My Beautiful Girls

Photo by the lovely Laura

The girls in matching dresses (Thanks Aunt Tina!) for Lorelei's newborn photos. I wondered if this day would ever come. What a lucky mama I am.

Ravenna has an announcement!

In case you didn't catch it in the video, Ravenna now has a baby sister. Lorelei was born July 8th at 7:13 AM. She is 8 lbs. 15 oz. and 21 in. long. When asked in the video what Ravenna wants to say to Lorelei, she said "I love you."

We are both doing well despite a very scary situation. At 4:00 AM, I awoke with contractions but went back to sleep after about a half hour. At 5:30 AM I startled awake because my water had broken. Unfortunately it was filled with blood and I started bleeding heavily. We knew the gravity of the situation and immediately called our midwife who told us to rush to the nearest Labor and Delivery. We had been planning a home birth but we knew that this situation was very serious. Our midwife met us in triage where I was being monitored and was a great support and comfort to us. The baby's heart rate was excellent but I was still bleeding heavily and it was decided to do an emergency cesarean section due to suspected placental abruption (where the placenta detaches before the birth).

I was administered spinal anesthesia and the surgery went ahead quite smoothly. The placenta had detached about half way. I had not expected how painful it would be to have the cesarean. When the baby was being pulled out I thought they were breaking my ribs! As soon as the baby was delivered kicking and screaming and was checked out by the pediatrician, Andrew was able to do skin-to-skin and held Lorelei that way until I was able to nurse her in recovery an hour later. It was quite an experience and now we have a long road of recovery for me.

My heart is so full of gratitude that my water broke early enough that we were able to get to the hospital in plenty of time and didn't cause any distress to our baby. It is such a blessing to finally have our rainbow baby here and doing so well.

A Trip to Upstate New York

 To celebrate the end of the school year for Andrew and to take advantage of a particularly fortuitous opportunity to (finally!) meet one of my internet friends, we took a weekend trip to Palmyra, New York. We drove up on the morning of June 7th, stopping to visit Watkins Glen State Park in the Finger Lakes District. We didn't have much time there, and at 8 months pregnant I couldn't do much hiking, but it was really beautiful and we hope to go back in the future when I am more mobile.

Just one of the 19 waterfalls in the gorge

Meeting up with Jenni was definitely the highlight of the trip for me. We arranged beforehand for Jenni to henna my belly and she did a great job. Jenni lives in Alaska so getting a chance to meet up with her and her family on this side of the world was something I really could not pass up. The henna was just a bonus!

At the Sacred Grove

On Saturday we also visited the Palmyra temple and LDS Church History sites and then made the long drive back home. It was a quick trip but definitely worth it.

Ravenna Had A Birthday!

Nearly a month ago Ravenna turned 5 years old and I during the craziness that the month of May has been, I have neglected to share any pictures. A few days before her actual birthday Ravenna had what she called her "pretend birthday." It was simply a play date for a few of her friends where her friends brought handmade gifts (so precious!) and decorate cupcakes. It went off splendidly and I don't think there is any other way to do a birthday party for young children. Ravenna was happy, the kids were happy, and it was so easy for me to put together. Ahhhh, simplicity!

You can see how much Ravenna enjoyed opening up the handmade gifts from her friends.

Opening a gift from Oma Leslie. A "baby" carrier for her build-a-bear.

On her actual birthday we tried to do many special things for her. She got a special lunch with Grandpa Whitlock at Wendy's (her choice) and then a trip to Chocolate World, and then a BBQ with her Grandparents and uncles and soon-to-be aunt.

You will notice in this picture that she is wearing a swim suit given to her by her Oma Leslie. It was really hard to get her to not wear it to school!

I love the personality of my 5 year old girl! She brings so much joy to our lives with her spunk and sunny disposition. Her friendliness with any and all people that she meets reminds me that I probably ought to be more friendly myself. I just love how easy she is to please; Any gift, handmade or not, brings a smile to her face and she cherishes it. She also adores to give away her gifts to those she loves in order to share that joy. In fact, for Mother's Day this year she gave me one of her necklaces that a friend made her for her birthday so that I too could feel special. What a wonderful girl she is! So generous, kind and loving. I am lucky to be her mother.

Winter at the Whitlock's

As far as snow goes, this winter has been lame. We have gotten many days with terrible driving conditions but only one inch of snow at a time! No sledding for us.

However, no amount of snow is too small for this girl to attempt a snow angel (with tongue stuck out to catch the falling snow).

 

Fort-building, using the couch cushions and anything else available, is a daily occurrence in our house in winter. Unfortunately it means that we don't have a couch to sit on for most of the day.

