my in-laws

when i saw this photo i smiled that inside way down in my soul kind of smile.

amanda took it at g's birthday party.

this photo captures the spirit of my in-laws in a way that words cannot.

i love it. (and them ;)

frog boots

somebody got some new frog boots for Christmas from grandma & grandpa.

g is currently in LOVE with boots, so the timing was perfect.

i love this photo...the ridiculousness of g's chocolate face, choice of outfit, goofy expression & toddler pudge combined with luci's melting in the background reveal a great deal about the dynamics of our home these days...

hugh @ 1 month

anyone else thinking of ed grimley?

a month already. holy moly. i'd say i've been lucky enough to receive two social smiles at this point. one a week ago yesterday, and then again a few days ago. he's starting to track really well with his eyes, and he's crazy strong. strong neck, and already putting weight on his legs (to express his discomfort with gas or reflux usually). he's quite a chill baby, and really only cries when he's in pain - which is unfortunately more often than i'd like it to be. at 2.5 weeks he was diagnosed with reflux & we went right to prevacid which seems to be helping in that regard. he's still crazy gassy, which i know is due to my oversupply of milk & my overactive letdown. i'll appreciate these things in a few months when i can nurse him in 15 minutes, but for now he's not ready to drink from the milk fire hose so the poor thing is often in pain. i've started block feeding (only one side per feeding) & i'm hoping that will help.


his first blow out poo was earlier today. he has yet to sleep more than 3 or so hours consecutively. he seems to have very little differentiation between night & day. some nights are not so bad considering he's eating every three hours (easy feed, easy burp, back to sleep in less than an hour), and some nights i see every hour on the clock. luckily with mom here i've been managing naps most days.

no babies were harmed in the making of the above photo ;)

i love my kiddos

but i'm pretty much exhausted by them 24/7 these days. even the nights that used to be rejuvenating now belong to hugh. but time will march on, regardless of how well rested i am. and one day i'll be up nights for a very different reason...be it driving or dating or both...and finally now with kiddo #3 i realize it'll be here before i know it. kindergarten registration is in like 2 months! go ahead...just try to mention luci going to kindergarten without me bursting into tears. so i'm doing the best i can. there is a shortage of patience, a lot of tears, more yelling than i'd like to admit (from all parties), and for sure more tv than needed, yet time keeps marching on. hugh is already a month old.

my mom leaves tomorrow. she's been here since a few days before hugh's birth, with the exception of a 3ish day reprieve covered by grandma pierse. i'm sure she's ready to go. i'm sure i'll cry when i drop her off at the airport tomorrow like i do every time she leaves me post partum. words cannot even begin to express my gratitude for her willingness to stay & help us for over a month. mom, you are simply the best. dad, thanks for sharing her. i'm so, so blessed & grateful.

clay & i will be on our own with the kiddos from monday afternoon until wedenesday when his parents arrive for Christmas and to see me through the six week mark when it's safe for me to lift gus into his crib again. i'm excited for that. i miss putting the little nutter to bed all by myself.

physically i'm progressing. i have hugh's birth story post started, but it is long. i'd say i'm about 80% most of the time, and have been since 2.5 weeks or so. but i've sort of plateaued and that is bumming me out. that said, the double ear infection & sinus infection i was diagnosed with last week probably wasn't helping. luckily i'm a few days into antibiotics & starting to feel better in that regard.

and now i'll stop rambling & try to quickly post some photos before i hear i'm needed. big kids are hiking with dad & baby is sleeping in the chair with grammy. it's pretty rare that i do anything other than sleep when i'm not needed, but with short windows i'm going to try to be better about posting :)

Lu's Christmas Program

my angel :)

The Lu's last program at Good Shepherd. She's been practicing singing the songs at the top of her lungs for over a month now....pretty much all day. She's a singer ;) I adore this preschool & what they teach...my favorite song by far has to be Happy Birthday, Jesus!. You can't help but feel joy in your heart when 100+ kiddos joyfully sing Happy Birthday Jesus super loud.

