Oktoberfest

It seems like it shouldn't be 90 degrees during Oktoberfest but I'm not complaining. It seems like it's getting harder to go out with both the girls - Ari has her own ideas of what she wants to do and Eva doesn't just sit quietly or sleep anymore. More stressful than not, but I'm glad we went. I think it's important to do things like this and expose the girls to our community. 

Happy birthday to me!

Isaac let me choose what I wanted to do for my birthday. It was low- key and exactly what I needed. 

 

Breakfast at Word of Mouth with their ridiculous hot chocolate. Ari ate all the whipped cream off the top, little thief. 

Swimming and park at Silver Creek Falls, bacon cheeseburgers with corn on the cob and watermelon for dinner on the deck, and ice cream with a candle in it. Isaac's gift was exactly what I asked for - a pedicure - but he went over and above by getting a gift certificate to Bella Vita instead of the cheap chop shop I usually go to. 

Mom called a few days ago to ask what I wanted for a gift. Of course I don't have anything specific in mind so I told her I like clothes, shoes, jewelry and bags. She sent me a Fossil bag and a pretty scarf that Katie picked out. 

All in all, a perfect birthday with my favorite people. 

Today was for....

....a doctor appointment....

 

....a new piano.....

.....and fresh raspberry pie....

Ari has been grabbing at her diaper and crying sporadically for a few weeks. I tried switching diapers, used powder and desitin and checked for yeast. Couldn't figure it out so I took her to see Dr. Sarah. She said Ari is probably sensitive to something in her bubble bath and recommended not using any for a while. Random, but ok. She recommended using J&J baby shampoo as a bubble bath liquid but I'd rather find something else. 

Rod Troyer bought a new piano so he had to get rid of his old one. He said The Lord laid it on his heart to give it to one of the Folsom kids and Mary told him I would want it. We were set to get a piano  in payment for Isaac working for a day on the home of a piano repair man in town, but this one was free and exactly what we wanted. It also happens to be exactly like the Folsom's....but in better condition. Thanks, Rod!

I prepped a breakfast casserole for tomorrow, made a fresh raspberry pie, and made hamburgers for dinner. I really am a gourmet. 

Isaac is working a prevailing wage job (yay!) so he's trying to get as many hours in as possible before we go to Central Oregon tomorrow for Laura's funeral. 

Bed time

I've been waiting for this day for a long time, but now that it's here, I kind of want to cry. Bedtime used to involve rocking, singing, laying down, picking up, back-patting, more rocking, running up the stairs when we heard her cries come over the monitor and then trying to avoid the creaking boards when we snuck out of her room. 

Now it's a couple books and her water bottle, maybe some rocking if she's not tired, and then this: 

 

Wide awake. Just laying there. No!!!! That's what big kids do! She's my baby! She's supposed to need us! She can't just lay down by herself and go to sleep on her own! 

And yet....she does. Isaac lays on the floor next to her crib for a few minutes but she's always awake when he leaves. 

And then my tiny baby girl just falls asleep in her big room, all by herself. 

She's growing up. It makes half my heart happy....and the other half is breaking. 

Lately

A completely random update/photo dump: 

I officially became a stay-at-home mom two weeks before Eva was born. After three and a half months of working back at the Capitol (and six weeks of Isaac working in Portland), time with Ari was exactly what I needed. Those six weeks were miserable; I really don't know how families keep up when both parents work. I woke Ari up to go to Grammy's, worked all day, picked her up by 6, then really only had time to eat and read a few books before it was time to put her to bed. Then I was so tired that I had to go to bed. That wasn't really living; it was just going through the motions and I hated it. 

Eva Elizabeth was born on April 30th at 1:19 am, after just 7.5 hours of real labor. I became the mom I always make fun of - the one who barely made it to the hospital. It's a good story, and it showed me that I can do it on my own, at home next time. Of course I don't want to be pregnant or give birth right now, but I'm almost excited about looking at it from a different angle.

For my first outing with both the girls, I took them to the Carousel. Ari has gone on the carousel a few times; she doesn't really love it but I think she kind of has fun. She always gets scared at first but then she calms down. I changed diapers and nursed in the car, dealt with hysterical melt downs when Ari fell, and managed to keep her occupied for 20 minutes in line while multiple school groups rode. I wanted to invite someone to go with me, but I thought I should test drive both girls first and see how we did. I'd definitely call it a successful first trip. 

We took Ari to the Iris Festival parade in Keizer. Dumbest parade ever - it's super super long and 90% of the floats are just decorated pick ups from local businesses. However, there was plenty of candy and teaching Ari to pick it up and then watching her put it in her little Hello Kitty backpack made me melt. 

For Mother's Day, Isaac gave me a pair of Keen slip-ons which I considered a perfect gift. Then he said he had one other "small" thing and he made me close my eyes while he brought it in. It was a Vitamix. "Surprised" doesn't even go far enough. I love it. 

Baby kisses :)

Eva at five weeks

You would think they planned this. Every single day, Ari goes down for her nap and Eva wakes up five minutes later. Then she's up for about two hours....which is about how long Ari sleeps. I'm afraid of what will happen when they actually can plan their antics. 

Ari has started needing several very specific things before we go anywhere. Hat, water bottle, sunglasses and worm or doll. If she can get a snack and then this one silly glove that's floating around, even better. This time, she also was carrying around a baby bottle of water and was very insistent that it needed to come with us. 

I'm giving myself six weeks post-delivery before I start getting serious about losing the baby belly. I can't really diet because I need to keep up my milk supply but I can cut sugar and get active. We went on a walk last week and I want to try to do that four-ish times a week. 

