hats

I had a miscarriage the year before I was pregnant with Mikey. I was very upset about it and when I did find myself pregnant again, I was extremely stressed out the first four months -- and longer, if I am truthful.

I love being pregnant. Really. I feel like I fit into my skin.

So being afraid was a new thing to me.

And so I made hats.

 

 

My cousin had recently had a baby and BOTH of my sister's in law were pregnant too! In fact, one of them had a due date 8 weeks before mine and the other one 8 weeks after ~

{You can read all about the journey my brother's family traveled, in the

beautiful blog that Cyndi made 

and even turned into a scrapbook at Our Young Shoot Chloe }

As you can see, I made mostly girl hats. I did make a couple for my nephew Zeppelin, but I forgot to take pictures of them. {g}

I am really not very good at making a certain size. I sort of just guess. There is a way to do it, with yarn weight and hook number, but do I take the time to figure it out? Nope. I just start crocheting.  So I figure that most of them never fit any of them. I did make my cousin a blanket -- well, a blanket and an odd size 'lovey' (a 'lovey' because it sooo didn't turn out how I expected)

I did make Mikey a blanket and hat (that fit him!) that he wore ALL the time until I couldn't roll it up anymore.

He is saying 'touchdown" in his sleep here ~

I made another for my cousin's older daughter (modeled by Kelly)

and one for Mikey

that he never keeps on his head

and another one for Chloe when she came home -- because none of the others I made fit!

Haha

(yes, I DO know how cute she is!!!)

So go figure that I am making a hat now.

For Paige. For her trip. To Olympic Park. For a WEEK. 

(am I starting to stress?)

I am not finished with it. I am making a goofy looking 'flower' for the top.

Paige has always been a hat girl She wears the ones I made that started out as baby hats and ended up fitting her -- all the time.

(at home)

She picked out the yarn.

The colors are pretty.

It's soft and warm.

At least it fits.

brothers and sisters

When I was pregnant with DJ, even though I really wanted another baby, I was extremely worried that I was ruining Paige's life by giving her a sibling. How were either of us going to be able to handle my attention being not solely on her? What if she was jealous? What would I do?
I don't care what all the books tell you, not every child is upset by a new baby. Paige was never upset -- not once. DJ was born and he was ours! He was smiling and laughing out loud for her when he was a week old ~
He followed her everywhere and did everything she said, played every game the way she wanted him to and he was super happy to do it!
(DJ has always been super happy)
Paige was 8 and DJ just turned 6 when Kelly was born. This time, I was concerned that they were so much older they wouldn't get along.
I don't know why I worry about these things. They adored her!

They read to her and sang to her and gladly gave up their "choking hazard" toys.





As Paige grew a little older, she no longer wanted to play with DJ as much, and fortunately by that time, Kelly was old enough to do things with him.

DJ was bossed around his whole life by one sister -- the other one just took over!

I can't tell you how many times DJ has come to us upset because "Kelly said" he couldn't do x, y or z. Our answer is always, "You know, you don't always have to listen to the 2 year old" (or the 3 year old, or the 4 year old) "tell her you won't play with her if she isn't nice".

(hrumph... when Kelly was 3, her pediatrician suggested we find another Alpha Female for her to play with....)

Lately, either DJ has finally found his voice with her, or Kelly has learned to back off, (yeah -- right) but those two are inseparable! You could see it happening, but I have really noticed it more over this school break.

She tells him all the time, "DJ, you are my favorite boy!" and they are singing goofy made up songs and building castles out of blocks and DJ is helping her read.

I for one, am enjoying it all --
Maybe they will all start arguing when they are teenagers. Paige at 13 is pretty mean to the rest of them. Not so much Mikey, she likes him (he LOVES her!) but you can tell that even he is starting to get on her nerves.
And just where will Mikey fit in with all of them? Paige will be off to college when he starts Kindergarten (yikes!) and I don't see him putting up with Kelly's bossy ways!

