Santa Fe Renaissance Fair 2011

Here are the pictures from this years renaissance fair. Locals, I highly recommend you go. It’s a fun way to spend a Saturday. Note the very authentic shoes. Fighting the knights. This was definitely the kid favorite this year. Paul got way into it and started taking down everyone else’s knights as well. Reminds me of Monty Python. This had to be one of the most adorable things I’ve ever seen. Averi’s “sword” was as long as she is, and the hits she gave were the cutest teeny taps. The whole crowd was smitten by our fair lady. Katie is her father’s daughter. Check out that tongue! (Aaron pointed out that this could be taken wrong. It is not meant to imply anything indecent. Aaron simply has a very funny habit of sticking his tongue out in the weirdest ways when he's concentrating. That's all.) Stud muffin Paul. The crowd was much bigger at the fair this year, which made it even more fun. I love having a chance to tap into my inner geek (not like I don’t just about every day, but this was even geekier than usual).

Fall Bucket List

Here’s our fall “bucket list.”  We’ll see how many of these things we actually get done, but it will be fun to try!  Let’s set an end date of Nov 15 so we don’t overlap with the holidays.  And enjoy these blasts from the past while you’re at it. 1. Go to a pumpkin patch (Ah, the fun we have as a family…) 2. Balloon Fiesta 3. State Fair (already did that, so it might be cheating, but it’s totally a fall activity) (yes, it’s blurry, but that’s what you get with a self-portrait) 4. Renaissance Fair (again, cheating a bit) 5. Go on a hike 6. Sew Halloween costumes 7. Trick or treating! 8. Family game night 9. Make s’mores over a fire 10. Carve pumpkins (or eat them, whatever) 11. Make a wreath 12. Make a scarf 13. Make chili 14. Go down to the bosque and take pictures in the leaves 15. Make art with leaves 16. Eat al fresco 17. Read on the patio while the kids play 18. Visit to the farmer’s market 19. Make our house smell delicious If you know me at all, I’m NOT a fan of winter and coldness and darkness and the general blech that hits around January.  This means that I approach fall with some trepidation, since I know what’s coming next, and it’s not pretty.  But fall really is wonderful.  In Albuquerque, it’s nice and warm during the day, but there’s a nip in the air at night.  September is absolutely gorgeous, as is October.  And nothing beats that New Mexico blue sky in autumn.  There’s also something wonderful about breaking out the cardigans and sweaters and scarves and boots that haven’t seen the light of day since April.  So this year I’m going to embrace fall, and I’m bringing the rest of the family along for the ride.

