The Year That Was: January 2014

Okay, I have finally come to a point of peaceful coexistence between my desire to put everything in order and the pressing knowledge that life keeps moving along at a blistering pace, refusing to pause so I can catch up - in order. Here is the new plan: I will blog about life as we live it and I will blog about that lost year as I can. Happy, happy, happy.

Without further ado: January

Three pregnant goats joined the menagerie. Everyone loved those sweet girls!

Marie Claire (2.5 yrs) and some wild hair

Xavier (4.5yrs) continued his love of all things dress up

Kolbe turned 3 months old and slept just about any where. I loved that!

Happy Birthday, Marie Claire

Marie is two!

So much has changed in the last year. She has gone from a quiet bald baby teetering around the house to a rambunctious talkative toddler who wants to do everything 'the boys' do even if that is chucking herself off the end of beds in an attempt to fly onto one of the pillows.

Here's a quick look back over the past twelve months of baby joy.

Since Marie is still gluten free, we had a gf cookie pizza for her birthday. Even though she didn't know that this was what she wanted, she enjoyed it tremendously. How can one not like sugar cookie spread with cream cheese frosting, topped with cut fruit, and drizzled with melted chocolate. Ooo, that was sweet! As you can see, by the end of a full day of playing and swimming and eating forkfuls of sugar, she had had enough and threw herself on the floor for a good cry. Two is rough.

Marie Claire Right Now

1. Her skin is amazing. I finally, finally took her in to see an allergist who said she has no allergies and prescribed super strength steroid cream. While I did not want to cover her prescription medications, she is so much happier now that she is not bleeding from all the scratching. We also made the decision to keep her gf because we witness a tremendous difference in behavior when she is exposed. Two days of crying tantrums and tummy aches are not worth a bowl of pasta. I don't care what the prick test says.

2. She can climb out of the crib. Yes, that now means midnight visits from stealthy little feet. I have trouble getting mad though, because she is so darn cute.

3. She talks continuously- complete thoughts in a soft squeaky voice toddler voice. Oh, how I love toddler voices.

4. She loves to see pictures of herself especially in hats.

5. She has boundless energy. This translates into lots of bouncing, jumping, and running. 

6. She loves to color, thank goodness. I don't don't know how we would homeschool without a pack of little squeeker markers and a stack of scratch paper.

7. She has decided that almost all fruits and vegetables are yucky. Sigh. 

8. She loves the boys and runs with joy when Daddy comes home. 

I absolutely love toddlers. I love the high highs and the crazy lows. I love the sense of wonder and joy that permeates their very existence. I love the abandon with which they give hugs and kisses. 

I do love love you!

Happy Birthday, Marie Claire

Happy Birthday, Marie Claire!

Look who's one!

 Missy girl spent the day cruising around the house with her siblings and swimming at our lovely neighbor's pool. Since I am not a big party planner and she considers every day a good one so long as there is plenty of time in my arms, lots of nursing, and kisses galore, we kept our quiet routine.

 Here she is practicing her fine motor skills by picking up and eating every little leaf she can find until Mama suddenly demands that she give it up.

 And this is my view many times a day as she asserts her need to be up, now! Stephen keeps telling me that she will find something to do if I just ignore her long enough, but I am a softy so up she goes. The funny moment is when Xavier realizes that my other arm is free so he exclaims, "Look mama, there's still woom." And up he comes too, one baby on each hip.

 Missy still crawls around, but Olivia excitedly told me that she took her first step today- not once, but twice. Birthdays are special days indeed.

Now, Marie has been a very quiet baby all this year until the last month or so. So quiet, that I began searching the Internet for baby milestones to make sure she was hitting at least the minimum. She was definitely a little slow. But now, oh my, she has awakened: giggling, chattering, imitating, and even signing. I think the change came about when we finally stopped all grains and dairy to help with her eczema. Her skin has improved tremendously and she is a force to be reckoned with!

 As a result of her diet change, may I present the Sweet Potato Cake...

