Happy Birthday!!!!!!

It was a beautiful day! Paulina Noelle was born about 2:25pm with a ton of goldish, fuzzy hair on top of her cute, perfect head. She was exactly 7 lbs 15 oz. (I won the final guess at 7,13 closest without going over hahaha) and I'm not sure how long she was but she is keeeee-yooooot as a bug's ear. Thank you if you prayed because it was probably the smoothest, most perfect delivery EVER IN THE HISTORY OF REALLY GOOD EPIDURALS!!!!! I think she got a teeny bit nauseous for about a half a second. She pushed about 4 wimpy times and out popped Paulina. Seriously. I'm not exaggerating here people. If every woman had a delivery like that one, we'd all have 10+ kids and the world really WOULD be overpopulated as some in the media would like us to believe. If every woman had a delivery like that, we'd have to re-write the book of Genesis and re-think the whole theology behind the sin of Eve if you know what I mean. DANG! Who looks that good 20 minutes after having a baby? Huh? Huh? I'm not EVEN going to show you the picture that shows her in the middle of a "push". It's sick how cute she looks in that one. I'm going to start a new club. It's the IAABFSPWWCSTPBBNGAOOFOTROHBPLGLOAISWTROYP club. It stands for I am a big, fat, slobby pregnant woman who can't stand those pretty "basket ball", never- get- an- ounce- of- fat- on- the- rest- of- her- body pregnant ladies go live on an island somewhere with the rest of you people club. WHO'S WITH ME???? (I might have to work on the acronym, though. It's not as catchy as I had originally thought.).

I think this picture is so cute. It looked to me like they were thinking something like, "HEEEEEYYYYY, I know YOU!"

I think this calls for a caption contest!

Here's my lame entry:
When Trine's babies are born, they are so smart that they start singing their ABC's in the delivery room. Here she is showing Paulina how to start with the proper pitch...

God's Sign is the Baby

We will be expecting the 16th grandbaby of my parents tomorrow (hopefully!) sometime so pray for my sister and niece/nephew to come through the delivery safely! I hope for her sake it is relatively pain-free (hey, a girl can dream!) and without complications. Please, please, praypraypray! Also, if you have time, her 4 year old Gabby is sick with the croupy cough thingy and pray that they will all be healthy for the new baby to come home?
Here is an amazingly beautiful excerpt from the Holy Father's Christmas homily that I find appropriate for our week. He almost sounds as if he's had a baby himself or as if he COULD! What I mean to say is that it is easy to see his profound love for Christ in the words he chooses. It sounds so tender and sweet...check it out!:


God’s sign is simplicity. God’s sign is the baby. God’s sign is that he makes
himself small for us. This is how he reigns. He does not come with power and outward splendour. He comes as a baby – defenceless and in need of our help. He does not want to overwhelm us with his strength. He takes away our fear of his greatness. He asks for our love: so he makes himself a child. He wants nothing other from us than our love, through which we spontaneously learn to enter into his feelings, his thoughts and his will – we learn to live with him and to practise with him that humility of renunciation that belongs to the very essence of love. God made himself small so that we could understand him, welcome him, and love him. The Fathers of the Church, in their Greek translation of the Old Testament, found a passage from the prophet Isaiah that Paul also quotes in order to show how God’s new ways had already been foretold in the Old Testament. There we read: "God made his Word short, he abbreviated it" (Is 10:23; Rom 9:28). The Fathers interpreted this in two ways. The Son himself is the Word, the Logos; the eternal Word became small – small enough to fit into a manger. He became a child, so that the Word could be grasped by us. In this way God teaches us to love the little ones. In this way he teaches us to love the weak. In this way he teaches us respect for children. The child of Bethlehem directs our gaze towards all children who suffer and are abused in the world, the born and the unborn. Towards children who are placed as soldiers in a violent world; towards children who have to beg; towards children who suffer deprivation and hunger; towards children who are unloved. In all of these it is the Child of Bethlehem who is crying out to us; it is the God who has become small who appeals to us. Let us pray this night that the brightness of God’s love may enfold all these children. Let us ask God to help us do our part so that the dignity of children may be respected. May they all experience the light of love, which mankind needs so much more than the material necessities of life.

Guardian Angels,
Pray for us.
St. Gerard,
Pray for us.
Mary, Queen of Heaven,
Pray for us.
All you bloggers out there (especially you saintly mothers!)
Pray for HER!

Thank you!

Christmas in the Attic

Butch thought that the garage needed to be insulated since it was already sheet rocked...and since it was insulated, put in a heater, and we might as well throw some plywood up there for storage...and since it looked so cool we might as well make it be a fort instead of storage! The kids keep very busy in there in the not-too-cold, not-too-hot days. I would have loved a spot like this when I was little. I hope they have fond memories of it when they grow up or we leave this house for a better one out in the country closer to my sister and their cousins. Kids need a fort. I built one for my brothers out in the woods when I was about 13 but I had been a veteran fort builder by that time for many years. I think I must have built about 2 tree forts, 3 ground forts and LOTS of blanket forts before that time. I'm so happy that my kids have their own space to fight over, plan things, play quietly, pretend they're grown, watch movies with their friends, learn how to clean and keep things organized (small space!), and generally go to a place where grownups are not allowed unless they are adding improvements. We are thinking of cutting a hole in the girls room and building a secret door that enters the fort, but that will be a summer project. Can you imagine how COOOOOOL that would be?.
Since I discovered how easy it is to embed video, you might as well check this one out of the fort decorated for Christmas. The kids did it all by themselves and it was all their idea...

