If you are dreading something, then it turns out to be not as bad as you feared, then it ends up seeming really good!
On a totally other note, and by the way, I'm not wanting to start people arguing with me on this one, I heard about some guy on the news who is being charged for 2 murders because he killed a pregnant woman. How is it that the courts see that as a double murder, but abortion is not a single one? Weird. Ya ya, people will argue with me that it's that whole, at what specific point does it become a person thing. Whatever. That just sounded really inconsistent to me. But that is man's justice for you- imperfect.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Monday, June 25, 2007
all manner of randomness
I'm stealing Mary's "random thoughts" format, cause it works for me. Thanks again, Mary. Do I need to start paying you royalties for your contributions to my blog? hehehe
---------------------------------
to whomever decides to buy the super scratchy and remarkably thin toilet paper in places like hospitals, office buildings, etc.: do you really save money using this stuff when one has to use a mile of it to do the job of 4 squares of charmin? Not that I'm suggesting everyone buy charmin, at all, but there are any number of available happy mediums.
--------------------------------
Overheard at our dinnertable one night:
"What's for supper?"
"Caterpillar toe. "
Sounds filling, eh? I thought so. Priceless moments that only a 3 year old can bring to your life.
-------------------------------
Only a newborn can spend 9 months in a bath and not come out pruney.
------------------------------
No wild ride of excitement compares to a 3-5am silent session of sitting and staring with a newborn. Let me tell ya. Wowy. There is no singing or game or toy that might entertain them or even incite their notice in any way. So entertaining consists of switching positions, largely. Sit up, lean back, lay down, sit up, lean forward, over the shoulder, over the arm, over the other shoulder, in a chair, "stand" up, lay on the floor ... mmm hmm. Party hardy, Marty. Although I have found a walkman really helps, and sometimes the baby will let you play air-piano with them, and boy that passes the time.
--------------------------------
Yes, laugh if you must, I still use a walkman. We have an IPOD, but I haven't really figured it out. He mainly uses it. And all my old home-tapes of fiddling are on cassette, so yes, I am still in cassette/walkman land. I had a young person ask me what a walkman was. Wow I felt old. It's not an 8-track for pete's sake! Oh, and apparently computers don't even come with floppy drives anymore. Where was I? (Monastery.... in my kitchen... a place that knows no time, apparently)
------------------------------
It is far better just to never get sick in the first place, as pretty well any treatment I can think of for various illnesses and disesase is really not fun or even remotely pleasant. Let's note all these crappy 'remedies':
*chemo *strict diets *vomitously disgusting medicines *surgeries *medicines/treatments with side effects that compete with the illness itself for negative life impact (like flu symptoms)
Ya. Way better just to stay healthy. For those who can, who have ears to hear and might have the RARE rare wisdom to actually learn from someone else's mistakes and not insist on the hard way, (because, mind you, it is not called the hard way because it is easy) I say to you, STAY HEALTHY. Look after yourself. Eat well - Lots of fresh produce, whole foods. Excercise. Don't sweat the small stuff. Please? It really is for your own good. Really it is.
----------------------------
Ten Cheers for breastfeeding and burning 500 calories a day while remaining almost completely sedentary! WEEHOO! I am already wearing my normal size 4/6 jeans, and my Niamh will only be a month in 4 more days. I find this truly remarkable, if not miraculous. If you could have seen the floppy flap of post-partum belly, you wouldn't believe it either. We are fearfully and wonderfully made!
---------------------------------
to whomever decides to buy the super scratchy and remarkably thin toilet paper in places like hospitals, office buildings, etc.: do you really save money using this stuff when one has to use a mile of it to do the job of 4 squares of charmin? Not that I'm suggesting everyone buy charmin, at all, but there are any number of available happy mediums.
--------------------------------
Overheard at our dinnertable one night:
"What's for supper?"
"Caterpillar toe. "
Sounds filling, eh? I thought so. Priceless moments that only a 3 year old can bring to your life.
-------------------------------
Only a newborn can spend 9 months in a bath and not come out pruney.
------------------------------
No wild ride of excitement compares to a 3-5am silent session of sitting and staring with a newborn. Let me tell ya. Wowy. There is no singing or game or toy that might entertain them or even incite their notice in any way. So entertaining consists of switching positions, largely. Sit up, lean back, lay down, sit up, lean forward, over the shoulder, over the arm, over the other shoulder, in a chair, "stand" up, lay on the floor ... mmm hmm. Party hardy, Marty. Although I have found a walkman really helps, and sometimes the baby will let you play air-piano with them, and boy that passes the time.