 Oh yes, this is every Paleo baby's dream. 

 Marie loved her cake and all the attention, singing, and fire. Her brothers and sisters loved watching her and were perfectly amenable to the idea of Sweet Potato Cake for her birthday so long as I don't decide to try that on their birthday. Olivia helped out by baking delicious sugar cookies for everyone else. So, all was good.

 After dinner, she opened her home made presents with lots of helping hands. This little one is surrounded by a doting family.

Happy, happy birthday Marie Claire 

I do love you so!

Saintly

Seven months

Well, let's be honest, seven-and-a-half months

My lovely Marie is sitting (finally), eating (finally), and gurgling with pure sweetness (but, of course)!

This little one is pure joy.

A wee saint in the making?

Not too perfect just yet, says she.

Half Way to One

 Just a few photos of a little girl who is sleeping through the night. Yay! See, six months is the magic number.























Well, that and the fact that we moved her out of our bathroom and down the hall to the opposite end of the house. She gets to bond with Olivia and we get to be semi-intelligent adults again. The move came about because Stephen exclaimed that he had the I.Q. of a sponge at work which was bad for long term employment security.

 On a completely different subject, Xavier has decided to shun all diapers. That's good (no more diapering two babies) and bad (do you know how much I dislike potty training? This is the point at which I take up drinking something more interesting than tea with honey.) 

 Let the potty training begin!

She's Five Months Old

Well, actually, she's five and a half months now, rolls over, and has two teeny tiny little teeth, but she was five months exactly when I took the photos.

I remember when she used to sleep through the night. Oh, I was so happy! However, right after Christmas she caught a really nasty cold from her dear brothers that landed her in the hospital with RSV. Yes, those ER nurses are starting to get to know the whole clan. It boggles their mind that we keep coming in with different children, but I digress. Sleeping through the night went right out the window. Breathing treatments, steroids, humidifiers, and lots of pounding on the back replaced our peaceful nights. Thankfully, she made of complete recovery and is once again her sweet happy and healthy self. The sleeping for eight hours has never returned. Now I am grading papers at 4am with my happy healthy baby. I am grateful but a titch more sleep would be nice too. Maybe at six months?

The Gown

Marie Claire, my sweet sweet baby.

She is four months old now. Everyday I want to push pause so I can block out the boisterous and tumultuous noise of everyday life and just savor her.

All my babies, except for Xavier, have worn this breathtaking baptismal gown. My father wore it as a newborn as have many of my cousins. I am enthralled by its fragile beauty everytime I gingerly unpack it from the special box. Three generations have been reborn of water and Spirit in this gown.

John 3:3-5 "Jesus answered and said to him: Amen, amen, I say to thee, unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith to him: How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born again? Jesus answered: Amen, amen, I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." 

Since I am intimately involved, I have few photos of most of the children's baptisms. My brother Adam only just started acting as photographer extraordinaire. But, I do have one photo of Olivia after she was baptised. She looked angelic sitting in this gown with her startlingly blue eyes and perfect porcelain skin. (One day you may bump into a painting of her as an angel on a church mural in Santa Fe, truly.) I always intend to take photos later, but life continues to press forward and I forget until it is too late. I didn't want this to happen yet again. Thus, I hurriedly found some soft light and captured my memories of another blue-eyed baby girl.

Marie loved the silky slippy softness.

As you may remember, it is impossible to take a photo of just one. So, here is my companion for the afternoon- Gracie. She too has quite the dress on! This one was a gift from a kind neighborhood girl. Grace dons it the moment it emerges from the dryer and sighs with sadness when it must be washed again. Sometimes I feel like I have characters from fairy tales living in my little home. 

What could be better?

Marie's Baptism

A photo journal of a beautiful day.

May God bless you and keep you, Marie, my love

Fr. John and Marie's godparents: Nanna and Papa, of course.

Thank you Adam, the photos are lovely!

Time to head home and bbq and swim!