Also, wrestling occurs every day throughout the year, until Daddy falls asleep, that is. This is usually how it begins.

This Momma is aching for spring to get here already! We are all ready for sunny walks, digging in our garden, and putting our winter clothes away. Ugh...how many more weeks of winter?

To Williamsburg! Again...

In early October we drove down to Virginia to meet my family at their favorite East Coast vacation spot, Williamsburg and its environs. We didn't actually tour Colonial Williamsburg, having done so on many occasions before, so this trip we took excursions to Jamestown Settlement, Shirley Plantation and a cool corn maze we found on the way.

Up first: my bottom. I post this here to document the fact that Andrew really likes to take pictures of my backside. How do I know this? As I uploaded the pictures from the vacation I noticed quite a number of photos that looked a lot like this. Either that or he is making some kind of statement about husband oppression and always having to walk behind me.

This is Shirley Plantation, one of the oldest homes in America. It has been owned by the same family for hundreds of years and they are still living in the upper floors of the house. Pictures of the interior are prohibited but needless to say it was old, incredibly fascinating and our tour guide was a charming old woman made as only The South can make them.

This is a field of cotton. I had never seen one before but Shirley is still a working plantation, as it has been for hundreds of years...yup, this place is OLD. It is amazing it is still here, in the same family since the 1600's. How many people can even say that their parents still live in the house they grew up in? Not many.

 Why am I so excited in this picture? I am looking at a root cellar. Strange though it may seem, I find root cellars endlessly fascinating and the excitement engendered by this colonial one could not be restrained.

Up next, Jamestown Settlement. This isn't the actual Jamestown, just a reconstruction and living history museum but really fun for the kids.

Ravenna cooking our dinner over the coals. I think she has squatting down to an art.

This is me on a reconstructed ship based on the vessel that brought John Smith to his New World Pocahontas, except that wasn't how the story really went...Either way, we learned that it majorly sucked to be an early colonist of Virginia. I was mostly interested in the gardens they had on display and the plants that they were growing in them. 

I am not sure if Opa Kevin is yawning or being scary for the camera here but it was too good not to post.

This was the only decent picture from the corn maze. It was a super cool one too but our photographer must have been pooped from our one hour and fifteen minute trek through the maze to VICTORY!

No post on this vacation would be complete without "The Chris Face." This face, demonstrated by his girlfriend Michelle and Andrew, perfectly illustrates his occasionally misanthropic disposition.

But we think that Michelle brings out the best in him.

 Of course, no family vacation is complete without some snuggles with Oma. And this concludes our pictorial journey.

My brother Josh was also on this vacation but this was the best we could get of him:

Alice in Dutch Wonderland

 Oma Leslie gets killer deals at a secret Disney store only for employees and their families so every year she gets the honor of picking out Ravenna's Halloween costume. This year Oma picked out a very appropriate for our curious girl, Alice in Wonderland. Ravenna has never seen the Disney film but she has been to Dutch Wonderland. Whenever anyone would ask her what she was dressed up as she would say very confidently "Alice in Dutch Wonderland" who also evolved into a princess.

Despite the post hurricane cold weather she had a glorious Halloween celebrated with songs of "Three Little Witches", recitations of "Five Little Pumpkin" finger plays with the felted wool pumpkins she made in her Waldorf school and, of course, trick-or-treating until her "bones hurt." From her stash she got to pick four candies ("Because I am four") and the rest went to the dentist for his annual candy buy back and to daddy for his annual "I like to visit the dentist" candy gorge-a-thon.

Mom had some candy too but it unfortunately it ended badly. Curious to try the Nestle chocolate covered peanut confection "Goobers" I made the terrible mistake of actually eating them despite the fact that they smelled like farts. I write this only to warn you from making the same mistake I did. Nestle is evil, just stay away.

Michaelmas

To celebrate Michaelmas, the feast of St. Michael, Ravenna's Waldorf kindergarten class made capes and crowns. The capes are silk dyed with marigolds and the crown is wool felt and yarn.

Michaelmas, which occurs on September 29th, right around the Autumnal equinox, is celebrated as a harvest festival and has great significance in the Waldorf tradition. In a letter sent to parents to explain the festivities Ms. Wendy, Ravenna's teacher, wrote,

"St. Michael, by way of the earthly St. George, becomes an archetype of heavenly courage and inspiration. We are not alone in our efforts to meet the dragons of cold, hunger and darkness--be they physical or spiritual. Courage, honor and goodness are spiritual gifts given every human being if one gathers his or her inner forces, cocoons him or herself to enkindle warmth of heart, and lights the lamps of positivity and hope within."

