Peter Andrew

We are so pleased to announce that Peter Andrew was born November 21st at 7pm after a brief labor- I went to an OB visit in the late afternoon and to my surprise was found to be in the advanced stages of labor, so she sent me straight to L&D. He was 8 lbs 2 oz and 19.5 inches long. The best part is that he was 37 weeks exactly so he was full term, and he did fabulously!

A few days after he was born Peter got a bit jaundiced, so he spent a day back in the hospital under the lights. Our pediatrician was worried that this would be kind of upsetting for us to have to deal with, but after what we went through with Thomas, it was nothing! Peter didn't even have an IV!

24 hours in his tanning booth set him up nicely, and now he's back at home being very spoiled by his adoring brothers and sister. We have had full out fights over who gets to bring him a blankie or put in his paci. I think that life is pretty good for young Peter.

And here we are again

me, today, briefly vertical.

Despite our best efforts, and treatment plans, and medications including a ginormous shot in the you-know-where every week, I have ended up on bedrest again after my third bout of preterm labor since 30 weeks. I'm now 35 weeks which is a few days further along than I got with Thomas. I also got a course of steroid injections which should help little dude's lungs to mature in case he makes an early entrance (there wasn't time for this with Thomas). My OB thinks I will probably deliver soonish but she is also optimistic that we will have a much better outcome this time around. We're praying that will be true and are grateful for every day we get! In the meantime I'm trying to enjoy an unexpected time of rest, and my last few days of pregnancy.

trick or treat

This year's costume theme selected by Helen, of course.

pumpkin patch

These pictures bring up some very mixed memories- it was a very fun, if freezing cold morning at the pumpkin patch. However, I spent the afternoon in the hospital trying to stop contractions and being threatened with a transfer to a bigger hospital in Topeka. Regardless! That ended well so we'll just focus on the better part of the day.

four year old in the house

We continue in the vein of all things girly... with a birthday themed in pink, Fancy Nancy, ballet, My Little Pony, and princesses. I think she will hold up her end against three brothers!

eek

Somehow I did not anticipate just how busy things were going to get!

We have Tim teaching his first class- meaning that every night when the kids are in bed, he has to flip open his laptop, write up his next lecture, and answer about 400 emails from students wanting extensions on their homework. I don't mean "every night" as in "a whole lot," I mean "every night" as in "every. single. night."

We have George in kindergarten. Apparently kindergarten now includes homework (!?). Actually it's not a big problem because it is reading, which he does constantly anyway. In the mornings, I regularly find him trying to pull up his pants while reading a book propped open on the floor. New obsession: human anatomy. I've been grilled several times on the subject of synaptic transmission. Mommy, he says, how do you know so much about the brain? Ha.

We have Helen in preschool, and ballet. This girl loves her dance class. She was positively beaming the day they learned to plie- she knows she's a real ballerina now.

Thomas is just Thomas. Busy, smiling, naughty. The things that have been broken, lost, or colored all over lately!

And last but not least- me. I'm now 32 weeks along and this is where things traditionally get hairy. I'm on weekly injections to try to prevent preterm labor but I've already wound up in the hospital once. Fortunately they were able to stop the contractions with some medication, and I'm not quite on bedrest although I'm also not allowed to do, basically, anything. You would think that not being allowed to do anything would leave you with lots of time on your hands- but somehow it does the opposite. There's a physics dissertation in that somewhere!

some big firsts!

Professor Durrett's first day of class was yesterday!

and... George's first day of kindergarten was today! When we dropped him off this morning, his principal walked us all down to the gym where they were lining up in their classes. At the entrance to the gym she said "George, do you want to say goodbye to your parents?" but even as the words were coming out of her mouth, he started racing over to his class without so much as a backward glance! All we could do was laugh. He has been ready and waiting for this day for months now.

birthdaaaaay

According to his sibs, Thomas is now officially a "big kid" since he is two. For his own part he was pretty excited about his carseat promotion, cake, and presents.

A classic Durrett gift opening scene... We have Helen being a bit of a bossy boots trying to "help" Thomas with his gifts (aka do it for him), and George totally oblivious and reading his third Magic Treehouse book of the day.

county fair

Thomas liked the animals, Helen liked the baby animals.

