Happy Halloween!

1)  We survived Hurricane Sandy with no damage, no power outage, no excitement.  Boring hurricane.  Probably better that way, as no power with a 2 week old would not have been fun.  So we spent 2 days on the couch, watching the Weather Channel and doing this:

2)  Grandma is here, helping with Halloween and taking Dexter to his swimming lesson this morning.  Good timing, as today was John's first day back at work, so it wasn't quite the shock to my little system.

3)  It's Halloween!  Grandma got Dex a super cool Superman shirt WITH A CAPE, which he was happy to wear after he got home from school.  He was also delighted to wear the orange pants from his chicken costume.  But, not so much psyched about wearing the chicken jacket.  He was convinced to wear it briefly for pictures, so long as he did not have to do up the velcro.  I can't even begin to figure out the nuances of this child's little mind.  Suffice it to say - he's weird.  He did, however, go trick or treating at 8 houses.  Which is a full 7 houses more than last year.  And he got some pretty sweet treats from the neighbors.  He was happy to trick or treat at our house and eat our candy, as well, and loved answering the door when people rang the door bell.  We had very few visitors this year.  Kids in this neighborhood are getting too old...

Super Dexter

Complete with cape

Super Chicken!

With Baby Erin

The kids, checking each other out.  They both look psyched, right?

Her shirt says "This IS my costume"

Dex didn't wear his chicken jacket out.  Just the orange pants and his Superman shirt.

Trick or Treating at our house

I had a baby for a vast majority of the night, but I managed to get her in bed for a second to take a picture with Dex

Our cool pumpkins

The Fierce Yellow Pumpkin

Margaret Wise Brown, of Goodnight Moon fame, wrote a book we've been reading a lot called "The Fierce Yellow Pumpkin."  I really quite enjoy reading it - it's maybe a little bit old for Dexter, but the things he remembers from the book are really quite impressive.

Anyway, Dexter decided when we carved pumpkins this year that he wanted his pumpkin to be a fierce yellow pumpkin.  So we went to the Amish farm yesterday, shelled out 6 bucks, and came home with 2 pumpkins.  One, Dex proclaimed, would be fierce.  And one would be happy.

We got as far as the fierce pumpkin yesterday.  We didn't have time to carve the happy one.  That might be a task for Thursday morning before school, when we have nothing else going on.  Dexter is very excited about his fierce pumpkin already - he ate dinner with it last night, and he and Daddy played with the pumpkin this morning.

Daddy, self-proclaimed non-artist that he is, did quite the admirable job drawing and carving a fierce pumpkin.

And apparently we need to go back for one more pumpkin, so we can cut shapes in to it like we did with our pumpkin last year.  I do believe, Aunt Jeanne, that I even have some Halloween cookie cutters this time around.

Oh.  I am actually pretty excited to get one more pumpkin, because I roasted some seeds this morning from Mr. Fierce and holy hell, are they ever the best pumpkin seeds I have ever had.  They are already almost gone.  I am not a fan of pumpkin seeds because I always feel like I am eating a tree.  But these?  YUM.  Boil them in salted water for 20 min.  Strain them, spread on a cookie sheet and let dry overnight.  Toss them in 1T butter, 1T olive oil, 1T salt.  Roast them in the oven at 300 degrees for 30 min.  Gobble them up because they are amazing.

And now presenting... The Fierce Yellow Pumpkin:

Cutting the top off.  Daddy, are you using a little saw knife?  Just like in the book?

Dex took one stab at scooping out guts and decided that Daddy could do it.  He was also not a big fan of sticking his hands in the guts to separate the seeds.

Here's what we're aiming for

Dex holds it up to make sure Daddy can see the book while he carves.

Dexter has excellent supervisory skills

And I am sure that hanging on Daddy's arm is incredibly helpful.

Comparing the picture to the pumpkin.  How did Daddy do?

Everyone tries out their fierce face.  Dexter's needs a little work.

Now with candles in.  This is Dexter's fierce face.  Scary, eh?

Ooooh.  NOW he's looking fierce.

The Fierce Yellow Pumpkin in the dark.  I think he turned out pretty cool.

