The Violent Bear it Away

Overheard while playing with clay in the kitchen:
Lucy, "I need more red, Abbie.  I am making Jesus and it needs to be bloody because He is going to be dead."

Happy (Belated) Valentine's Day!

I never got around to posting yesterday because it ended up being a pretty busy day.  Chris gave me the most romantic gift he possibly could have after what feels like a month of being under house-arrest:  he came home early so that I could go spend a few hours alone at a coffee shop.  I took the laptop (so that I could work on a short story - it's about werewolves, very deep stuff) and - oh the bliss of time spent out of the house and in silence!!!  I couldn't have been happier.

Ruth did her best to help out with the Valentine's spirit by sleeping the entire time I was gone, so that Chris was able to get in a workout and reorganize his stash of beer in the basement.

The girls all enjoyed their V-day gifts (I found very cute and fancy-looking blank books, something we are all suckers for around here) and enjoyed their school parties, double-dosed because the CCD classes that night also had little celebrations.  Back at home we had grouper and lobster for dinner with Bailey's cheesecake for dessert.  (I overheard Beth and Katie talking:  "I don't ever drink alcohol but I know what it tastes like, since Mom and Dad are so obsessed with cooking with it!")  The girls drank chocolate milk out of their heart-shaped champagne glasses (which they loved - thanks, Mom!) and Chris and I had some of our favorite Molly Dooker wine and it was happiness and pink hearts all around.  We wound up the evening with a little Wipeout!, our favorite family show, and......it was just a great day.  I'm not sure how I lucked out like this, because I know without a doubt that I do not deserve to be this happy.

(This video is from a couple of days ago, because I didn't have the camera on when Ruth burst into hysterical laughter yesterday, but her sisters get belly-laughs like this just about every day and I think it illustrates pretty well what happy love looks like:)

 

The Quotable Beth

Beth:  Face it Mom, it's better for us to live in a trash heap, because then we know where everything is.

Today.....

T

...was American Explorers Day in the elementary school.  Can you guess #1-Who this is and #2 - Which explorer she is supposed to be?*

...Ruth rolled over for the second time!  Here's the video:

J

 

Saved

*Amerigo Vespucci

The promised baptism picture

Even though there wasn't a single picture with me in it that I liked, nevertheless here is Ruth on her baptism day!  And can I just point out what a thing of lovliness Ruth's Godmother (and my Goddaughter) is?  In every picture I looked at from that day, my first thought was always, "Wow, Annie looks so beautiful there!"

sickness, sorrow and despair

We have been sick for......I forget exactly how long.  A month?  A year?  Something like that.   It's amazing what being stuck in a house full of misery and germs can do for your sense of time, especially while dealing with very small children who have not learned yet that life is so much better when you puke in the bathroom, and not wherever you happen to be the moment the urge strikes you.

Also, someone should write a book detailing the range of agony that comes with being savagely sick yourself and having an infant to attend to.  It's only fair that prospective parents be warned about this, because it's a type of torture that you really can't imagine on your own.

Anyway, baptism pictures will be posted sooner or later.  And Happy Super Bowl, especially to my family who - I hope- are living it up today.  For us, we are lounging around in pajamas, deciding whose sheets should get top priority in the laundry, and trying not to heave at the thought of Super Bowl food.

Lucy, during the mass before Ruth's baptism

This was after the Consecration, before getting in line for Communion:

"Let's get this show on the road!  I am hungry and they said they have bread up there!"

Done been baptized

The good news is that Ruth was finally baptized at almost exactly 4 months of age.  She was clearly happy to put her pagan days behind her, evidenced by the huge, delighted smiles she shone up at the Deacon during the entire ceremony. Luckily, the bad weather paused long enough for some friends and family to come over and celebrate with us, and it ended up being a great day!

The bad news, especially for anyone who just spent the day breathing in the air of our house, is that by 9am this morning four members of this family had vomited up the entire contents of the past party.  Ruth is also sick, but she seems to have more a cold.  So...um, everyone?  I'm sorry.  I hope you don't get sick! 

I'll post pictures sometime tomorrow as I'm sure I'll be logging plenty of sitting time as I hold poor stuffy little Baby Ruth.  At least it's a holy cold!

Good morning!

Ruth kept me up more than usual last night, but it is impossible to feel grouchy when this is what you wake up to:

Even over-achievers need a break

Beth was struggling with her homework this evening.  After wrestling with a particularly difficult question, she read her answer to me to see if I thought it was okay.  Unfortunately, I thought it needed more work.  She looked over her paper reluctantly, then shook her head and put her homework away.

"I think it's acceptable to turn in lousy homework once in a while," she said.

That is a direct quote.

I'm Enchanted, Too by Katie

   Hey,  This is Katie. Don't get to excited, I'm not going to talk (or lecture)  about school, any place we went, or anything I would have you tell myself in order to get the full story. No, I am going to follow the recent flow of the posts, "Ruth is adorable and life is great (besides toes about to fall off and all the germs being spread around this place)". Being Ruth's sister, I view her differently. I don't think, "I need to get her another bottle- she looks hungry," or, "I need someone to take her in order to get dinner made". I just talk to her and wait for her to smile. I never need to wait long. Here, proof:

"Hey, Ruth!"