Thoughts and Happenings

We have been so blessed to have a lot of family come after we had Bridget.  Aaron’s mom was there when she was born and stayed for a week, and then a week and a half later my mom and sister came out for two weeks.  My house was never so organized and clean, and Aaron and I got to go out several times together WITHOUT KIDS.  Well, except for Bridget.  But newborns are like footballs; you just tuck them under your arm and haul them around with you.  I was seriously tempted to “lose” my keys on the day my mom had to fly home.  When we were loading up the car, Paul said, “I think I’m going to cry when Grandma leaves.”  I responded, “Me too.”  “No, Mom, I’m not kidding.  I really am going to cry.”  I’m not kidding either, Paul.  After my mom and Kiera left, Adam and Julie came out for the weekend.  Julie is a flight attendant, so when Adam got off work early on Friday, they were able to make an impromptu visit to us.  It was Averi’s birthday, so everyone (except for Aaron—boo to having to work!) went to the zoo.  Afterwards we met Aaron at Golden Corral for dinner.  High class, I know, but the kids thought they had died and gone to heaven.  We’ve been very careful about what we’ve been eating lately, so the kids were thrilled to be able to choose whatever they wanted.  Paul especially thought that this was supreme bliss.  I cannot tell you how much that kid ate, mostly because I can’t remember it all.  I do know that he ate two pieces of pizza, two servings of enchiladas, spaghetti with meatballs, tilapia, salad, multiple servings of watermelon, mashed potatoes, cotton candy, strawberries and marshmallows dipped in the chocolate fountain, a chocolate cupcake, and the rest of Julie’s cotton candy.  I know there’s more there that I’m forgetting, as hard as that may be to imagine.  After he finished, he turned and looked at me with those HUGE brown eyes and began to cry.  I asked him what was wrong, and he responded, “My tummy hurts!”  I think it was the first time he’s ever eaten himself sick.  Sad as it was, I did have a hard time not laughing.  How could he be anything BUT sick? Adam and Julie were planning on staying through Sunday, but Julie’s sister went into labor on Saturday, so she flew out so she could be with her.  Aaron, Adam and I took the kids up to Santa Fe to the Renaissance Fair, which is one of our favorite things ever.  I get a kick out of dressing the kids up and only wish that I had a dress myself.  Maybe one year when I haven’t just had a baby I’ll make Aaron and me awesome matching costumes.  I’m a nerd like that.  The camera is downstairs right now, so pictures will have to follow in another post.  We were out in the sun all day on Saturday, and I woke up Sunday morning to a discovery: I am either allergic to the sun (polymorphic light eruption) or to the combination of my sunscreen and the sun (photoallergic contact dermatitis).  Either way, I had the most itchy, horrible rash every where that was exposed to the sun: arms, chest, neck, face, even my ears.  It was awful.  I cannot describe how incredibly itchy it was.  A visit to the dermatologist on Monday gave the two possible diagnoses.  I’m inclined to think that it’s the sunscreen, since the only other time this has happened, I was wearing that sunscreen.  That time I thought it was a reaction to the laundry detergent I used, but now I know better.  This second time was MUCH more severe than the first and only cleared up after a combination of ultra-powerful steroid cream (which also happened to be ultra expensive and not even regularly stocked by pharmacies), anti-histamines, and anti-itch lotion.  I’m sure I stunk to high heaven, and I stayed indoors for several days so I didn’t have to show my hideous self to the world.  But now it’s gone, and I’m just hoping it NEVER happens again. To complicate matters, I had developed pink eye two days before this all happened.  So not only was I looking horrible from the rash, but I had to wear my glasses, which don’t fit right and are the wrong prescription.  I was a wreck.  Fortunately, both the pink eye and the rash were gone by Thursday, so I was able to go to church this Sunday (and watch Project Runway on Thursday night) without looking like a freak. Things are starting to calm down around here.  We’re getting back in the homeschool swing, and I’m feeling so confident that I signed Katie back up for ballet.  I essentially cancelled all activities for the months of August and September (except piano), knowing that I wouldn’t be capable of making it to anything on time or remember anything that wasn’t physically attached to me.  This was a very wise decision.  Life’s still chaotic, and it’s still hard knowing that I can’t accomplish much when I’m spending hours every day sitting and nursing.  But I have been able to sew two dresses for Katie and Averi, and I’m almost finished refinishing an bookshelf for Paul’s room.  So I’m feeling pretty good!  I’m also only 6 pounds away from my “standard” pre-baby weight, although I don’t look nearly as good, since I lost a ton of muscle.  As soon as I feel a little more in control I plan on starting my exercise routine again and fixing that. On a different track: the cloth diapering is still going well and I have absolutely no regrets, except that I wish I would have known about modern cloth earlier.  My favorites are Best Bottoms.  Ask me about them; I could be a walking advertisement.  They ought to pay me.  Also, I’m going to put in a plug for Pinterest.  Best time killer EVER.  Those hours nursing are not spent doing nothing.  Instead, they’re spent looking at what everyone else has done and wishing I could do them.

Bridget at 3 weeks

Little Miss Bridget has been so much fun to have around.  She’s extremely snuggly and loves to be held close and swaddled.  She’s the first of our babies that actually seems interested in the pacifier, and she’s a great eater.  She’s already filled out quite a bit in just these few weeks, but she still has the classic newborn chicken legs.  Her brother and sisters dote on her and are constantly “checking on her” (which usually means that she’ll mysteriously wake up right as they check on her—poor baby).  She’s up every 2.5-4 hours during the night, so it’s bearable for now.  She’s a very noisy sleeper.  She’s always making the funniest grunting and squeaking sounds.  We absolutely adore her and would love to have a million of her.