Click on video below to hear Dexter tell you about his pumpkin's face:

Things I don't miss about being pregnant

Some people love being pregnant.  Some people keep having kids because they love being pregnant.  Me?  Not so much.  Being pregnant is the hefty price to have to pay for having a baby.  I am so very glad to be done with the following:

No more heartburn.  No more Zantac.  No more feeling like I am going to vomit all day, every day.

I can drink water again.  Yes, water.  Stupid body.

I can DRINK again.  I had my first glass of Bailey's in nine months last night.  It.  Was.  Fantastic.

I can sneeze without my rib cage feeling like it is broken.  Now OTHER parts of me feel like they are broken when I sneeze, but hopefully they will heal quickly.

I think I am getting better quality sleep these days.  Not better QUANTITY, but quality.  I can sleep for hours on end without moving, where before I woke up every 45 minutes to heave my big belly over to the other side.

I hope that John is also getting better quality of sleep - hopefully the small motorcycle has driven much farther away and is not so loud.

I got rid of my "boyfriend" - my big-ass body pillow that took up a whole lot of the bed.

I am no longer hot all the time.  I don't sleep with with the window open all night.  John is DELIGHTED.  On the contrary, I now curl up in bed wearing PJ pants, with all the covers pulled up over me, kind of wishing we had the down comforter on the bed.  And I am also wearing socks, which is kind of unheard of.  Hormones are weird.

It is now far easier to bend over to pick up balls, get down on the floor to play with trains, and read books with a toddler curled up on my lap.

I can see my toes again.  And also cut my toe nails.  And tie my shoes.  And, hell, FIT in to my shoes.

I put my wedding rings back on today.

I get to snuggle a lot with this cute little one:

On the flip side, there's a few things that kind of suck right now:

It is impossible to hug anyone without wincing in pain.  Owie, owie, nipples really hurt.

I need a nap.  Pretty much all the time.  Thank heavens Dex has school in the afternoon.  Naps all around!

This little one, while incredibly cute, is also somewhat demanding, unpredictable, and hard to figure out.

Dexter has wondered a few times if the baby will go back in my belly.  If, for instance, she makes some sad choices, will she have to go back in my belly?  And the answer is no, thank you.  I'll take that short list of things that suck right now over the long list of things I don't like about being pregnant.  Any time.  No putting the baby back in my belly.

A Journey to the Center of OUR Earth

First things first:

Welcome to our earth, baby Erin Marie Norman!

Baby Erin entered the world last Saturday October 13 at 11:21 PM.  She weighed in at 8 lbs, 6 oz and was 21 inches long.  She met her brother at the hospital on Monday morning, and came home to meet her other four-legged brother around noon on Monday.

Sorry it's taken me so long to post about our little girl.  She arrived at exactly the busiest time of the year for me.  Just in time for Fair Hill.  Which started on Wednesday and just wrapped up today.  So any few minutes of free time I have had have been spent downloading photos of horses and posting them to the Fair Hill Blog, or updating information on the Fair Hill website.  Fortunately I begged someone awesome to take over the Special Events for me for the weekend so I didn't have to worry about that.

Anyway, now Fair Hill is done, and I have a few more posts to do this week some time, but there's no huge rush now.  So I can focus a little more time on our cute new little family.  Which, I am sure, is going to make John tremendously happy.  He is always wonderful and patient and helpful during Fair Hill, but this year he had to be doubly so.  Thank you, honey, for being awesome.

First picture of Baby Erin.  Do I look tired?  It was WAY past my bed time...

Before Dex was born a friend of mine suggested using HypnoBabies birthing technique for an easy, relatively painless natural birth.  Now, I'm not a person who can get in to meditation, or even yoga, without giggling.  And I wasn't sure that hypnosis was going to be my thing.  So I didn't do it.

This time around the same friend, who has now had 2 babies naturally via HypnoBabies, suggested trying this method.  And this time I said sure.  What the hell.  I'll try it out.

I, of course, being me, procrastinated tremendously before I started the program.  It's a 5 week home study course, which I started doing when I was 36 weeks along.  Fortunately Erin was a week late so I squeezed in all my practice, right under the wire.  And the first time I listened to a hypnosis track on a CD I did so with the stereo.  And John walked in halfway through.  And we both burst out laughing as the hypnosis suggested going to my belly, and getting my baby from there, and bringing her to my special safe place.  Ummmmm.  OK?  I guess?

