Bitch, bitch, bitch

It occurs to me that I have spent a good deal of the summer thus far complaining, whining and/or bitching about how hard it is to be a full-time stay-at-home parent of two small children.  And it is.  And I have. 

It is mind-numbing, back-breaking, completely defeating and just really fucking hard.  (Allow me the liberty to swear here as I try not to do it around the children...Try, anyway).  Our big parent bodies are sore and bruised and broken from the work of it.  Our minds are as mushy as our bodies, our thoughts often incoherent.  It is impossible to hold conversations with friends about anything but the children and how challenging they are, especially if we've been granted a few hours of freedom and a few beers...  Sorry about that.

Being stuck so far into the middle of the "baby tunnel" that we cannot yet see the light at the end may be socially debilitating, but it is also wonderful, amazing, beautiful, full of love and happiness, unabashed joy, sloppy baby kisses and gigantic hugs for no reason at all.  We sometimes sit on the floor and just play with the babies and stare at each other with amusement and awe at how lucky we are.  Our kids are healthy, happy and bright.  We laugh every day.  We've gotten just what we wanted.  We're happy, actually!  Really! 

We're just tired.  And, we knew it'd be hard, we were fully aware of what we were getting ourselves into... although that knowledge doesn't really in any way prepare you for the grinding reality... Oy.

I now fully understand that glazed-over and vacant look that some parents get when their child is crying/yelling/screaming in public.  I used to think, why isn't that mom doing anything about her kid?!  Wow.  I get it now.  It's because this is the millionth time she's fought the same fight, possibly just today, and she hasn't slept in weeks and there was no fucking way she was going to cook and so they are at this restaurant anyway and she is going to drink the beer that is in front of her and she doesn't give a fuck that her kid is screaming about her Elmo doll right now because she deserves that beer, goddammit, and so she's going to just tune it out and stare at the TV and drink that beer and fuck you for judging her, the end.

So, yeah, we're doing just fine despite the whining and the bitching.  The luxury of being able to spend all day, every day with my babies is mostly blissful.  I get to eat graham crackers and play pretend and go for walks and play at the park and cook yummy things and am rewarded daily with hugs and giggles and snuggles and kisses.  Which is so much better than bitching about back-stabbing office politics and shitty bosses.  Around here, the bosses are just occasionally poopy, and that's pretty easily cleaned up.

Easter and Lowell's 70th Birthday Party in Pictures

Henry and Shianne had a great time playing together!

Siri looked lovely in her Easter dress

Grampa's Boy

Happy Birthday, Dad!!

The food and cake at Brenda and Scott's house was DELICIOUS!

Siri had her first tractor ride with Grandpa Lowell.  About 5 minutes in, however, she fell asleep!

Time Flies - August Already!

The days and weeks of summer are flying by ever so quickly. Nathan is in the middle of a run of 9 shows in 10 days and this leaves me to the challenge of wrangling the oh-so-busy toddler and the infant on my own. I'll just say that some days are better than others. Henry is becoming a big boy now and has started to use the potty. This is monumental news for us. Having two babies in diapers at once is stinky and costly and stinky. We are not getting too excited, however, as he is really two young yet to use the potty with any reliability. Still, a step in the right direction. Siri is two months old already and is off the charts for height and weight, clocking in at 24 inches and nearly 15 pounds. She slept seven hours in-a-row(!) last night and another four after that, making for an almost normal night of sleep for me. She is also a coo-coo-ca-chooing up a storm and winning over friends and neighbors alike with her charming smile.

I am looking forward to fall already as the past two weeks of god-awful hot, humid weather have had me cranky. I can't wait for cooler temps and delicious fall breezes. I am also looking forward to potentially getting back to work a bit with some contracting and to continuing work on my Masters degree. The real question being, of course, whether or not I can juggle it all. Time will tell.

The above photo was taken by my cousin Vicki, whom I love unconditionally, and wish I saw more often. She stopped by for a quick visit last weekend with my Aunt Paulette and Uncle Ron. My folks were also here, so it was a really nice weekend of family time. I love that my children are getting to spend so much time with both sets of their grandparents!

What's Hank been up to, you say?