--------------------------------
Yes, laugh if you must, I still use a walkman. We have an IPOD, but I haven't really figured it out. He mainly uses it. And all my old home-tapes of fiddling are on cassette, so yes, I am still in cassette/walkman land. I had a young person ask me what a walkman was. Wow I felt old. It's not an 8-track for pete's sake! Oh, and apparently computers don't even come with floppy drives anymore. Where was I? (Monastery.... in my kitchen... a place that knows no time, apparently)
------------------------------
It is far better just to never get sick in the first place, as pretty well any treatment I can think of for various illnesses and disesase is really not fun or even remotely pleasant. Let's note all these crappy 'remedies':
*chemo *strict diets *vomitously disgusting medicines *surgeries *medicines/treatments with side effects that compete with the illness itself for negative life impact (like flu symptoms)
Ya. Way better just to stay healthy. For those who can, who have ears to hear and might have the RARE rare wisdom to actually learn from someone else's mistakes and not insist on the hard way, (because, mind you, it is not called the hard way because it is easy) I say to you, STAY HEALTHY. Look after yourself. Eat well - Lots of fresh produce, whole foods. Excercise. Don't sweat the small stuff. Please? It really is for your own good. Really it is.
----------------------------
Ten Cheers for breastfeeding and burning 500 calories a day while remaining almost completely sedentary! WEEHOO! I am already wearing my normal size 4/6 jeans, and my Niamh will only be a month in 4 more days. I find this truly remarkable, if not miraculous. If you could have seen the floppy flap of post-partum belly, you wouldn't believe it either. We are fearfully and wonderfully made!
Thursday, June 21, 2007
back back back...
SWINGS the pendulum... over to Happy!
The aforementioned infection got its tush kicked by:
* a super hot shower
* a bunch of massage
* hours of white-knuckled nursing
* 6 cloves of raw fresh garlic, crushed over a potato salad (kisses anybody??? hehehe)
* God granting to Niamh a 5 hour sleep stretch for me to better rest
Oh ya baby. No antibiotics necessary!
2 weeks from yesterday is my first ceilidh. Yipes! Somebody needs to practice! Her name is Jenni. Maybe I should get off blogger and go do that. hmmm... but first... more elipses.
Distance makes the heart grow fonder...
It has been a few weeks since I was at church. Man oh man am I ever jonesin'. Big corporate worship depravation issues. I started crying last night just putting on a cd and praying a little bit. I think that's the biggest thing I feel lack of here. Otherwise I am really settling in and feel more at home.
My basil plant is flowering. Anybody know if I should nip those, not let it, or if it is fine to let it go?
I failed to mention before, when I was in the hospital, and Nanny was here and Anna was "helping" her get the nursery ready, Anna went and got her blanky, the blanky, and put it in the crib for Niamh to have. And that was it, she hasn't asked for it again, she decided she wanted the baby to have it. Is that not soo precious??? Wow. Nanny asked her, "Are you sure, Anna?" and she replied glibly, "Yep."
If only I was so ready to hand over things that were precious to me with simple unattached generosity.
Later Taters.
The aforementioned infection got its tush kicked by:
* a super hot shower
* a bunch of massage
* hours of white-knuckled nursing
* 6 cloves of raw fresh garlic, crushed over a potato salad (kisses anybody??? hehehe)
* God granting to Niamh a 5 hour sleep stretch for me to better rest
Oh ya baby. No antibiotics necessary!
2 weeks from yesterday is my first ceilidh. Yipes! Somebody needs to practice! Her name is Jenni. Maybe I should get off blogger and go do that. hmmm... but first... more elipses.
Distance makes the heart grow fonder...
It has been a few weeks since I was at church. Man oh man am I ever jonesin'. Big corporate worship depravation issues. I started crying last night just putting on a cd and praying a little bit. I think that's the biggest thing I feel lack of here. Otherwise I am really settling in and feel more at home.
My basil plant is flowering. Anybody know if I should nip those, not let it, or if it is fine to let it go?
I failed to mention before, when I was in the hospital, and Nanny was here and Anna was "helping" her get the nursery ready, Anna went and got her blanky, the blanky, and put it in the crib for Niamh to have. And that was it, she hasn't asked for it again, she decided she wanted the baby to have it. Is that not soo precious??? Wow. Nanny asked her, "Are you sure, Anna?" and she replied glibly, "Yep."