I guess we will just have to wait and see.

names

I was 27 when I was pregnant with Paige and read every single pregnancy and baby book I could find. I think I had 5 books on names alone and I am pretty sure I read every single name in all of them! Since I did not find out until she was born whether or not she was a boy or a girl, everything was neutral, but deliberately so. When I was younger and thinking about the family I would have someday, I always thought I'd have boys. I knew I really wanted an old fashioned name, but nothing popular, so her girl name Paige seemed perfect! Her boy name was Devon which was her father's choice. He wanted Devon for a boy or a girl, but I really didn't even like the name all that much. After she was born, I couldn't have imagined her having been a boy! Her middle name Elizabeth was for my grandmother.

When I was having DJ, I HAD to find out if he was going to be a boy or a girl... I really wanted to plan this time, mainly because Paige had so many adorable clothes that I wanted to be able to use them for her baby sister... which this time around I was so hoping for. Well, I had an ultra sound in the doctors office and he said it was a girl! (I didn't have another confirming it -- I was only 30) I was very excited to name my second baby Olivia ~ went well with Paige, and it wasn't as popular 11 years ago as it is now. But you know, it never felt right to me when people referred to my belly as Olivia. So I chose David as a boy name just in case. I do have to mention that my dad, my uncle and my brother are all named David, so it was kind of a no brain-er. I did however, think that he (if by chance it was a he) should be called something other than Dave or Davey. My other grandmother was Josephine, so if by chance, (haha) I had a boy -- he would be David Joseph and we would call him DJ.
DJ wore a lot of pink as a newborn.

Mike and I picked out Kelly's names even before her first ultra-sound. Being an >cough< older mother, I had many. Every single one said she was a girl, and every single time, Mike refused to believe it. (big sigh) We didn't really look though the name books, we both just liked the name Kelly, and it went well with Paige, David -- and Carol and Mike. Kelly's boy name was Nathan or Nathanial. With all the people saying she was a girl, we never really picked a final one, but we would have called *him* Nate. My middle name is Anne and so was Robyn's (Mike's mom) so, Kelly Anne.
On a side note, Mike did have ridiculous names that he threw at me the entire 9 months. Again, claiming she was a boy ---
Bolt.
Steele.
Galvin.
Maverick.

I think I have mentioned that I have known Mike since he was in the 8th grade. His best friend, who introduced us, is also named Mike. Everyone back then always called my husband Mikey. I called him that up until maybe 10 years ago. Well since I turned 40 during my last pregnancy, I had no less that a million ultra-sounds and every single one said BOY!
Well I just had to have my own little Mikey ~
But finding him his middle name was so difficult. Mike went back to suggesting Maverick, etc... ugh. I wanted Tristan after Brad Pitts character's name in Legends of the Fall -- one of our favorite movies. Didn't seem right though. It came to the point where Mike just told me to pick something. Well that didn't make it easier! Now all the name books are online sites, and none of them very helpful.

For years Mike has been quoting a line in Point Break to the kids, when ever he wants them to to bring him two of anything he says, "Utah, get me two!" or just "Utah" and they know what he means.
As sort of a joke, along with changing DJ's name to Forrest and naming the new baby Bubba, I threw out Utah as his middle name.

Mikey Utah.

Nobody really understands it but us.

Oh, his (always have a back-up!) girl name was Isobel.











Here is the clip from the movie Point Break!

Kelly Anne

Since I was 35 when I was pregnant with Kelly, I had many more ultra sounds than I did with Paige and DJ. Every single one, the tech told us she was a girl -- Mike refused to believe it every single time. He was wrong! LOL

The night before my scheduled c-section, I was having contractions. This is not an unusual occurrence for me, but these were pretty intense. I, however, choose to stay in my comfy bed and go to the hospital in the morning as planned. In the early morning of the 22nd, Mike and I left for the hospital on the picturesque road from Hidden Valley Lake to St. Helena. It was even snowing on our way there! Robyn and Vic were getting the kids ready and bringing them a little later.

