Kap7 Cup, Soccer, Improv, Oh my!

 We live for the weekend. I mean, we're still living on the weekdays, but it's more the stuff we HAVE to do, the work that needs to be done, the daily ins and outs. But then. Oh then. The weekend. The nights are wild fun and the days are planned with family activities and breathers. We usually clean the entire house on Saturday morning (or Friday night if the weekend is packed), Hilton and I have date nights, and by Sunday night we eat together as a family 'round the table.

This weekend was glorious. One of those perfect, but not oh so perfect weekends.

We cleaned on Friday because we had the Kap7 Water Polo tournament on Saturday and Sunday. So hard cleaning until 5:30 and then off to Cafe Rio as a reward. Hilton and I then had date night at the Improv with friends ( <3 <3 <3 ) and then Saturday morning we woke up waaay too early for the games. Lucky for us the entire tournament was hosted at Woollett, so all 12 games were at the same place this weekend (dope). Oh gosh, the games. I freaking LOVE the games. In summary: Arthur can play scrappy and dude WANTED that ball. Miriam played in the field rather than goalie and her team came in 2nd place. Elinor played 14 U PLATINUM division and she glided through the water like a queen. Lily held down the fort at home and Peter and Stuart terrorized her. Oh, and I forgot to wear face sunscreen so I look like Gnarly from OCSC.

I also have to mention 2 more events:

1. The OCSC games are wonderful. We love getting dinner and it's wonderful to be with Dan, Phoebe, and crew. We have Matt's seats now (won them in a bid war) and yesterday I just felt the loss of my friend so deeply. Sitting where he would be just hurts my heart. I miss Matt <3 

The team won (that is a WOW bc they've been losing), and the last 10 minutes of the game are just electric. Why does it get so good at the very very end?

2. Sunday dinner was a pork roast, fresh bread, and peach cobbler. It just felt so wholesome. Having the family together for dinner on Sunday night is the one tradition that I kept from our old life as mormons and it makes me really happy. Mormonism doesn't own family dinners.

Oh and hi. I'm back here in this space writing. The keeper of memories. Starting again. It's been 6 years since next Monday. 6 really long amazing years. I wasn't ready to keep the memories until now. At first it was too painful and then I was too busy and I forgot just how important it is to write and remember. There's been heartbreaking loss, fury, pain, and then an awakening and at times contentment, joy, peace, and the ability to live no matter what the emotions. I needed to find myself again to be able to write. 

Over the last 6 years we've experienced a birth for Hilton and myself as new people, our kids oh so grown, and a chance to do things different. We look different, we think different, and we look into the future and the past with new eyes. Welcome to My Eternal Summer Vacation 2.0.

The OCSC game with Uncle Dan and our very own seats. We love it.

That hair!

Look at this girl!

Dad vibes made me happy.

Bleacher life is tough, lol. 

I felt bad for Stu and Pete and Lily so on Sunday afternoon I took them to the pool and *tried* to get some work done. Stupid work. Never-ending.

Stuart's Story: The Epic Tale of his Birth

WARNING! These pictures really do show what a birth looks like! Blood, nakedness and the raw moments!


Stuart's birth was a dream birth.

I spent the last few months leading up to his birth walking the kids every day to school and then walking Miriam to TK (that is about 5-6 miles a day). I drank water like crazy and we lived the beautiful SoCal lifestyle (parks, Trader Joes, Disneyland. Heaven). I think all this healthy living set me up for the perfect birth experience.

Ok, so a few days before Stuart was born I started to have sporadic yet strong Braxton Hicks. At my last appointment I was dilated to a 3.5 plus and 40% effaced. On the eve of the 28th we went to bed and I concluded that tonight was not going to be the night (in past babies the contractions were steady and made it obvious it was time to go in).

Then at 11:30 I awoke with a start and ran to the bathroom. lol. Hello pregnant life! I noticed some bright blood and was a little nervous, but figured I should just go back to bed. Two intense contractions later and I woke up Hilton to say we should go in.

At this point my contractions were intense, but not really. On the way to the hospital I put on my makeup (had to look good for those birth photos!) and I called the hospital and the OB/GYNs (like instructed by my handy "what-to-do-when-you-are-in-labor" paper my OB gave me). By the time we got to the hospital I told Hilton that maybe we should drive around a little.  So we actually drove PAST the hospital for a block. I had a hard contraction and said NEVERMIND! And we headed to the ER.