George.... was absorbed by a 4-H kid's science poster on generators.

soccer!

There can be few things funnier to watch than 4- and 5- year olds playing soccer. They kind of swarm the ball, no concept of teamwork or passing, just a flat out rumble to get a foot on the ball. Kids are toppling left and right. The coaches are constantly having to yell "other way, OUR goal is the OTHER WAY!!"

The last night of soccer, they had a kids vs. parents game. Helen was allowed to play on the parents team- she held Tim's hand through the whole thing which was kind of adorable. She was pretty good, too, I think she will be a force to be reckoned with when she can officially join in next year!

Never one to be forgotten or left out, Thomas craftily tried to sneak into the action with an army crawl...

behavior genetics

My poor children, with a clinical psychologist for a mother. I am constantly marvelling at their various personalities considering they share 50% of their genes and are growing up in the same household together. In some ways they could not be more different!

Here's an example.

Last week in the shower, George suddenly started screaming and shrieking. "my leg, my leg, I have a booboo!" He could hardly stand and was contorting in wild positions to try to prevent water from getting on his knee. All but hysterical, I finally helped him gingerly step out of the shower. I took a look at the terrible injury..... it turned out to be a little piece of red fluff from the washcloth. I'm feeling sorry for his future wife already when he comes down with the Man Flu.

But then there is Helen, who had a blister on her foot. I had to talk her into getting it rinsed and band-aided. After a couple of hours, she told me "it's all better, I don't need that thing anymore." (note: it was still bleeding, actual blood, not towel-fluff "blood") All stoicism, all the time! There is a reason this girl has never been to the doctor for anything other than well child visits.

Thomas remains focused on his primary goal in life, that of Not Being Left Out. His own injuries get major or minor reactions depending on more situational factors, like did a big kid take a toy away and should a grownup be getting on that situation. However, without fail, should anyone else get a bandaid or an ice pack, he is right there insistently putting in his claim of "TOO, TOO!"

in case you haven't heard...

number 4 is on the way, due 12/12/12!

This is also my explanation for blog silence. I am slowly returning to the human race after the worst first trimester ever. I have some funny kid stuff to share- coming soon- stay tuned!

Helen's latest

I think what can be said about Helen, is that she really knows what she wants in life.

She is a little fashionista, choosing her clothes and hairstyle every day. This usually involves something pink, many accessories, and her tutu.

She can write her name and now she puts her name on absolutely EVERYTHING!

She has the letters down but they don't always come out in quite the right order. So we've had HEEN and HEEL and HLLEN but fortunately it hasn't come out as h-e-double hockey sticks, yet.

Helen continues to be a classic girly girl which is so funny because I never was. She is deep in a My Little Pony phase right now. I recently gave her mine that I had when I was little- when she opened the box up and saw the ponies and related toys she said in hushed tones "oh my goodness..." I think they have already gotten more use than they did in my childhood!

this one, I think, is going to be trouble

George has learned to tell knock-knock jokes... so Thomas immediately started saying "na-na!" and laughing hysterically.

He'll "comb" his hair with his fork and crack himself up at the joke. Even funnier when the fork has tomato sauce or peanut butter on it.

Here's a picture documenting something we'll just refer to as "the Nutella incident."

Thomas has also become quite the pro at conning rides from big brother and big sister.

I mean really, who can say no to a cute little face like that?

two scenes

Sunday, after church.

I decided to make a big lunch including eggs and bacon. The sizzling bacon got a bit smoky and set off the fire alarms (for the first time in the new house). It was kind of a shock because not only did these fancy things whistle and shriek, there was also a mechanical voice saying FIRE... FIRE... FIRE... FIRE. George was seriously concerned and ran around in tears with his hands over his ears (later he explained that he was worried it might be an *invisible* fire). Even when the commotion was over he was still shaken up.

He announced "I am going to make a sign for the front door that says NO BACON ALLOWED."

And then, after a moment to reflect on the tragic wasteland that would be a world bereft of bacon, George said "actually I will make a sign that says NO BACON ALLOWED, UNLESS YOU COOKED IT AT YOUR OWN HOUSE."