Six weeks post-delivery means I have two days to eat all the sugar in the house. Ha. 

Ari and I were sitting at the kitchen table eating lunch and Eva was in her chair on the floor. All the sudden Ari got very excited and wanted to get down and then pointed at her bowl and wanted me to put it on the floor. She just wanted to sit with her sister. The love she has for Eva is amazing. She gets so happy when she sees the baby and always wants to talk and love on her. Makes me so happy. 

By the end of the bath, more water is out of Eva's bath tub than is left in it, thanks to a certain big sister. 

This is a gross picture, but it's a good way to talk about how much I'm hating traditional doctors and loving naturopaths. The day after Eva was born, I started getting a super itchy gross rash on my legs. It was worse at night, to the point where I would have to abruptly stop nursing, give the baby to Isaac and pull my pants off to basically attack my legs. The midwife told me that it was very common, just an allergy to postpartum hormones and that I could take Benadryl because it "probably wouldn't affect my milk supply." Um.....no. That's not a good solution. I tried to just deal with it but finally Isaac convinced me to go see the naturopath. He told me I probably had a Vitamin A deficiency. After four days of taking it, the rash is almost gone. 

Naturopath story #2: About two weeks after having Eva, I started having anxiety symptoms again. I had a hard time making decisions, and any change of plans made me super stressed up. I cried for no reason. I also saw a few signs of depression sneaking in. Nothing major, but if something went wrong or I was a little upset or disappointed about something, I had a hard time having just upset or disappointed feelings. I would just be very blah all day and not want to do anything besides sit on the couch. The naturopath did a blood test and sure enough, my progesterone levels had gone from the normal third trimester range of 50-450 down to .99. While the big drop is normal, my levels were low and apparently my body doesn't deal with it well. My cortisol levels (which measures your stress) was also at the very top of normal - which explains why my low progesterone manifests itself as anxiety. Anyway, as long as I stay on top of my progesterone cream, I'm a normal person. 

Salem Public Library is such a fun place for kids. We went to story time for the first time last week and it was super cute. The Discovery Room is also way fun. So many things to do and Ari loved it. 

Bed time, the bane of our existence for about a year now, has turned easy. It almost makes us sad if we weren't enjoying it so much. We've done it all - rocked for an hour, let her cry, let her play - and now all she needs is her water bottle, a blanket, a few books and a few minutes of rocking and singing. Then she wants to get in her bed. Usually she wants us to sit with her for a few minutes, but she doesn't cry when we leave. Our little girl doesn't need us to go to sleep anymore. Sad face. 

Before we had Eva, whenever anyone said "Cloth diapers are so much extra work!", I would roll my eyes. But now with two in diapers....I get it. For the first time the other day, I was frustrated that I had to wash diapers....for the fourth time in a week. But then I had to buy a $25 box for each of the girls and I quickly got over my frustration. We go through about 70 diapers a week, so that's at least $100/month....$1200/year. Yeah, I'll keep doing laundry. 

We use prefolds and Thirsties covers for Eva, which I don't love. However, it was cheap (about $90 for the whole system) and they're sized, so they aren't as bulky as the BumGenius diapers that Ari wears. Isaac refuses to use them because they're old-fashioned and not as cute. I agree but I don't care that they're old-fashioned. I think it's kind of cool that our parents recognize them as "real cloth diapers." 

Fill in the Blanks Friday

I am proud of: lots of things lately. I'm finally getting this mom thing down so between that and getting my hormones back to normal with a little help from that miracle called progesterone cream, I feel like a normal person again. I'm proud of the fact that I figure out what was wrong and got help before I really fell apart. Of course Isaac would probably say I did fall apart into a crazy mess, but whatever

This weekend I will: stay in the Mosier house just outside of Hood River with the whole Folsom fam. It will be fun, but considering we were originally going to be camping....renting a house is not as exciting. I'm planning some cool hikes though, and we are going to hit up the Fruit Loop, so it should be a good weekend. Plus, we couldn't watch the Olympics if we were camping, so I guess I'll count my blessings.

A secret dream I have is: someday I want to write a book. And have a crazy cool blog.

I can't handle: parents who don't discipline their children.

The most annoying thing is: when people don't pitch in, or when they aren't considerate of other people's time.

The most relaxing thing in the entire world is: an afternoon with absolutely nothing to do besides read a book and drink a Diet Coke in the sun.

I think everyone should: pay attention to the world around them. Educate yourself. Vote. (in that order, please).

*posting this from my phone....I'll fix the picture and add links and such when I get home....

When Life Gives You Lemons...

....Build a fire pit and roast hot dogs in your own backyard. 

We've been planning a camping trip with my family for almost a year now. We were going to go to Mt Lassen National Park, but that's a seven and a half hour drive, and when we discovered that long drives aren't the best with a baby, we scratched that idea and decided to go to Lost Lake in Mt Hood National Forest. 

And then....Ari caught chicken pox. 

It is a super mild case - only three little dots - and they haven't bothered her at all, but the doctor recommended not putting her through the stress of missed naps and unfamiliar places. 

So....Isaac bought a concrete fire ring (only $39 at the concrete pre-fab shop down the road? Yes, please!) and we roasted hot dogs in our backyard. 

It's a corner of our yard that we haven't done much to - unless you count cleaning out the two Christmas trees and carting out like 5 loads of brush - so it's nice to finally get something started out there. 

We contemplated setting the tent up and sleeping outside....but sleeping bags and rock-hard ground are only worth it if I'm in the forest miles away from cell phone service.