The dude at the ER was so sloooow. He called labor and delivery and they took their sweet time coming down. At this point I was shaking and getting louder in my protestations by the second. Seriously louder. A guy in the waiting room even muttered "no sense of urgency!" My wheelchair finally came and I was carted off upstairs. I changed into my "laboring" gown and told the nurse sheepishly that I think I peed my pants. "It was probably your water". And she was right. And then the contractions went WILD like CRAZY painful. And I started to beg for my epidural. "Are you the anesthesiologist?" I demanded of everyone new that came in the room. "She is on her way. You passed her by the desk on your way in". I didn't care where she was, I just cared that she was not HERE NOW! Each contraction I squeezed Hilton's fingers harder and harder (in a desperate effort to transfer my pain to him. It didn't work).

And then blessed day! I got my epidural.

This epidural was wild. It literally just took off the edge of the pain, but I could still move my legs and feel sensation everywhere. We took a 20 minute rest and then the nurse came back in to adjust my blood pressure machine. I told her that the epidural wasn't working and that it felt like there was a head pushing down with each contraction.

Well, it turns out that there was a head and even though I asked her if I could slow down labor (I really was looking forward to napping for a few hours!) she said nope, time to push! Seven pushes later and little Stuart "burst forth into the light"!!

Start to finish this all happened in TWO HOURS! Even with an epidural (and that usually really slows down labor)

Good thing we headed to the hospital when we did. And furthermore, labor that is only a few hours leaves you feeling amazing. Like I was literally hopping around and chipper after Stuart was born.

But I am getting ahead of myself. Here are the photos of his birth:

The empty halls. Which was actually super deceptive. There were a lot of babies born that night!

I just love the charts!

The photographer made it just in time to capture the last few moments of labor before pushing:

Intense moments, I tell you!

I didn't even realize until we went through these photos that we were holding hands. I don't know how women do this alone! Hilton was the best <3

A quick rest before pushing again:

So exhausting! About now I hollered to the doctor, "That hurts!" I was more surprised than anything. I'd never felt the "ring of fire" until this time around. Her response was, "Then push!"

I gave it everything I had and then that moment of "WOW" as all the pressure ends and there is an "UMPH!" as a gigantic baby is pushed out. I love this moment. I could do this every year for the rest of my life I love it so much. Giving birth is so incredibly beautiful!

And just look at our darling baby!

We gave him a few minutes for the cord to be clamped. Taking advantage of all that great blood flow from the placenta!

My sweetheart little porker. Totally gigantic, right?

And just look at that sweet hair!

I love the look on Hilton's face as he leans in for a closer look at his little son.

I was lost in a dreamworld of WOW!

And just check out that ORGAN that I GREW! How cool is that?? A tree of life, I tell you!

Stuart got colostrum right off the bat. Happy little guy <3

At this point we were left alone for an hour. Just time to chill, nurse the baby and marvel at his little toes and fingers. Truly a "golden hour".

And then time for him to be cleaned and weighed:

Tiny little toes :)

Sweet angel!

I love this picture. It really captures that it was the middle of the night! And a daddy's delighted interest in his little progeny. <3 <3 <3

And now we are home and we are in love.

Stuart is so darling. Such a peaceful little guy and such a joy. He makes my heart pitter-patter and the unreasonable side of me say that we are going to have like 5 more babies because he is so wonderful and I just don't want it to be over.

Maybe I'll get a tender mercy and time for these next few weeks will slow down for us. Even though there was no slowing down his entry into the world (that was going to happen fast no matter what), maybe this newborn stage with such blissful joy will slow.

Because if I could stay here right now for the next few months I think I would. Nothing could possibly be better than this <3

Passover and the Seder plate

So I have to start out by saying that sometimes life really stinks.

The kids screaming all at the same time. Fighting. Bickering. Or just that they all need me NOW. And sometimes it is not the kids. It is dealing with postpartum and I am battling my crazy by baking up a frenzy of treats. Or sometimes I am late. I hate being late.

And sometimes things happen that make you feel like you were hit by a train that you didn't even know was there.

Yes. Sometimes life really really stinks.