Makes me smile just thinkin 'bout it.

g's christmas party

i read the kiddos three Christmas stories, they sort of decorated a cookie (ie, ate the frosting) & then hung out. a perfect party for the 2ish year old set!

st. lucia day

The day of Saint Lucia in Scandinavia is an essential part of Christmas in Scandinavia.
Each year on December 13, Saint Lucia is celebrated widely with candlelight and traditional candle-lit processions. Lucia herself was Christian and died for her faith. The December 13 holiday honors her.
The eldest girl in the family portrays St Lucia, puts on a white robe in the morning and is allowed to wear a crown full of candles. She serves her parents Lucia buns and coffee or mulled wine.
In church, women sing the traditional St Lucia song which describes how Saint Lucia overcame the darkness and found light. Each of the Scandinavian countries has similar lyrics, in their native tongues.
In Scandinavian history, the night of St.Lucia was known to be the longest night of the year (winter solstice) which was changed when the Gregorian calendar was reformed.
During a dark winter in Scandinavia, the idea of light overcoming darkness, and the promise of returning sunlight has been welcomed by the locals for hundreds of years. The celebrations and processions on Saint Lucia Day are illuminated by thousands of candles.
As many say, it wouldn't be Christmas in Scandinavia without Saint Lucia Day.

Grandma Pierse was very thoughtful & made sure Lu had a special St. Lucia day. We forgot about the white dress we had planned to wear, but Lu didn't mind. I have photos of Lu & Grandma Pierse making scones, but it is on my other memory card - to be continued!

gus quotes

scene: watching tv. a sofia vergara covergirl commercial comes on.

gus: "cute. cute! CUTE! hug her? i hug her? peeeeaaaassse?"

at least we know he has good taste, right?

scene: the bathroom. luci had just gone, and i was having a turn as well. gus bursts in.

gus: "i try? i try this.potty. right.now. i try this potty peeeeaaaase?"

if only i were ready to potty train. but i'm not. so he sat on the potty with the lid closed. and i taught him to flush. we'll see how long that pacifies his potty wishes.

my three peas

ms. amanda lemme borrow her fancy camera! i still don't have the eye that she does, but man it sure was fun to play around & get photos like this...especially given that the nearly two year old was dive bombing the blanket non-stop...

Hugh Halvorson Pierse

was born on November 17th at 8:47pm.

hugh weighed in at 8lbs, 13oz and measured 22in tall.

contrary to 'our plan' (He laughed), sweet baby hugh made his own path into this world and did indeed come out through a hole in mama's belly. on his way out he took a big gulp of amniotic fluid or blood, and came out a frightening dusky blue. the x-rays of his lungs were very white, which apparently is bad as they are supposed to be black. that said, the nicu pedi told us he was one in a million because despite those lungs being full of fluid he was doing an amazing job of using them & quickly transitioned to room only air. after two nights in the nicu he was declared a 'well baby' despite the continued presence of fluid because he was doing so well breathing & eating.

sweet amanda took these photos on friday night (11.18). i was still pretty out of it, and by the looks of it, so was baby hugh. that's a feeding tube he has in his nose - he wasn't allowed to eat until they were certain his lungs were working. never fear, they were good to go by saturday morning. we came home around noon on monday to a very eager big sister & brother!

a family of four...

we are no more!!

lusi

lu: dad, i don't think there is supposed to be a 'c' in my name. cause there isn't a 'k' sound, there is a 'sss, s' sound.

clay: well sometimes letters make different sounds. the letter c can make the 'k' sound, or the 's' sound. like nice, and mice.

lu: no, i don't think that is right.

so the lu has declared her name improperly spelled. and she wants to change the spelling. like now.

the swagger wagon

and just to document our journey - cause that is what this blog is really all about - we have joined the legions of suburbanites and are now owners of the ubiquitous silver honda odyssey. our friends moved to australia & we took the opportunity to snatch up their mini-van. i now have no angst about hauling around 3 kids + grandparents + luggage!

thanks turns family...although we miss you & would much rather have you than your minivan!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql-N3F1FhW4&feature=list_related&playnext=1&list=SP30DA2DAB5702C7D1

halloween

was a bit of a let down for me this year. i missed our old 'hood. not that our new 'hood isn't great; it is. just missing my old neighbors who became friends. new neighbors are still just that...very, very nice neighbors.

that said, luci had a blast trick or treating with her lil friend from next door. we started off in a group but it became quite clear that said lil friend & lu were going to be much, much faster than gus. so clay went off with the girls and g & i took our time. i missed the lu. again, part of the let down. next year we'll be trick-or-treating as a family. yep...i'm going to be one of those annoying moms.

here is how happy g was to be in his adorable spider costume.

