Happy NINO, Sweet Boy!

In celebrations of Raudhán’s NINO (nine in, nine out) birthday, I’ve decided to compile a few of the statuses and replies I posted on facebook (because so many of us live through our social networks this day and age, you know) around the time of his birth. I think this will be a fun little thing to look back on over the years as part of his birth story. (I’ve taken out last names and have only posted some of the comments as it would have been much too long to post everything from that time). I chose the ones that I felt told the story the best.

March 31, 2010

Amid some strongish (but NOT regular) contractions, has decided that Mike’s decision to get up and go to the cottage today is not such a bad idea….no, I don’t “think” it will progress beyond the annoying catch my breath now and again pain but might as well get there and get settled.

Shannon R. ooooooo… maybe maybe!!! Praying for you as you head off to bring a new little life into this world! Wish I could be there to help (not with the birth, but with your BIGS! LOL!)

Kristin K. How far’s the drive? wishing you a smooth journey, and plenty of time to enjoy your big tub

Melissa M. Great plan! Yeah for mike! Take care, be careful and safe but mostly just enjoy!

April 1, 2010
Made it safe and sound and no baby *lol*
Shannon R. DISlike… I wanna hear about BABIES… (but I am glad you are safe and sound.. now pop that baby out will you??? Sheesh *wink*)

Katrina M. ‎*lol* Shannon….I really didn’t fancy a car baby….hopefully news soon….my body is most certainly preparing but that doesn’t necessarily mean much….no phone here and internet is temperamental but I WILL get you the news Shannon!!
April 6th, 2010
Had a good midwife appointment….baby is in a great position and engaged….measuring 34cm (at 38 weeks…after measuring 36 weeks last appointment) so things are sort of happening…*lol*
Hawfeather P. They are TOTALLY happening.. all part of your story momma!

April 11th, 2010
Newest update is that the internet/phone is even less reliable than ever….we’re all really sick and Mama is quickly running out of energy…..

Katrina M. …..but Mike is taking the kids out anyways (they are recovering) and I am going to take a nap!

April 13th, 2010

Wants to go home now…..

Kathy M. Oh no..What’s up Kat? Hoping all is ok… Still waiting on the arrival of that new addition.. HUGS ♥

Katrina M. Sick of prelabour stuff, sick of having a whole household sick (since Easter), sick of not having a phone, worried that we won’t be able to communicate when I go into “real” labour, worried that I won’t have any energy left when the time comes, mostly worried about Mike…..just feeling hormonal…..

Katrina M. Mike is sick, sick, sick…..I need hold off for at least 3 or 4 day wishes…

Barbara B. Hugs Katrina. I am so sorry this isn’t the calm relaxing setting you wanted before the birth. Hopefully everyone will get better quick and gice you some time to rest before the baby comes, On a bright side, at least everyone will be over it before the baby. Big hugs.

Lesley E. Hugs, Katrina…and hugs to poor Mike. I hope you see a turn for the better tomorrow.

April 15th, 2010

Mike is out of bed! A turn for the better! I’m out of bed and out and about…things are looking up….bring on the baby action…*lol*
Lisa A. Go for a run and I bet the baby will come! seriously I went speed walking the last time and I went 2 weeks early

Katrina M. I’m trekking laundry up and down the hill this evening…*lol* Honestly don’t anticipate anything for a few days but at least I am feeling better about things today….

Hawkfeather P. Laundry cause nesting or laundry cause we gotta do our laundry in life? Do ya think you will update when you feel labour has picked up?

Katrina M. Laundry as in we’ve been sick for 10 days and I’ve only done laundry once…I also desperately feel the need for a pile of clean undies *lol*…..I will likely update, Hawkfeather, if the computer is cooperative….depends on how things go and what kind of frame of mind I’m in.

April 17th, 2010

Home visit this morning….about 50% effaced, 2cm (stretchy to 4), cervix anterior, baby sitting right there…conclusion: I’ll have a baby some time in the next 3 weeks!! *lol*

Shannon R. I say… hmmm 24 hours. (but that could be my wishful thinking happening…)

Lisa A. Shannon, I say the same thing … in the next 24 to 48 hours!!!
April 17th, 2010, 11:07pm

Thinking maybe just maybe….(not an “official” baby is coming message)…going to try to sleep but not sure it’s going to happen.
Kristin K. Wishing you a smooth labour and birth!!!

Barbara B. Oh Katrina, I hope this is it and you get the labour and delivery you long for. Good thoughts, prayers and welcomings coming to you and that baby boy.