 A few weeks beforehand the children see a weekly puppet show of St. Michael and the Dragon to familiarize them with the story. On the day of celebration the children had to conquer an obstacle course and "fight" a dragon. They dressed as "Star Children" with golden capes and and star crowns and "care for all things good and true."

Jumping up and down to show me how the cape works.

 When asked about the day Ravenna said that she got to be brave and was a hero. How's that for a morning's work?

The First Day

 Today Ravenna started preschool. We are lucky enough to have a lovely Waldorf school near our home where Ravenna can explore and grow in a warm, gentle environment. She is in a mixed-age kindergarten with children from ages 3-6 which allows her both to learn from and teach her classmates.

 She doesn't look too excited but believe me, she was.

This is Ms. Wendy, Ravenna's teacher. Look at that classroom! I wish I could show you all the cool stuff there is in there (there is even a climbing tower with a slide!). Everyday Ms. Wendy sets up the room to be a little bit different and creates opportunities for imaginative play to evolve. Today she had a few balance boards draped with sheep skins and covered the climbing tower with a cloth just like the blanket forts of yore. 

In the basket next to Ms. Wendy you can see that she is working on some kind of yarn project. She will sit in her rocking chair and work on a project while her assistant teacher whips up a batch of millet muffins and the children play. The idea is that the children will either be interested, or not, in what the adults are doing and the children can, and often do, join in if they are so inclined.

It's Fair Season!

Yay! We love the Elizabethtown Fair! It is definitely the best way to end the summer. Held the week before school starts this is especially so because it is often our last opportunity for time with Andrew before he gets back to the endless grind of lesson plans, grading and sleep deprivation.

This year we decided to go all-out. Andrew said "My parents were lame. They had four kids and we never got to go on any of the rides," so Andrew decided to let Ravenna go on ALL of the rides that she was tall enough for.

Getting ready to ride the roller coaster; a little bit scared.

Daddy is happy

She loved it!

Ravenna had a blast and Andrew had a blast watching her. I went on the Ferris Wheel with her and couldn't wait for it to be over. I am getting seriously paranoid in my old age. When we boarded the rusty, creaky ride I noticed a sign saying that the ride was last inspected in 2008. 2008?! Every time we would go up the shaking and grinding sound would get louder and more pronounced. While I did try to enjoy myself, mostly I was sitting up there fearing that we would plummet to our deaths. Happily, that was not the case but I will not be riding again next year.

A trip to the fair is never complete without a trip to the petting zoo and this...

Homemade rootbeer in a homebrew bottle. We got a  lot of weird looks about this one.

Ravenna's First Disney Visit

I like to think I grew up at Disney. Some of my earliest memories are of going to Walt Disney World when I was two years old. Growing up in Southern California, going to Disneyland was almost a yearly event for most of my childhood, and when we lived in Orange County it became almost a weekly event. My siblings and I knew Disneyland better than we knew our own hometown. Many of my happiest memories, including becoming engaged to Andrew, were made while at Disneyland.

 My family is obsessed with Disney! My dad worked there as a teen, as did my brother Aaron, and now my brother Chris and my sister Rachelle currently work there and love it! There are definite perks to being a Disney employee, particularly if you are a relative of a Disney employee. When daily tickets to the park are now close to $100, those "get in free" perks are a definite blessing.

For years my brother Chris has been asking me to bring Ravenna to California so he could get her in for her first visit at Disneyland. When my Nana passed away at the end of February after a long and amazing life, our trip to California for the funeral provided the opportunity.

I cannot say enough about what a great place Disneyland is to visit. Yes, it is very expensive but at least for the price they do a great job of making the visit memorable. If you have food allergies, for example, the employees will bend over backwards to try to meet your needs. The firework show is so magical it brought me to tears.

Ravenna was tall enough to ride most of the rides which was a lot of fun being able to take her on my favorites but wasn't so great when she got totally soaked on Splash Mountain. The poor girl was sobbing, "I do not like that ride!" as she walked past all the people waiting in line. It was so sad but funny at the same time. Luckily I had thought to bring her some extra pants and underwear so a quick run to a shop for an overpriced t-shirt and voila! All better.

Look at that face!

Watching Ravenna experience Disney for the first time was very special for me. Having so many happy memories of one place made seeing her delight in it all the more touching. Seeing her rock-out at a cover-band concert in Tomorrowland was one of the highlights of my life. What a wonderful time!

Thank you to, Rachelle, Chris, Oma and Opa for helping give us such a perfect Disney experience!