don't worry, we took it off & he transformed into a skeleton for the second year in a row.
and this is the only photo i got of the lu, and the two of them. after dressing up as belle for her school festival she changed her mind for the actual night of trick or treating & decided to be a 'purple butterfly'. which really meant that she put on some purple fairy wings with a purple skirt on over top of what she was already wearing that day.

as i write this i have to remind myself that the day is about them. and they had a good time (once the spider costume was off). and that is what really matters.

and here are a few photos from their little fall festival at school. the photos are terrible, but we all had a great time.

and here is g...hugging ms. l. as soon as he saw me he lost it & ms. l had to bring him over to me. i held him & we watched each class do the parade so we wouldn't miss the lu's class.

after the parade each class was on a rotating schedule of trick or treating, craft & snacking & playing games. both kiddos had a great time playing games.

have i mentioned how much i love their preschool? cause i do.

in a week or less

we'll get to meet our baby hugh. i was wrong. sweet boy has decided maybe he does want to come play after all. as of this afternoon i was 1.5 cm dilated and 60% effaced. as far as fetal descent goes he's moved down to the -1 station.

i don't think i've ever been at anything other than a -3 or at a 'not yet numbered' when i've gone to be induced before. in fact my ob described luci as having been in my throat when i started pushing. pretty excited about the progress baby hugh is making all.by.himself.

of course this information is all just that - information. i could theoretically walk around for weeks like this without labor starting. but i won't. cause given that i'm already dilated, we can induce as early as 39w...which means monday since they don't induce on sunday. i suggested tuesday or wednesday but the hospital is booked until thursday. so thursday it is. or before if he's ready to come on his own :) which would be kind of super awesome. most awesome if he waited until sunday night when my ob is back in town and clay is home (he flies most of the day sunday, but is back home that night).

but if he doesn't, the 17th will be just fine. thursday works well with clay's schedule, and since his presence is incredibly important for the actual labor & delivery part, i'll take the induction rather than risk not having my ducks in a row (and did i mention hugh is probably well on his way to 10lbs by now? piece of cake, right?!?! ;). then after hugh arrives safely dad will be able to get home & help grandma with luci & gus. i think having dad & grandma will make the days mom is in the hospital as easy as possible for them. and grammy will be here to stay overnight in the hospital with hugh & me. and God willing we'll all be home together with a 1 week old by Thanksgiving.

to quote my gusgus, "happy!!!!"

luci quote re: the birth of baby hugh

where is he going to land when he comes out?

mood swings

are for real my friends. the hormones? they are a-changing in this very pregnant body. combine them with the end of pregnancy sleep deprivation (no thanks to you time change...lu has been waking up at 5:20aish) and the last few days have brought familiar mood swings...my very least favorite...rage. i vividly remember the rage i felt when pregnant & post partum with gus. i really haven't had any rage to speak of this go-round...till this weekend. i had chalked it up to my healthy state of mind ;)...my constant prayers & focus on grateful peace...but i'm tellin ya, the swings are SO irrational & unpredictable that i now know i've just been lucky. cause there was no amount of healthy, rational emotional coaching in my head that i could do to calm that rage.

gus threw the remote. not cool, but certainly not deserving of the horned mama response that came out of my mouth. no 22 month old should be spoken to in such a way. as soon as the tone & words were out of my mouth i recognized how irrationally i was behaving. the great thing about this being my 5th pregnancy is that i now recognize the mood swings for what they are. luckily clay was just upstairs. i sent him a text..."pregnancy rage. need backup." he came right down, took the kids up to his sacred man cave, and let me be. i got in the car, cried, turned on the radio, heard lmfao i'm sexy & i know it, decided i needed some endorphins, made a mental note of how important post partum working out is going to be regarding my mental health, went & got a disgusting yet just what i needed filet-o-fish (cause working out in this body is not an option), and by the time i was back home i was fine.

so...future post partum self: when you feel that rage, cause i know you will, put your running shoes on, turn on your ipod and get movin. make that rage work for you. you know you'll feel better, and be a better (albeit still sleep deprived) mama for it.

halloween sneak peak

i had high hopes that'd he tolerate the spider costume i got for him. my plan was for him to wear his skeleton pjs inside out to provide the black arms & legs for the spider costume. but of course being the prepared mama i am, turning said skeleton pjs right side out was my back up plan.

so did he wear the spider costume?

not.a.chance.

skeleton pjs to the rescue, for the second year in a row.

however i hadn't turned them inside out (aka right side out) yet at this point...