Stephanie E. Love to you sweet mama. I will be greeting a new life shortly over here, so sending you some of this sweet energy. xo

April 18th, 7:30am
Having a baby but none too quickly….long night but getting into a groove now….
Alice F. Got your phone message, I will be able to get the truck and as soon as Mike calls again to confirm and I bring in a load of wood and get ready I will be leaving.

Rev Nick P. Yay!

Ellie M. So exciting! I hope it all goes smoothly and you have your wee one in your arms soon!

Marsi D. You know, tomorrow is my birthday, now that would be cool! Take care Katrina!

Mary S. Happy birthing!

Shannon R. I love being right. ;o) PRAYING HARD FOR YOU KATRINA!!! I’ll ask the church to pray as well… I’m so excited for you!!! Oh… I so wish I could come and see you… let me go beg Tony to come see you in a few weeks.. okay???? I miss you my dear friend!!! Be safe in this delivery… hey little baby in there… be gentle on your Mama, she’s my friend!!!

Karyn B. Praying for a smooth delivery and healthy baby boy!

Hawkfeather P. I am thinking of you- like many others tonight…sending lots of love and infinite support momma. You are creating a beautiful story right now I have no doubt…

April 18th, 2010 8:05pm
Welcoming a Beautiful 8 pound 7 ounce blessing to the World
Shannon R. PRAISE GOD!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!! I was SO right on on thsi one.. I’m tellin’ ya.. this little babe and I have a connection! LOL!
DETAILS please!??!?!? PICTURES TOO if it’s not too much trouble!!! (((hugs)))

Rev. Nick P. Yay! Enjoy your little blessing!

Katie M. Congratulations!!!

Ilana G. Yay!! Can’t wait to hear the details! Huge congratulations!

Marsi D. How exciting! I hope both of you are doing well! I can’t wait to hear more!

Natasha K. CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! I’m so glad he’s here, and safe! Big boy! Can’t wait to see pictures and read his birth story.

Katrina M. We’re less than 5 hour out from the birth, ladies and gentlemen…pictures coming soon…..short story….longish labour with a posterior baby (the kid moved since yesterday…..baby went anterior eventually and I went from 5cm to baby out in 8 minutes…..craziness!!

Amy F. Congratulations Kat!!! I am so happy for you!

Lynn S. Congratulations! what a precious gift Have a good rest together.

Lisa A. Congrats!!! that is great news!!!!! enjoy!

Brannon C. YAY Katrina! I just got chills. I am so thrilled for you and your family. Can’t wait to hear the birth story.

Melissa M. Huge congrats!! WOW 8 minutes! Awesome!!!

Kristin K. Congrats Katrina!!! So you got your homebirth?!! welcome to the world baby

Corine M. Congratulations Katrina and Mike… can not wait to see him!!

Alice F. Thanks for allowing me to be part of your family for the day.

Heather B. Congrats Katrina!! We are out with our hockey team and Mike has told anyone who will listen!! He is one proud uncle!!

~My Sweet Little Boy, you’ve enriched my life so much in such a short time. Mama loves you to bits and pieces~

Advent is Upon Us Again – Or Almost

I can barely believe it, but it’s true, Christmas is coming yet again. In attempt to keep the man with the big white beard out of our lives as much as possible and keep to meaning of Christmas sacred I try to do something special with the children for Advent. Last year Liam and I did some scripture reading together that involved some colouring and underlining (which was Liam’s big thing last year….diagramming). This year I wanted to try something different but I wasn’t quite sure what. Yesterday, at a newly formed Mother’s Prayer group (thanks, Beverly), I was introduced to the Jesse Tree, which takes you and your child through the Bible from Genesis to Jesus’ birth with scripture and symbolic ornaments that you hang on your very own “Jesse Tree”.  For more information, I encourage you to check out this website for verses and easy to print ornaments.

I, being totally nuts, visited this website and decided it would be a brilliant idea to make my own Jesse ornaments out of Fimo and/or clay. So last night, at 11pm, I was balancing a baby on my lap and sculpting little itty, bitty, tiny ornaments.

God created heaven and earth

Eve was tempted

Noah’s rainbow

David’s Staff

We’ll do looking for a branch to hang our ornaments on and start the scripture readings on Sunday. I only hope that I can somewhat keep up with the ornaments. I can see me making them in a mad rush the evening before but we shall see.

What are you doing for Advent this year?

What We’ve Been Up To – November

Well now, November is just flying by….

I think it is time for a “What We’ve Been Up To” post (as I can’t seem to make time to blog regularly at all)….

