Gobble Fest

Gobble Fest 2011

Included:

1 turkey

3 bottles of wine

mashed potatoes

gravy

sweet potato praline swirl

cranberry relish

potato rolls

green bean mix

pistachio salad

pumpkin pie

apple pie

1 grandma

1 pop pop

2 mommies

1 auntie Michon

1 daddy

6 cousins

Notice anything missing?

Ding ding! 

We were missing a daddy.

He was here:

Don't rush to judgement. 

He had the blessing of all 4 females in his house.

It was a rare opportunity to spend a holiday with his BFF and go see his most beloved Huskers beat Iowa.

In the land of "Joe" it doesn't get much better than a Husker home game.

Back in the Lone Star State....

 Eva assisted Pierce on the tricycle

 Baby Iris loved up anyone that had empty arms.

 Baby Iris got bigger and cuter.

Pierce and Eva spontaneously morphed into a caterpillar and a frog, respectively.

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN??

Let me begin with a brief breakdown of my weekly time requirements:

Work:  24 hours/week.
Clinical: 20 hours/week.
Class: 10 hours/week.
Children:  Unknown (but it's a lot cause there's 3 of 'em) hours/week.
Sleep: 50 hours/week.
Conversing with spouse: probably not enough hours/week.
Housework:  definitely not enough  hours/week.

Whoa, it's getting crazy friends!  This Mommy will always have crazy work hours, but it will be nice to put the deadlines and stressors of school behind me.  Needless to say, this is the reason for my absence.  I'm just not motivated to sit back down at the computer - I can't bear to tune out my trio of attention-seeking-little-mommy-lovers.   But then the emails start coming in from the grandparents and the aunties and the cousins and they all want to know "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?"  and I'm always surprised that you're still out there waiting for the latest pictures and funny stories!

So, we'll strike an agreement.  My postings are likely to be sparse and greatly spaced, but I will try to post updates and hit the highlights from time to time.

I came  back from KY and had way too much fun buying the perfect lab coat.  Look out clinical, here I come!

The big girls began a 12 week session of swimming lessons.  On a scholarship from Grandma and Grandpa N.  They love it almost as much as they love soccer.  They both said that in the future, they will choose swimming lessons over "boring old ballet".  What??

Halloween came and went.  We had a cowgirl, a cowdad, Little Red Riding Hood and a ... um, fairy princess cowgirl?  Eva loved handing out the candy so much that when our candy supply ran out, she began giving out her own trick or treats!  God loves a giving soul!

And last night, big girl Eva got her first hair cut.  More like a little trim of the random long strands...  She sat so still and cracked us up by sharing her thoughts.  "I so pretty Mommy?  I have long hair.  Mommy have long hair?  I have sparkle too?  This a big seat!  I very high!  We have happy meal?"  It always comes back to food with Eva.  I love her.

Squeek of the Morning

I love my big girl.  That's her, #7.  She is strong, smart, confident, compassionate, funny and beautiful.  She gives everything she attempts her best effort.  She's our guinea pig; I admit that we are learning as we go with our oldest daughter! I don't know what we did to deserve her, but God blessed us infinitely when he chose us to be her parents!

So enough gushing.

This morning I woke up too early to the sounds of a clumsy man crashing and shuffling into the bathroom and making all sorts of unnecessary noise.  So I went and snuggled next to big sis for a while and when she got up, since we were running ahead of schedule, I sat on her bed and french braided her hair for school while she talked.  And talked.  And talked.

Here's what was on her mind this morning.  "Claudia has this idea for a dance party.  She wants to make costumes and buy shoes.  Claudia's mom is a good sew-er (like seamstress, but she said "sower" and spelled out it looked like "sewer" which is entirely different) but she asks for help if she gets stuck because she has a friend who sews too.  And I would be in charge of making the signs for the dance party and getting a table. And the party would be here in our neighborhood.  Where would be a good place mom?  We were thinking on the grass in the backyard by those trees (greenbelt).  And we would have to ask (the neighborhood association) for permission I guess, although you don't have to ask for permission to have a lemonaide stand.  That doesn't seem fair, does it mom?  Do you think we could get some of those big pieces of paper for the signs?  Like at Hobby Lobby or something?  Would you make some snacks?  And Claudia wants to have it at sunset because it's so pretty but I don't think that's a good idea because we wouldn't have enough time.  Because it would take all our time just to set it up and then it would be bedtime!  So I think we should have it, like, at dinner time and then everyone can dance at sunset.  Do you think that's a good idea mom?  And I was thinking we should have lots of balloons and let them go right when our party is starting and then everyone would say "Wow!  Look at those beautiful balloons!" and they would know we were having a party because of the balloons and they would walk over to the grass because everyone is out in the evening playing and going for walks and stuff.  Do you think it's a good idea mom?"

"I certainly think you've put a lot of thought into it."

Lamaze International

I got to attend the annual Lamaze International Conference this year as an exhibitor for FNU.

I looked forward to it all week and it was lots of fun!

Nurses and childbirth people are so dang nice. 

The best part, besides the free food,

were all the entrepreneurial displays...

These dolls were so cute!  I want one for my future office!

And I met the creators of iBirth -

a birth app for the iPhone!! 

You know I'm buying it.  

The app has short videos to demonstrate different labor positions 

and how they benefit mom and baby; it has nutrition information

 and even examples of good sources of different nutrients!

  Forehead slap!  Why didn't I think of that??

I came up on a free bottle of Bio-Oil.

Originally designed for burn victims, 

they now market it for scars, stretch marks and just general skin wellness.

Preliminary results obtained from the warm bath I just exited indicate that this may be a winning product!

  I'll let you know after repeated uses.

  I'm going to use it on Mia and Eva's itchy, sensitive skin too.

And the totally awesomest thing was that I met the founder of 

Dancing For Birth!

I missed the class series that was offered here last month, 

but after meeting Stephanie, I have decided to attend her training workshop.

I hope it doesn't matter that I can't dance...

Just wanted to share the goodness!

Love to my peeps,

Katie