Once I got past the first week (and could listen on the IPod with headphones, in bed) things went much better.  Every day I'd take my headphones upstairs, telling John I was going to hypnotize.  Have a good nap, he'd say.  And really.  Almost every single time I listened, I fell asleep.  I remember staying awake maybe 3 times?  In a month.

And I was skeptical.  But then on our way home from Longwood, looking at the lights, I did a little practice hypnosis.  And damned if it didn't work.  I dropped my finger.  I turned off my light switch.  And I could not move.  I mean, I guess if I really wanted to I could.  But I felt like I couldn't move.  And I could think about my aching back, and picture hands moving over my back and making it feel better.  And lo and behold, pain disappeared.  Huh.  That's some crazy stuff.

Fast forward to Saturday morning.  The boys went to soccer.  I listened to the "only listen to this when you're actually in labor, because if you listen to it before it could actually induce labor" CD.  Because, dammit, I was 41 weeks pregnant.  And I WANTED to induce labor.

At 5:00 or so, when Dex and I were playing in the basement, I started maybe feeling some contractions.  Maybe.  Nothing that stopped me from doing anything.  Nothing that I could tell a definite beginning and end to.  Nothing that I could really time.  But enough that I told John that he might not be making that trip to Lowes tonight, because I might be in labor.

We gave a heads up to our neighbors, who were our night time on call people.  John told a very unhappy (and also, sick) Dexter that there was a chance that the neighbors would be here in the morning when he woke up, and that Mama and Daddy would be at the hospital.  He was displeased.  He told Daddy that Daddy could go downstairs, and STAY THERE, thankyouverymuch.  I called my midwive's office and talked to the person on call at around 7.  When do I come in, I ask.  My contractions are 4 - 5 minutes apart.  I think.  She said come in when they keep me from being able to talk.  OK.  Can do.

So I went upstairs to take a bath.  John thought I was nuts.  Aren't you in labor?  Yes.  Yes I am.  But I like baths.  Took a bath.  Got dressed in comfy clothes.  Straightened my hair.  Listened to some hypnosis the entire time.  Went downstairs and paced around the house for an hour or so.  And, around 9:30, told John that I thought maybe we should go to the hospital.  Called the neighbor to come over.  Took the truck to the hospital, because if my water broke on the way there we didn't want to make a huge mess in the car.  Truck?  No problem.  Car?  Kind of gross.

The nurse was shocked.  Really shocked.  I came in fairly calm at around 10:00.  Breathing hard through contractions, but otherwise pretty calm and happy.  They were not expecting huge progress.  They were not expecting me to be 8 cm dilated and ready to roll when they checked.  OK!  So we're going to move to a birthing room, break your water, and then you'll have a baby.  Piece of cake.

I spent my time in the birthing room on my side, with John pushing hard on my back during contractions (that was new this birth - I don't remember back pain with Dex).  Three attempts to insert an IV in my hand, and then they finally gave up.  Broke my water.  No idea how long I pushed.  Not too long, I think, before Erin made her arrival.  Totally natural.  No drugs.  No epidural.  It still sucked.  But sucked much less than I think it would have had I not done the HypnoBabies thing.  The nurses and the midwives were impressed, and I gave the midwife the HypnoBabies info on Monday when she came in to discharge me.  She thought it was the coolest thing.

Erin is cute and sweet a lot of the time, and loud and frustrating in the evening when she won't sleep for shit.  Dexter has been absolutely wonderful with her.  In the morning when it's time for Erin to get up he comes thundering up the stairs.  It's OK, Baby Erin!  I'm coming, Baby Erin!  Here I am, Baby Erin!  He does call her Erin now.  On Monday when he met her, he called her the cute little baby.  And when you asked him what her name was, he said "I call her Jamie."  He seems to have gotten over calling her Jamie now.  Sorry, Dex.  Jamie was not on our list of names for your sister.  Dex also had to watch the "Don't shake the baby" video with us, so he was happily telling all the nurses that you cannot sit on a baby, and you cannot throw a baby, and you cannot shake a baby.  They were cracking up.

