A Season Past Springtime

Micah, I can’t believe how big you are already. I was expecting the time to fly by, but it is still catching me by surprise. Last night for the first time you gave me a genuine smile. You’ve be practicing for a few weeks now, especially those sweet little smiles in your sleep. Lots of those getting ready smiles, when you’re staring into space and they seem to be elicited by some mysterious force. Then last night the smiles were the full-fledged, absolute, real thing. I took you out of the bath tub and wrapped you in your towel and I was snuggling you a little bit and staring into your eyes and you cooed and I smiled at you and you gave me a huge grin. You were trying so hard to talk, your mouth would work and work and then a little coo would come out. I’d talk back and you just kept smiling and smiling. Of course I called Daddy over to see, and you looked into his face and rewarded him with a big smile too! It’s one of the most beautiful things a parent can see. It wasn’t a fluke either, because you did it a few times today too.

You are growing like a little weed. We went to the MD for your check up and you weigh 11lbs, 5oz now! You still have deep blue eyes and your funny little cowlick that looks like a silver streak across your head when the sun hits it. You still get the hiccups several times a day, but it never fazes you. Your little arms and legs are filling out and getting those Michelin Man creases I just love to squeeze. You lare landing somewhere in between you sister on the pacifier/thumb issue. Emily was a hard core thumb sucker. Katrina didn’t want to have anything to do with either. You will sometimes take the pacifier and like to suck on your fist, but haven’t fully committed to either. We’ll see where that goes. I’ve been taking hundreds of pictures of your perfect little toes which Daddy teases me about unmercifully. I can’t help it, I just love you and you are so beautifully and wonderfully made.

You are making your place in our little family. Your sisters love to talk to you and have been great little helpers. It’s a challenge sometimes keeping them from smushing you in their excitement. You are getting more fun everyday and soon you’ll be in the mix, keeping up with the best of them. Love you sweetie!

It’s time to play…

Name…That…Baby!

This exciting, edge-of-your-seat, game is brought to you by the Neumanns. Don’t miss out, this opportunity only comes every two to three years. The rules are simple, post a comment identifying which child is represented in each picture. The winner will receive an all expense paid three night vacation at Das Neumann Haus.* Thank you for playing!

Round one:
Picture A:

Picture B:

Round two:
Picture A:

Picture B:

Picture C:

*NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING.Open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia, 18 years of age or older or the age of majority in their state. By participating, entrants agree to these Official Rules. All entries become property of Sponsor and will not be returned. Void where prohibited. This prize includes a three night stay at Das Neumann Haus with comfortable accommodation for two adults. Children are welcome, but will be accommodated camping style, on air mattress or pack-n-plays squeezed in where room can be found. Das Neumann Haus is open for your convenience throughout the year, excluding major holidays (this is negotiable for family). Three meals a day will be provided with special arrangements for allergies and dietary restrictions. No special arrangements for picky eaters. Travel to and from Oregon is not included. Ground transportation to and from PDX or EUG will be provided. Advanced notice of prize redemption is appreciated. Total ARV of prize is $500

We’ve survived the first week. It hasn’t been too bad. Of course, Christoph had three days off work and my mom is here, so the hardest part is just the lack of sleep. Micah has his days and nights mixed up. During the day he sleeps like the dead, barely waking up to eat. Then at about 11:00pm he wakes up. He is happy awake, but wants to be held and nurse non-stop. When he does fall asleep he wants to be held, if you lay him in his bed he wakes up right away and fusses. I try not to do the whole co-sleeping thing because we have a waterbed and it’s not considered safe, but if he’s asleep on my chest and I don’t roll over, I figure it’s ok, just not very restful. Last night he actually slept in his bassinet for part of the night, so we’re making progress. He’s a sweet little guy. He only cries when he’s hungry and getting his diaper changed. He manages his big sisters’ lop-sided strangle holds pretty well. He gets the hiccups all the time. Without fail, if he falls asleep and I lay him down, he’ll start hiccuping about two minutes later. We haven’t had much success in getting pictures with his eyes open, they haven’t been open very often. When he does have his eyes open he always gets this worried little old man look. I think it’s because he sees these loud yelling blurs flashing by and he’s afraid he might get sat on. Diaper changing a boy has come with a bit of a leaning curve. This kid has gone through more clothes in the first week then either of his sisters. He keeps catching me off guard and suddenly everything’s wet! I just have to throw in here, that Christoph has only changed two diapers so far, scaredy cat.

I have been spending a lot of my day sitting on the sofa holding him. I can’t get enough of all his little parts, fingers, toes, ears, skinny little legs, rosebud lips. Part of me feels like I need to be doing something more productive, then Katrina runs by and I know if I blink it will be him. These sweet halcyon days of cuddling are so short and I can’t make myself put him down. I stare into his face and he is so innocent and undemanding. I’m not saying infants aren’t work, it’s hard not to sleep, but the work is so elementary. You feed them and change them and love them and that’s all. There are no power struggles, no figuring out how to train without breaking their spirit, no back talking, no emotional drama, no making messes, no tantrums. I’m not saying there aren’t many wonderful things about older kids, but for me the parenting they need is so much more involved and so much more exhausting then just losing sleep. So, I’m sitting, soaking in this baby and cherishing every second the best that I can, in-between giving the older ones the attention they need. Thank you again to Grandma for facilitating many more moments of Micah gazing and cuddling then I would have on my own.

