*~*~Nov. '05 Mamas' April Chat~*~*

[HoneyTree]

Just kickin' us off, mamas!

[flapjack]

Here!

Skye has suddenly hit the big girl phase- we went on a picnic yesterday and she took a couple of dozen pictures of sheep with daddy's camera. I'm so proud! She's talking more and can do all of this new cool stuff. It's great.

So when are the babies due?

[MamaFern]

fools day!

im here too!

away from home for another 5 days..im looking forward to gooing home, but im having a nice time now. the past week has been a lot to deal with..family stuff.ak. but im at my friend sheila's now (weliveintheforest here on MDC) and im actualy watching her LO's while she is at a birth! it wasnt planned this way, but its great. i got her son down for a nap with no problem. rue is nother story. but everything is going well..a house full of happy kids.

funny thing though. i awoke to..snow. on april 1st. funny joke, huh! its mostly gone now but it gave me a shock. i left my place i live to escape the snow. but timothy says its melting fast there and maybe..just maybe spring will have arrived by monday! here is me hoping!

looking forward to hearing baby news soon from amy and mel

.. and hillary..how are you feeling?

we are still talking about moving. more seriously now. its just a matter of finding a house and tim finding a job in kaslo then im ready to go. im crazy. i know..

[Queen of Cups]

subbing, more later!

[MelW]

I'm here! No April fools baby, so far...

The due date is April 11th, and Matt just had an offer this morning for an expense paid trip to Newfoundland for the launch of a new anthology he's been published in on April 24th. So there goes my laid back "whenever the baby wants to come" attitude...

Neela is delightful. She made me a painting today with "a battalion of colour". Do you think her father is a poet, perhaps?

And yes, snow. It's gone now, but certainly an April Fool's joke. I've been reminded by my darling child to please make more polite requests of mother nature. The proper way to ask is "um, excuse me, snow... could you please go away?" Then she made up a song requesting more sun, which hasn't been very effective yet.

[DreamsInDigital]

Where the heck did March go? Time is going too fast.

[spughy]

We didn't actually have snow here, but we saw some on a car. We were with a friend and her little guy, coming back to her place after gymnastics drop-in (FUN!) and there it was, a car ahead of us with snow all over its rear window and trunk. My friend and I made disgusted noises but the gist from the back seat was "what the heck are guys complaining about, we LOVE snow!!!" I tried to remind Rowan about all her "when is it going to be spring?" questions but somehow that didn't compute. Ah, to be 3 again.

It is drizzly and nasty here. My mom comes tomorrow and she has her cardiac ablation procedure next week, so I'm going over to Vancouver so they'll release her from the hospital while she still has sedative in her. She's all excited about being able to see her insides on a monitor while they do it. Truly, she missed her calling - if she'd become a doctor she would have totally been a female House.

[*Amy*]

Sorry to hear about all of the crappy Canada weather! We've been enjoyed sun and warmth off and on for the past week, but I still remind myself this is the midwest and we aren't really out of the range of snow until May! I remember one year in Ohio taking pictures of snow inside of the tulips that were in full bloom!

Mel, glad to hear everything went OK with the dental procedure - well, except the lack of sleep part!

Spughy, I hope everything goes well with your mom's procedure and she has fun seeing her insides. Yechk!

Fern, I sitll can't believe you guys are going to move! It seems like you've just found your groove in LIttle Fort!

My EDD is next Friday, the 10th. Nothing new to report in possible-baby-coming news....still have insomnia every fucking night : and still trying to keep him anterior (he's been flipping posterior every couple of days), and just generally in limbo. I didn't think I wanted to go back to work after spring break last week, but it's been good because it's been keeping me in the world, so to speak; otherwise I think I would just be lost in that weird end-of-pregnancy zone that I lapsed into last time. And I'm just trying to really savor these last few days with Brynn. It's really bittersweet....

[HoneyTree]

Spughy, your mom sounds like a hoot.

Mel, a battalion of color! What a gorgeous image.

Amy, I remember thinking at the end of both pregnancies that it wasn't so much that I was done being pregnant, I was just really, really done with the insomnia and the heartburn!

DiD, I'm with ya: I realized I didn't post once in March, and that both March and February were whirled into one foggy out-of-time experience in my mind.

Helen, her pictures must be darling! I've thought about putting together some sort of little collage with Woody's pictures; that way, I'll forever remember Joshua's shoes, the houseplant in the dining room, the ceiling and half the curtains, and what my face looks like from 2 cm. away.

Fern, moving! Wow! What is Kaslo like?

I'll be back with more Woodson and Fox news later. Right now, warm carrot muffins are calling... Mmmmm....

***

OK. One's napping and the other is at the window enthralled with the recycling truck doing its thing.

So, we're fabulous. Just truly fabulous. Fox is doing so amazingly well that he's not even giving me the chance to be that mother who can never quite relax into her child's well-being. Thriving doesn't begin to describe the day-to-day with this happy, bright (blue?!!?)-eyed 14 1/2 lb. baby.

