welcome theodore welcome!

after several intense weeks of waiting, theodore is here.

friday afternoon, i was dilated to a 6 and contracting, but not progressing. at which point my midwife, anne, offered 2 options: pitocin or resting. i will admit, it was difficult to turn down the pitocin, but i didn't want to do something i would regret and i'm certain i would have regretted that choice. i slept from about 2 to 5, and when i woke up, brady and i went on a date. we went to craig's emporium and got incense, then to mcdonalds. (an interesting & unlikely craving, but i wanted it bad!) after mcdonalds, we walked over to dollar tree, where we picked up random items and had fun together. during this time, my contractions had changed and it was getting more difficult to pretend like they weren't there.

we came home and the girls were back from playing with my family. mom had them bathed and ready for bed. i laid on the couch at some point, and worked through my contractions. i got up around 11:30 or so, and headed upstairs to be with brady. he was sleeping, so i didn't wake him, and just laid on the bed, laboring. at 1, i had to use the bathroom and came down and realized that, for certain, the baby was coming. i told mom, who had stayed to help with the girls, to call anne and tell her the baby is coming and she needed to get here.

i went upstairs and woke up brady, which took several tries, since i'd called wolf before :) he got up and started getting things ready, and anne arrived at about 1:15. (so i'm told, the exact times escape me, since i was in a pretty heavy place.) anne got upstairs and started setting up her supplies. i started feeling the urge to bear down, and she checked me. i had a lip of cervix left, which she held out of the way and then it was time to push! at some point, i'd had brady turn on hosanna by the psalters, which was perfect.

during the second to last push, i was getting very worn out, but i reached down and touched his head, which gave me quite a renewed vigor :) i was grinning like a maniac during the last push, and i caught him at 1:40 a.m.

i flipped him over and we saw he was a boy, it was a joyous moment! Psalm 37: 4 - Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

he immediately started rooting around and latched on perfectly. we moved over to the bed and got comfy, and he continued nursing. after a bit, anne checked him and weighed him. he was 7 lbs 1 oz, and 20 1/2 inches long. tiny, compared to emma and violette, but perfect! in tradition, grammy dressed him for the first time, and then he was passed around and fawned over. many phone calls occured, and a lot of joy was shared.

emma woke up and met him, and decided she'd like him better in the morning. anne went home and we went to bed, though we didn't sleep too much :)

brady put it quite succinctly: "he is theodore, and he is perfect."

blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord!

children are people too!

"if there is something we wish to change in the child, we should first examine it and see whether it is not something that could better be changed in ourselves"- carl jung

this quote sums up my thoughts on children completely. i see a disrespect and sense of ownership towards most kids, and it breaks my heart. i am not talking about spanking, or time-outs, or any other punitive measure the majority of people in America use, but the general attitude behind all of it.

i have yet to figure out why, if parents/grandparents say they want to spend time with their children/grandchildren, when it comes time to actually being together, the adult usually ends up chastising the child, and the child ends up in tears. for not playing the proper way, for not "staying inside the lines", for not posing just so for the photo, for "being sassy"... the list is endless. next time, why not step back and watch the child at play? marvel at the ingenuity and creativity that is naturally intrinsic. why not sit back and see how cleverly kids can work out problems themselves, instead of directing how they are playing together.

children are resourceful and capable beings, they do not need nearly as much "help" as we assume. let them figure out how to put on their shoes, dress themselves, feed themselves, cook with you... when we do these things for them, usually out of impatience or inconvenience for ourselves, we take away the child's independence and will to try something new in the future!

children are not malicious, nor do they have the capacity for manipulation or deception. curiosity is not equal to impertinence. (sidenote: honestly, i'd rather have an impertinent child who thinks for herself, than a "good girl", who does not question anything.)

simply put, there is never a reason for an adult to make a child feel badly about himself. when i am with my daughters, i want them to feel huge and confident and complete in themselves, not belittled or shamed.

steps to take towards respecting children
from john holt: the needs and rights of children.

-being genuinely courteous towards a child, using the same tones you would towards an adult
-not treating a child like a servant and demanding from him favors or services that we would not think of asking of someone our own age
-respecting and protecting the child's right to privacy, that means privacy of thought as well as space. (People who really like hearing what their children have been doing don't usually have to ask them.)

effie recommended books on the subject:
-above all, be kind, by zoe weil
-peaceful parents, peaceful kids, by naomi drew
-living simply with whildren: a voluntary simplicity guide for moms, dads, and kids who want to reclaim the bliss of childhood and the joy of parenting, by marie sherlock
-the creative family: how to encourage imagination and nurture family connections, by amanda blake-soule


forgive me for bouncing all over the place here, but it is early and i am still pregnant :)

recently.