What Happens When Bocker Misses His Nap

This video is an example of what Niklaus does when he is so tired he can't even think straight. Notice as you're watching it how his eyes are almost shut and he's wandering around aimlessly and biting his nails. He sounds like he's drunk. Also, don't call 911, Mari's not lacking oxygen...She only picked up the ring-pop sucker off the floor and I didn't have the heart to take it away from her. She was enjoying it soooo much (it's the one Bocker mentions at the end of the video...he didn't like it as much as Mari, let's just say)!
I had the camera in my hand trying to get a funny picture of Mari's blue lips and tongue when Niklaus came in the room making that hilarious "whoowhoo" sound talking about a siren that he heard in the distance. Also, it is the first time I've ever heard him make use of the word "ridiculous". It's especially funny because he can't say his "L"s. Check it out.


A couple other things of note:
There is a good view at the beginning of Mari's now famous "spike" on top of her head. No matter how much spit we apply, that thing will not go down. She's got this double swirl on top of her head and that's where her hairs meet. Not a good formation for a girl. She's going to have issues with that in the future, I'm sure. Okay, one other thing is the red all over Niklaus' hands and arms. We were painting earlier and that's the only color he painted with. I know because it's the color of my dining room table now... and floor.

Awwwwwwwwww

Less than two weeks left!

The Nativity Story

Okay, I haven't actually seen that movie yet and can't review it with any authority so for those of you who LOVE birth stories, go here for one of the best I've ever read...and really witnessed!

My Favorite Books

I have been posting a lot, and reading a lot, and THINKING a lot about books lately!
Anyway, some of my favorite books are Usborne books. I discovered them when I was first considering homeschooling Katrina about 8 years ago or so. A good friend of mine started selling them (they are available in book stores and libraries, too but I liked buying them from a friend) and I decided to become a consultant (mostly to buy them for myself and family) and I'm not planning on making selling books a profitable thing or anything but I am having ONE party tonight and will order for whomever wants these great books any time from now on!
Here is a copy of the reminder email I sent to the people on my invitation list and the reason I'm posting it on my blog is if anyone "out there" is interested, or any of my friends or relatives who read my blog are interested, they can follow the link to my site and click on the "Laura's Kickoff Party" link or call me to order (saves on shipping). I can't wait to try out the "Your Baby Can Read" program. If nothing else, it would be funny at family get-togethers to show off the tricks they might learn!


Hey Ladies! I just wanted to remind you that my party is tonight (wine, women, and song...well...maybe not "song", but I'll sing if you get enough wine in me!) and even if you can't attend, you can go to my website and order by Thursday (or call me with your order to save shipping) so you can get your books before Christmas. A lot of people forget about books for Christmas presents, but they can make a very lasting and wonderful impression on the children and adults on your list. I hardly ever throw away books unless they are falling apart or get wet! I still cringe when I think about how I threw out or gave away my favorites from when I was little or in school and how I could use them now for the kids! I'm trying to build up my library again but I'm very picky now on the books I choose as I don't like clutter. Dusty books are clutter! That's why I choose Usborne books a lot, because they get read and referenced often and don't get time to get dusty (yay for no extra cleaning!).
Alright, have I convinced you (winking and pointing my "shooter" fingers at you like a cheesy salesman)? If I have, come to my house tonight at 7 and bring a pal, or call or order from my website by Sunday, December 17th (or anytime you want when you are looking for good books from now on!).
Okeydokey, hope to see you soon!
Laura


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Deer Santa

Niklaus and I broke away to Coborn's to get something for supper the other night and happened upon their annual Christmas dealio where they hire a really cool band to play Christmas music (I swear the lead singer was channeling Burl Ives, he sounded EXACTLY LIKE HIM!), have samples around every corner, and even have people with trays handing out holiday-style appetizers. I actually was there to get a few (ahem, it was St. Nicholas eve) things that I had forgotten (nothing like waiting until the last, possible second) the one hundred and forty-two other times I had been to the store in the last couple of weeks (how I got that stuff under his coat in the cart and into the bag at the checkout without him seeing was practically genius, if you ask me) and it was just so great that he was there with me because he's holed up at home all day while we are doing school and I love it when he can get some special attention. We were by the freezer/meat section when I saw the man in red...

Me: NIKLAUS! (in stage whisper) It's SANTA! Look behind you!
Niklaus: Whoa!
Santa: Hi! Want a candy cane?
Niklaus: Thanks (dead serious)
Santa: Here, take two...they're small!
Niklaus: Thanks
Me: (as we're walking away) Hey Niklaus! That was sooo cool, that was Santa Klaus!
Niklaus: Yeah, but where's his deers?

Three year-olds are AWESOME!

The Worst Book Ever

I was just tagged by the Smart Girl and I had to think really hard about this one because I've read SO MANY FLIPPIN BOOKS! I can't ever NOT finish a book because I'm an optimist and if it starts out bad, I always have hope that maybe, just MAYBE it will get better before the last sentence. Most of them do but some don't. I honestly don't remember the last time I didn't finish a book but I do remember throwing one of the "Left Behind" books across the room unfinished after it became evil in my hands and I never ever read another one of those terrible things again I tell you! I did just read "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter". We read it in high school but I didn't understand some of the themes back then because I SURELY wouldn't have re-read it if I had! It was pretty much a crappy, depressing book that makes you think that life is not worth living in any way and that families with lots of children are depraved and that the only way to salvation is to be a communist. Now, you might not think that if you read it and you might just be mildly bored by it and think, "what the heck was laura TALKING about?" but trust me, it was between the lines and I oughta sue my old English teacher for trying to indoctrinate me at such a tender age...oh that's right, that is the public school teacher's JOB...to turn me into a mindless/liberal/bitter/hater with a penchant for Marxism and no sense of historical accuracy. Moving on...anything by Nicholas Sparks bites big time. BORING and stupid waste of time to read that nonsense. Ugh, the movie was unbearable...what was that thing called, oh yeah "The Notebook". Double Yuck.