Some pictures of Emily at the hospital just before we went home. we just have video of her meeting him the first time. The ring is from Christoph. He’s given me one for each baby.

Well, our little guy has made his appearance. Micah Daniel was born yesterday, June 4th at 5:59pm. He weighed in at 8lbs, 10oz. It was a slow, long labor, but we both made it through and he has been a little angel since. He is a snuggler and very sleepy right now. We’ll see what the next few weeks bring. His big sisters were excited to meet him. Katrina couldn’t get enough of cuddling her “baby brudder.” I have a feeling she is going to keep me busy trying to prevent any unintentional maiming. I don’t have much to say right now, but I wanted to post a couple of pictures. More will come!

My brother Joel had the song, “It’s the Final Countdown” on his cell phone for a while. I would hear it every time I would call him. I have had it ringing through my head for the past few days, pretty much whenever I think about this baby coming. Which is a lot, since he is quite large and it’s hard to move without noticing him. The lyrics of the song can be applied to pregnancy in a weird sort of way, “We’ve got no one to blame, Will things ever be the same”. Maybe I’m just losing my mind…

Anyway, I thought I’d do a quick post, as it might be my last chance during this pregnancy. I can’t believe nine months have passed already. I started off this pregnancy with a bit of trepidation. Feeling like maybe Katrina was still too little and wondering if I can handle three kids, not to mention strange feelings that something was going to go wrong. Luckily, Katrina was keeping me so busy I didn’t have time to dwell on that for long. Between feeling completely exhausted and nauseas, it wasn’t much fun in the beginning. Then came the second trimester, when it was easy to forget I was pregnant at all because of all the other demands on my time. Then those little flutters would remind me and I would feel very overwhelmed. Then the last trimester and the frantic concerns that things weren’t ready and never would be. Now, it’s the end. My mom will be here in five short hours and all the important stuff is in place. The house is fairly clean and I am telling myself to relax and enjoy the rest of this pregnancy, because it could end any time. I still wonder if I can be a good mother of three, but at this point, I’m in full baby anticipation mode, so I only think of it on bad days when I have no patience for the girls. Meanwhile, I’m enjoying that wonderful, indescribable feeling of a baby kicking, and putting in as much cuddle time with the girls as I can. We took some pictures of me last Friday at 39 weeks. I just have to wince a little when I see them, it’s a little hard to see the beauty there. Then I remind myself how completely amazing it is that the human body can do that. I mean really! I don’t enjoy having a poochy belly, saggy breasts, and too many stretch marks to count, but really, in the long run who cares. Not Christoph fortunately. I’ve never been into two piece bathing suits anyway! Sorry if these pictures are too graphic. Christoph was having fun with perspective, and even though it pains me to look at them, I kinda think they’re cool at the same time. Isn’t it amazing how clothes can camouflage? I wanted to make some black and white, so they wouldn’t be so stark, but I don’t know how. =p Christoph has been too busy for that, maybe I’ll change them tonight, if I’m not in labor…Five more days until my due date!

For the girls birthday we decided to buy them a playhouse. Our yard is not very big, and we thought it would be a good alternative to say, a swing set. Because of weather and other demands on his time, Christoph wasn’t able to really work on it until a few weeks ago. It came without a floor, so he had to design and build a base for it. He added on a little deck as an extra surprise. We are also planning on putting a sandbox in the space to the left, but that will have to wait for now. We still want to put some Plexiglas in the windows and stain and seal the deck part, but they can play in it, and they love it! they were both so excited to watch it going up. It was a labor of love from Daddy for both girls and mommy. Emily and Katrina have a fun, imaginative new place to play. Mommy has a place to send them when she needs a little break or the new baby is sleeping. Thanks honey!

A quick little post just for silly, as Emily likes to say. As anyone with kids will tell you, you never know what’s going to come out of their mouths next. Usually it’s not too difficult to trace the origin of their expressions and exclamations. They usually, for better or worse, tend to repeat what we, as their parents, say. However, this one had me stumped. A few days ago Katrina and I were out running errands while Emily was at preschool. One of our stops was the bank, which Katrina loves because they hand out stickers. As we were waiting in the drive-through, she suddenly exclaims, “My sticker, oh joy!” She proceeds to chant in her little piping voice, “Oh joy, oh joy, sticker, sticker, oh joy!” until she is given her sticker. I was laughing and at the same time thinking, “What?” That is not an expression either Christoph or I use. Occasionally, I will mutter a sarcastic, “oh joy”, but I couldn’t remember having done it at all recently. Of course I shared this story with Christoph and he was stymied as well. Then today, understanding dawned. My girls both like to watch a show called Backyardigans. Today, Emily woke up very early, so Christoph turned it on for her before he left in the hopes I could sleep a little longer (that worked, by the way). I came downstairs later, just in time to hear one of the characters exclaim, “I get to be in the spiffy club, oh joy!” Hmm…does that mean my kids are watching too much TV? In the last month, I would say definitely, but at least their mom’s not in the loony bin, which is the other alternative. It is a relief to know she wasn’t being sarcastic at the tender age of two.