Cloth Diaper Reviews: The Basics

I’ve decided to try an experiment. I’ve been diapering children for the last SIX years, with perhaps a 6 month break (although I did have 2 kids in Pull-ups during that break, so I’m not sure that counts). I HATE buying diapers. I have spent thousands over the years on diapers, dealt with poo explosions, treated diaper rashes, and thrown away thousands of diapers. So I’ve decided to try cloth diapering. It’s become quite the in-vogue thing to do, and I can definitely see why. The cloth diapers that they have now are CUTE. As in, “Why would I put my child in clothes that will just cover up her diaper?” cute. They are easy. No pins and complicated folding. You’re not throwing away diaper after diaper. You don’t have to make midnight runs to the grocery store because you don’t have enough to last through Sunday. Apparently children in cloth diapers are 80% less likely to get diaper rash. And from what I’ve been told, poo explosions are practically non-existent with cloth. After tons and tons and tons of research (when I get into something, I REALLY get into something), I decided to try several different varieties of cloth diaper and just see how it went. I figured I really couldn’t lose: if it went well, then fabulous! If not, cloth diapers have excellent resale value. I could just sell them for nearly what I paid for them, continue buying disposables, and feel good that I gave it a shot. After talking with my mom about what I did and didn’t like after 5 days of use, she suggested that I write reviews so that people who are interested in cloth diapering can have an inside look at the different diapering systems. It also might help convince others to give it a shot. It’s not only crazy tree-huggers that cloth diaper (although I have to admit, I am a bit of a closet environmentalist—don’t tell!). It really is a viable option for normal moms who want to save money. From my (not vast) experience, here’s what you’ll want to get started: 1. Wet Bags: These bags are made of polyurethane laminated fabric (PUL), which is what most diaper covers are made from. The laminated backing keeps liquids from escaping, and the seams should be waterproof. Wet bags can zip, have a drawstring, or remain open. How many: I would suggest 1 small size wet bag with a zipper for out and about (more if you have multiple diaper bags or if you want one in your car). Wet/dry bags are also nice because they have a separate pocket to store clean diapers on the same bag. You will also want 2 large wet bags for home. You can use them in a pail or a garbage can with a lid, or you can buy hanging wet bags. I suggest two so that you’ll have one to use while the other is in the wash. Brands: I’ve got 2 large Planet Wise pail-liner wet bags, and they seem very nice. I haven’t had any leaking at all, and you can order them through Amazon Prime. Always a bonus. I’ve also heard really good things about the bags from Leslie’s Boutique. If you’d like to make your own, I found an adorable tutorial: http://2littlehooligans.blogspot.com/2011/08/cloth-diaper-wet-bag-tutorial.html 2. Storage System: This is easy. If you’ve got a dresser near your changing table, use it. I have ours in our closet, so there’s no room for a dresser. Instead, I use a three-drawer cart with relatively deep drawers from Target. They were super on sale right before school started, so I just grabbed 2 of them. They work perfectly. 3. Cloth Wipes: This is not a necessity, but it makes it easier, since you just toss the wipe in the wet bag with the dirty diapers and you don’t have to worry about using a separate trash can. One of the goals of cloth diapering is to generate less waste, and this is one way to do it. There are several different materials they can be made from: flannel (most common), velour, sherpa, or a combination of the three seem to be the most popular. I purchased wipes made from flannel on one side and velour on the other. How to use them: Right now we just wet ours in the sink. Easy, since it’s about 5 steps from the changing table. Save the peri bottle you come home from the hospital with. You can make up a solution using water, baby wash, oil, and essential oils, fill the peri bottle, and squirt it on the wipes. There are a million different recipes for this on the internet. There are also tons of people who sell different wipes solutions. Seems like overkill to me, but I bet they smell really good. How many: Probably 2-3 dozen, depending on how messy your baby’s