*Click on the photos to see larger versions*Art Class

Burgeoning Artiste

Ice cream on the lawn

Hanging at the clubhouse with the posse

Picnic

Investigating fluid dynamics

Out hiking at Dodge Nature Center

Playing on the patio

Morning coffee talk with Grandpa Lowell

23 Weeks Pregnant and the Stomach Flu

I feel like I might die. I was up all night last night and threw up three or four times (I lost count). Nathan had it the night before and Henry has had a snotty nose, cough and diarrhea for four days. We were in St. Cloud over the weekend for the annual trivia contest at KVSC radio. Nathan and I are both alumni and continue to volunteer every year. Problem is, college radio stations are virus incubators. The pregnant lady probably should have stayed home rather than risk getting sick at six months, but that sort of attitude would prevent me from ever leaving the house which I do rarely anyway. I cannot not sleep as every time I close my eyes they fly open again two minutes later because of the very real feeling that I might have to run to the bathroom again. In the last two hours I've managed to keep down about 10 ounces of water, so I may be turning the corner. Dehydration during pregnancy can be very, very bad for the baby if it lowers the amount of amniotic fluid she has to float around in, so I have to force myself to keep sipping. I seriously do not remember being sick like this since high school. Nathan is not out of the woods himself yet, but he is bravely taking care of Henry today so that I can stay in bed. My midwife says that since my immune system is compromised, illness like this can last twice as long as it does for the average non-pregnant person. And dehydration can land me on IV fluids. So, I will be trying to avoid that. Meanwhile, the baby is very active which is good. My stomach muscles all the way around her just plain hurt from the force of it all. I have only gained ten pounds this pregnancy, so I don't have much I can afford to lose either. All around this time around has been much harder than Henry's pregnancy. Thankfully, only 17 weeks to go!

Christmas Slideshow

Click here to watch a slide show of the Christmas festivities at our house

Little Lefse Lover

Christmas

Summertime and the livin' is busy!

Nathan pointed out to me this morning that I haven't updated the blog in almost a month. We've been busy!!! Now that Henry is mobile, there is less time for me to leisurely sit about with the computer and we've been outside, enjoying the summertime while we can. In fact, with the sudden heat wave this week, we are investing in a kiddie pool today. I suspect that when Henry is not in it, I will be, perhaps with a gin & tonic... Hmmm.... So, here are the highlights from the last month!

Henry had is 9 month check up and got a thumbs up from his pediatrician. He is right on track developmentally and changing in leaps and bounds. They say that babies experience a leap forward in cognitive abilities around 9 months and we are certainly seeing that to be true. In addition to crawling, he pulled himself up to stand for the first time on August 9th, he is clapping and sticking his tongue out and pretending to drink from a cup when he's playing. He's putting blocks into boxes and chasing the cat mercilessly. Fortunately, Fela is a good sport...so far. He is getting quite the headful of wispy light brown hair and loves to sing and babble and bang on things. Ever the mimic now, he tries to whistle and blow and is king of "so big!" He is nearly weaned and is eating a ton of *real people* food. He likes shredded organic chicken, cheddar cheese, Cheerios and new to his repetoire last night, black beans. Here are the latest stats:

21 lbs (55th percentile)
29 inches tall (75th percentile)
18 3/4 inch head (90th percentile)

Henry's Auntie, Lis, and his two cousins were here from Oregon for two weeks. We spent several days at our friend's cabin in the Wisconsin north woods. It was some pretty awesome family bonding.

Hazel (4) Henry (9 mo) Dahlia (8)Playing with GrandmaEnjoying the warm morning fire

Just hanging

We have done a lot of camping and hiking this summer in addition to lots of walks and general outside time. We hiked to the top of St. Peter's Dome in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forrest:

We also took Henry on our annual pilgrimage to Madeline Island in Lake Superior where we hiked at Big Bay State Park and saw our friends play at Tom's Burned Down Cafe. Both Nathan and Henry sat in with the band:On the Mad Island Ferry

Bellied up to the bar at Tom'sDancing with MommaWatching the band intenselyPlaying drums with Pachanga

We are also continuing to enjoy our summer bounty of vegetables from our farmshare and I have found many creative uses for numerous vegetables. We also have been taking part in various local food events and last week attended a dinner at the Garden Farme where three of our friends our living and working this summer. It was a beautiful night, with great food and time with our friends. Henry got to hang out with his buddies Miranda, Lukas and Tobin!