                                                                              

"Baby girl, look over here"

                                                                                  

"Oh, I know you hear me!"

"There we go!" (sorry, I don't know how to rotate the picture)

Meanwhile, Lucy is loving her ballerina outfit (she won't stop wearing it)

                                                                                    

I just had to include this picture!

 Merry Christmas! I had a very good Christmas. I was stuffed at the end of both days, and had a great time. On Christmas day I got a digital camera (all of the pictures in this post are by me) and so I took a LOT of pictures. Here are some:


                                                                                                 
                                                                                          

The best picture I got of my cousin, Gianna (aarg! the picture's blurry!)

My cousin, Gabe*, taking it easy.

Beth making a funny face with her watch.

Does Abbie look...mad? Or is it just me?

Clairebear never took her hat off.

   *On Abbie's birthday I got a special "bye, Katie!" as he went out of the door. Sooooo cute!                                                                          

Claire happened to be exceptionally cute this Christmas!

Our very own Christmas elf!

A perfect hat for Claire-bear

Slice of life (literally)

The video a few posts back of Ruth was actually just the tail end of a video I took of Lucy, who is still apt to get into who knows what kind of mischief any time my back is turned.

I had just run upstairs to grab a load of laundry, and Lucy wanted some juice.  This is how she went about getting it herself:

A baby's toe and its tale of woe

Do you know what a hair tourniquet is? It's when a hair wraps around something, like say a baby's toe, and cuts off circulation. 


Last week we had the opportunity to learn all about it first hand.  It happened in the morning, when Ruth suddenly went from happy gurgles to frantic crying and I realized that the fourth toe on her right foot was bright red and looked like a berry about to pop.  Luckily Chris hadn't left for work yet, so he could stay and try to calm her four hysterical sisters while I barreled out the door with baby Ruth.  It was also lucky that we have a wonderful pediatrician who did not bat an eye when I showed up at his office, in my pajamas and sobbing, half an hour before they opened.  He spent the next 45 minutes trying to save Ruth's toe and although he thought he probably got all of the hair, her toe still looked so horrible that he sent us to the ER to have it checked out.


We spent all day in the ER, but in the end it turns out that Dr. Israel had in fact already saved the day.  Poor Ruth's toe still looked so very bad that I don't regret the needless day in the ER, because it took the assurances of four (five if you include our pediatrician) doctors to convince me that her toe would be okay.

Ruth's toe 12 hours after the hair was removed.

 

Even now, over a week later, her toe still looks like there is something wrapped around it.  There is a slight improvement every day, though, so I'm finally breathing a little easier. 


I'm learning, slowly but surely, that we will never have enough kids to qualify us as experts:  life is too full of surprises and it's best to keep on your toes!  (ha ha ha!)

Ruth's mood was not affected by all the trauma

Merry Christmas!

All is merry and bright.....more or less

This was Ruth yesterday.  I dare anyone to NOT have a magical Christmas around this baby and her sweet face!

Merry Christmas one and all!  Poor Ruth is running a fever today so I'll write more some other time.

See what I mean?

This baby is just adorable!

Love letter to Ruth

Here, in no particular order, are some things that I love about this gorgeous baby:

*The way she crinkles her nose when she smiles.
*Her long, dark eyelashes that literally sweep over her cheeks when she closes them.
*The way Ruth laughs in her sleep, almost every day.  It is the most adorable thing I have ever seen, the sight of her sleeping little face breaking into a huge gummy smile, and then hearing the gurgle of an absolutely delighted laugh.  She isn't laughing yet while awake, which makes these sleep-giggles all the more precious.  It makes me happy to know that her dreams are good ones.
*The way, when she is fussy, Ruth immediately calms down when she hears my voice.  The girls find this amazing, which has reminded me that it is amazing.  Beth said to me recently, "I like the way that babies and their Mommies are just best friends!"
*When I go into Ruth's room in the middle of the night, she immediately stops crying and will give me a huge smile.  It doesn't matter how much she was fussing before, it's instantly forgotten in her happiness at seeing me.  If everyone could let go of their own unhappiness so quickly, the world would be a much better place.
*I love the feel of her warm little head on my shoulder.  There is something so sweet and touching about the way an infant leans on you with such complete abandon.
*The way Ruth loves her family.  She is fascinated by watching everyone interact, and the girls will often be holding her and talking to each other when they realize that Ruth is looking up at them as they talk and smiling wildly.
*The sweet way Ruth is crazy about her Daddy.  He was the first to get big smiles from her, and nothing elicits her interest like the sound of Chris' voice coming into a room.  She's already trying to push her stomach out in an attempt to follow him as he moves around.
*The way she crinkles her nose when she smiles.  Have I already said this?  It needed to be said again!

This baby is just so sweet, and calming, and fun.  We are so blessed to have her with us, I can't believe our luck!

Lucy, dominating

Lucy:  Boo, can you get me a drink?
Beth:  Say the magic word!
Lucy: You will get me a drink.

Lucy at Mass

Lucy to Chris after the Consecration:  There it is!  Look!  The creepy bread that has Jesus in it!

Ruth smiles for Abbie

It must be pretty neat to come into the world so surrounded by adoring sisters.  Ruth certainly seems to think so.