but he's still awfully cute...at least according to his mama.

ps. happy birthday aunt brookie. love ya.

november 28th

so i'm putting it out there. my money is on november 28th for sweet baby hugh's birthday. that is 41w1d...doctor ordered eviction day. went to the ob this am & he's actually crawled back up higher than he was last week and there is absolutely no indication that he's ready to come play. apparently my sweetpeas know it's better inside than out. which works up to a point, then it's time to evict. i often wonder what would have happened 'back in the day' before inductions. staying in for too long can be just as dangerous as coming out too early. that said, i'm pretty proud of my body & feel nothing but love for it. it's a nice feeling after years of insecurity in my teens & twenties. it's done what i've asked of it, and done it well.

this pregnancy has been very different. with the other two i used to daydream about snuggling & holding that sweet newborn. this go-round i haven't thought much at all about lovin on sweet hugh. no visualizing holding him, sitting in the rocker thinking about him...i'm just too preoccupied trying to balance the physical needs of pregnancy with lovin on the two babies that are already here & need me pretty much every waking minute.

this morning i had coffee with some friends. one of them has a sweet newborn boy. i saw him in his car seat & seriously had heart palpitations. 'i'm not ready, i'm not ready' was all that went through my head. then his mama scooped him & handed him over to me. he snuggled right in & just like that i was ready. i can TOTALLY do this again. in fact i was overcome with an almost immediate GRATITUDE that i GET to do this again.

so whenever you're ready baby hugh. mama's waiting.

but how exactly is he going to get out?

as you can imagine, there has been much talk in the pierse house about baby hugh coming out to play. last night during prayers, i asked luci to pray that baby hugh makes his way out to play safely. we prayed that he had a 'safe journey'.

to which she responded, "but how, exactly, is he going to get out? will you have a hole in your belly?"

luckily dad was there was well. we exchanged one of those, 'oh man' glances. and i'm not going to repeat the answer i gave because it was received with confusion & a bit of revulsion. but then dad jumped in & saved the day by talking about how babies come down a special path, or road. and that luci was a great big sister because she made the path. that Jesus picked her to come first because He knew she'd do a good job making the path & finding her way out. and that because she worked so hard to make that path, that it was easier for gus when he took that same path. so in the end we prayed that hugh finds the same path, and that his trip is the easiest yet. luckily, armed with the knowledge that she made the path, she forgot all about how, exactly, he's going to get out.

nest, available for immediate occupancy...

the lu worked for days & days raking up pine needles to make a nest for the birds in our yard. she was quite disappointed when we didn't have any takers...but, we decided maybe no birdie moved in because birds like to nest in trees. so then she really wanted to somehow mount the wheelbarrow in a tree, but we convinced her that the wheelbarrow was too heavy. she was pretty bummed until she decided tallulah (our cat) should nest there. alas, tallulah has yet to move in. that said, we are preserving the nest nonetheless, should an animal find itself in need.

gus is less than thrilled that said nest is off limits. he'd really, really like to dump all of those needles out.

the pumpkin patch

g was...and still is...in love with the goats. he woke up from nap today saying, "see baby goat. see baby goat!"

not sure if you can see the joy on his face, but it's there!

my girl...posing in the hay!

g was enthralled with this jack-o-lantern

riding the horsey swings

not sure why all of the pumpkins were teeny tiny this year, but the kiddos didn't seem to mind. that said, yes, this is the best photo i managed of the two of them in the actual pumpkins.

last weekend we hit the oil ranch for the 2011 version of the pumpkin patch. we went to church & then came home to put gus down for an early nap - deciding we'd wake him at 1:30p to go. easier said than done. he was not at ALL into waking up...the words 'pumpkin patch' did nothing for him. i thought for sure the prospect of riding a train would rouse him. nope. then i told him how we'd see lots of animals there...like goats, & cows. suddenly the kid was up & at em, ready to go right.that.minute. " go newcar.* see animals. goat. see goat!!"
i was concerned about my ability to participate & facilitate a good time for all given the 87 degree weather, my hacking cough & being 35 weeks pregnant, but i must say i'm quite proud of myself as i was more capable physically than i anticipated. maybe it had something to do with the giant mc donalds iced coffee clay & i split on the way there, but hey, whatever works, right?

*the opportunity presented itself & we bought a minivan...yet another post to come. if anyone needs a bargain priced 2003 honda pilot in EXCELLENT condition lemme know...