Viola's stitches

I have to say, I reacted much better this time around! Two years ago, Theodore had to get his toe stitched up and I did not handle it well. You can read about it here.

On Friday, Theodore, Viola, and I went to pick raspberries with some friends. We had barely picked half of a pint when Theodore accidentally smacked Viola in the face with a small wooden crate. Viola immediately started the "I'm really hurt, not just annoyed that I'm being picked on by my older brother" scream and blood started gushing down her face and I could immediately tell that it was a really deep gash that needed stitches. I sighed, put my half-picked pint of raspberries down, and took both of them to the van. Of COURSE I only had one wet wipe left in my bag, but thankfully the woman who owned the raspberry patch had a large supply of paper towels. I blotted up what I could, drove to the closest ER, and was advised by the doctor there to take her to the local children's ER, which has more experience with stitching up small children.

By the way, all this time Theodore was feeling AWFUL. He started crying as soon as Viola did because he knew he did something wrong. I was reassuring him the whole time that I wasn't mad at him, but he needs to be more careful next time. I had to carry two crying children in and out of the first ER. Eh, at least I'm used to it.

By the time we got to the second ER, the bleeding had stopped and Viola had pretty much recovered from her trauma. Viola was stitched up by a very competent PA, but it was horrible for her. First, the nurse put some anesthetizing gel on her lip to numb the surface, then they stitched her up. They had to strap her down to the table so she wouldn't wiggle, which she HATED. At one point between the strapping down and stitching, she let out a pathetic little "help me!" while crying the whole time. It was really hard to watch, but I had to be as close as I could to give her a little bit of comfort. She got three stitches inside the wound, and eight on the surface.

I thought Theodore might be interested in watching the stitching, so I told him to watch. To be honest, I didn't really think about letting him watch because I was so intent on calming Viola down. He watched for a minute and when the procedure was almost done I realized he wasn't by my side anymore. He had gone to the other side of the bed where he couldn't see anything and his face had gone pale and green and he looked woozy. I immediately told him to sit down and got him a cracker from the nurse,then we talked a little about Viola getting stitches. He cried a little and I felt bad that I hadn't had him distracted during the procedure. Oh, well. Now you know, don't let your 4-year-old watch his little sister get stitches!

Viola's doing well. Her lip barely looks as though it was split wide open two days ago. She have a faint scar, but in return she'll forever be able to blame her older brother for it. I was telling Diedra that it's a shame that she can't write in her journal about her mean older sibling (like we all did).

Today I was the SMARTEST MOM IN THE WORLD

This evening as I was driving home from music lessons with all four kids (who were all in various stages of crankiness), I got tired. Tired of yelling, tired of repeating myself seven times, tired of being ignored, and tired of ordering everyone around when they know perfectly well what they need to do.

So I decided not to talk. At all. Right before Theodore was born, I got a bad cold that rendered me speechless for a few days, and magically the kids matched my volume as I got sicker, so that they were finally only communicating in whispers. I wasn't hoping for that much tonight, but I was at least hoping I would cut down on the amount of yelling that was going to happen.

So we pulled into the driveway and I didn't say a thing. This is quite momentous for me. I talk a lot. I started getting everyone and everything unloaded silently. Nobody had quite noticed yet that I wasn't speaking. Halfway through the process, I noticed some garbage from our sack dinners that was strewn on the floor, and snapped my fingers to get Theodore's attention. He looked at me, looked at what I was pointing to, and picked it up accordingly. I then snapped my fingers again, pointed to his coat and books, and he picked those up, too.

Now they had noticed. Eleanor asked first, "mommy, what aren't you saying anything?" I just pointed to my throat and shook my head. Then I pointed at all the things they needed to bring in themselves, and continued unloading.

And it worked! They all silently (well, mostly silently. Theodore's a little slow (not really) and Viola's a baby) got ready for bed. I had to write a few notes to explain things, but I had their attention the whole time! And they were obedient! And excited to do things, purely because their mother had become a mute!

It went so well. I think I deserve a medal for tonight.

Here's my little cutie

Viola has learned to shake her finger when she hears something she doesn't like. Adorable!

I'm thankful

Today I felt perfectly happy and full to the brim of gratitude and love.

I don't have those perfect and special moments as often as I'd like, which is probably a good thing. If I had them more often I think I would not treasure them as much as I do. I remember feeling like this during our vacation to South Carolina in the spring; we were walking down the boardwalk, each child was eating a piece of salt water taffy, I was walking with someone I was lucky enough to meet ten years ago, the sun was shining down and warming us up and I just felt like everything was exactly perfect and there was nothing in that moment that I would ever want to change. Have you ever seen those fountains that are big spheres of rock, perfectly round, with a hole just on top where the water bubbles out and flows all around the sphere? I felt like I was one of those fountains, and pure happiness was flowing out of me and covering all of those five people around me.