We check in and get ready. And wait. For a while. They rest of our little family shows up. The doctors were so nice, they were letting Robyn come into the OR with us, so Vic was in a family waiting area with Paige and DJ. Now we are just waiting for the OR to be available.
I was walking around the room and I got back up on the bed and feel a rush of water -- ! I look at Mike and tell him that I think my water broke... Yes, I have had two babies before, but I have had 2 scheduled c-sections before, so this is a whole new thing for me! Sure enough, she was picking the day for her birthday no matter what --

We get to the OR and Robyn and Mike get all suited up. The staff are bantering back and forth saying how rare it was to have a "dry birth". Oh, haha. I hate the hot pillow thing they put on me, but they won't take it off. Can we do this now?

I will tell you that Mike took some GREAT pictures of Kelly being born. I am not sure why they came out as good as they did, because he wasn't looking at all while he took the pictures, but they look professional. In fact, I put them together in a coffee table book. They may not be to every one's taste (you can see her half in half out) so I won't post them here.

They finally pull her out and you hear a collective "oh, wow". The doctor asks Mike to take a picture -- of her cord. It is tied in a "true knot". Thankfully, my babies have extra veins in their cords and they are unusually thick. (Kelly has THE cutest bellybutton)

They clean her up and measure her: 9 lbs 14 1/2 oz and 22 inches @10:35 am My big girl! Mike gets to hold her -- and then Robyn gets to hold her ~

As they are wheeling us back into our room, Vic makes them stop in the hall so he can take pictures --


 Her brother and sister are so excited to hold her!

She is such a good baby -- and like her big sister, she is picking up her head and looking around!

Today, my sweet Kelly girl is 5!

crib

So, yeah, uhhh, Mikey doesn't sleep in a crib yet.
I still have the co-sleeper next to the bed (not that he ever slept in that either) to give us more room. I intended to have him in a crib before our family vacation last December, but yeah, that didn't happen. I don't even have a crib set up for him.
I do enjoy having him with us, but really -- he needs to be in in own space. I get out of bed to pee and half the time he screams at me! I am really worried that he is going to start following me in there in the middle of the night and fall on the stairs or something....

When Paige was born, the whole Co-Sleeping vs Ferberizing was very popular. I read all about both while I was pregnant, and I set up her nursery and her crib as if she would actually sleep in there. Well, Paige was my first c-section, and for various reasons, she ended up sleeping on my chest for her first three months. Not my initial plan, but I was good with it. Then she fell off the bed! So I tried to Ferberize her... I couldn't take it. She was crying, I was crying. I just put the bed on the floor. Girl never slept in her crib. Not once.

I didn't really have much of a plan when DJ was born. Not saying I didn't stress it, I did, I just had no real plan -- crib was still in the nursery, Paige still with me. Well, it ended up that DJ couldn't really fall asleep if I was holding him. If I swaddled him and placed him in his bassinet he would fall asleep instantly. Wow. Moved him to the crib when he out grew the bassinet. DJ loooooved his crib! I used to joke that he'd be in it until he was 10 ~ And bonus! Paige would sleep in the room with him!
Ahhh.
Then eventually he climbed out. Bye Bye crib.

Pregnant with Kelly. This time I want the Arms Reach co-sleeper instead of a bassinet. So awesome! Nursed her, put her in it -- she is right there. We even moved home to the city and she was fine with it all. Put the crib up in our room and moved her to it when she tried to climb out of the co-sleeper. She was great. Got one of those dome nets to put over it because she was getting eaten alive by mosquitoes -- totally works too BTW -- and she stayed in it longer because she couldn't climb out. We even moved her to her own room! My "Destructo Baby" did eventually end up pulling the whole dome down and breaking it, but she was ready for a Big Girl bed by then anyway.

Alright. So here we are. Mikey never slept IN the co-sleeper... I know, but he didn't like it. Also, unless he falls asleep in the car, I hold him while he naps. I know...
(I know!)
I am also aware of the fact that I brought this on myself, but I seriously have no idea how I am going to get him into the crib now! So yep, he is sleeping with us still. I am open to any and all suggestions, but I will not let him cry it out.