changes are and how frequently you want to wash. Brands: I ordered mine from a work-at-home-mom (WAHM) that I found on diaperswappers.com. They’re sewn very well and I love the x in the middle to keep the layers from shifting. I know a lot of people love the Thirsties wipes. Or you could simply make your own. I just knew I would never get around to it, although it’s extremely simple and only involves sewing straight lines. Here’s a great little tutorial I found if you’re interested: http://2littlehooligans.blogspot.com/2011/08/baby-wash-cloths-tutorial.html 4. Laundry Soap: This is probably the most controversial aspect of cloth diapering—bet you never knew that diapers could be controversial! The diaper companies all claim that you need special detergent to wash diapers to help them stay absorbant and prevent build-up. Others claims that you should just use whatever gets them clean and doesn’t irritate your baby. I think I would have gone with the second group, except I started getting rashes from our laundry detergent. We switched all our laundry to Charlie’s Soap and Charlie's Laundry Booster and Hard Water Treatment. It seems pricey, but you only use a tablespoon per load. You can buy an 80-load tub for $12, which is 15 cents a load, very comparable to what Tide costs (if not less). If you buy the 1000-load bucket for $97.50, you’re looking at less than 10 cents a load. Charlie’s Soap is approved by all companies for diapers, and the hard water treatment really helps to get out extra stains. Our laundry is cleaner now that is has been in a long time. It’s also nice that we don’t have to wash the baby’s clothes in a separate load with a special detergent. Bonus: Free shipping on Amazon! How to wash: This will depend on your washing machine and the type of water you have. Here’s what’s been working for us: a) No need to rinse out poo if baby is exclusively breast-fed. If on solids, poo should be disposed of in toilet before putting in wet bag. Apparently a sprayer really helps with this, but we’re not at that stage yet. b) Make sure all velcro (technically Aplix, since most diapers are made of this softer hook-and-loop tape) tabs are secured to the laundry tab on the diaper. I do this before I put it in the wet bag so that I can just dump everything in when it’s wash time. c) Short wash or rinse in cold water with no detergent. This will prevent any stains from setting in. d) Two full hot washes, each with detergent. This will kill any germs and get the diapers very clean. It may be overkill, but right now I’m okay with that. I also make sure to run the hot water from a near-by faucet so that the water going into the washing machine is very hot. e) Check all diapers as you put them in the dryer. Anything with staining should not go into the dryer. Instead, put it into the sun to dry. Sunning removes stains miraculously. I usually only have an item or two that I need to do this with per load. f) Dry as usual. Some people use wool dryer balls to cut down on drying time. I toss in a tennis ball, which also reduces drying time. It sounds a lot more complicated than it is. It’s not a lot of work; just plan on some time to go through all the loads. And remember, these are going on a baby’s bottom to be pooed on. If it’s not pristine, it’s probably okay. 5. Diapers of your choice: This is the fun part. There are a dozen different styles to choose from: flats, prefolds, fitteds, covers, soakers, pockets, all-in-ones, all-in-twos…so much fun! Really. It is! My opinion of cloth diapering so far: I’m really enjoying it. I love choosing the different styles and patterns. I adore how fluffy her bum is when she’s in cloth. I really like the fact that I’m not throwing diaper after diaper into a landfill. Mostly I love thinking about how much money I’ll save by the time she’s potty-trained. And if we have another (very unlikely, but not impossible), the savings will be compounded. Aaron and I ran some numbers last night, and even if you buy the most expensive diapers out there, you’re definitely at least breaking even, and that’s if you don’t factor in the resale value. If you go a cheaper route, like prefolds with covers, you make your money back in only a few months. Can’t shake your head at that! I’ll review all of the diaper styles that I try out. If you’re not interested, sorry. But I’m really excited about this right now, so I’m going to share. If it does more than cement my status as the weirdo of the family, great! If not, I’m okay with that too.