Today is my anniversary, or should I say our anniversary? Anyway, you get the picture. It’s a little hard to believe it’s been eight years, although in some ways it feels like we’ve just always been married. I’m not really sure what I want to say in this post. I’m married to a great guy and I consider myself to be very blessed to have him. He is a great provider, a hard worker, considerate, patient, loving, kind. He is a wonderful father. I love how he can turn almost anything into a teachable moment, in a fun way. He has never balked at doing his share of all things in childrearing. He is so patient with me, always willing to listen. So, I love you Christoph! Thank you for all you do!

On a less sappy note, what have the last eight years entailed? It’s interesting to me to think about what “life milestones” we’ve accomplished together.
*We have moved four times, including to a different state

*Purchased our first and second house

*Completed two degrees. BSN for me, Master’s for Christoph

*Had children

*Bought a new car

*Invested money

*Got life insurance

*Started a business

Ok, so this is just a small list of things that come immediately to mind. Two people who are married go through so many things together. I mean those are just big things. How about all the little decisions and tasks that you do together everyday? I know single people do a lot of these things too, it’s not the doing them that’s the point, it’s the doing them together. You can’t help but be close to someone you’ve argued with, cried with, laughed with, everyday for years. I think of all the things that have happened, how we’ve grown and changed over the past eight years and it kind of blows me away. It’s only been eight years! Imagine after being married 25, 50! I hope I never take any of it for granted, because I know the day to day can easily become mundane and expected. I’m so glad not to have to do life alone! I love you Christoph!

I know May is only half over, but it is shaping into a busy month for us! I figured if I didn’t start putting some stuff on here I’d never catch up. So, here is a little summary of the month so far. At least the part I have pictures for.

Christoph has been doing lots of work in the yard. Katrina likes nothing better then being out there helping. Emily likes to be outside too, but I think she spends more time playing. In these pictures Katrina is helping move compost into the garden boxes. I love the seriousness on her face.

Emily had her Spring Sing at school. There is just something so hilarious and cute about a bunch of preschoolers singing. Her teacher this year was Mrs. Vicki. She is great!

We took the girls to see Sesame Street Live. Painful for an adult, but the girls had fun. Emily wasn’t so sure about it, since she’s outgrown the Elmo phase, but she got into the show anyway. Katrina was mesmerized. It was hilarious to watch her face. Of course, since I’m pregnant I also started tearing up to see her so happy. Every time Elmo would leave the stage she would look at me and worriedly say, “Where Elmo go?” Then, when he would come back she would practically shake she was so excited to see him again. I was really cracking up when Christoph took Emily to the bathroom and Elmo left the stage shortly after. Katrina informed me “Elmo go potty, too.” I love how toddlers make sense of their world. I have to admit I was very excited to find light chasers just like they were selling at the show the next day at Kmart. The girls were asking for them, but I couldn’t rationalize spending $15. The ones at Kmart were on clearance for $2.50!

On Mother’s Day we drove over to the coast for dinner. Emily loves the beach and was so excited to run around in the sand and water, even though it was COLD! Katrina was excited until her feet actually touched the sand. Then she just wanted to be held. She did NOT like that feeling. After I took her over to the benches where there was cement to stand on, she was much happier. She did an awesome Monty Python impression (unconsciously of course). She looked out at the water and said, “look out! Waves! Run away, run away” while running in circles around the bench. I almost died.

Lastly, while not specific to May, Katrina loves being up in the morning with Christoph. She helps him make his coffee, my tea, and anything else he will let her do. She gets a little annoyed if I’m around during her Daddy time. Usually he does it so I can try to sleep a little longer, but today I was up, so she is helping him make me a bagel. He’s so great! If you are very observant you can find his latest obsession in the background. That’s a whole post in and of itself.

May has been good so far, although a bit hectic. Somehow, with baby number three’s arrival a mere three weeks away I don’t see things slowing down anytime soon. Grandma will be here in two and a half weeks! Yea! Now back to nesting, I mean cleaning…

Spring is my favorite season. Especially since we’ve moved up here in Oregon. After the cold, rainy winter, I love the more temperate sunny days and seeing the flowers and plants popping up all over and bursting into bloom. This spring has been a bit of a weird one here. The weather was warming up and then we had freak hailstorms, snow, rain, all in the course of one day. It was vacillating a lot between cold and warm. At one point it snowed a little and according to records it hadn’t snowed in Corvallis that late in the year since the early 1900’s! I love spring because the weather is sunny, but not hot. I love the cool weather and watching the clouds constantly changing. I have to admit that I haven’t minded that the weather has stayed cold, being as I’m in the end of my pregnancy. On the days it’s been in the 80’s I’ve felt sooo hot. Lucky for me, only four more weeks, so I’m not worried about the weather suddenly making me miserable. Here are some pictures I took when spring was first starting to peek it’s head.