If only I was so ready to hand over things that were precious to me with simple unattached generosity.
Later Taters.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
and for the sake of balance...
a bunch of hopeless complaining to counter the idyllic picture painted in the previous post.
I don't understand. I had an infection of candida albicans in my milk ducts when I was nursing Anna. I had it for 18 months while I nursed her. For those who don't know, it is painful. Rather painful. And it is a very pertinacious infection. Every treatment western medicine offered me gave me no solution. I tried them all, one a few different times. Well well well, surprise surprise, Mr. Candida never actually LEFT me, I just weaned her and didn't notice its presence any longer as there was nothing to exacerbate it. So starting to nurse Niamh, I was able to pick up right where I left off. Lovely.
BUT there was some hope. The Chinese doctor who was giving me acupuncture has an herbal remedy for it, she claims. I am a week into the 4 week treatment and seeing good results, feeling improvement, all excited, that there may finally be an end to this terrible stuff in sight. Oh but wait, another thing that also seems familiar though unwelcome... redness, burning... hmm.. is it a blocked duct or mastitis? Let's wait and see if flu symptoms appear. Hello! I get up today and am totally achey all over, spinny head and chills, very unhappy milk ducts, and a lot of pain. Pain that just about brings tears to my eyes whenever she begins to nurse. The only treatment for mastitis is antibiotics, which will spiral all the candida issue totally out of control once again. Yip-dee-flippin dee. And I went through all this with Anna once. How is it I get every problem in the book every time. Why. I was so dreadfully ill with the mastitis last time, it was all I could do to walk.
Argh. Not again.
And my hand is a fair bit worse now too, as should be expected getting more tired and fighting multiple infections. It is still discouraging though.
*sigh* that's it. I'm just so so annoyed. How wonderful to have an eventless run of nursing. It can be such a wonderful thing. For about 2 days where the herbs were helping, I was able to glimpse that. I am seeing the dark side now again, for sure, unfortunately.
And I just found out today that another friend of mine in Cape Breton, an old fella with whom I danced a set EVERY time I went to West Mabou, died this week. I can't believe it. He was so spry and lively. Weird.
Weird how the world will be different now without him. We'll miss you Neilly Angus D. West Mabou won't be the same.
I don't understand. I had an infection of candida albicans in my milk ducts when I was nursing Anna. I had it for 18 months while I nursed her. For those who don't know, it is painful. Rather painful. And it is a very pertinacious infection. Every treatment western medicine offered me gave me no solution. I tried them all, one a few different times. Well well well, surprise surprise, Mr. Candida never actually LEFT me, I just weaned her and didn't notice its presence any longer as there was nothing to exacerbate it. So starting to nurse Niamh, I was able to pick up right where I left off. Lovely.
BUT there was some hope. The Chinese doctor who was giving me acupuncture has an herbal remedy for it, she claims. I am a week into the 4 week treatment and seeing good results, feeling improvement, all excited, that there may finally be an end to this terrible stuff in sight. Oh but wait, another thing that also seems familiar though unwelcome... redness, burning... hmm.. is it a blocked duct or mastitis? Let's wait and see if flu symptoms appear. Hello! I get up today and am totally achey all over, spinny head and chills, very unhappy milk ducts, and a lot of pain. Pain that just about brings tears to my eyes whenever she begins to nurse. The only treatment for mastitis is antibiotics, which will spiral all the candida issue totally out of control once again. Yip-dee-flippin dee. And I went through all this with Anna once. How is it I get every problem in the book every time. Why. I was so dreadfully ill with the mastitis last time, it was all I could do to walk.
Argh. Not again.
And my hand is a fair bit worse now too, as should be expected getting more tired and fighting multiple infections. It is still discouraging though.
*sigh* that's it. I'm just so so annoyed. How wonderful to have an eventless run of nursing. It can be such a wonderful thing. For about 2 days where the herbs were helping, I was able to glimpse that. I am seeing the dark side now again, for sure, unfortunately.
And I just found out today that another friend of mine in Cape Breton, an old fella with whom I danced a set EVERY time I went to West Mabou, died this week. I can't believe it. He was so spry and lively. Weird.
Weird how the world will be different now without him. We'll miss you Neilly Angus D. West Mabou won't be the same.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
for those who never have enough pictures...
Especially of my beautiful babies...