This evening I was snuggling Theodore in his bed. He was almost asleep and the covers were toasty and warm. The room was dim, lit only by his nightlight. Peter and Eleanor were busy doing their homework (Peter at the hall table, Eleanor at her table in her room), and the sound of their silence and hard work (trust me, the sound of your children being productive and quiet is one of the most beautiful sounds in the world) was euphoric. Matt and Viola were in Eleanor's room, and from the warm coziness of Theodore's bed I listened to them as they played together. Viola was laughing and Matt was probably softly tackling and tickling, judging from their sounds. All of the sudden, I felt like everything was exactly as it should be. I had a magical moment where I felt an intense love for my family in a physical way; I felt full, all the way full, of love from my toes to the tip of my head. My children are healthy, happy, well-adjusted, smart, caring, empathetic, wonderful people and I am incredible fortunate to have all four of them. I can see their potential and it amazes me to think of the people they can be. I have given birth to four of my five best friends. I am so grateful for my life and and the lives of those I love.

I love these crazy kids more than they know.

The Three-Year Old Wonder Boy

I guess when you have older siblings, you catch on to things a little faster than usual. Especially if you're naturally athletic.

Here is my Theodore, riding a bike. Since this video was taken, he's gotten even better. He can go the whole length of the street without falling over or running into cars. I still have to help him slow down because he tends to brake too fast.

Still, it's pretty amazing.



Here's how it happened: Peter has outgrown his bike, which is the one Theodore was riding. We're in the process of looking for a bigger bike for Peter and have promised Theodore that when Peter got his new bike, we would put training wheels on the old one for Theodore. Until that time, though, we've been helping Theodore ride Peter's bike because Theodore is too impatient to wait. On Thursday morning, Peter and Eleanor were at school and Viola was napping, so Theodore and I were out with the bike. I was holding on to him while he rode and then suddenly realized that I didn't need to hold on anymore, so I let go. And suddenly, he learned how to ride a bike. No training wheels for him!

My new look

So I cut my hair. And it is short. It hasn't been this short since I was one.

No, it is not a mom haircut. It is a pixie cut. And despite how enormous this makes my nose looks, the cut is really cute. And I love it.

I had an appointment for a trim on Saturday, but a few days before the appointment I started seeing cute short hairstyles all over the place, and I got to thinking.

1. I have had the same hairstyle for the past 6 years. It may have been a little shorter or a little longer at times, but it has been the same style. I don't want to look back and see that I got stuck in a hair rut.

2. It wasn't even a style, really. Curly hair can't really be styled; it just does what it wants. And half the time it would look bad anyway.

3. I would end up with it pulled back or in a ponytail anyway. It was ALWAYS in my face, or on my neck. At night I would have to wake up and shift my hair around. It would get stuck under the straps of my bags. And when it was pulled back it would give me a headache.

Finally, 4. It's just hair. And it'll grow back.

So I went to my great stylist and asked her to cut it off. She was really excited; apparently she doesn't get to cut off a ton of hair everyday. I actually had a little crowd around me as she did it.

I had two pictures I brought to the appointment for inspiration. The first was this one.


Cute, huh? I didn't really think it would look like this, because my hair is a different texture than Carey Mulligan's. But it's adorable.

The second picture I brought was this.


Also adorable. I thought my hair texture was closer to Audrey Tautou's, and I love the little curls at the ends.

I ended up getting the first haircut. It's very, very short, even shorter than I expected, but I love it. I look completely different than I have ever looked in my entire life. I may not look completely stunning, but it just feels SO GOOD. My hair is off my back! And my face! I can go outside on a windy day and not get my hair stuck on my lip balm!

So, yes, my hair texture is weird. I swear, though, I look better in real life. I don't photograph very well. And I may have to straighten it a little to get it a little less...weird. But it really does look good. Plus, cute headbands! Little clips in my hair holding my bangs back!

Yeah, I kind of look like my brother now. That's okay. It'll grow out quickly and hopefully I'll have more of the second hairstyle.

Surprised?

Myrtle Beach

We had SO MUCH FUN! First off, this was our first vacation in which we did not go to Minnesota to visit family, or go to DC to visit family, or go to Utah to visit family, or go to the cabin and be with family. As much as I love visiting family (hi, mom!), it was really nice to just have our little own family to make memories with.

We decided on Myrtle Beach basically after just looking at a map. It was originally going to be Florida, then it morphed into Charleston, then into Myrtle Beach. We got a great recommendation on a resort from a friend, which was the best decision we made regarding the trip. We stayed in a great resort right on the beach with a few outdoor pools and an indoor pool. We were on the 14th of 16 floors, so the whole time I was worried about the kids falling off the balcony. The view was gorgeous. It was just warm enough to wear short sleeves and play on the beach in our swimsuits, but not hot enough to want to swim in the ocean. At least that way I didn't have to worry about my kids getting sucked into the ocean, though!

We swam, we to the aquarium, swam, ate great food, swam, played on the beach, swam, made sandcastles, swam, walked down a pier, and swam some more. Good thing we had that indoor pool!

The highlights of the trip were: seeing the sharks at the aquarium, seeing a fisherman on the pier catch a stingray, Eleanor falling and hitting her chin so hard we worry about having to get stitches, playing on the beach, sitting in the warm sun, seeing dolphins swimming just off the shore, and watching the sunrise.

A view off our balcony. If you look closely, you can see me and the three older kids on the black bridge in the middle of the picture.

Playing on the beach.

Why, yes, that IS a shark right behind Eleanor!

Really expensive taffy. They got five pieces each and we MADE them enjoy it.

Viola was happy in her stroller.

Trying to get the kids all look at the camera and smile at the same time is impossible.

The boys.

Me and the baby.

Isn't she cute?

A rare family picture. Thank goodness for the timer on the camera.

Sunrise.