We seem to be doing ok as a family this week.  And next week should be ok.  John is still going to be home.  All hell might break loose when John goes back the following week, though.  Thank the lord for school...

Here's some pictures for you:

Being weighed, and umbilical cord being trimmed

New Daddy

During bath time

Crib card.  Erin stayed in my room the whole time.

Favorite snuggle position

First minutes home!  Erin wore a sweater and a blanket that John wore home when HE was a baby.  I can't remember who Carole said made them.  Maybe her mother?  So Erin's great grandma?  I might be wrong about that, though.

Buddy meets his sister.  This was moments before Erin flailed her arms and bashed Buddy in the nose, causing him to run away in alarm.

Dex holds his sister for the first time, for about 5 seconds before her crying freaked him out a bit and he dropped her like a hot potato.

Dex helps change Erin's diaper.  He still likes playing in her room while I am nursing.  He likes to climb in to her crib when she is not in there.

Family IPad time.  Hooray for IPads.  Seriously.

Dex helps tickle Baby Erin to wake her up.

Obviously not enough tickling.  So sleepy.

My friend Laura needed some newborn pictures for her portfolio, so she came to do a photo shoot on Friday.  This one turned out cute.

Still

Yes, I am still pregnant.

I am, apparently, having contractions.  I cannot feel them, but they can be seen on the monitor during my NST.  But it was obviously not enough to concern anyone this morning, as they cheerfully sent me home with a "Hey, how about you have that baby sometime, ok?"  OK.  I'll work on that.  Dex and I took the mutt for a walk.  I'm not quite sure what else we can do to encourage her to come out.  Aerobics?  Jumping jacks?  Dex IS awesome at jumping jacks.

I've been working on some Fair Hill stuff.  I will pass the Special Events hat over to another capable person next weekend, but I am doing all the pre-planning.  And also updating the blog.  And also the website.  And if this baby waits til Wednesday to make an appearance, Fair Hill is going to panic.  Because WHO is going to update the web?

Here's my most recent Fair Hill post.  I like the "getting ready" ones - it's fun to see the progress, and the difference a week can make.

From a couple weeks ago at Longwood.  YAY!  The trains are back!

Two Things

1).  Yes, I am still pregnant.  No, we do not have a baby yet.  No, Dad, you're not a Grampa yet.  I am sure when I go to the hospital tomorrow morning for my ultrasound and NST they will all exclaim "You're STILL pregnant??!!"

2)  Dexter helped Daddy mow the lawn today.  He was totally jazzed when Daddy came home early, and I told him he was coming home to mow the lawn.  I am going to mow the lawn with my Jeep, he says.  Fantastic.  It was all well and good til he tried driving across the front yard and up the driveway, at which point his Jeep spun around and went sliding backwards down the driveway, giving John and I a collective heart attack.  Dex just grinned and kept driving.

Click below for video.  Not of the heart attack moment.

Lending a Helping Hand. Again. Some More.

Remember over the summer when Dexter helped Daddy fix the truck, and it was ridiculously cute?  It was no less cute this afternoon, when Daddy helped get Dexter off the bus and told Dex he was fixing the truck.  Dexter's eyes lit up and he immediately asked if he could help.  But, Hold on, he says.  I've got to go get my tool box.  And off he trotted inside to find the tool box that Aunt Marcie gave him.

This time the truck was really broken.  Like, move the shifter stick thingy and it would not shift.  So we had a nice red truck, stuck in park, sitting in the driveway for a couple days.  Fortunately, Mr. Adam lent us his car so John could get to work.

Dexter pulled out his screwdriver, found all the broken things, and fixed them.

He, of course, needed a light, too.  Because Daddy had a light.

Buddy is also tremendously helpful

He's sexy.  And he knows it.

I forget, often, that fish is a viable, yummy, easy food to cook.  So we haven't had it in a long time.  I finally bought some salmon yesterday, and cooked it for dinner tonight.  Dexter ate at least one whole salmon fillet by himself.  That boy loves him some fish.  And also, apples.  We shall be sad when fresh apple season is over.

No news on Baby Norman.  Every time I go to the hospital for a non-stress test or an ultrasound, all the regular people exclaim - Are you STILL pregnant?  When is that baby going to come out?  I dunno.  She's not talking.