• Trying out a different homeschooling method as an attempt to come to a place where we can successfully homeschool two children that are VERY different. It is going okay. I’ve avoided buying the curriculum I need to be able to effectively teach using this method because we are unsure whether of not Morgaine is going to continue homeschooling come January and well, the methods that we had been using with Liam works well with him so I would likely only change things permanently if Morgaine is for sure staying home with us. I LOVE Waldorf but it’s still hard to get Morgaine to do the really, really small amount of things that are required of her. We will see for sure come January. Right now I’m incredibly busy trying to piece together a curriculum from scratch with online materials.

• Watching Mr. Ruadhán grow. I cannot believe he is 7 months old already. He’s entered a more demanding phase as he wants to do more and more but physically hasn’t mastered the skills of sitting up or crawling. I spend a lot of time holding him up in a sitting position on the floor or turning him back onto his back after he’s rolled over for the millionth time. I wish I could slow time down just a little.

• Watching Mike’s business grow. He’s been really quite busy with his new company but it is going well so while we miss him, I can’t complain. I so proud of the work he is putting into things. He goes way above and beyond what other people in his field are doing and really cares about his customers.

• Enjoying the snow and trying to get more active. The snow helps. REALLY, It does! I love snow. I enjoy the smell of it, playing in it, the newness of it. I’ll enjoy it for the short time it is here before we end up with a typical icy Cape Breton winter!

• Crafting for Christmas. In a probably futile attempt to keep as much plastic crap out of the house as possible. So far I’ve made 2 felt starberries, 1 felt egg, 1 felt pea pod, and have barely started a vest for Liam. I have a long way to go and I’m not sure how I’m going to manage as the baby spends several hours away after the other kiddies go to be and craft with a nursing baby has proved difficult!

One felt strawberry that looks MUCH better in real life!

• Helping set up 3 local chapters of Eats on Feets on facebook for the Maritimes. There’s now over 100 chapters in 26 countries to facilitate mother to mother sharing of breast milk. Please find your local chapter here and support this great cause.
  

Through my Children’s Eyes

I did this survey a couple years ago on Facebook and my friend just posted in on her blog . As it has been a few years I thought it would be fun to give it a go. Me through the eyes of my 7 year old, Liam and my 5 year old, Morgaine.

What is something mom always says to you?

M: Be quiet
L: Be kind and don’t be so hyper in the house.

What makes mom happy?

M: When we pick up
L: Listening

What makes mom sad?
M: I don’t know….oh, being not nice
L: Not listening

What makes mom laugh?
M: Making funny face at her, sometimes
L: when I tell extremely good jokes (here are some examples on Liam’s blog)

What was your mom like as a child?
M: She played with her little dolls a lot
L: who knows….I know she played outside a lot

How old is your mom?
M: 1…just joking…. 28
L: Morgaine was right…28

How tall is your mom?
M: 3 inches taller than me (yes, about that when I am sitting!!)
L: 70 inches (close)

What is her favorite thing to do?
M: read
L: relax

What does your mom do when you’re not around?
M: rest with Ruadhan
L: cleaning and sometimes watching a movie with Dad

If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
M: owning a store
L: an artist

What is your mom really good at?
M: reading
L: entertaining Ruadhan

What is your mom not very good at?
M: at lighting candles
L: giving us ideas of things to do

What does your mom do for a job?

M: cleaning
L: she doesn’t really have a job.

What is your mom’s favorite food?

M: bread
L: fruits and vegetables because she always gives them to us

What makes you proud of your mom?
M: She plays with me (she didn’t quite understand the word proud)
L: She’s really good at playing with us

If your mom were a tv character, who would she be?

No answers for this one. They don’t watch much tv.

What do you and your mom do together?

M: play
L: have lots of fun

How are you and your mom the same?

M: We both like playing with toys
L: we have the same skin type

How are you and your mom different?

M: our hair is different
L: the amount of cleaning we want to do

How do you know your mom loves you?

M: She tells me she loves me anyways even when I am being bad.
L: I just kind of know it

What does your mom like most about your dad?

M: that he gets her money for groceries (yes, I appreciate this but it’s probably not my FAVORITE thing)
L: that she can talk to Daddy about things

Where is your mom’s favorite place to go?

M: the library
L: Sydney

For fun these were their answers from 2 years ago! Much less computer talk this time around!

1. What is something mom always says to do?

Liam: Listen
Morgaine: Go play with your toys.

2. What makes mom happy?

Liam: when I listen
Morgaine: when you play dolls with me

3. What makes mom sad?

Liam: when I don’t listen
Morgaine: don’t listen

4. What does your mom do to make you laugh?

Liam: You tickle me
Morgaine: Tickles me

5. What was your mom like as a child?

Liam: I don’t know. I wasn’t there yet.
Morgaine: you were always a Mommy but you wore dresses.

