November 13, 2013, dressed as Strawberry Shortcake, eating her birthday cookie cake.
Monica Clare, 5 days old
I remember quite vividly crying on her first birthday. A year old! Oh, my!
Monica Clare, 1 year, 4 days old
This time around I do not feel sad, but I reflect on all that has come to pass since that time of my life.
ALL THE CHANGES!
I taught ninth grade Literary Genres at St. Ursula Academy. What a great experience!
This was my 3rd bell class, with poster boards displaying the personality shifts of characters from the novel, The Lord of the Flies. These girls are all sophomores in college now. Talk about feeling OLD!
I sold Usborne Books for awhile, until I realized I was NOT a salesperson. Loved the books, hated the finances of it.
More recently, I taught ACT/SAT prep (English/Reading) at Huntington Learning Center. This was a very fulfilling experience, after spending all my days at home with three little kids.
When Monica was a day shy of 21 months old, Will and Ben were born.
August 31, 2010. Monica = 21 months, twins = 19 days
Going from one child to three in a quick jump was hard core. Especially with some of the little things I am doing now with Anna, I try to remember how I did these same things with the twins, and my mind starts swimming. How DID I accomplish life with twins?? Yet, it happened. They survived; I survived.
4 months
Boys = 5 months, Monica = 2 years, 2 months
A THEORY
After the twins' infancy, I developed a new parenting theory: All your fears and worst nightmares do come true, but not necessarily all at once. And when they do occur together, that's when I remind myself: This too shall pass. The blow-out diapers in a public place: check. But not necessarily in the same 24 hours as you're up all night with a sick baby. Or maybe so. But you survive. You curse under your breath, cry your eyes out, and try your best not to look at the clock. Ah, those 3 AM Lifetime Network movies!
However, God is great, and He provides a wonderful survival mechanism for mothers: Babies that are absolutely adorable and cute.
Monica "fed" Ben baby food. In his sleep.
MORE CHANGES
Another monumental event in the life of our family was Ben's broken leg. During these five HOT summer weeks (He broke it May 20, received the cast May 21....It came off June 28.), Ben was immobile and could not even sit up/lie down comfortably. And to add insult to injury, he incessantly BEGGED to be outside. Brian and I both spent many, many hours pulling the boys around our cul-de-sac and throughout the neighborhood in our little wagon.
Here, the swingset is new (to us), a year or so prior to Ben's accident. The beam on the far right is a ladder up to monkey bars. Ben stood on the second-highest rung and reached in to grab the rope of the closest swing. He lost balance and fell.
The "hippo" car seat we had on loan from Children's Hospital, since regular car seats were not an option. It got lots of use!
A CHILD IN SCHOOL
Life slowed down a bit for us after Ben's cast came off. I remember virtually every detail of the five weeks with his cast, but I struggle to remember the rest of that summer! I do remember feeling anxious about sending Monica to school.
First day of school, Pre-K 3's
Her first two weeks or so were tumultuous. Monica was the crier of the class. One of my big fears came true! But "this too shall pass" and she flourished!
Easter party 2013. Monica in front with pink coat.
33 WEEKS PREGNANT WITH A BROKEN FOOT
Ah, yes! This was the day:
Ben with t-ball set, August 10, 2013
A few minutes later, about two feet to the right of where I stood to snap this photo, I broke my left foot. I was pregnant, so my balance was off. I was wearing flip flops. I was on a slope. A recipe for disaster! My foot slipped off the flip-flop, placing the weight of my whole body on that bone on the very outer edge of my foot: the 5th metatarsal. POP! I fell, and had to crawl into the house. I spent the rest of my pregnancy in a boot:
FOUR KIDS IN FIVE YEARS
To round out my fifth year as a mother, Anna Catherine was born on September 20. She is the spittin' image of Monica, but with dimples. Anna, also referred to as "Baby Anna" and "Baby Hannie" by the kids, is a pure joy. Oh, and she slept through the night for the first time last night! 11:00 PM - 7:00 AM! I am so blessed to have four amazing children! As I sit and type even now, I'm cradling one baby in my lap while three others whirl around me, pretending to be tornadoes from The Wizard of Oz. And the house is a disaster because Mommy neglected it to write this. Five years -- what a trip!
Anna was around 6 weeks old in this video. Too cute, right?
Monica's influence 100%. That girl goes around singing The Wizard of Oz and Annie songs ALL DAY. This video was taken while she was at school.
CALDWELL NATURE PRESERVE
Last Sunday Aunt Helen and Uncle Kim helped me take the kids to a local park, Caldwell Nature Preserve. Anytime you go on a "walk" with my kids, go ahead and assume it'll be more like a run. We all had a great time though.
POOR MARY
On Sunday, Brian and the kids worked outside. We have a Mary statue in our front flower garden. Will accidentally decapitated her a few weeks ago. Brian sat the head back on, with the promise of fixing her later. ....It hasn't happened yet.
It wouldn't be complete if Monica didn't kneel down and recite a few quick Hail Mary's. Frequently in warmer weather, we'll catch her praying in front of our Mary statue. Almost every time I leave the house with the kids, she calls goodbye to Mary as we drive away.
GIRL, YOU'VE GOT STYLE
Yesterday I took Monica to Toys 'R Us for what's becoming a tradition: Using her birthday $3 coupon from the store toward one small gift of her choosing. She came home with a Strawberry Shortcake dress-up. This morning I found her bedecked in the dress, her Crocs, a scarf/boa, a wool hat (she calls it her Peg + Cat hat....that's a new PBS Kids show), and her Jasmine crown from Aladdin. My child has STYLE!