We went to a 4-day music festival this past weekend with both my sisters and their children (4 and 11), and despite the squall line bringing on-and-off hard, fast rain and whipping winds, we had a great time. We swam in the Suwannee River, huddled together in each other's tents reading books to the kids, drank bathtub sweet-cherry wine, and danced in the meadow to bluegrass tunes and the voice of Richie Havens.

I go back to teaching Monday, albeit part-time, 8:00 to 12:30. There are only six weeks left in the school year, so I'm hoping it will be just enough time for me to feel a sense of completion without getting burned out. I'm planning projects that I like to help me through it!

[Awaken]

subbing- BBL!

[barcelona]

HT, your boys sound beautiful!!! I am so happy that everything has settled into peace and thriving. The music festival sounds amazing! I love Richie Havens. I hope teaching goes well, and I'm glad it's just six weeks to start with.

Amy, I hope work continues to help somewhat, and that you get some relief, even before birth, from the insomnia and heartburn! What a strange, wonderful, hard time.

Boo on the Canadian weather.

Yay on the preschool, Spughy!

Mel, I hope the timing of the birth happens just perfectly. And I'm glad Neela's dental procedure went well and is behind you.

Thinking of you and Amy so much in these final days of pregnancy!

Helen, Skye sounds precious. It is so fun to watch them grow and grow, isn't it?

Fern, the move sounds exciting (and crazy, yes, but you sound so positive and sure about it). I am feeling a bit better, overall, but just when I think I am making progress, I have a bad day, or like this morning, greeted the day throwing up I am So ready for this part to be over. It's coming, though, I know. And I'm so grateful to be pregnant, and am so so excited to have a homebirth and do things so much more naturally and better this time.

Finley is a sweetheart. He has been so patient and understanding with me while I have been under the weather, and we have enjoyed a new spot called Eaton Canyon which is a nice respite into nature, with a creek, rocks, etc. Makes me yearn for more country-esque living. And he seems quite excited to be a big brother, which is exciting for me. I think he will really love having a little brother or sister.

DiD, how's everyone doing at your house?

Q of C, I hope you are feeling better, and hope you are having fun with your etsy shop! I'm so excited to see it!

Ok, I think that is all the rambling from me for now.
to you all.

[MelW]

Barcelona, I hope your nausea subsides and you're feeling well soon. How wonderful that Finley has been understanding through all of this

HoneyTree, good luck with being back to school! Will you be taking both boys with you? I'm glad to hear that Fox is doing so well after the challenges of his early days

Neela is beside me on the couch sleeping off some exhaustion, dehydration and a lingering fever from a terrible gasteroenteritis that plagued her since Friday night. She ate a few bites of toast and has kept down fluids this morning (so far...) so I think she's on the mend. Her puking was enough to stop whatever early labour I was having on Friday afternoon/evening, though.

Eventually I will find the time to have this baby, right? I'm amazed at how full my life (and my calendar) are, though mostly things are cancel-able and just there to keep me occupied while I wait. I'm off to pull weeds out of some communal plots at the community garden this afternoon while Neela and Matt have a DVD date

[MelW]

Matt got the best birthday present ever today!

[barcelona]

I said it over there, and I'll say it over here, too:

Congratulations!!!!

How incredibly exciting, and wonderful and beautiful, all of it. :
I am so happy for you, and so happy she came while Matt was still home!
Happy Birthday Matt, and Happy BabyMoon to you all.

[gingerstar]

:
Oh Mel I am so happy for all of you - sounds like a great birth! How special for Matt and Nora to share a birthday - and I love her name!
How is Neela doing? I think it is wonderful that she got to be there and see her sister born.
Now you are twice blessed.
Happy babymoon, Mel. Give both girls a smooch from me!

[MamaFern]

::::::::::
welcome earthside baby nora!! happy birthday matt! and so many many blessings and congrats to you and your family Mel!

[Phoenix_Rising]

Congratulations, Mel! She looks so tiny

[barcelona]

For those of you who don't know yet, Amy's in Labor!!! Send her your peaceful, loving labor vibes, and hold her and baby boy in your thoughts and hearts today.

And Happy Easter everybody!

[Awaken]

What a week for babies!!! Melanie, my sister, and now Amy! Thinking of you, Amy, as you prepare to welcome your son into the world! And Melanie, hope your post partum time has been restful and hope nursing is going well!

[MelW]

I've been thinking of you all day, Amy

We're doing well here. My milk came in quickly and nursing settled into a great rhythm. Nora is miss sleeps a lot so far- it's kind of crazy (Matt asked me today if something was wrong with her...). Last night she slept a 4 1/2 hours stretch, but Neela woke up twice during that time!! Neela is really sweet with Nora and giving her kisses and love, but she's freaking out a bit at us and had more meltdowns than usual. She's also been sooo rude with strangers and visitors, and generally keeping us on our toes and working on our gentle discipline every day.