Welcome Maggie!

I was very happy to meet sweet little Margaret Irene (Maggie) Carlson today for the first time. She has a head of thick dark hair with blond highlights--no joke! At almost 9 lbs, she's not a teeny one, but she still seemed tiny to me. Funny how fast you forget how small they are as newborns. Gavin seemed like a giant when I got back home :)


My little giant is drawn, like his brothers, to all things dirty.



"No, mom, I will not eat the organic pureed sweet potato you make me. But this mud ain't so bad."


Jack had a friend sleep over last week and after a down and dirty afternoon in the pool, a massive joint bath was in order.



4 boys in the bath? Fun chaos. At one point I looked at Mike and said, "See? This could be our life!" And he just shook his head and said, "You're crazy." I'll keep working on him. Somehow he only sees the work of having a dozen kids. He's totally missing all the fun ;)

Learning

We had a fun night last night with a bunch of babies. I invited over a few women I met through my midwifery clinic's Birth Circle and Mama/Baby groups. Each of these girls is raising their first babies, all boys. Two are single moms. Two were born in July, one in August, and Gavin in September. It's so fun to get a bunch of crawling babies together and watch them interact. That is, it might have been a bit more fun for me had I not chosen to have them over on a Wednesday night when I'm also solo-parent to my older two. I often think making plans on Wednesday evenings is a *good* idea because it will help to pass the long evening that Mike works each week, but I always find out soon into the plans that I spend most my time running around after my kids and leaving my guests to fend for themselves. Luckily these three ladies knew each other and had fun talking together, so the only one who really missed out was me. So as I grilled burgers, set out plates and salads, cleaned up pee off the recliner, and repeatedly grabbed Gavin out of the muddy puddle beneath the swingset, I did at least get to chat here and there with some like-minded mommies. Next time, though, Gav and I are going it alone. Lesson learned.

I snapped a couple photos of Baby Theo, who Benjamin adopted as his own for the evening, Baby Brody, who liked reaching out to Gavin, and cutie Baby Andy who did not get into any of the photos below but who had 13 stitches behind his ear the night before because of a fall off the bed. Ow!




Mike purchased me a new ipod Nano for Christmas, and I have just this week cracked it out and have attempted to learn how to use it. So sad, I know. I'm not very techy with this stuff. But I figured out how to buy and download Mp3s on Amazon.com and put together a workout folder of music for when I jog (and when I say "when I jog," that 'when' is a futuristic one.) I also downloaded and listened to my first podcast (The Spirituality of Parenting, from American Public Radio's Speaking of Faith show. Very interesting for parents; religious, spiritual, or otherwise. I highly recommend it.. Carrie, Samantha, I'm particularly thinking of you, here.)

Also am learning about Sweden's parental leave system. Thanks to my searchings for podcasts on Amer. Public Radio, I checked out some of their links to blog entries written by listeners. There are some fabulous, fabulous ones. I'm loving the one about Sweden's fathers and how much paid time they get when babies are born. Here is the opening paragraph:
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In Sweden, state financial incentives are changing the face of modern fatherhood. According to the International Herald Tribune, Swedish families receive 13 months of government-subsidized parental leave. Dads get two months and so do moms. Parents can divide up the remainder however they choose. But here’s the kicker: if fathers don’t avail themselves of their “daddy leave,” then the family loses out on a month of paid subsidy.
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Very interesting stuff. Check it out if you get a chance. Or if you are like me and are supposed to be finishing a dissertation, don't check it out. It will suck you in.

Here are a few more fun photos:

A VERY fitting tee-shirt


This is probably more appropo


Cutest little guy in history

Happy Daddy's Day

The boys celebrated Father's Day in their own little ways today. Jack and Benjamin "helped" me make blueberry sage muffins for breakfast (well, Benjie "helped" in his own little way:)

(anybody need a muffin wrapper full of baking soda? anybody?)

In addition to an afternoon at a male-catered spa on his next day off, Mike also received a painting from Jack, a block tower from Benjamin, and Gavin offered up a night of crabbiness and a fifth tooth. Good times.




Each day I find it harder and harder to get my boys to wear clothes. Sometimes the battle is too much for me so I give in to nakedness.

Fun moments with our favorite sitters

Last night we hosted a BBQ and smores-making evening for Alison and Allie, our favorite sitters. Sadly, neither will be sitters for much longer since Alison found a teaching position in Chicago and Allie just passed her pharmacy boards and would prefer to work for pharmacist's pay ;)


Alison and Benj


Giant marshmallows are sticky! And strawberry ones are strange.


Allie and Benj


Another baby gate goes up

Photo Update

This summer's home project is new doors--sliding and regular. It was a bit unsettling to come home from my workout the other day and see a large hole in the side of the family room.



Unbeknownst to us, resetting doors means tearing up flooring. Luckily, we had extra tile that could be put down after the others were torn up. Also luckily, we have a wonderful contractor who can literally do it all (let's see, he's already tackled our drywalling, door installation, tiling, and soon-to-be pergo needs).


Unfortunately, the kitchen flooring is not so lucky. Added to this summer's home project: new pergo for the kitchen.


This week's CSA bounty:

We're becoming accustomed to edible pansies in our lettuce.


Rain, rain, go away. Stop flooding our yard today.



Anyone got a sump pump for our garden?


Yesterday I enjoyed a Rebels girl day with Alicia, Kelly, Shelly, and Shelby (Kelly's daughter, 2 weeks younger than Benj). I was not so happy when Gavin decided to follow Shelby and climb the entire stairway. {sigh}, add yet one more babygate to the house.



Gav tried sweet potato but did not like the solid food experience. He still shoves food in his mouth a lot, but then gags and acts like it's the worst thing in the world. We're not pushing it--we've only put him in the highchair twice. We learned with Benjamin that they'll eat whenever they are ready, and I'm in no hurry! I'm still making babyfood like mad, though, since we're getting fresh, organic kale and broccoli from our CSA, and I want to use as much as possible for babyfood and get it into the freezer now!




Typical guy, passed out on the couch :)

kids say the darnedest things

Early morning, Benjamin wearing Toy Story underpants (and nothing else).
Jack: Look at that! Look at Buzz Lightyear! Look at Woody!
Benjamin, looking down at his underwear, and then up at Jack, crying: "I don't see my Woody!"

Later the same day, in the van:
Jack: I'm older than Piper (neighbor girl).
Me: No, she's older than you. She's already 4.
Jack: Damn.
Me: Jack, that's not a nice word!
Jack: Mom, I said "damn" because Piper is older than me!
Me: Uh, yes, you used it correctly. But it's still not very nice.