6. How old is your mom?

Liam: Still 27
Morgaine: I don’t know (holding out her hands and opening and closing her fingers)

7. How tall is your mom?

Liam: That’s easy. Two Liam’s and a head.
Morgaine: super big (spreading her arms wide)

8. What is her favorite thing to do?

Liam: your work, right Mom?
Morgaine: play computer

9. What does your mom do when you’re not around?

Liam: plays computers
Morgaine: goes to see someone

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?

Liam: I guess getting your picture in the paper
Morgaine: Not knowing what to do.

11. What is your mom really good at?

Liam: doing thing with us.
Morgaine: writing on the computer

12. What is your mom not very good at?

Liam: Playing on Poptropica
Morgaine: Fixing Starfall

13. What does your mom do for a job?

Liam: You take care of us when daddy is not home, and when you are both home. And you go and see people
Morgaine: You do stuff on the computer

14.What is your mom’s favorite food?

Liam: Bread, but I know that’s not the right answer. Maybe what we just ate (carrots and cucumbers)
Morgaine:

15.What makes you proud of your mom?

Liam: you help us
Morgaine: you play with me and tickle me.

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?

Liam: That couldn’t be. It’s not real.
Morgaine: Aurora (sleeping beauty)

17. What do you and your mom do together?

Liam: we build things
Morgaine: we play with my toys

18. How are you and your mom the same?

Liam: we like playing the same things. Oh yeah, and we have the same colour hair and skin, too.
Morgaine: I don’t know

19. How are you and your mom different?

Liam: You wear a different kind of clothes.
Morgaine: I wear dresses and you don’t.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?

Liam: she tells me
Morgaine: you hug me

21. Where is your mom’s favorite place to go?

Liam: To Montreal. That’s when we were living in Vaudreuil.
Morgaine: To the doctor maybe?
 

The Issue – Our Solutions to Follow as an Ongoing Topic

My son, having two parents that sit and work though textbooks just for fun, started reading well by the time he was four. At about the same time, he’d sit on the toilet- his deep thinking spot- and come up with crazy mathematical patterns. At 5, we took him to the library for the first time, where he picked up a chapter book and hasn’t stopped reading since. As a baby he was very serious and rarely cried. He would just sit and take in his surroundings. We could reason with him at a very young age and have him respond in a manner that we found appropriate- the child would actually give up whatever behaviour we found annoying/inappropriate.

Flash-forward a few years and we had a daughter. A daughter who has been perfectly demanding from the moment she’d been born. She could easily get by on four hours of sleep in twenty-four period. She’d cry and scream (sometimes even hit and kick). She had no interest in books or sitting still. She couldn’t settle at night. She had fears of the dark. She would demand things at the store and have the most horrific tantrums imaginable if she was denied. What were we going to do? We had no guide for this. We were in uncharted territory. Our greatest asset with our son had been our ability to reason with him- to explain and have him hear- this time we weren’t even given a chance as our daughter would be off in a whirlwind of rage as soon as we even opened our mouth.

It only struck me a couple months ago as I was laying in bed beside our youngest child, who is only six months old, that despite only being two and a half years apart in age, my children had very different experiences as young children. My son was not introduced to television at home until he was three years old, and then it was only on for short periods of time. He did not have a lot of toys and his most cherished was a wooden train track set that he would quietly play with for hours at a time. We had a few favorite books that we’d read over and over again. I would cuddle with him at night (which is why it struck me when I was cuddling with the newest baby) and sing him songs. I’d sing all time time. I was going through a very earth mother/goddess phase and we’d talk about the sun, moon, stars and trees. We’d gather things from nature to explore. We didn’t go out much, our routine was simple. My daughter, however, started watching TV as an infant. I was sleep deprived and if she’d sit in front of the screen for 20 minutes then I was happy. Liam started reading and family started giving us books. There were new books every night and then we started chapter books at bedtime. Liam was starting to use the computer from time to time and then Morgaine would watch and want to play too. Wanting to give Liam a “head start”, we started him with school and Morgaine tagged along behind him. We moved to a new town and within month we’d received boxes of books and toys. Our small house started to look like a toy store (or, umm, junk yard). Liam had been so easy that we started demanding that Morgaine behave in the same manner he did with disastrous results. Liam was NOT typical and asking Morgaine to behave in the same manner was FAR from realistic. Morgaine didn’t have time to be a little child and learn about herself and the world around her. Her life had been a whirlwind of activities, demands, and stuff. She was never free to just be as Liam had been for the first three or four years of his life.