After Toys 'R Us we made a quick stop at David's Bridal, one block away, to look into ordering my bridesmaid's dress for Mary's wedding. (I got to take it home with me, yeah!) Monica had fun too. She calls it the Bride Store. Here, she's pretending to be a flower girl:
TRAINS...OR NOT.
Today we visited the Cincinnati Museum Center for its membership day to celebrate the opening of the Duke Energy Holiday Trains. Ironically ---- we never made it to the trains! We enjoyed some of their promotional tables: coloring, fake tattoos, letters to Santa, and a commemorative ornament. Next, Brian and the boys visited Tower A, the old railroad control tower.
The boys threw huge tantrums when he dragged them out of there, and Will seemed magnetized to the down-escalator. So, rather than the trains, we went to the bottom of the escalator: the Children's Museum! Brian took Anna in the stroller over to the elevator, while I oversaw the older three on the escalator. My boys have never stepped onto one solo. Will startled himself by testing it out and WHISK, he was on it! Ben attempted several times, but was apprehensive. So I was on the top step, having to re-step to stay put. Will clung tight to my one arm, while I tried to stay up and grab Ben. Mommy almost did the splits! I finally just grabbed Ben. He and Will rode down sitting on the steps. And then we hit the bottom. Ben was slow to stand up, and he was so close to getting a finger jammed, the security guard actually sensed the problem and ran over to assist. Whew! Who knew an escalator would be such a danger zone for toddlers??
Anyway, we came up from the Children's Museum some time later and both boys were whining, crying messes. We did not even hang around for lunch, but rather made a pit stop at Wendy's on our way home.
THE MIND OF A PRESCHOOLER
Oh yes, and Monica's Santa Letter. This was ADORABLE.
Rather than spell out each word for her, I decided to watch how she worked it all out. She gave me a sentence, and I would feed her each word, watching how she spelled them. If you've never watched a young child work out how to spell words, it's really fascinating. I did write down "Christmas" and "Elizabeth" for her. (Notice how she spelled them, despite my help.)
"New" became "noow." "Clothes" became "clos." Naturally, "been" in her world is "Ben." And the two O's in "good" sit on top of each other now.
Translation:
"Santa Claus,
I have been a good girl.
I want a new
glow wand for
Christmas. I want
some new clothes
for my doll
Elizabeth."
BELATED BAPTISM PHOTOS
Several people noticed Monica praying quietly at the Pieta statue.
The "mothers": me, my mom, and my friend Jill, Anna's godmother.
My kids adore their little sister! They want to be near her, to protect her, to feed and hold her. Naturally, this concern often crosses the line to harmful. Mommy has to be on alert at all times!
The first day or so home from the hospital Will offered Anna his ultimate source of comfort: His blankies. He snuggled them close to her so she would be warm. Fortunately, Daddy discovered him pretty quickly. Will had wrapped his lovies around her FACE.
At Mass a few weeks ago, Anna had been sleeping in her car seat in the pew in front of us. I got her out to walk up to Communion. As we came back, Ben caught sight of her empty car seat and panicked. "Where Baby Hannie?" (That's what he calls her). He was mildly panicked! Of course, that whole section of the congregation heard him. However, Baby Anna was safely in Mommy's arms, and Ben smiled with relief.
Today I was rocking Anna as the kids watched TV. I placed her in the sleeper so I could run Will to the potty. I returned and cuddled by myself under her soft blanket, allowing her to sleep solo. Will came back to me with his train book. Distracted, he lifted up a corner of the blanket. "Where Baby Anna?" I pointed her out across the room. He attempted to pull her blanket off of me, but I held tight, confused. So he grabbed another blanket from her car seat and walked over to cover her up.
Anna began crying on my bed one day as I sat and laced up my shoes. Will climbed up with a pacifier and (successfully!) popped it in her mouth to calm her down. Each time she pushed it out he gently popped it back in.
Anna hates our car to be stopped - for any length of time. She cries at most stoplights, unless asleep. My other kids are the best at alerting me to her tears. "Mommy, Anna's crying!"
Monica is old enough to know Anna is mostly hands-off. She takes out her maternal urges on her dolls. From "nursing" them, to changing diapers, to strapping them in Anna's car seat, she is a little mother! Ben loves Anna, but appreciates her from a distance, when he's interested. Both boys often grab the nearest anything that can act as a stool, and climb up to watch me care for their sister. She's great entertainment!
Despite the weather, we had a great Halloween! Monica's preschool held a Halloween party. I can only assume this though, because when she got in the car afterward, all she said was, "I don't remember what I did." Wow, she's gone from 4 to 14 in one big jump.
I brought Monica home from school and, with the promise of M&Ms, snapped these photos:
(My favorite photo of the day)
CENTENNIAL BARN TRUNK-OR-TREAT
Due to threats of near-Armageddon weather coming at us, we opted for indoor Trick-or-Treating in the evening.
The boys drank a fruit punch drink with their own straws. This is how they drink hot chocolate at home too. The Barn didn't have actual straws though. The poor boys had to use coffee stirrers!
The storyteller came prepared with a box full of hollowed out gourds to use as musical instruments.
Racing out of the Centennial Barn toward our cars in the steady, light rain, Monica asked, "Mommy, is this the storm that lady on the TV talked about?" Ha, no. As I prepared for bed I heard a steady downpour outside, and that's about the extent of it. (I heard this morning that northern Hamilton County got it a lot worse.)
ANNA IS SIX WEEKS OLD!
Anna is six short weeks old today! She produced her first smile and her first "talking" noises. Made for one happy mama!