One of my favorite local, sustainable foods is Izzy's ice cream. They use solar power to make their ice cream and run their shop as well as use as many local ingredients as possible. Henry is tasting the banana flavor, one of my favorites. It somehow tastes like fresh, hot banana bread right out of the oven... but cold. It's magic.Ahhhh, summertime!

More Rhubarb

Everyone in my family loves my mom's rhubarb crisp. She makes it in a 9 x 13 pan because if there is a kid, grandkid, neighbor kid, niece, nephew, cousin or husband anywhere in the vicinity, it disappears in hours, if not minutes. I fondly remember the days when I'd come home from school to find a freshly baked crisp cooling on the counter. What mom probably doesn't know is that I'd always immediately dig out a spoon and go after the whole pan in front of the TV. I've witnessed at least two of my nieces/nephews do the exact same thing and I swear they didn't learn it from me :D Wipped cream and/or ice cream on top is totally optional and I like it best the second day (if there's any left) out of the fridge. For the simple fact that I will eat the whole pan in one sitting if given the chance, I only make an 8 x 8 at a time.

Carol Mae's Rhubarb Crisp

Daughter Four Variation

Filling:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 heaping tablespoons flour
3/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups rhubarb, chopped
1 cup fresh raspberries, sliced fresh peaches or quartered strawberries (optional)

Crumble:
1/2 cup, plus two tablespoons oatmeal
1/2 cup, plus two tablespoons flour
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup cold salted sweet cream butter

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8 x 8 inch pan with non-stick spray.
Combine granulated sugar, flour and water in a saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat until thick and bubbly. Add rhubarb and cook until the consistency of pie filling. Remove from heat and add vanilla and optional fresh fruit.

In a medium bowl, whisk together oatmeal, flour, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon. Cut in cold butter until you have a crumbly mixture. Pour filling into pan and top with the crumble.

Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Cool completely (if you can) on countertop. Serve with or without whipped cream or ice cream. Refridgerate leftovers (if there are any). I would have posted a photo, but I already ate it all.

Spring Goodies from the Farm

Hooray! Our first box from our CSA farm arrived yesterday full of spring goodies including ramps or wild leeks, overwintered spinach and parsnips, black radish, chives, sunchokes and burdock root. AND the season's first rhubarb! So, as required by my marriage vows, I have to make Nathan's favorite cookies. Here is his Grandma's Rhubarb Filled Cookie recipe:

Rubarb Filled Cookies

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Filling:
1/4 cup water
3 cups chopped fresh rubarb (if you use frozen, thaw and drain it first!)
1 cup sugar

Dough:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions:
Cook filling in heavy saucepan until thick, then cool
Cream butter and sugar together
Add milk, eggs and vanilla
Blend dry ingredients and add
Roll out dough on floured board
Cut out circles with a 2 1/2 inch diameter cookie cutter
Place one teaspoon of filling the center of each circle
Dampen edge with water or eggwash, place a second circle on top and seal.
Pinch edge with fork and prick top to let steam out
Place circles on parchment paper lined cookie sheet
Bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees or until lightly browned

*Use parchment paper if you've got it as the filling might seep out and burn
*Alternately, you can cut 4 inch circles and fold them in half over the filling

Family Golf Weekend

Nathan and I spent last Friday and Saturday in Strum, WI with the Nesje/Seltun clan. It was fun, particularily the late night free-wheeling conversation around the fire with Nate's cousin.


I suck at golf. I don't ever play nor do I have much interest in it. That said, I don't suck nearly as much as you'd think. I might even be good at it if I played regularly or actually tried. I hit a drive that was 150 yards+ It makes a cool little *tink* sound when you hit the ball hard. I like that. However, the 4 year old on my team, Zack, was consistenly better at the game than me. And the 8 year old kicked my ass...

Zack, Mike's son, Mike, Ann (my mother-in-law), me and Nathan's cousin, Jay.