Loumy Sleeps

Each night before finally retiring to bed I have to check on the kids one last time. If I forget, I always lie in bed and tell myself, "they're fine." But then something always says, "Oh yeah? What if there is something caught around their neck and they are slowly suffocating? Then how will you feel?" So I always get up. Sometimes Chancho says, groggily, "I already checked on them." But I still have to go because...well...maybe something got caught around their necks since he was there 5 minutes ago.

They are never suffocating. String Cheese and Deedle might need a blanket put on after having kicked it off or something, but usually they look comfortable and fine. With Loumy, you never know what you will find. He usually sneaks out of his bed after we put him down and plays, very surreptitously, in the dark until he passes out of exhaustion. He can fall asleep anywhere. I might have shared this photo before. This was taken two years ago and nothing has changed.One night Chancho couldn't find him anywhere in his room and then finally saw two feet sticking out from under the bed. He had to call me in to take a look before gently pulling him out and putting him in bed. It looked as if maybe he had crawled under there to find something and then didn't have the energy to get back out.

I took these photos in the last 2 weeks:
Today we set up his new bed with his "cool sewfa (aka surfer)" bedding. The kids each slept in their own rooms and so far they are all asleep with no complaints of being scared. I just checked on Loumy and he is actually lying how I left him. That is partly, I'm sure, because we let him stay up late to watch the original Star Wars, which he was been UBER excited about ever since Chancho told him they could watch it together on the new TV. So, he may have been too exhausted to move.
(Look at that cute, little, round Haitian ear, would you? Oh yeah, and its that time of year for me to braid his hair again. I love doing it like this until I get too tired of it.)

Maybe his new bed will help him want to stay in it more. Or maybe not. But I hope he outgrows this soon because he is pure muscle and very heavy (much heavier than Deedle, even though she is still quite a bit taller) and I don't know how much longer I'll be able to lift him back into a good sleeping position. Hopefully I'll be like that Mom in "Love You Forever" who, when her son is older, drives over to his house and puts a ladder up to his window, climbs in, then lifts him out of bed to rock and sing him their lullaby. I love that book and I always tear up at the end and the kids always look at me strangely, wondering why my voice has suddenly choked. I love it all except for this drawing because I'm like, "Pshh...yeah right...try lifting Loumy when he's a man...(and also, try climbing a ladder into your son's house in a dress and pumps)."

And now look what I have done. I found the book and scanned the drawing. Don't any of you say I never go the extra mile.

What's New?!

I'm back. Yeah! I have truly missed the blogging world. I was able to post once (and thank you for comments, we all love comments!). But I didn't read a lot of blogs because now that my husband has had his laser surgery his eyes are like a hawk or something and he uses such tiny fonts on his laptop. I would have a head ache after trying to read it for more than a few minutes to occasionally check e-mails. So, I have missed all my blogging friends.

A lot is new around here. First, my body looks different and new all the time. Finn is doing well. At his appointment on Friday we could see little fuzzy hair on the top of his head and a very cute ear but he wouldn't grace us with a face shot. He weighs almost 3.5 pounds. Wow! String Cheese and Deedle were average 7 pounder babies but I think he is on track to be much larger. Maybe not. But I weighed 10 lbs 3 oz. and Chancho's mom also gave birth to a 10 pounder so maybe Finn is going to be big. In November we started clearing out our basement in earnest to be able to finish the large portion that was...well...unfinished. Chancho and his dad have spent countless hours down here since then. We did already have 3 bedrooms and a bathroom down here. But I never liked coming down here unless I had to be on the computer. One bedroom we used for a TV room. It was always crowded and always messy and even if I cleaned it up, the walls were colored on and the carpet was thrashed and it just wasn't a happy place for me. The room is now String Cheese's new bedroom. She is so happy about it that she (and the others) insisted on sleeping in their rooms in sleeping bags until we get their beds moved down here.One bedroom was sort of String Cheese's bedroom but after a few weeks she decided she didn't like sleeping downstairs alone and we moved her bed back in with Deedle. She kept her clothing and toys in the downstairs room and did a good job at keeping it clean. But her room was pretty crazy. It is what I call my "stifled creativity" room. Pretty much until last summer, I always kind of felt in limbo in my house. I painted a few of the bedrooms but Chancho kept thinking maybe we'd move and I also didn't have a lot of confidence in my abilities to really make my home look how I wanted it to. And of course there are always the financial concerns involved with remodeling. So, for 6 years most of our home felt rather sterile and bland to me--the same cream walls and cream carpet that was in the house when we purchased it. I unleashed all of my pent up desire for color on SC's downstairs room by painting the walls turquoise and using bright striped curtains and a rug. It actually was kind of cute. It was my little island room. But it was too much. Now it is Loumy's bedroom. He chose green. I got to choose the shade. He and Deedle really wanted to sleep in their rooms, as well, but then they felt a bit nervous and decided they would take turns sleeping together in each other's new rooms until they feel more comfortable. Fine with me.
The third bedroom was an office for Chancho and myself. It also had the dingy cream walls that had been written on and stained cream carpet and it was always a mess. Obviously I use my computer a lot but I really tried to look at nothing but my monitor when in that room. It is now Deedle's room. She chose blue and again I chose the shade and I think it looks darling. I will take a photo once I get it a little more finished. Since they slept in Loumy's room last night they are sleeping in her room tonight and I didn't want to risk waking them again by taking photos.