Baby Bridget is here!

On Friday, August 19 our sweet little Bridget Elayne Jorgensen was born. She came into the world at 1:37 pm, just in time for us to get some lunch! She weighed 7 pounds 14.5 ounces, making her our biggest baby. She was 20.5 inches long and has very dark, almost black, hair. She’s gorgeous and mellow and we love her to death. Birth story: I asked my doctor if I could be induced with Bridget, since I have a history of very quick labors. And let’s face it, I’m not very big into surprises. I’d much rather have a calm, planned delivery than a middle-of-the-night, what-on-earth-am-I-supposed-to-do-with-my-other-three-children delivery. It also made it very easy for Connie to book tickets to come and help us out. I had had three other uneventful inductions and I was already dilated at my 37 week appointment, so my doctor didn’t have any problem with inducing me at 39ish weeks. I was told to be at the hospital at 6am on Friday morning. Of course I didn’t really get any sleep the night before, so having to get up at 4:45 was pretty painful. Not surprisingly, getting things set up at the hospital took forever. For some reason they didn’t have any of my records (no explanation was given for why this was the case), so they had to draw my blood and do my blood work before they could get the pitocin started. It was well after 8 before they got everything sorted (why was I there at 6??) and past 9 before labor began. As soon as contractions were regular, but not very painful, I asked for my epidural. When the nurse asked me what my pain level was, I was sure to tell her that I wasn’t interested in being in severe pain before I had anesthesia. Why would I go through more pain than necessary? I have nothing to prove to myself. I did it naturally (not intentionally, of course) with Paul, and I can say very confidently that I MUCH prefer the epidural. No pain = good. The epidural was administered without any issues. Apparently I have the perfect spine for administering epidurals. I’ve been told this now by 2 anesthesiologists. After everything was good and numb, it was getting close to lunch time and I was dilated to 5 cm. We were just waiting for the doctor to come in and break my water. I told Aaron that since nothing was happening at the moment, he ought to go and get some lunch. Bad idea. My family knows that sending Dad out to lunch because “nothing is happening” means that SOMETHING is going to happen. With my mom, it meant that Kiera was born without anyone in the family there, including my dad. For me, it was slightly less dramatic, but dramatic nonetheless. After Aaron left, the nurse left as well, leaving me all along in the room. I was happily watching HGTV (yay for cable!) when I had an itch on my shoulder. I reached over to scratch it, and when I pulled my hand away, one of the many lines coming off me caught and I disconnected my epidural line from the IV. This is a bad thing. I knew that the nurses needed to see to it right away, so I reached for the call button. But there was no call button. I searched everywhere for the remote, but I couldn’t find it. And of course I couldn’t get off the bed to look for it, because the bottom half of my body was completely useless. At this point, I must have been panicking, because the alarm for my heart rate started going off. The nurses have no way of hearing the mother’s monitors, just the baby’s, so not only was I freaking out with an open epidural line, but the alarm was going incessantly and driving me crazy. I tried to call Aaron several times, but there was no answer. He eventually saw that I had called multiple times, so he came back as quickly as he could. Apparently at some time during the administration of the epidural someone had place the remote with the call button on a shelf behind me and above my head, several feet out of my reach. Aaron paged the nurses, and one came in to inform me that yes, that was my epidural line and the whole thing had to come out. Um, no. That’s not what I wanted to hear. However, after I was told that the open line could introduce an infection into my spine if it was reconnected, I thought that perhaps they were right and that shouldn’t be risked. The nurse anesthetist came in right away, and they sat me up to remove the old epidural and put in a new one. Bad idea. From the way they explained it to me, when you have an epidural, most of your blood flow is in your feet and legs, which is why you have to lay down the whole time you have an epidural. When they sat me up, my heart rate and blood pressure plummeted. It was strange how immediately I felt “wrong.” I had had blood pressure issues after an eipdural before, but this was completely different. The nurses had to stop putting in the epidural because they were holding me upright since I was on the verge of passing out. They administered extra oxygen for the baby and had to give me three shots of epinephrine to speed up my heart rate and prevent cardiac arrest. Fortunately, I have that perfect spine, so they were able to get the epidural in very quickly and get me lying back down. Within 15 minutes I felt completely fine and they were able to turn the pitocin back on. After they were sure everything was stable and that there were going to be no issues, the doctor came in to break my water. She told me that she expected to be seeing me in two to three hours. Aaron and I just looked at each other and smirked. I had heard that one before. No one seemed to really believe me when I told them that my labor went QUICKLY after my water was broken. Sure enough, I progressed from a 5 to a 9 in about 15 minutes. After they got everything set up, I gave a few good pushes and out she came. She was big, beautiful, and purple (which was such a shock when I had my first baby). Every time I have a baby I’m amazed that a child that large fit inside of me. She must have been so uncomfortable! Her head was a bit bruised from her fast entry into the world, but other than that, she was completely perfect. Every time we have a baby I’m so amazed at how beautiful and perfect they are. Every detail is there, from the wrinkles on her fingers to nearly invisible lashes. Katie, Paul, and Averi have reacted so well to having Bridget around. Katie is our little mother, and loves to be useful. She always wants to help pick out her clothes and is the first to inform me if she’s crying. Paul adores babies. He is always running in to have a peek at her and is constantly asking to hold her. He has such a tender spot when it comes to littler ones. Averi isn’t quite sure what to think of her, but she’s warming up. It’s always been her personality to stand back and observe until she’s completely comfortable. When they came to the hospital to visit, she asked to hold Bridget. I sat her down in the chair and put the baby in her arms, then I turned to go get my camera. Immediately she started panicking. “Mom, I’m done. I’m done, Mom. Mom! Mom, I’m done!” I told her, “Averi, I haven’t even turned the camera on. Please just wait until I can get a picture.” She sat still long enough for me to get one good picture, and then she was out of there as fast as I could take the baby. Now, however, she frequently asks if she can hold her, even if it is just for a minute. She’s always sighing about how adorable she is, and she loves to kiss her little wrinkled feet. Bridget really has been a dreamy baby so far. She’s been a champion nurser, which is such a welcome change after Averi and Paul. She got the hang of things right away, and we haven’t had any issues with eating. She finally coming out of that newborn stupor, but she’s still extremely calm and not fussy at all. Aaron’s mom was here for a week to watch the kids and help us out, and I’ve loved being able to just sit and cuddle with Bridget. I really love this newborn phase. Even though the sleepless nights get hard, infants are just such a joy to have around. When I look at her, I think, “I could have a dozen babies!” I have to remind myself that they do grow up, and that’s the hard part. I’m telling myself that I’m just going to enjoy this stage and savor it, since it passes by so quickly. That’s something that does not come naturally to me. I always find myself looking for the next milestone, the next big thing. Having a new baby is such a good reminder to take things slowly and really live in the moment.