It became painfully clear that what we were doing was just not working when my husband took some time off work to be with us as a family. I started feeling even more pressure to show that we were doing things. That the kids were smart and I could keep the house clean and we NEVER sat still. Life was pretty nightmare like. There was almost constant tantrums, whining, crying, and demands, demands, DEMANDS (and hitting/kicking when those demands were not met). Liam, who had been a good student, though on the hyper-active side, started hating school work. He needed to move and touch things constantly. I began to realize that while Liam was smart he also hadn’t had much time to get to know himself in his own skin and his needing to touch and move seemed to me to be an indication of him trying to find himself in his environment. He’d started academics so early and was rewarded for doing so and other areas that were vital to his development got left behind. In the months that Mike was home there were many heated discussions on what we were going to do with the children. How would they ever manage in the world? Maybe the should just go to school because clearly, whatever we were doing wasn’t working.

In the past month and a half we’ve worked slowly to make many changes to their environment and we’ve started to see many positive results. Two weeks ago, I receive Simplicity Parenting as an inter-library loan and it served to reinforce what I’d been trying to do in the home and how those changes could really have nearly immediate and lasting effects on the children. While I’d made the changes in the months before because they felt right this book made me more determined than ever to stick with it despite some less desirable feedback. Over the course of the next few weeks, I’ll be writing much more about what we’ve done and the almost AMAZING results we’ve seen (but you’ll have to bare with me as one of the big changes is much less computer time for everyone). I’ve come to realize that Waldorf inspired homeschooling feels most right to me (it incorporates a lot of the things I was doing naturally during my earth mama phase) and it’s something that I am striving to bring more and more into the home. I strongly feel that given some time just to be a child will do a world of good for my daughter and even for my son who is also thriving in this new environment.

30 day Blog Challenge – Day 3

Please join me at Katie’s Journey to share in the 30 Day Blog Challenge!

Day 3 – Your First Love

Well, I’ve only had one love and he is the man that I am currently making a life with. We met when I was 18 years old and his boss told him to take the afternoon off to go look for a girlfriend *lol*. It was a start of a new semester in college and the previous semester I’d kept totally to myself and decided that this year I was actually going to attempt to meet some new people. They were having an outside movie screening at the college and went out in the field to watch looking totally alone and probably bewildered. Mike, my husband, then came up to me and requested that I hold his Frisbee while he went in to the washroom. After he came back he told me that I then had to play Frisbee with him and that’s how it all began. We watched the movie together and then went out to coffee together. We had quite a lot in common and after a whirlwind few dates, yes, just a few, I moved in with him as I wasn’t spending my time in my dorm room and didn’t want to continue paying for it. I think we knew we were dedicated to each other almost from that first meeting.

The rest is pretty much history……

A Meal Just for You

Baked beans

A mountain of homemade (white) bread

Grandpère aux sirop d’erable

My little French Canadian family

Wordless Wednesday-When You Give a Five Year Old a Camera

Friday Fave Five-September 10th

It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted my Friday Fave Five and that’s a shame because it really is my favorite post to write. Please join Suzanne at Living to Tell the Story and share your favorite moments of the past week.

1. This little boy. It’s unbelievable how much he is changing everyday. He most certainly isn’t a little baby any more. He seems to learn something new and exciting each and everyday. I feel beyond incredibly blessed to have him in my life.

2. Starting off the new “school” year. While it go off to a bit of a rocky start on Tuesday we seem to sort of found our stride and are getting back into the swing of things. Morgaine is starting to spell even though she “can’t read” and I’m loving that.

3. Harvest time. It’s really been a decent gardening year for us and that makes me really happy.

4. Cereal. I’ve been a bit unmotivated to cook this past week or so but I have to say that I’ve enjoyed a nice bowl of cereal in the evening a couple times this week. Cereal is something I NEVER eat so it’s been nice to rediscover it.

5. Story of the World. This is really MY type of learning program and I am thrilled that both kids love it as well. I’ve happily been able to incorporate science, math, English and cooking into this program to make it feel like we aren’t jumping so much from one disjointed subject to another. Morgaine sits for hours with my History of Art textbook and Liam is anxiously waiting to see if any of our Bible stories will be mentioned. It makes me so happy to see them interested in learning (something that has been lacking the last 5 or 6 months). Thank you Susan Wise Bauer!

Wordless Wednesday Applecheeks Edition

It’s Applecheeks™ week over at Pickles and Paisleys. Here’s my Wordless Wednesday Applecheeks Edition!

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