Thursday, while making dinner

5 pm has proven to be a tragic hour on many days. It is just unimaginable how much trouble the kids can get into while I'm taking 10 minutes to boil up some pasta, for example.

Today I really thought they were handling themselves. I vaguely recall George swooping by at some point saying "ok Mommy, we are going to fly up into the sky and go on a cloud!" But at that time of day I am pretty well focused on getting something to put on the table by 5:30 and ignore anything short of smoke, blood, or broken glass.

Thomas started wailing hard. I look out on the deck, and see:

a) a kite, tossed over the edge of the deck,
b) with the string wound under and over and all around a tricycle,
c) George and Helen sitting on the tricycle, awaiting liftoff,
d) and the tail end of the string wound several times tightly around Thomas' feet *and neck* as he stood right behind struggling to free himself.

!!!!

postscript: Later I was telling Tim of their exploits, and mentioned that I wasn't sure if lashing Thomas on behind was part of the plan or just incidental to him likely tripping over everything while they were winding the string around the trike. George piped right up and said "oh yes, that was part of the plan!"

the food pyramid, according to Thomas

"apoo" = any fruit
"krakra" = cracker/bread product
"keekee" = anything in the cookie/pastry family
"pup" = a drink
"chsss" = cheese
"puhbmmm" = peanut butter (He has rather a hard time saying it, but anytime he so much as overhears the word in conversation he rushes into the pantry and emerges, beaming, bearing the sacred plastic jar aloft.)

Note the lack of word for vegetables... with these words he can pretty much "order up" anything he is really interested in eating.

George is 5

And the same day, he was pestering us about when he gets to start school... slow down, kid!

He's mostly just really excited about riding the school bus. Me, I'm excited for someone else to answer some of his intense crazy questions about how things work. All this googling of electromagnetic fields in the pre-coffee hours of morning is getting to be a bit much! His latest thing is the energy crisis. He is quite concerned about what we will do when we run out of oil... but he has two solutions in mind (1) just use batteries, and (2) tie together a WHOLE LOT of fireflies.

2012 kid update

George, George, George. I have many, many pictures like this. This particular shot is on Christmas. He opened this book first and then all but refused to open any more presents. We were shaking enticing wrapped boxes under his nose and he really just wanted to be left alone to read. In the end he opened presents sort of to the side without taking his eyes off the book. We're already sincerely praying for his kindergarten teacher... the questions he asks! He sort of never grew out of the why? stage. Recently he got a couple of stitches after a nasty fall. Even while being poked and prodded he was asking through his tears "but why does the stinging medicine make it not hurt? how does it work? how do you make that kind of medicine?"

And here's our second born- 3 years old going on 15. In her Dr. Jekyll moments, she loves to be a helper, to clean and organize things, to make sure everyone has what they need. She has been often known to share her cookies and other treats with her little brother. But then Mr. Hyde pops up... eek. When that happens every sentence starts with "but I don't WANT to etc. etc. etc." This ranges from I don't want to get dressed to I don't want to eat a snack to I just want everybody to leave me alone, I don't want ANYTHING *door slam*. People had told me 3 was tougher than 2 and I never understood that with my easygoing oldest boy. Now I get it.

And last but certainly not least, Thomas! This picture sort of epitomizes him at this age. Constant, constant motion. Huge, huge smile. He fights all day long to stay in the scrum with the big kids. He wants to eat what they eat, play what they play, be where they are. Thomas has a whole lot of words already, more than the other two had by this age. I think he just knows he'll have to be able to talk to get what he wants in this crowd! He has some cute and funny little quirks- he LOVES his toothbrush, and he often walks around the house carrying it and has even slept with it a few times. He insists on eating with a fork, for everything, including toast and peanut butter sandwiches. And right now his absolute favorite thing is something he calls daddEEEEE...

Christmas 2012

We had a lovely relaxing trip to Wisconsin for Christmas. Not very eventful because most of us (except, miraculously, Tim) had a terrible, terrible cold. But we did make cookies...

Open a few gifts...

Eat a big Christmas breakfast...

And just generally savor the moments.