by | March 31, 2010

Anna’a imagination

According to Anna:

1. The moon is purple and made of cookies.
2. The cookies taste like stars.
3. Moon-men look like spaceships and don’t like cookies.

Also the other day she rattled off an enthusiastic stream of gibberish at me in the car. I asked her what she was talking about and she replied, “I just arguing with you.” Who taught her that?

Right now Rachel is holding Maggie who is pooping and they are grunting at each other. She tells me this is why girls go the bathroom together, for moral support. I’m glad I’m not girl.

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by | March 26, 2010

Anna/Maggie Comparison

I tried to get pictures of the girls with similar expressions when both were around 5 months old. They usually look really different to me until I put them right next to each other like this. I have some pictures where their differences are super obvious and some where it’s hard to tell. All of these are pretty hard to tell apart for me.

Anna & Maggie 1:
Anna - 4 Months 004 (Small)
march_10 032 (Small)

Anna & Maggie 2:
february_10 034 (Small)
Anna - 5 Months 008 (Small)

Anna & Maggie 3:
Anna - 5 Months 060 (Small)
march_10 065 (Small)

Anna & Maggie 4:
march_2010 011 (Small)
Anna - 5 Months 024 (Small)

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by | March 25, 2010

Children

Note: Two blogs posted today.

I was pondering this morning, in my sleep-deprived state, why we have children, why we want more children, and why we think our childless friends should experience children. Considering the rough nights we’ve had lately, I thought that maybe my evil side was wanting to make everybody else suffer as much as I have. Bwa-ha-ha!!! There really is something satisfying about the idea of making somebody else go through the same struggles you are trapped into.

But I think that the more enduring drive behind this idea that we should have more kids and so should everybody else is what children give to you. What children give back is pretty impossible to put into words. It has to do with living for something bigger than yourself. Their needs are more important than yours (and only you can meet them). They will impact the world in a permanent and significant way (for good or for ill). They have everything in the world to learn (and you are their primary teachers). And there is nothing, nothing, nothing that can make your heart beat or your chest swell, or your breath catch or your life full like your own children.

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by | March 25, 2010

Thankful Thursday – Night of blessings

We had a really rough night last night. And it surprised me these thoughts that ran through my head in the middle of it.

I am thankful that Anna slept through Maggie’s crying. She stirred some, but never woke or complained.

I am thankful for my incredible husband who matched me in determination, encouragement, and love. I love to watch him rocking my babies.

I am thankful for the rain last night. It is one of the most soothing sounds I know. The gurgle of the water in the downspout, the shhhhhhhh and patter of rain on the roof. The occasional plop, plops of larger drops.

I am thankful that our house is warm and safe and that our children are safe… even if they aren’t necessarily happy.

I am thankful that God made my body so perfectly for comforting my daughter. I am thankful that she trusts me so much that my smell and touch tell her she is safe.

I am thankful for how peaceful Maggie was when she went to sleep. Laying on her tummy, her knees pulled up just a little bit and those little hands tucked under her chest. Oh, so beautiful.

I let Maggie nurse when she wanted the night before last and it became clear to me that she nurses for comfort, to put herself back to sleep. I don’t want to get up every hour for that, so we decided to continue enforcing nursing only at 2-3 am and then in the morning after 6:30. She woke up and started crying at 10:30. I nursed her at 1am after two hours of crying. She didn’t even fall asleep when Brian carried her after two hours of crying. She really should have fallen asleep. She relaxed so sweetly when I fed her. She slept until 4am and cried for half an hour. Then I had had enough for anybody and nursed her peacefully to sleep again. She cried just a tiny bit after that and woke up at 7am.

Both Brian and I are exhausted. Maggie probably is too. But even so, it was a night of beauty. An oxymoron. Parenting is the weirdest mixture of blessing and torture I know.

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by | March 24, 2010

Fingerpaint and more

Hey, the homemade fingerpaint looks kinda cool:
march_10 059 (Small)

Wait a second, what happened here?:
march_10 060 (Small)

That’s right – sometimes supervision is good:
march_10 063 (Small)

Grammy, she calls this her painting dress:
march_10 064 (Small)

Maggie with her toes in hand:
march_10 071 (Small)

Anna up close:
march_10 076 (Small)

Candid shot of mommy, by Anna:
march_10 080 (Small)

And one of Papa too:
march_10 092 (Small)

We’ve had some long nights lately:
march_10 110 (Small)

She loves her new “dancing dress”:
march_10 113 (Small)

True Oregonian?
march_10 114 (Small)

Anna making Maggie laugh with zerberts:

Maggie learning to sit (she is 5 1/2 months old):

Maggie and Anna:

Oh, I also went to the dermatologist for a rash that is suddenly spreading on my face and they said seborrheal dermatitis. Nobody knows what it is. But it’s common. Nice. Now I rotate three expensive, yucky shampoos. Hope it works.

And Maggie is not sleeping at night. She sleeps, but then wakes up and screams for a long time. And she does it more than once a night. And the cat we’re babysitting wakes us up by meowing loudly and constantly. One of us goes and sleeps on the couch when it starts. Seems to help the cat be quiet. What do we do with Maggie? I thought letting her cry was working. For a week. It’s been rather downhill from there – we are losing our stamina. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

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