There is a community of the spirit
Join it, and feel the delight
of walking in the noisy street,
and being the noise.
-rumi

new things.

lovey made a blog: bradythebum.blogspot.com

3 days til the "due date"'...

still contracting regularly, though the baby is NEVER coming.
call it off, folks!
every time the phone rings, i cringe. because i know it's someone wanting "news", and i have no news for anyone. i can assure everyone, you will know when the baby is here. it's not gonna be a week old before we get around to informing the world.

wishing folks would keep their advice to themselves. no, i will not take castor oil. yes, herbs can help.

i hate feeling so edgy constantly, being in persistent pain really takes it's toll.

time to list the happies:
-we found a couch on the side of the road, it's in great shape and very comfy.
-new sheets from the thrift store
-getting our hot water heater fixed
-spending lots of time with lovey.

dear baby,

i feel like a christmas present everyone wants to unwrap.
waiting is so hard, harder still is being in pain while waiting.
today would be a great day to come out and play!
your sisters are very anxious to hold you, your daddy wants to see if you are, in fact, a boy.
you've got grandmas and grandpas and aunts and uncles and cousins all ready to meet you.
and of course, i want to hold you, nurse you, count your little fingers and toes. marvel at how tiny you are. and come to the shocking realization that my other "babies" are no longer babies, but kids!
today would be good, but whenever you're ready. and i know you won't come a minute before.

singing don't worry about a thing, cos every little thing is gonna be alright!

summer time!

since my siblings got out of school yesterday, summer vacation is now in full swing. i'm not quite sure why emma has decided she needs "summer" vacation, when her little life so far has been a non-stop vacay! but she was determined to celebrate the onset of summer to the extreme. she thought it would be best to go to the beach since it has warmed up, and i had to break it to her that oklahoma is a bit landlocked. so instead of sand and waves, we blew up the slip and slide and played in the front yard!



next on the agenda: nap time. mainly for mama's sake :)

favorites.

here are a few of my favorite spots in our home, welcome in:




if you wanna play along, show me your coziest, favorite place in your home too!

list-love.

things i'll miss when i'm no longer pregnant.
-having a really nifty "shelf" for folding laundry
-playing "poke the baby" and having it kick back
-cracking up at the crazy alien baby movements... watch out for twilight baby, though.
-having an excuse for awful food choices. frozen pizzas and jelly bellies are highly nutritional...
-being able to nap in the afternoon, i've only ever been able to sleep in the daytime during the last month of pregnancy

my contractions have slowed down a lot today, for which i'm very grateful. i can definitely handle two more weeks of this. i realized today i'm due on memorial day, here's hoping i don't have a holiday baby.

hooray for nesting and newfound energy, 3 loads of laundry done and pizza dough rising for supper.

i really want to know: what are you having/what did you have for dinner?

an update of sorts.

midwife visit: the baby is doing fine. i'm going to be pregnant forever.

wasting time here: http://www.sporcle.com/. i feel smug, but i shouldn't. it's just i have an unnatural gift for remembering useless trivia.

this could be me: http://www.mama-is.com/times-a-wasting/

morning rain.

Last Night the Rain Spoke to Me
Mary Oliver

Last night the rain spoke to me slowly, saying, what joy to come falling out of the brisk cloud, to be happy again in a new way on the earth! That’s what it said as it dropped, smelling of iron, and vanished like a dream of the ocean into the branches and the grass below. Then it was over. The sky cleared. I was standing under a tree. The tree was a tree with happy leaves, and I was myself, and there were stars in the sky that were also themselves at the moment at which moment my right hand was holding my left hand which was holding the tree which was filled with stars and the soft rain – imagine! imagine! the long and wondrous journeys still to be ours.

reminiscing about adventures i've been on , anticipating the journeys yet to be. far too often, neglecting the path i am on today.

while being mindful and engaged: today will not pass untouched.

how to remain actively present? i wish i could figure that part out...

happiness!

instead of complaining, which i so want to do, i will note my happiness for today.

-crocheted afghans on the back of chairs.
-stacks of books, preferably filled with marginalia.
-synchronized nap/quiet times!
-a cup of tea, and starlight mints.
-a tidy house. (most appreciatively, with a little help from my friends.)

oh, we should all move to bhutan, where happiness is a measure of success.

what has made you happy today?

p.s. fixed the comments... turns out they didn't work on the other layout.

mothers day.

i had a wonderful mothers day, complete with flowers and chocolate.



(not all of these photos are from yesterday, but i'm lazy and didn't want to upload separate albums.)

today, i'm very tired, and ready to hold my new baby. my grandparents came by yesterday and dropped off a fancy new recliner! very sweet of them. we also found a rad chair, an exersaucer and a baby swing at a garage sale, a great score!

happy day to you all!

emma and violette as photographers.

the girls have developed quite an interest in taking photos lately, so we've been encouraging their budding creativity.

following is a selection of their work:

new blog, first post.

i hear it's a blog eat blog world. or not, really. i just thought that was terribly clever.

hi! i'm effie, a big fan of word play and bad puns.

i'm married to brady, who happens to be an extremely gifted writer and pretty much my favorite person. we met in 2002, got married in 2004, and have proceeded to bring some awesome little folks into the world.

emma was born in april 2005, and has brought us much joy and light, being the curious and precocious little lady she is.

violette joined us in july 2006, and has entertained us immensely with her ornery and mischievous streak.

any day now, we'll welcome a new little one in. depending on it's gender, he or she will be called theodore welcome or lucille mae.

stay tuned for hilarious stories, adorable photos, and other goodies from the crandall scandal.