella wears halloween shirt to school 

- Evangeline in character dress-up for school

- trick-or-treating with kids

friday:

- hide candy from kids

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Allergies

Poor Jude. He has the worst bum-rash I have ever seen.
And he was up crying all night long on Saturday night.
Clearly, he is allergic to the standard baby formula.

We are going to have to sell one of our other kids so we
can buy a can of Nutramigen formula to give him some relief.
Ugh!

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Happy Things

Seriously. This was a pretty crappy week. So, I am counting my little happinesses.
Here are a few things that made me smile this week...

"Mommy. You take a picture wiff me and baby Jude. I da big sister."

 

Made: Handmade gifts for a friend.  Three pairs of cute earrings.

 

 Mommy is sick. So it's nighttime reading by big sister.

Finally got the missing number patches we needed and got them attached to the girls' vests.

 Snuggles with my perfect boy.

A made-up recipe for White Chocolate Macadamia Nut cookies. They were divine!

Reading time with the girls and Peter Brown.

 

Time with this crazy monkey. I adore her wild ways.

 

I resigned as Girl Scout troop co-leader this week when Jude started losing weight.  

Is it wrong that saying NO made me happy?

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Sorry for the absence...I've been busy starving my baby.

So...I haven't breast fed any of my three babies so far (for three different reasons). But I was determined to breastfeed Jude. Determined!

Oct 08: Jude was born at 7lbs, 6 oz.

Oct 11: He discharged from the hosptial at 6 lbs, 12 oz.  Normal weight-loss for the first few days. No worries.

I went home and started breast-feeding.  It was going great! So great that I even got cocky.  And then.....da-da-duuuummmm!

Oct 21: First pediatrician appt with Jude.  7 lbs.  Gaining...yay!  We're rock stars at breastfeeding.

Oct 22: Follow-up appt about his umbilical chord.  He gets weighed. 6 lbs, 13 oz. Losing weight. Uh oh!  The Pediatrician tells me to breast feed as normal and then offer the baby formula to top off the feeding EVERY OTHER FEEDING (hoping he would eat up to 1/2 an ounce.  I get home and breast-feed Juders for 10 minutes on each side...and then he drank 2 full ounces of formula.

Oct 24: 6 lbs, 13 oz.  Ugh!  Even after gobbling up formula he's still the same weight.  The doctor says to top off with formula for EACH feeding and come back the next day.  We do it for 24 hours.  That evening I notice my milk supply seems to be diminishing. What gives?  Maybe I'm imagining it.

Oct 25: I'm not imagining it. This morning my ta-ta's are visibly smaller and lighter.  My nursing bra is baggy.  We go to the pediatrician. 7 lbs!  The kid gained 5 ounces in 24 hours!!! Soooo....I've been starving my child with my lame breast-feeding.  The Pediatrician turns to me and says, "So, it's decision time. What do you think?"  My sad, deflated, boobies hang in defeat.  "It's formula time".

And actually, it's okay. I cried every other time the breast-feeding thing didn't work out, but today I feel sad, but relieved because now I can know exactly what this kid is eating. How many ounces and when.  Breast-milk is best, no debate, but formula is pretty good too.  We're moving forward, knowing I did my best and it just didn't work out.  And isn't that what motherhood is all about sometimes?  

Now to try and return this stupid nursing bra.

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rough couple of days

this motherhood business is tough.

the past few days have been a whirlwind of sleepless nights,

pediatrician appointments,

breastfeeding woes

and girl scout obligations.

whew!

don't worry. 

there has also been sleepy smiles,

funny Bonka moments,

happy red heads,

awesome craft magazines,

and relishing this moment in life.

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Happy Visit. Sad Departure.

My in-laws drove away this morning, 

bound for their home in Utah.

I cried.

Ella cried.

Bianca cried.

Jude cried (maybe not for emotional reasons).

Evangeline may be crying at school right now.  Who even knows.

Apparently Matt is dead inside.

Please come back. We miss you already!

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Visiting the Pumpkin Patch

Yep. I went out yesterday. I even showered.  Please, hold your applause.

The entire family (and the grandparents) headed to Milky Way Farm for a day of pumpkin picking, hayrides, baby animals and ice cream. It was crazy-fun, but I was wiped out by the end of the afternoon.

A baby cow was born on the farm just 2 days ago and the little girls got to pet it.

Ella opted to NOT pet the baby cow, but rode this wooden one instead. #ClassicElla.

There were free hayrides out to the pumpkin patch.

Hello, best grand-parents ever.  I have just LOVED having them here.  They are helpful, kind, fun and supportive.  And, most important to me, they are dependable. They are ALWAYS there for us and our children.  They will drop everything to be there when we need them and to be an active part of our children's lives....even when living 2,000+ miles away. This is invaluable. Could they be any better? Nope.

We chose our pumpkins, including hiking to the far edge of the patch so Ella could get a white pumpkin. We even got a little pumpkin for baby Jude.

 

I even breastfed little Jude (with the awesome Nursing Cover my sister-in-law made me) while at the farm. Yeah, Jude and I are getting pretty good at this whole breastfeeding racket.  I am back in my pre-pregnancy jeans, however, I feel like they are crushing my internal organs (and by "internal organs" I mean my "fat").

 

Jude wore this adorable little sweater that my friend, Stacy, knit for him. His facial expression is not an indication of how he feels about his awesome, hand-knit sweater. I promise.

The farm we visited is a working farm with cows and other animals and right on the farm they have an ice cream shop where they sell ice cream made from the fresh cow's milk.  Holy awesome-face.

After ice cream the grandparents played with the kids in the fields and we headed home.  It was a perfectly perfect Autumn day.

You can't tell by this photo, but Grandpa and Evangeline were skipping up the hill together.  So cute.

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