Domestic Adventures

Emmaline and Micah have taken well to Isaac. They were so excited to meet him for the first time, but they were ready to go home when they realized there were no toys at the hospital!

Thank you everyone for all your prayers! We welcomed Isaac Trenton into the world Tuesday, May 26 at 12:34pm. He weighed 7 pounds, 3 ounces and is absolutely beautiful!
Labor and delivery went wonderfully well. I don’t even know how long to count this labor as being. The doctor started the pitocin drip at 8am, and contractions showed up regularly on the monitor, but nothing I could feel until about 11:00. At 11:30 they started the epidural and an hour later he was born.
We’re happily home now and just working on getting in some sleep… preferably at night!

I am loving all the fun fabrics I’ve been running into lately - makes me wish I sewed! Oh well, I’ll leave that to others, I’ll just concern myself with trying not to put too many lovely patterned things together.

M: Let’s climb the walls!

E: No, mother says we’re not allowed.

I love to have a name for the little baby growing in me, but choosing a name always seems like the hardest task. It has to sound nice, and mean something nice, and not remind me of any unpleasant past acquaintance.
Type “baby names” into google and you’ll be served up thousands of sites offering names and meanings, and it doesn’t seem to matter which site you choose, as they’re all pretty much the same.

I did manage to stumble across a couple of interesting variations, however.

Name Voyager gives you a chronological name frequency graph for any name you type in. It’s fun to play with even if you aren’t looking for baby names. For instance, you can see how the name Emmaline virtually disappeared after the 1880’s, but Micah has been slowly on the rise since the 1950’s. More common names have interesting trends too. The name John, while still accounting for about 4000 out of every million babies in 2008, has been on a downward slide since the 1880’s when over 40,000 out of every million carried the name. And of course it’s no surprise to see the huge peak in Jennifers in the 70’s and Katelyns in the 90’s.

What a Lovely Name is another interesting way to search for names. You can search by cultural tradition, dispositions, celebrity names, and a category called “other worlds” which includes names from Star Wars, Middle Earth, and Narnia.

We didn’t end up using any particular naming book or site for any of our kids’ names, but they are fun to play around with.

I tend to get obsessed about certain purchases. Unreasonably so. So for the past few months I’ve been looking for a diaper bag. At first I just thought I’d just pick one up at Babies R Us or Target, as I have done in the past. But no, for some reason, I’ve gotten way too picky about what I want.
First of all, it must be cute with no cartoons or baby bunnies on it, and admittedly the options concerning this requirement have improved over the years. Unfortunately, most of the not-cutesy choices are black or grey or navy. Maybe it’s just summertime approaching, but I wanted something more fun than black.
Second, I discovered with Micah that having more kids demands a smaller bag, not a a bigger bag - at least for me. I don’t love carrying around anything extra anyway and when the bag is too big, it’s more hassle than help. Also, I’ve learned that I don’t actually have to carry around half the nursery with me, so a smallish sized bag works just fine.
Third, it needs to have a place for my things so I can find my wallet, keys, and phone without digging through diapers and burp clothes. Ideally, it would have a separate wristlet to use for those rare trips without baby.
My humble list of requirements and I scoured the malls and internet for just such a bag… my conclusion: such bags are rare, and also expensive. Good thing Mother’s Day was coming up and I have a very generous husband!
I am amazingly pleased with my Ju Ju Be Between bag. Ju Ju Be offers much bigger and much smaller bags, but for me, this size was really appealing. I’ve already packed it up, and while there’s not room to just keep throwing stuff in, it holds all the essentials, and keeps them organized.
I love the pattern and I really love the tiny rhinestones embedded in the zipper pulls. It’s all water- proof and stain resistant, but can also be tossed in the washing machine and according to all the reviews, come out looking new.
It has a special “mommy pocket” on the front for my things, and as a bonus, Trent also bought me the matching Be Mine wristlet which again is tiny, but holds everything I need.
Of course, it hasn’t had a true test drive yet, but I’m very happy with the results of my diaper bag quest.

P.S. Ju Ju Be has a weekly “Real Moms Give Away”. All you have to do to enter is respond to their weekly question in the Pink Room.

My lovely Mother’s Day started Saturday afternoon. Trent surprised me by arranging for babysitting so we could go out and see Wolverine, which was just as excellent as I had expected. It was so nice to just be out with Trent. After the movie, stopping by Sweet was of course a necessity. What I didn’t realize was that Trent had called ahead and ordered this adorable and delicious bouquet of mother’s day cupcakes. Yum! They are so very, very good.

Confused Panera Girl: How can I help you?

Emmaline: I’d like a massive chocolate chip cookie!

Confused Panera Girl: Uh, I don’t think we have any of those.

Emmaline: Yes you do, right there. (Point to a chocolate chip cookie nearly 6 inches in diameter)

Confused Panera Girl: Oh, that’s just a plain chocolate chip cookie.

Emmaline: Well, can I have one of those?

It’s been just over four years since last our last baby. In the meantime, we’ve gotten rid of a lot of our baby things, so there’s been a bit of shopping to do. Not a bad thing because I do love shopping and so many things have been improved upon since last we shopped for baby things. One new thing I’m excited about is a new stroller. After test-driving all the options around Babies R Us, we found we really like the Quinny Zapp. Its short wheel-base design is decidedly different from the tradition stroller, a feature Trent loves, and I cannot believe how well it steers and turns. Even holding a nearly 40 pound child, I easily whipped around tight corners steering with one hand. It also folds up to practically nothing.
I’ve found my stroller… now the only question left is what color?

The school year is drawing to a close and lots of things are wrapping up. Yesterday we had a yearbook party with our history co-op to close out the year.
I am so very grateful for the co-op. In fact, this group was one of the main things God used in leading us to homeschool. I remember the summer before Emmaline started kindergarten at a private school; I had lots of friends who homeschooled and thought it was great, but believed it was something I could never do myself - it just seemed too big, too overwhelming. I overheard plenty of homeschool conversations though, and as I listened to all these co-op moms talk I began to think that maybe, just maybe I could do this. And maybe it would be wonderful. It has been!
We’ve met new friends and gotten to spend lots of time with old friends. The kids have loved all the activities, field trips, and just plain running around with kids time. The teaching topics have inspired me in our curriculum at home. The thing that I’ve loved the most though - needed the most - is the support of other homeschool moms. I think I would constantly be filled with doubt if I didn’t have homeschool friends who have done this all before. I’m always asking for advice and running ideas by them, and I’ve learned so very much and seen what a wide variety of forms homeschooling can take. Truly, I thank God for these things.
This year’s co-op theme has been Renaissance through Explorers. I got to teach about DaVinci, and Shakespeare, and even the littlest kids got a taste of history. For our end of the year festival, each child dressed as an explorer and presented a report. Above, Emmaline is dressed as Christopher Columbus and Micah is sporting his pirate costume. I’m so looking forward to next year when we get to study, indians, cowboys, and early America!