Here is Niamh Eileen (letting you see it written as much as possible :) at 7 days old.
the proud sister
I'm finding this all so awesome, I am nearly speechless. But of course, Jenni's speechless is really more like everybody else's normal speechful.
Here is Niamh Eileen (letting you see it written as much as possible :) at 7 days old.
the proud sister
I'm finding this all so awesome, I am nearly speechless. But of course, Jenni's speechless is really more like everybody else's normal speechful.
*ahem*
So many beautiful moments the last week, I can't believe. Firstly, for Niamh, for the last 3 nights she has been sleeping at 3-4 hr intervals, only waking for a one-side feeding and then straight back to sleep for another stretch! Hello? No 3-7am stare-&-rock-fests. Wonderful.
So I am not wasted... yet. I know my time will come, and mom-in-law is still helping to take Anna when Niamh has a good afternoon nap so I can have one too. This is priceless assistance!
The next story should be prefaced with:
Did I mention that one day a couple weeks ago, Chris built a deck on the front of our house? In a day? Including staining? Not from a kit? Ya. He is incredible.
One afternoon a couple days ago while Niamh napped, Anna and I sat out on our new deck, enjoying it for the first time in a new bistro table and chair set, on one of the first sunny days. I made us a couscous salad with chopped veggies & beans, and a chopped fruit plate with cherries, and we sat there and shared this lovely lunch like 2 ladies, 2 friends. It was so special, and Anna said, "Isn't it a beautiful summer day?" and then, "Mm mm, what a yummy yunch you made, Mommy!" She can be so unbelievably sweet sometimes.
And it was beautiful. Every summer I go through this same routine of saying, "Ooooh yaaa... THIS is why I thought it was wonderful here." During the winter I often find myself at some cranky phase cursing rose-coloured glasses and saying, "sooo... why did I think this was so great?"
Leaves do a lot for me. After our long winter and mucky muddy "spring" (woeful in comparison to Kansas City's spring), the lush summer leaves, bright blue skies spotted with fluffy whitey clouds, and just delicious green-ness everywhere cheer me like nobody's business. I so love it. And yes, Anna, it IS beautiful here.
A word to potential visitors: it's ALL about June-August, or maybe September, some years.
if you have the time...
and I believe it would be beneficial for you to TAKE the time, but I'm not guilt-tripping...
this article sends shivers and is really informative. It is ganked from another blog.
Thank you, Mary, for making me a more informed citizen of the earth.
http://www.bestlifeonline.com/cms/publish/travel-leisure/Our_oceans_are_turning_into_plastic_are_we.shtml
this article sends shivers and is really informative. It is ganked from another blog.
Thank you, Mary, for making me a more informed citizen of the earth.
http://www.bestlifeonline.com/cms/publish/travel-leisure/Our_oceans_are_turning_into_plastic_are_we.shtml
Monday, June 04, 2007
and just like that....
*ding*
This...
became...
This...
became...this.
Pretty cool, huh?
Welcome to Niamh Eileen! For those who don't read Irish out there - I'm assuming there may be a couple (ha) - Niamh is pronounced neev. Or as one name book said, "heaven spelled backwards."
ok, not really, but it sounds cute to say. The non-English-phoenetic spelling comes from Irish Gaelic, if anybody didn't yet know that was my thing. It is an Irish name so we went for the authentic/heritage type thing over the accessible-to-more-people thing.
She was 9lbs. 3 oz.
21 1/2 in. long
born May 29, at 9:39am
she is a total dear, a good sleeper so far (thank You, God! let it continue!!) We are all happy at home. So far Anna loves her too, thinking she is "sooo sweet!!!" but enjoys making a scene whenever I change her bum, as if it had any smell at all. She flees the scene covering her face in feigned terror. What a little actress.
Re: the photos, the nurse took the first one in my hospital room the morning of the c-section. You can see the morning hour on the wallclock. 2 1/2 hrs later, the 2nd pic was taken.
The section was routine and eventless, (thanks again to God!!) but of course no surgery is ever fun. I am now living off my tylenol, bet it gets me through. I'm quite sore but ok, and have good help between Chris and is mum who is next door. Oh, and of course Anna, who is also very helpful.
She is currently nursing and it is 5am and I am one-finger-pecking this whole post, so I'll wrap up for now, but I was anxious to share my news. : )
Beautifully, in closing, I find my house feels more like a home, and we feel more like a family, instead of a couple with a kid. Lovely.
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