But I don't blog about those things. Mostly because I'm not going to go grab my camera and take a bunch of pictures of fighting kids or of all the eggs being dumped on the floor. But all because I don't blog about them doesn't mean that they don't happen.

So don't think that life is perfect in California. It is just LIFE. Sometimes it is so good that I ache inside. And sometimes it is so bad that I ache inside. 

Whew. 

That being said, here is a good memory:

Our cake for Passover feast. The family I lived with in Paris is Jewish and my favorite memory was celebrating Passover with them and their extended family. I've always wished that I could share this experience with Hilton and the kids, and this year it occurred to me that I could research the Seder plate and we could hold our own Passover.

And so I researched and this meal was pretty legit. The cake contained no leaven (it was a chocolate almond sponge that was lifted by carefully folding in egg whites). I made the most heavenly matzo ball soup (seriously so good. And it was perfect. Just how I remembered it being in Paris). And then to top it all off I found these Seder plates:

Now most Passover tables do not have a Seder plate for each guest, but I thought everyone would have fun trying out the different foods as we read the text (and yes, we read the text) of the tribulations of the children of Israel in Egypt.

And here is the Sedar plate with the food. Bitter herb (endive), horseradish, parsley, boiled egg, charoset (apples, almond and spices to represent mortar that the children of Israel used in construction), a shank bone (not pictured but a beef short rib cooked Israeli style), and matzo crackers.

And of course the grape juice that you drink from several times as the text is read.

The kids were so excited.

To tell the truth the only thing they really thought was tasty was the cake. And it should be noted that Arthur started screaming "You're killing me!" when we told him to eat his soup.

The food had such an exotic taste from what we usually eat. This was a total treat for Hilton and myself and educational (maybe also a bit horrifying) for the kids.

I'll have to do this again someday. And when I do we are going to read from more of the text that retells the story of the Passover. I only read a portion in an effort to keep everyone happy.  We still dipped our endive in salt water to remember the tears of the children of Israel, and we broke the matzo and Lily read the four questions. But the whole text would be pretty cool.

Oh well. It should be noted, however, that we watched the Prince of Egypt. So the kids got the point ;) And when we watched the Bible Video of the Last Supper and told the kids that Jesus was having a Passover meal, Miriam asked if Jesus was dipping his food in the "tears water". Bam. She got it. ;)

See the layers on that cake??? I was so ridiculously pleased with my handiwork. I've never made anything like it and it really was quite the challenge to get just right. So when I nailed it I guess I had a right to be pleased. ;) And it tasted amazing! The ganache and the layers of cake combined into a truly heavenly treat. Rich, but surprisingly not too heavy.

Easter Feast

Ok, this is the last post on Easter. But how could I neglect photos of our Easter feast?

Remember the sugar cookies?

Voila!

And here is our Easter carrot cake. This thing was loaded with plump raisins and toasted pecans and topped with creamy cream cheese frosting. I had leftover colored frosting from the cookies and so I made carrot cake decorations- California style. Bring on the bright flowers :)

We also had a pineapple glazed ham with pineapple rings and cherries (I've always wanted to recreate that look!), deviled eggs with cornichons and dill, honey buns shaped like bunnies, au gratin potatoes, marshmallow creamed yams, a gorgeous salad, and some greens.

Now this is quite the menu with such a little baby in the home. And there is no way I could have pulled it off without the incredible help of all the girls. Elinor made the potatoes, Lily worked for hours straight (washing all the prep dishes!) and even little Miriam vacuumed the entire house.

We were all so pleased with ourselves to sit down at our feast:

Cute kids. They ate until their bellies were round ;)

Pete would wish you a happy Easter, but he was too busy eating his roll. Why is it that we spend hours making a feast and all the littles will eat is a roll?

LOL!

Little Stuart Cottontail

So I neglected our littlest one in the last few Easter posts. Stuart had quite the fantastic Easter. A basket of his very own and all the milk treats his little tummy could hold <3

Just look at the interest Stuart is showing in his Easter basket. He can't wait to see what's inside!

Why hello little Stuart Cottontail!

And MAN! Just look at those little booties! <3

Sweetheart baby.

And the little fluffy cottontail! We were swooning over his sweetness :)

All was well until Stuart found out that Hilton couldn't nurse him.

So devastating!