In the basement we also have now a big family room, Chancho has his own office, and we have several nice, large storage rooms/closets. Everything is now painted and carpet was finished last night! Yahoo!!! I love to be down here. Who doesn't like new, clean, and soft spaces??? We still have lots of work to do with bringing down all of the furniture and items from the kids rooms upstairs. And our living room and family room upstairs are completely cluttered with boxes and other items needing to be brought down here, organized and stored.

So far the only things we have brought down are the things that Chancho and I were most excited about. For him, it was bringing down the couch and hooking up his new TV in the family room. For me it was my "work station". Chancho spent time tonight getting everything hooked up for me and I love it. What a nice little space I have here and I can sit and blog and still be in the same room as Chancho while he watches something at night.This photo might be a little boring but I like it very much. You can see you come down the stairs and then turn and come down this hall. It used to end part way down with a door and then you would go into the unfinished part. Now it is a longer hallway and turns into Chancho's room on the right or, if you go left, into our new family room.
I am very tired but very satisfied. I did the beadboard in SC's room and lots of painting, but the majority of credit has to go to the efforts of Chancho and his dad, with out whom none of this could have happened because we wouldn't have had the money or the know-how. Thank you! I love everything!

2am Voices

I'll tell you that I'm glad these voices aren't Venus and Tarsus. My sisters will remember them but if any of the rest of you are interested in how truly insane I am, I can share that story another day. Tonight the voices are simply the food angel and devil that argue back and forth at this hour recently.

A: Just go to sleep, girl. You don't want to eat anything at this hour.
D: Yes you do. What is there to eat? Hm...lots of yummy things on hand right now. Ice cream in the freezer, left over valentine treats from the girls' dance classes today. How about a hostess Dingdong and a cup of milk? Yumm...
A: You do not want to do that. You will only wake up feeling more ill in the morning. Just take a few Tums for your heartburn and lay down.
D: Pshaw! You are pregnant. You are hungry. Your baby is hungry. Who cares about breaking a few eating rules. If you want a snack have a snack. How about graham crackers and milk? mmm.
A: The problem is that if you start up this habit it is just going to get harder to resist next time. And you know how you start packing on the pounds in this last trimester if you aren't careful. You know you will regret it if you eat something right now.
D: Give me a break. You had dinner like 7 hours ago. Baby is hungry. You are hungry. Eat something! At least a bowl of cereal. What's so bad about that.
A: If you eat cereal tonight then you know tomorrow at this same time your tummy is going to start growling and you're going to eat and then just sleep with all those calories.
D: You are soooo lame. You don't let a girl have any fun at all.
A: Its not about that. You have more fun when you are happy because you are the one in control of yourself and not a slave to a beasty appetite.
D: Whatever. How about some yogurt? And maybe a dingdong. Don't forget you have a couple of those leftover.

Any of the rest of you go through this crazy kind of thought process at 2am? Just a little pregnancy stuff going on here.

Another One!!!

Oh, Deborah, you have outdone yourself and I have a perma grin on my face now!!!

Why do these mean so much to me? I have been trying to analyze just why. Maybe ya'll can help me figure myself out. I think part of it is because they just look so cute and normal, even though the caricature has no hair and that is how I have been working so hard to see myself. Even more than a photo, this somehow just shows the really happy, fun side of me that is not defined at all by hair. But I think there is more, too.

Look!

For some reason I have always thought that it would be the coolest thing ever if I got to have my very own, personalized caricature/avatar/likeness made of me in my baldness. Recently my friend Tash had one made by her sister-in-law and I mentioned in a comment how much I would like one. This sweet and beautiful soul, Deborah Mori, just happened to read it and made me one! I have been reading Deborah's blog, Life Without Novacaine, for awhile now. I am not a very good commenter, but I have always been impressed with her. She is a very talented artist and is very positive and optimistic about life. She is a great example as she expresses gratitude, and she is also a very kind soul. Nothing makes me happier than hearing about kind things that people do to make others happy and to make this world a better place. And when I am the recipient of that, well, that makes me cry. Thanks Deborah! P.S. Don't I look so cute?